Happiest Homecoming on Earth

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The Happiest Homecoming on Earth was the eighteen-month-long celebration (held through 2005 and 2006) of the fiftieth anniversary of the Disneyland theme park, which opened on July 17, 1955. The Happiest Celebration on Earth commemorated fifty years of Disney theme parks, and celebrated Disneyland's milestone throughout Disney parks all over the globe.

Contents

[edit] Happiest Homecoming on Earth

[edit] Disneyland Resort

Sleeping Beauty Castle with its 50th Anniversary Overlay
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Sleeping Beauty Castle with its 50th Anniversary Overlay
Flowers outside Main Street, U.S.A. train station during 50th celebration
Enlarge
Flowers outside Main Street, U.S.A. train station during 50th celebration

Disneyland's 50th anniversary was July 17, 2005, but the celebration was launched on May 5, 2005 in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle.

The Happiest Homecoming on Earth ceremony began with a dedication from then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner. The ceremony included fireworks, speeches from Julie Andrews - the official ambassador for the 50th anniversary celebrations, and Art Linkletter, a performance of "When You Wish Upon A Star" by Christina Aguilera, and LeAnn Rimes singing the 50th anniversary theme song "Remember When", composed by Richard Marx. A video conference featured celebrities at the Magic Kingdom (the only live video conference, with Wayne Brady, actor and former Walt Disney World Resort cast member), Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and the construction site of Hong Kong Disneyland.

Before the ceremony, at a media presentation in Disney's California Adventure, Disneyland Resort president Matt Ouimet announced the new attractions Monsters, Inc.: Mike and Sully to the Rescue and Turtle Talk with Crush.

The actual day of Disneyland's 50th anniversary, July 17,2005, was an event marked by fans' enthusiasm. The first person to enter the park that day was Madison Steigerwald, a 15-year old girl from Old Greenwich, CT. She and her grandmother, Mary Madison, began to line up at 3 p.m. the day before. Due to the thousands of fans that continued to line up through the night, Disney's California Adventure Park was opened and housed everyone until the next morning. A second line formed outside the security checkpoints as thousands more arrived in the final hours before the park opened. Disneyland Park opened at 7:00 a.m., although it took several hours to admit the crowds that showed up that morning.

In 2004, Disneyland Resort President Matt Ouimet and hundreds of cast members posed for an aerial photo above Disneyland, each person holding a large placard which, all together, formed a collage of Mickey Mouse. This initiated the Happiest Faces on Earth - at several locations around Disneyland are displayed larger-than-life photo collages of Disney characters and landmarks, made up of photos of the park and of guests from the past fifty years.

Disneyland Resort
Year of a Million Dreams

Disneyland park

Disney's California Adventure park

Downtown Disney
Hotels of the Disneyland Resort

Disneyland Hotel

Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel

Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa

Many classic Disneyland attractions re-opened in 2005 after lengthy refurbishments, such as Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, the Jungle Cruise and Space Mountain. A new fireworks show, Remember... Dreams Come True, replaces the former Believe... There's Magic in the Stars. Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams replaces the Parade of Stars and features elaborate floats with lighting that allows daytime or nighttime performances. Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters opened in Tomorrowland (at a ceremony with Tim Allen, the voice of Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear), and a new parade featuring Pixar characters is featured at Disney's California Adventure, Block Party Bash. Comedian and ex-Disneyland cast member Steve Martin opened the Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years exhibition and film, in which he features with Donald Duck. The original attractions which opened with the park have also had one of their ride vehicles painted gold for the celebration. The park also contains 50 Hidden "Mickey 50 Ears", golden Mickey Mouse heads with "50" displayed in the middle, sometimes disguised as part of the surrounding theme.

Other refurbishments have taken place around Disneyland with many areas being re-painted and refurbished to their former glory. The second phase of the re-paint of Tomorrowland commenced after the base silver and blue scheme was laid. Main Street USA and Sleeping Beauty Castle have been repainted, and the castle was specially decorated for the celebration. The celebration has brought record numbers of guests to the parks, numbers unmatched since the fall of 1996, when mass crowds flooded the park to catch a glimpse of the Main Street Electrical Parade before it went into permanent retirement.

