Celebrating 50 Years of Magical Memories

Have you heard the news? Disneyland park is celebrating its 50th birthday!! On July 17, 2005, Disneyland celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first day the park opened to VIPs and was broadcast live, on television. The first public opening day was July 18, 1955. To help celebrate the 50th anniversary, my husband, Barry and I attended the park's special event, July 15-17, 2005. Please refer to our photo album for this event and/or click on the underlined links, so you can see many of the things discussed here.

There were four levels of participation you could purchase tickets for, from most expensive, with the most gifts and perks, Walt's Dream, at $1,955 per person, to cheapest, with the least gifts and perks, the Imagineer's Quest package, at $495.00 per person. Since we did not want to stay 4 days total and they didn't give couples a 2-night's stay credit on the top two packages that included rooms at the Grand Californian Hotel (Walt's Plan) or the Disneyland Hotel (Roy's Dream), we chose the third package (not including a hotel stay), Lillian's Inspiration, at $750.00 per person. Because we are Premium Annual Passholders at the Disneyland Resort, we received a credit of $106.00 per person for each ticket. We were very happy they offered this credit, as they did not for previous special events we've attended.

After several problems with the Disney website handling the online registration process and making phone calls to Event Services, our registrations were finally put through correctly. I visited the Disney Gallery website frequently, to get more information on the event and changes that were made to the packages, as they happened. Since some people were dissatisfied with Disney changing the number of people who could buy certain packages and other event aspects complained to Disney, all package purchasers were offered a refund. We declined the refund, as we were looking forward to the special event.

There were 4 seminars offered as part of the top three packages, with several topics to choose from, so we did the online RSP list registration for that. Along with the event registration problems, there was a chance we would not receive the seminars we wanted to attend, when they ran the RSP lists for these, so we were very happy and relieved when we received an email telling us we'd received all of the seminars we wanted! This was especially important for the two seminars we wanted to take together. Also, when first announced, four of the seminars (coincidentally all four that I signed up for, two that Barry wanted) were an additional $10 each, but after many people complained, Disney waived the additional fees for the seminars. That was good, as many felt insulted that they would have to pay additional monies for what was supposed to be included in an already high package price.

Early registration was offered the day before the event started, Thursday, July 14, so since they did not give sufficient time to register, pick-up event materials, etc. before the first session on Friday morning, Barry took Thursday off, so we could do this. We were glad they offered this and glad he was able to get the day off of work to do it. With the exception of the Orange Grove Party and Breakfast at Dawn being held in Disneyland, all of the event activities took place in various locations at the Disneyland Hotel.

We drove to the hotel Thursday and asked the concierge where the event registration line would be. We found out we were initially shown the wrong area, after we'd been there quite some time, so we moved to the correct place. Finally, the doors were opened and a Cast Member showed us where to go to register. It was a very long line, that took a long time to get through, to get registered and receive our event materials.

We received our event badge and lanyard, with our package name on it. Each package had a different color badge, with the name on one side and a quote from Walt Disney that related to that particular package name on the other. We also received a special event lanyard that came in a faux velvet pouch, packaged in a gold event logo gift box. From the lanyard hung a disc, with an artist's rendition of Walt Disney in an orange grove on one side and Walt in Disneyland on the other. We received event paraphernalia, including activity entry tickets, food scrip, commemorative gift vouchers, Mickey Mouse-shaped auction paddles, special commemorative Mickey auction paddle pins, information on the artists, authors and special guests we'd be seeing over the weekend, etc. We also received the Random Selection Process sheets, listing the limited edition merchandise we "won" the right to purchase and a sheet for a special 4th RSP list, to purchase additional limited edition items. We filled out one 4th RSP form for each of us, to hopefully be able to purchase one of the Dave Avanzino paper sculptures of the castle and one Disneyland Marquee with pins, for a friend, and turned in the forms.

