The Birthplace

I don't know how many times I've been to Disney World. I think about 12. But this is only my second time to Disneyland, and I was still a vegetable during my first. I have only vague memories of Splash Mountain.

Terminally ill kids regularly choose a trip to Disney as their "last wish". Epcot was a vision of a utopian society, never realized. Mickey mouse is one of the most recognized symbols around the world. Disneyland proclaims itself the happiest place on earth. The importance of July 17th, 1955, and what stemmed from it should not be underestimated. What can I say, other than to express how lucky I am to be able to be there at all, let alone during the 50th anniversary celebrations, and to give a summary of our trip.

Four of us left after work on friday and started about a 9 hour drive to Anaheim. I had already been planning for over a week, trying to get interns together, get a hotel, and look into tickets. It turned out to be a great group of guys, and luckily one of us had a car.

Besides a stop at Denny's, the only reason it took 9 hours was a traffic jam near LA....at 2am. Nevertheless it seemed an easy drive, and we arrived at the Del Sol hotel around 3. It is right across the street from the entrance to Disneyland! Quite different from WDW.

I conceded to getting up for the California Adventure Park's 10am start time, rather than Disneyland's 8am. We were there a little early, and got a quick breakfast just inside the park (the let you go to the "hub" area prior to 10). We first headed to Soarin, a tremendous ride! It makes quite a bit of difference where you sit on this ride. Being in the front (top) is a much nicer experience than being able to see others' feet in front of you. Also, the smells wern't working on this ride. I don't like when certain effects arn't on. Maybe there's a good reason, but many guests will leave without ever realizing they missed something. We went on the Grizzly river Run, followed by California Screamin', Maliboomer, and Orange Stinger on the boardwalk. We headed to the other end of the park through wine country, for It's tough to be a bug, and Monster's Inc. Just before the latter we caught kind of a neat street show where three artists draw their wishes to meet characters, who eventually come out.

We caught Turtle talk with crush which was great! An animated Crush interacts in real time with the audience. Though dragging at times, it was really neat, a fresh idea, and very enjoyable. We then went on Tower of Terror, and caught the Aladding musical. ToT is terrific, I wish we had gone again. Still, it is not on par with the florida version. Normally with the family, we don't go to very many shows. But Aladding was really terrific. I was pleasantly surprised. We got some (pretty good) pizza and went on Screamin one more time before going to the Mecca of modern America ( go on, argue with me, I dare you).

Overall I thought DCA was quite fun. Between the first fan rants and this trip they had a few years to improve things, so I'm not seeing the worst. It still is not quite a full day park, but it's close. It's not just about the number of attractions. The farce of the boardwalk, like Dino-rama in DAK, does not have the nostalgia or romanticism, to create lasting magic.

As I walked into the town square for the first (real) time in my life, I just kept playing Walt's words over in my head. "There is the band in full regalia". After all, he had been here himself. He never stepped foot in a finished WDW Magic Kingdom. I expected my first impression: Main Street seems short, and the castle small. A similar effect to WDW is still wonderfully achieved.

You can see the gates of all the lands right from the hub! It's a little different. I really wanted to find THE dedication plaque, but it turns out its not in the hub, as I thought (bad fan, bad). We started in tomorrowland (backwards!). Star tours, autpia (the autopia!), matterhorn (matterhorn!).

Matterhorn was the first tublar steel roller coaster ever made (1959) and it makes really sharp turns. I can't remember when we rode Space Mountain first, but it quickly became the group favorite.

it was so hot at this point in the afternoon and it took about 3 frozen lemonade stands to finally find one that wasn't broken. I've read that they've had trouble casting these parks, but food service is one area that could really be improved. We took a break with our drinks by dumbo (the dumbo!). We continued through Fantasyland to Frontierland for some Big Thunder action. This ride is pretty equal to its florida sister. We went around the lagoon past New Orleans square, a new land for me, and a really neat (although maybe creepy?) one.

Before we'd explore it we went to Critter Country (another new land for me) where we went on Splash and haunted mansion. If there was one ride I would have liked to do one more time (besides tower of terror, soarin, jungle cruise, and the matterhorn :) ) it was haunted. I thought the effects were better, I did. Splash is very short.

Pirates of the Carribean had a long line, given the recent changes to incorporate the movie (the movie's premier was in the park just the weekend before)

But we went back to tomorrowland, I think for space mountain, and then hit up some Small World. Oh yes, we did. Then we watched "Remember" the fireworks show from the end of Main Street (I heard, and now agree, that this is the best place). Wow! Best fireworks show I can remember. A treat for fans, effects for all.

