For a change, I arrived at Disneyland in good time and with a plan….
And then straight out the window it went…
As soon as I got inside those magic gates, I noticed the characters in Main St and I just couldn’t resist getting autographs and photos. Now there are usually about 5 characters there in the morning but you can only bank on getting one or maybe two if they are part of the fab 5 ( Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto) if you are lucky because unless you see them arrive you will be in a queue that stretches all the way to Australia and back. And when their time out is up, they just leave… despite you maybe just having reached the front of the line ( that happened 3 times today when I was trying to get a photo with Woody).
So Todays haul was Minnie and Chip and Dale. I was happy with that.
From there, I had decided to do as much as I could get done of Frontier Land, Adventureland and New Orleans Square. My intention was to go straight to Indy and get a fast pass then ride Pirates while I was waiting a couple of times then ride Indy followed by Big Thunder…
And that’s about where my plans went pear shaped.
As luck would have it, the day I decide to do that area, both Pirates of the Caribbean AND the Indiana Jones rides were down. But the assurance was that ‘it was being fixed and check back later as it was sure to be operational again‘.
Pfffft…. Yeah right.
I spent the next 5 hours going back and forth to those two rides from wherever I was in the rest of those 3 lands and every time they would say.. ’just keep checking back’…. By about 3pm it was closed definitely for the day and with the possibility of it being closed tomorrow as well…
Not happy Jan.
So what else did I do? Pretty much everything else there was to do in those three lands…
I started by backtracking to the start of Adventureland and just working my way around. First off was the Jungle Cruise. I didn’t get to ride this one in Japan cos it was down for maintenance so this was my first time on this ride.
And I loved it.
Its really quite hot here ( not unpleasantly so … although, I prefer hot weather) and cruising through jungle with the blazing sun making dappled light through the canopy was fitting. The animatronic animals were fabulous and the captain of our ship a hoot. I really was expecting lame generic jokes, but this guy was a scream, his ability to involve the passengers was really skilled. I’m so glad Disney put so much effort into picking cast members with that level of pizzaz… it makes it all so much more special. So after a series of blurry photos… might have to have another attempt yet… I wandered along, checking the shops as I went so I didn’t have to backtrack again if I didn’t have to.
I bypassed the Indy ride but I need not have worried about missing out on seeing Indy… the whole of Disneyland was full of pint sized Indy’s thanks to the wonderland of merchandise available. I suspect that he has surpassed Jack Sparrow as the hero du jour.
I saw countless little boys in their ( rather expensive) authentic Indy hats. Its all about the hat people.
While I was in the shops, who should appear on a rooftop fighting a ‘scoundrel’ but Indy himself ( well, a character actor… not Harrison unfortunately) and that was a treat because this little mini show spread from that rooftop to the middle of us visitors and back up onto another roof top and on and on it went… It was truly immersive.
From there I climbed Tarzans Tree House ( got to get some exercise somewhere I guess…) and I was surprised how well this was done for a walk in/walk out attraction. The one in Tokyo Disneyland was still the Swiss Family Robinson when I was in Japan. I really enjoyed the cool of the shade and the brilliant themeing of this attraction. It really felt like those monkeys were going to emerge and start playing the pots and pans.
Ok.. Well, after walking around the Rivers of America I found myself in front of the one place I had reservations about going inside.
The Haunted Mansion….
So I stalled a little, taking advantage of the photo pass photographer out the front and taking photos around the edges to fill in the time.
I commented on how long the line was and how I didn’t really a believe the 8 minute wait time that was displayed. But unfortunately the photographer said that it was a very short line and that it loaded and unloaded quickly and that I’d be in and out in under 20 minutes( and he was spot on) so there was nothing for it… I could stall no longer.
I lined up.
Still dubious, but I was there.
This really isn’t my bag. I don’t like that kind of stuff at the best of times so this was more so I could show my face back in the Disney Club meetings than the need to go on the ride.
So there I was, boarding the doom buggy all alone and wishing I wasn’t. There was an icy feel to the place that kind of made the hairs on the back of my neck rise and I couldn’t shake this ‘we’re not alone’ feeling… I guess if I were a mischievous spirit, a building like this one where there is an abundance of fear and trepidation to feed on, would be a interesting place to hang out.
So, like I said… there I was… riding along, unnerved but not too disturbed by the chill that had kind of settled around me. I videoed lots of sections in the ride… intending to put one of the best ones - the last apparition before you get off the ride, on here as a little taster for all of you that might have doubted I’d do it.
But here’s the catch… all the other video footage that I took worked out as you’d expect… Picture, sound, rather dark…
The last one, that I’d intended to use… well…
There was picture… rather bright picture considering… but…..
No sound.
