July 18, 2008: "35 Years of Magic"

[Werner Weiss]

Sure, it was primarily a marketing event. But it was more than that. There was a spectacular new parade. Two new live shows played on the Videopolis stage. And guests could win valuable prizes; in fact, one guest won a new car every day.

Link to "35 Years of Magic" at Yesterland

Please discuss it here.

[Katella Gate]

Thanks for covering the 35th anniversary celebrations: this was easily the most impressive, classiest marketing effort Disneyland ever put forth. Out of all the promotions over the years, this was the only one that I actually got excited over.

I've always been curious about celebrating the 35th in such a grand style. Was attendance soft and they needed to put the Park in the news?

[triesch]

Another great article, Werner!

I just missed the 35th anniversary celebration.

I grew up in Texas, and my first visit to Disneyland was on a family vacation in 1976 at the age of 10 (and I had to beg to get those two days added to our itinerary!).

[ Insert sad violin music here ]

I didn't get to go back until 15 years later in February of 1991. Needless to say, I was very excited to finally be back at the Happiest Place on Earth!

Unfortuantely, the Dream Machine promotion was all done by that time (this was before a Disney promotional year became 18+ months...) They were liquidating all the 35th anniversary merchandise during my visit. I excitedly bought several items with that logo, including a keychain which I carried for the next 8 years until it completely disintergrated!

At the time, that anniversary logo was very special to me, as it symbolized all the fun and excitement I had been missing. But I have to confess that when I look at it now my reaction is, well, blech! If Micechat had been around back then, I can only imagine what kind of comments that logo might have generated.

-Jon

P.S. I've been making up for those lost 15 Disneyland years ever since!!!

[DaveinPerris]

For me, the 30th and 35th Anniversary's were "da bomb"! I had my annual pass, and worked right down the street. Because of my low seniority with the phone company, I had to work split shifts. Start at 715am and work till 11am. Go to Disneyland until about 3 and work 345pm till 645pm, then go back to Disneyland [at least during the summer]. I remember the Everyone Wins Every Day! but, I cant remember if that was the 30th or the 35th Anniversary. That meant at the very least you would win an Orange Juice Popsicle. Yummm! And speaking of Yums!, I watched every showing of Dick Tracy I could. The cast actually sent out the actor that played Flat Top to ask why I kept coming back to see the show. I told him I couldnt express the goosebump inducing feeling that would wash over me every time I saw the show. Excellent use of the stage lighting, fantastic music and the best sound system EVER! For you youngsters out there, on either side of the Videopolis Stage there were stacks of about 12 18 inch subwoofers plus mid and tweeters that could make you lose bowel control. And this was on EACH side. None of this crappy 3 strips of speakers hanging from the front of the stage structure.
My best days would end up with going to Videopolis, getting those HUGE nachos and a large coke, and quietly sitting in the back watching the Intelligent lights [robot lights] move like a massive synchronized machine. OKAY, as Al says, "That'll do it for today".

PS> One Man's Dream Rocked too!

[sir clinksalot]

Even though I was 15 in 1990, it was the first "Big Disneyland Birthday" I remember and the start of my Disney fandom.

I still have a couple of coffee mugs from the 35th Anniversary celebration.

Thanks for the update Werner.

[Athlonacon]

I remember I got a set of green and purple bead necklaces from the performers from this show. I wish I still had them, they were just these cheap plastic things that you popped in and out with a small cylinder at the end, but they are a piece of Disneyland history now.

The only other promotion I remember as well as this one was the Spring 1994 "Pog Wild" promotion, which wasn't so much a "promotion" as it was a free set of pogs they gave you at the gate. See, pogs were unknown one day, then every single kid in the United States had a 2-foot stack of them the next, and the day after that no one ever even heard of a pog. It's like those suckers came and went so quickly, it sticks in my head that Disneyland decided to jump on the bandwagon for those 3 or so months when pogs ruled the world.

[mserenity]

There's a good look at the Party Gras Parade on the DVD Sing Along Songs - Disneyland Fun which was originally shot in 90. The footage is toward the end of the video.