Here's my Disneyland Report from yesterday (Sunday, December 18th): I left a few minutes before 9am. Had an earworm of "Strange Brew" by Cream that ended up lasting me the whole day. Probably because I watched a live video of that song from The Beat Club the night before. I know everyone loves Jimi and I do too, but people sometimes forget that Clapton was the original big-time lead guitarist. He brought guitar tone and soloing into the modern era before anybody, and you can hear it (and watch it) in his playing with Cream.
Anyhow, it was a straight shot down the I5 to Anaheim. From the 118 onramp in Porter Ranch to the Disneyland offramp took 50 minutes. Last time, I think it took 75 minutes and I said that wasn't bad, but this time the freeway was empty. Also, the morning could not have been more gorgeous, a clear blue sky and about 60 degrees. It would later warm up to about 70. That was a blessing because we've been having sketchy weather all week, grey overcast and wind. But it was picture perfect and I was ready for an early start. Anyone who knows me knows that I am an all-day Disneylander. I get there early and stay till closing time, which last night was Midnight. Actually, they let you stay and shop for an hour after closing, so you don't have to leave exactly at the stroke of 12.
I was parked by 10am. When you leave the gigantic Mickey and Friends parking lot, you go through a security check, just like at a rock concert. I called my sister, who was driving her own car. She was already parked, too, so we met by the front entrance. The trams are back, so you don't have to walk 3/4 of a mile from the parking lot to the entrance anymore, although to be honest, I preferred it. Anyway, we met at the entrance, and were in the park by 10:45 (yes, it can take a long time to get from the lot, through security and into the park. It took us 45 minutes).
The very first thing we did was go straight to Star Wars Land. We wanted to see how long the wait was for the new "Rise of the Resistance" ride, which has generated a lot of hullabaloo since it opened 18 months ago. The "standby" sign said 65 minutes. We figured it wasn't gonna get much shorter than that, so we waited, and it actually went faster. Our wait was about 45 minutes. There's a lot to look at while you're waiting in line, it's like Indiana Jones, you go down through cave-like tunnels, past a lot of exposed wiring and rusty Millennium Falcon gear. I'm not familiar with Star Wars mythology, but those soldiers in the scary white body armor are everywhere, and somebody (some leader) is jabbering away at you over hidden speakers, telling you that you're being detained for daring to side with the Resistance. I don't wanna tell you too much, because you're gonna wanna ride it yourself and you don't want spoilers. What I will say is that, as far as scale is concerned, it's pretty impressive. There are some massive set-ups and special effects, so in that sense it's like a live-action movie. The storytelling is constant throughout, even the on-site Disney cast members who usher the ride are "in character"; they badger you like you're a prisoner.
The ride moves similar to Indiana Jones, with your car making a lot of sudden motions, twists and turns, suddenly riding backward, constant motion. I did feel it was overhyped just a tad, and I don't wanna go into specifics but I felt the story wasn't played out as much as I expected. Because I'd heard the ride was 18 minutes long (and it is, if you count all the interaction with cast members and holograms), I was expecting more of a battle to take place. The title is Star Wars, after all, and I felt the actual War was too brief. So I gave it an A for scale and special effects, and just for the overall design, but a B minus for execution. Don't get me wrong, overall it's awesome, and maybe I need to learn more of the mythology (and I definitely need to ride it again), but I got so into the storytelling, role-playing part of it, that when the War started I thought it ended too fast. All in all, a minor complaint. By the way, Disney has done away with the free Fastpass option that allowed you quicker access to rides with long lines, and they've replaced it with an app called Disney Genie +. I've never loaded an app of any kind; I've got a flip-phone and am a caveman, tech-wise. But the main problem with Genie + is that it costs 25 bucks, to add to your already expensive ticket. More on the wait times later.
Okay, so that was Star Wars, and when you go to Disneyland, just go there first like we did. 45 minutes is not a bad wait time at all for that ride (when it opened, folks were waiting two hours). But ya gotta ride it, so go there first, early in the morning.
