![]() In 1958, Disneyland debuted its first ever fireworks program, Fantasy in the Sky. It makes sense, doesn’t it? Walt had a vested interest in convincing guests to enjoy a torch-lit luau at the Tahitian Terrace to relax at the Red Wagon Inn beneath strung popcorn lights on Main Street to hand over a D-Ticket for a moonlit ride on the Lost Legend: The Skyway. Yes indeed, Disneyland was a whole new park after dark… And with Date Nites in full swing, Walt began to experiment with new ways to lure locals to Disneyland for a night out. Disneyland became one of the premier places in Southern California for big band music – a perfect date night for locals… including Walt and Lillian themselves! (In the years that followed, some of the biggest names in music swung by the Carnation Plaza Gardens stage, including Count Basie, Frank Sinatra Jr., Duke Ellington, Mel Torme, Lionel Hampton and the Osmond Brothers.) There, beneath a tented pavilion, guests would dance into the night to the tunes of local swing bands like the Elliot Brothers Orchestra. That year also saw the completion of the Carnation Plaza Gardens – a quaint wooded courtyard tucked into an alcove just west of Sleeping Beauty Castle. In fact, he famously stated that popcorn ought to be popped right up until closing that each and every guest should get the full Disneyland show, whether first to arrive or last to leave. Back then, lessees owned and operated many shops and restaurants in the park, but Walt insisted that each one stay open into the night. ![]() A month later, “Date Nite at Disneyland” became one of the park’s first ever nighttime events. In May 1957, Disneyland shifted its operating day to 10 AM to 10 PM. There’s just something about the way the roaring Tiki torches of Adventureland cast frenetic shadows in the dense jungle underbrush how the filaments of Main Street’s bulbs hum to life, dancing in patterns across storefronts how the otherworldly, neon glow of purple and blue turns Tomorrowland into a science fiction dreamscape and, quite appropriately, the infinite darkness of the unknown adding new nuance to the Jungle Cruise or to the furthest bends of the Rivers of America…ĭarkness and light have been integral elements of Disney Parks from day one… And even as far back as Disneyland’s first years, Walt and his early designers recognized just how sensational the shift to nighttime would be. Take it from Walt himself – who dedicated a whole 1962 episode of The Wonderful World of Color to “Disneyland After Dark”: you haven’t seen Disneyland until you’ve seen it at night. Seems like a new kind of magic takes over in Disneyland after dark.” I like to be here when the lights come on. “You know, this is one of my favorite times of the day here… Just about sundown. We’ll trace the development of this sensational cross-generational fan favorite, follow its many rebirths, and see how the concept has been often imitated (but never quite duplicated!) in an array of dance-along nighttime parades that have come since. Today, we induct the Main Street Electrical Parade into our catalog of Lost Legends – the in-depth stories behind loved-and-lost theme park classics from around the globe. It was an icon of the era a masterwork of engineering, audio production, design, and marketing… and then, it was gone. Dazzling sights set aglow in the darkness of Disneyland infectious, joyful music bounding throughout Magic Kingdom a dreamscape of hundreds of thousands of lightbulbs reflecting in the eyes of young and old… This was peak Disney.įor fifty years, the Main Street Electrical Parade was a synthesized, symphonic, mobile masterpiece, elevated to stand among classic attractions like very few entertainment offerings can. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls… Disneyland proudly presents our spectacular festival pageant of nighttime magic and imagination in thousands of sparkling lights and electro-syntho-magnetic musical sounds… The Main Street Electrical Parade!”įor generations of Disney Parks guests, that triumphant, electronic, vocoded fanfare was far more than an announcement it was a prelude to a dream. – “I Need You To Imagine” Podcast Extras (B|S|G|P).Dry Disney: Walt’s Anti-Booze “Tradition”.S.E.A.: Society of Explorers & Adventurers.The Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management.The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (Orlando).The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (California).20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – Submarine Voyage.
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