Tag: Sunday Spotlight
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Sunday Spotlight: A Trip to Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island at Disneyland
One of the gems at Disneyland is hidden right in plain site. Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island is passed by thousands of guests on a daily basis. Just a fraction of them actually take the trek across the Rivers of America to explore it, however. Originally known simply as Tom Sawyer Island, the island…
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Disney Harmony in Color – Sunday Spotlight
Today I write my last Sunday Spotlight from Japan. To say it has been a great trip would be a major understatement. While I haven’t gotten my trip report up yet for Tokyo Disneyland (you can see Tokyo DisneySea here), I did feel like there were a few things that were worth throwing the spotlight…
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Sunday Spotlight: it’s a small world Holiday Lighting Ceremony
Several years ago I had the opportunity to attend a media event that was a special event for it’s a small world Holiday Lighting Ceremony at Disneyland. This was a brief, but beautiful, ceremony that was full of magic as the facade of it’s a small world was brought to life for the holiday season…
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Sunday Spotlight: Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage
Mr. Daps focuses this week’s Sunday Spotlight on Sinbad’s Storybook Voyage at Tokyo DisneySea.
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Sunday Spotlight: Instant Concert, Just Add Water with Goofy
Through the years there have been some fun little magical moments that have come and gone in the parks that truly were hidden gems that were placed right in front of us. One of these was Instant Concert, Just Add Water With Goofy at Disney California Adventure. This show was only about five minutes long…
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Sunday Spotlight: A Moment with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
There have been many magical moments that I have experienced through the years, first as an Annual Passholder and then as a Magic Key holder, at Disneyland. One that always seems to pop up and bring and make me smile was a day when Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs enjoyed a day together at…
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Sunday Spotlight: Space Shuttle Endeavour
For this week’s Sunday Spotlight I thought we would take a trip to the past and remember one of the most magical things I’ve seen in the skies over the Disneyland Resort. It isn’t fireworks, lightning, or Tinker Bell. Instead, it’s the Space Shuttle Endeavour. This ship made its last flight aboard a specially modified…
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Sunday Spotlight: DJ’s Haul-O-Ween Dance ‘n Drive
There are plenty of fun and entertaining things to experience during Halloween Time at the Disneyland Resort. Some of these things come back on a yearly basis, and some of these things disappear. One of the entertainment offerings that has disappeared is DJ’s Haul-O-Ween Dance ‘n Drive. This was a Halloween (or should we say…
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Sunday Spotlight: EPCOT Forever
EPCOT Forever debuted at EPCOT on October 2019. It was originally created as an interim show between Illuminations: Reflections of Earth and Harmonious, which debuted in the fall of 2021. The show is a musical celebration of the history of EPCOT. It returned to EPCOT after the conclusion of Harmonious in the spring of 2023.…
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Sunday Spotlight: Lightning at Oogie Boogie Bash
There have been many magical moments through the nearly two decades of Daps Magic that are core memories. As I sit here thinking about them, I think of meeting Richard Sherman for the first time, the first day of Disneyland’s 50th anniversary, my first press event. All of these moments were absolutely magical and I…
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Sunday Spotlight: Olaf in Fantasyland
There was a time when you could find Olaf in Fantasyland at Disneyland. This goes back about ten years ago when Olaf arrived on the roof of a building where Anna and Elsa were meeting. He arrived in November 2013 and immediately began delighting guests throughout the day and the night as they waited to…
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Sunday Spotlight: Frozen – Live at the Hyperion
Welcome back to another Sunday Spotlight! This week we take a look back at Frozen – Live at the Hyperion. This theatrical recreation of Frozen was presented at Disney California Adventure from May 2016 through March 2020. The show basically followed the plotline that was seen in Frozen, the musical movie that was released by…
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Sunday Spotlight: Phineas and Ferb’s Rockin’ Rollin’ Dance Party
Phineas and Ferb’s Rockin’ Rollin’ Dance Party was a show/dance party at Disney California Adventure. It opened on July 9, 2011. It continued at the park until November 2, 2014. It originally came to the park when Pixar Play Parade left the park. The show was based around the television show Phineas and Ferb and…
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Sunday Spotlight: Recent Disneyland Birthday Celebrations
This week Disneyland celebrated its 64th birthday. This year, the celebration was capped off with a cavalcade that was offered twice throughout the course of the day. In recent years, this has been one of the offerings that has been utilized to celebrate the day. There have also been ceremonies on the steps of the…
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Sunday Spotlight: Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is an enclosed roller coaster currently found at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort. It also can be found at the Walt Disney Studios at Disneyland Paris. However, this version will be closing on September 1, 2019. The attraction features the music of Aerosmith as guests race through…
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Sunday Spotlight: March of the First Order
The March of the First Order is a show that was performed first at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and then a variation at Disneyland. In it, Captain Phasma led her troops through Hollywood Blvd while looking for Resistance spies. This show ended its run at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on June 6, 2019, before Star Wars: Galaxy’s…
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Sunday Spotlight: Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage
It is very rare that a stage show opens the same day as the animated feature of the same name does. However, Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage did just that. Opening on November 22, 1991, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage tells the story of Beauty…
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Sunday Spotlight: Shanghai Disney Resort
On June 16, 2016, Shanghai Disney Resort opened its gates to the world. It is located outside of Shanghai, China in a town called Pudong. It is the second Disney theme park in China, after the original one in Hong Kong. Although Disney began thinking about a second China Disney theme park in the very…
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Sunday Spotlight: Donald Duck
Since 1934, Donald Duck has been making people laugh with his hot temper and ability to get into trouble. Appearing first in The Wise Hen. The iconic voice, originated by Clarence Nash, was actually pitched to Walt Disney by Nash as the voice of a goat. Walt Disney insisted that no, this wasn’t the voice…
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Sunday Spotlight: Farley the Fiddler
Walk through Frontierland on a weekday and there is a good chance you will see a fiddle playing cowboy entertaining folks. The fiddler is Farley the Fiddler who has been performing at the Disneyland Resort for 40 years! His real name is Gary Francisco and after Monday, he will be retiring from his career at…
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Sunday Spotlight: Mickey’s Mix Magic
Mickey’s Mix Magic is a nighttime spectacular at the Disneyland Resort that was created to help celebrate Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse’s 90th birthdays. It is an upbeat dance party feeling show that always uses projections but also is coupled with fireworks as well. Mickey’s Mix Magic runs about eleven and a half minutes and…
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Sunday Spotlight: Astro Orbiter
There are a few icons at Disneyland that just can’t be missed. Obviously, there is Sleeping Beauty Castle, the Matterhorn and the other mountains, the Train Station, and the Mark Twain. Another one, that might be first on the list, is the Astro Orbiter. It is nearly impossible to walk through the Hub and not…
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Sunday Spotlight: The Great Movie Ride
The Great Movie Ride was an attraction that also was the centerpiece of Disney’s Hollywood Studios when it opened as the Disney-MGM Studios. It was a celebration of the movies and lived in a replica of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. It was iconic and beloved my some while tolerated by others. History of The Great Movie…
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Sunday Spotlight: Mickey’s Toontown
Mickey’s Toontown is a land found behind Fantasyland at Disneyland. There is also one at Tokyo Disneyland called simply Toontown. The land is was inspired by Toontown in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? It is meant to recreate the world that Mickey Mouse and the gang live in. It generally closes early on evenings with fireworks. History…