9/11 and Disney Parks

9/11 ribbon.

NOTE: This post was originally written a few years ago.

I was working for a startup tech company in Silicon Valley when 9/11 happened. I remember going to the lobby of the hotel I was staying at and the front desk clerk saying “I hope you weren’t flying out today.” I was not, and I had no idea why she said that.

After the hotel shuttle dropped me off at work, I learned of what was going on. I spent my work day distracted as I kept an eye on news websites. Many must have been doing the same, as “big” news sites were reverting to very sparse, simple web pages to keep up with the traffic.

And even though Disneyland and Walt Disney World were far away from the attacks, the parks closed — something they rarely did. If you tried to go to the official websites, you saw the following:

Disneyland website on 9/11/2001.
Walt Disney World website on 9/11/2001.

It took years for tourism to recover. Hotels closed. Disney projects were canceled. But recover it did, and here we are, almost twenty years later, with some of the busiest parks and largest expansions those parks have ever seen.

Today, as we “Never Forget,” I hope all continue to move forward.

Until next time…

Disneyland’s Oogie Boogie Bash 2023 sells out in 10 hours

After an initial attempt to sell tickets on July 6th, ticket sells resumed on July 11th. A short time before the selling queue opened at 9 a.m. PST, folks were able to join a holding queue which was (so we are told) going to randomly insert us in the actual ticket queue.

I was there before 9 a.m., and remained in the queue until just after 8 p.m. PST when all tickets were sold out.

During the day, the screen would update as certain days became “limited” or sold out. I took screenshots every time I noticed a change, and if there is interest, I’ll write a post that shows which dates sold out first.

It was quite the waste of a day. And this, my friends, is the same company that folks are saying is in financial trouble because Indy is only the 12th highest grossing film in the world, currently.

Until next time…

LIVE STREAM of Disney’s Hollywood Studios 30th anniversary

Disney will be live streaming the 30th anniversary celebration at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on May 1 at 9:55 (Florida time I assume). Set your alarm now to check this link.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/CmdF8ZjqGkM

Disney announces opening dates for Star Wars lands

Tweeted by Disney yesterday:

JUST ANNOUNCED: #StarWars: #GalaxysEdge will open May 31 at the @Disneyland Resort and August 29 at @WaltDisneyWorld Resort: bit.ly/2H6Pipz

Having experienced first hand the media frenzy of Disneyland’s New Tomorrowland opening, as well as the even grander 50th Anniversary event, I will have some fun photos and comments to share which might explain what we can expect from this…

Until next time…