Not a skerrick. And anyone that has been in a Disney park will tell you just how noisy even the quiet places are.
No sound people… whatsoever.
Dare I say it…
Deathly silence.
I tested it outside to see if my camera had something wrong with it.
Nope… worked perfectly.
Sorry people, the feelings I got while I was in that ride, combined with the ’no sound’ on the perfectly visible video, will mean that it would take a team of wild horses to get me back inside a Haunted Mansion this side of the pearly gates. At least I can say I did it.
Anyhoo…
Today was a day of following all the culinary advice from the good folk in the DUD. Firstly I took Anthony’s advice and had ‘that stuff in the bread bowl’ or gumbo for lunch. Now this stuff in many different varieties, is all over the park. I had mine in New Orleans Square and it was wonderful just like you said Anthony. It was enormous though. Gumbo ( for those who are curious) is a type of a cross between a soup and a stew, having rice and chunks of veges and meat/seafood mixed in, and its served in a sourdough bowl that is scooped out and filled with the gumbo. I’m presuming it’s a southern dish and was spicy ( mine was steak and had chunks of choko and meat and chillies all the way through it) and absolutely delicious… again the creole food is really appealing to me.
The Blue Bayou restaurant looked wonderful ( like the swamp scene in Pirates of the Caribbean movie - and just as dark) but nothing on the menu even enticed me.
Wandering around I found myself in front of the Big Thunder Mountain ride and the wait time was only 20 minutes so I grabbed a fast pass and lined up.
This ride is seriously one of my favourites… now joined by Space Mountain. I was beaming long before I sat my butt in that little runaway train seat. I could barely contain my glee…. The adrenalin junkie in me is getting well fed these days and I couldn‘t wait to get on this ride after a 9 year gap.
So off we went… hurtling around those bends and dips and me doing my usual weird mix of screaming and giggling.
You can’t help the screaming and the laughing is also involuntary because you survived being thrown around a mountain in a runaway train.
Whats not to love?
I took the liberty of filming it for those who might like to
A) experience the ride and
B) hear how insane I sound when I scream and laugh at the same time.
( and by the way… yes that loudest screaming/laughing combo is, embarrassingly, me.)
As soon as I got off, I still had about 40 minutes till I could ride again with the FP so I headed for the second of my culinary pointers… the Dole Whip stand.
Oh boy… no wonder you and Della love these Keith… they are just yummy.
I might have to live dangerously and have a Dole Whip floater tomorrow…
Anyway, seeing as I was right beside it and the next show was about to start, I took one for the team and went inside the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room….. With my dole whip.
At least it was lovely and cool and I was pleasantly surprised how much better it sounded in English as opposed to in Japanese. Made so much more sense.
I did actually enjoy it, but won’t consider it a must see if I am pressed for time on subsequent visits.
Another thing I find amusing is not so much that there are whole stalls devoted to fresh fruit and carrot sticks, more the hideous fat pickles that are there beside the pineapple spears and strawberries with chocolate dipping sauce.
Great big fat oversized gherkins.
And the amount of people that I saw eating them like hotdogs stunned me.
Ewwww…..
Of all the things to eat in a Disney park, a pickle?
What are they thinking?
After riding Big Thunder again, I was sitting in the shade out behind the ride in the comparative quiet and who should wander along but Woody and Jessie.
I was stoked, and lined up like the big kid that I am for a photo op and autograph.
But Woody kept bumping his head on a branch so they moved… and the line got mixed up and I ended up nearer the back again … not really happy but still ok.
Then there was another problem with that location so he moved again… and again the line got mixed up as people who were near the back charged up near the front… ( where are their manners ?- and these were the grown ups with pint sized woody’s in tow) .. So I was rather annoyed by this point but took a deep breath and sucked it up.
Then the handler came along and said the usual spiel about Bullseye needing them and just like that they were gone….
Once I recovered I said a bad word under my breath and went and watched the Indy show to recover my Disney magic… at least I didn’t have the crying disappointed toddlers to deal with like others there did.
But essentially I am a lucky soul and when I was walking that way again an hour later, out came Woody and Jessie and guess who was first in line? You guessed it pardner…. Me…
So after a huge day, I managed to do most of the things in those areas with the disappointing exception of Indy and Pirates.
Tonight the park closed early for Grad night and by 3pm the park was filling up with humungous quantities of teenagers and by the time I left, I was please to do so.
I caught the Dapper Dans ( Barber shop quartet) on the way out of the park and it was a wonderful way to finish the day.
The park closes at 9pm to the general public and then the teens are let loose in the park till 6am the next morning. The cast members have only a few hours to put the park back together and it all begins again.
Tomorrow is also another Grad night so I’ll be getting out of there by 7 at the latest, and truthfully, I can barely walk by then anyway.
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