Opening time: 8 a.m.
Weather: Sunny, warm but not too hot
Crowds: Stay away, fellow locals.

You would think that, with this being such a busy time of year for Disneyland, that they'd attempt to open the parking lot at a reasonable time instead of letting two lanes of traffic back up down Magic Way and onto Disneyland Drive by 7:30 a.m. Sadly, this was not the case.

Anyway...

The fountain in Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is on again but Sir Clinksalot still doesn't clink. It's a bit jarring to have a suit of armor silently lean toward your car.
The line for Finding Nemo is so freaking long it extends into Fantasyland and around the Matterhorn. I don't envy anyone who waits in it.
One of the jack-in-a-boxes in Roger Rabbit's warehouse scene has been missing for weeks. Do take the time to notice the money on the floor - the bills are simoleons (1940s slang for dollars) and some feature the back of Roger's head. Ha.

Classic example of guest stupidity:

I was waiting in line for the Jungle Cruise at the point where it splits into two separate lines (to load different sections of the boats). The three tourists in front of me stared brainlessly into space while one skipper announced, repeatedly, on the intercom that there were TWO lines, and could everyone please use both? Then they couldn't make up their minds regarding which line to use. Anyone with decent eyesight and a few living brain cells could have seen that their best move would have been to move into the right line. Did they even look? Of course not. Tourists are stupid. If I had been in a worse mood I might have told them straight off to get moving; it's very poor etiquette to make other people wait for you to move your lazy butt.

Word has it the Cafe Orleans is serving (what else?) ratatouille. I haven't gone (I rarely eat in the park, especially in the summer), but I have seen pictures. I'm all for encouraging people to discover this fantastic soup for themselves, but in the photo I saw, the stew was garnished by asparagus spears (which is a nice touch) and what sure looks like a cheese wedge (which isn't). My family is from Southern France, which gave the world ratatouille, so I know what it is and is not supposed to contain. Ratatouille should be served with potatoes, rice, or some good crusty bread (or as a crepe filling - drain the excess liquid first), but *never* cheese. It competes too much with the rich flavors of the stew. Besides, as I have pointed out many times, dairy is a common allergen. Well, hopefully what I saw in the photo isn't cheese.

My ratatouille recipe:

2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 white onions, chopped
6 tomatoes, skinned and quartered (blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes, drain, and the skin will peel off much more easily - if you can't be bothered, use 1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes, but for food's sake get a good brand like Muir Glen)
1-2 eggplants, chopped, sweated, rinsed, and drained (to sweat eggplants, slice thinly, salt liberally, put slices in a colander, allow to drain 30 minutes, and rinse well - don't skip this step, it's essential to help reduce an eggplant's natural bitterness)
3-4 zucchini
2 green bell peppers, chopped
2 red bell peppers, chopped (optional; I LOVE red bell peppers)
1 tbsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp herbes de Provence (this is an essential ingredient, do not skip it)
Fresh thyme and basil to taste (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a large metal casserole dish or soup pot. Saute' onions and garlic until onions are translucent. Add the other vegetables and stir occasionally. It may take a while, but the tomatoes will produce enough liquid to cover the other veggies. Add seasonings and allow to simmer partially covered on low heat (I use gas mark 2) for 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender and stew is reasonably thick. Adjust seasonings if necessary. Makes about 8-10 cups of ratatouille.

And you bet your baguettes I'm going to see the movie this weekend. BTW, high-end kitchen store Sur La Table is reportedly carrying high-end Ratatouille merchandise, so I'm probably going to swing by the Newport Beach location after the film.

Has anyone else noticed (from the trailers and ads, anyway) that the only characters who don't have passable French accents are Linguini and the rats? Hmmm.

See you at Disneyland...in about two months.

I've skipped a few entries due to computer issues. Fortunately my laptop is once again up and running. Without further ado, here's yesterday's trip report:

Opening time: 8 a.m.
Weather: Somewhat overcast at first; quickly turned sunny and warm
Crowds: Summer's here. And stay out of Tomorrowland for the time being.