After Star Wars, we went straight to Fantasyland. But oh yeah, I didn't tell you about the Christmas decorations. Man, they are everywhere! From the red and green ribbons, the holly and pine needles pinned to every lamp post and windowsill on Main Street, to the wreaths above the windows, to the giant Christmas Tree in Town Square, Tis the look of the Season! It's so beautiful, and wait til you see it at night. Wait until you see Sleeping Beauty's Castle, all trimmed in shades of blue and silver and decked with snow. Oh man! As mentioned, I hadn't been to Disneyland at Christmas since 1970, but now I wanna go every year. But yeah, so the whole place just looks amazing. We went to Fantasyland, probably my favorite section of the park, and went on Pinocchio's Journey, then Mr. Toad, then Alice in Wonderland. It was now about 1:30. There was a Christmas Parade coming up, right past the Fantasyland walkway, so we grabbed some available bench space and waited for it. Man, it was pure magic. I remarked to Vickie that Disney seems to have backtracked on some of the "wokeness" it was embracing when it reopened after the pandemic. Not once was the word "holidays" substituted for "Christmas". All through the parade, from the songs to the imagery, it was "Christmas, Christmas, Christmas" everywhere you looked, complete with Santa Claus bringing up the tail end on a giant float. We both observed that Disney has the market cornered on the Princess Look. It doesn't matter your ethnicity, you've gotta have that Disney Look - the sparkling eyes and smile - and it has to look genuine. All the girls look like Rose Parade queens (or Disney Princesses), and all the guys look like Peter Pan. Wow.
When the parade was over, Vickie remained seated to eat her lunch while I went on the Storybook Land Canal Boats, one of my favorite rides. Do you love the Canal Boats? It was Walt Disney's favorite, too.
After that, we headed back to New Orleans Square for two of the biggies, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion, which is still decorated for The Nightmare Before Christmas. I thought that ended after Halloween, but we were in luck. "Awesome" doesn't ever cover it. And we love seeing Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow on "Pirates". Right next door to The Haunted Mansion is Splash Mountain, another one of my very favorite rides, because I love the story of B'rer Rabbit, and also "The Song of the South". I won't get into a big discussion, but I think that movie is beautiful, the opposite of what it's been portrayed as in recent years. I don't mind The Princess and the Frog taking over, but I wish they'd given her a ride of her own, instead of changing Splash Mountain. In short, we made it before the deadline. The ride is scheduled to close on January 29th, to be changed into The Princess and the Frog, so we got to see B'rer Rabbit and friends one more time, and sing along to "Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah".
By now it was getting to 5 o'clock, just starting to get dark. I mentioned lines and wait times. The past two times we went, in July and October of last year, the waits were, on average, pretty short. Most rides took about fifteen minutes in line, some were a half-hour, and some you just walked right in. On those two trips, our average wait was twenty minutes. This time, it was closer to half and hour, maybe because the park was at capacity and it was the week before Christmas. When it got dark, Vickie wanted to walk back and see the lights on Main Street, so we did, after checking out the menu at the Blue Bayou restaurant that overlooks "Pirates". We keep saying we're gonna eat there one day. We found out it ain't cheap, dinner is 90 bucks plus extras, so you'd end up paying probably 130-150 with drinks and tip. But it would still be worth it as a one-time thing, just for the experience.
Back on Main Street, we pin-shopped. We've both been collecting Disney pins since about 2000 or so. I've got a full lanyard of Mickey pins. Now I've gotta start a new one. This time I opted for a pin of Mr. Toad driving his red motorcar. Vickie couldn't decide so we ended up looking in several different shops, and we checked out the jewelry and clothing stores also. We stopped to watch a brass band playing Christmas carols. By now, the Town Square Christmas Tree was all lit up. We moseyed over to Adventureland to check on Indiana Jones, but the standby sign said 50 minutes. It was now 6:15. Vickie decided she was ready to head home (she doesn't stay as late as I do). I walked her back to the entrance gate. Then I was by myself with almost six hours left to go (good grief, Ad.) I brought two energy bars with me, so I ate my second one and was ready to turn it up to high gear. I'm a fast walker, and it was time to pound some more rides. At 6:30, I was in line for Space Mountain. I should've done Tomorrowland at the end of the evening because the next two hours were my longest waits of the day. Space Mountain took a full hour, then Autopia took another 40 minutes. I love Autopia because you get to drive to the far reaches of the park, way back into the corner where you can actually see outside the fence, to a Chick Fil-A way down the street. Uncle Walt would disapprove cause you aren't supposed to break the spell, but Autopia is fun for that reason, among others (and no, I don't bump cars anymore, haha.)
