The Man of a Thousand Voices, Paul Frees, would have been 91 today. Disneyland would not be as great as it is today without his incredible and unique vocal characterizations. Let’s take a look at some of the incredible characters he has voiced:
The Haunted Mansion:
Paul is the voice of our Ghost Host in the Haunted Mansion. His rich and ominous sound echos through the halls of the Mansion and it is what I consider to be the greatest single voice over performance in Disneyland. Welcome Foolish Mortals!
Pirates of the Caribbean:
Paul is the voice of many Pirates including the Auctioneer, the Pirate with the Cats, and one of the imprisoned mates. Of course, he used to be the voice of the Pooped Pirate and the Captain of the Wicked Wench before they changed the ride. Shift Yer Cargo, Dearie...
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln:
Paul is also our narrator for the Lincoln attraction. He does an incredible job setting up the story of our greatest president in American history. From the skills of the sculptor and the talent of the artists...
Adventure Thru Inner Space:
An attraction that is no longer with us, but lies in the memory of anyone who experienced it. Paul was our host on this journey through the atoms of a snowflake. It was a wonderful voice over performance full of wonder and excitement. Oh how I wish I could have experienced this attraction. Can I possibly survive?
Happy 91st Birthday to the greatest: Paul Frees! The Man of a Thousand Voices
A late afternoon trip to Disneyland was in order on June 12th. We arrived to the Disneyland Resort around 4pm.
Our first stop was the Disney Gallery to take another look at the Mary Blair exhibit. I really took the artwork in this time and it’s wonderful. Blair has such a unique style. Any animator could make drawings and storyboards, but Blair did it with her own personal touch. She was remarkable.
Walt and Mary
Then we looked at the little museum they have set up in the lobby of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. I really love the things they have set up in there including vintage park tickets and models of Splash Mountain and Sleeping Beauty’s Castle.
Ticket Books!
Walking through Adventureland really let us know how crowded the park was that day. An unbelievable amount of strollers were parked right in the middle of Adventureland which is already on the small side. Fortunately, the lines weren’t too bad at the parks. It was just a lot of traffic to get to your favorite attraction.
It's Crowded!
And with that, our first attraction was Pirates of the Caribbean. In the scene where the Mayor is being dunked in the well, there are usually three other people tied up waiting for their turn to be dunked. This time, the man in the middle was missing and some crates were put in his place. He must have escaped the ropes! You know, this is another reason of why I love Pirates. Even when pirates are missing, you can make a story up in your mind on what happened to them. The amount of detail put into Pirates lets your mind run.
Get Ready to Set Sail!The guy in the middle was the one that escaped.
Then came the Haunted Mansion and guess what! Madame Leota was floating! It is always very exciting when she floats as more often than not, she is stationary. During the ride, our doombuggy was stopped right in front of the hitchhiking ghosts. It was great to get a good long look at them. I love those guys!
The MansionThe Hitchhiking Ghosts
Evening was now upon us and we were hungry. We all decided we would head over to DCA and enjoy Broccoli and Cheese Soup in a Bread Bowl. The line at the Pacific Warf Cafe was huge! Fortunately, it moved fast and it ended up being only 20 minutes. The bread bowl was delicious. I love the sourdough bread at the Disneyland Resort. One day, I would like to buy a huge sack of bread bowsl and eat away!
I Dream About These!
It was now 9:00pm and World of Color was just starting. We thought this would be an excellent time to get in line for The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure. It was great being able to watch World of Color while in line. The queue didn’t last too long as it was late. It was maybe a half hour long, which was perfect as we got to see most of World of Color. The ride was once again great and this time we spotted Mr. Limpet. I wonder why Mr. Limpet is in the attraction. It’s not a Disney movie… Maybe the imagineers are just big Don Knotts fans.
