Walt Disney Records The Legacy Collection: Disneyland

Walt Disney Records’ The Legacy Collection celebrates milestone anniversaries of some of the greatest Disney films by releasing their full soundtracks with some rare extras. When the initial lineup of twelve titles was announced, I found it odd that Disneyland was in the collection. But as a fan of collecting music from the parks I wasn’t bothered by it. But expectations vs. reality can sometimes lead to disappointment and in this case, it surely does. My expectations for this release were in line with previous Legacy Collection releases. I expected it to be a celebration of music from Disneyland park with some of the greatest songs of the past and present. I expected it to add something new to the mix as well, specifically the new music written for the Diamond Celebration’s fireworks show (“Disneyland Forever”) and new nighttime parade (“Paint the Night”). And I expected to hear some demos for some of these classics and perhaps a “Lost Chord” or two, which could be songs they didn’t choose for an attraction or music written from abandoned attractions. Sadly, none of this is the case. Rather than focus on Disneyland itself, the producers decided to include over an hour of disc space (basically one of the three discs) to music from Disney California Adventure park. What emerges is a mishmash of the most recent 2-disc Disneyland Resort Official Album (2013) with some throwback tracks from A Musical History of Disneyland that have been truncated to fit, plus some songs from the 2001 soundtrack to Disneyland’s second gate. The Legacy Collection is aimed more at collectors than anybody else, so it is shocking to me that this release feels aimed more at an average Disneyland visitor looking for an Official Album than somebody willing to pay a premium for collectable packaging and a few bonus tracks. Since they don’t display track listings on the package, I’m sure there will be many disappointed upon opening the case and seeing what’s inside. Does this release offer anything new? Not a single track. If you missed out on A Musical History of Disneyland, then there may be a few songs you didn’t already have. Here’s a breakdown of the track listing and the albums they were most recently available on.