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!
On June 15th, the all new Buena Vista Street will open at Disney California Adventure. When that date comes, the Red Car Trolley will be making its way from the entrance of the park, down Buena Vista Street, to Hollywood Land, and finally making its way to the Hollywood Tower Hotel.
The Disney Parks Blog just posted some pictures of the trolley doing some testing.
I can’t wait for the Trolleys to come! How about you?
Somehow, I stumbled upon these frighteningly real-looking videos from the security cameras at our favorite park on the planet, Disneyland. Now, I have heard of people seeing ghosts at the parks and seen really bad photos of ghosts at the park, but nothing quite like these.
I work in “the industry” and know a visual effect when I see it. This is either a very well executed visual effect by an avid Disneyland fanatic with a lot of time and resources on his hands, or a very bored security officer.
The problems I have with these videos is that there are either so many ghosts at the park that shooting any security camera at any time provides one with these results, or they’re a hoax — but how?! These are so incredibly haunting, I got goosebumps while watching them at work and continued to rewind them back and play them over and over again with a very genuine “how did they do that?!” look on my face.
That last one is my absolute favorite. Not just anyone has access to these apparent security cameras. How incredible is it that the possibility of these being real evokes these emotions out of me? I am a huge skeptic but I have an open mind. I just don’t have any grounds to disprove any of this.
I found another YouTube channel debunking these videos but I just don’t find their arguments to hold water. I, too, thought that it was a reflection at first on the lens but man, that last HM video is just INCREDIBLE! I don’t know much about security monitors but I have never seen a monitor “ghost” in that way. I liked watching his one video, though, because it has some other great videos.
The “ghost” videos that prompted this post were found at this YouTube page. They, unfortunately, are the only ones this user ever uploaded and the page has laid dormant for over 2 years — but not without gaining a substantial amount of hits! What do you think is going on in these videos? Is our magical park a haven for the disembodied?
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.
What’s better than Disneyland on one’s birthday? Going the day BEFORE your birthday and reaping all the perks of it being your birthday. However, since this was a Saturday, we had to be strategic.
We showed up to the parks relatively early at about 1pm and took some great pictures of the halloween decor basking in the daylight of this warm October day. Boy do those colors pop!
My wife, Suzi, headed over to City Hall to grab a birthday pin for me and to try to get us a couple seats on the Lilly Belle while I headed over to Ghost Galaxy to get a fastpass for the evening. While she had no luck with the Lilly Belle seating, I was able to snag some 10pm fastpasses as well as this neat Captain EO preferred seating pass.
I had never seen these before but I love that they do surprises like this from time to time at the fastpass queues.
We then met up at Big Thunder Ranch BBQ for a little birthday lunch. Since most of our park visits are during the evening, we never get to eat at this daytime eatery but today was my special day and I wanted to gorge. And gorge we did! But not before our 45-minute wait time for a table. So, we used our time wisely and checked out the amazing pumpkin carving and goats next door at Big Thunder Ranch Halloween Roundup. There will be a post soon with all of the great pumpkins we saw but here’s a little sneak peak!
Just before we were sat for lunch, I admired the Norman Rockwell halloween art that was set up around the restaurant. I really love his style and I think this halloween work is among my favorite of his! It really captures the imagination and wonder and most importantly the emotion of the holiday through the eyes of these almost cherub-like children. Absolutely an amazing touch!
We were soon anxiously awaiting out meals with some great cowboy-style entertainment. The trio that was performing we had seen a couple years ago when we came over to the BBQ and they had some really great halloween tunes to share with everyone. It was really well organized and paced and the food was equally as amazing! This is definitely a once-a-year type of meal but wow what a meal! I even got a flour-less chocolate cake for dessert!
After lunch, we planned on riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad but unfortunately it was closed! Not sure what the problem was but we then headed over to Disney California Adventure. The construction in front is coming along nicely and the detour is becoming increasingly tolerable. The first attraction to which we headed for a fastpass was the appropriately halloween-y Tower of Terror. I am a new iPhone user so today, the MouseWait app was in full effect and super useful! Luckily it was only an hour wait so we headed into A Bug’s Land.
Suzi and I have planned for years to use the “Thank You” Chinese food box on Flick’s Flyers as our wedding gift “Thank You” cards. This is really well done for such a run-of-the-mill attraction. The details were on-point and the cast members, while chatty, really seemed to enjoy their jobs. They did some fun voices over the intercom system and even took Suzi and my photo in the Thank You box for us before take-off!
Just before we lifted off, the cast member controlling the ride made sure everyone in line and on the ride know that “today [was] a special day in A Bug’s Land because it’s David’s birthday!!!” It was really a nice touch and away we went for a circular tour of this corner of the land. It had some great views of the Tower at angles I had yet to see so I snapped a few shots off before we landed.
We then headed over to the Blue Sky Cellar to check out the new exhibits and new imagineer video. I really liked how this one was done — it was more of a forma documentary style and the filmmakers used a slider and some great voiceover for profiling each imagineer. And I am not sure if it’s new but the screen on which they show the film looked incredibly clear and vibrant! It was probably the best looking HD monitor I have ever seen.
