Opening time: 8 a.m.
Weather: Chilly and overcast for the first couple of hours
Crowds: Yeow! Is it Spring Break already?

Once again, the parking lot opened late and there were only two attendants to handle four lanes of traffic. I can only imagine how long some of my fellow guests had been kept waiting, since I heard shouting, swearing, and a LOT of angry honking while waiting to be admitted.

Sharp-eyed visitors will notice that Storybook Land not only has tiny pastel-hued flowers on a lot of its miniature doorsteps and windowsills, London Park appears to be the setting for a Tinkerbell-sized Easter celebration. Itty-bitty Easter decorations can be spotted on several benches (too bad half the benches are crooked or tipped over). Alice's village has its boat again, but Mr. Mole's is still missing.

Alice has her white flowers back; last week it was red roses. Cheshire Cat's eyes aren't rolling.

Tower Bridge traffic effect in Mr. Toad's Wild Ride not working. Mr. Toad is due for a May rehab so this is no surprise.

The sound is out in Pinocchio's Monstro scene, and was there always a unicorn toy on the railing in Geppetto's cottage? This one looks new.

Small World's Spanish dancer is missing a tambourine, there's a light out on one of the tower guards, and a rainforest drummer is missing (the drum is still there).

Giant boxing glove in Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin isn't working, but the giant cream pie still is. Hmm.

I'm happy to report that the talking Toon Hole is back in action. I'm starting to notice more people playing with Toontown's interactive features.

You know the big squirting elephant along the Jungle Cruise river? If skippers time it just right, they CAN, in fact, squirt passengers. It happened last week. I figured it was probably the skipper's last day or something, since pranks affecting guests generally result in the culprit getting fired, so I didn't report him. But yes, he did get the 10 or so passengers in the back of the boat drenched.

Lilac the skunk's headstone seems to have been touched up - the epitaph is now easy to read, even in dark sunglasses. One of the Haunted Mansion operators used the intercom to issue warnings to a guest who wouldn't stay properly seated - now if only they did that with guests who blind each other with flashbulbs or scream bloody murder in the stretching room.

If you want to get a better look at the work taking place on Tom Sawyer Island, grab a paddle and get in one of the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes. I'm not kidding, you get a lot closer than you do in the Mark Twain (currently docked for maintenance) or Columbia (docked and open to the public in its old non-sailing capacity - as a maritime museum). Currently the burning cabin is hidden behind screens, the faux rapids are turned off, and a number of figures are missing from the landscape. The Native American child seen fishing off a log is not present, though the elusive fake fish and the kid's dog are there. The huge grizzly seen scratching his back against a tree is out, though his chosen tree trunk is there (I could swear a panel on the tree was ajar). And a beaver seen by a chewed tree at the beaver dam is gone. Oh, and paddling's good exercise. Work off those Mickey Mouse pancakes, you know?

The Disney Gallery has new artwork up - both original pieces for sale and old concept art. I saw two paintings of tea cups from the Mad Tea Party that, as it turns out, are the work of actor Tom Wilson. My fellow '80s kids may marvel at the idea that the actor behind Biff Tannen has other talents, but I must say he wields a paintbrush better than I do. Meanwhile across the patio, in what it turns out was to have been Walt and Lily's bedroom (the Gallery space was originally intended as an apartment, remember?), is a display of original art for Disney Little Golden Books. The detail is stunning. Trivia fact: there are a LOT of plugs in that room. Reason being, Lillian Disney was an avid antiques collector, and as a result rearranged the furniture at home quite a bit. Walt frequently brought home scripts to read, and had to make do with a reading lamp so as not to keep Lily awake. He wanted the extra plugs so no matter how the furniture was arranged, he'd always have a place to plug in that lamp. Apparently extension cords weren't common in 1966.

There was no entry for last week's visit due to my being very, very tired. St. Patrick's Day was the day before that, and guess who always volunteers to drive because her friends have no self-control on the biggest drinking day of the year? That's right, me. So to cut a long story short I was up really late.

A word to the wise: Disneyland policy is to deny admission to anyone who appears intoxicated, but for those of you who hide your boozing well, I'd like to provide a warning. If you insist on going to DL after a long night of drinking, beware. You may feel fine, but your hangover will hit right around the time you climb out of your pirate ship and stagger out of Peter Pan.

When hung over, avoid:

*All boat rides (you're at an increased risk for losing your balance), especially Storybook Land (because the boat is smaller it's more likely to tip over).
*King Arthur's Carrousel. If trying to climb on or off your horse doesn't get you, the rotation will.
*Dumbo, the Mad Tea Party, Roger Rabbit, and the Astro Orbiter - the spinning is just asking for it.
*The Autopia. Delayed reaction times mean you could rear-end someone.
*Tarzan's Tree House (closed anyway, probably due to safety issues). If you trip on the stairs it's a long, bumpy way down.

Granted, I certainly think it's better for all you partiers out there to just sleep off the booze and go to Disneyland when you're sober, but I'm being realistic here.

See you at Disneyland (after the Spring Break blockout dates).

Opening time: 8 a.m.
Weather: Gray and chilly when I arrived, quickly got REALLY warm
Crowds: Not too bad

I clearly remember my only DL visit in 2002...I and a friend arrived more than an hour early, and parking lot attendants were already there to let us into the parking structure. We had plenty of time to browse in Downtown Disney's stores before getting in line for the park's opening at 9 a.m.

