Good news for those who love the Disney park postings: here’s another two-parter. And good news for those who don’t: this will likely be the last Disney park posting of the year. Even though we were still in the first quarter of 2011, I had already spent some time at Disneyland in February. So for this visit, I decided to go a little more ‘in-depth’ and hit some rides that were more unique to this park, mostly in the Fantasyland area. Being with Disneyphiles Jimmy and David, there were always interesting things to be pointed out at this magical place where the Disney theme parks first originated.
But before we get into Disneyland, we must start at the beginning with how I came to be here in California once again. Actually, the Disneyland visit on Friday, March 25, 2011, had been set in stone for quite a while. However, the circumstance by which I ended up in California changed dramatically since the inception of this Spring Break trip.
Originally Bob and I were going to go on a 12-day excursion to Cairo, Egypt, with an extension taking us to Petra, Jordan. The trip had been booked, the down payment had been made, and I was pumped to get to this exotic location. But unfortunately, the political unrest as the Egyptian citizens demanded the resignation of the 30-year President Hosni Mubarak. This led to a very unstable situation and the U.S. State Department issuing a travel advisory to Americans traveling to Egypt. Therefore, the A.C.T. tour group (with whom I had previously gone to Guatamala and London) issued a full refund on the down payment.
Bob and I talked briefly about arranging a substitute trip to Paris and Normandy, France – but there wasn’t enough time for A.C.T. to put this together. So what we ended up with was a domestic road trip that would take us through some beautiful areas of Utah and Arizona. Agreed, it’s nowhere near as exotic, but I can’t imagine that it was any less beautiful.
The Disneyland day itself also dynamically changed since it was first plan with a booking to Club 33 being cancelled when our friend Rick could not get off work. Cassidy and her kids, Lori, and Stacey all had planned to come at one time, but were not able to make it due to work and family commitments. So we ended up with a day with just the boys: Jimmy, David, and me. Bob was invited but decided to just join us for dinner later – and then we would depart on our road trip from there.
As for me, I actually flew out on Thursday, March 24. I got off work at about 1:30 and headed home. Ashleigh went with me to the airport and then took my Impala back home. My flight took off at 3:50pm. There was an Indian man sitting next to me who was already asleep by the time that I boarded. Gaining two hours, my layover was from 4:55 to 5:36 in Denver, Colorado, so I was able to re-board right away. I had to sit next to a red-headed hairy man who was the most fidgety, annoying person I think I’ve ever had the displeasure of sitting next to. He struggled to work three different crossword puzzles to no avail, and then he just sat there and moved around. I wanted to hit him with a mallet. I arrived on time at LAX at 7:12, having gained three hours total. Jimmy, who was waiting at his office, came and picked me up without incident.
Our first stop was at In-N-Out Burger. Ever since a co-worker named Lysette has been sharing her love and desire for these hamburgers, I’ve wanted to get one – not only to satisfy my own craving, but to get a picture of me with a giant Double Double and Animal Fries (her recommendations) to show to her and make her jealous. So that was exactly what I did. I hadn’t been here since 2005 and I had forgotten how delicious they were.
Double double and animal fries. I felt like a wild man.
Had been in. Heading out.
Jimmy and I watched a Wings episode to honor the fact that he was getting his wisdom teeth out that weekend (which was the plot that the episode revolved around), then hit the hay rather early by our standards.
We didn’t get too ridiculously early of a start, but Jimmy and I got up and ready, headed out about 8:30 and arrived by 9:30. David had faced some road closure issues so was a bit late in getting there, but nonetheless we were comfortably seated at Steakhouse 55 by 10am and I scarfed down one of their bacon and cheese omelettes. I had last eaten here with the same two fellas two years ago.
Arrival. Waiting in the tram area for David.
Steakhouse 55 has become known for their breakfast
Meeting Mickey in the Disneyland Hotel lobby
We started the day off by doing something right away that I had never done before – taking the Disneyland Monorail System into the park. This doesn’t sound like a big deal, but the monorail system had been around at Disneyland since 1959 and I had never had cause to ride it before. Our park tickets (which were courtesy of David as per usual) were presented at the entrance to the Disneyland Hotel station. We boarded the Mark VII Monorail Blue at around 11:10 and it took us all around the park before dropping us off at it’s only other station in Tomorrowland about ten minutes later. We grabbed a FastPass for Space Mountain and then laid out our plan of attack.
All aboard Monorail Blue
Our first attraction of the day was the 3-D Michael Jackson opus Captain Eo Tribute. I had first checked this out here a year earlier and then again at Epcot last summer. I must admit that as dumb as it is, Jackson’s song Another Part of Me always resonates in my head for the rest of the day. It also made me routinely yell out “Hooter!” several times that day.