Keep Singing!Kiss the Girl
Then we headed over to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. It was a fun ride. I noticed that the spiral effect on the elevator doors as the ride begins and ends was not working. I could see the outline of the spiral, but it was not spinning. Other than that, everything else looked and sounded perfect. We had a very good Bellhop load us in our elevator. He was very effective with keeping to the 1939 Haunted Hollywood Tower Hotel theme.
The Hollywood Tower Hotel
We then headed back to Disneyland to see how long the line was for Star Tours. At 10:00pm, it was still 100 minutes. So we decided to pass on that galactic adventure.
Instead, we went to Storybook Land Canal Boats. I can’t say enough about how much I love this ride. It is so nice, relaxing, and quiet. The detail of the miniatures is amazing. It is even better at night as each scene is lit perfectly. I especially love Pinocchio’s village and how the mini mountains in the background blend perfectly with the Matterhorn.
So Great at Night!
After our boat ride through Monstro the Whale, we went over to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. I was surprised to see that the fireplace scene had been updated. The fire seemed to be projected much more clearly now and the floor is now painted to look like a brick fireplace. The fiber optic burning embers never looked better. That was always my favorite effect in the ride. The rest of the ride was amazing as always. Going to Hell is one of my favorite things to do at the Disneyland Resort!
Toad HallThe New Fireplace
We ended our night with a ride on King Arthur’s Carousel. It was a perfect way to close out a wonderful trip to the Happiest Place on Earth: Disneyland.
Disney Legend, Wally Boag, died this past weekend at the age of 90. Wally was famous for his great characterizations in Disneyland’s Golden Horseshoe and as the voice of Jose in “Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room”. So Long Wally… You will be missed.
Wally as Pecos Bill in the Golden Horseshoe RevueWally's Feathered Alter Ego
A Big thank you goes out to Daveland for use of their wonderful pictures! Visit the wonderful site full of vintage and new Disneyland pictures!
Hello and welcome to the magic kingdom of Disneyland! Robert here! May 29th was my birthday, so naturally a trip to Disneyland was in order.
Celebrating My Birth!
Our first stop: Star Tours! I won preview tickets for the new Star Tours so we went on it three times. It was very fun. I am really liking it more and more every time I go on. When we got off, a cast member told us that when the attraction officially opens on June 3rd, all 54 sequences will open. Now I thought it was just 54 different combinations you can get. But this guy told us that it was in fact 54 different sequences! I am very excited for this. I can’t wait to see where our Star Speeder will land in the future! Oh and he told us to look out for Hidden Mickeys and an appearance of Han Solo!
The Adventures Continue!
After visiting the planets of Tatooine and Hoth among others, we were very hungry. So we stopped by Pizza Port where I enjoyed a salad, bread sticks, and a delicious cookie. Pizza Port isn’t my favorite, but it’s a good quick place to grab a bite.
Then we went over to DCA since we heard rumors of soft openings for The Little Mermaid attraction. Luckily for us, the rumors were true! We got in line not knowing what was to come. The queue for the Mermaid ride was a little underwhelming, but there was a nice detail on the floor. Embedded in the concrete were different types of sea shells. It was a nice touch.
Sea Shell in the Floor!And Another!
The actual ride was amazing. It was so technologically advanced, colorful, and full of detail. I loved the animatronics. They were some of the best I have ever seen. It was strange to see such elaborate animatronics with animated characters since we are so used to the Fantasyland dark rides with mostly static figures. I won’t spoil the ride for those of you who haven’t been on it yet, but let me just say I highly recommend it. People do have problems with the actual story of the ride, but I don’t mind it so much. It’s just really neat to go through these classic Mermaid scenes. It’s a ride that DCA really needed. I say it’s a must for everyone.
Look At This Stuff!
California Screamin’ was up next. It is still one of the best roller coasters I have ever been on. It’s scary without being too intense. The only part I’m not crazy about it going upside down. It’s not my thing. I always think it’s gonna give me a nose bleed!
