Permanecer Sentados, Por Favor
Disney Legend, Wally Boag, died this past weekend at the age of 90. Wally was famous for his great characterizations in Disneyland’s Golden Horseshoe and as the voice of Jose in “Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room”. So Long Wally… You will be missed.
A Big thank you goes out to Daveland for use of their wonderful pictures! Visit the wonderful site full of vintage and new Disneyland pictures!
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!
We will have a much more lengthy review of this incredible and amazing ride soon, but for now, enjoy this little gem we captured last week!
As well as this ABSOLUTELY GENIUS piece of marketing done by the folks at TDA!
Hey all!
Here’s another in our ongoing series, but first, where was last week’s photo taken?
And now for this week’s floor:
Hey everyone! We hope you’re all having an amazing Memorial Day this year. Maybe you’re out barbecuing or at the Disneyland Resort for the long weekend, but whatever it is, I highly recommend witnessing this event in person at the DLR or watching this video.
I had just gotten engaged in July of 2010 and my financé and I took a lovebird trip to Disneyland to celebrate. We watched this ceremony at sunset and took it it’s beauty and emotional grandeur. It certainly touches you no matter what your age! This is also my favorite security guard at the resort taking down the flag!
Enjoy!
The day was upon us! We were finally about to go on Star Tours: The Adventures Continue! But before that, let’s get started on our entire trip.
We arrived at the park at about 1PM and we headed straight to the Main Street station to try to hitch a ride on the Lilly Belle but the next available time was during our Star Tours adventures so we opted to forego a jaunt around the park to explore the Mary Blair exhibit some more. Her work really set a lot of styles in motion for the parks that not only lives on from her original designs, but transcends to new designs and attractions. What a great innovator!
We then headed over to the lockers and — what’s this?! New lockers! Check out the photos below:
That’s kind of cool, if you ask me! They let you choose your own 4 digit pin! After the lockers, we went to the Star Trader. The new merch has just been released for the APs and I was SUPER excited to get the new older version of the Star Speeder: The Star Speeder 1000!
So amazing! We then checked out the uncovered FastPass distribution droids and marveled at their detail. Love stuff like this!
We then headed to our first attraction of the day, Pirates of the Caribbean, to check out the new Black Beard projection that has replaced Davy Jones for the summer. Robert was right last week when he reported the ride looking better than it has in a while. We even had a rowdy group of girls in our boat that calmed down about the time we hit the shipwreck scene (my favorite) — they must have been enthralled with the ride!
The Black Beard projection looked GREAT! The waterfall effect looked better than the Davy Jones version and while he has the same script, I just liked Black Beard as a character much more than Jones. I wouldn’t mind them randomizing this section of the ride between the two villains.
We then headed over to DCA and on the way met up with Geppetto on Main Street! Robert couldn’t have been more excited to meet his “Papa.”
DCA’s entrance looks to be wrapping up construction and I still wouldn’t at all be surprised at it’s completion by June 3rd, but don’t quote me on that! But our real reason to head over to DCA just before our first Star Tours flights of 2011:
It was everything we remember it being plus they have cheese sticks! A corn dog was way against my diet so a cheese stick would have thrown me down a spiral which I might never return so I steered clear of that. But, I can’t wait to possibly try it in the future! On our way back to DL, we saw the cast member preview queue loading into the Little Mermaid attraction. How lucky were those people?! I cannot wait to ride TLM next weekend!
It was now time to check-in for our fastpasses to an intergalactic adventure aboard Star Tours! The process was well-organized and painless. We won’t cover any details on the ride as we don’t want to spoil anything for those of you holding out for June 3rd or a soft open (although you can find plenty of spoilers on some of our favorite Disney blogs by looking at their twitter feeds or sites here)
The GONK droids (recognizable from “A New Hope”) serve as your FastPass distributors and then you head across the path to Star Tours: The Adventures Continue (although the signs lead you to believe you’re about to ride Star Tours: The Adventure Continues.) The extended queue has awesome murals and music playing but the chains were not well laid out by the CMs so it was up to the APs to figure out a system best suited for navigating the queue. Not a problem!
The inside looks pretty much the same except a SP1000 where the SP3000 once stood, a new destinations screen, and a shiny C3-PO and R2D2. The real surprises were in the next room… but we’ll cover that in a future post! There are plenty of nods to the old attraction as well as some other attractions, some great hidden treasures as well as an AMAZING ride!
