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Disneyland's 60th “Diamond” Anniversary Celebration Kickoff!


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The Disneyland Resort is celebrating its 60th “Diamond” Anniversary this year, and to kick off the celebration they threw an amazing 3-day media event to show off all the new additions at the resort. TPR was there with Brittney (AKA Spears) and David. Check out the full coverage below!

 

Part 1: World of Color - Celebrate! [ Below ]

Part 2: Paint the Night Parade and Disneyland Forever Fireworks! [ Coming Soon! ]

Part 3: 24 Hour Diamond Anniversary Kickoff! [ Coming Soon! ]

 

 

 

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TPR is at the Disneyland Resort to celebrate its Diamond 60th anniversary! This is part 1 of 3. In this update we’ll take a peek at Sleeping Beauty Castle and The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland, before heading over to DCA to party and check out World of Color - Celebrate!

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Spears is super excited for the 60th!

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Sleeping Beauty Castle is decked out for the celebration.

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The castle shimmers with glitter and is draped in sparkling diamonds.

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Just look at it gleaming in the sunlight! Very fancy!

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Over at Haunted Mansion, the Hatbox Ghost awaits! For those who don’t know the story - the Hatbox Ghost was a character in the Haunted Mansion when it originally opened. Its head was designed to disappear and re-appear in a hatbox that it was holding. However, the effect didn’t work as originally intended, so shortly after the opening of the mansion the character was removed and never seen again. Over the years, the legend of the character developed a cult-like following among Haunted Mansion fans. After decades of rumors of its return, Disney finally announced that the character would return (in a modern, updated form) in time for the 60th anniversary.

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Our anticipation builds as our doom buggy climbs into the attic.

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Hey Constance, you didn’t happen to see a ghost holding a hatbox anywhere around here? What’s that you say? Keep going, he’s right ahead? Ok, sounds good!

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There he is! And WOW does he look good!

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The character exceeded our expectations. It’s simply beautiful.

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The disappearing effect is perfectly executed. The only slight criticism is we do wish it transitioned back and forth a little faster so that every doom buggy got a great view of the effect. But visually, the effect is spot-on.

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This character was worth the wait. It may just be one character amongst many in the mansion, but it’s the new star of the mansion. It’s that good. Hopefully any future changes to the Mansion live up to this level of detail and artistry.

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That’s it for Disneyland today! We’ll be back to Disneyland in part 2 of this report, but for now, over to DCA!

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DCA closed at 6:00pm to the public, but it was about to re-open for media and invited guests to attend the “Celebrating 60 Dazzling Years Reception” (AKA kick-ass party!) and to view the premiere of World of Color - Celebrate! Here Spears is posing with our friends Johanna and Rick from Theme Park Adventure.

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The gates opened, and we were greeted by lots of characters. Hey Oswald!

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Everybody was excited for the party!

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This lady even brought her dog to the classy affair.

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What’s better than being greeted with characters? Being greeted with wine!

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5 & Dime were rocking out in front of Carthay Circle.

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Carthay’s new diamond decor and banners look great!

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Spears danced to the music with Goofy.

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Dip!

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The party stretched through the whole backlot.

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There was table after table of amazing food.

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Yum!

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Delish!

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I loved all the little details too. Diamond 60th trays, special 60th napkins, etc!

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There were even diamond toothpicks!

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Let’s not forget dessert! The Queen would be pleased with these Mad T Party themed treats - painted red to save our heads!

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These World of Color - Celebrate! desserts made us eager with anticipation for the show.

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All the characters were enjoying themselves and taking photos with guests.

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Chip and Dale were dressed in their finest attire.

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Kisses for Spears!

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Donald and Daisy were looking great!

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Mickey and Minnie stole the show in their classy threads!

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More wine? Don’t mind if I do!

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It’s time for the Diamond Mad T Party!

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New diamond animations play behind the stage.

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Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum get the crowd excited.

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The Hottest Deck in Town show off their moves on the Hollywood Backlot Stage.

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It’s dancey dance time!

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When the band isn’t onstage, The White Rabbit DJ plays hits to keep the crowd moving.

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Overall it’s the same Mad T Party we know and love, just a little diamond-ized!

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The sky began to grow darker as the sun set.

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Night began to fall on Wonderland.

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We ran around and snapped some last photos before the party ended. Of course we had to get a photo with Mickey and Minnie!

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You never know who you’ll run into at a Disney party! We got to hang out with Disney Legend Bob Gurr who designed the ride vehicles for many Disneyland attractions such as Autopia, Haunted Mansion, the Monorail, and the Matterhorn Bobsleds. He’s one of the greats, and is a funny and friendly guy to boot! He said that Spears had to be in the center of the photo because the pretty woman has to be the cream in the Oreo!

