Remain Seated, Please – Page 27 – Permanecer Sentados, Por Favor

April 6, 2011April 7, 2011

50 Years of Disneyland

In May of 2005, Disneyland started its celebration for their 50th anniversary. To start the event, Disneyland had a press day where Disneyland was closed to the public. Fortunately for me, Disney decided to let a few select annual passholders attend and my Dad won tickets!

My Dad and I arrived to Disneyland early in the morning and Main St. was lined with gold carpet. Press and media were lined up and down Main St. getting ready for the day of festivities, which would soon include big time movie stars!

Once we made our way off of Main St., Disneyland was basically to ourselves. Since it was a press and media day, no one was riding rides, but they were still open. The first ride my Dad and I decided to go to was the Jungle Cruise. Since we were alone and had our own boat, the Jungle Cruise skipper let me “skip”! Boy was that thrilling!

Walking around the park was so exciting not only for the fact that we were alone, but because there were many new things to see to celebrate the anniversary. Throughout the park, rides and attractions had 50th anniversary logos on their facades. There were 50 of them in total and many of them were displayed in extremely creative ways.

Another unique thing Disney did to celebrate was to mark which attractions were there from the beginning. Each attraction which opened in July of 1955 had a bit of gold painted somewhere on it. Here is an example of the golden entrance to “Snow White’s Scary Adventures”.

After riding a few rides, my Dad and I headed back to Main St. and we saw Tim Allen preparing for the dedication of Disneyland’s newest attraction, “Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters”!

Disneyland closed that day around 5:00pm to get ready for its celebrity infested golden anniversary kick off. My Dad and I left having spent an incredible and magical day at Disneyland. The whole experience was very special to me and it is something I will never forget.

April 4, 2011September 23, 2017

Hidden Mickeys

We all know the standard hidden mickeys (and if you don’t, check out this book here)

But some of my favorite hidden mickeys are the ones you stumble upon and once you share it, you notice people eavesdropping and then telling their friends. You might say that hidden Mickeys are one of the original viral campaigns.

This one is a favorite of mine.

April 4, 2011April 4, 2011

Haunting me until I return!

Last weekend, I went to Halloween Town in Burbank, CA. Halloween Town is a store owned by Rob Zombie and it sells all things horror. When entering the building, you are greeted by this happy haunt!

April 1, 2011September 23, 2017

ElecTRONica Meetup – A Photo Report

In October of 2010, my fiance Suzi and I went to our third meet-up: ElecTRONica. At this point, we had already experienced GlowFest and while I wasn’t the biggest fan (or critic) of TRON, I was pretty excited to see the new one and avoided ElecTRONica as best I could until the meet-up. And being able to experience ElecTRONica without the crowds was the icing on the cake for me.

Here’s some of the photos we took while at the meet-up!

Disney Parks Blog’s meetups are a must for any Disneyland Resort fan! I have attended all but one meet-up and will post photo reports for the others. Check back soon!

March 31, 2011September 23, 2017

Diets and Disneyland

I recently went on a very strict diet and Disneyland was the one place I allowed myself to “cheat.” One of my favorite things to get at the DLR is pizza from Pizza Planet and a cookie. Actually, the chocolate-chip cookies at Disneyland ANYWHERE went with every meal I got. I suppose I’ll get into my favorite DLR snacks another time (Churros, for example, do not remind me or get me excited for Disneyland).

What I wanted to talk about today was the discovery of the Disneyland Guten-Free Menu! We discovered this 6-page (double-sided, even!) menu when going to City Hall on Main Street to suggest they leave the park’s restaurants open later than 10pm when Disneyland Park guests will potentially be roaming the park for another 2+hours. While looking for food after 10, we continuously were pointed toward the bread-bowl stand for food and while that was a viable option for everyone else in my group, it does not fall in-line with my diet.

City Hall said they would take the suggestion into consideration and went a step further by offering up this awesome menu! One would have never thought that there would be gluten-free buns at most burger and sandwich-eateries! Who would have thunk that while your friends and family were having churros and bread-bowls, you can enjoy something else without having to have brought your own food?

