Disneyland’s Main Street USA Gets New Music

DAPs Magic Disney News – by Mr. DAPs

Guests entering Disneyland starting on Monday might scratch their heads for a minute and ask themselves, “what’s different?” This is because on Monday January 9, 2011 the music loop that has been playing for 20 years on Main Street, USA will be changing.

This isn’t the first time that the music on Main Street, USA has changed. However, the last time it was changed was in 1992 when music recorded for Disneyland Paris was added to the loop. In this change, new songs will be added that were recorded specifically for Disneyland. Some of these songs include, “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis,” “In the Good Old Summer Time,” “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” “Oh You Beautiful Doll,” Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag,” and a recent tune given a turn-of-the-last-century arrangement, Michael Giacchino’s “Married Life” from Disney•Pixar’s “UP.”

DAPs Magic Disney News first was alerted to this change when the following letter surfaced on the internet:

“Okay, the truth can now be told: Last spring I was contacted by the folks at Disney Imagineering to record a new music loop for Disneyland’s Main Street, to replace the old one that had been playing at the Park for some 20 years. 

So during the summer I helped to select the new lineup of songs to be recorded — we kept about half of the previous song list, and added new “old” songs (including Maple Leaf Rag and Alexander’s Ragtime Band) as well as the “Married Life” tune from the movie “UP”.

For the arrangements, I used a good number of period arrangements, in addition to my own arrangements (as well as a handful of charts from trombonist Jim McMillen). We recorded all the tracks at Capitol Studios back in September, and now I can say with a good degree of certainty that the new music loop will start playing at the Park beginning Monday morning, January 9th. 

Thanks to all the musicians who helped make this project possible, as well as the production staff at Disney Imagineering. We hope you all enjoy our music at the Park for many years to come.”

Vintage attire optional! 

See you at Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom.
All the best,
Maxwell DeMille

 

The quoted portions of the above letter are from Dean Mora. Couple this with the new Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe near Coke Corner and the refurbishments going on the northwest side of Main Street, USA and clearly 2012 is a year for change for this iconic area of Disneyland. Clips of the new music can be heard at the Disney Parks Blog.

Now we want YOUR thoughts. What do you think of the changes? Are you excited that Main Street, USA is getting new music? Which song are you most looking forward to?