Our Faces
We had heard rumors that the Mission Tortilla Factory was closing the next day so we made sure to visit. I’m so upset that it’s closing. It is one of my favorite little attractions to visit. I made sure to get a long last look at everything from the little people in the windows to the machines making the tortillas. I showed the cast member my birthday button and for the occasion, she gave me a free stack of tortillas to go along with my usual free sample. That was very nice of them. I will really miss that Tortilla Factory.
You Will Be Missed!
We then visited the Blue Sky Cellar, which was very fun for me. The reason I really enjoyed it was because I finally got to look at the Mermaid stuff on display. I refused to look at any models or videos of the making of the ride before I experienced it, as I wanted it all to be a surprise. I’m so glad I did that. The Cellar had some great Mermaid models on display along with some details of future DCA plans. They also have the new DCA attraction posters for Mermaid, Grizzly River Run, and Goofy’s Sky School. They really look great. They have the feel of the classic 1960s Disneyland attraction posters.
The Blue Sky CellarThe New Attraction Posters
Our next ride was The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. It was great once again and the blue light was back on the chalk doorway. Other than that, everything seemed to be the same as the previous trip.
HTH AKA TOTThe Light is Back On!
It was then time for Disneyland and the greatest attraction ever created: Pirates of the Caribbean. It was another terrific journey into the world of the pirates. Everything seemed the same from the previous trip as well. Looking at the new Blackbeard projection again, it seems that the effect works better than when it was Davey Jones, but the audio is just so low and hard to decipher. I just wish that the entire effect was gone and it went back to the pitch black passageway with the echos of pirates from the past.
The Greatest!
Then came The Haunted Mansion and guess what! The hearse is back with a fresh coat of paint! It looked terrific and I was happy to see it back. Madame Leota was still stationary on this trip, but everything looked incredible. After we got off, we wanted to look at the pet cemetery behind the Mansion. So we walked back there and took a few pictures. I really like that the imagineers bothered to put that cemetery in when most guests will never see it. I wish it was the old tombstones that used to be on the side of the Mansion instead of duplicates of the pet cemetery tombstones that you see out in front of the Mansion. It is still very cool though.
The MansionThe Hearse is Back!The Other Pet Cemetary
Now I am not a big fan of parades, but we all decided to see the new Mickey’s Soundsational Parade. It was OK. The first float was neat because it had some amazing drummers including Mickey! Not only did Mickey beat those drums with expertise, but it was the talking Mickey too. I’m glad they used him. But the other floats were underwhelming. Compared to the parade from the 50th anniversary, this doesn’t do it for me. It just didn’t have anything to be blown away about. But for people that like parades and people that want to see their favorite Disney characters, it does the trick.
Mickey Leads the Parade!The Princesses at Rapunzel's TowerKing Louie!
We were pretty tired by this point of the day, so we left Disneyland and decided to grab some food and drinks at the new Trader Sam’s at the Disneyland Hotel. Let me just say that this is one of the best things to come out of Disney in recent years! I couldn’t believe the amount of detail and homages to Adventureland attractions. Inside there were artifacts and references to The Tiki Room, The Jungle Cruise, Indiana Jones, and many movies that contain jungle themes! Also there are special effects inside that occur when you order a certain drink. That was so exciting! I will do a more detailed post about Trader Sam’s in the future, but for now just do yourselves a favor and experience this incredible new place!
Trader Sam's!InsideThe Amazing DetailThere's a Volcano Outside!
We made our way home after our visit to Trader Sam’s. It was a very nice birthday at the Happiest Place on Earth!
Rumor has it that the Mission Tortilla Factory in Disney California Adventure has closed to make way for a chocolate factory. This really upsets me as I love that Tortilla Factory. It was a very fun little treat to DCA visitors.
I will miss you Tortilla Factory!
I will really miss everything from the corny preshow video, to the little people in the windows, to those fluffy fresh tortillas waiting for you as you exit. Goodbye Tortilla Factory… You will be missed.