Compare that to yesterday's visit. The parking signs directed me to the Disneyland Drive entrance, where after 15 minutes of sitting in my freezing-cold car (due to the gate not being open) some park suit walks by and yells at us to use the other entrance (Strike One.) So I go to the Ball Road entrance, which is heavily backed up due to those gates not being open either, in spite of the electronic sign claiming parking would open at 7:30 (Strike Two). Then, when attendants DID show up to let us in, there were only two of them. This meant that all of us had to merge into one of two lanes, and it took an additional 15 minutes to get in (Strike Three). Good thing I can walk very fast.

Memo to park management: It's no secret that Disneyland suffers from chronic and severe understaffing, but this is just plain bad service. Got it?

One of my friends thinks Disneyland should rename the "Dream Fastpass" the "Scream Fastpass" since a) all the affected attractions are thrill rides, and b) she, like me, has back problems and is tired of being given those things (as she can't use them). This time, she tried to hand it back, saying she couldn't use it, and - get this - was told to keep it as a "souvenir." A souvenir of what - a medical problem that limits her abilities? Um, hello, NOBODY wants THAT. She was pretty shocked by their insensitivity, and I suspect she's going to file a formal complaint.

On to what's new this week...

That mini poinsettia has disappeared from Storybook Land, and the mini baby carriage seems to be missing from London Park (for those not familiar with the original Peter Pan story, Tinker Bell found baby Peter in a carriage during a rainstorm and took him to Neverland with her).
One of the fireplace pillars in Mr. Toad's Wild Ride has been patched (it had a thin oval-shaped hole from hitting the side of the wall when the fireplace swings open). You'd never know it had been in need of repair.
Alice now has a bunch of red roses (wired in place). It looks better and I'm hoping they don't get swiped. Cheshire Cat's eyes weren't rolling.
Duck from Pinocchio finale is back (and working) but one of the dolls is missing.

Word has it there's a new show at the Disney Gallery, though I didn't stick around to see it this week (the Gallery opens at noon). Next time, probably.

See you at Disneyland.

Opening time: 8 am
Weather: Mostly sunny, unseasonably warm (I didn't even need a jacket)
Crowds: It's not summer yet - go home! Shoo!

My alarm clock isn't working for some reason, so to put it simply I didn't arrive until after 9. The park was so crowded I decided to make it a short visit.

In fact, the crowding was so bad that the line for the escalator to the parking tram esplanade stretched back three parking rows and the line for the trams was (approximately) 20 minutes long. I opted to take the stairs, walk to the Pinocchio parking lot's pedestrian exit, and then hoof it on the half-mile-long walking trail to the front gate...even though I was wearing four-inch wedge heels.

Alice's fake flowers are missing (probably yanked off by some prankster), but the Cheshire Cat's rolling eyes are working again.
The sound is out in one Pinocchio scene (Monstro appears, then Geppetto calls for Pinocchio).
"Happiest Turkeys on Earth" sign missing from Big Thunder Ranch.

You know, it's the darndest thing, but today when my Doombuggy stalled in the Haunted Mansion, I noticed a small mantel clock with its pendulum swinging fast (meaning it works...maybe some prankster sneaked it in? A working clock really doesn't belong in the attic). It's among the junk near the third wedding portrait, but it's REALLY hard to see because it's so dark in there (I have unusually good eyesight, even in the dark). By the way, did you ever notice the brightly colored stained glass on the ballroom doors before? If you ask me, they definitely clash with the rest of the attraction. The mansion's grounds and interior overwhelmingly correspond to the late Victorian era (dates on tombstones and paintings, seance room, conservatory, all of the furniture and decor, high-necked long-sleeved wedding gown worn by ghost bride Constance), but that particular style is more 1920s Craftsman than anything else. (Speaking of which, today I saw four faux-Craftsman McMansions under construction on Harbor Boulevard near Santa Ana Street. I'm all for urban renewal, but Anaheim's a *poor* area. If you ask me, it would be grossly unfair to gentrify the city out of its inhabitants' price range, given that the next-cheapest areas all have the highest crime rates in the county.)

The pet cemetery appears to have undergone a little tree trimming - now you can actually see the falcon memorial from the front.

Overheard on Main Street: "I think there's a bathroom up ahead, but I don't want to wait in line." And you came to Disneyland at 11 am on a weekend expecting it to be empty or something? (Yes, it was a blonde girl who looked about 14.)

Shame on: Old lady commenting on the size of the turkeys at BTR, then making a crack about how good they'd look on her dinner table. God, some people really do have no shame. They were pardoned so they WOULDN'T end up being reduced to a mutilated, scorched corpse to be consumed and then forgotten. Never mind that turkeys are very intelligent birds, and it is entirely possible that they can understand some human speech (I wouldn't say this if my own cat didn't have an uncanny grasp of French...he may not be able to speak it, but he's indicated he can understand it on many occasions).

Double shame on: Jerk who lit up while walking through the west tunnel onto Main Street. People who refuse to find a designated smoking area before lighting up inside *Disneyland* of all places (think of all the little kids!) deserve to be run over in the parking lot and left to bake in the scorching Anaheim sun. They are rude, obnoxious, pathetic, and hazardous to all life on this planet. (I, for the record, have severe allergies. I look healthy, but I risk my health every time I go out in public, and have been a strong proponent of smoke-free public areas for years. I don't want to wind up in the hospital or dead. I just want to go about my normal life without having to worry about the very real threat of a serious allergy attack.)

See you at Disneyland.