Customer Reviews

Walt Disney Takes You to Disneyland: A Musical Tour of the Magical Kingdom

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This is a re-release of an original LP from the Disneyland label. A historic record in for many reasons, it was originally released in 1956 from Disney's then newly created in-house record label, and is the first record they released. Basically it is a musical audio tour of Disneyland narrated by Walt Disney himself, as he takes you to Main Street USA, Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, and Tommorrowland. A set of theme music was created for each themed "land" on the album. In turn, the music for each land was prepared by different composers. Many attractions Walt mentions are long gone, so it is historic in that sense as well. It is accompanied by voices and sound effects to make you feel as if you are there. The CD quality is very good, a faithful recreation of the LP, with the original LP cover reproduced as well. 35 minutes in length. Thank you Disney for unearthing this gem, a great CD and I reccommend. Since the title list above is incomplete, here it is again in it's entirety:

Main Street U.S.A.
Disneyland Theme - Walt Disney Narration
Meet Me Down on Main Street - Player Piano, Orchestrion, Marching Band, Calliope

Adventureland
Overture - Walt Disney Narration
Adventureland Boat Ride - Orchids in the Jungle | Monkeys and Hippos | Distant Drums | The River and the Rapids | Tribal Dances | Finale

Frontierland
Overture - Walt Disney Narration
Covered Wagon Ride "Westward Ho The Wagons" - "Old Betsy"
Golden Horseshoe - "Slue Foot's Hoe Down"
River Boat Ride - "Farewell"
Finale - "Balad of Davy Crockett"

Tomorrowland
Overture - Walt Disney Narration
The World of Tomorrow
Count Down and Blast Off
Outer Space
A Meteorite Strikes
The Other Side of the Moon and Back
Next Target - Mars

Fantasyland
Overture - Walt Disney Narration
King Arthur Carousel
Snow White Ride - "Whistle While You Work" - "Heigh Ho"
Peter Pan Ride - "You Can Fly"
Storybook Land - "Alice in Wonderland"
Finale - "When You Wish Upon A Star"

If you want to hear more music from the attractions and shows at Disneyland, including nostalgic attractions that are no longer there, I would suggest the CD box set that is accompanied by a great book on music creation for the theme park, "A Musical History of Disneyland", also sold at Amazon.com

This CD is a faithful recreation of a record originally released in 1956. Not only are the tracks the same, but the cardboard packaging is made to look like the album of old.

The key to understanding this release is the sub-title, a musical tour of the Magic Kingdom. Walt Disney starts each track by briefly describing the spirit of each land. From there on out, you get nothing but music. The exception to that is the Tomorrowland track, where there is occasional dialog discussing what is happening on the journey around the moon, still a science fiction concept in 1956.

Don't get me wrong; the music is great, especially in the Fantasyland track where we are treated to selections from Disney's movies. However, that wasn't what I was looking for. I was hoping for more description of the park from back then and even more pictures. As it is, this is a good CD that will mainly appeal to fans who had it on record as a child. Those looking for a historic trip to the Disneyland of 50 years ago should probably look elsewhere.

On my first trip to Disneyland, my parents bought me an album, narrated by Walt Disney and Jiminy Cricket, featuring a musical tour of Disneyland. As I grew bigger (but never grew up!), this album remained a favorite. As I got married and had children, they enjoyed it as well.

2 years ago, we had a fire, and this treasure was among the many, many things we lost...and now I can have it back, and better than before (on CD, since my old turntable also went up in smoke). Thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you!

Sure, it's music and narration, and not even "real sounds" from the park...but for a 5 year old child (who won't grow up), it was every bit as real as the tour that it captured.

This release is great on so many levels. Above all as a great piece of nostalgia but also as very high kitch/camp value. I wish Disney would mine the vaults for some of the other nutty lp releases that Disneyland Records put out back in the day. "Secrets of Life"; "Music From True-Life Adventures"; "Song of the South". There's a LOT of great stuff that has yet to see the light of the digital age.

I ordered this CD based on the samples I heard, so I knew it wouldn't be music recorded in the park itself. For those of us who grew up with the "Disneyland" TV show in the 50's, the music on this CD is like an old friend.

Each composer has a distinctive style: Oliver Wallace did a lot of music for short cartoons, and his melody heard in the Main Street section is also known from a Donald Duck cartoon as the song "Crazy Over Daisy". It's a cute little melody, played here in a variety of entertaining ways.

Camarata did some albums of the music from Snow White and Alice in Wonderland, among others. His arrangements are always dramatic, romantic and poignant, often going far beyond the original soundtrack music. He's a big part of the magic in Disney music of the period.

George Bruns is my all-time favorite Disney composer. In addition to the magnificent work he did in adapting Tchaikovsky's ballet score for the soundtrack to "Sleeping Beauty", he also did the music for the Tomorrowland sections of the Disneyland TV show. In fact, he is like the personification of 50's Disney space music. In the Tomorrowland section of this CD, I can hear phrases from "Man in Space" and "Mars and Beyond". His deft touch is imaginative, evocative and stylistically cool. Great music!!

If you're a "50's Disney-kid" like me, this is a must-have!

I had this record back in the 50's, actually it was my older brothers record. At that time it was entitled "A Day At Disneyland" and it was a great record to listen to before visiting the park itself. This rerelease is good as far as bringing back those fond memories, except one problem, there is no Jiminy Cricket. The original recording had Jiminy narrating along with the music throughout the different lands and was a bit more entertaining. My brother recently obtained the original L.P. in a used record store, I am having him record it for me. This new one is good but I really miss the cricket, Jiminy made it great.

As a DUTCH Disneypark fan, I LOVE the music from the parks
verry much! With this CD you go back to the beginning
in the '50 when Walt Disney started Disneyland.
If you like classical music and the movies from Disney
you HEAR that moviemusic in some of these songs.
Nobody is singing on this CD it is just GREAT music!
It all started with Walt Disney and to HEAR him
on this CD is a special gift and moment.

I will go to Disneyland next week and after I come back
I go and will listen to the special 50th CD.
you will here different music then.

ina komdeur
Maarssen
THE NETHERLANDS

I purchased this cd at Disneyland a couple of years ago, I just adore it. I loaded it into my iTunes library, and I enjoy listening to the vintage music and the Voice of Walt himself, taking me on a tour of our beloved Disneyland. It's got music I remember from my childhood, I was born two months before the Park opened in 1955, my first trip there was in the fall of '55...and I've been a frequent visitor ever since. I've seen the park grow and change in 56 years, this cd brings back some of the best. This is a quality product, and no Disneyland fan should be without it.

If You start collecting Disneyland Park related single CD's, start with this one. It's historical value is priceless. The Audio, is in monophinic, and is rather good. Then I would recommend this one for the more hardcore collector...

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Happy Disney Collecting! : ))

I am a huge Walt Disney fan, and this was a great find to add to my Disney collection as well as my Disney music collection. There are not many tracks, but each track is a decent length - and the fact that Walt gives you an intro into each track/land of Disneyland just makes this so enjoyable to listen all the way through. The music itself is fun and brings back memories of Disneyland from years past.
This makes a great addition to any Disney fan's collection and I highly recommend it to those that truly like the history of Walt or Disneyland. Might not be as enjoyable for those that just like Disney movies or everything modern-day Disney.