Happiest Benefits on Earth

New attractions at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim will celebrate grand openings next month with blockbuster benefits expected to raise $1 million each for two children’s charities.

The Santa Monica-based Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation has been named beneficiary of the gala premiere opening on Jan. 11 for 3,000 people of Downtown Disney, a shopping, dining and entertainment zone that is part of the Walt Disney Co.’s $1.4-billion expansion of the Disneyland Resort.

General admission to the event, which will include gourmet fare served at venues that include Joaquim Splichal’s Catal restaurant and entertainment at the House of Blues: $250.

A donation of $25,000 and up to the foundation gets you into a VIP reception with Walt Disney Co. Chairman Michael D. Eisner and actors Sylvester Stallone and Paul Glaser.

Children’s Hospital of Orange County is the beneficiary of the Jan. 15 preview for 10,000 people of Disney’s California Adventure, a 55-acre amusement park adjacent to Disneyland that features three separate attractions--Paradise Pier, Hollywood Pictures Backlot and the Golden State.

General admission: $50. Donors to CHOC of $5,000 and $10,000 for the event get 10 tickets to the preview, complimentary valet passes and priority seating at the inaugural show in Disney’s new Hyperion Theatre.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to host charity-related events during our opening time-frame,” said Jill Bolton, director of community relations for the Disneyland Resort. “We haven’t had an opening like this since Walt Disney opened Disneyland 45 years ago.”

Executives with both charities are ecstatic over the chance to raise mega bucks for their causes.

“This is truly a dream come true for us,” said Susie Zeegan, co-founder with Elizabeth Glaser in 1988 of the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to identifying, funding and conducting pediatric HIV/AIDS research. “What makes this so fabulous is that we haven’t had any big events in Orange County. This is a remarkable opportunity to reach out to a vibrant and important part of the Southern California community.”

Said Jeffrey Wilcox, executive director of the CHOC Foundation for Children: “There has never been a benefit for CHOC that has involved 10,000 people. Even our annual CHOC Walk, one of the largest in Orange County, draws about 9,000 people.

“Disney’s new park only opens once,” he added. “This partnership with Disney and the attendees is going to help us make sure that CHOC stays true to its mission: that no child is turned away due to insufficient funds.”

Along with donors to the Glaser foundation from the Los Angeles area, Orange County philanthropists, including Donna and John Crean, Dick Marconi and Bo Moore, and Duane and Kelly Roberts, are planning to attend the VIP reception hosted by Eisner at Downtown Disney.

“I think this is a charity to support because children getting AIDS is such a horrible thing,” said Donna Crean, who, along with her husband, has pledged $50,000 to the foundation. Marconi and Moore--she’s executive director of the Marconi Foundation for Kids and the Marconi Automotive Museum in Tustin--have pledged $25,000 to the foundation. “We just jumped right into this project because the Elizabeth Glaser foundation has done such remarkable work,” Moore said.

Information on the Downtown Disney preview: (310) 314-1459. California Adventure: (714) 289-4000.

A Night at the Opera

Music lovers celebrated the kickoff of the holiday season with the Southland Opera’s inaugural benefit featuring a performance of the beloved opera “Amahl and the Night Visitors” on Friday at Founder’s Hall at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Also on the program: a tribute to children’s book author and illustrator Marcia Brown of Laguna Woods, winner of three Caldecott Medals. Brown, a benefactor of Southland Opera, won the prestigious awards for her illustrations of “Cinderella,” “Once a Mouse,” and “Shadow.”

“The great tie-in with children’s books and opera is that, when the children hear an opera based on a fairy tale, they can’t wait to get to the books afterward,” Brown said.

Southland Opera, which has offices in Orange County and Los Angeles, was founded in 1997 to bring operatic music to the classroom. The nonprofit organization’s education outreach program has provided more than 1,200 music assemblies that have reached more than 250,000 children.

“Southland Opera was formed when Opera Pacific had greatly curtailed its educational outreach program,” said Ann Noriel, general director. “We hope to continue to provide the highest quality educational outreach program possible.”

Information: (949) 481-1419.

Ann Conway can be reached at (714) 966-5952 or by e-mail at ann.conway@latimes.com.