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And while all of the gluten-free options might not fall 100% into my diet (I cannot have corn and other strange things I’d rather not go into), it certainly is a healthier option for someone like me who LOVES Disneyland food and is also trying to “shape up” for a wedding! I’ll be reporting on some of my favorite foods from this menu in future posts but I would love to hear what your favorite healthy Disneyland snacks are! Heathy dining at Disneyland? I back it!

March 31, 2011April 4, 2011

Top Ten Most Magical Disneyland Moments

These are ten things at the Disneyland Resort that make me feel like a kid again and marvel at the magic of Disney.

10. Off to Neverland – Even though the line for Peter Pan’s Flight is usually terribly long, there is one moment that everyone needs to experience. Inside the attraction, our flying pirate ships fly over London. It is one of the best uses of miniatures I have ever seen.

9. A Whale of a Whale – Storybookland Canal Boats… It begins in such a unique way that everyone should experience. You board a boat and soon after you are swallowed by Monstro the Whale!

8. Primeval World – A lot of people forget that there are dinosaurs at Disneyland. Ride the Disneyland Railroad from Tomorrowland to Main Street and you will visit the Grand Canyon and fantastic Primeval World. The scene has been basically untouched since it was introduced more than 40 years ago. It is a really special Disneyland moment.

7. Hell Bound – One of the most unique, creative, and unexpected scenes Disney has ever created for an attraction is in Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. The attractionends with us going to hell. The heat is turned up and tiny devils welcome us to our everlasting afterlife.

6. Pound ’em Lads! – One of the recent additions in Pirates of the Caribbean that I love are the cannonball effects. The giant splashes and air cannons really make the scene intense and thrilling. One could really believe that cannonballs are flying overhead!

5. The Smells of Disneyland – The sense of smell is perhaps the strongest of the five senses and there is no better place to exercise a person’s smelling ability than Disneyland. Some of the classic Disneyland smells are fresh churros, the musty water in Pirates of the Caribbean, and the unique odor in the Haunted Mansion foyer.

4. The Sounds of Disneyland – There are several sounds that stand out as magical moments for me. The Mark Twain Riverboat’s whistle, the sounds of Main Street vehicles, and the Disneyland Railroad’s whistle are just the beginning of how audio makes your trip to Disneyland authentic and memorable.

3. Leaving the World of Today – Walking underneath the Disneyland Railroad and entering Main Street is something magical. You have literally left the real world behind and entered a true Magic Kingdom.

2. Tinkerbell’s Flight – Fireworks are fun to watch, but adding a live Tinkerbell performer in flight makes it really special. It is so thrilling and exciting to see Tink fly from the majestic Matterhorn over Sleeping Beauty’s Castle.

1. Fantasmic’s Fire-Breathing Dragon – Sure Murphy had his technical problems, but when the gargantuan animatronic is working properly and he spews his fire, it is the most magical and awe-inspiring moment in all of Disneyland.

March 27, 2011April 7, 2011

A Pirate’s Preview For Me!

Last night, David and I saw the special preview for “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” at Disneyland.

We were both pleasantly surprised to find out that the preview was to be held in Big Thunder Ranch. We had totally forgot about that theater area back there. It was great to see that again!

To start off our Pirate adventure, we were entertained by live actors in the queue. They did a fine job helping you pass the time. Then came my favorite part of the whole experience. An interactive animatronic parrot greets you and has conversations with passerbys. This was the same parrot that used to be out in front of “Pirates of the Caribbean” in Florida. Imagineering decided to make him walk the plank when they added Jack Sparrow and crew in the attraction. But now he is back from the depths of Davy Jones and he looks fantastic!

Once you enter the theater, you take a seat on the ground with your 3D glasses and get ready for a rollicking adventure. Cast members dressed as Pirates introduce the preview and in no time, you are experiencing “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”.

After your preview, keep a weather eye open for Jack Sparrow!

