4/17: America Sung

[Al Lutz]

Kevin on the end of a show that marked the end of an era at Disneyland. Discuss his article here!

DIRECT ARTICLE LINK: http://miceage.micechat.com/kevinyee/ky041708a.htm

[orbitalpunk]

I loved this article. and its so true. I miss America Sings very much. It is a strong image of my childhood memories at disneyland. I am grateful to be one of the lucky ones who actually have memories of the ride.

Thank you for taking the time putting this together.

[Eric5675]

April 17, 1987-

Mark V Monorails first day of operation

April 17, 2008-

First day of Mark VII Red operation at Disneyland. If things go as planned...

Slightly out of place, but it also happened this week so I thought I'd throw it in.

[danyoung]

An interesting article. I especially enjoyed the pics of the partially denuded AA's in America Sings - poor little creatures!

There's only one point I have to argue - the idea that Walt abhorred rides where everyone couldn't ride together. I've always felt that this was a misunderstanding of what Walt wanted in a theme park. He never said that every ride needed to be ridden by every person. What he wanted was a PLACE where parents and kids could have a good time together. Right from the start there were kiddie rides like Dumbo or the Midget Autopia that weren't appropriate for adults without kids. And even without a height restriction, the Matterhorn was in no way appropriate for the littlest ones. Walt wanted Space Mountain way back when, but the technology wasn't sophisticated enough to build it.

Disney parks are unique in that there are many many attractions that can be enjoyed by the whole family. But I've always felt strongly that this wasn't a hard and fast rule from Walt himself. And the further development of "adult" attractions wasn't against what Walt wanted - it was just a response to the marketplace needing more thrilling attractions.

[mark]

Great article- very well thought out.
I am thrilled to have this attraction on the 50th anniversary boxed set. Too bad Disney missed a great opportunity for a video boxed set as well!

[JBodine]

Disney today is NOT defined by "True to life" nature films. Today Disney is defined by Pixar & Animation. It's always easier for the bean counters to approve projects that clearly (ahem... "seem to") tie into the bottom line. Can you imagine a project proposal that did not have a movie tie in being approved?

[tasman]

For me there were two highpoints - 1969 as a highpoint for classic Disneyland, and 1995 for modern Disneyland. Capacity is important but not the dominant concern to me...theme, the physical appearance of the lands, and the quality of the attractions are important in my estimation. There is not a single time when all three of those factors were perfect, but those two years are best overall IMO.

[aashee]

Thank you for your article Kevin. The picture of the dismantled AAs we incredible. I must admit there is no other thing as Disneyland that reminds me of my childhood more than America Sings. Not ever being concerned that I was being shrunk in a microscope. Great article, tied in a lot of things together very well.

Thanks!
Chad

[JiminyCricketFan]

One more thing about older Disneyland, it was cleaner. They had more of those men in white quickly whisking any crumb or scrap of paper in to their bins. I think if we had a time machine and got to go back to this period, I think we would be surprised how clean and freshly painted things were.

[aquata]

I found this article interesting, esp. considering that I was born after 1988. To hear that many people consider the better times of DL were before I was even born is a little bizarre to me, purely because I've never known anything else. To my DL high point was the 50th anniversary. I completely agree that the fact that the park isn't running on full capacity is disheartening, I am old enough to have gotten to ride Skyway and the People Mover before they were taken down and I really don't understand why all that space has gone unused.

[bigwavedave]

I loved Kevin's article. I was wondering if Al or Kevin have interviewed some of the heads of Disneyland to find out what the status of a people mover return is?

[jgmklmhem]

Originally Posted by JBodine

Disney today is NOT defined by "True to life" nature films. Today Disney is defined by Pixar & Animation. It's always easier for the bean counters to approve projects that clearly (ahem... "seem to") tie into the bottom line. Can you imagine a project proposal that did not have a movie tie in being approved?

Expedition Everest is a recent one to not currently have a movie tie in...at least not yet.

[ManaByte]

(why hate Space Mountain? Because it represents the start of roller-coasters and height requirements at Disneyland, and the splitting up of the family that Walt abhorred. The Matterhorn was around before then, but had no height requirement).

The idea for Space Mountain came about before Walt died and John Hench ran the idea past him, and Walt gave it his OK.

[BC_DisneyGeek]

Thoughtful and entertaining reading as always, thanks Kevin.

I agree with danyoung that Walt was not necesscarily opposed to any thrill rides whatsoever.

However, that does bring up a good point. Disney really should build more E-ticket rides that families can ride together. The subs aside, all the recent big attractions (Indy, Everest, Tower of Terror) have been thrill rides. Hopefully Midway Mania will be a step in the right direction.

A family friendly E-ticket would be much better than something like Carsland imo, which appears will inculde a thrill ride along with some rides solely for the kiddies. Not quite the level of togetherness Walt strived for.

[xalesa]

Great article Al. Well thought out. I, too, remember as a young person riding America Sings and LOVING it!!! Yes, it's sad that there are very good ex ride platforms just sitting there....waiting....