It looks as though Tim Burton has written a love letter to his fans. Considered by many to bo one of the greatest living film makers today, “Frankenweenie” seems as if he has returned to a form we haven’t seen in many years. His signature style shines bright in the film and Disney park guests are treated to a peek at the film’s stop-motion characters and props.
Tim Burton’s Introduction
When touring the Art of Animation gallery, which is currently outfitted with an Art of Frankenweenie exhibit, one can’t help but realize that Burton is a man with a very clear and signature vision. The story, as well as the art direction, has the signature Burton / German impressionistic qualities. Noticeable throughout the gallery (and sneak preview at the Muppet Vision 3D theatre) are nods to past works which made looking at every little detail so much more exciting!
The workbench
The painstakingly difficult task of animating a feature-length stop-motion animated film is chronicled well in pictures and production diary videos which play throughout the gallery in sporadic intervals. There are three distinct and very detailed sets complete with props, characters, and lighting of which guests are encouraged to peruse and snap photos. Each kiosk is equipped with a video which plays with information about the depicted scenes. We were unable to hear any of the audio from the videos as the exhibit seems very popular among guests but the screens seem equipped with speakers. Perhaps heading over first thing in the morning to catch these shorts is the way to go.
ClassmatesA boy and his dogThe breakfast club
The attic scene where the re-animation takes place is also interactive. Kids and families seemed to really enjoy re-lighting the scene with the series of switches below the display case. It is truly an amazing feat of lighting, art direction, and set design, that scene. Every detail is perfectly executed and ready to be scrutinized by any and all that wish to delve into the darkest corners of the room to try to catch a piece of wasted space or thematic vacuum. Not the case in my experience. Parts of the scene with no light still had an old newspaper complete with headlines, articles, dust, etc. It’s really an inspiring to see these scenes in person.
The Family
This exhibit is a true treat. Really take a moment to take in each and every scene, workstation, video, and article there is to see because there’s so much detail and it’s really fun to play cinematographer and take up-close pictures of these masterful creations. Take a look below at some of the photos we were able to take while viewing the exhibit. And then, if you haven’t already, head down to Disney California Adventure park to experience it for yourself and to shoot the scenes with your artistic eye. I can only imagine this exhibit taking up most of your afternoon while you escape those remaining hot summer days! And be sure to catch the 4D preview across Hollywood Blvd. as the experience is thrilling and touching all at the same time.
Well it has officially begun: the holiday season at the DLR! While weather-wise, Anaheim is still scorching, Haunted Mansion Holiday, Ghost Galaxy, the Halloween Tree and the giant pumpkin on Main Street have returned. New this year are the Halloween Carnival at the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree and the Art of Frankenweenie Exhibition over at DCA.
The Partners among the happiest pumpkin patch! (2011)A Ghostly Mickey (2011)Ghost Galaxy: easily one of the most thrilling experiences all year at Disneyland! (2010)HMH — the main event for the holidays!
Also new Halloween merchandise has arrived and we always get giddy about this stuff! Tombstones and mummies are among the many offerings!
These are almost too awesome!One of those things that makes you re-evaluate your current shelving situation at home!
Along with the special events that are for the public, there’s also Mickey’s Halloween Party (a separate ticketed event) and the Happiest Haunts tour which, while open to the public, fills up quickly. We hear nothing but amazing things about that tour and hope to take it some day soon — maybe this year! Be sure to contact guest services to reserve a spot!
What are your favorite aspects of the holiday season at Disneyland?
I can’t believe we never posted this video on our site! Perhaps it was our excitement over the new DCA with Buena Vista St., Carthay Circle, and Cars Land but I seriously forgot (unless I am just missing it completely) to post this.
Here’s our video compilation we threw together for the World of Color premiere of Glow With the Show this past June. This will whet your pallette for what’s to come with our epic Fantasmic! Glow With the Show video coverage. Be sure to check out my review of the show here!
As promised, here is the second part of our DCA grand re-opening coverage. While I was not able to go on the 15th, I did go all day both Saturday and Sunday and let me tell you — first thing I noticed was that I did not get tired of being in the parks for the bulk of both days. This is no longer a half-day park as far as I can tell. This is a complimentary park that I have even seen begin inspiring trends over on Main Street, U.S.A.
