Disney Losing Its Perfection?

For those of you who know me know that I am a huge Disney fan. I’m that person who calms down the group when they see prices for a bottle of coke or a slice of pizza from Astro Blasters. You could say I have Disney’s back on all things.

HOWEVER, recently I experienced what ended up being the worst Disney experience to date. Last Friday I drove out to Disney around 2pm to meet up with my family. As I pulled into the parking area around 2:30; low and behold a big sign saying that the main parking structure (Mickey & Friends) is closed due to overcrowding in the park. So they redirected me and thousands of other cars through Downtown Disney around Disney’s California Adventure, out onto Harbor Drive and had us drive all the way down to where the Anaheim convention center was. By the time I got to the new parking lot Disney had recently established it was 4:15pm. And it didn’t end there. Once I parked I then had to wait in a line (mind you it was about 98 degrees out) which consisted of about 500-600 people to catch a seat on one of the charter buses they were using to shuttle the public over. When I finally set foot into Disneyland it was 5:10pm. Instead of feeling happy and stress free I graced Disney with a grumpy well annoyed attitude. I couldn’t even enjoy the time I actually had in the park because I was still recovering from the DREADFUL parking experience.

I understand perfection doesn’t exist but I feel like with as much money Disney is grossing perfection is completely possible. I expect the best from Disney and I was thoroughly disappointed.

The reason why they’re doing this is because of HalloweenTime at Disneyland and DCA. HalloweenTime is bringing in so many people that they have to close down the Mickey and Friend’s parking structure from 2pm-6pm to save a couple thousand spots for the annual passholders that come later on at night.

The new parking structure was named Buzzlight Year; great name… real crappy system.

Knotts Scary Farm vs. Disney’s HalloweenTime

What theme parks own which holidays you ask? Five years ago it was said that Knott’s Berry Farm owned Halloween and Disneyland owned Christmas and New Years. The conventional wisdom was that Knotts offered a wide variety of scary themes that Disney could never replicate… Low and behold, HalloweenTime comes to Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure with a bang!

HalloweenTime appeals to those who aren’t necessarily looking for gore but rather a fun spooky time with family and friends. Market research in 2008 told Team Disney Anaheim that their Halloween celebration was in danger of skewing because of the young crowd they attracted. In order to draw in the older crowd Disney took a gamble this year and opened the new PG rated Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy as well as a spooky new fireworks show. Next door DCA opened Mickey’s Trick or Treat Parties which has been so successful that they sell out of all 6,000 extra-cost tickets each night.

Knotts Berry Farm's
Knott's Scary Farm

Disney's and Disney's California Adventure's
HalloweenTime

I ventured off to Disneyland last week with my roommate Aubrey and waited 84 minutes to go on the new Space Mountain "Ghost Galaxy." While I don't think any ride is worth waiting that long I had to see for myself what the entire buzz was about. After experiencing the adventure I now understand why the line was 84 minutes long... it was RAD. Fantastic special affects as well as an intense scare factor. Disney raised the bar this year with their new attractions and I can't wait to see what they have in store for the public next year!

Reference:
http://miceage.micechat.com/

The Woman Behind The Magic

Annie Leibovitz is a world renowned American portrait photographer whose style is marked by a close collaboration between the photographer and the subject.

She did a Disney campaign that belongs to the Dream Portrait Series which featured A-list celebrities as Disney characters. Below you will find my favorites that are incredibly astounding and breathtakingly beautiful

Where Every Cinderella Story Comes True
Scarlett Johansson as Cinderella

Zac Efron as Prince Philip and Vanessa Hudgens as Princess Aurora

Where You're The Fairest Of Them All
Rachel Weisz as Snow White

Where You Never Have To Grow Up
Mikhail Baryshnikov as Peter Pan, Gisele Bundchen as Wendy and Tina Fey as Tinkerbell

Where The Magic Begins
Julie Andrews as the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio and Abigial Breslin as Fira from Disney Fairies

All pictures above can be found at:

http://www.euphoria-magazine.com/lifestyle/36-lifestyle/236-annie-leibovitzs-disney-dream-portrait-series

"Linking" you to all things Disney

Hey Guys!

What I’m blogging about

This blog is dedicated to a huge passion of mine which is the wonderful world of Disney. I want to share an insight of all what Disney represents. I will be blogging about The Walt Disney Company and discussing what currently is going on corporately, innovation, Imagineering, theme parks, Disney’s own starlets, and the music they compose and produce. Disney is what one would call a ‘house of brands’ which means it’s a business that has multiple brands that are not necessarily part of the same family or are independent from each other and the Parent Brand. I will be touching that topic as the weeks progress.

*Fun Fact: Many may not know this but Disney is a proud owner of many companies such as ESPN, ABC/Family and Dreamworks.

Yesterland

What I’d like to do this week is post 2 interesting links that I find myself exploring from time to time. The first link is entitled “Yesterland.” This site takes you all the way back to 1955 which is when the park opened and shows all the now retired attractions Disney once had in the park. They list every attraction that ever was initiated in the park as well a brief description as to what the attraction was like and why it eventually closed. Yesterland also offers links to current Disney news. It’s broken into three categories: Walt Disney Company, Disneyland and Walt Disney world. All links are from legitimate sources that are credible and fascinating. This is a wonderful site to get lost in and gain Disney trivia to impress all those other Disney fanatics!

Something you’ll see on Yesterland

What happened to The Country Bear Jamboree you may ask?

· The bears of the famous Country Bear Jamboree were evicted by a short and stout bear, the highly popular Winnie the Pooh. Having successfully evicted Mr. Toad from the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World to make room for the “Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” ride, Pooh Bear decided to do the same to his ursine brethren at Disneyland.

http://yesterland.com/

Snopes

The second link is entitled “Snopes” which is a site dedicated specifically to urban legends and myths. After clicking the Disney link, the site will then give you 4 options: Disney theme parks, The Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney and Disney films. From there one can view a list of myths and legends followed by brief explanations and whether they’re true, false or undetermined. The site also offers imagery evidence proving whether or not something is true or false.

Something you’ll see on Snopes

· Belle makes a cameo appearance in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (TRUE)
· The look of Tinker Bell in Peter Pan was based on Marilyn Monroe (FALSE)
· The Beast sports a tattoo in Beauty and the Beast (UNDETERMINED)

http://snopes.com/disney/disney.asp

My Challenge to You

I encourage all who are following my blog to take a peek at these sites because I can guarantee (for all the Disney fans at least) you’ll be absolutely amused by it all. I am incredibly thrilled to have this chance to share one of my passions with you so humor me and start clicking away and getting lost in the magic!