The Disney Look... to the Past! (March 23-29)

Hello, and welcome to a new edition of the famous weekly feature "The Disney Look... to the Past!"
Enjoy reading all of the following interesting facts about the Walt Disney Parks, Resorts, Movies, and more:

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This Week in Disney History: March 23-29

March 24, 1972 – Country Bear Jamboree opens at Disneyland Park

Originally envisioned by Walt Disney as entertainment at his never-built Mineral King ski resort, this Audio-Animatronic showcase was brought to Disneyland Park’s newly christened Bear Country by Imagineer Marc Davis after its successful debut at Magic Kingdom Park in 1971. This musical revue, penned by X. Atencio and George Bruns, is performed by a troupe of friendly bears including host Henry, starlet Teddi Barra and guitarist/occasional Elvis impersonator Liver Lips McGrowl. The show later opened at Tokyo Disneyland and inspired two holiday versions. The Country Bears’ Disneyland Park run ended in 2001 to make way for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, but look carefully inside the attraction and you might spot the animal head trio of Max, Buff and Melvin keeping a watchful eye over the Hundred Acre Wood.

March 28, 1997 – The inaugural game is played at Champion Stadium

Play ball! The first-ever event held at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex was an exhibition game between the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds, a nationally televised “Grand Slam Opener” won by the Braves, 9-7. The game was a sellout, and one year later, the Atlanta Braves made the Walt Disney World Resort their official spring training home. With room for 9,500 baseball fans, this Spanish Mission-style stadium is a throwback to the great ballparks of the early 20th century, with 80 percent of seats located between the first and third base lines. The stadium hosted opening round World Baseball Classic play in 2006, and the Tampa Bay Rays made it their home for three-game series in both 2007 and 2008, winning every contest. The venue was renamed Champion Stadium in 2007, and as part of the ESPN Wide World of Sports relaunch, was outfitted with a high-definition video scoreboard in 2010.

Also this week in Disney history:

March 23
1969 – Disneyland Park hosts Herbie Day, featuring a parade of Volkswagen Beetles down Main Street, U.S.A. (promoting the film “The Love Bug”)
1990 – Touchstone Pictures releases “Pretty Woman”
2000 – Disney’s “Aida,” featuring music by Elton John and Tim Rice, opens in New York City

March 24
1956 – Astro-Jets opens at Disneyland Park
1987 – Michael Eisner and French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac sign the Euro Disney protocol to bring the new Disneyland Resort Paris to France
2006 – “Hannah Montana” (television series) debuts on Disney Channel

March 25
1969 – President Nixon presents Lillian Disney with a special gold medal honoring Walt for “Distinguished Public Service and Outstanding Contributions to the Public and the World”
1990 – Disneyana Shop opens at Magic Kingdom Park
1994 – Walt Disney Pictures releases “D2: The Mighty Ducks”
1996 – John Lasseter is presented with an Academy Award for Special Achievement, recognizing “Toy Story” as the first fully computer-animated feature film

March 26
1994 – “Food Rocks” opens at The Land at Epcot
1995 – Disneyland Park hosts its first marathon and 5K run

March 27
1961 – Snow White Grotto opens at Disneyland Park
1986 – Bob Hope helps officiate the groundbreaking of the Disney-MGM Studios
1989 – The new Walt Disney World Casting Center opens
2005 – “Grey’s Anatomy” debuts on ABC
2009 – “Celebrate! A Street Party” debuts at Disneyland Park

March 28
1987 – First Disney Store opens at the Glendale Galleria mall near Los Angeles
1987 – Port of Entry opens at Epcot

March 29
1998 – Disney hosts an event in New York City’s Central Park for the opening of Disney’s Animal Kingdom
2002 – Walt Disney Pictures releases “The Rookie”

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As usual, thank you for reading, and have a great start of your week!

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