Biggest Disappointment about Disneyland 60th Special

[choirboy501]

I loved the special.

Sir Elton John was a treat.

Seeing the Dream Suite with Josh Gad was cool.

But just like the Christmas Parade specials, the focus seems to be more on Disney IP than on the features in the parks.

Which is always disappointing.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Kelly & I enjoyed the show, and really didn't have any disappointments. But, maybe because that's because we go all the time. I think for a Disneyland Parks show they should do a travel show talking about the parks. This was fun for the entertainment.

 

[dancemonkey]

I couldn't make the app work. Other than that it was fun!

 

[OKW Lover]

Val & I enjoyed much (but not all) of the show. I'd agree with the OP's point about wishing it showed more of the park though.

 

[loves to dive]

That was my reaction too. I've only been to Disneyland as a small child and don't remember it so I was looking forward to maybe seeing some things about the park and the history and some changes through the years. It was too focused on the movies, which I enjoyed but the thing was called Disneyland 60 years not Disney Corp.

 

[hedberg1661]

Are they planning on replaying this anytime soon?

 

[KingLlama]

I have it on DVR and have only watched about half of it, but here's what has stood out so far....

1. I could do without the musical performances UNLESS they have obvious Disney ties(like Idina Menzel and Elton John). Otherwise, I feel like previous posters and wish there was more time spent focused on the actual parks(granted, I haven't gotten to the part about SWL, etc. yet).
2. The segment featuring the cast of "Modern Family" was terrible(and I'm a fan of that show). Their *insider tips* about DL were things like "GET THERE EARLY" and "HAVE FUN" and "WATCH THE PARADE". Really? I actually learned more about Disneyland Park from the episode of "Modern Family" that they filmed inside the park than I did from this segment.
3. I completely geeked out about the "Pete's Dragon" trailer. Yes, it is a completely different PD than the original. Yes, it looks a bit too much like the new "Jungle Book" for my taste. No, it's not a musical. Still, as someone whose first movie in a theater was the original back in 1977, I just about lost it. Cannot wait.

I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the special sometime this week.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I have it on DVR and have only watched about half of it, but here's what has stood out so far....

1. I could do without the musical performances UNLESS they have obvious Disney ties(like Idina Menzel and Elton John). Otherwise, I feel like previous posters and wish there was more time spent focused on the actual parks(granted, I haven't gotten to the part about SWL, etc. yet).
2. The segment featuring the cast of "Modern Family" was terrible(and I'm a fan of that show). Their *insider tips* about DL were things like "GET THERE EARLY" and "HAVE FUN" and "WATCH THE PARADE". Really? I actually learned more about Disneyland Park from the episode of "Modern Family" that they filmed inside the park than I did from this segment.
3. I completely geeked out about the "Pete's Dragon" trailer. Yes, it is a completely different PD than the original. Yes, it looks a bit too much like the new "Jungle Book" for my taste. No, it's not a musical. Still, as someone whose first movie in a theater was the original back in 1977, I just about lost it. Cannot wait.

I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the special sometime this week.

Pretty much my thoughts as well - it seemed more on musical performances than the park itself. I think people who were watching were maybe expecting more of the park, and a tour of the park/history of Disneyland. I'm pretty sure they got good ratings as EVERYONE told me to watch it people who aren't Disney fans let me know it was on lol.

 

[flvy]

I wasn't amazed by it. The bits with Elton John and Josh Gad were the best. I didn't expect the teaser trailer for Pete's Dragon, or the look at Star Wars Land. I should have known there would be a signature restaurant in there.

 

[disneysteve]

I thought it was an okay show, but very little of it had anything to do with Disneyland's 60th Anniversary. They showed a bit of old footage but that was about it. And they showed virtually nothing of the park as it is today except a bit of the night parade and show.

Plus, we had no idea what song Elton John was singing for the finale. If that was a Disney song, it is one that we have never heard before. That should have been some big classic Disney tune.

We also couldn't get the app to work.

 

[BudgieMama]

Biggest disappointment? We have no way of seeing it in the UK. I hear about the Christmas parade every year, but we don't get that either.

 

[smiths02]

My favorite part was when Sir Elton John came on, my 9 year old son got really excited and yelled "That's the guy who did carpool karaoke with the Doctor Who guy"
I did not like the Jessie J version of When You Wish Upon A Star...she has a great voice, I just didn't like all the vocal stylings...I liked girl who did the Rainbow Connection with Kermit

DH and I also didn't get the glittery bikinis and pumping for the opening dance number?? (I am a prude, but I wasn't offended or anything, I just didn't get it...I got the first part where they were in opening day kind of clothes)

 

[SorcererHeidi]

I am sad to say I didn't even bother to watch, since the parade shows the last few years have been more of a "musical showcase", and I've become very upset and indifferent about that, and I expected the same from this show. Sounds like I wasn't wrong, unfortunately, so I'm not upset I chose not to watch it.

 

[KingLlama]

Just like the parade, I've found that the key is to use DVR and just fast forward through the ridiculousness. You get to skip the frustrating parts AND you get basically a half-hour to an hour of your life back.

 

[disneysteve]

I did not like the Jessie J version of When You Wish Upon A Star...she has a great voice, I just didn't like all the vocal stylings...I liked girl who did the Rainbow Connection with Kermit

DH and I also didn't get the glittery bikinis and pumping for the opening dance number?? (I am a prude, but I wasn't offended or anything, I just didn't get it...I got the first part where they were in opening day kind of clothes)

I agree about Jessie J. Not impressed, and she couldn't figure out what to do with her hands which was distracting. I did like the guy who sang the Jungle Book song. I thought he nailed that. Rainbow Connection was good too. But again, none of that had anything to do with the advertised theme of the show. Maybe if she would have been singing When You Wish Upon A Star in front of the castle, it would have made more sense.

I also commented on the opening dance number. Those were very un-Disney costumes. I wasn't offended either but felt it was inappropriate to the setting.

 

[EricInPA]

There was less about the Parks than I would have liked, but friends of mine (that are Disney fans, not so much Disney Parks fans) loved it. It's in a prime-time slot on Sunday night, so it doesn't surprise me there was a lot of entertainment bits and promotion of ABC properties.

There are so many hidden treasures throughout Disneyland they could have done the whole two hours on that with Josh Gad. I'm a park geek though, so I could have watched a 2 hour documentary on how they overlay the Haunted Mansion.

 

[disneysteve]

I could have watched a 2 hour documentary on how they overlay the Haunted Mansion.

That would be awesome!

 

[rteetz]

I loved Dick Van Dyke. I would've loved it there was more of him.

 

[disneysteve]

I loved Dick Van Dyke. I would've loved it there was more of him.

Absolutely. Have you seen the video of him from D23?

 

[Stacy's a freak]

I forgot about it until 9:00 p.m. when it was an hour in. We turned it on and it was just performance numbers in some theatre. I was expecting/hoping for some footage of the parks or history of things. My short attention span made it for about 3 minutes and we were on to other things.