2003 NFFC Convention - Part One
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The NFFC held their annual summer convention from July 15 - 20th.  LaughingPlace.com is presenting a series of reports from the convention. For more information on the NFFC, see LaughingPlace.com/NFFC.

Saturday 10:45 AM - Disneyland Resort Update
Randy Baumberger, Senior Vice President, Resort Operations and Sales for the Disneyland Resort joined NFFC for a wide-ranging discussion on the current status of the Disneyland Resort, the years accomplishments, and what we might see in the near future.

Baumberger first displayed a video recapping the past year's many activities and advances. These ranged from opening a whole new land in DCA, "A Bug's Land", to the wild successes of Disney's two professional sports franchises and their respective runs to the championship level series. Also mentioned were the three new exhibits at the Disney Gallery, opening the Pooh and Playhouse Disney attractions on the same day, Fiesta Latina at DCA for the first time, CHOC Community Walk, 50 years of Corvette, and the recently finished refurbishment of Tom Sawyer Island.

The presentation then moved on to what the resort is offering this summer. Covered were the Xgames Xperience, the Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl Premiere, and the Pirates of the Carribean movie experience event. According to Baumberger "Athletes were knocking on the door" to join the experience. Mike Metzger, a star of the Freestyle MX BigAir show, was even given a "Godfather" nametag, his nickname in the Freestyle world, which he nwears around the resort. The Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl Premiere was a "logistical challenge" admitted Baumberger but a great success and first of a kind for the park. A 1200 foot Red Carpet, four football fields in length, provided excellent star-spotting for the movie's fans and a unique obstacle for those premiere attendees that wore stiletto heels.

Next Randy Baumberger arrived at the ‘looking ahead' segment of his talk. Most of what he covered was already well known by the audience, but there were a few surprises. But first, he gave the usual caveat that all announcements are subject to change and that, of course, there are some things he just couldn't reveal at this time.

Notable events coming up at the Disneyland Resort include: the 2nd annual ABC Primetime Preview September 6th and 7th, Fiesta Latina again at DCA each weekend from September 13th through October 5th, new surprises at this years Haunted Mansion Holiday including a new scene with Oogie Boogie, and a Brother Bear show in DCA at the Redwood Creek River Trail stage expected to debut in October.

Baumberger also answered a question from the audience about the ‘Ward Kimball' engine destined to be the fifth engine for the Disneyland Railroad. It is currently being worked on and the ‘Lilly Belle', Walt's private car, is scheduled to undergo refurbishment after that. However, Baumberger stated that any work was unlikely to start unless the funds were there to do justice to the historic car.

Also reaffirmed was the spring 2004 opening date for Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror. Baumberger revealed some of the props from the Television show to be included in the attraction. He also confirmed that the Tower will have an AP Preview event and Fastpass.

Finally the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived, what news could Baumberger tell us of the 50th Anniversary. As Baumberger put it, the 50th Anniversary is "often discussed, so little disclosed" and little was to change at this speech. However a few tantalizing morsels were passed along. Works is going ahead on new parades for the resort and a new nighttime spectacular. There were no specifics as to which park would get what, however. The NFFC crowd was told to expect some announcements this fall, then a big announcement on the 49th birthday for sure. The 50th Anniversary celebration is scheduled to start in April of 2005 and continue for 18 months after that.

Randy Baumberger closed his presentation with thanks to the NFFC for keeping the spirit of Disney alive. A short Question and Answer session followed.