Disneyland

Anaheim is gearing up to take on all comers next week in the battle for tourism supremacy, with Walt Disney Co. likely to announce an ambitious, long-anticipated addition to Disneyland and the city set to unveil its multimillion-dollar expansion of the convention center. Disney management has scheduled meetings with members of the City Council on Friday to brief them on details of its project, which have been closely guarded.

College credit for visiting Disneyland? It may sound like a dumb jock's dream class, but instructor Nina Lesser swears it's no Mickey Mouse course. Lesser is teaching a seminar called "Theme Parks and the Architecture of Leisure" this semester at the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles. The course explores the links between contemporary theme parks and utopian models of urban planning from earlier eras.

Disneyland officials headed back to the future Thursday, unveiling a retrofit of Tomorrowland, with the emphasis on "retro." Planned new attractions include an interactive technology pavilion, a high-speed rocket ride to replace the lumbering People Mover, a futuristic glockenspiel and a 3-D film featuring a moving floor under the audience.

Speaking of transportation at Disneyland, the Mike Fink Keelboats will return to the river in Frontierland on Saturday, following a three-year hiatus. Park officials will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony and park guests can witness a race between rival frontiersmen Davy Crockett and Mike Fink shortly after the park opens at 8 a.m. Walt Disney brought Crockett's Bertha Mae and Fink's Gullywhumper to the park in December 1955 as a wave of Crockett mania swept the nation.

Disneyland is the newest test track for April Fools pranksters at Road & Track magazine. The April edition features a comprehensive road test of the hottest vehicle in the Anaheim fleet--the faux four-wheel-drives that carry Disneyland guests through the Indiana Jones Adventure ride.

Disneyland's long-awaited Tomorrowland revamp is set to begin Monday, when construction crews will begin transforming the former Carousel Theater into Innoventions, a hands-on technology expo that will be the centerpiece of the themed area, sources inside the park have confirmed. But the king of plastic surgery won't survive the Tomorrowland face-lift.

Few places conjure up more idyllic images than Disneyland, home of Snow White, Mickey Mouse and clean family fun. But on the fringes of popular culture, that long-held perception is being challenged. Two recent books and a low-budget motion picture present decidedly darker views of the Magic Kingdom and the 1950s-style motels, diners and neon-framed stores that surround it.

A Disneyland musician who was hit and injured by a Lion King float that went out of control has found a measure of success in his one-man battle against the theme park. Cal/OSHA, the state's health and safety agency, recently fined Disneyland $700 for violations involving the injury last February of drummer Carlton "Gussie" Miller. The fine was minor, but one of the two citations issued was highly unusual, especially for an employer that prides itself on running a spick-and-span operation.

Expect a new look--and a new name--soon for Tomorrowland, the futuristic but somewhat dated theme area at Disneyland. Starting in March, much of Tomorrowland will vanish behind construction walls for its most thorough renovation ever and its first serious revamping since 1967. When Tomorrowland opened amid the orange groves 40 years ago, it celebrated the idea that opportunity seemed limitless.

The Main Street Electrical Parade must die! Those merry pranksters at Knott's Berry Farm took a satirical swipe at rival Disneyland this Halloween season by calling for the death of the interminable light parade as part of its cheeky holiday extravaganza. "The Hanging," a fast-paced, irreverent comedy/horror revue, has become a perennial favorite at Knott's Halloween Haunt.