Inside The Mouse Castle 05-18-2015 - 24 Hours of Disneyland and the Coolest Summer Ever at Walt Disney World

By Tim Callaway

Tinker Bell paints the night.

Team Mouse Castle is going to the Disneyland Resort this Friday for 24 hours of Diamond Celebration fun. Want to join us?

I'll be hitting Disneyland and Disney California Adventure from 6:00 a.m. on May 22nd straight through until 6:00 a.m. on May 23rd...or until I have a psychotic episode. I'll have plenty of friends with me as we battle crowds and exhaustion on our way to get a first look at the Paint the Night parade, Disneyland Forever fireworks and the new World of Color show, Celebrate! The Wonderful World of Walt Disney.

We may even record a podcast episode. Anything is possible.

In today's Inside The Mouse Castle, Anthony and I preview Friday's Diamond Celebration at Disneyland and the Coolest Summer Ever kickoff at Walt Disney World. We also take on these magical subjects:

• Remember Jock Lindsey, Indiana Jones' snake-loving pilot pal in Raiders of the Lost Ark? It appears Jock is getting a bar named after him at Walt Disney World's Downtown Disney. Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar will open sometime this fall. 
• On the Disney Parks Blog, they also announced these shops and restaurants will be joining the Disney Springs expansion sometime between now and 2016:
  
  RETAIL
  Zara
  Tommy Bahama
  Lilly Pulitzer
  UNIQLO
  PANDORA
  UGG
  L’Occitaine en Provence
  Edward Beiner
  
  DINING
  Edison
  Sprinkles
  Blaze Pizza
  Vivoli Gelateria
  Tea Traders by Joffrey’s Tea
• I attended a preview screening of Brad Bird's Tomorrowland to benefit the Walt Disney Family Museum last week. My full review is coming, but let's just say that for all of the film's good intentions, it's not as great as it aspires to be.

Disneyland ticket #1 will be on display at the 2015 D23 Expo.

• This August, sixty years of Disneyland history will be celebrated at the D23 Expo. Disneyland: The Exhibit will contain 12,000 square feet of attraction, parade and entertainment history from the Happiest Place on Earth.
• Screenwriter Stephany Folsom is working on a script for a different kind of Disney princess movie, The Princess of North Sudan. It's based on a strange true story about an American father who claimed control of a disputed piece of land in North Africa so his young daughter could be a real live princess. We're not sure what to make of this exactly.

By the way, if you're looking for a couple of helpful resources for the Disneyland 24-hour party on Friday, this is where to start:

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2015/05/heres-what-you-need-to-know-to-line-up-for-the-disneyland-resort-diamond-celebration-24-hour-event

http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?217308-Disneyland-kicks-off-Diamond-Anniversary-celebration-with-24-hour-party-May-22-23/page4 

Enjoy!

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Disneyland's 60th Anniversary: Is that all there is?

By Tim Callaway

"You used to be much more...'muchier.' You've lost your muchness." -- The Mad Hatter

I'm not sure exactly what I wanted from Wednesday night's announcements about Disneyland's 60th birthday celebration, but they definitely needed to be muchier.

Sure, the details of the new fireworks show, nighttime parade and World of Color update sounded intriguing enough, but the fact that enhancements to these shows were pretty much expected left me feeling underwhelmed.

They were missing, as Steve Jobs used to say, "One more thing."

Another 24-hour party to kick off the celebration would've been nice. I know Anthony, my cohort from Inside The Mouse Castle, was hoping for some kind of a Haunted Mansion hatbox ghost announcement (the rumor is back and gaining traction--what's with the mysterious panel across from the bride in the attic these days?). Nicki, who loyally follows us on Facebook, was jonesing for anything to do with 60th anniversary merchandise.

We expect to hear more between now and May 22nd, when the festivities officially kick off, but for now we'll have to be satisfied with these Disneyland Diamond Celebration announcements. Will the celebration be better than what we experienced during the 50th year? We'll see.

Paint the Night - 1.5 million LED lights will illuminate this Main Street Electrical Parade on steroids. With a clear tie-in to Fantasmic!, Mickey Mouse will use his imagination and some pixie dust from Tinker Bell to bring Disney dreams to life. Among those dreams will be familiar characters from Monsters, Inc., Cars, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story and Frozen.

Disneyland Forever Fireworks - I really like that Disney Legend Richard Sherman has penned a new song ("Kiss Goodnight") for Disneyland's latest "dazzling fireworks show." I also like that new projection effects on Main Street, U.S.A., it’s a small world, the Rivers of America and the Matterhorn will create unique viewing experiences throughout the park. But will Disneyland Forever touch my heart like Remember...Dreams Come True did during Disneyland's 50th birthday?

Okay, the new projections do look cool.

World of Color – Celebrate! The Wonderful World of Walt Disney - World of Color has always been a great technical show at Disney California Adventure, but it lacks the heart and engagement of Fantasmic! across the esplanade at Disneyland. Will this nostalgic variation paying tribute to the life and accomplishments of Walt Disney finally make World of Color a show worth seeing again and again?

Sleeping Beauty Castle and Carthay Circle Theatre 60th anniversary concepts.

Both parks will of course be adorned with Diamond Celebration decor (the construction walls have already gone up around Sleeping Beauty Castle to prepare for the transformation), but is that all there is? Walt Disney Parks and Resorts chairman Tom Staggs says there will be more. We hope so. If last night was just the start, then surprise us, Tom. The changes are nice, but they still feel routine. In a year when Disneyland won't have any new attractions opening (and is unlikely to announce any until the D23 Expo in August), the 60th anniversary is going to need to be something much more special.