After a tear-jerker of a cinematic experience, we wandered over to California Screamin’ when suddenly Suzi spotted Hollywood “celebutant” Ryan Philippe (I Know What You Did Last Summer, Flags of our Fathers, Cruel Intentions) who was there with his son. It was nice to see him without a plaid vested cast member — he was just out an about on his own. Screamin’ had quite the wait but we rode and it was great. Cars Land is really coming along and Screamin’ really offers some great views of it!
We then headed over to Suzi’s favorite DCA attraction, The Silly Symphony Swings. This is so fun at dusk because the sunset behind the Paradise Pier Hotel is always stunning — especially on a chilly autumn evening. The oranges and ambers really embody the Halloweentime spirit!
Before heading back to Disneyland, we redeemed our Tower of Terror fastpasses. One thing I always notice now is the ceiling of the tower and how clean it is compared to the walls and everything else. A co-worker pointed this out when she rode for her first time last year and it has stuck with me ever since. She put it this way, “… if Walt had created this attraction, he would have paid attention to every detail — including the ceiling of the Tower’s lobby scene!” I couldn’t agree more.
While riding, I saw one of the coolest things I have ever seen on the ride. Usually I hate when peiople bring on things that glow or a sword that lights up or something like that, but the girl in front of my just had one of those glowing necklaces. It didn’t blink, it wasn’t too bright, it just glowed green. When the mirror scene happened, we all disappeared into the 5th dimension, her necklace remained seemingly floating in place! It looked more like we had all become ghosts and one of the invisible ghosts was wearing a glow-y necklace! It was really neat and I would love to try it with a glow-y hat and glasses!
We then headed back over to Disneyland and went straight to redeem our Ghost Galaxy fastpasses. The fastpass line went all the way out past the Captain EO queue! It was so bazaar but after about 15 minutes, we were boarded. It was a great ride and as Robert had predicted, the hand that follows you has been put into place and follows along perfectly!
Unfortunately we were unable to ride Haunted Mansion Holiday, Indy, and even Jungle Cruise due to the crowds, but we were able to walk right into Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room. How was I wrong for so many years about this incredible attraction? Unfortunately, there was no Maynard on duty for the evening but a terrific show none the less and the perfect cherry on top of our wonderful visit to the happiest place on earth!
This past Sunday, an evening trip to the Disneyland Resort was in store.
When we got to the park, night was already upon us and we were a bit hungry. So, we went to the new area on Paradise Pier in DCA to get something to eat. I had pizza and salad. It was wonderful. I’m very impressed with the food there.
Wonderful Theming and Food
Once we were full, we headed over to The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure. We walked right on and experienced our enchantment under the sea. It was a great ride as always.
DCA's Newest Attraction
We wanted to go to Tower of Terror after the Mermaid, but it was already closing time for DCA. So we headed over to the original: Disneyland Park!
The Main Entrance!
Since everyone was coming over from a closed DCA, it was quite crowded on Main Street. We decided to do some shopping on Main Street to start our night at the Magic Kingdom. David bought some really neat Haunted Mansion Holiday pins.
The cavalcade of characters.
"I know you're curious to see what's inside...
...It's what happens when two holidays collide!"
We stopped in the Main Street Cinema for a few minutes and watched old Disney shorts. I like it in there. I just wish that they would change the movies that they play inside. I have seen pictures in the past where they play actual silent movies in the theatre like “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” and “The Phantom of the Opera”. These are public domain films and they could easily play those for Halloween time. I think that would be a wonderful little detail and a bit of nostalgia for some people.
The Cinema's Ticket Taker is in the Halloween Spirit!
How great would it be if they did this today???
The first ride we went on at Disneyland was Casey Jr.’s Circus Train. We sat in my favorite spot, the caboose. The ride was really fun. I can’t get enough of it.
The Ticket Booth
We took a stroll through Big Thunder Trail after that and looked at some of the Halloween decorations on display. They have a really neat pumpkin with a carved skeleton Mickey on it. I really love walking through Big Thunder Trail at night. It is so dark and eerie, even when it’s not Halloween!
The Skeleton Mickey Pumpkin
The Haunted Mansion Holiday was up next. It was its usual great self. I didn’t notice anything different from the previous visit. I’m wondering if anyone else ever had this issue with the Mansion… When we left the stretching room, we were in the front of the group exiting the lift. Now it seems as though people are rushing us to get to their doombuggy, but I like to enjoy the changing portraits. I like to go at a nice slow pace, but everyone else rushes to get to the “ride” and skips a great part of the attraction. To me, the ride began when we entered the Mansion in the foyer and I want to experience everything. It’s frustrating that people don’t take the time to enjoy the wonderful details.
The Haunted Mansion
The Little Oogie
We ended our night by looking through the New Orleans Square gift shops and spending some time with the Fortune Red Machine. I love that thing. The pirate inside looks so neat!
Argh! What will yer fortune be?
It was a nice and relaxing trip. Even though it was short, it was well worth the trip!