The first time we rode, the ride stopped abruptly in the middle of our jump to light speed, our pilot abruptly turned away from us and the screen went up — I thought we were going to get boarded by Darth Vader and some storm troopers! However, I think some girls in the row below us pushed open the door on accident in the midst of all the excitement! (I don’t know that that’s what really happened or if that’s even possible — just an observation) We were then transferred to another star speeder through the entrance terminal which made it almost feel like we landed on another planet and were part of a layover on Tatooine or something (how amazing would it be if that were an option?!)
After that, we finally rode it in it’s entirety. After the ride, we were all in aggreance that the ride was just “OKAY.” But after our second, third, and fourth times, it was solidified: it had a GREAT story, an amazing randomized story arc, and it was “lightyears” beyond the old version. I will always have a place in my heart for Rex and his misadventures but with how well this ride was updated, I am proud to see it go to yesterland.
After our fourth go-round, our girlfriends went over to DCA to meet up with a castmember to preview TLM. Lucky girls! Robert and I took the opportunity to ride on my personal favorite attraction, The Haunted Mansion.
While Madame Leota wasn’t floating, we did see some other great things. We hung back when everyone left the stretching room and descended upon their doom-buggies. We took some great long-exposure shots of the hallway scene, as seen below:
We met back up with the girls after HM and thought we might go check out the new restaurants at the Disneyland Hotel but opted for an awesome dinner at Tortilla Joes! This is one of my favorite restaurants on DD. After dinner (and losing a pin 🙁 !) we headed home, only to look forward to returning this Sunday!
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.
This trip was one of the rare times David and I didn’t go together. So this trip report will be the sole opinion of yours truly, Robert.
When my girlfriend and I arrived to the park, the first thing we wanted to see was the Mary Blair tribute at the Disney Gallery. They did an excellent job putting together a fitting tribute to one of the great Disney artists. Her work is so original and colorful. I could look at it for hours. To go along with Mary Blair’s art, they also had maquettes from “it’s a small world” on display. Those were very neat to see in person.
Off to the side in the Gallery is a little room where it appears an artist has been at work. I really like this room and it now displays some great Haunted Mansion drawings. The room is a nice detail that only Disneyland can do. It doesn’t need to be there, but the addition of it really adds to the magic.
After the Gallery, we walked straight into Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. I really love that show. The Lincoln animatronic looked incredible. The way his lips move is amazing. He really pronounces each word with his lips. It’s a technological marvel.
We then walked by Star Tours to see if they would let us on, but we had no luck. They were doing Cast Member previews and boy did that make me jealous! I want to be in there!
Then came Pirates of the Caribbean. This was the first time I had been on the ride since the big premiere for “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”. It looks like they adjusted the lighting and effects to make it look extra nice for the premiere. The fighting pirates shadow near the cannonball scene was looking great. Lately those shadows were fading so much that you could barely see what was going on. Now you can see every detail. There wasn’t anything else new to report, but each pirate looked great.
We were starting to get hungry after Pirates, so we grabbed a bite to eat at The French Market. I really like the food there. I usually get the roast beef and it’s very good. The mashed potatoes are by far the best thing on the menu!
After filling our rumbly tumblies, we went to the Haunted Mansion. It was a great ride once again, but Madame Leota was back to her stationary self. The Raven sitting on the tree branch at the entrance of the graveyard is now back. Also, we got Ezra as our hitchhiking ghost in our doombuggy. I’m always very happy when that happens as he is my favorite hitchhiker.
We then made our way to Fantasyland where we went on a classic: Casey Jr. Circus Train. It really is a great ride and it goes faster than you expect. It is best at night too. You see all the twinkling lights from Storybook Land down below. We also sat in the caboose, which adds a little something to the thrill.
We then wanted to go on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, but as we got in line, it had just broke down. You should have seen the sad look on my face…
So we went over to Pinocchio’s Daring Journey. Pinocchio is my favorite Disney film and I love the ride. Keep an eye open in the Pleasure Island scene for a Hidden Mickey in the form of popcorn!
We ended our night with Snow White’s Scary Adventures which may be my favorite Fantasyland dark ride. It is so scary, especially when you ride alone. And those new special effects are really terrific!
