Here’s another in our ongoing series, but first, where was last week’s photo taken?
Disney California Adventure: Paradise Pier - Ariel's Undersea Adventure
And a hearty congratulations to Sarah — She has won our very first contest! Thank you all to those that entered. We will be doing more contests in the future and they won’t be about guess where a floor is. Thanks for playing, Sarah and we look forward to seeing you at the world-famous Magic Castle soon!
And now for this week’s floor. Hint: We have posted several floors from this location but as it’s the 13th Floor Friday, we thought we would throw it in again!
Last Sunday, we made our way to Disneyland and arrived on a splendid summer evening. Our first stop was DCA. This would be the last day that the entrance, as we know it, will be in operation. Starting the next day, guests to DCA will enter next to Soarin’ Over California. It was nice to give a final goodbye to what was a not so exciting entrance to a theme park. I am very much looking forward to Buena Vista Street and I am happy to see the Greeting’s From California entrance go!
Never to be Seen Again!
The first attraction we headed to was The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. It was a great ride and everything worked great. The mirror ghost effect worked perfectly. I did notice a small difference in a certain prop in the library, however. In the library on the left, there is an envelope with the name Rod Serling printed on it. This prop is from a Twilight Zone episode entitled “A World of His Own”. I noticed that the printing on the envelope is now thicker and a slightly different font from before. Is it ridiculous that I bother noticing these things? I love these details!
Do you know what's inside?
We then went over the The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure. The ride was great, but I did notice that the rubber on Ariel’s floating hair is starting to crack. I hope it’s a quick and easy fix. I still love the new DCA attraction and I don’t see myself getting tired of it anytime soon.
The Undersea Adventure
It was then time for Disneyland. After passing through the magical turnstiles, we decided to get a bite to eat at the Plaza Inn. I love the Plaza Inn. It may be my favorite restaurant in the park. The main reason I have love for this restaurant is the wonderful Cobb Salad. I think it’s the best Cobb Salad I have ever had, but then again, I never did get a chance to have one at the original Brown Derby. While sitting outside and enjoying our meals, the fireworks started. We had a nice view of the works and once again I got emotional when Dumbo appeared from beyond the trees.
The Plaza Inn
The Cobb Salad!
Before the Fireworks ended, we made our way through Fantasyland between the Castle and the Matterhorn. The fireworks are so close and loud in that area. It was a perspective that I’m not used to, but it was really neat. I really want to watch the entire show from the view point one of these days and have Tinkerbell fly right over our heads. I think it will be really neat.
The Fireworks Finale!
We then made a quick stop at Casey Jr. Circus Train. Our entire group of seven squeezed into the Wild Animals cage. It was really a funny sight. The ride was excellent. Everyone really enjoyed it. As much fun as it is in the cage, the caboose is still my favorite spot.
Casey Jr Time!
We then walked over to New Orleans Square to go on Pirates of the Caribbean. Pirates is closing Sept. 7 – Nov. 23, so this was my last chance to ride my favorite ride for 3 months! I’m going to go crazy without it! The ride was spectacular except a new pirate was missing! The fella with all the hats who has one foot on the dock and one foot on a rocky boat was gone! Perhaps he is buying a new set of hats. The guy waiting to be dunked is still missing too. Even with the absence of those classic pirates, it is still the best ride ever created.
One of the Great Marc Davis Paintings in the Queue
The Missing Pirate. I guess he finally made it to shore!
Naturally the Haunted Mansion was up next. They tried sending us into the stretching room when the foyer narration had already finished. I hate when that happens. I want to experience the whole attraction and the foyer is a big part of it to me. So we stayed back and waited for the next group. The ride looked and sounded great. If you remember a few trips ago, I said that an owl was missing in the graveyard and returned with real feathers unlike his plastic counterpart. Well that counterpart is now missing and I’m assuming he’s being tarred and feathered to match. Madame Leota was floating again. She has been floating so much lately, I don’t think I have to mention it in the reports anymore.
Cat Lady
When we exited the Mansion, we caught my favorite part of Fantasmic!: The climactic ending with the Dragon. Every time I see it, it is equally as thrilling.
