Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Enjoy making Snow White's Ruby Red Cranberry Holiday Necklace from family.com.

Halloween with the Queen

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Disneyland Alumni Club Celebrates Disneyland 55

On July 17 Disneyland Alumni Club hosted 55 Years of Music Magic. I was able to join the alumni club after I left my college Disneyland job.  This event was held at Disneyland Hotel.  The event was a wonderful evening filled with memories and music to benefit Children's Hospital of Orange County.
The introduction and welcome was from Ron Stark and, of course, Mickey Mouse.  Disney Legend Ron Dominguez, Jim Walker president of Disneyland Alumni Club, and George Kalogridis all welcomed us to the event.

The Hosts for the evening were Mouseketeers Tommy Cole and Sherry Alderoni.

Shag created artwork for the cover of the program, seen below, that was aviable of a print.

Roy P. Disney took the stage and paid tribute to his father in a touching cermeony.  He brought with him a film that was shown at the tribute to his father held at El Capitatn eariler in the year. 

 

Then dinner was served and we were treated to sounds of Main Street, Frontierland, New Orleans, Disneyland Stages, Music of Richard Sherman, Entertainment, the Main Street Electrical Parade, Fantasmic!, and World of Color.

 Ron Miller from Coke Corner

 The Dapper Dans

Billy Hill and the Hillbillies

X Atencio joined on stage for a tribute to New Orleans Square.  Of course, a few other 'surprise guests' to celebrate X Atencio's work.  X Atencio was a Disney artist from 1938 - 1965.  He then became an Imagineer working on Adventure Thru Inner Space, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Haunted Mansion.  (It is X Atencio's voice saying "Hey! Let me out of here!" in the coffin in the Haunted Mansion's conservatory)

The next act was the Nocturnes.  The Nocturnes was a popular band that performed throughout the park.  The band performed in different shows, parades, and background tracks for shows and attractions.

Richard Sherman was scheduled to be there but was unable to attend but sent a clip of him at his piano playing some of his most memorable tunes. 

The last few presentations featured Don Dorsey who played a key role in Fantasmic and is responsible for the synthesizer arrangements and performances of Disneyland's Main Street Electrical Parade.  He discussed how the Electrical parade took shape and how he had to change to sound from the Main Street to Disney. 

 

Finally, Bruce Healey took the stage to discuss Fantasmic and World of Color.  Bruce began in 1973 with the company and was a big part of special projects like super bowl halftime shows, television specials, parades, and shows.  He composed, arranged, orchestrated, conducted, and produced shows including Lion King Celebration, Light Magic, Fantasmic, and World of Color.  The Grand Finale featured many alumni taking the stage for a jam.  It was a wonderful event and I can hardly wait for the 60th!

WDW Radio World of Color Party

I started out this trip to the Disneyland Resort by going to WDW Radio's World of  Color Party.  We had resevered seating and I had a wonderful view of the World of Color Show.  I had seen it earlier in the summer and it was so much better the second time. The first viewing earlier this summer I  had seen that Snow White and her prince appeared near the Beauty and the Beast seegment but this time I also caught a glmpse of her in the finalie.

After the show our group was escorted to ride Soarin.  The park was closed at this point so that was a special treat. Then we were then lead to a dessert buffet in the winery.
But there was still one more surprise. we were fortunate enough to go back to world of color viewing area, walking past the Carsland and Mermaid construction with crews actually working removing the walls that ordinarliy block the guests view.  When we got there we were met by three imagineers who worked on and designed the show. They talked to us, showed us things about the show, and even replayed the Pochantas segment just for us.
It was an amazing event and while I didnt talk with Beci or Lou, I thank them for all they did and an amazing and afforable night.

Finding Snow White in Disney's California Adventure

With the recent changes happening to Disney's California Adventure (DCA), I thought it was time to discuss the Snow White's connection to the park.  As a former cast member of DCA, I know all to well from experience that guests who came to the park wanted characters - they wanted the quintessential experience that is Disney.  And yet during the park's first few years, there were few connections to the characters that the Disney Guest expected. 
All that being said, Snow White has had connection to the park from the very beginning - in the one place that featured Disney characters: The Animation Building.  This attraction features a beautiful center room where multiple screens feature clips and music from beloved animated features (Snow White and Seven Dwarfs included).  From this room guests had three choices: the drawn to animation show, the sorcerer's workshop, or the screening room.

The animation show had a cast member 'animator' explaining some drawing processes and features clips of an upcoming animated feature.  If I recall there is some props in the room that feature some characters from Snow White.  Now this has become the Animation Academy.
 When the park opened the 'screening room' was the Art of Animation film.  In 2004 it began hosting Turtle Talk with Crush. (I thought for a time it showed a movie on Walt - but I can't find any evidence of that - maybe my memory is going?)
The final room is The Sorcerer's Workshop. This experience has three parts: The Magic Mirror Realm, Beast's library, and Ursula's Grotto.

The Magic Mirror Realm is an area where you can draw a strip cartoon and watch it come to life.  All along this room are strip cartoons featuring various characters.  On the far wall is the Magic Mirror which comes to life every few minutes.

The zodiac around the magic mirror does feature Snow White.  (she is near the top on the left).  There are a few other Snow White references around the room as well:

Once you leave this room you can enter the Beast's Library.  Here you can discover which Disney character you are most like.  I am not sure of all the character possibilities but I know that one could by my personal favorite (if you happen to know other characters from Snow White that come up as choices - write a comment!)

As you continue on you enter Ursula's Grotto.  Here you can record your own voice into some of your favorite animated features.  You can either record dialog or sing.  If you choose sing, you can march your way home with the dwarfs.

As with many Disney attractions, you can exit through the gift shop.  Off the Page is one of my personal favorites as that was my home as a cast member years ago.  It features large animation pages on the ceiling where characters are literally coming off the page.

There is one other place you can find a Snow White character that was there on opening day of the park.  Outside in the window display of off the page are some character spinners (which often don't spin).  Doc, Happy, and Sleepy are on spinners.  Note: he picture below also has a display for Snow White DVD that was not there on opening day. (and on a personal note - it really shouldn't be there today - that DVD came out a long time ago - why hasn't that been changed?)

There are several other places that Snow White can be found today.  The outdoor animation stage show (which will be changing soon) has some animation sketches of dwarfs.  The world of color banners around the park have Snow White with an apple.  The construction fences around Hollywood Backlot have movie posters featuring Snow White

As the construction moves forward there will be at least one more strong link to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in DCA: the Carthay Circle Theatre where Snow White premiered:

Pook-A-Looz

This film by Disney Living features the adorable Snow White and Dopey Pook-A-Looz.  (there is also a hidden character in the background. 

D23 Pins

The Disney Store online is selling two pins to celebrate Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and the studios history.  The box set celebrates the building on the studio lot that uses the dwarfs as pillars.  The other (an much more affordable option) features Dopey standing by the famous street sign added to the Disney Studio lot for the filming of the reluctant dragon.