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When you visit the Hollywood Pictures Backlot at Yester California Adventure, your family might want to see famous television celebrities. If it’s 2003 and your children are between two and six years old, Bear, Olie, and Stanley are just about the biggest celebrities imaginable. So head over to Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage! |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2003 Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage sign |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2003 “Imagine and Learn” sign at Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage |
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At the Hollywood Pictures Backlot, Hollywood Boulevard is a street of façades echoing the Golden Age of Hollywood. The signs here make no effort to capture that era—but children aged two-to-six don’t care. |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2003 Billboard atop the building |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2003 Streamline Moderne home of Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage! |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2003 Convenient parking |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2005 Outside queue |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2003 Video monitors along the queue line |
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If you don’t know who these characters are, watch the monitors in the queue to be introduced to them. Or rely on a press release as a cheat sheet: “Playhouse Disney” features Disney-quality entertainment that delights and encourages kids to learn through fun, imaginative and creative play: “Rolie Polie Olie” — This Emmy award-winning series chronicles the touching and sometimes hilarious world of Olie, a six-year-old robot boy who lives with his family in a magical, all-robot world. “Stanley” — The newest original series on the “Playhouse Disney” block, Stanley takes guests into the life of a very curious little boy with a passion for facts, who searches the animal world for clues about how things work. Jim Henson’s “Bear in the Big Blue House” — Bear, the seven-foot-tall, warm, friendly and understanding host invites the audience into his Big Blue House every day to play, learn, sing and dance with his friends in this Emmy- and Parents Choice Award-winning television series. The line is moving. It’s time to go inside. |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2003 Theater and the Big Blue House |
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There are no theater seats. Grab a spot on the carpeted floor. It holds 550 people. If sitting on the floor among hundreds of young children and their parents is not your idea of a good time, there are a few benches against the back wall. Once the show starts, many in the audience will be on their feet anyway. |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2003 Bear and Jamie |
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It’s not just a fun-filled musical revue; it’s also an interactive experience. Bear, Olie, Stanley and a bunch of their Playhouse Disney friends invite children to sing and dance with them in their new stage show. Where else can you do the “Bear Cha Cha Cha” in public? |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2003 Bear and puppet friends |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2003 Rolie Polie Olie |
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Jamie, the show’s human host—who could be a man or woman depending on which performance you attend—reads from a giant storybook, with chapters featuring characters from various Playhouse Disney shows, each teaching the importance of friendship. Pooh, Eeyore, and Piglet are in the show too. |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2003 Luna and Bear |
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After more than 20 minutes, the show ends with Luna, the giant moon, leading a group sing-along of “The Goodbye Song.” |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2003 Stanley |
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When the show is over, head next door. Perhaps Stanley or one of the other characters will be signing autographs outside the Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired bathrooms. |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2003 At night |
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It’s late. The shows are over for today. Look up into the nighttime sky. You might see Luna up there. |
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Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage! premiered at Disney’s California Adventure (now Disney California Adventure) on April 11, 2003, using the space that had been the short-lived ABC Soap Opera Bistro from February 2001 to November 2002. |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2003 Transformation from ABC Soap Opera Bistro |
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Modeled after the successful Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage! at Disney-MGM Studios (now Disney’s Hollywood Studios) Park in Florida, the California edition simultaneously addressed two of the new park’s early problems: too many restaurants and too little to do for families with young children. The revue initially highlighted three popular series from the Disney Channel’s Playhouse Disney pre-schooler programming block: Jim Henson’s Bear in the Big Blue House (1997–2006), and Rolie Polie Olie (1998–2007), and Stanley (2001–2008). As the Disney Channel updated its preschool-age programming, new editions of the show featured newer programs, such as JoJo’s Circus and and My Friends Tigger and Pooh. The final performance of Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage! at Disney California Adventure was Sunday, January 23, 2010. At that time, the show featured characters from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, and Little Einsteins. But it would soon be back under a new name. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2013 Disney Junior – Live on Stage! |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2011 The title character from Handy Manny in Disney Junior – Live on Stage! |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2011 Characters from Jake and the Never Land Pirates |
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The Disney Channel’s Playhouse Disney block was rebranded as Disney Junior on February 14, 2011. On March 24, 2011, the show at Disney California Adventure officially reopened from a refurbishment as Disney Junior – Live on Stage!, joined by characters from the then-new hit TV show, Jake and the Never Land Pirates Even guests who were not interested in the show benefited from the change: The new exterior signs were more appropriate to the period of the boulevard than the garish Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage! and “Imagine and Learn” signs. Just as there are always new pre-schoolers, there are always new TV shows for them from Disney. The 2014 version of Disney Junior – Live on Stage! featured Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Sofia the First, Doc McStuffins, and Jake and the Never Land Pirates. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2017 Disney Junior Dance Party! |
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On May 26, 2017, Disney Junior – Live on Stage! was replaced by Disney Junior Dance Party! presented by Pull-Ups—originally featuring characters from Mickey and the Roadster Racers, Sofia the First, Doc McStuffins, and The Lion Guard. A DJ played songs from Disney Junior shows; bubbles floated through the air; and preschoolers were encouraged to dance and sing. The official Disneyland Resort website called it “a Shindig for the Junior Set.” |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2021 Nothing on the marquee except the theater name, July 17, 2021 |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2021 “Returning Soon” |
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When Disney California Adventure reopened April 30, 2021, after its 13-month pandemic closure, Disney Junior Dance Party! remained closed. The attraction name was missing from the theater, but a standing sign assured guests the attraction would be back. |
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Photo by Christian Thompson/Disneyland Resort © 2021 Disney Vampirina in Disney Junior Dance Party!, 2021 |
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Photo by Christian Thompson/Disneyland Resort © 2021 Disney Mickey and Minnie in Disney Junior Dance Party!, 2021 |
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The attraction finally returned Friday, October 15, 2021, with adjustments to the show and its seating for social distancing. This version of the show features hosts DJ Deejay and Finn Fiesta and the title characters from Vampirina and Doc McStuffins, as well as Mickey and Minnie from Mickey and the Roadster Racers. Meanwhile, the three-year-olds who adored Bear, Olie, and Stanley in 2003 are now over at the Karl Strauss beer truck at Pacific Wharf. Those kids are old enough to drink. |
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Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore took thousands of photos of DCA under construction and during its early years for his now-defunct website, DCA Central. Iowa resident Allen Huffman has provided hundreds of thousands of photos to Yesterland from his DisneyFans.com website. Southern California resident Chris Bales has provided thousands of photos to Yesterland. Thank you! © 2021 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks
Attraction-specific copyrights and trademarks: Updated October 22, 2021 |
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