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).