As my regular readers (all three of you) know, I missed the retro charm of the old Submarine Voyage and have waited ten long years for the Mousecutives to put SOMETHING in the lagoon.

I wasn't there when the subs reopened last Monday; I have a little thing called a job. I'm told that the line was 8 hours long at its worst!

So, I went Sunday. Unfortunately someone felt it would be a good idea to have a rare early-entry Sunday, so the line was over an hour long by the time I got through the front gate and practically ran to Tomorrowland. This would be bad enough, but it was 7:40 by the time the parking lot gates opened. Which makes me wonder, are the managers who created such a screwy schedule high or just stupid? Fine way to show the MAJORITY of park visitors how much you appreciate their money...

Anyway, it gets worse.

Supposedly Disneyland always picks its best and brightest Operations employees to be on the opening crew for new attractions. It's a huge honor to be chosen. Well, two of them sure could have fooled me!

One girl working crowd control at the 60-minute point in the queue allowed people to cut in for over half an hour, despite numerous complaints from those of us who were waiting our fair turn. This, of course, bumped my 60-minute wait time to 90 minutes. Not fun when you've recently had surgery, lost a fair amount of blood, and are still having dizzy spells. That stupid kid is just lucky I didn't wind up fainting.

Then, when I finally got to the front of the line, the grouper miscounted. I wasn't affected by it as I was the last one on, but it must have been quite annoying for the three people who were supposed to get on behind me. There aren't many seats on the subs (though each had two more added), so this is a potential problem. Contrast that with It's a Small World, which routinely sends out empty or half-empty boats and still has a very high hourly count. (BTW, those of you who are on the heavy side: the original seats are still in use and are proportioned for the considerably-slimmer visitors of 1959. I'm not saying don't go - my big-boned Scandinavian dad will probably ride the subs the next time I can convince him to come to DL, and he was even heavier when he took me on the subs as a kid. I'm just saying, keep this in mind.)

Now, on to the actual ride.

I was ready to burst from actual excitement by the time I sat down. There are videos of the ride all over the Internet, so I don't really feel a need to rehash every last detail.

The scenery and props look GREAT. I am especially happy that recycled materials were used (and that the subs run on clean fuel!). The faux sea creatures, reef, and plants are stunning, and about as colorful as the real thing. The animated effects are not what I would call realistic, but after all, it's based on an animated film, and they are pretty good.

There are references to the past: the shipwreck was re-used (it's now inhabited by Bruce the shark), at one point the sub passes into a whale's jaws (shades of the popular classic Storybook Land), and the current recorded spiel ends with a joke about getting out of there before running into a mermaid or a sea serpent!

My favorite part: the little girl from the dentist's office scuba diving in a "Friend of the Reef" t-shirt. Oh, and the seagulls on the buoy periodically squawking "Mine, mine, mine."

That said, it was NOT worth 90 minutes in line. 20 minutes, tops. But, for what it is, it's pretty good. I won't be riding it again until the crowds die down, but I'm giving it a B+ for effort (and being more environmentally friendly than before).

By the time I bounced out of the exit gate and into the Tomorrowland chaos, it was 10 a.m. and getting warm. I hit Roger Rabbit, the Haunted Mansion, and Winnie the Pooh before the crowds finally got to me. I would have filed a complaint about the parking lot opening so damn late that cars were backed up all the way down Disneyland Drive, but the line at City Hall already extended out the door and down the steps (I understand the subs are generating complaints, and I'd wager a lot of them have to do with the line-jumping problem), and I was getting woozy due to my aforementioned blood loss.

On your way into or out of Disneyland, be sure to stop and appreciate the new Emporium window display promoting "Ratatouille." I won't spoil it for you, but I will say it's very cute, very funny, and very detailed. I can't wait for the premiere. How can I not love a movie about a cute animated rat that's already taught mainstream America how to correctly pronounce the name of the greatest soup that southern France (the homeland of my grandparents) gave to the culinary world?

