| Happy Birthday Disneyland! This Thursday marks the 60th anniversary for the Happiest Place on Earth. Today’s MiceChat Disney News Roundup celebrates this joyous occasion with a special insert for you all to enjoy! We have a fantastic two part interview with Chris Strodder, the Author of The Disneyland Book of Lists and The Disneyland Encyclopedia! We also have lots of trips, videos and great topics from Disneyland Resort, Rumors and more! |
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| Quick Jump: All Things Disney | Videos & Podcasts | Tickets & Events | Column Roundup | |
Summer continues as Disneyland prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary Summer crowds continue to celebrate Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary as the park gets ready to celebrate its big Diamond Anniversary on Friday. Disneyland will mark its 60th anniversary on July 17 with a special ceremony, live entertainment and special photo opportunities in both theme parks. Meanwhile, Disneyland’s All-American College Band is back for the 2015 summer season bringing fresh musical energy to the park.
Fab News: Happy Nights, Potter Dates (?), Being FAriel and Looking Back at Tomorrowland Summer crowds continue to celebrate Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary as the park gets ready to celebrate its big Diamond Anniversary on Friday. Disneyland will mark its 60th anniversary on July 17 with a special ceremony, live entertainment and special photo opportunities in both theme parks. Meanwhile, Disneyland’s All-American College Band is back for the 2015 summer season bringing fresh musical energy to the park.
| Over the next two weeks we are showcasing a fantastic read, this books is about everything Disneyland. “The Disneyland Book of Lists” offers a new way to explore six decades of Disneyland history. There are Hundreds of fascinating lists covering the past and the present! The Round-Up asked Chris Strodder (whom you may know from “The Disneyland Encyclopedia”) to answer some questions. Below is the first part of our two part interview. | |
 When and why did you begin writing? I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing. As a pre-teen I was making neighborhood newspapers and selling them on our block for a nickel. (The sports report featured updates from my Little League games, and a typical weather report was “There was no weather yesterday. Some is expected next weekend.” As a teen I wrote and drew my own comic books, then scripts for live shows at my high school, and then short stories. At UCLA I contributed to the Daily Bruin and college magazines. I started getting paid for my writing soon after when my first book, a children’s book called A Sky for Henry, was published. I was editor-in-chief of a Southern California travel magazine throughout the 1980s, which is when I was really able to start visiting Disneyland all the time. I’ve been fortunate to have had my writing published in different magazines, and I’ve now had eight books published by three different publishing companies, including two young-adult novels, two nonfiction books about the 1960s, the two editions of The Disneyland Encyclopedia, and now The Disneyland Book of Lists.
What inspired you to make The Disneyland Book of Lists? I love the format. I’ve been reading and collecting list books on all sorts of topics (sports, movies, music) for decades. The most influential was The Rolling Stone Book of Rock Lists, which came out thirty years ago as a gift to anyone (like me) who grew up listening to classic rock music. It has 500 pages of lists about the greatest guitar solos, worst singers, best songs about cars, and hundreds of similar topics that are guaranteed to start debates and make you think about things you’ve never considered before. That’s what I wanted to do with The Disneyland Book of Lists: give you a different way to look at and think about Disneyland This may be a broad question, but how much research do you do? Any notable people you reach out to for your information? I did all the research, all the hundreds of park visits, all the writing, all the indexing (there are 2,200 paginated index items), and all the photographing myself. Nearly all of the lists are the results of my direct Disneyland experience, which goes back to the first visit I can remember in detail (1966, before there was a New Orleans Square). A few of the lists (such as the list of “13 Disneyland Jokes”), are obviously the result of my research outside the park. This book does include a half-dozen vintage photographs I didn’t take myself, thanks to the generosity of the Orange County Archives. And among the 250 lists are 19 I asked other people to write, just because I was so interested to hear what they had to say. For instance, I asked Donny Osmond to write about his youthful experiences entertaining at Disneyland, and his list was more fascinating and humorous than I could have hoped for. Same with the lists I got