New Years Celebrations... One More Year!

Did you know? - The Main Street Electrical Parade was a regularly-scheduled parade, created by Bob Jani and project director Ron Miziker, famous for its long run at Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort most summers between 1972-1974, 1977-1982, and 1985-1996. It features floats and live performers covered in thousands of electronically-controlled lights and a synchronized soundtrack triggered by radio control along key areas of the parade route. The parade was also spun-off many other versions that ran or continue to run at Disney parks around the world. Currently, the original parade runs at Disney's California Adventure as Disney's Electrical Parade.

Did you know? - Clarence Leonard "Kelly" Johnson (February 27, 1910 – December 21, 1990) was an aircraft engineer and aeronautical innovator. As a member and first team leader of the Lockheed Skunk Works, Johnson worked for more than four decades and is said to have been an 'organizing genius.' He played a leading role in the design of over forty aircraft including several that were honored with the prestigious Collier Trophy. Johnson acquired a reputation as one of the most talented and prolific aircraft design engineers in the history of aviation. In 2003, as part of its commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' flight, Aviation Week & Space Technology ranked Johnson 8th on its list of the top 100 "most important, most interesting, and most influential people" in the first century of aerospace. Hall Hibbard, Kelly's Lockheed boss, once remarked to Ben Rich: "That damned Swede can actually see air".

Did you know? - A parade (also called march or marchpast) is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind. In Britain the term parade is usually reserved for either military parades or other occasions where participants march in formation; for celebratory occasions the word procession is more usual. In the Canadian Forces the term also has several less formal connotations

The parade float got its name because the first floats were decorated barges that were towed along canals with ropes held by parade marchers on the shore[citation needed]. Floats were occasionally propelled from within by concealed oarsmen, but the practice was abandoned because of the high incidence of drowning when the lightweight and unstable frames capsized. Strikingly, among the first uses of grounded floats — towed by horses — was a ceremony in memory of recently drowned parade oarsmen. Today, parade floats are traditionally pulled by motor vehicles or powered themselves.

Did you know? - In 1972, when the Main Street Electrical Parade debuted, many of the floats were flat screens on rolling platforms similar to the Electrical Water Pageant. The engineers who helped create the parade also created the first show-control program in existence. This allowed the 2,000-foot (610 m) long parade route to contain multiple radio-activated "trigger zones." Using radio-activated triggers as each float entered a zone, the audience would hear float-specific music through the Disneyland audio system. Each zone was between 70–100 feet long, and the zoned system meant that every person watching the parade would experience the same show, no matter where they stood along the parade route.

Did you know? - The Casey Jr. Circus Train is an attraction found at Disneyland and Disneyland Paris. Based on the train of the same name from the 1941 film Dumbo, the train goes past many miniature versions of scenes of classic Disney animated films at a brisk speed, making this a bit of a sister attraction to the slower paced Storybook Land Canal Boats. It was open a week later than Disneyland due to testing.

Casey Jr. Circus Train at Paris is designed as a roller coaster for small children through Storybook Land, giving riders good views of the Storybook Land castle and other objects that you cannot see as well from the Storybook Land Canal Boats. This attraction is classed under a roller coaster type ride

Did you know? - The Caterpillar (also known as the Hookah-Smoking Caterpillar) is a fictional character appearing in Lewis Carroll's book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Introduced in Chapter IV ("Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill") and the main centre of interest of Chapter V ("Advice from a Caterpillar"), the Caterpillar is a hookah-smoking caterpillar exactly three inches high which, according to him, "is a very good height indeed" (though Alice believes it to be a wretched height).

Did you know? - The Main Street Electrical Parade closed in Disneyland in 1996 after a 24-year run. Light bulbs certified as having been part of the show were sold to collectors. The replacement show, Light Magic, opened in 1997 and was an immediate failure. Disney quickly cancelled Light Magic but held off in bringing back the popular Main Street Electrical Parade. However, the parade was refurbished and appeared at the Magic Kingdom in May 1999 for a limited engagement, just in time for the resort's Millennium Celebration.

The parade ended its run at the Magic Kingdom on April 1, 2001 and SpectroMagic was brought back the following day. The Main Street Electrical Parade floats were then sent back to California for the parade's return to Disneyland. These plans changed after Team Disney Anaheim saw the poor attendance figures for the spring break season at Disney's California Adventure and feared that the park would fail to attract large crowds during the crucial summer season, unless they had a big draw[citation needed]. So, on April 25, 2001, Disney announced that the popular Main Street Electrical Parade would be coming to Disney's California Adventure on July 2, 2001 in honor of the first summer of the park. The name of the show was changed from the Main Street Electrical Parade to Disney's Electrical Parade.

Did you know? - Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London,[1] and is often extended to refer to the clock or the clock tower as well.[2] Big Ben is the largest four-faced chiming clock and the third-tallest free-standing clock tower in the world. It celebrated its 150th anniversary in May 2009 (the clock itself first ticking on 31 May 1859), during which celebratory events took place.

Did you know? - Captain James Hook is the antagonist of J. M. Barrie's play Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up and its various adaptations. The character is a villainous pirate captain of the Jolly Roger brig, and lord of the pirate village/harbour in Neverland, where he is widely feared. Most importantly, he is the archenemy of Peter Pan. It is said that Hook was Blackbeard's boatswain, and that he was the only man Long John Silver ever feared.

Hook wears a big iron hook in place of his hand, which was cut off by Peter Pan and eaten by a saltwater crocodile. The crocodile liked the taste so much that he follows Hook around constantly, hoping for more. Luckily for Hook, the crocodile also swallowed a clock, so Hook can tell from the ticking when he is near. Hook hates Peter obsessively and lives for the day he can make Peter and all his Lost Boys walk the plank.

Smee is Captain Hook's boatswain and right-hand man, so to speak. Contrary to popular belief, however, Smee was not First Mate; Starkey was

Did you know? - The Main Street Electrical Parade's underlying theme song is entitled "Baroque Hoedown." The original version was created in 1967 by early synthesizer pioneers Jean-Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley. Originally, the parade's soundtrack had the same themes as the current recording, but was a different arrangement by Jim Christensen and Paul Beaver. In 1977, it was updated and arranged by electronic music artist Don Dorsey and Jack Wagner at Jack Wagner Studio, which was used until January 2009 in Disney's Electrical Parade. When the parade returned to Disney's California Adventure in June 2009, it began using the updated, orchestrated DreamLights soundtrack from Tokyo