Disneyland Report

Okay, here's my  Disneyland report from Saturday. I got up at 7:30 and was out the door at 9. I drove up the onramp of the 118 freeway at 9:08, switched to the I5 and made it to the parking lot at D-Land by 10:20. "The Shabularity is negative, sir"! Yes, it was indeed. On my trip to the park in July, it took an hour and a half to get there, so today was a reduction of 18 minutes. On the crummy side, the sky was clouded in a heavy overcast all the way down there, and when I began my walk to the front gate, a drizzle became a light rain that produced enough water to wet my hair to the dripping point.

"Thanks, Mr. Weatherman", I thought, silently cursing him. He'd predicted clear skies by 10am over Anaheim.

But Lo and Behold, when I got in line to enter, the rain returned to a drizzle and the clouds broke by the time I walked through the turnstile. Welcome to The Magic Kingdom. It's all decked out in orange for Halloweentime, with jack-o-lanterns grinning from all directions.

There was a message on my flip phone. My sister had already arrived. She was originally scheduled for Noon, but left her house early. I met her at the gate with her ticket. Once inside on Main Street, we headed for Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. We'd talked the night before about seeing him, since we missed him when we went back in July. Personally, I don't think I'd seen Honest Abe since the early 80s. In any case it was "high time we went" to quote Joe Cocker.

I got goosebumps watching the stage show. It opens with some historical background on Mr. Lincoln and the Civil War. Stirring music plays. His life is depicted in paintings, photographs and illustrations. Then the announcer tells us it's time for him to speak for himself. "He's the man who can best tell this story". A curtain rises and suddenly there he is, sitting in a large leather chair. I'm sure you remember the feeling when Mr. Lincoln stands up and talks. You think "it's really him", and after yesterday I'm sure it is. It's truly an amazing show.

We had an all day blast.  

Rides I went on, the ones w/Vickie noted in parentheses : 1) Mr. Lincoln (w/Vic), 2) Pirates of the Caribbean (Vic), 3) Splash Mountain (Vic), 4) Small World (Vic), 5) Snow White's Enchanted Wish (Vic), 6) Mark Twain Riverboat (Vic), 7) Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (twice, first time w/Vic)), 8) Matterhorn Bobsleds, 9) Autopia, 10) Pinnochio's Daring Journey, 11) Millennium Falcon : Smuggler's Run, 12) Space Mountain (Vic), 13) Story Book Land Canal Boats, 14) Indiana Jones Adventure 15) Haunted Mansion ("Nightmare Before Christmas" Halloween Version), 16) Disneyland Railroad, including a trip through the Grand Canyon and Primeval World.

Seventeen rides total if you count Mr. Toad twice.That's two less than I managed in July, but it's not bad if you figure this trip was on a Saturday (July was a Tuesday), and it was Halloweentime and the crowd was near capacity. Plus, I lost half an hour waiting in line for the Jungle Cruise, which was ultimately shut down for the rest of the night due to technical problems. Vickie and I also spent a lot of time on Main Street browsing the shops. We saw an art gallery in the Mr. Lincoln hall. We watched the Dapper Dans - Disneyland's famous Barbershop Quartet - sing a couple of tunes by the Fire Station. We saw a small parade right after we got there, featuring Mickey, Minnie and a handful of other characters. We saw Princess Tiana (from "The Princess and the Frog") who was onboard the Mark Twain Riverboat. We also saw a trio of musical Pirates, who were strolling through New Orleans Square playing a guitar, a fiddle and a stand up bass. Just walking around the Square is transformative.

Vickie left at 6pm. On my own, I watched the Halloween Screams light, sound and animation show, which was projected against the facade of It's a Small World, with the patented Disneyland fireworks display in the background. It's a mindboggling exhibition that is nearly worth the price of admission by itself. When it was over, I thought, "as if this day wasn't amazing enough already". 

In an online ad campaign, Disneyland has a new slogan. You may have seen it on Facebook. "Stay in the Magic". After today's trip to the Magic Kingdom, that's all I want to do, not necessarily at the hotels that the ads refer to (cause I can't afford them haha), but just at the park itself. For me, "Stay in the Magic" means remain in the Magic, which I take somewhere between a suggestion and a command, and I intend to follow it because I see no reason to ever leave the place.

They let you linger in the park for an hour after closing. People use this time to shop and buy treats at the Candy Store and the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor. I had already purchased my traditional pin (a early version long eared Mickey) at the Frontierland Trading Post earlier in the evening, so after coming out of the Haunted Mansion, my final ride of the night, I wandered back over to Main Street and browsed the store windows for a little while. BTW, if you've never seen the Mansion decked out for Halloween, I suggest you haul your rear end to Disneyland sometime this week before it's over. Or you can wait and go next year. It's a visual feast with all the Tim Burton-inspired imagery and they've added new, state of the art special effects including some tarot cards that appear to emerge from thin air.

Back on Main Street, I hung out from 11 to 11:45am. Another recent tradition of mine is to close the day in the Main Street Theater watching old Mickey Mouse cartoons, so I did just that. "Steamboat Willie" is always playing alongside other Silly Symphonies, as Walt called them.

Finally, folks were filing out. The ground crew swept their brooms in the direction of the gates. I didn't wanna be the Last Man Out The Door, so I walked past the Fire Station and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, through the brick tunnel and back out the turnstile, then down the long walkway to the Mickey & Friends parking lot. Man, what a day! I could hardly believe I got on the Star Wars ride. It wasn't the super deluxe 18 minute one, but it was still pretty awesome. "Smuggler's Run" is a flight simulator like Star Tours in Tomorrowland, except with Smuggler's, you're at the controls. A cast member explained this to us while in line. I was by myself at this point, so she sat me with a family of four. I was one of the two Captains of our ship, their little boy was the other. The terrain and other space ships come at you fast and furious. You've gotta dodge and chase them without crashing, which is of course impossible to do. Then a gruff Star Wars character (some old Chinese guy) grades you after you finish. "Not bad but you could've done better. You owe me for such-and-such damages (for busting up his ship),  but at least you completed the run".

So yeah, the day was a total success. The Halloween Screams show and the Haunted Mansion are worth the price of admission alone. We still missed out on Tom Sawyer's Island and the Submarines (which haven't yet re-opened). We missed the Monorail and Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and the Teacups. The canoes, too. Have you ever done the canoes? Big Thunder Mountain was also closed, but we did do Splash Mountain, one of my favorites. I also missed the Carousel and Dumbo, and the Revue at the Golden Horseshoe, but there are only so many hours in the day. That's why, one of these years, we've gotta stay at the hotel and get a multi-day ticket, so we can do the entire park in one stay.

My drive home was uneventful. No freeway detours in Burbank like last time. I love Disneyland and can't wait to go back, maybe in 2022 around my birthday.

So that's my report. I'll try to be back with some movies tonight or tomorrow afternoon. Have a great day. I send you Tons of Love as always.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)