Customer Reviews

Disney's Happiest Celebration on Earth

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great CD but you can get this in a 2CD set with more stuff at the park. I do not know why they only released the 1st CD but the 2nd CD is just as good and should be released also. You can only get it at the Disney Resort--so I hope they will get wise and release the 2CD set ASAP--because you need to get the whole experience-not only 50%. Attention DISNEY!!!!!!

After just returning from Disneyland with the 2-disc set of "Happiest Homecoming on Earth-the Official Album of the Disneyland Resort" I can tell you that this 1-disc set is good if you just want a sampling but the 2-disc set is even better. If you are really into having a good set of Disneyland songs from rides and attractions and you can't get to Disneyland to buy the 2-disc set, try the 6-disc set "A Musical History of Disneyland [BOX SET] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]" here at Amazon.com which also comes with a book.

Ever few years, Disney releases a new official album for the park attraction songs, and of course the 50th anniversary of Disneyland was the perfect time for a new one in 2005 and 2006. Disney never misses the chance for one celebration or another and this one was celebrated at all the Disney parks around the globe. But for that milestone anniversary of the first park it needed to be better than usual, and also represent the history of the park. After all, times change and some shows and attractions are phased out and changed, but fans remember the old ones fondly even if they are gone. For those that have never owned one of these Disney attraction CD's, these are the songs and sounds from the actual attractions, rides, shows, parades, and firework displays at the park. They usually excerpt an abbreviated part of the show or favorite song on these CD's, and sometimes they add in a few sound effects from the attraction. There are many new tracks on this release that were not on previous CD compilations from the past 15 years, and overall I think this has much more content than previous compilations prior to 2005. A separate version available in the park as a 2 disc set had even more tracks, but that set is no longer available.

Rather than list all the tracks, which you can find above, I wanted to focus on the NEW tracks which include: Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters music; the daytime music track of Space Mountain (by the composer that did The Incredible's soundtrack); There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (from the days that Carousel of Progress was located at Disneyland after the Worlds Fair. This is mostly the queue music and the opening); the LeeAnn Rimes Disneyland Anniversary song from the fireworks show; Walt's original 1955 dedication of Disneyland speech; the new Winnie the Pooh Ride music, and ironically two songs from the Country Bear shows it replaced; Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin; a portion of the Disneyland Railroad arriving at Main Street Station, with sound effects; a 3 minute portion of the Indiana Jones attractions music, without dialogue or sound effects; a short bit of the music medley from Tarzan's Treehouse, but strangely missing the most fun part of the music you hear when you first climb up; a song from Main Street USA's background music loop called "Meet Me Down on Main Street", by the Mellomen, a barbershop quartet that performed at Disneyland and on Disney TV shows in the 50's and 60's (the group included Thurl Ravenscroft, whose voice is also used in some Disneyland attractions); a song from Rod Miller, the ragtime pianist that has played at Coke Corner since 1969; and a rare treat from a long gone Frontierland attraction called Mine Train through Natures Wonderland, in the form of the music from a portion of the attraction called the Rainbow Caverns.

Now the version of Small World on this CD just does not sound good in comparison to other CD,s, the engineers were playing around with the levels and it sounds kind of warped. And a correction is in order, as the track listing here says that the Pecos Bill song Golden Horseshoe Revue is on this CD, but it is not on the copy I bought here. Again, since there is a different version of this CD you can buy in person at the Parks, that may explain this difference. The rest of the tracks are usually on every CD since they are so popular. By adding all these new tracks they took out some songs that were on previous annual CD's like the Fantasyland Castle Medley; Ballad of Davey Crockett; the Mickey Mouse March; Illuminations Fireworks show; Main Street Electrical Parade; and the finale from the "Fantastic!" Show. The cover art is a compilation of the different castles from every Disney park, as it was sold at all Disney parks to celebrate the event.
As many reviewers will point out, if you are a Disneyland completist and you want it all, including attractions long gone and complete ride-throughs with all songs and sound effects intact, you need to track down the old "Disneyland Forever" CD's made on kiosks at the park.
Alternatively, you can buy the 6 CD mega-set that is offered at Amazon.com titled "A Musical History of Disneyland" (ASIN: B000AA4MHM [...].

As for this CD, if you want some casual listening to remember your visit with for the car or music player, this is a very adequate CD to have, they did a good job.

This is a great CD with favorites of the park, but for hard core fans I suggest hunting down the 50th 6-disk box set! I own it and it has all these songs and more! You can listen to almost anything at the park on the box set, including rides that don't even exist anymore. If you're just a fan looking for a good, cheaper, 1 disk CD this is perfect but if you're a hard core fan that eat, sleeps, and breaths Disney I think you should find the box set! I found it at Costco.
The best thing about the 6-disk set is it has the 50th fireworks show, Fantasmic, and the original Electrical Parade on it! It's truly the better CD!

