Celebrate Mr. Lincoln’s Return

WDWNT Author on February 25, 2009

In a major press release, Disneyland has announced that Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln will return before the end of 2009 with a revamped show, the Disney Gallery will open where the Bank of Main Street now stands, and Annual Passport processing will move to the Plaza Pavilion later this year. Here is the announcement:

ANAHEIM, Calif. (February 25, 2009) – A longtime favorite of Disneyland guests will return as “The Disneyland Story, featuring Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln,” an enhanced version of the show which appeared, in various forms, in the Main Street Opera House at Disneyland park from 1966 through 2004 . The attraction will reopen later this year in celebration of the 200th anniversary year of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.

The current Opera House presentation, “Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years,” will go on hiatus beginning Monday, March 16, in preparation for the new “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” show. When the updated “Disneyland Story, featuring Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” opens later this year, “Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years” will be presented as part of the “Disneyland Story” display of art, models and mementoes in the Opera House lobby.

Also planned for fall 2009 is a prominent new home on Main Street, U.S.A., for The Disney Gallery. Formerly located above Pirates of the Caribbean in New Orleans Square, The Disney Gallery houses treasured Disney artwork and collectibles representing creative efforts from throughout The Walt Disney Company. A frequently changing exhibit area often includes never-before-displayed art. The Disney Gallery’s new home will be in the Bank of Main Street building, located next door to the Main Street Opera House and currently serving as the headquarters for Disneyland Resort Annual Passport processing. The Bank will continue to operate as an Annual Passport center until mid-summer 2009. After that, Annual Passport processing will move to the Plaza Pavilion, near the entrance to Adventureland.

The original “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” was created by Walt Disney and his Imagineers for the State of Illinois Pavilion at the 1964 New York World’s Fair and featured the world’s first fully animated human Audio-Animatronics figure, built by Walt Disney Imagineering. The show, made its Disneyland debut in the Main Street Opera House on July 18, 1965.

Stay tuned to Disneyland News Today as we get more information on this breaking news on the return of “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln”.

Barack Obama is Going to WDW — And Maybe Disneyland Too

WDWNT Author on November 20, 2008

According our friends over at the LA Times Travel Blog:

President-elect Barack Obama will soon take his place among the 43 previous commanders-in-chief at Walt Disney World and may join Abraham Lincoln and George Washington at Disneyland. (Story updated below.)

Disney hopes to entice Obama to record an address for his animatronic likeness, which will be added to the Hall of Presidents show at the Magic Kingdom by the Fourth of July 2009. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush lent their voices to their Disney doppelgangers.

The revamped show in Florida will include speaking parts by Washington, Lincoln and Obama, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Mice Age columnist Al Lutz reports that Obama and Washington may join Lincoln at the Disneyland Opera House in time for the Anaheim theme park’s 55th anniversary in 2010.

Disneyland’s “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” closed in 2005 to make way for the 50th anniversary movie, “Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years.”

Walt Disney Imagineering officials said that while discussions have been ongoing to bring back “Mr. Lincoln” at Disneyland, no such plans are currently in the works.

UPDATE: Walt Disney Imagineering officials now emphatically say a Barack Obama animatronic figure will NOT be added to the “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” show at Disneyland, calling the Al Lutz story “patently false.”

MiceAge DLR Rumor Update

WDWNT Author on April 9, 2008

The plans for the DCA renovations always keep changing, & the latest changes were reported today in Al Lutz’s latest column on MiceAge. We’ll also take a look at some other new stuff supposedly coming to Disneyland, & the resort as a whole:

  • The Walt Disney Story show that was supposed to of gone into the new Walt Disney Plaza has been dropped from the plans. Team Disney Anaheim’s idea behind this is that DCA already has too many shows, & too little good rides. So the last thing DCA needs is another new show! But the extravagant Carthay Circle Theater will still be built, but will only be a facade.
  • With the Walt Disney Story not happening, this now may have Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln being re-installed into the Opera House on Main Street.
  • When Sunshine Plaza is under refurbishment, the temporary entrance may now be the big gate right by Soarin’ Over California, instead of the Millionaire building. You can see exactly where this is by viewing this picture.
  • A water play area themed to King Triton is now planned to be put right next to the new Little Mermaid attraction.
  • The Ariels Grotto restaurant may be re-themed a general Princess restaurant, Princess Palace. The more modern sections of the current exterior of the restaurant would be made more “Princessy”.
  • Originally, the renovation plans for the Disneyland Hotel was to of had each building extensively refurbished, one at a time. Well now, TDA & WDI are looking to completely rip down the current Disneyland Hotel, & re-build it all from scratch!
  • This summer, a Indiana Jones stunt show should take place in Adventureland. We’re not sure if it will last past the summer though.
  • No new attractions are currently planned for the resort in 2009, except for the new It’s a Small World. So Disneyland Park will have a major entertainment themed ad campaign, which will include the proposed new Wonder day-time parade, a new ending to Remember… Dreams Come True, new effects added to Fantasmic, & get this… the return of the Main Street Electrical Parade!

For complete details on all of the things mentioned above & more, check out this MiceAge article!

Some Very Interesting Rumors…

WDWNT Author on January 1, 1970

The latest Disneyland Update on MiceAge as always provides a great look at what could possibly be coming to the Disneyland Resort in the near future. Let’s take a look through some of the more interesting details brought up in this update:

  • Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln could very well be coming back in 2010, for Disneyland’s 55th anniversary, but with some very drastic changes. Some changes would be made to make the show very similar to the new version of the Hall of Presidents that will debut this July in Walt Disney World, that being the addition of George Washington & Barrack Obama with speaking roles, even though the attraction will still be just Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. The exit & entrance would be switched around so that guests can exit out into an expanded Disneyland/Walt Disney memorabilia exhibit. And the new location of the Disney Gallery is rumored to be connected next door in the current home of the Bank of Main Street, with the AP Processing center that is currently housed in the bank moving over to the Plaza Pavilion.
  • It’s a Small World Holiday will be opening officially this Friday, with soft openings planned to happen tomorrow & Thursday. The attraction will basically be the same overlay as it has been for the past 11 years, with-out the Disney characters or the new Americana room (that area will be covered in black drapes as always). The only change for this year’s holiday overlay will be the addition of the characters from the old Rainforest room to the South Seas room off in one corner of that room. The attraction will then close from January 5th to February 14th where the Americana scene will be unveiled & the Disney characters will be added. Apparently there are plans to incorporate these 2 new additions into next year’s holiday overlay.
  • Even though we here at Disneyland News Today have heard strong rumors that the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk-through would be opening at the beginning of Holidays at the Disneyland Resort this Friday, it’s now more likely that it won’t open until Thanksgiving at the absolute earliest, maybe even later.
  • Disney is thinking of adding another parking structure to Resort on the site of the current Pumbaa parking lot, that will be desperately needed if attendance really does pick up at DCA. This structure is currently planned to open sometime in 2011, if all goes according to plan.
  • It seems Disney has finally nailed down a good plan on just how to refurbish the Disneyland Hotel. The plan at the moment is to first build a completely new 4th tower on a currently un-used site, & once that is complete, tear down 2 of the current towers & rebuild one from that, & then finally tear down & rebuild the 4th tower.
For more information on the topics above & plenty more, check out the Disneyland Update.