Disney Theme Parks TV Specials

Cmdr_Crimson

Cmdr_Crimson

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I am sucker of pure cheese and nothing says it more than the TV Specials. Especially when it came to showing WDW & DL...When it came on I'd sit there and enjoy all the different things they showed with guest stars doing things guests could never do...This post is dedicated to that..And we are not referring to the Travel Channel/Modern Marvel documentaries...Those are of a different catagory....This is all about the way they Reeled you in wanting to go by having celebrities and music artist play in the parks whether odd special or holiday event (Prior to the horrible versions of the Christmas parades of the past 7-8 years)...If you find any. Post them here!

I'll let the ball rolling with a few I enjoyed...

First off The Mouseketeers at Walt Disney World.
Yeah remember they had a 70's Mickey Mouse Club? I do..Well, in this corny special they take a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth only to have it become a TMZ Special with them fighting, doing corny jokes, and dancing the Pooh Polka....


Captian EO Grand Opening..
Since the announcement of the closing of EO this would be a great time to put this in here...I mean look at this Cheese! They hyped this 17 minute film for an HOUR Long special with a parade, celebrities and music artist like Starship (During the We Built This city era) hosted by Dallas/Step By Step star Patrick Duffy and Justine Bateman...TOGETHER AT LAST!:hilarious:


Welcome to The World...
At first this sounds more like a trip around the resort with guest stars.....But, no...No it's not..What is it for? The grand opening of Space Mountain. Hosted by Lucy Arnaz, Lyle Waggoner and an odd dancing moment where Tommy Tune is literally dancing everywhere guest couldn't even step foot...But, the special is about Space Mountain..............Up to the last 10 minutes....The rest.....Is Just pure good 70's nonsense..
 
Cmdr_Crimson

Cmdr_Crimson

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Continuing on.. Why not make it Grand? So here's the Grand opening TV Specials of all 4 WDW Theme Parks!

The Grand Opening of Walt Disney World/Magic Kingdom


The Grand Opening of Epcot


The Grand Opening of The Disney*MGM Studios (DHS)


The Grand Opening of Disney's Animal Kingdom
 
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vonpluto

vonpluto

Well-Known Member
No video links, just some lists of park specials over the years, page numbers refer to Bill Cottrell's "Wonderful World of Disney Television" (1997)

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:)
 
Matt_Black

Matt_Black

Well-Known Member
The Snow White Golden Anniversary. I had started watching it on youtube a while back, but it got pulled before I could finish. Fun fact- it has Sherman Helmsley as the Magic Mirror, and shortly after watching the first part, I'd read something that said Sherman Helmsley was gay but never officially came out before he died. Seeing his brief part as the Mirror, I said to myself, "Yes, I totally see it now."

"Your highness, you're very fair, but Snow White? She's fabulous!"
 
Brer Panther

Brer Panther

Well-Known Member
I like the "Walt Disney World Resort: Behind the Scenes" special, but they need to update it again. The clips of the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor are clearly early animation, and Honey I Shrunk the Audience still makes an appearance!
 
George Lucas on a Bench

George Lucas on a Bench

Well-Known Member
The best by far is the Disneyland Tencennial Wonder World of Disney. It will never be topped. Walt touring Imagineering with Mary Blair, Marc Davis, Claude Coates, Rolly Crump, Blaine Gibson etc. and showing us all the developments being made for Disneyland in what was without question the most important era for Disney theme parks. I mean, the Disney theme park experience as we know it today is laid out for us in the first 15 minutes by Walt himself! Audio-Animatronics, "it's a small world", immersive themed lands, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion (!), themed sit-down dining and even nighttime lighting effects.

 
FettFan

FettFan

Well-Known Member
Walt Disney World Inside Out sneak peek of Tower of Terror....hosted by Gilbert Gottfried.


EDIT -- And here's the Alien Encounter preview....featuring some stock footage directly inspired by 20th Century Fox's monster, including a familiar silhouette, puddles of slime, set pieces that look like they were transported directly over from Hadley's Hope, and an actress at 2:38 who bears more than a passing resemblance to Sigourney Weaver.

Added bonus: Alien steals the host's shoe. lol
 
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Matt_Black

Matt_Black

Well-Known Member
FettFan said:
EDIT -- And here's the Alien Encounter preview....featuring some stock footage directly inspired by 20th Century Fox's monster, including a familiar silhouette, puddles of slime, set pieces that look like they were transported directly over from Hadley's Hope, and an actress at 2:38 who bears more than a passing resemblance to Sigourney Weaver.
Click to expand...

Well, Alien Encounter was initially supposed to be a straight-up Aliens attraction before they got cold feet on that idea.
 
Cmdr_Crimson

Cmdr_Crimson

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Matt_Black said:
Well, Alien Encounter was initially supposed to be a straight-up Aliens attraction before they got cold feet on that idea.
Click to expand...
FettFan said:
Yep. At least the attraction was decent enough on its own.

And fortunately, George Lucas' involvement was just a token thing. God only knows what he would have dreamed up if he had more input into it.
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Even stranger is the TV Special that centered around the opening of New Tomorrowland and on Alien Encounter..
 
jengrey

jengrey

Well-Known Member
Wow, I totally remember watching the Disneyland 30th anniversary one as a kid. I also remember a magic special filmed at Disneyland. I think Siegfried and Roy made the castle "disappear". Another favorite of mine was the Disney World 4th of July special from the late 80's or early 90's. The All-New Mickey Mouse Club did a song and dance routine at Typhoon Lagoon. Unfortunately, I can't find either of those.
 

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