RSR Fastpasses!
Of course the first thing we did was rush to get Fastpasses for RSR as well as jump in line for the new E-Ticket attraction. Our impressions can be found in Part 1 of our coverage but let’s just say that it’s an incredibly large ride that’s full of visuals and incredible animatronics. I really really love this ride and at night it’s incomparable with the lighting the Imagineers and designers pulled off.
We then headed into the shops on Buena Vista Street and while they are definitely sparse to say the least and chock full of a lot of your standard Disneyland merchandise, their more period pieces like the Red Car Trolly Ears and Carthay Circle themed merchandise. One of my favorite details, though, are these classic looking mannequins. Can you spot some pseudo-celebs?
Who…Are…You??
Then we just had to check out the Carthay Circle Lounge. Was there a bar right there in Carthay Circle? Yes — and it is GOOD! They also serve incredible food in not only the restaurant, but in the lounge as well. We will cover the food in the next post.
Pictured here: a Tequila Daisy and a Ginger Rogers
Next, we had to check out Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree. I had been hearing the songs playing from the ride for a while while walking by and seen the ride system making me cautiously optimistic about the ride. It was incredibly fun! It’s a super intricate ride system that I hear caused a lot of problems but in the end, WOW is this ride fun! It whips you to-and-fro along with some pretty funny songs from what’s arguably my least favorite character in all of Disney film history. Somehow, they made this ride and that character lovable and fun in this incarnation. Very very well done!
“Sumthin’ sumthin’ sumthin’ dag’gum!”
Next was a stop by the Cozy Cone as we had a little buzz from our drinks at the CC Lounge and that spin on Mater. So many great looking options! We decided to get both of the Chili Cone Queso offerings. We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food! I got the standard Chili Cone Queso offering while Suzi tried the Chipotle Chicken Cone and both were wrapped in a fresh pretzel cone-shaped bun. What a great idea and great treat accompanied by a Pomegranate Lemonade!
So Many Cones!Chipotle Chicken ConeChili Cone Queso
Not to overwhelm ourselves, we left Cars Land and headed back to some classic DCA rides and around through what’s becoming our favorite spot – Carthay Circle. I just love the characters’ and their costumes here!
Look at these guys! Adorable.A dapper copper!Got nothin’ but a suitcase and a dream!
Luigi’s Flying Tires is another incredible time in Cars Land! This remaining of the Flying Saucers from Disneyland back in the 1960s returns with a revamped ride system that’s truly an incredible experience. Look at the detail that went into the queue — the best in all of Cars Land if you ask me.
Tail-light flowersTry on some new tires!Car-shaped topiary. This will look great once it’s fully grown, I’m sure.The Loading AreaThe exit queueRe-admit for when the ride stops because of unruly guests
This is a truly great ride but with an 8-minute start-stop-reload time for guests, prepare to wait a while!
At night, there are some incredible sights to be seen. One of which is the nightly lighting ceremony in Cars Land and a ride down Hollywood Blvd. on the Red Car Trolly as seen in our previous post. This is a beautiful park that is only just beginning to stretch it’s legs. More to come! Stay tuned!
Here we see the nightly lighting ceremony at Cars Land inside Disney California Adventure Park. True to the movie, even down to the 3rd light flashing slower than the others!
This is a full ride-thru on the Red Car Trolley from the Tower station to the Buena Vista Street station by way for Carthay Circle. This park looks truly amazing lit up at night!
We got to the park early and had lunch at Storyteller’s Cafe. We were bummed we missed breakfast (they don’t offer Sunday brunch, we discovered) but lunch is SUPER inexpensive here. Just over $20 for my wife and I. Highly recommended for those on a budget.
The smoke-stack works!
We then headed straight to the new Grand Circle Tour exhibit at the Disney Gallery. Incredible! I wanted everything on the walls in that exhibit! I loved everything from the signage out front (with the working smoke stack!) to the train going around the back gallery. A must-see!
This is an awesome Donald!
