Last time around, we looked at some of the different anniversary celebrations at Walt Disney World. So this time, I thought we would examine some of the other celebrations WDW has had in the past, those that weren't tied to the resort's anniversary.

The first celebration I saw was in honor of Donald Duck's 50th birthday in 1984. This marked the 50th anniversary of Donald's first appearance; he was first seen in "The Wise Little Hen", which premiered on June 9, 1934. The main focus of this celebration was the afternoon parade at the Magic Kingdom, which featured all the characters celebrating Donald's birthday. The song used in the parade was a special version of "Happy Happy Birthday To You", which was featured on the "Splashdance" LP and cassette; "Splashdance" was also re-released on CD a few years ago. Alas, I don't have any pictures from this celebration.

The next major celebration was for Mickey Mouse's 60th birthday. Mickey made his debut on November 18, 1928. At WDW, the celebration began in the spring of 1988. For this celebration, the Magic Kingdom added a whole new land, called Mickey's Birthdayland, complete with its own station for the Walt Disney World Railroad. The whole concept centered around a surprise party for Mickey Mouse, and I loved the way they carried it out. Minnie Mouse first told guests about the surprise party as part of the Monorail narration from the Transportation and Ticket Center. Upon arriving at the Magic Kingdom, guests could board the train at the Main Street Station. Along the way was heard a song about the train being "Mickey's Birthdayland Express" (anyone have a recording of that song?), along with narration about the surprise party. At one point, Goofy, whose car had broken down, tried to get on the train with you, but he always ended up missing it. Also seen along the way were cardboard cut- outs of the characters on their way to the party.

The old Frontierland Railroad Stationwith decorations for Mickey's Birthday.

Some of the characters on their way to Mickey's surprise party. Sorry about the blur. The characters seen include Mowgli and Baloo, the Three Little Pigs, and Piglet.

Mickey's Birthdayland railroad station

After reaching Mickey's Birthdayland, guests were directed to Mickey's house if they wanted to attend the surprise party. After a walk through Mickey's house and out the back door, guests entered the first of three large "tents", which was the waiting area for the show. Here, I seem to remember Minnie's "friend", a human who was helping her host the party, came out to get things started. Upon entering the main tent, guests were seated in front of the stage, which resembled Minnie's kitchen. Of course, there was the usual singing and dancing, as one would expect from a character show, and even with all the notice throughout the park, somehow Mickey was still surprised. At the conclusion, the characters led the guests to the third tent, where there was even more singing and dancing by the characters, although this time there were no seats for the guests since this part of the show was relatively short.

Mickey's house, as it originally appeared in Mickey's Birthdayland. The outside of the house was changed somewhat when the land became Mickey's Toontown Fair.

Mickey's car parked in his driveway.

Some of the mementos on the shelves of Mickey's office.

Mickey's bedroom.

Pluto's house in Mickey's backyard.

Continued

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