The Disneyland Welte Orchestration IV "One-Machine Band"

The original iPod

We talk fairly frequently here at Days In The Park about just how important the music you hear around Disneyland is to the atmosphere in The Park.  Arguably one of the most important areas of Disneyland where this is so is on Main Street, USA, since music is especially prevalent here and in many forms.  Anyone who spends any amount of time at all on the street is familiar with the music loop that plays here all day, all the time.  You also have The Dapper Dans who wander the street throughout the day singing barber-shop and entertaining the crowds.  Ragtime piano at the end of Main Street at "Coke Corner".  And there's a reason the Disneyland parades end and begin here.  Main Street, USA is much about the music all day, all the time.

With that in mind, for today's article we thought we would look at something a little, well actually a big, unique.  To anyone who has taken the time to check out the Penny Arcade/Main Street Candy Palace on Main Street, you might have noticed a very large machine sitting along the back wall amid all of the other penny games and penny movie machines all over the place.  This big boy is known as an Orchestration Machine, and it plays seemingly every part of an orchestra all by itself; from drums to trumpets, pipes to organs, and even a triangle, this thing is a beast!

We don't want to insult your intelligence too much here, so we'll keep it simple (as though you haven't figured it out already).  You put your money in, pick a song from the options on the touch-screen hooked up to the machine, and step back and listen to one machine belt out each song as though an entire orchestra were playing it.  Pretty keen, huh?

There is a price to paid for such awesomeness, though.  Unlike everything else in the Penny Arcade, this thing will run you a whopping twenty-five cents.  That's right, an entire quarter!  No worries though, as it's totally worth it.  With selections like Polka, Big Band, Ragtime, and More Ragtime, you can't go wrong!

So many choices...

Have you ever listened to Disney music and wished you could share with everyone right then and there?  So you blast the speakers to 11 but no-one is around to hear it!  Trust us, once you turn this big boy on everyone in the arcade within earshot will hear it, and wander over to see just where it's coming from; we've seen it happen many times before; especially if you decide to play 'Mickey Mouse March'.

So how did we find out about this machine?  Well, that's a simple question to answer.  It's right next to the Main Street Candy Palace!  That's right, while enjoying our delicious Peanut Butter Sandwiches (or was it a Peanut Butter Heaven?  Who cares, they're both delicious!) we stumbled, or almost literally walked into the Welte Orchestration IV.  At first glance we just knew we had to play it.  So what song to play for our first ride?  How about a classic like "This Is Halloween"?!  The second it started doing that voodoo that it do so well, everyone started packing in to see what all the noise was about, and we were hooked.  We're still astounded whenever we play it and people come over and tell us they didn't even notice it sitting there.  How could you not see it?  It's a behemoth!

We simply love things like this around The Park, and in this case we've found us a true Disneyland original; something that has been here since the very beginning.  Trust us when we say that the Welte Orchestration IV machine is one fun treasure at the Park that you need to make sure to check out during your next visit, if you haven't already.  And who knows, you may just find us strolling in with a roll of quarters, grinning  from ear to ear as we get ready to put on a concert for all the other patrons of the Penny Arcade.