May 5, 2005
Our Report on the May 4 Private Disneyland Media Event

On May 4, Disneyland was closed to the general public so that an enormous Disneyland 50th Anniversary Celebration media kick-off event could be held. Only members of the press, invited guests, and contest winners were allowed to attend this very special event, which symbolically took place exactly two months and thirteen days before the park's actual anniversary.

Disneyland opened to the first guests at 6:30 a.m. Guests with special early-entry passes were let in through the park's front gates by a special security team that checked all identification very carefully. People who did not have valid tickets were not allowed in, even if they had really, really good excuses or said that they knew someone who was already inside or had tickets but "lost" them or claimed to be Michael Eisner's relatives, no matter how many times they tried to get in or how annoying they got.

At 11:30 the first official performance of the new Parade of Dreams parade was held. This is a spectacular parade, so far as we could see, and some of the floats were tall enough to be seen over the crowd's heads. Apparently the floats stop and one point and there is some singing and dancing going on.

Crowds in the plaza between Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure remained fairly high during the day. Guests approaching Disneyland's closed gates were full of questions, all of which were happily answered by cast members and annual passholders, bloggers, and Disney Website maintainers who had been left out of the festivities.

As the afternoon progressed, the ticket screeners at the only open gate into Disneyland stuck to a schedule of frequent shift changes (to keep themselves sharp) and showed no loss of vigilance. Even people who pretended that they had a medical emergency and had to get to the first-aid station weren't allowed into the park. Even offers of substantial bribes were met with sharp looks. Anyone trying to climb the gate was knocked off with a broom.

A little after 3 p.m., the new 50 Magical Years exhibit in the Main Street Opera house was opened with much fanfare. Prematurely grey celebrity and author of Cruel Shoes Steve Martin presided over the ceremony, and even people catching a glimpse of the activity from a distance through the park's right-hand entrance tunnel could see that there was a lot of energy, some kind of joke or something, and then confetti.

Many other celebrities appeared during the day, including the back of Julie Andrews' head and a very lost Geena Davis.

As the day went on, there was another performance of Parade of Dreams. Then it started to get darker and colder, and the crowd in the plaza thinned. When full night was upon us, Disneyland premiered its new Remember... Dreams Come True fireworks spectacular. This new fireworks show includes not only the usual pyrotechnics, but also special lower-to-the-ground laser and explosive effects, delightful hints of which could be seen over the top of the train station.

Around midnight the last of the guests were drifting away from the central plaza. The special May 4 activities were over and, probably, a huge success. The entire InsidEar staff was proud to be a part of it!