from Mouseketeer Lonnie Burr, and from one of Tomorrowland’s original mermaids, and from three Disney Legends, and everyone else—all fascinating fun. There’s one long list called “A Dozen Experts on Disneyland,” in which I asked 12 people to answer the same five questions about the park. I was thrilled that all these terrific writers and artists I respect –names you and your readers would certainly know—agreed to join in and give their honest opinions and advice. It’s really interesting to read the candid things the artist Shag has to say about Disneyland, just to name one example. Who designed the cover? Amy Inouye from Future Studio designed it. Besides the Disneyland Book of Lists, do you have any current projects that you wish to divulge? I’m always working on the next edition of The Disneyland Encyclopedia, which is a year away from being completed. The first edition had 500 entries; the new one will have over 600. And another 350 all-new photos, like the previous editions. |
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| To Learn more about Chris and his books visit his website : www.disneylandlists.com or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Santa-Monica-Press/ and even Twitter: twitter.com/SantaMonicaPres |
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Happy 60th Birthday Disneyland! This week we have a couple of trip reports. We also get a pretty big clue as to when Halloweentime will begin in Disneyland. And Disneyland and DCA have a couple of hidden Mickey quests that begin today, but be prepared to shell out some bucks, to participate. ~ Aladdin
Disney Legend Blaine Gibson has died We sadly say goodbye to another Legend that worked with Walt Disney. Blaine Gibson passed away at the age of 97. He had worked on several of Walt’s animated features, and his work can be seen in Disney Parks all over the world.
Adventures Thru Innerspace 30 Years Ago Disney Imagineers have created dozens of memorable attractions over Disneyland’s six decades, and Adventure Thru Inner Space certainly left an indelible mark on its guests. Disneyland 1967 reminds us that it has been 30 years since this attraction closed. For those who were able to experience shrinking down to the size of a snowflake, and even smaller, this will always be part of our favorite Tomorrowland memories.
Favorite food/snack, drink, treat jasonadam1978 asks what your favorite food, snack, drink, or treat is at the Disneyland Resort. Now, we all know about the standards: popcorn, churros, dole whips, mint juleps, and turkey legs, so tell us about some of the other treats that you enjoy!
July & August refurbishments, and Halloween time kicking off September 11th Some refurbishment dates have been released by Disney, and it appears that Haunted Mansion Holiday will be opening on September 11, this year. Here are some of the attraction closures for August and September!
Trip Report II: Disneyland Hotel – OFF the Bucket List! Ortizmo2000 along with his wife and son, have this photo filled trip report along with a few video clips. They begin their vacation by enjoying one of the cabanas at the Disneyland Hotel!
Looking for Mickey Quest Two new Search for hidden Mickey games begin today July 16th. The Disneyland Mickey Quest does cost $20 and the DCA Mickey Quest is $13. Their is a prize when you complete the quest.
Show Your 1955 Disney Side to Celebrate Disneyland’s 60th Birthday Disneyland is encouraging guest to show their 1955 side, on the July 17th to celebrate Disneyland’s 60th Birthday.
My trip for my birthday Big D tells us all about his birthday trip to Disneyland, his 1st time there in over 2 years.
Our armchair imagineers take on a couple of attractions at Disneyland Resort. ~ Trekkie Dad
Autopia upgrade: Wreck-It Ralph’s Sugar Rush Racers As Disney pushes the more rides tied to Movie Franchises, here’s an idea from Magic1 that updates Disneyland’s Autopia.
How to Fix World of Color Celebrate! Love or hate the new Disney California Adventure’s World of Color Celebrate! Some want to present their ideas on how to change it or improve it. DisneylandMaster has their own plan!
When you’re through reading all the news from Disney parks, check out the new threads below. ~ Trekkie Dad
Pokèmon Symphonic Evolutions- Greek Theater, July 11 2015 Robert3377 takes an adventure to the Greek Theater in LA staged a tribute to the Pokèmon games!
!!!ALL NEW!!! MiceChat Podcast – 4 Amazing Theme Park Things to Celebrate! It’s a countdown to fun on the MiceChat Podcast as we celebrate the biggest Southern Californian attractions of summer 2015. Disneyland may be getting all the attention with its 60th anniversary, but the biggest attractions are to be found outside the borders of the Happiest Place On Earth. We take you with us to the parks as we explore the Iron Reef, a Twisted Colossus, Springfield USA and a Diamond Celebration. There’s a lot of competition for your theme park dollars this summer and the big winner is . . . you!
