***SPOILER ALERT!!!
THE FOLLOWING PAGE REVEALS IN DETAIL
THE NEW GREAT MOMENTS WITH MR. LINCOLN ATTRACTION.
IF YOU WISH TO "BE SURPRISED" TURN BACK NOW!!!***
Welcome to our very special coverage of a very special new re-addition to the Disneyland Opera House - "The Disneyland Story Presenting Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln"!
This presentation of the new attraction will consist of several photos and two videos, with the intent to completely display the new attraction.
Let me start off by saying that if any person out there thinks that a show about President Lincoln would be "boring" and not worth the time, I can not begin to describe how wrong that person is. This show is done EXTREMELY well, with serious and humble dedication made to Walt Disney's original vision for his Mr. Lincoln presentation. The presentation itself is woven masterfully with no lulls, dead points, or boring historical fact recitation. It is very entertaining from when the lights go down until they come back up, and the lobby - split into two main rooms: The Disneyland Story and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln Prologue - is very well done as well, as you'll see below. Enjoy.
After years on hiatus for the 50th, Mr. Lincoln is finally back in the Main Street Opera House!
I had the distinct honor & privledge of sharing the first public viewing of the new show with
Senior VP of Creative Development at Walt Disney Imagineering, Tony Baxter.
Upon entering the lobby, the first items guests see are the very bench Walt was sitting on when he first conceived of Disneyland, and a horse from the Merry-Go-Round that he was watching his daughters ride.
Here beings "The Disneyland Story" half of the new dual storylined lobby.
Along the first wall are displays showing a timeline of the life of Disneyland, beginning here with initial inspiration.
After inspiration, the next display shows Disneyland as it initially opened - as Walt knew it.
Next up, Disneyland doubles down on its initial successes.
The next display shows Disneyland enjoying something of a "golden age" in its first few decades.
Then as the company changed, so did Disneyland's creative direction, resulting in some of Disneyland's biggest & best.
Scale models of Sleeping Beauty Castle and Splash Mountain compliment the lovely wall displays.
Heading deeper into the lobby, The Disneyland Story progresses over to this wall
which features the full scale model of Disneyland on its opening day, and the final wall display.
Guests may recognize the model as the same one that served as the centerpiece for the 50th exhibit's lobby.
The final wall display showcases attractions past, attractions present, and yes, one attraction coming in the future.
The Nemo Subs, which opened in 2007, serve as example of "Today".
A familiar-looking Star Tours Starspeeder done up in Tatooine orange tantalizes guests as to what is coming in 2011.
Can I have one of these models for Christmas please? =)
The final part of The Disneyland Story is a viewing of a slighty condensed version of the show that formerly occupied the main theatre - Steve Martin and Donald Duck presenting Disneyland's First 50 Magical Years.
One of the things I love about how the lobby is organized now is that guests can finish watching this show before moving into the next room, and nothing Lincoln-related in there will be missed.
Once that film has concluded, guests are encouraged to move into this room.
Here, The Disneyland Story plotline ends, and the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln plotline begins.
Though guests are free to walk about the lobby as they choose, there is an intended order of observance here.
This next room is all about setting up the new Lincoln show now playing in the main theatre.
People who have seen The American Adventure at Epcot in Walt Disney World will recognize these folks.
Paintings and plaques set up the biographical element of the Lincoln show.
This wall display shows three sketches used visually in the new show to display various parts of Lincoln's life.
This drawing serves as background for the excerpt of Lincoln's Gettysburgh Address that is part of the new show.
This drawing is entitled "The Burden of War" and speaks to the severity of the challenge Lincoln faced as President.
This sketch is used as background in an early part of the show where Lincoln himself is narrating a brief autobiography.
Along the far wall are a portrait of Lincoln, a bust of Lincoln, and screen that shows a brief prologue of the show.
This bust of Lincoln was done by Blaine Gibson in 1965.
This portrait was done recently by retired Imagineer Richard Broderick.
The centerpiece of the room is this scale model of the U.S. Capitol building.
The model is extremely detailed showing the Rotunda, and both Houses of Congress.
Adequate time is given to observe all these displays after the film in the first room has concluded.
But, before guests enter the main theatre, the following pre-show video is shown on the screen above the faux fireplace:
As shown in the video, once the pre-show has concluded, guests walk through these very doors into the main theatre.
Before the show, a profile of Lincoln is displayed on the curtain.
Above the curtain is a gold eagle that should look quite familiar to those who've seen The American Adventure.
