The Sorcerer's Guide

  Walt and Lillian Disney celebrated their 30 th   wedding anniversary on July 13, 1955. Though Walt was spending hours preparing his park for opening day, Disney wanted to spend his anniversary at the park he had dreamed of building for so many years. With 300 guests in tow, the party took the maiden voyage of the Mark Twain Riverboat and enjoyed the unofficial first show in the Golden Horseshoe. Like most parties, there was a lot going on to prepare for that night. Admiral Joe Fowler, the man Disney put in charge of building the Mark Twain, was a little nervous. The ship had never gone around Tom Sawyer Island and Fowler later admitted that he had nightmares the night before that the river would dry up again like it had just a few weeks earlier. With an hour left until guests would start arriving, Fowler arrived to make sure everything was in working order. He was surprised to find Lillian Disney, broom in hand, sweeping the deck. With her help, the ship was ready to go when...

World of Color debuted to the public on June 11, 2010. As luck would have it, I happened to be at the Disneyland Resort that weekend and got to see it. I remember watching it the very first time and honestly, it took my breath away. It’s amazing how they can just take fountains and turn them into something so beautiful. Here are some fun facts and a little history about the show. Enjoy! Disney decided, back in 2004, they wanted to add some kind of new attraction to California Adventure. California Adventure had only been open since February 8, 2001 but it was not bringing the attendance Disney executives had hoped. They knew they needed some big changes to turn the park around. In 2007, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced these changes, including World of Color, Cars Land, and the new park entrance. It took 5 years of planning, start to finish, with 15 months of installation and testing. There were many different versions and many different concepts before they finally settled on a water sho...

  It's the start of summer, and the celebration of Disneyland's 70th anniversary celebration. Disney often uses anniversary celebrations as marketing campaigns to encourage more guests to come to the parks. this practice started in the early days of Disneyland's history (here's a link to a video of the 10th anniversary celebration). Disney is stepping up the attractions, with a new fireworks show for Disneyland, a new World of Color for California Adventure, and updates to a few attractions. The popular night time parade Paint the Night is returning, too. With more offerings, exclusive dining, and new merchandise, this is a great time to visit the parks. However, Disney is also offering ticket discounts for the 70th anniversary. This seems like a strange strategy, because discounts are typically used to encourage Park visitors during slower seasons. In the peak season (summer), there shouldn't be a need for discounts. Especially with the huge marketing campaign and...

So far, epic Universe has had wonderful reviews. This park was meant to be a leap forward in immersive design, and it has delivered a lot of that. Reviews have been positive, and guests seem to be flocking to the new park. Often described as the first major park to open in the United States in 25 years (sorry, Hard Rock Park), it's getting the attention it deaerves. The part of this park that has really caught my eye is the animatronics. That may seem like a shock to many of you. For years, Universal has been described as the company that uses screens instead of building physical rides. Yet here we are, watching them build amazing animatronics.  The first ones to catch my eye were the figures for How to Train Your Dragon . There's a full meet and greet with some of the cutest figures. These figures are reminiscent of Boston Dynamics's robotic dogs. There are dragons that fly over the themed land. These Dragon Drones look amazing in the sky. Dragon drone sighting over Epic U...

Holidayland was on the west side of Disneyland – about where New Orleans Square is today – from June of 1957 to September of 1963. The area had its own admission gate and was fenced off from Disneyland. It was close enough that you could hear the sounds of the Mark Twain as it floated down the Rivers of America. It wasn’t a theme park: but it was a park! Like most Disney attractions, there were several variations of the idea. It was one of the ideas dreamed up before Disneyland opened in 1955. Holidayland concepts morphed, at times being planned as a large area for group events, and at others as a small picnic area attached to Disneyland. © disneyhistoryinstitute.com So what could you do at Disneyland’s first “second gate” (I think I can call it that…) when it finally opened? There was baseball, volleyball, horseshoes, picnic areas, food service (including bottomless beer…), grassy areas, and playgrounds for the kids. The playgrounds were lightly themed to mirror the attractions insid...