This week, the Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort released two new albums with music from parks featured in the resorts. It has been a few years since the last ones, and here’s a review of what you’ll find…
Disneyland Returning Tracks
The majority of both albums feature songs that have been on previous albums. Whether you’ve listened to the previous albums or not, here’s a little about the returning selections of music:
The format is always a great treat on more recent albums. It starts with a message from the train station, goes down Main Street, and ventures into each land. The Disney California Adventure segment (Disc Two) starts at Buena Vista Street and makes it’s way around as well. For having previous albums, I must say that these tracks were mastered quite beautifully this time around. I think time was truly taken to bring each piece of music to vibrancy. It was nice to see a full course of “it’s a small world”. And, they finally “fixed” the Splash Mountain Medley. What I mean is that previous incarnations had an unused song for after the Laughing Place segment, called “Sooner or Later.” In this incarnation they finally put in the somber version of “Laughing Place” for the right part of the attraction. Other personal favorites from these returning tracks are “Space Mountain”, “It’s Tough To Be A Bug”, “The Bakery Theme”, and the “Tarzan Medley”.
Disneyland New Tracks
Sorry, folks, no World of Color here. But, there’s plenty of other choice music tracks to make up for it. For Main Street the new area music’s “Married Life” is the choice song. I was also glad to see and hear a different Frontierland track, and a classic Disney selection, “Pecos Bill”. Another area music piece is “Touch The Sky” which is from Brave and part of the loop around Fantaasyland. Also to mention is “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” for the carousel. Over on the DCA side is “Suitcase And A Dream” from the newsboys show, and “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf” (although I would’ve like the Five and Dime version). Where it’s technically new to an “Official Album”, a couple tracks have been released on another album. These are “Welcome to Radiator Springs” and “Radiator Springs Racers”. Both are tracks I like a lot, but I wish a different selection from Mater’s would be featured. “Funiculi Funicila” rounds out the Cars Land selections.
My personal favorites of the new tracks are “The Little Mermaid Medley” which is a pretty good ride through soundtrack, “Midway Mania” and “The Cleaner” which are from Toy Story Midway Mania. And a wonderful Star Wars selection “The Throne Room” makes me feel like I just had an adventure with Star Tours.
Walt Disney World Returning Tracks
Just as the Disneyland album featured some returns, Disney World offered some as well. “Flitterin’” is a great Main Street selection, as always. “Bear Band Serenade” warms my heart to still be on an album. “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” is a personal favorite. And the Epcot tracks are always great to have. These are ones like “Desitny”, “Spaceship Earth”, “Impressions De France”, “Golden Dream”, and “Canada (You’re A Lifetime Journey)”. “Lights Motors Action” and “Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular” are great tracks from Disney Hollywood Studios. Another favorite of mine is the “CTX Theme” from Animal Kingdom. A little trivia, the music is from the attraction Dinosaur, which was originally named Countdown To Extinction, and hence “CTX” (I still call it Countdown To Extinction because I like the name better).
Like the Disneyland equivalent, each track was mastered beautifully. Being west coast centered, I will be biased this way but a few tracks are duplicates from the Disneyland Official Album, like “Grim Grinning Ghosts” and “The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room”. But, it doesn’t make it a bad album.
Walt Disney World New Tracks
There are some great song selections from new attractions and land areas. The most are from New Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom. “Casey Jr.”, “Circus Parade”, and “Be Our Guest” are all from this “new” land. Hearing them so distinctly now it’s funny that they come from the same land. Stylistically, the circus songs have a country vibe that doesn’t fit with the more symphonic Beauty and the Beast song, yet the land blends together so well. All three are terrific songs, though. I also greatly enjoyed the Midway Mania selections “You’ve Got A Friend In Me” and “Hot Potato”. Both of those are not on the Disneyland version, and helped make this distinctly a Disney World album. My favorite track overall from this album is “Test Track”. The ride has a great update, and I liked the old song, but this one has a very fresh and catchy vibe to it. I’d be thinking of it all while I was in Disney World, and even when I think of it away from the Resort it pops in my head. It was the best choice to stick on the album, in my opinion.
Conclusion
Being a huge fan of theme park music, and having quite the collection, this is a great addition to that collection. If you’ve never gotten a park album before, both of these are great albums to grab. And, though some tracks are duplicated on both, I do recommend picking up both. They’re great mastered songs that can bring a person back to the parks. Sometimes, too, you notice things in the music that you don’t notice in the attractions. Vice versa, it’s great to try to listen for the songs when you go back. I keep talking about how each album and track is mastered so well, but it’s something I wish had happened on previous albums. Each volume is at the same level as another. All songs are EQ’ed so precisely. It’s magic to the ear! As someone that has several park albums and listens again and again, it makes a big difference.
One suggestion about the albums: they are for sale not just in the parks, but on Amazon.com and iTunes for digital download! Not only does this mean no travel to grab the two disc albums, but many of the tracks are for individual purchase! I still recommend grabbing the whole album if you don’t have any, but it makes for less holes in the pockets if you have previous incarnations. Definitely compare what you already have, as some of the new tracks are not available for individual purchase.
That’s all for now. And, until next time, have a marvelous day!