The Dragon Appears!
Our group then decided to go on the wildest ride in the wilderness, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Big Thunder is so great at night. I love it. It was kind of scary this time too because we were sitting in the back and we were really pulled through the whole ride. It seemed extra fast. As we all know, the big finale of Big Thunder involves a huge earthquake in the mine. Unfortunately, none of the rocks were moving and shaking this trip. I still loved it, however. It’s my favorite Disney roller coaster.
BTMRR
The last attraction we visited for the night was Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye. We had a jeep to ourselves and it was really thrilling. It all looked wonderful. The projected rat effect wasn’t there but I don’t really mind that as I’m not a huge fan of that scene. My favorite part of Indy is the queue though. I could spend all day in that temple looking at every prop and ancient carving.
Inside the Temple
Walking down Main Street on our way home, we noticed a few things. We looked at the construction walls for the Jolly Holiday Bakery and noticed that there were Halloween decorations in the windows of the Emporium. It’s a great feeling when Halloween time nears. They also had the Fortuosity Shop decorated with tons of Ravens. It looked like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”. It was really neat!
Jolly Holiday: Coming Soon
Halloween Time is Approaching!
I hope you all enjoyed the report! Till next time!
By the way, we were also at Disneyland last week during D23. I didn’t have time to make a report, but there were a couple things I wanted to mention. We went on Splash Mountain, which we don’t do very often. I love Splash so much. It’s one of my favorite rides. We got so wet. It was as if someone poured a gallon of water all over our feet. It was very fun. We also went to Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room and our cast member introducing the show was Maynard! He really is the best and does such a great introduction to the show. If you see him out in front of the Tiki Room, be sure to stop by. You won’t be disappointed!
Zip-Ah-Dee-Doo-Dah!
Maynard wakes up Jose
Enjoy the complete Photo Gallery from our trip!
The Dragon Appears!
Casey Jr Time!
The Majestic Matterhorn
BTMRR
Zip-Ah-Dee-Doo-Dah!
Cat Lady
Haunted Lighting
Here ye be Spot!
The Missing Pirate. I guess he finally made it to shore!
Dead Men Tell No Tales
One of the Great Marc Davis Paintings in the Queue
Here’s another in our ongoing series, but first, where was last week’s photo taken?
Disney California Adventure: Hollywood Backlot - Twilight Zone® Tower of Terror lobby entrance!
And this concludes our very first contest entry period! Thank you all to those that entered. We will be doing a drawing this week and the winner will be announced next week on Floor Fridays #13. Thanks for playing, and now for this week’s floor:
This past weekend was the D23 Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center. Although lots and lots of people showed up, fun was still had. The Expo was full of Disney Magic in the form of films, television, parks, and resorts to just name a few. Since there is so much to see and do at the Expo, I obviously was not able to attend everything. The following is what I experienced.
Day 1:
D23 EXPO 2011
After waiting in a huge line to enter the Expo, we first made our way to the Carousel of Projects. This area displayed props, models, and artifacts from upcoming Walt Disney Imagineering attractions. When entering the area, you are treated to a nice little video projected on Semi-Circle 180! A montage of WDI’s past is shown and finally Tinker Bell finds our way out as she splits the screen open. Once the doors open, we are greeted by a huge replica of the Disney Cruise Line ship. As we walk past the giant vessel, its fog horn blasts a familiar tune. Try and guess what the tune is….
Carousel of Projects
All Aboard!
Inside the exhibit, we find things from the new Fantasyland coming to Walt Disney World, the new Seven Dwarfs mine ride, Cars Land and its attractions, DCA’s Buena Vista Street, and my favorite: The Amazing Destini! The Amazing Destini is the first animatronic to have 100% artificial intelligence. It was really amazing to see in person. The little fortune teller really interacts well with guests. We were treated to a look at the program running the animatronic and I must admit that it is kind of scary. It was like the Terminator come true. Destini’s program can sense your emotions and react with it. It also counts blinks, nods, smiles, and anything else that can give it clues as to what you are feeling. It was remarkable.
This Way to the Amazing Destini!
Here He Is!
