Happy 60th Birthday, Disneyland!

In honor of Disneyland's 60th birthday today, we are going back 50 years to when the park was celebrating it's "Tencennial." This coloring book from 1965 has the official Disneyland Tencennial logo on it's cover.

I don't own the coloring book shown above, but I do own the one below which is from the same year and contains images from the park's Tencennial celebration.

This book is actually copyrighted both 1964 and 1965, so I'm thinking this is the 1964 edition of the coloring book and in 1965, it was probably updated on the inside to include the Tencennial and then later in that same year, they gave it a new "birthday" cover.

Hey, who scribbled out the floral Mickey?

These next four images all reference the special "Disneyland 10th Anniversary" episode of The Wonderful World of Disney that aired on TV that year. There was a segment with pieces of cake that danced around, as well as candles that danced on top of the cake. ♪ ♫ "Ten years of happiness, ten years of fun......." ♫ ♪ I'm including a link at the end of this post for anyone that wants to watch it. I highly recommend it....it's a hoot!

I wonder where these construction photos were being displayed? The Walt Disney Story obviously didn't exist at this time.

The Enchanted Tiki Room would have been just two years old at this time. Most of the show is featured in the same 10th Anniversary TV special.

This is interesting! I know the park maps and pictorial souvenirs often included "future attractions", but they were even including that information in the coloring books.

The "talking statue." It makes Lincoln sound more like the talking Confucius statue that was planned at one time for a Chinese restaurant in Disneyland. I wonder why they didn't just tell kids that Lincoln was going to be a "robot"?

The new Plaza Inn exterior and interior is shown in model form on that 10th Anniversary special. Here are a couple scenes from it with Walt showing the Plaza Inn models to Julie Reihm, the very first Disneyland Ambassador. Imagineer Harriet Burns is seen seated next to the model in the first photo and Imagineer John Hench can be seen in the second photo.

It appears by the scribbling below, that somebody didn't like the "promise" from Walt. Maybe they were psychic and they knew that quote would continue to be used for years to come, as an excuse for whenever management wanted to get rid of some beloved attraction such as Captain Hook's Pirate Ship and Skull Rock, or Adventure Thru Inner Space, or the Skyway....or the Main St. Electrical Parade.....or Country Bear Jamboree! I could go on and on, but I won't. Okay wait, one more.....OR THE PEOPLEMOVER!!!

There were more images in the coloring book than what I've posted here. If there is interest out there in seeing more, I can scan and post more of the pages. I also have 3 more Disneyland coloring books that are all dated a little bit later than this.

Here's that 10th Anniversary Special in it's entirety. Again, if you haven't seen this, I highly recommend it! The footage includes artwork and models for Pirates of the Caribbean ("By going UP the waterfall?), and the Haunted Mansion (A SKELETON GHOST!), as well as almost full coverage of the Enchanted Tiki Room show.

Happy Birthday, Disneyland!

Even More Monsters

These are the last of my Monsters Inc. attraction pics from Tokyo. The photos from my post on Thursday, November 13th (the post before last) showed these same areas under construction. Those pics were shot over the top of a hedge that was being used as sort of a construction wall. That same hedge can be seen in these photos, but these pics were taken two days later and now the hedge has been moved up closer to the building, revealing brand spanking new landscaping, paint and light fixtures.

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Mmmmm, can't you just smell the new paint? Maybe I'm weird, but I like it when you go on a new ride and it still has that "new" smell. Unfortunately, it doesn't last very long.

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Below is a patio that is on the side of the building. This is the same patio seen in the post before last that was still under construction. Again, note the railings that have a "pointy teeth" pattern. This patio was being used as a smoking area when this photo was taken.

This attraction is not scheduled to open until April of 2009.

More Monsters

Here are some more photos of Tokyo Disneyland's future attraction, "Monsters Inc. - Ride and Go Seek!". The photo below shows some construction work on the side of the building. I had to shoot this photo from second level of the Star Tours exit. They had covered up the opening that would normally allow guests to look down into this area with a wall, but they didn't cover it all the way...only about six feet up, so I was able to take the photo below the same way I took the shots from my last post.....by raising my camera above my head and shooting blindly. Note the attraction posters covered up with tape and plastic.

Two days later, this area was completely open to guests and I was able to walk right up to these posters and photograph them better.

The next shot is of the attraction's Fastpass distribution area. It pretty much looked finished and ready to go.....except for the covers over the machines.

Here's a close-up shot of the Fastpass sign.

