What Were They Thinking? - Disney's 2004 Rose Parade Float

You can file this post under the heading of, "What Were They Thinking?"   Or maybe put it in a file marked, "Too Soon???"

California Adventure's Tower of Terror attraction opened in May of 2004.  Just four months earlier, Disney featured this very unattractive float, in the New Year's Day Tournament of Roses Parade.

Even the author of this Los Angeles Times article, asked the question, "What was Disney thinking?"  She felt that Disney's decision to feature this float in the parade, less than 28 months after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, was a bit "too soon."

Here's a close-up shot of the float, by Eric Warren on Flickr:

As stated in the Los Angeles Times advertisement at the top of this post, the float was on display in the park, from January 2nd through January 19th.

The Tower of Terror attraction opened at the park, four months later.  The exterior design of the building was scaled back drastically, from the original version of the attraction at Walt Disney Studios, in Florida.  Personally, I have always thought this version looked very cheap and ugly (just like the float), especially when compared to Walt Disney World's, and Tokyo Disneyland's Tower of Terror attractions.  I was also not a fan of the color choice for the building's exterior.  It reminded me of Disneyland's ugly "brown and gold" Tomorrowland, of 1998.

This artwork of the building was located on a wall in the gift shop, at the exit of the ride.  It was removed in 2017, when the attraction was re-themed to Marvel Studio's Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.

We will wrap up this post with footage of the Tower of Terror parade float, moving down Pasadena's Colorado Boulevard, on New Year's Day.

Here's wishing a very happy New Year, to all!