March 24, 2011September 23, 2017

Annual Passes

I have been a consistent annual passholder for the past 6 years. My very first Disneyland Annual Pass was back in 1994. It cost only $99 and was not a part of any tiered system. My whole family got passes and we would go down right after school to see “Fantasmic!” at least twice a week!

Those were some amazing times. We had our passes for two years, I think. Then I only went sporadically from 1996-2001. I may have had a pass sometime in there but I can’t remember. Unfortunately, as into Disneyland as I was, I took advantage of things like the Rocket Rods which I was never able to ride, the Skyway which I never got to do “one last time.” Same with the PeopleMover! I never got to take that “last ride” which I am always sure to do now.

I remember when I went to grad-night as a junior at Hollywood High School, I was SO confused because the parking lot had completely changed and we had to walk to the park from some weird area past these huge cones (I guess we parked in the old Lion King parking area? Not 100% sure). I was very confused but excited because I had no idea what DCA was! I felt like such a “poser.”

Grad night was fun but then I started going a lot after graduation. A friend and I got passes from 2001-2002 and had a blast that whole time. I really enjoyed DCA and DL together and made the most of those days.

Fastforward to now and here I am — an adult who tries to go once a week if I can but more commonly once every couple of weeks. I have my core group of people I like to go with, we have the path that we take, we have days where we only do things we have never done before, and we have a blast!

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The thing I miss the most today is that they don’t change the design as often anymore. That was always the fun thing: getting a special design when renewing and having it match the theme of that year’s DLR theme.

All of that said, one of my favorite things about the AP is that I still have that picture of myself from 2001 on my pass. I was 18 then and love that just by this little feature on my pass, I can always feel like a kid! I back it!

What are your favorite AP memories? How old is your picture? Let us know down in the comments!

March 23, 2011April 4, 2011

What Makes a Good Skipper?

We all know the Jungle Cruise. Whether you love it for the animatronic wildlife, the lush foliage, or bad puns, the Jungle Cruise is a true Disney “E-Ticket” attraction. But having a good skipper really does add something special to your journey through the world of adventure.

So I ask the readers of RemainSeatedPlease.com: What makes a good skipper? Should they stick to the script that we all know and love? What jokes work? Which fall flat?

Stay tuned for a thrilling and entertaining podcast where David and I discuss our favorite Jungle Cruise jokes! And who knows… Maybe we will even invent a new pun or two!

March 23, 2011September 23, 2017

“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” Preview at the DLR

I’ll be honest, I was pretty worried about there being a 4th “Pirates…” movie; especially without two of the main characters. Then the first trailer came out and I was really worried because it was a teaser with what seemed to be a last-minute little thing shot with Johnny Depp announcing the new pirates film to a small audience at the Downtown Disney AMC theatre.

Then, they kept using it for each and every trailer and I got really worried because I didn’t think that little announcement was well produced or well acted. However, the trailers have been getting better and better and this looks like it could be the most fun “Pirates…” film since the first.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, TDA announced that they were going to do a big preview event similar to what they did with “TRON”. I was pretty upset and confused about the whole thing even though I remember how cool I thought the “TRON” preview was. Then I started seeing the construction photos and artist renderings for a transformed Festival Arena has gotten me all giddy!

I don’t care at all for the 3D aspect to the movie nor the preview event but what they have planned in the way of cast-members interacting with the show as well as pyrotechnics, etc… I think Disney has created a new way of showing movies. They have been doing it for years with films like “Captain EO”, “It’s Tough to be a Bug” and one of my favorites, “MuppetVision 3D.” But in recent years, the El Capitan theatre in Hollywood has been doing these interactive shows with the movies as they’re shown.

Same with the “TRON” preview at DCA, this new interactive storytelling is immersive and fun for the audiences and really gets the audiences pumped up for a thrill ride not only at the park that day, but in the theatre when the film is released this summer.

I suppose it’s more the technology than the film that I am excited about but there’s something about this installment that excites me. I back it!