Disneyland "Clean up Day", 4-28-07

Day three was the “clean up day” for us at Disney. We’d already done both parks, so we were picking up the attractions we missed or wanted to do again. By the way, the park was PACKED. There were thousands of annoying kids (like teenagers) in the park today too which really started to get on my nerve. It bothers me that theme parks have turned into babysitters for kids these days. Anyways, we got a lot done since the park was so full. Since it’s late, I’m going to do bullet points on this trip report. LOL!! It might be easier to read too.

Mr Toad’s Wild Ride – I really wish this was still in Florida. This is a great dark ride. It’s all over the place, has some really fun effect, and actually has a dénouement at the end. It’s no wonder the queue for this is always longer than the other attractions in Fantasyland.

Storybook Land Canal boats – I loved this little ride. The amount of detail on the little villages amazed me. Plus, this was a brand new attraction for me, so it was fun to experience it for the first time.

It’s a Small World – I was a little disappointed with this version. I did like the outside loading and the massive front of the attraction. But, the inside was just ok. I like Florida’s version with the scenes coming right up to the water trough. This one was like a flume ride trough set above the different scenes. I don’t know, I just didn’t like it as much.

Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin – OMG. Worst experience at Disney. We knew the sign said 45 minutes, but I wanted to ride anyways. Plus, it looked like the loading zone was right inside the door. So, we got in line. Wow, big mistake. The line just kept going and going and going. It wouldn’t have been so bad expect the worst behaved kids in the entire park were on both side of us in line. They were pounding on everything, running into me, climbing on things, screaming, etc… It was the most agonizing 45 minutes of my life. LOL!! My friend practically broke the ride by spinning the car so fast too. But, it was still a fun ride. It would’ve been better if I was able to see everything I was spinning past, but oh well. Next time I will get a Fast Pass. LOL!!

Gadget’s Go Coaster – Fun little coaster. Since safety railings are a big issue right now because of the accident in Japan, has anyone noticed how Disney does these? They have retractable safety railings. I’ve noticed this on this ride plus Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin in Florida. Basically, when the ride stops, the safety railing is raised. When it’s not required, it is collapsed onto the platform. Not only would this have helped in the Japan situation, it’s also a LOT less visually intrusive.

Matterhorn Bobsleds – For the first steel coaster in the world, this ride is amazing. You start off in a pitch black tunnel with a basically pitch black lift, are scared (yes I was scared) by the Yeti roaring at you at the top of the lift, and then you are confronted by the Yeti several times in the rest of the ride. I can only imagine how amazing this was back in the 50s when it opened. I also loved how all over the place this coaster was.

Autopia – VERY FUN! This makes the Tomorrowland Speedway look awful. The cars seemed pretty fast, the off-road part was great, and it’s length was very refreshing. I hope they don’t pull this attraction for the rumored “CarLand”.

Innoventions – Although it was just a big advertisement for corporations, I thought this was pretty fun. The highlight of the trip was seeing Honda’s Asimo in person. Talk about an innovention. WOW. I can’t wait to see how he progresses and where he ends up eventually.

Monorail – I wish they had a monorail station in DCA. But, the monorail kicked ass. It seemed to be really fast and travelled all over Tomorrowland which was sweet. It bothered me how much backstage areas you could see, but I guess that’s a factor of lack of space for Disneyland.

Space Mountain – LOVED IT. The normal version was light years better than the Rockin’ version. I was, however, VERY disappointed in the lack of queue control on Disney’s part. There were tons of kids and adults line jumping on the plaza upstairs because it was so easy. People were hopping in line right in front of the ride op too and they did nothing. Line jumping just annoys me and I don’t expect to see it at Disney. This is also where I saw people smoking because there was no one to enforce any rules. The one time a cast member walked through the area, people scattered back into the line and put out their cigarettes. As soon as he left, everyone went back to their ways. It was so frustrating.

Buzz Lightyear – I liked the Florida version better.

Casey Jr. Circus Train – Man, I’m still humming the song played in the train. I found it to be really fun. I loved climbing into the monkey cage and riding through the little towns.

Disneyland Railroad – I dunno. I didn’t really like this all that much, and I usually LOVE the train. I guess I didn’t really like it because you could see so much of the backstage areas. Plus, there weren’t the cool scenes like the one in Florida.

High School Musical – So yeah, I wanted to hop back over to DCA and catch the High School Musical Block Party. LOL!! I actually liked it a lot. It helped that there were two guys in the audience that joined the show to dance and were way better than most of the girls dancing.

I was sorta bummed Nemo wasn’t open yet because it looks like it’s going to be really cool. I guess that gives me a reason to come back. All in all, I had a blast at Disney over the tree days. The fireworks today were cancelled because the wind was too high. But, that’s ok I guess.

I know most of you will think I’m insane, but the other thing that bothered me was the cast member’s sunglasses. I thought they were distracting from their costumes. Maybe it was just because it is LA and everyone is “fashion conscious”. But, the sunglasses were totally out of control and detracted from the costumes they put a great deal of effort into. I noticed it all over the place which is bad for a Disney park. Regardless, I think Disney is doing a great job in California. I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.