Happy 52nd Birthday, Disneyland!

First off, in the category of "Ask and ye shall receive": It now sounds as though the Sleeping Beauty dioramas may be returning from Yesterland!

Al Lutz of MiceAge reports "...there's now a tentative plan to revamp and reopen the Sleeping Beauty diorama walkthrough in the Castle. Using new lighting and audio technology, the walkthrough would reopen as a 21st century take on the 1957 original Eyvind Earle version of the attraction..."

Security concerns may be taken care of with the installation of hidden cameras. More details can be found in Al's anniversary update, which is chock full of news.

More good news is that John Lasseter has put legendary Imagineer Tony Baxter in charge of Disneyland. Among the promising rumors: "The most current plans for Disneyland are more about tweaking what is already there, and adding back some of the things that were lost over the last ten years... The PeopleMover beam is an obvious choice, and new proposals drafted for it two years ago continue to gain momentum. The 3-D version of Star Tours originally proposed for Tokyo Disneyland may also be heading stateside, and Tony would like to tackle that one especially. The Disneyland Opera House, the Rivers of America and the Tahitian Terrace are also areas that have caught Tony's eye...the plan is to add even more ride capacity to Disneyland."

If they get that PeopleMover track running again and the castle reopened, I will be beyond happy. :)

A side note with some bittersweet news: The Disneyland Hotel's Bonita Tower is soon to be renamed. The Tower was named for actress Bonita Granville, the wife of the hotel's former owner, Jack Wrather. Granville's other hotel namesake, Granville's Steakhouse, was also recently renamed and is now Steakhouse 55. If the name Bonita Granville doesn't ring a bell, her '30s NANCY DREW movies were recently released on DVD.

For a look back at souvenirs from past Disneyland anniversaries, see my post of July 17, 2006.

Happy Birthday, Disneyland!