See you at Disneyland.

Opening time: 8 a.m.
Weather: Cool and overcast...ahh, I love June gloom
Crowds: Oh, crap. It's almost summer!

For some reason, the parking gates were locked and unmanned until 7:40 this morning. Highly unprofessional, given that it takes at least 15 minutes to park and take the next tram to the front gate. So, I was AGAIN stuck waiting behind a pack of slow, disorganized tourists who have no idea how good they have it (being able to park at their hotel and walk to the esplanade extra early, that is). I would have filed a complaint, but I happen to know City Hall CM's deal with more than enough bitching on a daily basis.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was recently closed for a few days for some fresh paint. Do pay close attention during the train-crash scene - one effect was drastically improved. The fountain by the courthouse was not running for some reason.

This made me wonder - when exactly is Snow White going to get a (BADLY needed) rehab? Several dwarves are missing, one animatronic bird is out of place, a fiberglass sock is missing, the Wicked Queen is hunched worse than ever in her first appearance, the apple/skull effect is all wrong, AND the apple in the Queen's hand (rowboat scene) is missing again.

There's a light out in Small World's Britain scene, and one of the hula dancers is, for lack of a better word, twitching. Also, the xylophone player in the Guatemala scene is missing.

There's a missing jack-in-the-box in Roger Rabbit's Acme warehouse scene, but the giant pie and boxing glove are running better than ever.

One of the squirting baby elephants on the Jungle Cruise river is not only not squirting, but appears to have developed several holes in his neck! Further down the river, the underwater explosion isn't working, but fortunately the scene is still quite funny without it (especially if you get skipper Christopher - perfect delivery, no two trips the same).

I, of course, had to see Pirates' Lair. There are already lots of photos circulating the 'net, so I won't be posting any. But trust me, it's great.

Highlights:

*Additions to caves
*Will Turner's blacksmith shop (it looks as if he'd stepped out for only a moment)
*Conversion of cider mill to Lafitte's Tavern (down to swords stashed outside and old jugs in the window)
*Bootstrappers' show/pirate stunt show (held in front of tavern and visible from Frontierland's shores)
*Rafts have been renamed after Blackbeard and Anne Bonney (hear hear!)
*Bone cage - great photo spot!

Tom and Huck's treehouse is still there, of course, with a more pirate-centric theme - and the oft-closed pontoon bridge has reopened. Word has it that the long-closed, termite-infested Fort Wilderness will be torn down soon and replaced with a stone fortress to fit the POTC theme better. I just hope they don't take out the graveyard!

Also, a word of caution: if you are claustrophobic, I do NOT recommend entering the caves. They were designed with the shorter and slimmer kids of the 1950s in mind and passages can be quite narrow, especially to adults (though several have been widened and raised). I must also advise larger visitors to keep this in mind. I'm average height and fairly slim, and I still had a tricky time getting through some smaller spaces.

The caves were rather crowded today because everyone loves a new attraction, and unlike an Omnimover system, walk-throughs are self-paced. Traffic can and will back up anyplace there's a pirate ghost or a treasure pile. Good thing it's all worth the wait!

Oh, and WEAR SNEAKERS. If you haven't been to the island in a while, it is still rugged terrain, and you'll have rocks in your Crocs within seconds.

Overheard on Main Street: 18-ish girl telling her friend about how her boyfriend refuses to come to Disneyland with her! At the risk of sounding presumptuous, I used to have a boyfriend like that, and his refusal to come to DL with me should've tipped me off that he was nothing but trouble. (Girls, if you can find a guy who not only WILL come to Disneyland with you but also offers you the steering wheel in the toon cab/teacup/Autopia car, don't let him out of your sight. Extra points if he slips you a penny for Snow White's wishing well.)

See you at Disneyland.