Tickets are still available! Disneyland’s famed Tahitian Terrace to reopen for one night only

Disneyland Tahitian Terrace menu by Miehana[

ANAHEIM, CA—Disneyland is preparing to re-open its legendary Tahitian Terrace restaurant to allow guests to once again surround themselves in its tropical island splendor as they dine in the heart of the theme park’s jungles of Adventureland.

The catch is that the restaurant will be opening for one night only, on Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012.

“We’ve been planning this for years,” said Dave Breiland, host of the Mousetalgia podcast, which is hosting the evening along with vacation experts MEI Travel. “Disneyland has been working with us to develop the event, and everything has finally fallen into place. I think this night is going to be something very, very special.”

The Tahitian Terrace is a restaurant and dinner show that existed at Disneyland from 1962 until 1993, when the restaurant was closed and the location was re-themed to become “Aladdin’s Oasis,” and a new dinner show based on the popular animated film was offered. Aladdin’s Oasis was short-lived as a dinner show, and the space has not been used regularly as a dining location since.

In its heyday, the Tahitian Terrace served menu items such as Barbecued Pineapple Ribs, Broiled Teriyaki Steaks, and Catamaran Chicken Salads, along with its famous Polynesian Rum Cake and Jungle Julips. The menu for the special October opening will be inspired by this original menu.

The original dinner show featured Polynesian dancers, who would shimmy to the music of a three- piece band playing traditional island music. The dancers would wear various outfits appropriate for each dance, whether it be a hula dress or a Tahitian grass skirt. The show ended with a dramatic firewalk and a dance with whirling, flaming knives.
Mousetalgia’s event will imitate the original show as closely as possible. Disneyland’s entertainment department is designing both the show and the area decor, which will completely disguise the current “Aladdin”-based theming and bring the tropical paradise back to the theater for the night.

Additionally, WED Imagineer Rolly Crump will be attending the event to discuss his role in creating Adventureland’s decor, and his work on Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room. Crump worked directly for Walt Disney on many elements of Disneyland Park.

“The Tahitian Terrace has been gone for almost two decades, and fans have been longing for the chance to revisit it since the day it closed,” Breiland said. “Finally, here’s their chance.”

Tickets to the event are $259 per person. Visit http://www.mousetalgiastore.com to purchase tickets, or for more information.

For more information, contact Kristen Pfeifer at (415) 260-6911, or email kristen@mousetalgia.com.

The Land of Disney

This is a parody of adventure movie trailers. It was shot on iPhone at Disneyland in Anaheim, California and edited in iMovie. Enjoy it on YouTube or in higher quality on Vimeo.

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A Very Jungle Cruise Christmas

Why doesn’t the Jungle Cruise have a Christmas season overlay?

Every year at Disneyland the Christmas decorations go up for the holidays and even some of the park rides and attractions get into the Christmas spirit with special theming.

The fireworks show becomes “Believe…In Holiday Magic” and concludes each night with magical Southern California “snow” falling. The Haunted Mansion is changed into the home of Jack Skellington for a “Nightmare Before Christmas”-style “Haunted Mansion Holiday”. Santa’s Reindeer Round-Up can be found at Big Thunder Ranch. Even the ever-singing tiny dolls in “it’s a small world” add Christmas carols in a multi-cultural holiday celebration.

But each year at Christmas time, Adventureland’s oldest attraction gets left out of the festivities.

Ever wonder what it might be like if Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise had a Christmas overlay, too? No? Well I’m going to show you anyway, as I present. . .

“JINGLE CRUISE!”

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Those of you adventurers now entering the world-famous Jingle Cruise, please notice there are two lines. The one on the right is for those on Santa’s Naughty list and the other on the left is for those of you who are Nice. Ma’am, I think you’re on the wrong line.

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention, please. Would the party that lost their Christmas shopping money, a roll of 50 $100.00 bills wrapped in a red ribbon, please report to the turnstile … we have good news for you. We found your red ribbon.

As you step into our Jingle Cruise boat, some of you might want to come sit near the engine and our Christmas chimney (pointing to the smokestack near the center cushion). We like to balance out the boat so when we sink, we go down evenly.

Everyone turn around and wave good-bye to the folks on the dock we’ve left behind. Smile! They may never have a chance to unload that stale fruitcake on you again.

I wasn’t always a Skipper here. Before I came to the Jingle Cruise, I worked at NASA one Christmas season as an rocket repairman. But I left on medical leave because of a bad case of missile-toe.

As we leave the last outpost of civilization, we travel deep into the mouth of the Irrawaddy river of Asia into a tropical Christmas rainforest. Feel that wetness on your faces? Yes, that’s rein-deer. Santa never could potty-train them.

Elephant Pool:
Look at all of the elephants out here in the water today! It’s okay to take pictures… they’re modeling the trunks they got last Christmas.