After getting our materials, we went to the merchandise pick-up area, to get the things we pre-ordered thru the RSP. Next stop was the Event Store, to see what was available for sale. We were given a shopping list of the items available, to fill out and give to the Cast Member handling this. We were very happy that all of the Christopher Radko ornaments that were on the RSP list were available for purchase, as the friend who wanted a Marquee also asked me to purchase one of each ornament for her, if possible. We did that, as well as bought the books we wanted to get signed at the event. This process took quite a while also, as you had to stand on one long line to get the merchandise and inspect it, then another line to pay for it.

After this, we went to Disneyland for a little while, to pick up the Virtual Magic Kingdom "quests" for Fantasyland, Adventureland and Frontierland. We spent that night at home, scanning some of the things we received for the event into our computer, going over all of the goodies we bought and getting ready for the next 3 days.

Friday morning, we got up very early, to go back up to the hotel for the event. Both of us had signed up for the same seminars on Friday, so we could enjoy them together. First up was the "Art by Design" seminar with Disney artist and historian, Stacia Martin. Stacia did a great slide show about her history working for Disney. After her talk, she held a drawing, to give away 4 Disney character sketches she had drawn beforehand. We were very fortunate to win a sketch she had done of Ariel! After her session, Stacia personalized the sketch and signed it for us.

Our second seminar was "Cooking for Mickey and Friends", with Chef Andrew Sutton, from the Grand Californian Hotel's Napa Rose Restaurant. We enjoy dining at the Napa Rose, so we were anxious to go to their chef's presentation. He had a work table set-up, with a tilting mirror, so you could see what he was doing on the tabletop while he worked. Before he started his presentation, we enjoyed talking with him about various things, including his opinion of the restaurant "reality" TV show, Hell's Kitchen. Chef Andrew was very personable and did a great job with his presentation of making the "Lobster & Avocado Martini 'Shaken not Stirred' with Creamy Mango-Lime Vinaigrette". But the best part of this seminar was, after he showed us how to make it, we got to eat one! He had assistants from the restaurant there, with pre-made martinis, that were passed out at the end of the presentation. Even though I am not a fan of cilantro, cucumber and Serrano chili, I decided to try it and it was delicious!!

After the seminars, we had our "Walt's Brown Bag Lunch", with our friends, John and Deb, in the hotel's Grand Ballroom. When we gave them our entry ticket, they gave us a special event logo brown paper bag. Inside the bag, was a great gourmet lunch of: a turkey and cheese sandwich, pasta salad, a peach, a bag of potato chips and a brownie. There were sodas or bottled waters available to drink. The sandwich was really good and I saved my peach and brownie for later.

After lunch, the four of us went to have our commemorative event photos taken. We received one photo per person, so we had one taken of just the two of us and the other taken of the four of us together. Since they were using a portable digital camera studio, we could see our photos immediately, do re-takes if necessary and take out photos with us, in the special event photo folders they gave us.

The "Meet and Greet and Signing Opportunity with Artists, Authors and Special Guests" was next on the agenda, so we went to the hotel's Pavilion and joined the very long line to get in. It took us over 2 hours, just to get in the door, to get 4 books signed and photos of some of the people there. This is one of those times that my experiences attending Hallmark ornament collector events is compared to Disney events. Hallmark gives you pre-assigned signing time tickets, so you don't have to wait forever in a very long line, when they do artist signings. You just get on the line at the time your ticket states. I wished Disney had done the signings this way.

After the signings, we went over to the Candy Cane Inn, to check into our room and get ready for the evening's festivities. Then we went back to the hotel and looked through the rooms with the auction items, for the silent and not-so-silent auctions, to be held later that evening.

Our "Taste of the Disneyland Resort" lavish buffet dinner in the hotel's Exhibit Hall, with John and Deb, was next. At registration, we received a special book of food scrip, with pages that would be turned in, as we received a food item, but since so many people asked the event staff if we could keep the ticket book intact as a souvenir, they decided the pages would be marked by a table staffer instead. We chose food items in the order of how we'd eat them in a restaurant - appetizers, entrees, then dessert, though some people stock-piled desserts on their way in the door! The room was set up with several sit-down tables with chairs, and some stand-up tables without chairs. In addition to the decorated buffet tables, there were some amazing chocolate sculptures on the dessert tables.

