Disneyland 2016: The End of an Era.

Lizneyland
Dec 28, 2016
3 min read

As the end of 2016 rolls in, I start to reflect on what this year at Disneyland was like. The 60th was over in September. Then, things became its familiar fall routine with the park getting ready for the Halloween season. Still no Fantasmic, but we had we had an entire 15 months of new shows, and exciting things to do! New version of World of Color Celebrate! the wonderful world of Walt Disney, New Forever Firework Show Spectacular, and the most exciting, New aged Main Street Electrical Parade entitled Paint the Night(which happened to be my favorite).Im not quit old enough to have memories first hand of 40 years of ADVENTURE, but the Golden hidden mickeys of the 50th anniversary are right up my alley. The half a century mark in 2005 seemed like a big deal when i was 9-10 years old, but now the Diamond Celebration was the most exciting and most familiar time of my Disney life. They gave us New Foods, new souvenirs, new songs, and everything was incrusted with diamonds and blue! We stepped into the Magic, felt Forever Young, and most importantly wanted we wanted to know WHEN COULD WE DO THIS AGAIN. The Matterhorn turned into an Volcano, and a full sized Mac Truck drove down Main street. The Diamond celebration was awesome... Then, in the mix of fun, reality set in and change to our home park was near.

In this year we dealt with new Annual Passports(like signature and signature plus), a new teared ticket system, the back half of Disneyland closed, and the Tower of Tower rapidly being engulfed in scaffolding. We got waves of news that still feels like I need some time on getting used to. A Disney attraction classic,to my generation, Tower of Terror is set for 'Final Checkout' in order to make room for Groot and the Guardians of the Galaxy . Pure OUTRAGE can you believe that? First they break ground and change the first and original Disney Park as we know it, by announcing the BIGGEST expansion in Disneyland History,welcoming the new addition of Star Wars Land(bye-bye goats and Big Thunder Ranch!) But our familiar comfort zone park turned into a ticking time clock of how long we can come enjoy the very usual magic we were used to. We even said our goodbyes to the usual route of the famous 'Ground Circle Tour of the Magic Kingdom!' (that has been a classic since Day 1.) Dates were set and everyone wanted to experience Disneyland as we know it before the clock runs out, and things are never the same again. While, simultaneously fighting off more and more crowds then we have ever seen. We have lived in a time where an "off-season" was a thing of the past, but just a distant memory of empty nights, walking onto pirates, and being able to basically roam free in the path ways. And by the way things are looking it doesn't seem like lines will be getting any shorter..

2016 marks the end of an era at The Happiest Place on Earth. The world is changing every day and what has always stayed the same was Disneyland. But as we welcome the new year, we also welcome the new changes to the park! All plans seem exciting, but for some Disneylanders like me, change can be intimidating. We have lived in a time in the berm that will soon be nostalgic. And if we all think about it, we are witnessing history, all of us are encountering a true end of an era of Walt's dream! BUT I look into this new year with my Mickey Ears held high, in excitement for all the new experiences, and new knowledge I will gain on what we all love as OUR HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH.

-Lizzie Pºoºrras