Monday, October 11, 2010

DLRR & Posters, 1958 (and a brief trip report)

For the average shmo (meaning me), there is really only one way into Disneyland, and that's through the front gate. Don't give me that "What about the Monorail?" guff! Everyone sees Main Street Station, and the floral Mickey Mouse portrait, and the locomotives huffing and chuffing. In this first photo, the E.P. Ripley is slowing to a crawl as it approaches the platform for a new load of passengers. And there's the Kalamazoo hand car... I wouldn't mind using that to circle the park. I need the exercise!


The E.P. Ripley looks good even when it's just sitting there - kind of like a Ferrari! And I can't ignore those beautiful posters, including some uber-rare examples. Rocket to the Moon! That's the one poster I would add to my collection if I could (somebody actually offered to sell one to me recently - let's just say they wanted more than $5000, but less than $10,000). Satellite View of America, the neat variation of the Space Station X-1 poster... in this case I prefer the original. And the Skyway and Dumbo posters aren't too shabby either.


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A few people have been wondering about my trip to Disneyland last Thursday (my first visit to the park in 4 years), so I thought I would give a brief account of the day. First of all, I did not bring a camera! I don't like lugging one around all day, and wanted to be able to relax and enjoy myself. So... no pictures!


The park seemed pretty crowded (Daveland, your rants about strollers came to mind often!), I think that after two or three rainy days, everyone decided to go now that the sun was out. But the lines for attractions were generally less than 10 minutes. The Nemo subs was a 20 minute wait... yes, this was my first time riding it, and it was OK. "Indy" said the wait would be 40 minutes, but we practically walked on. The Haunted Mansion was crazy crowded, but that thing is a people eater, so we still didn't really wait very long. We managed to ride pretty much everything we wanted to, including several repeats.

Space Mountain's "Ghost Galaxy" overlay was OK, nothing too amazing. I did like the projections on the mountain at night. The new Monorails are beautiful, they had the red one and the orange one running. I visited The Enchanted Tiki Room for the first time! That's one I've always skipped, probably because I am so familiar with the soundtrack that I figured I knew it without having to see it. But I'm glad I finally went.

The Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-thru was wonderful, I loved those beautiful dioramas with the "Pepper's Ghost" effects that worked so well. I only wish I could have looked at them without moms and little kids trying to elbow me out of the way.

I rode the Mark Twain at night, one of my all-time favorite things to do. The river is so quiet and beautiful. I guess there is a new narration? It was fine, not too different from the old versions.

The food seemed not as good as I recalled, but it was OK. Otherwise the park looked clean and well maintained, and the cast members were generally very friendly and helpful. All in all we had a great day, staying until the park closed at 10 o'clock. We missed the relocated Disney Gallery, which I wanted to see, but oh well! I'll see it when I return to the park in 2014.

Here endeth the trip report!

8 comments:

TokyoMagic! said...

I'm glad you gave a trip report, Major....even without pics! I think it's interesting to hear what someone else's experiences or impressions are.

I don't think I have ever been on the Mark Twain at night. That's something I am going to have to try and do. I'm assuming that Fantasmic wasn't going on that day, otherwise they would have shut down the Mark Twain early.

Glad to hear that you had a good time. Thanks for the report!

Connie Moreno said...

I know I walked by those posters back in the day, I'm just sorry nobody in my family took pictures!

Thufer said...

Poster yummy-ness be here. Thanks.

Vintage Disneyland Tickets said...

I like the old colors for the E.P. Ripley!

Knew you wouldn't bring a camera :-)

The Mark Twain at night is always a treat - sounds like you had a splendid time overall.

Here's to your next trip in 2014 - Cheers!

Chuck said...

I have never ridden the Mark Twain at night - what a treat! I remember seeing it pull away from the dock after dark while we ate dinner outside at the River Belle Terrace in '76, but was never able to ride at night when we moved back to CA in the early '90s due to Fantasmic. It made me cry. Then I slipped and nearly drowned in a pool of my own tears.

Also glad you finally made it into the Tiki Room. Knowing the soundtrack without being there to experience the three-dimensional performance is like obsessively looking at old slides of Disneyland on a daily basis without actually going there. I feel really sorry for the people who do that sort of thing.

Major Pepperidge said...

I think that, in the off-season, they only do Fantasmic on the weekends. Since I was at the park on a Thursday, the Mark Twain did run until about 8:45. So for those of you who still want to have that experience, it can be done!

Chuck, I'm not obsessive! I go for weeks without looking at my old slides. Sometimes.

Anonymous said...

Hello Major, glad you had a good trip. I guess Blogger ate my earlier comment.

Thanks for the pics.

JG

Chuck said...

Major, I am impressed by your self-control. What's your secret? I feel all weird and discombobulated if I miss a day of "Gorillas Don't Blog."