‘Captain EO’ line expected early Tuesday at Disney

Fans are expected to line up starting at 6 a.m. Tuesday for the first showing of “Captain EO” — four hours before the Michael Jackson film re-opens at Disneyland.

The 3-D movie is back for a limited engagement at the theme park after a 13-year absence. Disney is reviving the film, which began at the park in 1986, because of the renewed popularity of the pop singer since his June death.

Tweets: See some tweets about the attraction’s re-opening at the end of this blog post, or by searching Twitter.com for #captaineo. Follow Sarah’s live tweets tomorrow @arounddisney.

Fans are asked to line up on the west side of Disneyland’s main entrance, winding around the side wall near the bag check area and possibly beyond, said John McClintock, a Disneyland Resort spokesman.

Disney officials plan to lead movie-goers to the theater in Tomorrowland before the first showing begins at 10 a.m.

The park officially opens at 9:30 a.m. for the Main Street U.S.A. area. Regular Disneyland guests can go in at that time to visit the park.

Disney officials expect that those in line early will be able to see the movie on Tuesday. The Magic Eye Theater fits between 500 and 600 people. The 17-minute, science-fiction movie will show up to three times an hour.

Some of the special effects from the first film will be absent this time, according to a Disney press release. However, Disney has a new 70-mm print of the film with acoustical enhancements in the theater.

Captain EO merchandise will be available. Check out the merchandise HERE.

Crews have been preparing the theater for “Captain EO” since Jan. 4 after the “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience” movie stopped showing there. The “Honey” movie replaced “Captain EO,” which was pulled in 1997 — about four years after child-molestation accusations began surfacing about Jackson.

Some people originally objected to the return of “Captain EO” at the family-friendly park because of the allegations. But no protests are expected at the park Tuesday, said Suzi Brown, a Disneyland Resort spokeswoman.

We’ll be covering the “Captain EO” opening live on the blog and on Twitter starting early Tuesday morning. Follow us on twitter @arounddisney.

Some tweets about the “Captain EO” re-opening:

girltype @disneylandlive It better be a dvd release in the future. #captaineo 22 Feb 2010 from txt

Captain_Z0mbE0 Anyone wanna gonto Disneyland with me tomorrow?! I’ve got an annual pass and I’m itching to go see #captaineo I can’t wait two more weeks! 22 Feb 2010 from twidroid

wallyboag @arounddisney I expect it will be busy at 10AM, slow down during the day and then get busy again at 5PM after peeps get off work. #captaineo 22 Feb 2010 from web in reply to arounddisney

ArinsTummy Will be at Disneyland early tomorrow. Can’t wait. #captaineo 22 Feb 2010 from web