Disneyland Project Tracker

[k_peek_2000]

Originally Posted by The Forbidden Eye

Techinally, it isn't an official opening. It's probably another dress rehersal like what happened wednesday. Some people say the show isn't really complete yet. It's supposed be officialy revealed on June 12th.

I just heard that too from a tech friend. So there is still hope. Count me in to get some good video of the new full show.

[MasterGracey1969]

I thought it was good as it is.

[nonob88]

Originally Posted by k_peek_2000

Anybody going to the official opening of Magical tonight?

I thought the official opening was june 12th? the day summer nightastic starts.

[MasterGracey]

There is no concept art offered for the new Disney Gallery, but the Summer 2009 edition of Disney twenty-three magazine has information on how the new Disney Gallery will work in its upcoming Bank of Main Street location.

Here's an excerpt from the article that talks about the Gallery's new home on Main Street. For the full article, buy a copy of the magazine at the parks, at your local bookstore, or online at DisneyStore.com

The following text is copyright Disney / Disney twenty-three

For the Love of Art
Disney twenty-three magazine | Summer 2009 | Pages 10 - 13

[ . . . ] Ever since the Disney Gallery closed its doors in the summer of 2007 to make way for the Disneyland Dream Suite (see story, Disney twenty-three, Spring 2009), old friends of the Gallery have been wishing and hoping for a reopening, elsewhere in the park, of this venerable venue. Well, friends, the wait is almost over. Taking over what has long been the Bank of Main Street, next door to the Opera House, the Disney Gallery will rise again this fall with the same comfortable, elegant feel that has long been its trademark.

"We took a long, hard look and turned over every store at Disneyland trying to find a place that would dignify and rarify the art in the same way that Walt's apartment did, and then we realized it was right under our nose, at the front of the park," Tony Baxter explains. "We have a bank, and certainly people thing of banks as rarified places where you protect and keep things. And it has an incredible antique vault that you can walk into. So it becomes this exquisite, shall I say elegant and prestigious, room."

When designing the look of the shows at the new Gallery, Kim Irvine wants the feel to be as inviting and innovative as in its original location. "I think it's fun to say that this was the big bank on Main Street, U.S.A., and it's been taken over by an art gallery. So there will be a lot of things left there, like old teller cages. You'll be able to see remnants of the bank background, and whatever show we're displaying, we'll be doing propping and overdressing. We're also designing the new Gallery to have a specific place where we can again put a centerpiece that will immediately inform guests what the show is all about when they walk in the door. Plus, we'll be keeping that big vault for our very, very, special paintings."

And you can take that to the bank!

[2DieFR]

A bank taken over by an art gallery?

[MasterGracey]

Originally Posted by 2DieFR

A bank taken over by an art gallery?

Yeah, it makes sense if we're visiting an old Main Street in 2009... but when we step onto Main Street, aren't we supposed to be entering Main Street circa 1905? Why would this small town's big bank be out of business and taken over by an art gallery?

So much for traveling back to the turn-of-the-century.

[Uncle Bob]

I agree, disappointing in that sense. But I do think it's a nice location for the Gallery and I really didn't like the AP queues as you passed through the gate though.

[twobluestripes]

Well, I was worried they'd take out all the "banky" stuff like the teller windows. I'm glad to hear they're not! They don't need to go to extreme with the whole "takeover" idea though. Other stores on Main Street have modern merchandise with some period decorations, and it doesn't look half-bad.

[k_peek_2000]

Originally Posted by nonob88

I thought the official opening was june 12th? the day summer nightastic starts.

June 11 is the media preview, it'll be in it's entirety for that. June 12 is when it's open to the public.

[themur]

Getting an annual pass is so 1905!!!! ;-)

[MasterGracey]

Originally Posted by themur

Getting an annual pass is so 1905!!!! ;-)

Nobody said that using the Bank as an Annual Passport processing center was thematically appropriate. It wasn't. But just because the Bank has been mis-used for years as an AP Center doesn't mean it should continue to be misused as an art gallery.

[FutureImagineer183]

I think this is a great idea and fitting! It's like hiding your most valuable paintings in a Giant Vault in a old time bank (which I don't think they do anymore). And come one I don't think the 30,000+ guests visiting are going to say "Wait a minute, are not we supposed to be in a 1905 Midwestern small town?? Why is there an art gallery in a bank?!?" You guys focus on trifles that are not even trifles!

[MasterGracey]

Originally Posted by FutureImagineer183

I think this is a great idea and fitting! It's like hiding your most valuable paintings in a Giant Vault in a old time bank (which I don't think they do anymore). And come one I don't think the 30,000+ guests visiting are going to say "Wait a minute, are not we supposed to be in a 1905 Midwestern small town?? Why is there an art gallery in a bank?!?" You guys focus on trifles that are not even trifles!

I'm sure 30,000+ guests don't notice a lot of things.

Does that mean they don't matter and should be eliminated?

[FutureImagineer183]

I'm not saying that this is in theme. It is somewhat off, but I can definately see this working. And what other use should it be for? I know it used to be a real bank. but I really don't see that happening. I think using it as the gallery is making good use of space that would otherwise be unused.

[MasterGracey]

Originally Posted by FutureImagineer183

I'm not saying that this is in theme. It is somewhat off, but I can definately see this working. And what other use should it be for? I know it used to be a real bank. but I really don't see that happening. I think using it as the gallery is making good use of space that would otherwise be unused.

If a real, working bank is no longer feasible on Main Street USA, then Disney should properly usher it into Yesterland. Remove it completely. If they want to make the space into an art gallery, then do it. Just do it right. Make it a proper gallery space as it would have been in the early 1900s. Not a 1900s-bank-turned-art-gallery. That makes zero sense and is another step towards eroding the overall Main Street USA theme.