Sadly, Disney has requested that no photos or video of the main show be taken by guests. In their place, please enjoy this brief video made by Disney that shows some of the highlights of the new show:
Also in their place, please review this brief outline of the main show: Act 1
Show opens with "America the Beautiful"
Paul Frees begins narration, introduces Lincoln
Lincoln gives a partial autobiography guiding the audience through his years up until becoming President.
Act 2
Civil War breaks out
Lincoln: "Without unions, the Constitution is only a piece of paper.
I know there's a God, and that He hates injustice and slavery.
If He has a place, a work for me, and I think He has, I believe I'm ready, and with God's help, I shall not fail."
"Two Brothers" plays with accompanying visual sequence
Lincoln gives partial Gettysburgh Address
Frees: "Ten brief sentences. So simple. So direct."
Frees: "We pay tribute here, not to a man who lived a century ago,
but to an individual who lives today in the hearts of all freedom-loving people.
His prophetic words are as valid for our time as they were for his.
And now, the skills of the sculptor, and the talents of the artist will let us relive great moments with Mr. Lincoln.
*Lincoln AA is revealed, rises into standing position*
Act 3
Lincoln AA delivers shortened version of original "Great Moments" speech.
Speech concludes with "Battle Hymn of the Republic"
Show concludes with "Golden Dreams" and projections of "America: Keep on Flying" on the main and side curtains
What the video did not show was that guests exit the theatre to the song "Golden Dreams" from "The American Adventure."
Another brilliant touch is that the tune is played both in the theatre and in this, the exit queue.
The exit is timed such that guests are hearing JFK's blurb in the song when they look at this very photo.
This plaque ties "Golden Dreams" together with Lincoln, and sets the stage for the post-show.
This display shows contributors to the American Spirit of Achievement.
On the right are Ford (automobile), Bell (telephone), and the Wright Brothers (airplane).
When I asked Tony Baxter about how in the world he got away with creating a show with a President referencing God
multiple times, and having the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" as the closing tune in today's PC world, this display is what he described to me as "evidence that we're politically balanced."
On this wall are the contributors to the American Spirit of Celebration.
More on you, sir, coming up next!
Elvis most certainly fits the Spirit of Celebration.
Bob Hope is currently the only representative of the American Spirit of Giving,
however Mr. Baxter informed me that more people will be coming to this post-show once some red tape is cleared up.
After those first few pictures, the exit corridor opens up into more American Spirits.
Over here, contributors to the American Spirit of Perseverance.
Lance Armstrong, obviously.
Dodgers great Jackie Robinson, of course...
Michelle Kwan...
Bruce Lee...
...and rounding out the Spirit of Perseverance, the Williams sisters.
Looks like there's some open wall space to add some additional contributors to the American Spirit of Tolerance.
Helen Keller, representing the physically disabled.
Martin Luther King Jr., obviously.
Over here we see contributors to the American Spirit of Inspiration.
Amelia Earhart...if we only knew what really happened to you...
Erik Weihenmayer at the top of Mount Everest. Of course his being blind ruined the view a bit.
Erik was the first blind person ever to reach Everest's summit.
Rounding out Inspiration is Sally Ride - the first American female in space.
Closing out the post-show are these contributors to the American Spirit of Imagination.
Samuel Langhorn Clemens, known to some as Mark Twain.
Lucille Ball. If you have never watched her, you have not watched comedy.
George Lucas? Never heard of him...
Here was a surprise to see - Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets.
Of course the post-show ends with a contributor to multiple American Spirits - Walt Disney, himself.
A final lovely touch is how this wall has been opened up to invite guests who've just exited back into the lobby.
Guests can also choose to enter the Mad Hatter gift shop from the Lincoln exit queue if desired.
Guests just can't walk back up the exit queue. Must see the show in order to see the post-show.
A big thanks and congratulations to Tony Baxter and team for having an absolutely top-notch new attraction here.
I have honestly been waiting for a restoration of Lincoln like this for nearly 10 years, and I never thought I'd see it.
I never would have believed after being removed in 1984, "Battle Hymn of the Republic" could ever come back.
I never would have believed that the original speech could be mostly restored like it has been, though I so longed for it.
Today's audience, who very much NEEDS to hear what Mr. Lincoln says, will now have the opportunity.
Thanks for bringing Mr. Lincoln back Tony! Walt would be proud of what has been accomplished here.
This concludes our special bonus coverage of the return of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Please now continue on to our final page for this update - the official announcement of Captain EO's February 2010 return. Also feel free to use the links below to see any of the pages of today's update that you haven't had a chance to browse through yet!
This also concludes the photographic portion of this update. All Pictures, Videos*, Edits, Captions, Mouseovers by Matt
