In addition to the ducklings I spotted on the Jungle Cruise last time, I spotted a few sleeping ducklings on a Storybook Land lawn and - I shouldn't have forgotten that damn camera again - an entire duck family (drake, mallard, four baby duckies) waddling past Le Petit Chalet. Freaking adorable. Keep an eye open for them; they won't be ducklings forever. Thought I spotted some tadpoles in the water, too.

Spotted in the parking lot this morning: three people in homemade pirate attire. I wonder if they knew POTC is still closed for rehab? Also spotted: a license plate frame that read "Peoplemover." Heh.

Damn tourists on Small World were snapping flash pictures left and right. You know, if someone can invent the TV-B-Gone remote, why doesn't some theme-park-loving techie invent some kind of Flash-B-Gone device? P.S. One doll in the finale had a tight blond bun visible just above her forehead (her bonnet seemed tilted back a bit). What the hell?!

The Wicked Queen is still hunched over so it looks like she's bowing down to the Dark Lord or something. You already know about the damn white plastic apple-skull. Looks like one of the dolls in Pinocchio's final scene has his wig and hat on sideways, too.

Blowing bubbles on the loading dock seems to be something of a tradition among Storybook Land hosts, since I see them do it all the time. Today I got to see two of the hostesses twisting a wire hanger into a giant bubble wand (it worked).

Sharp-eyed Alice in Wonderland riders may notice that one of the Caterpillar's shoes on the giant mushroom has detached and is slipping. There was a cute little sparrow perched on one of the giant book's pages, too (I can't believe I forgot my camera). Fun Fact: the mushroom used to be a ticket booth.

I don't go near Big Thunder Ranch that often because it's close to a smoking area and the fumes never really go away, even when nobody's there. But today I checked in on Marshmallow. The "Happiest Turkeys on Earth" sign is MIA, presumably because of Yam's recent death, and Marshmallow seems depressed. There's now a blue surrey on display, emblazoned with "Disneyland Livery Stables."

The narration in the HM's upper hallway is still turned off, as is the music in the seance room (Leota's incantation and the rapping noise after "Rap on a table, it's time to respond" are intact). But it's still damn good to have the Mansion back from rehab. I'm excited to see what the seance room will be like when it's all done.

The Xmas shop moved into the former space of Names Unraveled, presumably since Pieces of Eight moved into the Xmas shop's New Orleans Square location. Who knows if it's permanent - the space seems awfully small for the Xmas shop. Castle Heraldry also got a new window display (the old one on the right, presumably stemming from the space's days as a Disney Villain shop years ago, included things like poison bottles and the Hunchback of Notre Dame gargoyles). I think the old one looked better, though.

See you at Disneyland.

Pet Peeve: Brats with flash cameras.

Seriously. NOBODY likes them, least of all me.

So I wake up early and decide to make the most of an overcast morning (summer's approaching, y'know). If you're one of my usual readers (all three of you...ha!) you know how much I love cool gray skies.

Practically everything in Fantasyland was a walk-on (guess I picked the right day to go). Then Toontown opened, and two teenage girls decided it'd be a great idea to gum up the Roger Rabbit queue by posing for flash pictures! Now, this would be irritating enough (don't get me started on the newbie CM who allowed two pushy tourists to cut the line ahead of me). But then, they were given the cab behind mine, and immediately started snapping their #^@$%*& flash! I finally had to tell them to knock it off. I don't like to do it, but hell, the park isn't going to let CM's discipline two little snots who obviously haven't learned any manners. I am really in no mood to deal with anyone else's crap. (The last two animatronics - Roger and the zoot-suited weasel - weren't working either.)

Noticed a couple of weeds in Storybook Land's Agrabah scene (it's supposed to be the desert...you've got to watch for that). Toad's car is still missing. I wonder if the new CM was using an old script, since she mentioned Ratty's house, and Ratty doesn't have a house in Storybook Land (Toad Hall was relocated years ago; it used to be where Agrabah is now).

