I'm really not an early bird. But, sometimes getting up early to be in the park on days it opens at 8 a.m. is well worth it. I got my own boat on Storybook Land again today. The hostess (Jessica?) seemed new to the park but can recite the spiel perfectly. Casey Jr. stalled, briefly, but I suppose fifty years of heavy use, even with constant maintenance, is bound to cause that now and then.
There's a wad of gum stuck to the right-hand courthouse door in Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. It's been there since my last visit. Eeeeeew.
I think Small World's Spanish girl is missing a tambourine, one of the hula dancers appears to be MIA, and that one egg is almost fixed but still needs a little more help. That isn't what bothered me. What did bother me was the family in the row ahead of me. Their little girl, who couldn't have been older than seven, was screaming at the top of her little lungs (not two feet away from my ears!) that she didn't want to ride Small World. And what did her parents do? Brought her on the boat anyway, as if anyone else wanted to hear someone else's kid screaming. She finally calmed down, but sheesh! Parents, please take note: if your kid doesn't want to ride something, they're not ready and shouldn't be forced! They'll howl like banshees the whole time, aggravate other guests, set a bad example for other children, and distract the ride operators (who work with, in, and on the heavy machinery that keeps everything running), thus creating a potential safety hazard. If you haven't boarded the ride vehicle yet, it's not too late to ask a cast member to show you to an exit. (I don't have kids of my own, but I used to be a nanny and was a kid once myself.)
Overheard at the Disney Gallery: "That's a painting of the Skyway buckets, sweetie. They had to take them down because someone fell out and got killed." Typical "Disney expert" dad trying to show off his knowledge of the park. The Skyway (amazingly) had NO fatalities (yet, there were a couple on the old Peoplemover). The one person who "fell out" did so on purpose, fell into the large tree by Alice in Wonderland, and felt well enough to file a lawsuit (which was dropped). The Skyway was taken down not because of the accident, but because it was low in capacity, expensive to run, not ADA compliant, notorious for bad guest behavior ranging from spitting to smoking weed, and due for a pricey overhaul. Incidentally, I know all about self-proclaimed "experts" who know nothing because my dad used to be the same way. According to him, the Haunted Mansion was a real house brought to the park from Arizona (false!), the Disneydendron tree housing the Swiss Family Robinson was real (fake down to its vinyl leaves), and the late Mickey Moo's not-so-hidden-Mickey was painted on (it was real). (For those who don't remember, Mickey Moo was a cow with a large splotch on her side that formed a near-perfect Mickey head. She could be seen at Big Thunder Ranch and passed away several years ago.)
So I found out that one (and only one) of the Jungle Cruise boats has a Hidden Mickey. It's in plain sight and can be easily glimpsed from anywhere in the boat (or, if you look carefully, from the dock or some spots in the queue). It's the Suwanee Lady. If you want to know how the Hidden Mickey makes its appearance, you'll just have to go and find out!
Overheard under the archway of Sleeping Beauty's Castle: "I don't get it. There's a Sleeping Beauty Castle and there are pictures from Sleeping Beauty on the carrousel. Why isn't there a Sleeping Beauty ride?" I could've told her that there was a Sleeping Beauty's Castle walk-through from 1957 to 2001. I could've told her that it was easily overlooked (yet I can still point out which door was the entrance). I could've told her that it closed intermittently because it was ignored by so many guests. I could've gone off about how it closed permanently after 9/11/01 because at least one captured terrorist stated that he had targeted Disneyland. What's more symbolic of Disneyland than the castle? In the event of an attack, it would have been difficult to evacuate quickly and safely. I miss the walk-through (it was one of my favorites), though last spring one of the Emporium windows displayed the final scene for a couple of months. I know the dioramas are in storage, but who knows if the park will ever display them again. But, I was on my way to New Orleans Square, and didn't feel like rattling off trivia this morning, as it was colder than usual.