We had the following items (in order of their book appearance): Monte Cristo Sandwich from Blue Bayou (one of my childhood favorites that I haven't had in ages!), Mexican Caesar Salad and Cream of Mushroom Soup from PCH Grille, Sushi from Yamabuki's, Colorado Rack of Lamb with Roasted Peruvian Potatoes from Granville's Steak House, Coconut Curried Acorn Squash from Napa Rose and various kinds of small dessert items. Water, coffee and tea was available to drink. While we didn't get food from all of the restaurants represented by the tickets, as some had very long lines or ran out of food, we had more than enough to eat!! We also received the special signature drink, "Chandon Royale" - champagne, with Chambord liqueur and a raspberry in it. It was delicious!

While dinner was going on, they took bids for the "Silent Auction" items and awarded them to the winners at the end of that auction. We bid on a few items, but were outbid. A couple we met while waiting for early registration, Cody and Jen from the Orlando, FL. area, won the two Mickey Christmas ornaments, signed by the Sherman Brothers. Barry had told them about these ornaments, as Cody is a musician/song writer and is very interested in the Sherman Brothers. We were so happy they won the ornaments! As dinner was winding down, Trevor Carlton was introduced. He did a painting of Sorcerer Mickey, as performance art, accompanied by taped music. It was quite a spectacle to watch, as the painting started out as a blank canvas and you could guess what it was going to be before you saw the final result.

After the painting was done, we were excused from the Exhibit Hall, to go to the Grand Ballroom, for the "Celebrating 50 Years of Magical Memories Live Auction". Since there was no signage or announcement made about certain doors being only open to certain groups, Barry wheeled me in my wheelchair over to the closest door available and we waited at the front of the line. As the doors were about to open, we were told these doors were for the Walt and Roy package people ONLY!! This meant we'd waited there all that time for nothing, then had to navigate the wheelchair thru the first crowd pressing in at the first doors, then over to the next set of doors, where a crowd had already been formed in advance as well! It was very hard to get thru the crowds to the "correct" doors, then thru the doors, to sit down. It was a good thing John and Deb had gotten in before us and saved us seats, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to see the show! 

The live auction, our first, was quite an experience! In addition to the event attendees, there were bidders who'd purchased tickets to just the auction, as well as bidders on the phones, manned by Cast Members. The auctioneer, Charles Dreyer, introduced Mickey Mouse to open the auction, and later introduced Marie Osmond, when her Cinderella doll came up for bid. All proceeds from her doll went to the Children's Miracle Network and she went into the audience to encourage people to bid higher. At one point, she offered a kiss, as a bonus for a higher bid, then a kiss from her AND her brother, Donnie, as a bonus, if it went even higher! It was declared "Sold!" at $14,000.00. The Swarovski crystal Mickey Mouse piece proceeds went to the Children's Hospital of Orange County and drew the largest bid of the evening, $35,000.00. We bid on a few items, were again outbid quickly, but it was still fun to watch. Mickey came back out at the end, as people were leaving, to say good-night. After the auction, we retired to the Candy Cane Inn, to try to get some sleep.

Saturday morning's alarm went off way too early for me, as we made our way back to the hotel for that day's events. There was a "Continental Breakfast" offered, starting at 6 am, but we did not partake. We waited for the doors to open for the "My Favorite Magical Memories Panel Discussion". It started a half hour late, but it was an enjoyable time, being entertained by singers and the "young" versions of the panelists, before the real panelists were introduced. The discussion was moderated by Tim O'Day and the guests shared memories of Walt Disney and working for the Disney organization. 

After the discussion, we went to our seminars for the day. This time, Barry and I chose different seminars to attend. My first seminar was "How Does Your Garden Grow?" with Rhonda Wood. Rhonda did a PowerPoint presentation, mostly about the gardening needs of the Storybookland Canal Boat attraction. She said the miniature plants' scale is 1 inch equals 1 foot. There is one tree, still remaining in Pinocchio's Village, chosen by Walt Disney himself, in 1955, before the attraction first opened. I had signed up for this seminar, in hopes of doing some hands-on topiary work, like the mini Mickey head topiaries that were offered through the Disney Institute classes years ago, but I was disappointed. After her talk, Rhonda and two other landscape Cast Members showed how to prune a small plant. This was the least interesting seminar I attended.

