Greetings from the Howard Johnson’s directly across from “The Happiest Place on Earth.”
Photo by Jeff Lange
Angela Ragno and I are here covering the kick-off of Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary celebration for JimHillMedia.com. And — so far — this event has really been a blast.
Oh, sure. There have been a few slight glitches along the way. Like that header that poor Kelsey Grammar took from the stage of the Hyperion Theater last night. Luckily, the “Frasier” star’s fall didn’t seem to cause him any permanent injury. Which is why Jay Rasulo’s global overview presentation was then able to continue without any ambulances being called.
President of Disney Parks & Resorts Jay Rasulo (l) and Kesley Grammar
Photo by Jeff Lange
And then — of course — there was that giant traffic cone that seemed to catch fire just before the world premiere of DCA’s “Block Party Bash” was about to get underway. But Disney being Disney, they just whisked the smoking parade prop off-stage ….
Photo by Jeff Lange
And the dancin’ in the street went off without a hitch.
Photo by Jeff Lange
To be honest, I’m not exactly sure what went on with that traffic cone. All I know is that cast members quickly blasted that over-sized prop with fire extinguishers, then rolled this still-smoking parade vehicle backstage. You can see the fire extinguisher residue here as well as some scorch marks on the street in the photo below.
So whatever was going on inside that cone, it must have really throwing off some heat. I just hope that the driver inside was okay.
Photo by Jeff Lange
Again, overlooking these two relatively minor glitches, Angela & I had a really amazing time at this after-hours party for the media at Disney’s California Adventure. We even scored some rather unique centerpieces to take home for souvenirs.
Photo by Florence Lange
Once we got back to our hotel, we left a wake-up call for 7 a.m. Which actually proved to be unnecessary since Disney began test firing shells at 6:30 a.m. Which (as you might understand) really rattled the windows of our hotel right across the street from the theme park.
Why was the Mouse doing this? I’m told that these early morning fireworks were a test of the shells that will be exploding over Tomorrowland later today when Tim Allen presides over the grand opening of “Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster.”
Anyway … Like I said earlier, this has been a really fun experience for us so far. And — over the next 24 to 30 hours — I plan on sharing even more of my & Angela’s exploits as we try & cover this Disneyland press event for the site.
So be sure & keep checking back with JHM to see if we’ve posted any more pictures and/or sent along any new stories.
Talk to you later, okay?
Jeff Lange