Feel free to add comments below. Tell me what you like. Tell me what you don’t like. What would you like me to discuss? Are there things you want me to elaborate on? Thanks guys!
April 24, 2011 is a special day for us. We arrived to the Disneyland Resort with our girls to experience our first visit to Club 33!
But to start off our trip, we headed over to Disney California Adventure. The entrance and Carthay Circle theater are really taking shape and before you know it, they will be complete!
We went to our favorite attraction at DCA, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. The wait was only 13 minutes and it was an excellent ride. The mirror scene is still not working properly though. Once again the ghost effect turned into a blue blob instead of our individual ghost counterparts.
After TOT, we decided to go to Disneyland, but first stopped at Off the Page where David bought an incredible set of Mouse Ears. They are reminiscent of an old television set complete with color bars, antenas, and static. What makes them even better is that they are not supposed to be on sale yet! The Cast Member sold us the display without knowing! So cool!
We then walked through the gates of the Magic Kingdom of Disneyland and our first stop was The Disneyland Railroad. Because of the Splash Mountain refurbishment, we did not see the Splash finale through the Railroad window. It was all blacked out. We then arrived at our destination: Mickey’s Toontown.
Since we were all dressed up, we thought it would be neat to get a group shot with Mickey. So we went to Mickey’s House in Toontown and waited in the queue. It is an excellent queue that culminates in Mickey’s home theatre. While in line, we were discussing how fun it would be to take a picture with Steamboat Willie Mickey, but we had never seen him except for in the finale of Fantastmic! We then entered a “hot set” and who was there, but Steamboat Willie himself! It was incredible! It felt like meeting a real celebrity! There is something really special about meeting the Mouse.
King Arthur’s Carousel was up next. There was no line so we thought we would take a quick trip on the Merry-Go-Round. A fun time was had.
Then we went to Pirates of the Caribbean. Everything was looking great and guess who’s back? The parrot next to the guy with the hairy leg! It’s good to see him. In the area between the jail scene and arsenal scene, a bunch of teenagers jumped out of their boat onto the walkway. They ran around for a while and got back in their boat. We were so upset. We were wondering why they didn’t stop the ride and get these guys. But alas, justice was served. As we exited Pirates, we saw those teens surrounded by security and having their ID’s confiscated. Hopefully they’ll have fun in Disneyland jail!
After our cruise with the Pirates, it was time for Club 33! We will do a more thorough post about our trip to the Club, but let’s just say it was amazing. Everything was perfect from the decor, the service, the food, the art… It was an experience we will never forget.
We rode Pirates for a second time after dinner and then visited the 999 happy haunts in The Haunted Mansion. It was a great ride, but Madame Leota was not floating again. Also, the raven on the branch near the entrance to the graveyard was missing. Why do these birds keep flying away?!?!
Since Splash Mountain is closed, no one is visiting The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. We felt bad for it, so we made our way over there. It really is a great dark ride. A lot of people put it down, but we enjoy it. It may not be as great as Walt Disney World’s version, but it still is a welcomed addition to the Disneyland Resort.
We then made our way over to Frontierland to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We sat in the back again (the best seat). It was fast and scary. The back is the best because you are literally “pulled” through the ride. If you ride in the front, it feels as though the train slows down, waiting for the rear to catch up.
Before we said our goodbyes to the Magic Kingdom, we thought we would take a quick trip through Pixie Hollow. When we got to the area where Tinkerbell meets and greets, we noticed that the door was open to the backstage area and there was no one around. I think someone forgot to lock the door, but it was lucky for us.
After that, it was time to head home. It was one of the most magical, memorable, and special visits we have ever had to Disneyland.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
Once again, we saw a bird fly over Disneyland with a fish in its talons!
I love Disneyland history. Recently, Disney Parks Blog posted this amazing look back at the construction and creation of one of the park’s flagship and most iconic ride:
This picture was one of my favorite shots from the piece:
I had never seen a photo quite like this one before and it’s shots like these that really excite me. If I were a kid back in the 1960s, this would have been the cornerstone of the Disneyland trip’s photo album. I have a lot of photos of the creation of Ariel’s Undersea Adventures, World of Color, and the Finding Nemo Submarines.
What are some of your favorite ride construction photos?
