Trip Report- Disneyland/Disney Cruise 10-2011
Mitch ;)
We’ve never done a trip report before. But recently all of us have visited multiple properties and thought it would be fun to share a few things.
My wife and I enjoyed the Disney Cruise with another couple. Before boarding The Wonder out of Los Angeles we hung out at Disneyland for a couple days. My wife had just finished working and playing for a week at Walt Disney World. I was so proud of her ability to compare all six domestic parks so well. How attractive is that.
California Adventure was all-walls, as I mentioned in the previous post. Ok not all walls but there were plenty of walls, each adorned with those great attraction posters. What better way to enjoy a plywood maze than with great stylized artwork. Really, these posters are fantastic.
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Both ladies in the group were/are pregnant (that’s right, my wife and I are expecting our first). The other guy and myself are artists/designers so the geeky art talk was great.
The Little Mermaid ride was a deeeelight. Really. We all agreed it was the highlight of the day. And the highlight of the ride for me was those dang cute animatronics. Especially the two Scuttle figures. I love the classic nature of the ride and feel it’s a win for everyone– perhaps especially for us fans of traditional disney rides. Later in the week I had a great conversation with a famous Little Mermaid animator who had some great comments about the ride. Look for that conversation in the next post.
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Grizzly River Run. I realized how much I love the Grizzly River Run which I had not been on for over ten years. I do wish there were some fun animal animatronics though. Hint hint to Disney. Maybe some fun Nature’s Wonderland gags goin’ on around the rapids?
Cars Land. Of all park real estate this could have been built on, they chose the least offensive. They didn’t violate sacred ground. In other words, it didn’t go in Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, or Epcot. Although I’m sure management can picture its duplicate right on top of the Tomorrowland Grand Prix, Magic Kingdom. Quick grumble: Just because something is well crafted... doesn’t mean it is well designed. The rock work and other construction is very well crafted. But it seems they are not getting far enough away from that carnival-ish ride style that already plagues DCA...? We’ll see.
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Buena Vista Street. I am digging this. See the previous post. ‘Twill be a wonderful little place. Just the charm this park entrance needs. Sorry to all those lovers of the “oversized postcard” look. That is long gone already. Side note: Complaints are floating around that the Monorail doesn’t fit the 1920s setting. True. But somehow I think it will all work out nicely. Remember, the track was there long before BVS. And remember, the futuristic Monorail has been passing by the turn-of-the-century main entrance of Disneyland for decades. Good enough reason? Anyway, just keep thinking of the charm of the Red Car Trolley.
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Disneyland. Hooray for the usuals. Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room, Matterhorn, Splash Mountain, Storybook, etc. Pirates was closed and Mansion was holiday-ized. I do like that Jack Skellington animatronic, I must say.
The Colors of Mary Blair. I’m lovin’ the Mary Blair exhibit at the old Bank on Main Street. What a charming charming collection that is. No wonder Walt’s favorite artist was Mary Blair. Also, I’ve found in recent times that the Cast Members there and at the Opera House next door are quite helpful and knowledgeable. Hooray for that.
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A bit of Epcot at Disneyland! This is a treat for anyone waiting to see Mr. Lincoln (who is also a treat). You might recognize these if you've visited The American Adventure at Epcot's World Showcase. These are miniature versions of the life-size statues on the East coast.
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The moral of this part of the post: There are great things for us lovers of the old-school to enjoy and to look forward to. Alllllthough at the same time we must continue to ignore some of the cluttery crap that has found a home in our beloved park.
Star Tours (not the cluttery crap I was referring to). Ok this enhancement is better than many fanboys might give it credit. According to this fanboy at least. Do I love the loose timelines and Jar Jars? No. But the place looks great. And how can a screen look so bright and crisp? I'm super happy that the ride pilot is a great C-3PO animtronic and not "ACE". And really, Star Tours 2.0 is the least of Tomorrowland’s problems. I didn’t see a single Rocket Rod go by the whole time I was there. Hee hee.
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West Side. This is where the group decides to leave me for a couple hours. And why they don't want to watch me photograph the architectural remains of things that have been gone for forty years... your guess is as good as mine.
Spoiler alert for upcoming posts: I did some mystery solvin' for things like Frito Kid, the various extinct shooting arcades, and other former attractions and areas. Ahh the joys of finding things I have never before been able to find. Not to mention the joys of people cleaning tables telling me I'm wrong about the building I'm looking at. For the record... I was right about those buildings.
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For fun. Walt in the driver seat of the old milk truck with some Boy Scouts and some girls.
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More walls. Club 33 was not blocked but the exit of Pirates was. I found it interesting to see a temporary Club 33 sign on the temporary wall. For the record... Walls are not always a bad thing.
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Spotted. Reese Witherspoon, her ex-husband Ryan Phillippe, their daughter, and another girl were climbing out of a Splash Mountain log as we were climbing in the same log. Shortly after we saw them buying their ride photo. Then we saw them buying bottled water. Oh those fancy Hollywood celebrities.
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Trip Report Part 2 (Disney Cruise) coming next.
Related posts:
The Era of Big and Tacky
Buena Vista Street Model
Disneyland Meets EPCOT Center
America Sings
California Adventure, Disneyland
Reader Comments (12)
I too am trying to enjoy good things when they happen. Some fanboys have this weird ability to pick apart anything and everything. I
normally fall under the category of "complainer" because many terrible decisions have been made in recent years. But lately we've seen so many good things happening. And even if something isn't ideal or doesn't suit your particular specific tastes perfectly, it doesn't
mean it's all bad. Now some things are just bad at the core but I'm not talking about those. Anywho. Great views.
I support the walls of DCA! Better than no wall and no improvements.
Interesting and great trip report. We were just at DLR as well, with a Disney park first timer as well as my wife's first ever trip to DCA. We had a great time, with some differing opinions on DCA and Mermaid and in particular. If interested, you can find our trip report dated Nov 2. Thanks again for a great site!
Love the post, can't wait for part two. I keep hearing about these three guys, all ex-jungle cruise skippers, that everyone on the ship loved.
Those guys were the talk of the ship. They were the talk of the entire Mexican Riviera.
Rumor has it, a photo of them will show up on Part 2.
All these photos make me feel like I'm at the park. Thank you so much for this report.
Great post. Looking forward to the one with all the questions you asked CM's. Especially the not-so-knowledgable ones.
Whenever I ran into trouble harassing cast members, I told them my name was Brett from WDW Fan Boys. :)
And thanks Dalton!
Mark- I enjoyed your trip report as well. Great stuff.
LMAO!
I was fortunate enough to speak with an Imagineer about Cars Land, and I think overall we are in good hands as far as quality. The main attraction is essentially a giant dark ride mixed with an updated Test Track. Looks really fun! And Radiator Springs will be just as in the film, neon and all!
And thanks for writing such excellent blogs!
Regarding Mary Blair, the Blair's lovely Harwell Harris-deigned house in Studio City recently sold. There is a link below, it's a wonderful house ... so modern for 1937. What's even more remarkable is that her and her husband could afford to hire a modern architect of Harris' caliber on their meager Disney salary!
Blair House: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/10/harwell-hamilton-harrisde_n_794088.html?ref=los-angeles-real-estate#s203340