Sharp-eyed Doombugs may have already noticed the boot scraper on the Haunted Mansion porch. I'm kind of surprised that it was added. Anyone familiar with The Wind in the Willows knows that people (and, for that matter, Mr. Mole) trip over boot scrapers. It's not exactly in the way, but you get one greedy guest who's good at falling down (I'm not kidding, some people make a living doing that), and poof, instant lawsuit. In other news, the cemetery scene seems to have more plants than it did last time, and I'm quite sure the "1000th Ghost" tombstone was moved a few feet down the track. (The chance to be immortalized in the HM was auctioned off, with the proceeds going to charity. The lucky winner's stone reads "Jay/Doctor, Lawyer, Legal Clerk/Forever Buried In His Work".) Be sure to check out the new light fixtures on the mausoleum as you exit (just remember, *don't* block the walkway when you do). Oh, and that ladder next to Little Leota is still there...is it going to become a permanent fixture or what?
See the 50th anniversary show at the Disneyland Opera House while it's still there (the anniversary celebration won't last forever, you know). For a relative youngster like me, it provided some interesting looks at a version of the park I never knew. My first visit was in 1986 (the year in which Old Tomorrowland was originally set!). I never saw Old Fantasyland (and I'm glad...having seen the carnival theming in pictures, I think it was tacky). I can't remember a time without New Orleans Square. Tomorrowland and Frontierland have changed little during the last 20 years. But, in fifty years it's all come a long way.
Remember the unfortunate accident on Big Thunder in '03, in which one rider died? I wasn't at the park (my only visit that year was around Halloween). I was 20 miles away in Long Beach. But, as I found out the very next day, the victim, Marcelo Torres, and I had the same alma mater. I was working for the student services department, and my supervisor got a phone call from an Orange County Register reporter asking for dirt on Marcelo! She told him off and hung up. And people ask me why I have a fairly low opinion of the Register. Ha. Anyway, knowing what happened that day, and knowing that attractions aren't shut down for no reason, sometimes I just want to shake people who have hissy fits because an attraction unexpectedly had to be closed temporarily for inspection or repair. If something's shut down and run through a series of tests, it's because something's noticeably wrong, and ignoring it may result in someone getting hurt or killed. Unfortunately, some people check their common sense at the front gate.
There's a wad of gum stuck to the right-hand courthouse door in Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. It's been there since my last visit. Eeeeeew.
I think Small World's Spanish girl is missing a tambourine, one of the hula dancers appears to be MIA, and that one egg is almost fixed but still needs a little more help. That isn't what bothered me. What did bother me was the family in the row ahead of me. Their little girl, who couldn't have been older than seven, was screaming at the top of her little lungs (not two feet away from my ears!) that she didn't want to ride Small World. And what did her parents do? Brought her on the boat anyway, as if anyone else wanted to hear someone else's kid screaming. She finally calmed down, but sheesh! Parents, please take note: if your kid doesn't want to ride something, they're not ready and shouldn't be forced! They'll howl like banshees the whole time, aggravate other guests, set a bad example for other children, and distract the ride operators (who work with, in, and on the heavy machinery that keeps everything running), thus creating a potential safety hazard. If you haven't boarded the ride vehicle yet, it's not too late to ask a cast member to show you to an exit. (I don't have kids of my own, but I used to be a nanny and was a kid once myself.)
Overheard at the Disney Gallery: "That's a painting of the Skyway buckets, sweetie. They had to take them down because someone fell out and got killed." Typical "Disney expert" dad trying to show off his knowledge of the park. The Skyway (amazingly) had NO fatalities (yet, there were a couple on the old Peoplemover). The one person who "fell out" did so on purpose, fell into the large tree by Alice in Wonderland, and felt well enough to file a lawsuit (which was dropped). The Skyway was taken down not because of the accident, but because it was low in capacity, expensive to run, not ADA compliant, notorious for bad guest behavior ranging from spitting to smoking weed, and due for a pricey overhaul. Incidentally, I know all about self-proclaimed "experts" who know nothing because my dad used to be the same way. According to him, the Haunted Mansion was a real house brought to the park from Arizona (false!), the Disneydendron tree housing the Swiss Family Robinson was real (fake down to its vinyl leaves), and the late Mickey Moo's not-so-hidden-Mickey was painted on (it was real). (For those who don't remember, Mickey Moo was a cow with a large splotch on her side that formed a near-perfect Mickey head. She could be seen at Big Thunder Ranch and passed away several years ago.)