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Now Bob Gurr is the cream in a Mickey-Minnie Oreo!

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The one bad thing about these parties is that they eventually have to come to an end. As the bars handed out their last drinks, guests made their way to Paradise Park for the premiere of World of Color - Celebrate!

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Over in Paradise Park we spotted another Disney Legend, Richard Sherman. Richard, along with his brother Robert Sherman, wrote many of Disney’s most famous songs, including songs from Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, Winnie The Pooh, and It’s a Small World. It’s hard to even quantify the impact he’s had on my life and the lives of all Disney fans - but suffice to say, it was a true honor to get to meet him! He's the cream in our Oreo.

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A stage was set up in front of Paradise Bay. We got settled into our location in front of the stage and counted down the minutes until showtime.

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Bob Chapek, Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, came on stage and introduced the hosts of the show, Neil Patrick Harris and Mickey Mouse! They thanked everyone in the audience for joining them for the premiere of World of Color - Celebrate!

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Let the show begin!

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Neil does a great job hosting the show.

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As does Mickey!

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The show has all the beautiful colorful fountains that we’ve come to expect from World of Color, plus some new effects and surprises.

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Mickey’s face on The Fun Wheel is now used as a projection surface, which provides a great location to show video during the show.

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This version of World of Color celebrates the life and achievements of Walt Disney, which is fitting for the 60th celebration. Kids growing up nowadays may not know much about Walt, so this show does a great job of showing who he was and what he achieved. Walt is shown as proof that all your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them.

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In the past, World of Color’s storytelling has been fairly abstract. Clips were assembled together to create an emotional experience, but there was no overarching story to the show. World of Color - Celebrate! has more of a traditional story format to it. The show pays tribute to Walt Disney by walking through his accomplishments in more or less chronological order, starting with Mickey Mouse and Mickey’s early cartoons.

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The show then progresses on to Snow White, the first full-length animated film.

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Clips are then showed from many of the famous Disney movies that followed, including more recent movies like Cars.

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Finding Nemo...

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and, of course, Frozen.

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The show completely fills your view, with lights and projections on California Screamin’.

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And there are some cool new effects. Colored smoke now shoots up in and around the viewing area throughout the show!

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There’s a great segment with scenes from various Disney attractions. Here’s The Tiki Room!

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Splash Mountain.

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Pirates.

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Haunted Mansion.

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Small World.

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And Star Tours.

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The most impressive of the new effects has to be the giant fireball.

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A massive column of fire erupts throughout the show.

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Just look at how tall it is compared to the Fun Wheel! It’s seriously huge! The heat and light it puts off are awe-inspiring.

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For those who have seen World of Color before, the smaller fire bursts in this picture are what you’re used to seeing. That giant burst of fire in the middle is the new effect. You can see how much larger it is than before!

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The giant fireballs even leave rings of smoke in the air that dissipate slowly as they float away.

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Even though there are lots of changes and new additions, the show is still very “World of Color.” All the dancing fountains and pretty colors you’ve come to expect are still there.

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The scale of the show has always been impressive...

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And the new effects make it even more impressive!

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Ooooooh, fire!

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We loved the show! It's a great tribute to Walt, and the perfect 60th addition for DCA!

 

As a special treat, here's a full video of the show! Just remember - it's better in person where you can gaze up at the fountains, feel the heat from the fire, and experience the show all around you!

 

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After the show I interviewed World of Color's Producer, Jennifer Magill. (Video coming soon!) While I was interviewing Jennifer, Neil Patrick Harris walked by!

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Spears, who was standing by watching my interview, got to meet Neil and snap a picture with him! Lucky! What an end to the night!

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World of Color - Celebrate! was a ton of fun, and it's just the beginning of what's in store for the Resort's 60th anniversary. Thanks for checking out this trip report, and be sure to check back soon for part 2 with lots more neat stuff and surprises from the Diamond Celebration Kickoff!

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Great Report! I'm very excited to see all this in a few days. I've never seen World of Color, so I had no idea they projected onto the Mickey wheel for the show. Is that new to this version? Looking forward to the other parts of the report!

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Great Report! I'm very excited to see all this in a few days. I've never seen World of Color, so I had no idea they projected onto the Mickey wheel for the show. Is that new to this version? Looking forward to the other parts of the report!

It is new to this version. It still creeps me out that this version is using the music from WDW's "Celebrate the Magic" show!

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Great Report! I'm very excited to see all this in a few days. I've never seen World of Color, so I had no idea they projected onto the Mickey wheel for the show. Is that new to this version? Looking forward to the other parts of the report!

It is new to this version. It still creeps me out that this version is using the music from WDW's "Celebrate the Magic" show!

 

As much as I like the song, I wish that they had used something original/different for it. Oh well

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