Tribute

...to a class act.

Mom and I will join the fans of the Disneyland Band tomorrow to show our love and support to this icon of Disneyland history.  It is being replaced by something "comedic" and "high energy," presumably to entice a younger audience than those of us who have been loyal Disneyland visitors for sixty years.

I've done several posts about our joy from this group in this blog over the years.  They have been one of the few stable artifacts of the original park that Walt built.  It hurts to see them tossed aside.

By stupid management.

Really?  Do you really think a younger audience gives a rip about entertainment?

I teach middle school.  They don't stop to listen to a performance past the age of ten when they are old enough to be on their own in the park and race from one ride queue to the next.  They also don't stop to spend money.

Have you read  your Disneyland history lately, Disney management?  Walt wanted a park that would appeal to ALL AGES.  The Disneyland Band is a show for the very young who love to dance with them and for those of us who got over the whole ride thing years ago.  For the last five years, when I brought first both aging parents and, now that my dad is gone, my mother, we simply follow the music.  Our day used to be the Disneyland Band sets to Billy Hill and the Hillbillies (another huge entertainment mistake) to the ragtime piano.

Mom says her Disneyland days may be over if the band is gone.  Too bad, as she can't get out of the park without dropping at least $200 on food and souvenirs each trip.

And if her days are over, mine may be, too.  The park has become a progressively sadder place for me over the last five years as management makes one entertainment mistake after another.

I wondered what would happen to my beloved Park when there was no longer a Disney to keep watch over the Dream.  Apparently what is happening is a move into cheesy tackiness.  The 60th parade seems to have a theme of Las Vegas meets Mardi Gras and now to lose the Disneyland Band, an icon of high class entertainment.  So sad.  Maybe too sad to overcome.   A lifetime of joyful visits coming to a close.

Heads up, Disneyland.  If you want to attract the young adult audience, you need to start putting some money into Walt's park, starting with the rumored upgrade/update of Tomorrowland.  I don't know why you need to, since the place is constantly packed, but if that's the goal, taking away the entertainment that draws the older audience isn't going to make a bit of difference.

Disgusted with you.