So I found out that one (and only one) of the Jungle Cruise boats has a Hidden Mickey. It's in plain sight and can be easily glimpsed from anywhere in the boat (or, if you look carefully, from the dock or some spots in the queue). It's the Suwanee Lady. If you want to know how the Hidden Mickey makes its appearance, you'll just have to go and find out!
Overheard under the archway of Sleeping Beauty's Castle: "I don't get it. There's a Sleeping Beauty Castle and there are pictures from Sleeping Beauty on the carrousel. Why isn't there a Sleeping Beauty ride?" I could've told her that there was a Sleeping Beauty's Castle walk-through from 1957 to 2001. I could've told her that it was easily overlooked (yet I can still point out which door was the entrance). I could've told her that it closed intermittently because it was ignored by so many guests. I could've gone off about how it closed permanently after 9/11/01 because at least one captured terrorist stated that he had targeted Disneyland. What's more symbolic of Disneyland than the castle? In the event of an attack, it would have been difficult to evacuate quickly and safely. I miss the walk-through (it was one of my favorites), though last spring one of the Emporium windows displayed the final scene for a couple of months. I know the dioramas are in storage, but who knows if the park will ever display them again. But, I was on my way to New Orleans Square, and didn't feel like rattling off trivia this morning, as it was colder than usual.
Sharp-eyed Doombugs may have already noticed the boot scraper on the Haunted Mansion porch. I'm kind of surprised that it was added. Anyone familiar with The Wind in the Willows knows that people (and, for that matter, Mr. Mole) trip over boot scrapers. It's not exactly in the way, but you get one greedy guest who's good at falling down (I'm not kidding, some people make a living doing that), and poof, instant lawsuit. In other news, the cemetery scene seems to have more plants than it did last time, and I'm quite sure the "1000th Ghost" tombstone was moved a few feet down the track. (The chance to be immortalized in the HM was auctioned off, with the proceeds going to charity. The lucky winner's stone reads "Jay/Doctor, Lawyer, Legal Clerk/Forever Buried In His Work".) Be sure to check out the new light fixtures on the mausoleum as you exit (just remember, *don't* block the walkway when you do). Oh, and that ladder next to Little Leota is still there...is it going to become a permanent fixture or what?
See the 50th anniversary show at the Disneyland Opera House while it's still there (the anniversary celebration won't last forever, you know). For a relative youngster like me, it provided some interesting looks at a version of the park I never knew. My first visit was in 1986 (the year in which Old Tomorrowland was originally set!). I never saw Old Fantasyland (and I'm glad...having seen the carnival theming in pictures, I think it was tacky). I can't remember a time without New Orleans Square. Tomorrowland and Frontierland have changed little during the last 20 years. But, in fifty years it's all come a long way.
Remember the unfortunate accident on Big Thunder in '03, in which one rider died? I wasn't at the park (my only visit that year was around Halloween). I was 20 miles away in Long Beach. But, as I found out the very next day, the victim, Marcelo Torres, and I had the same alma mater. I was working for the student services department, and my supervisor got a phone call from an Orange County Register reporter asking for dirt on Marcelo! She told him off and hung up. And people ask me why I have a fairly low opinion of the Register. Ha. Anyway, knowing what happened that day, and knowing that attractions aren't shut down for no reason, sometimes I just want to shake people who have hissy fits because an attraction unexpectedly had to be closed temporarily for inspection or repair. If something's shut down and run through a series of tests, it's because something's noticeably wrong, and ignoring it may result in someone getting hurt or killed. Unfortunately, some people check their common sense at the front gate.
posted by Sally Ravenswood at 9:34 PM
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