The Journal of a Disneyland Annual Passholder

Recently I attended the launch day of the Disneyland Resorts Diamond Celebration which involved both parks open for 24 hours. This was also the debut of all 3 nighttime spectaculars in both parks created to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Disneyland. So how was the crowds? Think of New Years Eve+Christmas+24 Hour Day and you have an idea what it was like. By 2pm, Disneyland Park was closed off as the park reached capacity. I was lucky to park hop just before noon so I was spared the pain of waiting outside. A lot of groups that got there early enough camped out for Paint the Night. Even one of my stomping grounds, Magical Map saw full houses every performance! I was one of the few that was able to see all 3 new shows during the 24 hour day as I had the day smartly planned out. After securing a 3am fastpass for World of Color Celebrate, I headed to Disneyland and stayed there until after the fireworks. Heres my review of all 3 shows: Paint The Night: New Electrical Parade...

Steve Davison is a well known person among Disney Parks fans. He's the current Lead Creative Executive of Parades and Spectaculars as of this year after spending the past few years being the Vice President of Parades and Spectaculars. He had his beginnings with the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim when he used to be a model maker when he began his career in 1981 with the Disneyland Entertainment Art Department. After being an Art Director and a Senior Art Director with the department for several years, he became a show director and had his first big test with It's a Small World Holiday which became an instant hit and put him on Disney's radar. In 1999, he was tasked with creating a fireworks show to replace the aging Fantasy in the Sky fireworks show. For a person who had no experience with fireworks, this was no easy task. However, he overcame those obstacles and created "Believe! Theres Magic in the Stars" for the 45th Anniversary of Disneyland. The show was ...

It seems like yesterday that I saw World of Color for the very first time. When I first saw the show, it wasn't even open to the public yet. It was a Cast Member preview that my sister took me to. Ever since I saw the show for the very first time, it became my favorite nighttime spectacular in the resort. So you can say I'm an "Original" fan of the show. For the first 5 years, i've seen the show ever changing and people leaving happy that they saw this amazing show over the years. I never thought I would be obsessed with a show until this show opened. It changed the way I play at the Resort whenever I'm there for a full day. It made me love Disney even more! You might be wondering why this post is some sort of a reflection post. Well, its because it pretty much is. When the Diamond Celebration at the Disneyland Resort begins, a new World of Color show will debut which will be as spectacular as the "Classic" World of Color has been fo...

Rhianna reference aside, I couldn't be anymore excited about the upcoming Diamond Celebration at the Disneyland Resort! This new celebration will be as big as the 50th Golden Celebration that was known as the "Happiest Homecoming on Earth" and the "Happiest Celebration on Earth. But unlike 10 years ago in which all Disney Parks participated, it will be just the Disneyland Resort celebrating. During the 50th, several things debuted during the course of the celebration at Disneyland which is as follows for both parks: Disneyland Park: Walt Disneys Parade of Dreams (Ended in 2008) Remember Dreams Come True Fireworks Spectacular (Ended in 2014) Buzz Lightyears Astro Blasters Renovated Tiki Room, Space Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean and Jungle Cruise Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years (scaled back to "The Disneyland Story featuring Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln in 2009) Disney California Adventure: Pixars Block Party Bash  ...

10 years ago, Disney put on a "Golden" celebration to celebrate Disneyland in Anaheim, California turning 50. Now they aim to do it again with Diamonds which is a common symbol in wedding celebrations (used to be 75). This time, the emphasis will be on Nighttime Spectaculars which will once again feature advancements in technology in ways that have never been done before in Disney Parks! More information about the 60th will be announced in the coming months. Last night, Disney Parks Blog readers got the chance to be at Disneyland to hear whats to come for the 60th and all 4 announcements are the 4 major attractions for the celebration. Diamond Decorations During the 50th, Sleeping Beauty Castle was decorated in beautiful golden decorations which featured 5 crowns representing a decade in Disneyland History. For the 60th, the castle will be decorated in diamonds and shades of blue and Carthay Circle Theatre in Disney California Adventure will also receive ...

Its no secret that World of Color was designed to be flexible. With such a flexible system, scenes can be either modified or switched out for newer scenes. Steve Davison envisioned the show to be like a living "Fantasia" in which each change would bring in something new to the show. No show in Disney Parks history had the ability. Even Davison himself didn't think of changing the show material in the other shows he did in the past. Back in 2009, Steve Davison presented twice, one at California Adventure and one at the inaugural D23 Expo in Anaheim, the intended lineup for the first version of World of Color. But when the show opened in 2010, much of the material had been switched around. Many fans thought that Bob Iger, the CEO of the company was responsible for the changes but thats only half true. Steve Davison and his team also had a hand in changing the show in places they deemed to not have worked as they hoped. For example, Chernabog was originally supposed...

Knotts Scary Farm Paradise pier (Note: Stock photo from July 20th) Most tourists usually use Disneyland as a hub and center of their vacation in SoCal as they travel to other SoCal destinations from there (unless they have a hotel in Los Angeles). As a local however, I did things a lot different this past October 4th. Since 2009, I've made the trip to Knotts for their Halloween Haunt event and usually has me going there close to 5pm for my pre scare dinner. This year, I did something that I wanted to do: Go to Knotts FROM Disneyland. http://www.rideart.org Anaheim has a transportation line for its "Resort area" called the Anaheim Resort Transportation (known as ART) and it serves as a connection to the local destinations around Anaheim and some of the neighboring cities in the county. 2 years ago, they extended a line to Buena Park which connects Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm (Line 18). Because of the nature of the line's route, it doesn't operat...

2005: The Year of New Beginnings I began my adventures as an Annual Passholder for Disneyland back on March 2005, 2 months before the 50th Anniversary celebrations at Disneyland was to start. Back then, the Premium was less than $500 and you had to take your photo for your AP card at the Annual Pass center in Disneyland after you got the pass. There was no such thing as monthly payments when I got mine, it was either you had the money or you don't buy the pass at all. I was young for my age. Being only 13 years old when my mom bought my pass, I was somewhat restricted to leaving early but being able to arrive either at park opening or an hour after it opened.In addition, I was dropped off at Downtown Disney in order to use the monorail to get in. I began having the urge to go every week, evident that I either ask if I can go or simply just get ready to go to Disneyland without asking the night before and they would allow it if the latter happened. Once it got to the 2nd half ...

Its been an interesting 2014 at Disneyland. Not only does it include my usual routine of Indiana Jones, World of Color and the occasional chats with my Cast Member friends, it also included an unexpected new thing to do: Watch Magical Map more than once per visit. In its first year last year, I watched the show every now and then. It wasn't until January that I began watching the show everytime I visited. When my January term started, the off-season at the Resort began and I got off early enough in the 3 days that I went to school that I went to Disneyland to have some fun till my mom got off work. Since I couldn't stay late for World of Color, Magical Map became the ideal substitute during weekday visits to the parks. The show is fun and the performers make the show alive. When I started uploading pics I took of the show on Instagram, thats when my obsession with Magical Map grew. Any performer at Map that has an Instagram found me through the hashtags I use on my picture...