Another Sunday means another trip to the Magic Kingdom of Disneyland!
When we arrived, the first thing we did was visit the Disneyland Hotel. The hotel is still under a lot of construction and I look forward to the changes coming. In the main lobby, there was no longer the huge painting of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle and the Mickey Mouse statues. It is just a bare wall, but hopefully they will return. We then walked over to the Adventureland and Frontierland Towers and enjoyed the artwork inside. In the Frontierland Tower, they have an amazing model of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It has every last detail. It was really amazing to see in person. If you are a Disneyland fan and love seeing miniatures of your favorite attractions, please stop by the hotel and see this. You will not be disappointed!
We were then going to take the Monorail into the park, but they said the the train would not arrive for 30 minutes. What could possibly be the hold up? It was strange… So we ended up walking to the park.
The first thing we did when entering Disneyland was head to the Haunted Mansion to get a fastpass and figure out where we wanted to eat. We ended up enjoying a nice Mexican meal at Rancho Del Zocalo. I had a huge burrito and it was delicious. I recommend it.
We then went over to Disney California Adventure to visit the Blue Sky Cellar. The stuff they have on Buena Vista Street is wonderful. There are many things that show the process Imagineers take to create the park. It was a really neat insight. Besides having Buena Vista Street details like tiling and flooring, they also had the new Partners maquette for DCA, Red Car Trolley concept art, concept art of new Buena Vista Street Cast Member costumes, and the new attraction posters. The highlight of the Cellar is the new video which features Imagineers and their ideas for Buena Vista Street. It was a really great video and it is very evident that they love being Imagineers and are very excited for this project. Seeing the Imagineers this enthusiastic and proud of what they are doing, makes me that much more excited to see the finished result of Buena Vista Street. I really think it is going to be one of the best things Imagineering has ever done.
After seeing what’s to come to DCA in the Blue Sky Cellar, we headed over to my favorite attraction at DCA: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. The wait was short and the ride was great. I mentioned a few trips ago, that the gift shop had new props inside. Well those new props are now gone. No longer is there a TV in the window and the “Get Out of Here Finchley” paper is back in the type writer. I heard that those props from a couple weeks ago was for a scavenger hunt that Disney was testing. But having a TV in the window of the gift shop seems like it could be really neat, especially if they were playing episodes of the Twilight Zone!
While walking toward the park exit, I took a good look at the new attraction posters on the construction walls. I really love them. They have that classic look of an original Disneyland attraction poster. I think my favorite may be the poster for the Silly Symphony Swings!
We made our way back to Disneyland and the Fireworks had just started. We stood on Main Street near the Train Station and watched the remainder of the show. The Remember… Dreams Come True Fireworks sure are amazing. Every time I see them I am impressed. It’s no wonder that Disney is still using the same show from six years ago. If they have something that great, they should keep it.
The fireworks ended and we made our way to the Haunted Mansion Holiday. It was a terrific ride. The queue is so exciting in the Haunted Mansion Holiday. I love the way the Mansion looks all decked out and the creepy Phantom Manor music adds an eerie touch.
After the Mansion, we went over to the Port Royal store, which sells Nightmare Before Christmas and Haunted Mansion stuff. Inside, they had bone wreaths up for Halloween. They look like the ones used in the ride during the endless hallway scene. They really looked great up close. A great overlay for the store.
While Fantasmic! was going on, we thought we would take that time to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It was a wise decision as the line was only 5 minutes. We sat in the back like we always do and it was excellent. Unfortunately, the rocks in the mine were not moving again, but oh well… At least the falling rocks projection in the background was still working. I can’t say how much I love Big Thunder at night. There is something so magical about it. It’s scarier and more thrilling.
We got off of Big Thunder and decided to walk around Frontierland and look at some Halloween decorations. One of the stores has some nice old fashioned decorations out front including a creepy looking pumpkin man, which you can see below:
The end of the night was upon us and we had time for one last attraction. We decided to get a couple Dole Whips and enjoy the Tiki Room. We were the only ones in the Enchanted Garden and we thought we were going to be alone for the entire show. But as luck would have it, about ten people came in right before the show started. No one was in our section, however. So it still felt like we had our own show. Maynard was our host again and he did his usual wonderful spiel. The show looked and sounded great. We were against the southern most wall and I think that’s my favorite spot. The sound is excellent in that area and you get a good look at everything in the show.
Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room ended our evening at the Disneyland Resort. It was a nice relaxing trip and I can’t wait to be there again.