PLENTY OF FUN SET FOR BIG YEAR DISNEYLAND PLANS 50TH ANNIVERSARY.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

PASADENA - The Walt Disney Co. on Thursday outlined plans to mark the 50th anniversary of Disneyland with the biggest marketing campaign for Disney theme parks in the company's history.

Television spots will debut Saturday for Disney's ``Happiest Celebration on Earth'' campaign, a global effort that is designed to use the anniversary of the original Anaheim theme park to pump up business there and at Disney theme parks in Florida and worldwide.

``This is a great opportunity for us, it's a great backdrop,'' Walt Disney Parks and Resorts President Jay Rasulo told reporters at a Ritz-Carlton luncheon. ``This is about us seizing an opportunity and this is an opportunity that needed to be seized in a big way. It's going to be a home run.''

Rasulo would not say exactly how much the company will spend on the campaign, which will include spots on Disney-owned ABC and the Disney Channel and a montage to be played in movie theaters before the start of Walt Disney Pictures releases.

The spots, which have the theme ``Coming Home,'' feature classic Disney characters including Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck as well as such newer additions as Stitch coming from far-flung locations around the globe to a Disney theme park. Rasulo said the campaign seeks to help people ``rekindle the lifelong emotional connection'' they have with all things Disney.

Media analyst Dennis McAlpine said that even the best-executed campaign would not have as much impact on attendance as a continued recovery of international travel, which plummeted after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, as well as a high-profile new attraction or two at the parks.

``It's not like it's been five years or 10 years since the last anniversary. I think last year was Mickey Mouse's birthday,'' said McAlpine of McAlpine and Associates. ``They have managed to find a reason to have an anniversary or birthday every year. They will still put on a good promotion and a good show and it will help but it's not like it was in a vacuum.''

Disneyland does have more than innovative commercials planned starting with a block party and fireworks spectacular on May 5, the anniversary of the Anaheim park's opening. An upgraded Space Mountain attraction will be opened by then along with the new Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters attraction.

Walt Disney World Resort in Florida will debut several attractions imported from other Disney parks including Soarin' from Disney's California Adventure; Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show from Disneyland Resort Paris; and Cinderellabration from Tokyo Disney Resort.

Tokyo Disneyland Park will honor the Anaheim park in the summer with a tribute called Rock Around the Mouse and Tokyo DisneySea will debut a new attraction called Raging Spirits. Disneyland Resort Paris will have a new fireworks spectacular and will launch Space Mountain: Mission 2.

The marketing campaign for the 50th anniversary kicks off with an initial 60-second teaser spot airing on ABC, CBS and NBC during the first break of the Rose Parade broadcast. When the ad airs on television, it will appear simultaneously in streaming video on seven of the most popular sites on the Internet.

In some further Disney-Rose Parade synergy, Mickey Mouse serves as the parade Grand Marshal and will perform the coin flip at the Rose Bowl football game.

Also Thursday, Rasulo told reporters he does not believe the scheduled opening of the new Disney theme park in Hong Kong or the 50th anniversary campaign will be adversely affected by the tsunamis in Southeast Asia this week that have killed more than 100,000 people.

``I'll be really surprised if people are discouraged from traveling,'' he said.

Hong Kong Disneyland is set to open Sept. 12 and Rasulo said there are discussions with the Chinese government about a second theme park in that country, most likely in Shanghai.

``Our discussions on this are ongoing and by virtue of the fact that they are ongoing, they have some interest,'' Rasulo said of the Chinese government.

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

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Disneyland is approaching its 50th anniversary. Television spots are debuting Saturday for Saturday for Disney's ``Happiest Celebration on Earth'' advertising campaign.

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