Author: Doug Marsh
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The Arrival of the Partners – 30 Years Ago at Disneyland
Do you remember “The Globe of Death?” If you do, it will remain only a vivid memory. That is because, thirty years ago this month, Disneyland dedicated the Partners statue at the center of the park, creating a permanent tribute to the man who started it all, and the mouse that he said started it…
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Santa Returns for His Annual Holiday Visit to Redwood Creek Challenge Trail
For many Disneyland Resort guests, no visit during the holidays is complete until they have paid a call on Santa Claus. As he has for the last several years, Santa, with his elves, is greeting one and all at the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail in Disney California Adventure. Those mischievous elves love to play games,…
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That Christmas Playlist on Main Street, USA – Day Twenty-Three – 23 Days of Thanksgiving
Disneyland holds many things for which I am thankful. With the arrival of the holidays, a big one is the annual return of that familiar Christmas music on Main Street, USA. Who doesn’t love the warmth and nostalgia of Main Street, forever preserved as a quaint microcosm of small-town America, poised on the brink of…
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Step Inside the Reimagined Adventureland Treehouse and Meet Its New Residents
There’s a new family in town! The town, in this instance, is Adventureland, and the new family has moved into that spacious treehouse. The Disneyodendron Semperflorens Grandis (that means “large, everblooming Disney tree,” for those who do not speak Latin) was originally home to the Swiss Family Robinson, and in recent years to Tarzan and…
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I’m Thankful For Big Pieces of Colorful Plastic – Day Twenty – 23 Days of Thanksgiving
Most people tend to get lofty when giving thanks. Or else they consider “the little things,” easily overlooked until brought out and magnified in thoughtful prose. Today’s meditation is neither of these. This is about being thankful for big pieces of colorful plastic. Specifically, themed souvenir popcorn buckets and other food-adjacent ephemera offered up at…
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I Am Thankful For Mickey Mouse – Day Eighteen – 23 Days of Thanksgiving
As every Disney fan is well aware, November 18 is the “birthday” of Mickey Mouse. It was Disney archivist Dave Smith who established the “once and for all” birthdays for Disney characters, based on their first film appearance for the public. Some may quibble with that, but I for one am thankful that Mickey’s birthday…
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Souvenir Guidebook and Disneyland Today – 30 Years Ago at Disneyland
If you read this column last year, you may recall we explored the 1992 Disneyland Souvenir Guide, which weighed in at a hefty 32 pages. This month, we will be looking at the 1993 Souvenir Guidebook. The addition of “book” to the guide was most appropriate, as it had expanded to no less than 36…
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No Longer Banking on Main Street – 30 Years Ago at Disneyland
Last month’s article was all about an auspicious early July opening (Aladdin’s Oasis, if you missed it). This month’s is all about a quiet closure that took place near the end of July. One of Main Street’s older tenants, in continuous operation since 1955 in fact, closed its doors for the last time on July…
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You Ain’t Never Had a Feast Like This! – 30 Years Ago at Disneyland
It will surprise most readers that this month’s column is not about July 17, 1993. Yes, Disneyland did turn 38 years old that day (or on July 18, depending on how contentious you are). But July of 1993 had another auspicious opening, though not for a venue that would have the lasting impact of the…
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Free Exhibit Hosted by Van Eaton Galleries & Auctions Offers Looks at a Staggering Array of Disneyland Artifacts Before They Are Sold Off
The Van Eaton Galleries & Auctions of Studio City is hosting a free pop-up exhibit at the Burbank Town Center Mall. The Joel Magee Disneyland Collection is described as the largest privately owned collection of Disney Parks memorabilia in the world. Highlights include ride vehicles, props, signage, vintage souvenirs, and Disneyland attraction posters, including some…
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A Very Special Episode of Blossom – 30 Years Ago at Disneyland
With all the hoopla surrounding the opening of Mickey’s Toontown thirty years ago earlier this year, I managed to get past another memorable event that took place at Disneyland in January of 1993. Fortunately I have photos to share, and some rather fuzzy screen shots from an episode of a quintessential 90s sitcom, Blossom. Blossom…
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Bring the Whole Family! – 30 Years Ago at Disneyland
After spending so much time on Toontown this year, this month’s entry will get us back into and around the rest of Disneyland. In May of 1993 (May eighth, to be precise) I again renewed my Annual Passport. This time it cost $119, but I felt the expense was worth it, considering the use I…
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Universal Studios Hollywood Rolls out the Cars of Fast X
Fast X, the tenth entry in the Fast and Furious franchise, hits theaters on Friday, May 19. To celebrate the release, Universal Studios Hollywood is giving their visitors a chance to get up close and personal with some of the film’s biggest stars. You may not be able to spot Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, or…
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Aladdin’s Royal Caravan – 30 Years Ago at Disneyland
Parades have been a part of Disneyland from the very beginning. The live TV special on the park’s inaugural day included a unique one. It would be followed through the years by 60 or so different parades that have since strutted down Main Street. Aladdin’s Royal Caravan made its debut on April 2, 1993, running…
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Long Live Fantasmic! – Why Trouble Doesn’t Spell the End for Fantasmic!