My next seminar was to be "Molding the Magic Disney Style" with Valerie Edwards, where we would sculpt our very own "Mousterpiece" to take home, but Valerie was called away, to Hong Kong at the last minute, from what I was told. Instead, we had a presentation by Imagineer Joe Rohde, who talked about Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida and the Expedition Everest attraction that he's currently working on for that park. I had seen him on several of the Travel Channel's shows about Disney parks, so I knew who he was. He was very entertaining and fun to listen to, but again, I was really looking forward to doing something hands-on in the sculpting seminar. So I was slightly disappointed, as this was just a slide show lecture.

While I was in the gardening seminar, Barry was in "Creating the Magic", with Kevin Rafferty. Here are his thoughts on this seminar: Kevin has been an Imagineer, doing "blue sky" work for Disney for more than 15 years. Since he was going to show us pictures of attractions that haven't opened yet, he asked us not to take photographs. He showed us concept art for Blizzard Beach, including ideas that didn't make it into the final water park. He also shared ideas he had for a "Dick Tracy" dark ride that was never built, but was the precursor to Buzz Lightyear's Astro-Blasters (you were going to shoot bad guys with Tommy guns). He also showed us storyboards for two Hong Kong Disneyland attractions - the Tower of Terror (although the ride is the same, the back-story is completely different, since the Chinese don't have the Hollywood background needed to understand the U.S. Tower of Terror theme) and the Jungle Cruise (jokes had to be rewritten to remove all puns, since that concept doesn't exist in Chinese). Finally, he told us about the Monster's Inc. replacement for Superstar Limo (featuring new dialogue by Billy Crystal and John Goodman) and the new Finding Nemo submarine attraction (with state-of-the-art effects).

Barry chose "Hidden Tributes of Disneyland", with Christine Goosman, while I was in the session with Joe Rohde and will share his thoughts on this seminar here: Christine's presentation was mainly a photographic tour of the windows on Main Street that are tributes to people who made Disneyland what it is today. She also talked about other tributes (e.g., names of the steam trains come from executives for the Santa Fe Railroad). It was interesting to hear some of the inside stories from someone who helped create some of the windows. 

After Saturday's seminars, we had our "Lillian's Luncheon in the Garden", with John and Deb, outside, in the hotel's Rose Garden. We turned in our event entry ticket and were given another great lunch, this time packaged in a blue cooler bag with the event logo on it! This lunch consisted of: a great chicken sandwich, herbed vegetable salad, another peach, another bag of chips and a chocolate chip cookie. Waters or sodas were again available to drink. There were many tables set up, but not many in the shade, so we chose one with an umbrella, as I am very sun sensitive and burn easily. 

We finished our outdoor picnic and went back into the hotel, to check out the "Pin Fair" and bingo session (not previously announced). We're not pin traders, so we skipped this part of the event and played bingo only to waste time before our book signing with Diane Disney Miller. We didn't win any bingo games, found the crowd there very rude to the game host and left. We saw the sign for the artist and author signing across the hall, in the same area the signing was the previous day, so we joined the already long line waiting to get in. After waiting there quite a while, we found out we were in the wrong line, in the wrong area of the hotel, for Diane's signing!

The artists and authors were not listed on the sign, so we had no idea there was another place for the other signings, so we left that line. Since our friends John and Deb were getting their $50 Disney Dollar signed in that room, we asked them to get our "Homecoming" book signed by David Pacheco, who contributed to that book and would be signing there, so they did.

