The Disney Look... to the Past! (May 16-22)
Hello Orlando Theme Park News Readers, and welcome to the newest edition of the weekly feature known as "The Disney Look... to the Past!"
As always, we hope you will enjoy reading all of the following interesting facts about the Walt Disney Parks, Resorts, Movies, and more. If you have any questions or concerns about this material, feel free to contact us or just leave a message at the end of this post. Thank you!:
As always, we hope you will enjoy reading all of the following interesting facts about the Walt Disney Parks, Resorts, Movies, and more. If you have any questions or concerns about this material, feel free to contact us or just leave a message at the end of this post. Thank you!:
This Week in Disney History: May 16-22
May 22, 1998 — DisneyQuest soft opens to Guests in Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World
For Guests looking for the thrill of the Parks in an indoor setting, DisneyQuest is the place to be. This 100,000 square-foot “indoor interactive theme park” soft opened on May 22, 1998. A five-story, windowless building, DisneyQuest houses four interactive zones, Explore, Score, Create and Replay. These zones provide Guests with the opportunity to create, navigate and experience virtual attractions. A few of the most popular attractions on opening day included the “Virtual Jungle Cruise,” “Disney Animation Academy,” “Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride” and “CyberSpace Mountain,” a 360-degree, pitch and roll simulator. DisneyQuest officially opened in Downtown Disney West Wide at Walt Disney World Resort on July 19, 1998, while a Chicago site opened during the summer of 1999. Today, this “interactive adventure,” however, is only available at the Walt Disney World Resort.
May 19, 1971 — Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes open at Disneyland Park
On May 19, 1971, the popular summertime canoe attraction reopened as Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes at Disneyland Park. Originally called Indian War Canoes, the attraction first opened on July 4, 1956, as part of Frontierland's Indian Village expansion. Two Native American guides were aboard every canoe, leading Guests on an exciting journey around the island and past Cascade Peak. The Indian Village closed in 1971 to make way for Bear Country, prompting the new theme based on the legendary frontiersman known as the “King of the Wild Frontier.” Guests have been paddling along the Rivers of America with frontier explorer guides ever since.
In both of its forms, this is the only single-location attraction besides the Disneyland Railroad to reside in three different lands — Frontierland, Bear Country and Critter Country — without being moved. These 35-foot long canoes have made appearances in other Disney parks as well. The attraction can still be found in Tokyo Disneyland as the Beaver Brothers Explorer Canoes and, for a short time, both Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Paris had their own versions. If you are not afraid of a little water, a splash of adventure and a wave of fun, become a frontier adventurer at Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes.
Also this week in Disney History:
May 16
1990 — Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets, dies at age 53
1991 — “Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3-D” debuts at Disney's Hollywood Studios
May 17
1964 — “Disneyland Goes to the World's Fair” debuts on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
1991 — Disney's Port Orleans Resort opens at Walt Disney World
1991 — Touchstone Pictures releases “What About Bob? ”
2004 — Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa opens at Walt Disney World
May 18
1951 — “Plutopia” (Pluto cartoon short) debuts
1995 — Disney acquires a 25 percent interest in the California Angels baseball club
2003 — Disney-Pixar's “Finding Nemo” premieres at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles
2009 — Wayne Allwine, Disney Legend and voice of Mickey Mouse, dies at age 62
May 19
1934 — “Gulliver Mickey” (Mickey Mouse cartoon short) debuts
1960 — “Pollyanna,” Hayley Mills' first film for the Walt Disney Studios, is released
1971 — Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes open at Disneyland Park
1984 — Pvt. Donald Duck received an Honorable Discharge from the United States Army (after being drafted in a 1942 short)
2000 — Walt Disney Pictures releases “Dinosaur”
2007 — The world premiere of “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End” is held at Disneyland Park
May 20
1973 — Tom Sawyer Island, the Plaza Swan Boats and the Richard F. Irvine riverboat open at Magic Kingdom Park
1996 — Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf opens at the Walt Disney World Resort
2011 — Star Tours — The Adventures Continue opens at Disney's Hollywood Studios
May 21
1948 — The animated short “Donald's Dream Voice” debuts
2001 — The world premiere of Touchstone Pictures' “Pearl Harbor” is held in Hawaii
May 22
1998 — DisneyQuest soft opens to Guests in Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World Resort
1998 — Rocket Rods, “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience,” Astro Orbitor and Redd Rockett's Pizza Port open as part of a renovated Tomorrowland at Disneyland Park
_______________________________________________________________________________________All photos and information subject to the copyright of the Walt Disney Company. All rights reserved.
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