And the last pic for today is a shot of the sign for the attraction's merchandise shop.

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I do have to say that I will rarely find anything to criticize when it comes to the Tokyo Disney parks, but I do just have this to say about the building's exterior paint job.....what is with the Disney Imagineers' love affair with this color? We saw it in Anaheim's new Tomorrowland of 1998, then again on the exterior of The Tower of Terror attractions in both California Adventure and the Walt Disney Studio Park in Paris. Now it turns up in Tokyo's Tomorrowland, when every other building in that land is painted in shades of gray, blue or white. I really don't get it.

And while I am already criticizing, I have one more complaint. What does Monsters Inc. have to do with Tomorrowland? I realize that the Imagineers have pretty much thrown themeing out the window completely....otherwise we would not have a Finding Nemo attraction in Tomorrowland in Anaheim, or Monsters Inc. attractions in Walt Disney World's Tomorowland and California Adventure's Hollywood Backlot. However, I always thought that when it came to Tokyo, they didn't mess around. After all, the Tokyo parks are not owned by Disney. Disney does still have some control in what the Japanese do and Disney still designs the new attractions for them, but the Japanese always seem to demand the best and don't seem to worry about cost as much as Disney does when it comes to their parks in the U.S.

I am hoping that when this ride opens, comparing it to Anaheim's Monsters Inc. attraction will be like comparing Tokyo's Winnie the Pooh attraction to Anaheim's......meaning, that it blows the other one completely out of the water. Then all will be forgiven as far as it's exterior color scheme and location. Okay, rant over.

My next post will include one last set of photos of the exterior of this attraction.

Monsters Inc. - Ride & Go Seek!

In an earlier post, I mentioned how Tokyo Disneyland had torn down their "Meet The World" attraction, which was an attraction that was unique to their park. Over the past two years, they have been building "Monsters Inc. - Ride & Go Seek" in it's place. This new attraction is now scheduled to open in April of 2009. It is usually difficult to find detailed information about future attractions for Tokyo Disneyland, but the only thing that I know for sure is that riders will be given flashlights and will be trying to locate various hidden monsters throughout the attraction. Back in August, I did post a photo of the concept art that used to hang on the attraction's construction wall. It gives a small clue as to what the ride might be like. That artwork can be seen here: Monsters Inc. Artwork

Well, the construction wall is now down and this is what the attraction's exterior looked like two weeks ago. They had actually replaced the wooden construction wall with boxed green hedges. I held my camera as high as I could above my head....and the hedges, and shot the next three photos.

A sign above the doors on the far right in the photo above, said "Monsters Inc. Company Store". This will obviously be the Monsters Inc. attraction exit through the obligatory Monsters Inc. merchandise store.

In the photo above, the doors on the left are for the "standby" line, the doors in the middle are for the "fastpass" line and the doors on the right said "exit". These exit doors are right next to the store, so I am assuming they will be for those guests that choose to bypass the store.

This patio area looks like it might be used for the queue. Two days after these photos were taken, this area was finished and open to the public and it was being used as a smoking area, at least for now. Is it just me or does it seem like the railings around these planters are supposed to be mimicking pointy monster teeth?

The shot above was taken from the second story of the Star Tours exit. Underneath the blank "M" in the foreground are the words "presented by" and then there is another blank panel below that.

I will post some more exterior photos including shots taken two days after these, when all the hedges were moved up against the doors and the outside construction was finished.

Meet The World!

Today, we are still visiting Tokyo Disneyland's Tomorrowland. The shot below is of the building that once housed "Meet The World". Meet The World was an original Tokyo Disneyland attraction that opened with the park on April 15, 1983 and closed on June 30, 2002. The attaction's theme song, "Meet The World" was written by the Sherman Brothers.

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Meet The World gave a condensed history of Japan through the use of audio-animatronics as well as movie footage. The ride system used was a "reverse" Carousel Of Progress/Carousel Theater, so to speak. The audience sat in the center of the building and rotated in place while the show elements were situated around the audience in the outside ring of the theater. (As a side note, a duplicate of this attraction was in the original plans for the Japan Pavilion at EPCOT Center in Walt Disney World, but was never built.)

I love the building's facade. It kind of reminds me of a structure that could have been found at a world's fair. Unfortunately, the building was torn down a couple years ago and construction began on a Monster's Inc. attraction which is scheduled to open in 2009. The photos below are of the new construction and were taken in April of 2008.

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For more info about Tokyo Disneyland's Meet The World attraction, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meet_the_World

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