By Rick West

Unless you were hiding under a rock somewhere on a distant planet, you have no doubt hear - if not witnessed for yourself - what a massive success the Halloween Time at Disneyland Resort event was this year.

With massive success came huge and in  this case, unexpected crowd surges that were unprecedented for Disneyland at this time of year.  The public show of appreciation and affection for Disney's Halloween creativity this year broke attendance records and honestly caught the company off-guard, even though it had anticipated a decent turn-out for this during the month of October.

As the masses flooded the theme parks (especially Disneyland), Cast Members were forbidden to sign in or sign family/friends in on the weekends and in some severe cases, Annual Passholders were turned away at the gates; even Premium holders, which is also a very rare occurrence.  Halloween Time was a smashing success, and there's no doubt in my mind that Disneyland will take that and run with it to the next level in 2010.  It's too huge of a money-maker not to expand it and take it to new heights.

Arguably, the best part of the season was the really popular Halloween Screams fireworks show.  Hosted by Jack Skellington, park guests were treated to a ghoulish visual treat in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle as Zero soared overhead (like Tink and Dumbo) and a large inflatable "balloon" beside the Castle became an animated Jack face, as well as the screen for projected visuals throughout the show.

Halloween Screams was an amazing treat - but there were tricks.  Unless you were willing to fight the crowds and plant yourself in front of (and I mean in front of) the Castle at least an hour or more ahead of the show, you wouldn't have a perfect view, and in some cases, couldn't see the projections at all, taking away half of  the charm of the production instantly.  It was frustrating, because everyone wanted to see this thing.

During the first part of October, the facade for It's a Small World began being used for the projections as well - which was really cool and much less crowded.  Yet, the crowds surged.  The writing was and is on the wall - the number of people wanting to see the show outnumbered the park's viewing capacity for the show.  Hell, it was vastly superior to the summer fireworks show - why wouldn't everyone be starving for something new and better?  I wondered out loud all month why the flat side of the Matterhorn wasn't utilized as a projection spot for the show; it would immediately expand your viewing audience and would open up the scope of the show to "epic size", including the mountain as previous shows have done.

The answer lies on Rivers of America.  What you may not know is that in the final days of Halloween Time, the water screens used for Fantasmic! on Rivers of America were turned into Halloween Screams projection surfaces.  Suddenly, the viewing capacity of this show became almost a non-issue, with the entire riverfront suddenly becoming a viewing area for thousands and thousands of Disneyland guests.  Even portions of the Castle are visible from the River, which means we all could see Zero doing his thing as well - it was a win-win for everyone in this case.

We caught wind of this and hustled out to Disneyland to see the final show and see the water screens in action for ourselves.  Below are images that I snapped with my iPhone; this was such a last-minute thing, that I didn't have my camera with me, so I do apologize for the image quality.  It at least gives you a glimpse of how it was - and I am positive, how it will be on a much larger scale next season.

Trick or treat!

Story by Rick West

One of the most time-honored hidden gems at Disneyland is the Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through, where guests have the opportunity to view charming little dioramas depicting scenes from the Walt Disney classic animated film Sleeping Beauty.

As one of the theme park's earliest attractions, the Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through has welcomed millions of visitors since 1957.  Walt Disney himself was the one that wanted guests to be able to go up inside the castle - and what Walt wanted, Walt got!  What the world got for generations was a simple but very sweet walk-through, self-guided tour, far away from the crowded hustle and bustle of the park's busy walkways and attraction queues; it was a unique, almost-private spot right in the heart of the Magic Kingdom.

When America was forever changed on September 11, 2001, the Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through was shuttered.  There was no way that Disney officials could have unsupervised individuals walking freely and unsupervised up into what is absolutely one of America's most recognizable icons - not with wide-spread fears of anthrax attacks, more explosive attacks or anything else criminal the mind could conjure keeping our country on pins and needles. 

Though the original attraction that was rich with original Eyvind Earle artwork and Ken Anderson's Imagineering genius had been altered (not for the better) by Imagineers in 1977, Disneyland fans everywhere felt that they had seen the final passing of this cherished little "A" Ticket attraction forever.

The year was 2007.  Enter our long-time friend, Tony Baxter, Senior Vice President of Creative Development at Walt Disney Imagineering.  The chief Imagineer of the Disneyland Park, Tony wanted the castle walk-through back up and running, returned to its original glory, but with modern technical wizardry thrown in for good measure to that the fans and fans of generations to come would not be bored or under-wowed by the attraction.

With a minimal budget and a grass-roots team, Tony and the project's Art Director, Chris Merritt began the daunting task of re-creating the walk-through, while staying faithful to the original Earle/Anderson vision using modern "storytelling" technology.  The project lasted the better part of 18 months and when all was said and done, the Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through re-opened at the end of 2008, just in time for the massive holiday crowds and the special edition DVD of Sleeping Beauty, which offers viewers an in-depth look at the new attraction as one of its special features.

Theme Park Adventure traveled to Disneyland and had a look for ourselves at what Tony, Chris and the other Imagineers had done within the beloved castle.  There's no sugar-coating that goes on here at TPA, so let's just say that personal friendships with these folks aside, the castle walk-through is fantastic.  Not only are the "peek-ins" technically stunning, they are beautifully-crafted and it is quite evident that this re-Imagineering of a Disneyland classic was done by the right people with the right intentions.  Had this project fallen into the wrong hands, who knows what it would have looked like when it opened.  However, Baxter and Merritt held true to the attraction's past and delivered a slam-dunk that has delighted Disneyland guests, young and old alike.

We were very pleased to see that the Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through was packed with curious guests.  In fact, it was so crowded that taking pictures for this story proved to be a very challenging undertaking.  The crowded stairways and hallways made getting just the right shots almost impossible; we didn't want to hog the space, nor did we want to ruin the show for anyone, so we simply did the best we could on the fly.  What I can tell you is that while we were having a look at the attraction for ourselves, there was constant dialogue from all of the guests passing through about how cool the walk-through is, how beautiful and neat the dioramas are and how it is now much better than it's ever been before.  Those are the best compliments you can get - from guests that have never heard of Tony Baxter or Chris Merritt.  Guests just enjoying Disneyland with their friends and families - genuinely impressed by the visual treasure that is now available once again within Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Another aspect of this re-design is something we were very impressed by - a "virtual tour" of the attraction for Disneyland's disabled guests, that are unable to make it up the stairs and into the narrow walkways within Sleeping Beauty Castle.  Just near the exit of the attraction is a small room that has been adorned with lavish furniture and "castle" decorations.  Within that room, is a magic mirror that transports disabled guests into the upper levels of Sleeping Beauty Castle so that they may see what able-bodied guests are looking at as well.  It is a classy, sincere touch that I am sure, means a great deal to those unable to see the walk-through for themselves.  Major props to all involved for the addition of this virtual tour.

Theme Park Adventure knows that its readers will love what's been done inside the castle - so get on out to the Disneyland Resort and check it out for yourselves!  The best time to visit the walk-through is either immediately after park opening or later at night, when many of the younger Disneylanders have called it a day.  Just whatever you do - go see it.  It's an awesome reminder that when you have the right people with solid, focused intent working on a project such as this - true Disney magic can still happen.  And that is very comforting to many Disney fans these days, I'm quite sure.