Ever few years, Disney releases a new official album for the park attraction songs, and of course the 50th anniversary was the perfect time for a new one. But for the anniversary it needed to be better than usual, and alsorepresent the history of the park. After all, times change and some shows and rides are phased out and changed, but fans remember the old ones findly. For those that have never owned one of these Disneyland attraction CD's, these are the songs from the actual attractions, rides, shows, parades, and firework displays at the park. They usually excerpt an abbreviated part of the show or favorite song, and sometimes they add in the sound effects, but usually not. There are many new tracks that were not on previous CD compilations from the past 15 years, and overall I think this has much more than previous compilations.

The new tracks include: Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters; the new daytime music track of Space Mountain (by the guy that did the Incredibles soundtrack); There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (from the now gone Carousel of Progress); LeeAnn Rimes song from the fireworks; Walt's original dedication of Disneyland speech; the new Winnie the Pooh Ride and ironically two songs from the Country Bear shows it replaced; Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin; portion of train ride at Main Street Station; Pecos Bill song from the long running show Slue Foot Sue's Golden Horseshoe Revue; a 3 minute portion of the Indiana Jones attraction; music medley from Tarzan's Treehouse; a song from the Main Street USA music loop called Meet Me Down on Main Street; a song from Rod Miller, the ragtime pianist that has played at Coke Corner since 1969 called Alexander's Ragtime Band; and a rare treat from a long gone ride called Mine Train through Natures Wonderland, in the form of a portion of that ride called "Rainbow Caverns".

Now by adding these they took out some songs that were on previous CD's like the Fantasyland Castle Medley; Ballad of Davey Crockett; the Mickey Mouse March; Illuminations Fireworks show; Main Street Electrical Parade; and the finale from the "Fantastic!" Show. The rest of the tracks are usually on every CD since they are so popular.

As many reviewers will point out, if you are a Disneyland completist and you want it all, including attractions long gone and complete ride-throughs with all songs and sound effects intact, you need to track down the old "Disneyland Forever" CD's made on kiosks at the park. Soon you can buy the new 6 CD mega-set that is offered in several versions called "A Musical History of Disneyland". If you want some casual listening to remember your visit with for the car or music player, this is a very adequate CD to have, they did a good job.

I always enjoy the music you hear when visiting Disney World. This is comprehensive album covering all the parks worldwide. There are a few surprises here such as WALT DISNEY'S DEDICATION OF DISNEYLAND of July 17th, 1955. THERE'S A GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL TOMORROW from the Carousel of Progress is very endearing. GRIM, GRINNING GHOST from The Haunted Mansion and YO HO (A PIRATE'S LIFE FOR ME) from the Pirates of the Caribbean have become true classics. I certainly can not forget THE TIKI, TIKI, TIKI ROOM.

This is a Really Neat Collection, A Good Balance of Old Disneyland and New Disneyland. This is a great way to get everyone excited about that upcoming disney vacation, or just a good way to "Remember When"


Its Fun to listen to either way!

I wish they could have added other songs to this album but overall, I loved listening to all the songs of Disneyland. If I closed my eyes while listening to songs like from the Indiana Jones ride, Space Mountain, or the Haunted Mansion, I could actually imagine myself on the rides. Or the Coke Corner song, I can imagine myself eating ice cream from the Carnations place and listening to the piano. The album really does bring back a lot of Disneyland memories.

I bought this CD the other day, but the tracks aren't as amazon.com has them listed. Here's what they were on my CD:

1. Walt Disney's Dedication Of Disneyland
2. All Aboard
3. Meet Me Down On Main Street - (The Mellomen)
4. Alexander's Ragtime Band - (Rod Miller)
5. The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room
6. Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye
7. Tarzan Medley
8. Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life For Me)
9. Grim, Grinning Ghosts
10. Bear Band Serenade
11. Spalsh Mountain Medley
12. The Great Outdoors
13. The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh
14. Rainbow Caverns
15. it's a small world
16. Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin
17. Star Tours
18. There's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow
19. Space Mountain
20. Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
21. Space Mountain (New Daytime Track)
22. Remember When - (performed by LeAnn Rimes)

So yeah, you need to buy this one for track 21 - the new Space Mtn track written by "The Incredibles'" Michael Giacchino. Genius. Oddly enough, it's only 1:27 long even though the liner notes and everywhere online says it should be 3:00. The old Space Mtn Dick Dale track was only 2:42 (or 2:46, depending on the CD). How does this add up? Ya got me.

The Disney Happiest Celebration on Earth CD helped me to remember the fun I had during my last trip to Disneyland. The actual sound tracks from the various rides made it feel like you were at the park again.

Bob Tuzik