Category: Disney California Adventure

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

We made our way home after our visit to Trader Sam’s.  It was a very nice birthday at the Happiest Place on Earth!

When we entered Disneyland around 2pm, there were two ducks that seemed to be greeting guests just past the Disneyland Railroad tunnel.  They were very cute and they were greeting people is such a professional manner that several people thought they were fake!

The first ride on today’s trip to Disneyland was Pirates of the Caribbean.  There were a couple new things in the attraction to promote the fourth “Pirates” film.  The projection of Davy Jones is now gone and replaced with that of Blackbeard.  It’s a nice effect, but it doesn’t belong in Pirates of the Caribbean, in my opinion (Robert’s).  It’s strange to see a floating head of a live actor in this great attraction filed with some of the best audio animatronics ever created.  It also doesn’t really make sense why Blackbeard’s head is floating in a waterfall.  It made sense with Davy Jones because he lived in the water.  They also replaced Jones’ dialogue at the end of the attraction with Blackbeard’s.  I prefer Ian McShane’s voice over Bill Nighy, but again, I would prefer to have the original ending.  I would just like to hear that wonderful Blue Bayou music without any interruptions.  A problem with McShane’s voice is that it doesn’t project very well.  It is very deep and low so it is difficult to hear.  Besides those new things, the ride looked great.  Also, there was a lot of fog in the cannonball scene this time.  I love when that happens.

Next we took a bobsled ride down the icy slopes of the majestic Matterhorn.  Even though the ride can be a bit rough on one’s body at times, I still love it.  The look of the mountain and its abominable inhabitant is pure classic Disney.  There was one part of the ride where I looked over and saw a pile of at least 5 hats that have fallen off.  That was pretty funny.

A friend then had fast passes for Space Mountain so that was our next stop.  Space Mountain was intense, but fun!  A roller coaster in the dark is really horrifying, but it’s so great.  It’s one of the best.

We then visited our fine feathered friends in Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room.  We sat in the back and while it was great, there were parts that were difficult to hear.  It seemed that the four main birds were loud enough, but the chorus was very soft.  I think the speakers just weren’t working in our section.  But even with the audio issue, the attraction was wonderful.  I like how 1960s it looks.  I hope it never changes and I hope that the new version coming to Walt Disney World will look as nice as this one.

Then came the Haunted Mansion.  Again it looked and sounded great.  Madame Leota was once again stationary.  Yesterday marked the 6th year anniversary of the death of Thurl Ravenscroft.  Thurl is the lead singing bust in the graveyard scene.  I gave an extra long look at him that trip.  He really was a great singer, actor, and voice!  He is missed.

After the Mansion, we went over to Indiana Jones Adventure to use our fastpasses we had for that ride.  Unfortunately, it was closed when we got there.  Indiana Jones really closes down more than any other ride in the park.  They need to get that fixed.

Since Indy was down, we decided it was time to head over to Disney California Adventure.  Our first stop: The Twlight Zone Tower of Terror.  I noticed that the lighting looked different in the boiler room.  There is usually a bright blue light on the wall where the chalk outlined door is, but it was not on this time.  Overall the boiler room just looked a bit darker than usual.  The ride was great, but we were on with some annoying teenagers that yelled and screamed through the entire run.  Why they don’t listen to the story and try to imagine themselves in this haunted hotel, I don’t know…  Even  with the annoying kids, the ride is still incredible.

Last, but not least, we headed over to World of Color.  We wanted to see the show since it had new Little Mermaid scenes and Pirates scenes promoting the fourth film.  The show was good and the new stuff looked great, but overall, I think I prefer the original show.  The new Pirates stuff was neat, but they cut out almost the entire villain section, which I love.  Oh well…  I’m sure it will be back one day.

After the show, we walked by the new Little Mermaid attraction and wished we were on it.  It looks amazing from the outside.  Well, only one more week and we will go under the sea with Ariel and all her friends.

After parking in the Mickey & Friends Parking Structure, we decided to walk to the parks.  While walking across Disney Way, I noticed a few weeks back that they removed the grass from near the crosswalk. There was never any hope in twarting the kids from taking a shortcut to make the light.

I had also never noticed this sign letting guests know the distance from Downtown Disney to the Mickey and Friends Parking Structure.

We arrived to the DLR pretty early (for us: 11:30am) this past Sunday.  Crowds seemed rather light.

We decided to first go over to the Matterhorn where, unfortunately, it had just shut down for 45 minutes.

We then went on Snow White’s Scary Adventures.  I would say this is my favorite Fantasyland attraction. And with the recent enhancements, it hasn’t looked better! And that plot-hole at the end: perfection!

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride was up next.  I noticed the train-crash scene was missing some of the strobe and visual effects that can be seen in our “Star Tours 1.5” video where a miniature Starspeeder 3000 takes flight through the attraction.

Next, we took a trip down Main Street on one of their horseless carriages.  This party of 9 crammed its way into the original 5/8 scale horseless carriage and proceeded to get high-fives on our way toward the Main Street station.