We went all the way across the hotel to the elevator, downstairs and then found the line for the Diane Disney Miller signing. This line was already miles long when we got there, so this was very discouraging! Also, they had not only Diane signing in that room, but Christopher Radko and another "Meet and Greet" with Marie Osmond, so lots of the people waiting weren't there just for Diane's signing. We asked the Cast Member at the door if there wasn't something she could do to help us, since we'd already waited a long time in the wrong line, were placed very far back in this line and all we wanted to do was to get the one book signed, but she said no! When we explained we were concerned, since Diane was leaving an hour before the others and since the line wasn't moving, we were afraid we would end up not getting our book signed. She said if Diane left before we got in the room, they would just take our unsigned book and swap it for a pre-signed book! This was again very discouraging, since it meant all our waiting in line for hours would be a total waste of time, since we could've pre-ordered a pre-signed book, but we wanted to do the signing with Diane!

This was again a bad situation I think could've been handled much better, by at least giving Diane her own line for the signing. That way, everyone could be accommodated in an efficient manner. Here again would be a good place to have pre-assigned time signing tickets, like Hallmark does. Thankfully, several hours later and before she had to leave, we made it into the room, got our book signed and spoke briefly with Diane. I asked her two questions she was very surprised and delighted to answer, since she said few people ask her. I asked about the Disney Family Museum I had recently read about, that she's trying to get established up in the Presidio area of San Francisco and I asked where we could buy wines locally, from the vineyard she and her husband own. She expects the museum to be ready for guests to visit in about 4 years and their wines could be purchased at various places, including Beverages and More. We thanked her for her time and for signing our book. After a very long and frustrating day, we visited with friends, then went back to our room, to get ready for that evening's party.

While I sat in my wheelchair waiting in that huge line, Barry went to see what happened in the 4th RSP running, since it was never announced. We didn't win the right to purchase the Marquee for my friend, but we did win the right to purchase the limited edition Dave Avanzino castle paper sculpture! We received #2 of the 5 made and the verification certificate, signed by Dave.

After this, we went to Disneyland, to join the line at the Festival Arena for our "Orange Grove Party", with John and Deb. After we were allowed into the arena, we found a table in our pre-assigned area, Orange Grove 2. We enjoyed another great dinner buffet, with the same regular drinks offered, and a different special signature drink. The "Orange Cooler" was made of orange-flavored vodka, Triple-Sec, orange juice and grenadine. It was very good!! There were great decorations on the food tables, dinner tables and even special 50th anniversary dinner plates, dessert plates and napkins. Tables were dismissed at various times by Cast Members, while other "atmosphere" Cast Members visited the tables, dressed in costumes that reminded me of those in the movie "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers". Girls wore different color gingham dresses and guys wore denim jeans and brightly colored shirts. They made small talk "in character", while we waited, telling us how they'd worked so hard in the orange grove that day! To play along with them, I asked if they'd planted the orange trees decorating the stage. All three, at the same time, exclaimed that, yes, they did indeed plant them and each one pointed to their own tree! Desserts were amazing as usual, and some included special event logo chocolates placed on the tops of the desserts.

After dinner, the entertainment!! A female soloist, in the middle stage area, was joined by "Tinker Bell" (a light on a wire that floated out to the stage area, then back off-stage). The soloist was joined by other singers and all were accompanied by a live orchestra on the main stage. A jumbotron, above the main stage, projected images from Disneyland's history, while singers and dancers entertained us, costumed to match the different locations or attractions. There were some sing-along songs during the show as well. Frankie Ryan Manriquez, the young actor who played "Frankie" on ABC's "Life with Bonnie" came out, dressed as Davy Crocket and later, as Mowgli, from The Jungle Book. There were 4 Cast Members who said they were those originally hired to work in the Carousel of Progress and weren't audio-animatronics, as we'd been led to believe! They told and showed us how hard their job was, especially the daughter, who had to keep her arms up for more than 8 hours every day! 

But the part of the show that really got me choked up was when 4 of the original Mouseketeers that I used to watch on TV ages ago, came out! Bobbie, Sharon, Sherry and Lonnie danced, talked, sang and led us in the "Mouseketeer Anthem". "M-I-C, K-E-Y. Why? Because we like you! M-O-U-S-E!" They also told us about one of the next special events coming up, a Mouseketeer Reunion in October! 