David and me, ready for some rockin’ bouncin’ 3-D fun
While passing into Fantasyland through Sleeping Beauty Castle, David pointed out what has become known via Disneyland urban legends as “The Golden Spike.” It has been often stated, even by Disney tour guides, that the spike was the geographic center of Disneyland. Later that day, upon seeing a model of the park on opening day, I noted that the castle is in fact not in the center of the park. Later I researched it a little bit and found that Disney historian Dave Smith has refuted the claim and explained that it was actually a surveyor’s tool to measure ‘visual intrusion’ around Disneyland. So that was that.
Pointing out the very controversial Golden Spike of myth, legend, and fabrication
I hadn’t been on the Storybook Land Canal Boats since 2005 (although I had seen its Paris counterpart in 2008), so I wanted to check out this mild attraction once again. The boats and canals had been present at the Disneyland grand opening in 1955, but the miniature sets from some of the Disney animated classics and landscaping weren’t added until the following year. Oddly enough, although the ride is so leisurely and subdued, a live guide accompanies the riders and points out the set pieces.
Ready to embark on the Storybook Land voyage. Note Monstro waiting to consume the boats.
Looking forward as we pass through Monstro
Replica of the Sultan’s palace from Aladdin
Toad Hall from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
Next up was Alice in Wonderland. I recall for certain that I first saw this dark ride that had first opened in 1958 and can only be found at Disneyland during my first visit in 1988. If I rode it again, it may have been during one of my two visits in the 1990’s, but other than that I hadn’t seen Alice in a great while. But to be honest, it’s not all that exciting. I snapped a few pictures inside.
In front of the dark ride Alice in Wonderland
Me, Jimmy, and David on the ride. David seems particularly enthused.
The Cheshire Cat is up to no good
The Queen of Hearts yells at me for using flash photography
The White Rabbit celebrating the Merry Unbirthday
It was around 1:00 when we boarded the Casey Jr. Circus Train. This was one that I had never bothered to ride before, and of course, it’s not much more than a kiddie train ride around Storybook Land, which we had just seen within the hour. But I’m glad I rode it and got the great picture of Jimmy, David, and me inside the Wild Animal cage, especially since it had opened just two weeks after Disneyland’s opening in 1955.
First timer on Casey Jr.
Criminally speaking, appropriate seats for this trio
Then there was the must-see Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride – another Disney staple that had been present since grand opening day of Disneyland on July 18, 1955. This was one that I had always enjoyed at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Unfortunately, it shut its doors in 1998 – so this was the only place I could still see it. It’s nice that Disneyland is pretty good about hanging onto the classics. On this ride-thru, the car Jimmy and I took was Moley.
Chatting with Jamie before entering Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
Up-high antics in the Town Square
David seems particularly traumatized by the Mr. Toad experience
it’s a small world was not new in any way, shape, or form. In fact, we had just ridden it when I was there a month earlier. But this time we weren’t so busy laughing about Babes in Toyland that we could actually pay attention and enjoy the ride. I spent my time trying to pick out all of the characters from the Disney animated classics that had been added recently.
Outisde the beautiful it’s a small world facade
It wasn’t hard to spot Lilo and Stitch on the ride
It was 2pm by then and time for a snack. Keeping with recent tradition, we each bought a Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich. This time, however, they were frozen solid. We put them in our pockets for a while and then walked over to Mickey’s Toontown Train Depot to board the Disneyland Railroad.
Jimmy’s favorite part of the day: the ice cream sandwich break
Believe it or not, I had somehow missed this ride during every one of my ten previous visits to Disneyland. It too had been around since opening day in 1955. It may not sound like much, but there is a very unique aspect to it in that is contains two giant dioramas inside of an indoor tunnel: one of the Grand Canyon and one of Primeval World. Then Grand Canyon portion was added in 1958. The Primeval World diorama was built in 1966 using the dinosaur animatronics from the 1964 New York World’s Fair attraction Walt Disney’s Ford Magic Skyway. Many of the dinosaur models were later reproduced and incorporated into the Universe of Energy at Epcot. During the ride, our ice cream sandwiches had transitioned from hockey pucks to crunchy bars, so I partook as we rode. I tried to capture some photos of the scenery using a flash but that didn’t work (and I got yelled at by the conductor). Flashless pictures were difficult too, since we were moving – but this is what I came up with:
Preliminary look at the fake Grand Canyon the weekend before I was planning to see the real one
More from the Grand Canyon. Oh deer.
Dinosaurs that resembled their Epcot counterparts
Dinosaurs scare you
The train took us to the Tomorrowland station, then through the diorama, to the Main Street station, the New Orleans Square Station, and back to Mickey’s Toontown. I decided to check out the diorama once again so we stayed on the train through the Tomorrowland stop again, through the diorama, and then got off at the Main Street station.
This concluded our time in the Fantasyland section of Disneyland. It was 3pm and we’d be hitting a few more of the more traditional rides to round out the evening and conclude our Disney day.
Disneyland will continue…
Bypass the trip and continue with 2011…
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