Disneyland Closing Popular Classic Attractions
Walt Disney (DIS) – Get The Walt Disney Company Report theme parks have a sad history of sometimes removing classic rides and attractions that unfortunately never return to the parks.
Disneyland for many years had a classic Rocket Jets ride in Tomorrowland that opened in 1967, but closed 30 years later in 1997. However, that ride returned in a redone Tomorrowland in 1998 as the Astro Orbiter, which remains at the park today.
Disneyland’s Skyway gondola opened in 1956, a year after the park first opened, closed in 1957 for the construction of the Matterhorn, reopened in 1959 and closed for good in 1994.
In 1993, the park removed the Motor Boat Cruise that had opened in 1959, but that ride never returned to Disneyland. The theme park’s Submarine Voyage ride also opened in 1959, but closed in 1998 because of the ride’s age, low hourly capacity, and outdated special effects as well as high maintenance and labor costs.
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Certain Classic Rides Go Away But Sometimes Return
Nine years after closing the original submarine ride, Disneyland opened the new Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in 2007, based on the Disney Pixar “Finding Nemo” animated film. However, the covid pandemic forced its closure in March 2020, which prompted Disney into a two-year refurbishment of the popular ride with new colors, new lighting, special effects, projections, 3,000 coral pieces and about 12,000 feet of seaweed,.
A newly refurbished Finding Nemo Submarine ride will finally reopen on July 25.
Rumors say that Disneyland is also considering to bring back the PeopleMover ride that debuted in 1967, but was removed in 1995 for being outdated.
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Many attractions, such as fireworks displays and special parades, have come and gone at Disney theme parks over the years as well.
Another Anniversary Celebration Will End Soon
Disneyland on April 22 launched the 50th-anniversary celebration of the Main Street Electrical Parade, which originally debuted at Disneyland on June 17, 1972, and continued until ending in 1996. A version of the parade was introduced at Disney World on June 11, 1977, and continued through 1991. The parade has also made appearances at other Disney parks over the years, including California Adventure.
The Electrical Parade features floats decorated with thousands of sparkling lights accompanied by an electronic musical score based on “Baroque Hoedown” by Jean-Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley. The parade was the first to play unique musical arrangements synchronized to each float unit, according to Disneyland.
Main Street Electrical Parade features a grand finale that celebrates the theme of togetherness in an all-new float. The seven-segment float is 118 feet long and includes depictions of more than a dozen Disney and Pixar animated films.
The parade features stylized scenes from classic and contemporary stories, including “Encanto”, “Jungle Book”, “Raya and the Last Dragon”, “Aladdin”, “Coco”, “Mulan”, “Brave”, “Princess and the Frog” and others. The grand finale float features the Blue Fairy character from “Pinocchio” and a 19-foot tall replica of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle.
Nighttime fan favorite, the Disneyland Forever fireworks spectacular, also made its return to the park April 22 after debuting in 2015 for the 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration at Disneyland. The fireworks show includes two original songs, “Live the Magic” and “Kiss Goodnight” written by Disney legend Richard M. Sherman.
Main Street Electrical Parade and Disneyland Forever have been delighting guests since their return to the park in April, but all good things eventually come to an end. Disneyland is encouraging fans of these attractions to make their reservations for the theme park soon, since both attractions will end their limited time runs on Sept. 1.