We then got to meet one of the Fab-5 in their holiday garb — Donald! He was a great character but had no wrangler! Strange but makes for good talking-to-your-neighbor-in-line time to get your picture just right!
Yodle-ay-ee-hoo!
We thought that today would be a fun time to try riding some things we never ride. Today started with the Matternhorn. After a month+ refurb, nothing has changed. Still rough and still with the old cars. Unfortunate.
What a beautiful day!
Love this scene!
He's winking!
Next was Small World Holiday! I only ride this twice a year so this was a nice treat! Looked and sounded great although one of the clowns that ride their bike on the wire was not working and one of the many suns had an eye (read: light) out. Other than that, it was perfect timing for us to get out of the heat and skip the Christmas parade madness. One day I’ll check that out.
Awkwarrrddd.
On our way to our next ride, we saw the Tangled meetup had a short line (only 20 minutes compared to the normal 45+). We met Rapunzel and Flynn but it was pretty weird. Usually meeting characters is fun because they are big smiling faces that you mime with. These were kids our age and it seemed just — weird. Not sure what that was about.
Vixen!
We also checked out the Reindeer Roundup! We are never in the park early enough and we noticed that Santa Claus is also available for photos at the roundup! Even better, the BBQ restaurant was open pretty late in the day which made me excited to come back for dinner soon! It’s my favorite restaurant at Disneyland so dinner there would be killer!
Settled 1880!
We then put on our mining hats and headed over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We saw the queue was pretty long but the sign said only 10 minutes. After about a 5 minute wait, we saw that the queue was only going to the stairs and straight up. What a day for Disneyland — no lines!!! We had a great ride.
Beautiful tree.
I went to take a picture of a beautifully autumn-red tree and accidentally punched myself in the eye with the camera. It was a beautiful tree! We also noticed that the collapsing mine projection looked new — although the rocks were not falling. You win some, you lose some.
DCA all Christmas-y!
Looming in the distance!
After making our way through the NOS crowds, we grabbed some HMH fastpasses and made a b-line for DCA. We met up with fellow RSP-er Robert to ride his favorite DCA attraction: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. It, too, had a short line and we were also the line-time-takers (we were given this lanyard).
Fancy schmancy.
However, I was not sure who to give the lanyard to, so I gave it to the person I thought best to get it — the bellhop loading us into the elevator. Not sure how that went down but let’s be honest, that’s the gauge for how long the line is. The ride looked and sounded great but unfortunately the mirror effect was not working correctly. I wonder what goes into that effect to make it so unreliable?
Below the basement.
Robert here: I wanted to point out one other thing about our trip on Tower. Usually when you enter the library, the door closes, a flash of lightning strikes, and the TV turns on. At that precise moment, the lights go off. However, on this particular trip, the lights stayed on. They slowly started to dim and they were shut off about half way through the preshow video. I wonder if that was intentional or not. It was neat, but I think I prefer the lights to go out with the lightning strike.
*Star Tours chime*
We then headed back to Disneyland (sans Robert) to utilize some Star Tours fastpasses we got from a friend. Unfortunately, as great as the queue was, that’s all we saw. Our starspeeder was halted by a cast member so that we could sing Happy Birthday to another cast member and this seemed to break the entire spaceport. We did receive some neat re-admits that included Star Tours (they’re red) and planned on returning or utilizing for another ride. We ultimately did not.
HMH - Haunted Mansion Holiday!
Triumphant trumpets!
Wish this blew snow.
Oogie!
Merry Christmas!
Instead, we went to Haunted Mansion Holiday and lucky for us, we had fastpasses. This was the longest line of the day at 45 minutes! We sped onto the ride and everything looked, sounded, and smelled great! We even got into the lobby before the narrator began, into the stretching room as he began, and into the hallway right on time! I love when that all works out — but I also don’t think we should hope for that. It should be consistant.
I love the look -- but that's about it.