In the second half of the celebration, in 2006, Monsters, Inc.: Mike and Sully to the Rescue opened at Disney's California Adventure. On July 7, 2006, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest had its world premiere on the Rivers of America, as did the first film in the trilogy in 2003. On the same day of Dead Man's Chest premiere, the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction officially reopened after lengthy refurbishments to include plotlines from the movie trilogy in the attraction storyline. The 50th anniversary celebration at Disneyland ended on September 30, 2006, and was succeeded by the Year of a Million Dreams.

[edit] Theme Song

LeAnn Rimes performes "Remember When" for the first time.
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LeAnn Rimes performes "Remember When" for the first time.

To commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Disneyland, the official anthem song was written by Richard Marx, and was performed for the first time live by Grammy Award winning artist, LeAnn Rimes. The song reflects on how you can never be too old to enjoy life and childhood dreams you had. The song will be featured as part of the new “Remember...Dreams Come True” fireworks spectacular presented throughout the 18-month anniversary celebration at Disneyland.

[edit] Happiest Celebration on Earth

[edit] Walt Disney World Resort

The Walt Disney World Resort introduced at least one new attraction or show at each of its four theme parks:

[edit] Tokyo Disney Resort

  • Tokyo Disneyland: The Rock Around the Mouse stage show in front of Cinderella Castle, a tribute to rock 'n' roll and Californian culture from the period that Disneyland opened; and a Golden Fiftieth Mickey at the base of the Partners statue in the hub, acknowledging its sister park's milestone.
  • Tokyo DisneySea: The Raging Spirits roller coaster opens in June, and the new Tower of Terror is under construction (it will have its own new back-story, and will not be themed to The Twilight Zone).

[edit] Disneyland Resort Paris

  • Disneyland Park: Space Mountain received a makeover, and is now known as Space Mountain: Mission 2, with new effects and ride configurations throughout. The Magic Kingdom has also donated the Wishes (albeit in an edited format for an international audience) fireworks display to Disneyland Paris.
  • Walt Disney Studios Park: The smallest Disney park will not be receiving new attractions as such, but plans for extensive developments and expansions have been announced as part of the celebration. A new land, Toon Studios, and a Tower of Terror have been announced for the park as well as other refurbishments.

[edit] Hong Kong Disneyland Resort

  • Hong Kong Disneyland Resort - The fifth worldwide resort opened as part of the celebration, in September 2005, with one theme park and two hotels.

[edit] Disney Cruise Line

The Disney Magic sailed to the West Coast in the summer of 2005, where it offered 12 one-week cruises from Los Angeles to the Mexican Riviera with port calls at Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán and Cabo San Lucas. Afterward, the ship returned to its original Caribbean itinerary alongside the Disney Wonder.

[edit] Attraction duplication

Walt Disney World Resort advertised the celebration by noting that the Florida property imported popular attractions or shows developed for Disney's other parks around the world.

  • Magic Kingdom received an abridged version of Cinderellabration from Tokyo Disneyland.
  • Epcot received Soarin' from Disney's California Adventure.
  • Disney-MGM Studios received Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show from the Walt Disney Studios Paris.
  • Disney's Animal Kingdom has developed an entirely new attraction, Expedition Everest.

Three Walt Disney World Resort attractions recently have been duplicated at four of the other Disney parks, and the Disneyland Resort has inspired an attraction found in Japan.

  • Tokyo DisneySea is constructing a version of the Tower of Terror from the Disney-MGM Studios.
  • The Walt Disney Studios also is constructing a version of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror from the Disney-MGM Studios.
  • Disneyland Paris staged a compressed version of the Wishes fireworks developed for the Magic Kingdom for two weeks in July 2005.
  • Disney's California Adventure duplicated Turtle Talk with Crush from Epcot.
  • Disneyland duplicated Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters from Tokyo Disneyland.

[edit] Season timeline

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