Red Hot Chili Peppers to rock Disneyland Resort

December 28, 2006 03:01 PM


The Red Hot Chili Peppers will entertain visitors to California's Disneyland Resort during the first few months of 2007 by helping to transform two of the resort's most popular rides with their music.


As part of the Disneyland Resort's "Year of a Million Dreams" promotion, both the venerable Space Mountain attraction in Disneyland and the California Screamin' roller coaster in neighboring Disney's California Adventure will be given makeovers, sporting new lighting technology and fresh soundtracks featuring the music of the Chili Peppers.

Space Mountain--which opened in 1976 and was recently given an extensive rebuild from the bottom up--will become Rockin' Space Mountain during the promotion's run, with the band's 1989 cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" accompanying riders as they soar through the ride's virtual outer space setting.

Rockin' California Screamin' will also feature a new soundtrack in the form of the Chili Peppers' 1999 hit single "Around the World." The four-minute ride--which takes guests from zero to 55 miles per hour in a mere four seconds--is the world's longest steel-looping coaster, according to a press release.

The new soundtracks for both attractions were remixed by Ryan Hewiit, the band's usual sound engineer, to ensure that the music is synchronized with the actions of the rides.

The Chili Peppers are getting ready to head out on tour with Gnarls Barkley. The 17-date co-headlining trek kicks off Jan. 12 in Oklahoma City, and is currently scheduled to run through a March 7 date in Houston. Details are shown below.
The roadwork supports the Chili Peppers' ninth album, "Stadium Arcadium," which surfaced in May. The disc, which follows 2002's "By the Way," moved about 442,000 copies during its first week in stores, enough to earn the group its first No. 1 album on The Billboard 200 chart. Sales have been fueled by leadoff single "Dani California" and follow-up cut "Tell Me Baby."

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