Disneyland 60th Anniversary: A virtual tour around Disneyland

Thanks to modern technology and Xbox. we are going for a walk around Disneyland to celebrate the 60th. Kinect Disneyland Adventures is a Xbox 360 game that uses your body as the controller. Its full of fun missions and mini games inspired by all the attractions. But today we are just going for a walk through the park. Enjoy.

Happy Anniversary Disneyland!

60 years ago today the gates opened on a Magic Kingdom that just a year earlier was a humble orange grove in Aniheim California. Since then mountains have risen, pirates and ghosts have taken up residence, and over 650 Million guests have crossed under that train trestle, to leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy.

Below is the original ABC broadcast of the grand opening of Disneyland July 17, 1955. Please enjoy this special presentation and whimsical look back at how it all began.

Photoshop Fun: Tour Around Fantasyland

Some stills from around Casey Jr.

Views from around Fantasyland.

Disneyland's Diamond Anniversary: Disney in DIsneyland

Just two days away from the 60th Anniversary but today is a bit of an anniversary for Manifesting the Magic. This post is the 100th post on this blog. I wanted to thank everyone who has viewed this blog and the few of you that check it everyday. Thank You! it means so much to me that I can share this with you. So today I decided to post about the man for whom all this is possible...Walt Disney. Just some great photos from his time in Disneyland. And at what better time then on the brink of the 60th anniversary of his dream coming true.

"To all that come to this happy place: welcome. 

Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories 

of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge 

and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated 

to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have 

created America... with hope that it will be a source 

of joy and inspiration to all the world."

- Walt Disney

"Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue 

to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world."

- Walt Disney

"I just want it to look like nothing else in the world,

and it should be surrounded by a train."

 - Walt Disney

Audio Archive: The Golden Horseshoe Revue Medley

In honor of the 60th Anniversary of Disneyland I put together a few tracks from the original Golden Horseshoe Revue. First the intro from the Wonderful World of Color episode in honor of the Revues 10,000 performance. Second the Welcome to the show titled Hello Everybody. And lastly the ever popular Pecos Bill. You can click on the link below of visit The Manifesting the Mouse Youtube Page

Panoramic Paradise: DCA at night

A night view of the old Paradise pier. I made this from 4 shots

taken near what was then Golden Dreams, now The 

Little Mermaid - Ariel's Undersea Adventure

Disneyland's Diamond Anniversary:The Matterhorn

So what do you do when you have a large pile of dirt left over from digging a moat for your castle? If your Walt Disney you build a mountain on top of if... obviously. Walt had a good amount of dirt left and for several years the hill served as a picnic area and a sort of lovers lane at night. Walt had the idea for a toboggan style roller coaster for sometime. So the picnic area was an ideal place however he hit a road block. Smack dab in the middle of  the purposed area the newly installed sky ride crossed. In fact the Skyway's largest pylon was right in the middle. So what do you do? If your Walt you just build the mountain around it.  And from that day till the Skyway's closer in 1994 it traveled though the middle of the mountain. The Matterhorn has not one but two tracks.The Fantasyland track and the Tomorrowland track. their lengths are just 103 ft in difference at 2,037 ft and 2,134 ft. Both reach a height of 80 ft and top speeds of  27 mph. The attraction has seen several updates over the years including two recently. In 2012 a large refurbishment saw new ride vehicles along with the addition of beads of glass to the paint on the outside to mimic the look of sparkling snow. Just a few months back in May 2015 the Matterhorn saw new replacements to its Abominable Snowman Animatronics. Also new props including some abandoned gondolas from the Skyway in a fitting tribute. 

Date Nite at Disneyland: supplemental content

In yesterdays post I had a picture collage of some old promotional material for Date Nite. Below are those pieces pieced out so you can have a better look. My favorite is the first one promoting the "Football Kick-off Rally". Sounds like that would have been fun. The comment below that tag says you could meet your team so I would assume the players may have gotten in free that night. Then to the right we see "School Songs and Yells". that would have been fun too. I would imagine if that was done nowadays that it would end in violence or a riot between two rival schools. Just kidding but it does seem like a great event.

Dancing on the Mark Twain Riverboat... Yes Please!

Quite the musical lineup.

 The days of good hours in the park. Midnight 

every summer night.1:00 a.m. Friday and 

Saturday. Take that Magic Hours.

Making Memories: Grizzly Peak

A sunny afternoon at Grizzly Peak near the lift for

Grizzly River Run at Disney's California Adventure.

Date Nite at Disneyland

One of many promotional events from the early years, Date Nite was a weekend event that would mix the enjoyment of visiting Disneyland at night, Live music, and a chance to take that special someone someplace magical. Date Nite ran from the 1950's till the early 1970's. Some nights the park would stay open till 1 a.m. and occasionally they would host special theme nights. The event even had its own song called... Let's Dance at Disneyland. Performed by the Elliott Brothers and the Disneyland Date-Niters. At the bottom of the page I have included a link to the Manifesting the Magic YouTube page where I have posted the song along with some black and white photos from Prom Night 1961 to give you a feel of what Date Nite might have felt like.

Making Memories: Parade of Dreams

The opening float from the Parade of Dreams.

The Parade ran from 2005 till 2008.

Disneyland's Diamond Anniversary: Disneyland After Dark

With the 60th just around the corner i wanted to do a short series on all things Disneyland. What better way to start then with the beauty of the park after dark, A topic that goes all the way back to Walt's Wonderful world of Color.There is nothing like walking through a Disney theme park after the sun goes down. All the lights come on and its like your in another place. Nowhere is this more true then in Disneyland. From the pin lights of Main Street U.S.A. to the Flickering Lanterns of Critter Country. Disneyland truly takes on another persona after dark.

Main Street U.S.A.

 Adventureland

New Orleans Square

Tomorrowland