We then headed over to DCA and the new entryway is really taking shape!  It looks like they’re laying on the outer shell (maybe drywall?) and I wouldn’t be surprised if this was ready to go on June 3rd for the opening of “Ariel’s Undersea Adventures” — but don’t quote me on that.

When we entered the park, we could see the construction of the new “hub,” if you will.  I am very excited to see this park transforming so quickly!

We first rode  The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror which was running perfectly and an absolute blast for the first-timers we were with!

We then headed over to the Mission Tortilla Factory. One person in our group was celebrating his birthday and for the occasion, the Tortilla Factory gave him a whole stack for free!

We then had lunch and I had my favorite Type-O Blood-Type approved salad: The Chinese Chicken Salad (which you can read more about in our Disneyland Diets post).  And since I cannot eat the bread bowl in which it comes, I got to take it home in a bag and share it with house-guests.

After lunch, we wanted to shake things up so we headed over to California Screamin’. I was upset because a kid behind us flipped off the camera and it made the posting board!  I love California Screamin’ to view progress on Goofy’s Sky School and Cars Land.  I also noticed that there was not a lot of progress where MaliBoomer once was.

We followed that up with a ride on Grizzly River Run, but we sat that one out.  Our friend enjoyed themselves, however.

Then it was back to Disneyland where we rode Space Mountain.  I was surprised how rickety the car felt.  It made the ride twice as scary!  Space Mountain is one of a handful of coasters where I like to ride in front and being in the first seat, but I was sure we were about to fall off the tracks.  It made the ride incredibly scary and intense.  The photo-finish was so exciting on this trip because we lived!  Not sure if I was hyper sensitive for some reason, but I could have sworn I was hearing sounds I had never heard before — and the music was abnormally loud this particular go-around.  We ended up riding Space Mountain again later in the night, but all was back to normal.  Very strange…

After a trip into the deep dark void of super space, we set sail with the wildest crew that ever sacked the spanish main; Pirates of the Caribbean.  Pirates looked and sounded great, but I did notice that the parrot next to the pirate with the hairy leg is once again missing.  He had been missing for many months and he finally came back a couple weeks ago.  But he wasn’t there this trip.  Perhaps he flew away to visit his friends in the Tiki Room…  The funny thing is you can still hear him singing!

We then entered the creaking doors of The Haunted Mansion.  We ended up doing it twice.  All of the 999 happy haunts were there to do their thing, but Madame Leota was not floating.  It’s funny…  I always thought that she would be stationary when the internal projection of her face would not be working correctly.  But this time, she was stationary and had the internal projection…  I wonder what the problem was.  We also noticed a small tear in the foyer wallpaper.  Those crazy hooligans hurting our Mansion!  Also, the lighting of the ballroom scene seemed to be a bit brighter than usual.  The ghosts entering from the outside had shadows that one usually does not see.

The Jungle Cruise came up next.  Of course night had fallen by this time, so it was a night cruise.  The skipper was hit and miss.  There were a few good lines in there though.  The elephant that threatens to squirt our boat was missing.  He must have found a hot date.

Then it was off to dinner at a favorite: Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port!  I had just remembered as I reached for a salad that the Disneyland Celiac Menu offered a gluten-free pizza at Pizza Port.  I figured that there were no slices readily available and that we would have to order a whole pie.  Boy, was I wrong.  Out came the chef and she took my special order.  5-minutes later, out popped my very own personal pizza — Type-O approved!  We went to go eat outside where a Disney Cast Member said “How did you get here?”  We told her that we walked through the doors.  It was weird.  I guess the area was supposed to be closed, but no one locked the sliding door.  She was awfully upset and rude.

Then came a ride on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  It was great!  Big Thunder is best experienced at night and especially during the fireworks or “Fantasmic!”  We got on right as “Fantasmic!” was beginning.

And the final ride of the night was Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye.  We had FastPasses and made our way quickly to the front.  The queue always blows us away.  It’s one of the best queues Disney has ever done.  Unfortunately, a few things were not working correctly on the ride.  The Chamber of Destiny room wasn’t working.  The middle door was always open, so cars didn’t have an option for the other two rooms.  Then the music did not play through a lot of the ride.  I’m not sure if that’s a glitch or another ride profile since every ride is slightly different.  It’s much better with music though.

After our adventure with Indy, we walked down Main Street, USA and drove carefully on our way home.

EDITOR’S NOTE:

One of the coolest parts of this visit was early in the day just before Snow White’s Scary Adventures when a hawk was flying low over the castle.  It was quite the sight and our hopes were up that it might land on one of the spires of the castle.  We soon realized that it was hunting and it dove straight into the right-side pond.  A friend and I ran up to the benches to look over the bushes just as the hawk emerged from the pond and flew right over our heads!  And in its talons, facing straight forward with an excellent view of Main St., was a rather large koi.  While that koi met an untimely death, what a way to go out: flying over Main St., USA!  I wish I had snapped a photo of that avian wonder.  Maybe next time!