With the promise of a full day of Disneyland in the morning, we went to bed. And you better believe we were there for the opening at 8am. Even the newbies were down with the idea. There is no opening show, but there is a first lucky family that gets a picture, and a crowd countdown. We went straight to pirates, which was the only ride we could line up for before 8am. We got on almost right away. It is better than Florida, and the changes are awesome. The slow opening past the Blue Bayou and the banjo music from the cabin really set the tone. I wish I had a chance to see it before Sparrow came, but I enjoy the changes.

Space mountain closed, so I told the other guys I'd wait while they went on Honey I shrunk the audience (and sit somewhere without mice running by). But then Space mountain opened! Well, of course I'm going to go. Little did I know, in that time they decided not to go because of teh wait, so they waited 10-15 for me while space mountain had a small line. (I never actually told them about the extra ride....) We went on SM and got fastpasses. In total I think I went 5 times. The music on the ride and the star effects work so well. A really fun coaster.

We also went through Innoventions. What a let down. It began with a thinly guised marketing pitch for a dell PDA and google earth. Both the tomorrowlands I've seen are now just lands in a theme park, they are no longer optimistic visions of a possible, if unlikely, future. Come on John!

We went on Indiana Jones! A ride based on the same vehicle as Dinosaur (or rather Dinasaur uses Indy's vehicles). The queue is terrific, the ride is fun, but not out of this world. We did some more splash, some big thunder, another pirates. At some point they went to Honey I shrunk, while I booked it to New Orleans and back for a min julep. We had turkey legs for dinner and yes, they are as good. People chuckled at the barbaric image of the four of us, as they walked by. Happy to contribute to the atmosphere of Frontierland!


We took the monorail to downtown disney for a break. These Mark V's are quite different from WDW's VI's. The doors are on one side, there is sitting room only, and you need to duck to go in. Each door is closed by a button just outside of it and there is no spanish! Combined with the loop closed for construction (submarines!) it's hard to see it in 2006 being a model of superior public transportation. WDW's seem so professional, but it was a treat nonetheless.

We got coffee and sat on the curb of Main Street, watching the crowds come as the prepared for fireworks. This is kind of activity main street was made for. Watched Remember again. And we saw Fantasmic on the lagoon. I'm not one to turn down an Illuminations, but this has to be my favorite disney show.

I especially like the fantasmic song and the parts where mickey kicks butt. Night time Splash mountain, and a final Space mountain. It was very important to find the plaque before we left. We stepped over the chain to read it, though we knew what it said. If any cast members saw us, they must have understood. Here's Constantine checking it out:



Universal Studios Hollywood is clearly an unprofessional venture, with some serious safety problems, and certainly no repeatability for guests. Or so it would seem from our day there on monday. They have only a few big rides, with nothing in between, and therefore huge lines. Van Helsing was a junky haunted house (might be my opinion, I don't like being jumped out at) and waterworld was underwhelming. The first real problem was at the end of the Mummy Roller coaster when it broke down. We were locked to our seats in a dark tunnel for about 10 minutes. When we loaded the ride staff were casual and uncaring, and when this happened none of them had a clue what to do. We were just behind the unload area, and it was 5 minutes before anyone came to check on us or the cars behind us. If someone would have been claustriphobic or had gotten sick from the ride, or a kid was scared from it, and then they were locked into a car that they know can go backwards, thats pretty serious! Then the staff started playing trivia with the guests to pass the time, and joked about just pushing the "green button" to get it started again. All we got was a pass to the front of one line. I wanted to complain and even get a refund, but that wasn't the group consensus. That's not how you run a theme park.

We went to Jurassic Park, which broke down! So we went to get food and the first resturaunt's line was out the door by 30 feet. We found another which wasn't bad. I asked a staff member where a drinking fountain was and she didn't know! 10 minutes later a guy started flipping out, shouting "Nina" and running around apparently looking for his daughter. There would have been 5 cast members on him in two seconds!! If it even took them that long to find the lost child. I went up to the same staff member and asked if she saw the large screaming guy that passed, since it didn't seem anyone was helping him. She said she didn't see him (no chance) and that she had just gotten to that post. But I asked her about the drinking fountain 20 minutes ago! She lied to me! Maybe she is new, but train your staff, geez! Turns out Nina was 14 or so, and probably just went to the bathroom without telling her dad. The one good thing that happened was that the pass allowed us to skip a 70 minute line to the very front row of the studio tour. Seeing the Psycho house and a few of the effects are neat. The frightening earthquake is one of a couple things I remember from the trip here when I was young. Otherwise the rides were mediocre (we didnt get to go on Back to the Future) and the lines were long. I was unhappy with the food service at Disneyland, and this was 10 times slower. Luckily I know florida is better, especially IOA, but it will be a long time before I return to this park.

Well that was a rant. But Disneyland was fantastic. Now let's make it better!