Will California Adventure Help Disneyland Clean Up?
How can Disneyland possibly compete with the hoopla that will accompany the opening of California Adventure, Walt Disney Co.’s second Anaheim theme park, in 2001?
Some suggest the old park, which opened in 1955, should have a grand opening of its own. Former Disneyland President Jack Lindquist said he thinks the park should close to the public for 30 days of cleanup, repairs and upgrades, then reopen looking immaculate when California Adventure debuts next door.
“They’ve been discussing closing it down and fixing it up, and I think it’s a heck of a good idea,” he said. “But I’m not going to be the one voting.”
Lindquist, who retired from the theme park in 1993, remains active in local entertainment. Last week he was courting a delegation from the Tournament of Roses at Tinseltown Studios, the “Hollywood awards banquet” dinner theater he dreamed up with another former Disney executive, Jim Garber. “I’d love to get the queen and the court down every year,” he said.
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