Disneyland’s 2015 All-American College Band performs Disneyland’s 2015 All-American College Band performs a medley of attraction music in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle.
The Haunted Mansion Show Episode 34: Enter the Phantom For a while now, we have given you a brief glimpse at this “Phantom Manor” the Hatbox Ghost has been going on and on about. He’s also mentioned a certain shadowy figure circulating around this other haunted house, almost as if it was the master of the house itself. Somehow, he found a way to get to our beloved Haunted Mansion, and who knows what he plans to do…
The Sweep Spot Podcast: In this episode we continue our History of Tomorrowland Series. In part 2 we go from the year 1967 to 1985. The Tomorrowland 1967 Refurb is probably the best Tomorrowland that we have seen in its history. it is one we enjoy talking about and you will learn more about it. There was not a whole lot of changes in Tomorrowland until 1977, when Space Mountain was added. We leave off at 1985, just on the brink of two attractions that would be added, and we will talk about those in Part 3, next time. Also we have the latest in current events at the Disneyland Resort.
Disney Avenue Podcast: As you all know, the Disney community is unlike any other. It’s filled with amazing people who love to help each other out and enjoy reveling in the magic together. Although we are all different, we all share and have experienced that feeling you get when you walk into a Disney Park. We all know that feeling of safety and escape it provides us. Someone who really appreciates that comfort is a wonderful man named Guy Spagnoli.
Disafterdark: We are joined in The Mouses Head by Jen Peace & she gives us a brilliant Trip Report from her last visit to Walt Disney World. Jen & her family stayed at Fort Wilderness in a Caraven or Camper hired from http://www.greenbergrvflorida.com.
Mousetalgia! – An Unofficial Disneyland Podcast: Happy 60th, Disneyland! Team Mousetalgia offers our advice for dealing with the crowds at Disneyland on its 60th birthday, and then we take a look back at Disneyland’s origin story to see how different (and similar) things were back in 1955. We’ll take you back to opening day (when four-person-wide lines stretched a mile down Harbor Boulevard) on a brief tour of the original attractions that are no longer with us.
Unofficial Universal Orlando Podcast: On this episode we get in to The Great Butterbeer Debate, give you the latest news from around the parks, go to Seuss Landing with Maureen from Autism at the Park and then go Beyond the Globe with Nina and Darren in their new segment from Escapology on I Drive.
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Best Non-Disney Hotels at Walt Disney World
In addition to the Disney owned and operated resorts, there are several resorts on property available for booking which Disney doesn’t own. These hotels don’t share all the same benefits as a Disney owned and operated resort would (such as Disney’s Magical Express, Extra Magic Hours or the Disney Dining Plans). However, there’s still something to be said for location, location, location, and in most cases, your price point will be lower, perhaps much lower, and you may even be able to use your preferred loyalty program perks.
- BLAINE GIBSON – Disney Imagineer, Mentor, Friend, Missed
- Fab News: Giants, Color and Huge Habitats
- House of the Future, LEGO Edition
- Disneyland at 60: Four Leadership Gems from the Founder of the Disney University
- Dateline Disney World – Magic Kingdom News and Photos
- Planet Snoopy Expansion at California’s Great America
- Why Disneyland Thrives at 60 – Part 2 – Innovate
- Disney Notes – You’ve Got a Friend in Me
| The MiceEars Crew puts a lot of time and effort into making the Disney News Round-Up happen.Our thanks to: Editor CakvalaSC and the MiceEars Crew: Aladdin, Trekkie Dad, DLandFansAZ, & Dustysage. |
We hope to see you online again soon, Dusty and the amazing MiceChat crew! |
| If you have questions for Anthony our Editor or our MiceEars Disney News crew they can be e-mailed at: [email protected] or Follow him on Twitter @CakvalaSC | Flickr: flickr.com/photos/cakvalasc/ | Instagram: instagram.com/cakvala | |