There was an outpouring of emotion as people witnessed the recent fiery demise of the massive Maleficent-inspired dragon that is the most memorable aspect of Disneyland’s Fantasmic! The spectacular nighttime water show has performed thousands of times since its debut in May of 1992. For many, Fantasmic! is as iconic as Main Street, the Matterhorn,…
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Mickey’s Toontown (Part 2) – 30 Years Ago at Disneyland
This month— the suburbs. But first, a short diversion. How should we get there? We could walk (it’s a pleasant walk). Or, we could take the Jolly Trolley. Despite what anyone may have told you, thirty years ago at Disneyland the Jolly Trolley was a real thing. It really traveled along the tracks in Toontown,…
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New EngineEar Souvenirs Shop in Mickey’s Toontown Offers a Boxcar Full of Hidden Delights
EngineEar Souvenirs quietly opened for business between the premiere of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway and the new Mickey’s Toontown. Guests exiting through this gift shop, or stepping through the front door to browse the fully stocked aisles may have noticed a lot of train memorabilia, much of it directly referencing Disney productions, past and…
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Mickey’s Toontown (Part 1) – 30 Years Ago at Disneyland
Last month we looked at the grand opening of Mickey’s Toontown, January 25th, 1993. Or the 24th. Or 26th. This month I anticipated writing up a complete tour of the new land, but after going through the many, many photos that I took that day, I decided to present Toontown over two months. This month…
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An Early Look at Super Nintendo World by Day and By Night
Universal Studios Hollywood will open Super Nintendo World to the public on Friday, February 17. As a special reward for their annual pass holders, a series of preview days were announced, allowing members who successfully registered on line to spend two hours (more or less) in the new land. Our visit was scheduled for Sunday,…
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Opening Mickey’s Toontown – 30 Years Ago at Disneyland
Serendipity is a word I have always enjoyed. It sounds as joyful as its meaning: the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. This month’s column, all about the opening of Mickey’s Toontown at Disneyland 30 years ago, falls on the same week that there will be a dedication…
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An Unexpected Visit to Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood
Guests strolling Universal Studios Hollywood on Thursday, January 12 were offered an unusual treat. An unexpected “Technical Rehearsal” of their Super Nintendo World allowed not only access to the eagerly anticipated expansion, but an opportunity to experience its signature attraction, Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge. There was nothing unusual on the announcement board in the upper…
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Happy Holidays! – 30 Years Ago at Disneyland
Today, Disneyland has a staggering array of holiday-themed promotions, one blending into another through several months of the year. It may seem hard to believe, but just thirty years ago fans of the Happiest Place on Earth had to be content with a few one-day events, and then the “big” Christmas season after Thanksgiving. Here…
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A New Train Station and Toy Shop – 30 Years Ago at Disneyland
1992 may not have been the most “original” year in Disneyland history (even the “original” promotion had been carried over from 1991), but the end of the year saw two new venues open in the northernmost part of the happiest place on earth. On November 25, the new Toontown Railroad Station opened, and on December…
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A Daytime Parade to Remember – 30 Years Ago at Disneyland
This month’s column was supposed to be about a very memorable 1992 daytime parade that ran from June 19 to November 15. “The World According to Goofy” may have seemed a somewhat random choice, unless one remembers that Goofy made his Disney debut in 1932. For his 60th birthday, Disneyland created a zany parade tracing…