After Autopia, I went straight to the Submarines. Voila, the line was nonexistent. I walked straight in. I hadn't been on the subs since about 2005. Man, it was one of the best rides of the day. Because you are actually in a submarine, and you are actually submerged. Everything you see is underwater, it's a long ride and there's a ton of stuff going on, undersea storms, coral reefs, giant clams. Nemo and his pals. Don't miss the subs next time you go, you probably haven't been on 'em in a while, either. Things were picking up now. The time was about 8:45. I wanted to take the Monorail since we hardly ever do. You get to see "behind-the-scenes" stuff and it takes you past all the hotels. I had a Monorail car all to myself, which was awesome. Of course, you go outside the park and you can see Downtown Anaheim. Man, is it ever developed nowdays. All that Disney money has made it very ritzy. The whole Monorail loop is about 2 1/2 miles. After it stops at the Disneyland Hotel, it takes you back to Tomorrowland. From there, I saw the train at the Tomorrowland station, so I got on, rode it through the Primeval Forest and got off at Main Street. Now it was twenty past nine. I had just enough time to walk back up to It's A Small World and watch the nightly fireworks show from there.
Man, it was so awesome, set to Christmas themed music, with the facade of Small World used for a colorful projection backdrop. I mean, Disney gives you so much. People talk about the price - and it is expensive, granted - but all day long, everywhere you look, there is something special to see. And then the fireworks, every night at 9:30, every time you go. When that show ended, it was 9:50. I still had more than two hours to go. What to do, but pound more rides? I needed to head back to Fantasyland to do Snow White and Peter Pan, the two Vickie and I missed earlier. Snow White had a glitch and was temporarily shut down. In addition to the longer wait times, ride glitches were another minor problem throughout the day. We waited and waited for the King Arthur Carousel earlier, only to be told it wasn't working. I got out of the line for Snow White and went to Peter Pan. That's always a long wait (a half hour this time) but well worth it. "Are you ready, everybody? Here we go!" Man, it's so awesome. Then, I walked right in to Mr. Toad. You can never ride it just once, and you've gotta scream when you're about to get run over by the train.
By now, Snow White was running again, so I rode it (man, it was awesome!), and now I had done every ride in Fantasyland. I still had a little more than an hour, and - for my grand finale - I wanted to see if I could double up on three of my favorite rides. First, I went back to The Haunted Mansion. The wait was about twenty minutes, but I made it. It's kind of fun riding by yourself, once you get used to it, and I've done Disneyland at night by myself three times now. There was a half-hour left. I had to do Splash Mountain one more time! This was the last chance I'd ever have to ride it. Was there a line? No! I walked right in, and even had my own log to ride in. I got to see all the critters and sing all the songs, and make a face for the camera flash just before the 70-foot drop and getting soaked. Long live Splash Mountain, one of the greatest rides in the history of Disneyland!
Because there was no line for Splash Mountain, it was "only" 11:45. Could I do it? Could I still get on to Pirates? I walked double time over there. There was no one in line. I walked straight onto the ride and had a boat all to myself. It was so awesome, to ride Pirates at closing time, all by myself, that I'm (almost) all out of words. When I got off the ride, it was 12:05 am. The white uniformed employees were sweeping the park up, taking out trash bags and closing up gates to rides. The last couple thousand people in the park were all walking toward Main Street, which as noted stays open a full hour after closing. I've stayed til 1am before, but this time I already had my Mr. Toad pin, and had no more shopping to do. I took my time going down Main Street though. Who ever really wants to leave Disneyland? Not me. And, it's traditional in my last several trips there to end the day by going into the Main Street Cinema to watch a Mickey Mouse cartoon or two. Or three. He's the guy who started the whole thing, and Mickey and the Disney company will be one hundred years old next year. Can you imagine what a party that's gonna be? I sat in the Cinema and watched Mickey cartoons for ten minutes, just to give my feet a rest. Then, at 12:20am, I headed for the gate, after 13 and a half hours at Disneyland. All told, I went on 19 rides (four of them twice), including the new Star Wars. People spend hundreds of dollars nowdays for a rock concert or a football game, both of which last a few hours. For the same price, or even less, you can spend a whole day at Disneyland.