Artificial Intelligence!
After our tour of the Carousel of Projects, we walked the floor for a bit and bought some collectibles. The amount of Disney things to buy was overwhelming. It is quite the site to see all the Disney geeks scrambling for their favorite Disney pin. I must admit that I was one of them.
We then got in line to enter the Arena where we would see a presentation on Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Tom Staggs hosted the event and although we were treated to great pieces of concept art, most of the information was already made public by the Disney Parks blog. There were two things that really excited me however. The first was a piece of concept art that showed the E Ticket Cars Land attraction. The art showed that there will be a scene inside of a cavern called Taillight Caverns. The stalagmites will be glowing red and resemble different tail lights of classic cars. I for one love Disney caves and I’m sure this will be a welcomed addition. The other exciting piece of news was the Castle coming to Shanghai Disneyland. The Castle will represent all the different Disney princesses and it will have a restaurant inside. What was most exciting was that an attraction would be inside the Castle! There will be a boat ride beginning in Fantasyland and it will make its way underneath the Castle where you will disembark. The concept art of this attraction looked amazing even though it was just one scene. I can’t wait to see what this turns out to be! They also announced that the Carnation Plaza Gardens will soon be leaving Disneyland and replaced with a little extension of Fantasyland which will house some Disney princesses. I’m sure it will look neat, but I’m going to miss the Gardens…
Walt Disney Parks & Resorts... And Drumming Mickey!
Shanghai's Castle
Inside the Castle
The Ride Which Will End Inside the Castle!
We then made our way to the last Panel Discussion for the day: Voices of the Parks. There we met Disney’s best vocal talents and they showed off their pipes. It was amazing to see how many of them love Disneyland and how talented they all really are. The panel had many vocal talents including the voice of Disneyland Bill Rogers, Mark Silverman who does the voice of Rod Serling in the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and Corey Burton who is our Ghost Host in the Haunted Mansion Holiday. It was really the most entertaining part of the entire Expo. We heard everyone do some of their Disney voices live! If you closed your eyes, it felt like you were at the park.
The Voice of Disneyland
The Voice of Rod Serling in The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
The Voice of our Ghost Host in the Haunted Mansion Holiday
Day 2:
We began the day with visiting the things being auctioned off in the silent auction. In that room, they had the Hitchhiking Ghosts from Walt Disney World’s Haunted Mansion. These were the ghosts that appeared in the mirrors. It was amazing to see them up close. It was so strange to see them that close and under house lighting. There was something really special about viewing these masterpieces of Walt Disney Imagineering. Some other neat things that we saw being auctioned off included a canon from Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean and a replica of the barker bird from Walt Disney World’s Pirates.
Phineas
Ezra
Gus
Pirates Canon
Barker Bird
After the auction, we visited the Archive Treasures Museum. We saw incredible props, wardrobe, and pieces of art from classic Disney productions. The highlights included the Sleeping Beauty Storybook, maquettes from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”, wardrobe from the Pirates films, a Mickey animatronic from Walt Disney World, and fan art from “101 Dalmatians”. It was a great display that was a must see.
Once Upon a Time...
Where's Roger?
Pirates Props
Animatronic Mickey
Take Me to Disneyland!
After our tour through the treasures, we got in line for the presentation on Buena Vista Street. It was great seeing the concept art for DCA’s new main street. I really loved that amount of detail that will be represented. Carthay Circle Theatre looks great and I love the fountain which is being built out front. But the biggest reveal was the new Partners statue coming to DCA. It depicts Walt in 1923 along with his suitcase and Mickey Mouse on top. It is a great sculpt that really shows in detail what Walt looked like early in life. Imagineers decided to place the statue on the ground and not on a pedestal for an important reason. In 1923, Walt was just like us. He had dreams. He worked hard for those dreams to come true. So since Buena Vista street is supposed to take place in the 1920s when Walt was pursuing his dream, Imagineers decided that he should not be above the crowd, but within the crowd. Any one of us can have our dreams come true if we work hard for it. I thought it was a great idea.