More singers and dancers, princesses and their princes, all leading up to an amazing finale of characters, on the stage and in the aisles of the arena. It was an amazing night of great entertainment. At the end, Mickey came out with Martha, the event host, who thanked us all for coming and invited us to stay in the arena area to watch the fireworks. We stayed to watch the "backside of fireworks", as you can't see the projections on the castle from back there, and I took several photos, since we were so close to them.

After the fireworks, we turned in our commemorative gift vouchers and we each received a large blue box with the event logo in gold on the lid. Inside was a gold glass tray reproduction of a Disneyland admission ticket, back when it only cost $1.00 to enter the park (attractions were extra). From the arena area, we made our way very slowly through the huge crowd, out of the park and back to our room.

After my getting at most about 1/2 hour of sleep, we got up at 4 am, so we could meet John, Deb and others back at Disneyland Hotel, for our "Disney at Dawn Breakfast". I NEVER get up this early for anything, so this shows you how truly special this event was!! From the hotel, we were escorted over to the Monorail entrance and received our first gift (read: FREE!) from Disneyland for the day - our own special GOLDEN Mickey Mouse Ears, complete with the date embroidered on the back! We also received the special 50th Anniversary Disneyland park guide for the day (the guide included a reproduction of the original opening day guide map on the inside), as well as a special 50th Anniversary park guide for Disney's California Adventure.

We were fortunate to make it onto the first monorail of the day and were escorted from the Monorail exit, back behind the Matterhorn (no chance of castle photos, since they were readying things for that day's big ceremony), around the Rivers of America, to our special dining area at the French Market in New Orleans Square. Here the Roy's Plan and Lillian's Inspiration folks enjoyed a great breakfast buffet, while being entertained by the Royal Street Bachelors jazz trio. Those with "Walt's Dream" were treated to a special breakfast and ride on the Mark Twain Riverboat, with live entertainment there as well. It was great to be in the park so early, when it was so quiet, before the huge crowds that had camped out from the night before were let in!

After breakfast, we were given a Fastpass for the recently re-opened Space Mountain and a scroll in a tube! Inside the tube was a 50th Anniversary Proclamation, that attested to the fact that we were present and added to the "Magical Memories" set forth for that day. We thanked the Cast Members for the great event and went on our way. The special event was officially over.

Since we didn't have reserved seating for the anniversary ceremony, like the Walt's Dream package had, we decided not to try to join the crowd in the hub and went to pick up Fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, on our way to ride Space Mountain. Since I was in a wheelchair and can't do walking and stairs, we had to go thru the special disabled entrance. This is located near the attraction's exit, by the bathrooms. We entered and waited a while, until we could board our vehicle and it was moved onto the track. Since we didn't use the Fastpasses (disabled folks can't use fastpass, as it uses the regular line for boarding), we kept them as souvenirs.

After Space Mountain, we rode Buzz Lightyear and did the Virtual Magic Kingdom "quests" that we had picked up earlier that week. We answered all the questions correctly, received our special glow-in-the-dark bracelets, game cards and gave them our info for the special FREE VMK guided tour that we received for successfully completing the quests. Since the tours were already booked for that day, they put our info into a book, so we can schedule our tour at a later date.

While we were doing the Fantasyland Quest, we went into the Village Haus Restaurant and received our second gift (also FREE!) from Disneyland for the day - the special 50th Anniversary Cupcake! It tasted like a dry Twinkie and was not nearly as wonderful as any of the desserts we'd had during our special event, but it was free and very colorful! 

After this, we went into Innoventions, so I could create my own VMK character that would be given the special designation of being "Born in the Park" and put our names on the waiting list for the Stitch interactive experience. We'd never been there when this was running, so we were happy to wait about 20 minutes, to experience it. We had a nice "conversation" with Stitch and it was a lot of fun. We took his picture with our camera and he took our picture with his! We were given a postcard on our way out, with the info on how to download a copy of the photo onto our computer when we got home.

Since we had had a very FULL 4 days of sensory overload and sleep deprivation, we decided to bid a fond farewell to the original "Happiest Place on Earth" and come home. We had a great time, all glitches aside, and look forward to the next special event that interests us. Happy 50th Birthday Disneyland!!

We hope you enjoyed reading our trip report and seeing our collection of photos from the event.

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