Why in the world would you not do it? The answer is: you would, because you love it as much as I do.
The tram took me back to the parking lot. I was on the freeway by 12:35, and it was a straight shot home. "Strange Brew" was still playing in my head. I was so geared up from my day at the park that I didn't get to sleep until 4:30. And that, in full, is my Disneyland Report. Thanks for reading. Next time, maybe I'll see ya down there. /////
We also have a movie, watched Saturday night, called "Born to Speed"(1947), in which young "Johnny Randall" (Johnny Sands), son of a champion race driver, wants to follow in his father's footsteps. The only problem is that his Dad was killed in a race. Johnny's Mom (Geraldine Wall) doesn't want him to take up the sport. She even shows him a 16mm film of Dad's accident to dissuade him, but none of it is a deters Johnny. He gets a job at a mechanic's garage run by "Breezy Bradley" (Frank Orth). Breezy was Johnny's Dad's best friend. He builds and repairs midget race cars. No sooner does Johnny walk in the door of his shop than he hits it off with Breezy's beautiful secretary and niece "Toni" (Vivian Austin, who was Miss Hollywood). Breezy may run the shop, but Toni runs Breezy, telling him what to do and how to do it. "Women!" he says. But Toni loves him. She's just a brassy broad, and now she is falling in love with Johnny, much to the chagrin of "Mike Conroy" (Don Castle), her erstwhile boyfriend and the current midget champion. Mike and Johnny have a colossal punchout over Toni, which Johnny loses. Breezy then suggests he race with a mask over his face to cover his two black eyes.
Johnny beats Mike in their next race and becomes known as The Masked Racer. Now Breezy thinks Johnny can make a name for himself with that gimmick, and he takes Johnny (as The Masked Racer) all over the midget circuit in California, places like Bakersfield, Salinas, Saugus, etc., and The Masked Racer beats all comers. Now he's set to race in the championship in Los Angeles (pronounced lowss ANG-less). His mom steps in and asks him to stop before he gets hurt. Toni agrees. She wants to marry Johnny and actually proposes to him (shes a go-getter), but only on the condition that he quit racing. Johnny's got his heart set on the championship, because he and Breezy have resurrected the car that his Dad drove, rebuilding it from the chassis up. Breezy swears it'll beat the car of Duke Hudkins, the national midget champ. Johnny doesn't wanna quit, and the women realise they can't talk him out of it. He's got one last race to prove himself, which he needs to do in honor of his late father, but will old Number 70 (his Dad's car) hold out for the grueling race? The movie is thin on story, but has Gable-lookalike Don Castle, always a good performer, and the stunning Vivian Austin, who captures the screen and your attention as Toni. Good casting, good stock footage of midget racing, which has gotta be the most dangerous form of auto racing, with guys riding right up your tail, skidding around on a dirt track. The moral of the story is " a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, at least until he gets it out of his system." Johnny's been doing it for his Dad all along, but can he stop racing, even (or especially) if he wins the championship? Will he do it for Toni and Mom? Stay tuned for the nail-biting finish. "Born to Speed" doesn't have much plot, but the action makes up for it. Two Big Thumbs Up, therefore. It's recommended and the picture is very good. ////
That's all for tonight. Our next blog will once again have two movies and we'll try to find some more Christmas flicks. My blogging music tonight is Bach played by Kempff, and my late night is "Lohengrin" by Wagner. I hope your week is off to a good start, and I send you Tons of Love as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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