Buena Vista Street Concept Art
Maquette of the new Statue
Day 3:
The final day we just looked around the main show floor. Some highlights included people dressed up in costumes including an amazing Red Head from Pirates, a wonderful Tinker Bell, and The Bride, Caretaker, Hatbox Ghost, and Tightrope Girl from the Haunted Mansion. Everyone did a great job with the detail in their costumes. Also on the floor were some neat props including a Zebra from the Jungle Cruise, Walt Disney’s Limo, an Autopia car, and a goose from It’s a Small World, just to name a few. We decided not to go to any presentations that day as the lines were incredibly long. To view a presentation, you had to get in line about 3 hours ahead of time. It was ridiculous. So many people showed up for the D23 Expo, but it just goes to show you how much people love Disney. The next Disney Expo will be held in 2013. I’m already looking forward to it.
Enjoy a full photo gallery from the Expo:
Tinkerbell
Hatbox Ghost and Tight Rope Girl
The Red Head
Bride
Bride and Caretaker
Small World Goose
Jungle Cruise Zebra
Take Me to Disneyland!
Fan Art
TRON
LOST Stuff
Pirates Props
Animatronic Mickey
Judge Doom Maquette
Benny Maquette
Roger Maquette
Maroon Cartoons
Where’s Roger?
Once Upon a Time…
Pirates Canon
Bird
Barker Bird
Portrait of Gus
Portrait of Ezra
Portrait of Phineas
Gus
Ezra
Phineas
Maquette of the new Statue
Buena Vista Street Concept Art
The Voice of our Ghost Host in the Haunted Mansion Holiday
The Voice of Rod Serling in The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
A co-worker of mine showed me these videos and they were too awesome not to share with you all! Walt Disney is known as being the innovative force behind modern animation and porting that medium to feature films, but he was also a business man who knew how to tell a story.
With the help of corporate sponsors and his crack creative and animation departments, these little gems were produced by the Mouse and Co. to help prevent malaria, ease little girls’ fears about menstruation, and warn about the dangers of smoking. Pretty entertaining stuff — and ahead of its time, in some ways!
What are your favorite Disney educational videos? My favorite are the Goofy “How to…” series — even though they don’t really count as educational, per-se, I feel like I learned a lot about what not to do!
A while back, I posted a video of Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa promoting “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”. You can see that original post by clicking here. In that video, Barbossa was sitting on a bed that was very reminiscent of the Captain’s Quarter’s scene in the attraction. I thought it was an obvious reference and I had hoped it made the final cut of the film. If you saw the movie, then you will know that an important scene takes place at this location! It is a great attraction reference.
Below is a photo of that scene from the film followed by a photo of how it appears in the attraction:
Here’s another in our ongoing series, but first, where was last week’s photo taken?
Disneyland: Main Street U.S.A.: Firehouse Floor
And now for this week’s floor AND CONTEST CONTINUATION!:
Where Am I?
Since last week’s floor seemed too difficult, there were no winners — but that doesn’t mean there are any losers either and we still have passes to give away. To make this more fun, we have made this week’s floor incredibly simple so as to give everyone a chance to enter the drawing and win 2 passes to the world famous Magic Castle in Hollywood!
You have until midnight next Friday morning (August 26, 2011) to submit your answers in the comments below. We will tally all of the correct answers and you will be entered into a drawing and the winner will be announce the following week (September 2, 2011).
Here’s another in our “tiny details of Disneyland” series. I love this kind of stuff at the parks. The tiny details that start as a rumor and are confirmed by a cast member or website are what make repeat visits to the park a joy for APs and families alike.
Today’s easter-egg is at DCA inside the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Upstairs in the boiler room part of the queue, this “Lil’ Homies” action figure (available at your local grocery store or penny (.50¢) machine at the mall) stands guard at the far right elevator.
He's Watching Over You
He’s difficult to see in the dark queue but he’s there! He welcomes everyone to the upper right-side freight elevator. Keep an eye out for him next time you take a trip into the 5th dimension at the Disney California Adventure park!
You have until midnight next Friday morning (August 19, 2011) to submit your answers in the comments below. We will tally all of the correct answers and you will be entered into a drawing and the winner will be announce the following week.