All of those pachyderms in the water are wading for tonight’s visit from Elephanta Claus!

Safari Outpost:
My friend @mainstreetjake warned me to be on the lookout for gorillas in the mist. Uh-oh, remember what Ralphie’s dad said? Those gorilla’s don’t. They’re gonna shoot their eyes out!

Every year at this time, one of those gorillas likes to beat his chest and swing from Christmas cake to Christmas cake. We call him Tarzipan!

Schweitzer Falls:
And now, we’re approaching the beautiful Schweitzer Falls, named after that famous African explorer, Dr. Albert Falls. And over there is a recreation of his beautifully-decorated Christmas tree, named after that famous African shrubbery, Dr. Albert Tree.

Nile River:
We’ve turned onto the Nile River at Christmas time and if you don’t believe in Santa you must be in denial.

Bull Elephants:
Look at all the Christmas phants here on our Jingle Cruise! You can see the pachyderms are Christmas phants because they have no el (Noel).

My friend @maintreetjake tells me that if you ever wanted to see what his mother-in-law looks like eating fruitcake, well look right there. *points to bull elephant*

African Veldt:
Our Jingle Cruise now brings us to the Africa veldt, where the tigers and cheetahs are awaiting a visit from Santa Paws.

The lions are also in a festive mood, eating that zebra with their sandy claws.

Don’t worry kids! Those lions are really just opening their Christmas presents. Look at that zebra-print gift wrap!

My friend @mainstreetjake warned me that this is what happens when you drink too much egg nog! Look at the hyenas! They’re ho ho hoing their way to the naughty list!

Safari Trapped by Rhino:
That rhino’s wearing his Christmas present: a new horn. The lost safari thinks it looks sharp on him.

Hippo Pool:
Uh-oh, the water wings those hippos got for Christmas are defective and need to be returned: They’re blowing bubbles! Don’t worry, the hippos only charge when they’ve used up all their Christmas cash.

Headhunter Country:
We’re entering headhunter country now. The skeletal remains of my last crew are over there in that canoe. They always enjoy Christmas — they’re still smiling.

We’re deep in headhunter country now. That shrunken head is sad he couldn’t go to the Christmas party. He had no body to go with.

Native Village:
These African natives really get into the Christmas spirit. They love to sing “Jungle Bells, Jungle Bells, Jungle all the way!”

Falls:
Beautiful Schweitzer Falls is upon us again. The overhanging rock formation will afford us a different view this time. I have a special treat for you, folks. You may never have seen this before… there it is: the backside of water!

No we didn’t retheme that joke for Christmas. Christmas is the time to repeat favorite things. And if you don’t believe me you must be in denial. Don’t make me go back there!

Trader Sam:
Ah, there’s Trader Sam! When Trader Sam was a boy, his parents wouldn’t let him have a dog for Christmas. They made him eat elves like everybody else.

Last year Trader Sam had grandma for Christmas dinner. She was a bit dry and leathery so he used plenty of grave-y.

One year over the holidays, Trader Sam gave up eating meat and tried the Christmas tree diet. You guessed it, he got tinsel-itus!

One chilly Christmas day, Trader Sam almost missed Santa… only got a cold shoulder.

Return to Civilization:
And now, probably the most dangerous part of our journey- the return to last-minute Christmas shopping!

Unloading:
If you enjoyed the time we spent together, this has been the world-famous Jingle Cruise. If not, this was it’s a small world holiday.

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My thanks to Danielle @DeeMagicGurl and Jake @mainstreetjake for the inspiration of this column. Illustration by josh pincus is crying. 

Enjoy your Dole Whip in that Magic Kingdom in the Sky, Art

RIP, Art Gilmore, announcer, movie trailer narrator and the voice of Disneyland’s Enchanted Tiki Room pre-show video about Hawaii and pineapples. I think you’ll instantly recognize his voice from this video clip of the preshow video:

Among the thousands of motion picture traiers he narrated, was Walt Disney’s Dumbo. Watch the original Dumbo trailer:

Take a look at the long list of TV shows and movies Art was involved in on the Internet Movie Database.

News of Arthur Wells Gilmore’s death was published this month, although he died on Sept. 25th of natural causes at the age of 98.

I hope you’re enjoying a heavenly treat of Dole Whip in that Magic Kingdom in the sky, Art.

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Tinker Bell wants to make an iPhone 4 in blue at Disneyland’s Pixie Hollow

The fairies and pixies at Disneyland discovered the iPhone 4 on our summer vacation this year. First we met Silvermist inside Pixie Hollow, home of Tinker Bell. Silvermist was so intrigued by my iPhone 4 that she called Tink over to take a look at it. Then she asked Tink to make her one just like it, but in her favorite color!

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Actor Tony Curtis was buried with his iPhone – Contact Madame Leota!

There are news reports that the late actor Tony Curtis was buried with his iPhone.