Keep your eyes peeled on the Jungle Cruise and you'll see a mama duck with several adorable ducklings (today I spotted them behind the docked Ucayali Una). I wonder if our skipper used to work the HM; he mentioned something about the fish picking up our "sympathetic vibrations" and beginning to "materialize" in the piranha pool.

The HM's restyled attic is still looking good (though the narration between the stairs and the ballroom wasn't working).

The bathrooms near Alice in Wonderland have been remodeled and they are BEAUTIFUL. Sharp-eyed visitors may have already noticed the White Rabbit statue's absence from Alice's load area. He's been moved near the bathrooms, which feature marbled-esque outdoor light fixtures in Cheshire Cat colors, card designs painted on stall doors, and even the tile and ceiling lights inside the bathrooms are themed to fit the Queen of Hearts. Check it out.

THE ATTIC IS AWESOME!

More on that in a bit.

Yesterday was another lovely day at Disneyland. Not super-crowded, gray skies, etc.

Snow White was up and running, but the Wicked Queen is still badly bent over in one scene and the color effect on the poisoned apple is still broken in her next.

I don't mind a few piles of duck poop in Storybook Land (it's to be expected with so many ducks living there), but the gardeners have missed a few noticeable weeds around Toad Hall. Mole End is crooked as well (the surrounding "turf" is also badly discolored), plus Toad's red car is still missing. But, I got my own boat on Storybook Land *and* Small World - lucky me!

The Toontown Jolly Trolley is back on the track by the station (it's been missing for a few years), but it wasn't running. Hmm.

I wish I'd had my camera ready when I rode the Jungle Cruise - a mama duck and six adorable ducklings were preening themselves near the shore in the African Veldt scene. Too freakin' cute.

Anyway, on to the HM attic.

I wasn't too happy to hear about the Bride going from a Miss Havisham to a Black Widow, since it plays into the gender-based stereotype of women who marry for money. But, the new effects are so incredible I don't care. There are a few videos of the attic online, but they do NOT do it justice, partly since the "beheaded groom" effects don't seem to show up in the videos.

The Attic Bride looks more like a ghost from a movie than the old Bride. She's scarily realistic, and she does wield an axe and speak..."I do, I do, I DID...In sickness and in WEALTH...Here comes the bri-ide..." She looks really familiar; I wonder where I've seen that actress before.

The re-styled attic was so incredible I rode the HM five times. If you make one trip this year, go to Disneyland while the Mansion is open!

See you at Disneyland.

I've been so busy I haven't had time to post about last Friday's visit until tonight. It was great. The Spring Breakers are gone and the weather was just about perfect.

Snow White was down, so who knows if the Wicked Queen is still hunched over.

Pieces of Eight has been temporarily bumped over to the Xmas shop space - presumably to turn it into a POTC - Dead Man's Chest-themed store. All I can say is, I hope they don't mess with Le Bat En Rouge.

I've been hearing rumors about the dioramas from Sleeping Beauty's Castle making some kind of comeback next year *crosses fingers*. I loved the walk-through.

Copied-and-pasted from Mouseplanet's May 2 Disneyland Park update:

"...We mentioned a while ago that one of the two Happiest Turkeys on Earth had disappeared from the pen at Big Thunder Ranch. Unfortunately, it turns out that Yam, the back-up candidate for an official presidential pardon last Thanksgiving unexpectedly died. After a short absence, Marshmallow returned to the area and can still be seen at Big Thunder Ranch."

If I had to guess, I'd say it was probably one of those overbreeding-related health problems so common in farmed birds. There is a picture of Marshmallow, who looks depressed (what a forking surprise), with the article.

The HM attic transformation was well under way, with the Attic Bride's grooms' (still-veiled) portraits and pricey stuff arranged in clusters. Supposedly the transformation was just finished (complete with talking bride and beheaded-portrait effects), so I'm dropping in on Friday to see what's going on. I could also swear I heard extra moaning in the seance room.