After, we went to check out Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. I have to admit, this is one of the best looking rides in the park. But something is always a miss for me and I believe I found it. I don’t buy the movements of the vehicle. I get that they programmed human reactions into the ride vehicle but it takes me out of the experience. Also, all I see is a smooth track but all I feel is a bumpy ride. I spend most of the time trying to figure out what’s going on. I don’t like that I don’t enjoy the ride, but I also know I am in the minority here so I’ll ride with friends that enjoy it and think to myself that I am super flexible for my friends. Ha!
Trader Sam's!
It’s Robert again! So while, David was getting stuck on Star Tours and riding some E Ticket attractions, I was with my girlfriend and a few friends at Trader Sam’s at the Disneyland Hotel. Boy I love that place. There are so many intricate details that I notice every time I go. While we were there, we witnessed a bunch of special effects including an erupting volcano, a sinking ship in a bottle, indoor rain, and a sinking bar stool! If you haven’t been there, please go. It’s one of my favorite places to be.
My wife!
It was then time to check out the newly re-opened Pirates of the Caribbean with Robert, Inthia, and Dawn. We will cover the changes in a future post but wow, I thought there were some great changes! There were also some things missing and some things added. Fun ride all-in-all and no mermaids! Where would they put them anyway that would make any sense?
"Rawr" means "I love you" in dinosaur.
We split from Robert, Inthia, and Dawn to use our re-admit at Space Mountain while they went to ride HMH but again, the line was so short, we saved out re-admit for later! Another thrilling ride through the galaxy with a fun photo to boot. I noticed that they no longer utilize the TV screens at the top of the inside queue as no one waits up there anymore. I wish they’d update the videos/screens all together and maybe that’s next.
The Sandwich - Courtesy of Yelp.com
Robert again: So while they were on Space Mountain, Inthia, Dawn, and I got fastpasses for the Haunted Mansion Holiday. While waiting, we ate a delicious dinner at the French Market. I had a great sandwich in miniature Jack Skellington Coffin!
The Rain's Coming Down!
We then had a bad bout with attractions. We planned on trying to ride Star Tours with our group all back together but the fastpass line was 25+ minutes. We tried to ride HMH a second time but it was closed! We were, however, able to take a buzz through the Hundred Acre Woods with Winnie the Pooh. I really love that ride and am saddened every time I see the line so short. I really hope people make their way to that attraction enough!
The Decked Out Splash - Courtesy of Flickr.com
While making our way back to HMH, we noticed that Splash Mountain had a holiday layover on its facade that looked really great! I guess it’s been around for a few years but I had never seen it before. Nice touch — wish it was lit at night.
Suzi and I left to try to make it to Tortilla Joe’s at DTD before the rest of the group went on HMH. Unfortunately the restaurant was closed for the night and we went home. What I did notice throughout the whole experience: the Davy Crockett Canoes are still open! I have to get on that before they shutter up for the winter!
It will be me, Robert, for the rest of this report:
The Floating Leota Ornament
After David and Suzi left, we finally made our way to the Haunted Mansion Holiday. It was great except, Madame Leota was no longer a floating ornament. She was stationary and there was no sign to her ornament pieces. Also, her face was being projected, which they never do anymore. It’s evident that they don’t use the projection often as they were not able to perfect it. The projection was not aligned with the bust inside the crystal ball and her eyes were very small and pinched in the middle. It really looked bad. I assume that was the reason the ride was closed earlier. When David went on it earlier in the day, he said that she looked good and was a floating ornament. Oh well… I’m sure they’ll fix her up soon.
Sleeping Beauty's Castle
Inside the Castle
We headed over to Fantasyland after the Mansion, and took a bunch of photos of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle while it was all decked out for Christmas. It is really beautiful. While over there, we walked through the Castle to view the Sleeping Beauty scenes. I love that it’s back. It brings great childhood memories.
Make an Evil Wish!
After the Castle, we went on Snow White’s Scary Adventures. It was a great ride and everything looked amazing.
Original artwork for Casey Jr. on display at the Disney Gallery
A trip to Casey Jr. came next. We sat in our favorite spot, the caboose. There’s nothing like a trip on Casey Jr. at night. It is something that is so special and uniquely Disneyland.
BTMRR
We ended our night with a late night ride of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It was the perfect end to a wonderful day at Disneyland.
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:
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!