Since at Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion there’s always room for one more, perhaps Madame Leota tried to make contact with Tony Curtis about the role he could play there that many are just dying to get…

Madame Leota: “Serpents and spiders, tail of a rat,
Call in the spirits, wherever they’re at.”
Tony Curtis: “A call on my iPhone, well look at that!
AT&T sent up a heavenly chat.”

Madame Leota: “Rap on a table, it’s time to respond,
Send us a message from somewhere beyond.”
Tony Curtis: “Txt msg 2 U:
Marilyn’s still a hot blonde!”

Madame Leota: “Goblins and ghoulies from last Halloween,
Awaken the spirits with your tambourine.”
Tony Curtis: “I’ll install an app they call iTambourine, then you’ll hear me play it on iPhone’s touchscreen.

Madame Leota: “Creepies and crawlies, toads in a pond,
Let there be music from regions beyond.”
Tony Curtis: “I synced all the songs of which I’ve grown quite fond… Heavenly music from iPhone’s now on!”

Madame Leota: “Wizards and witches wherever you dwell,
Give us a hint by ringing a bell.”
Tony Curtis: “I’ve plenty of ringtones, not just an old bell. I’ll play them for you, every one of them’s swell!”

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Disney’s “Let the memories begin” promotional campaign

Disney’s latest ad campaign is ripping off Pee-Wee’s Playhouse where each week the King of Cartoons would say, “Let the cartoon… begin!”

Disney is hoping that “Let the memories begin” will convince you to take a Disney vacation in the next 12 months. Do you think it will work? Frankly, I think they’ve done much better and this is lame.

I’m just sayin’…

At 3:27 into this video you can hear the King of Cartoons start introducing that episode’s animated feature “Let the cartoon….. begin!” YouTube video

Official Disney Parks App… The Bad News

Good news! Disney is far enough along in the development of their first official app for Disney theme parks that they are sharing screenshots from the forthcoming app and have written more about it here on Disney.com

This Disney app will have everything we’ve been wanting from an official Disney app for the parks: actual wait times based directly on Disney Parks information; real-time FASTPASS availability so you’ll know if they are still available for attractions you’re interested in before you make the trek to that part of the park;. if FASTPASS is available, the app will show you remotely the next return time. For example, if you can still get a FASTPASS, the application will indicate something like this… FP: 4:00-5:00 p.m.

Park maps? The app’s got that covered — with GPS to boot!. You’ll not only see where you want to go, but also where you are in the park at that moment. Then use the “getting there” option to find the best way to get there. You can zoom in and out on the map to make it easy to find a restaurant, attraction, restroom or character greeting location.

Now for the bad news. Disney’s upcoming parks app is for Verizon only. Not the iPhone.

Why is Disney ignoring the iPhone!?!

Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs is on the Disney board of directors and is the largest Disney shareholder. Is Disney’s mobile division trying to make him mad?

Are they trying to make the millions of iPhone users mad? What’s up with that? Let’s hope they make an iPhone-compatible version soon as well as one for all the iPod touch users!

What do you think about this? Please leave a comment!

My Earliest Memory Was at Disneyland

Everyone remembers their “earliest memory” of when they were a child, that memory of doing something or being somewhere that they know they were only X-years old and they can’t remember back farther than that.

But do not, under any circumstance, think of yourself as “old”… Unless you want to recite Lewis Carroll’s poem “You are old, Father William…”

If anything, we’re lucky to have seen a truly long view and maturation of the Disney Company and their theme parks and their evolution. We have the advantage of having been alive when Walt and his original Imagineers were and actively creating, and we have life perspective. We can see things, know history and background, that enhances our Disney fanship experience. And seeing how things go, sometimes you experience an aspect of Disney parks for a relatively short time, and the next renovation period comes along and that great experience gets scrapped for something else. Value this!

Walt Disney walks through Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland. © Disney

Baby Boomer generation were the first to be marketed to about Disney since the medium of television came along and prospered when we were mere tykes. Our generation is what Walt used to tweak his ideas in the parks, consequently our generation were his first collaborators in the public, so to speak. That’s a proud memory and a proud generational partnership! Cherish it!

 

And today, I find “Wall-E” a profoundly moving, masterpiece film, touches raw essential human nerves and touches the heart of what it truly means to be human. And that’s a 2008 product of Pixar with Disney’s backing and support. I still choke up at the end of that movie, and it’s a contemporary film.

 

Proving it’s about the story, the characters, the “good character” in characters’ souls, and touching people’s hearts. If Disney succeeds in that, they “have you” not just for a moment, but a lifetime, and you willingly expose future generations to it because it’s a good thing, and a humanly connecting unifying thing among peoples, families, and nationalities and time.

-Carol Koster

This is what the construction wall outside the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough looked like in July when we were there. The wall will come down when the attraction reopens later this year, better than ever.
-Rich