Sunday, July 03, 2016

Two Leftuggies

It's Sunday, and you know what that means.... it's time for some less-than-wonderful photos!

So... this first one is not exactly amazing, but one can get a sense as to how much effort went into making Disneyland a beautiful place as well as a fun place. The flowerbed in front of us is full of colorful blossoms (and a tree or two); the entrance to Tomorrowland is flanked by large beds of orange and yellow flowers planted in a swirling pattern; and even the lamp post has flowers haning from it. At night the colors would fade, but twinkling lights would be lit in all the trees.


Out on the African veldt, animals always face to the left. I've always thought that this was a weird scene as zebras, giraffes, antelopes, vultures, and some kind of wild dogs all stop whatever they were doing (talking about Game of Thrones?) to watch lions eat one of their dead comrades. 


21 comments:

Monkey Cage Kurt said...

Pretty nice for leftuggies, I’d venture to say.
Oh my, did I actually beat Nanook this morning?!

TokyoMagic! said...

Yeah, not so uggie today, Major. I never thought about it before, but you are right. That scene from the Jungle Cruise is pretty strange! And I think I see the horn of an animal that is just out of frame on the far right. I wonder if that was something gnu?

Scott Lane said...

@TokyoMagic
Well, if it's a horn then I think it's something blew. (old and borrowed, too, no doubt)

MRaymond said...

I remember a skipper saying that it was an African car wreck. All the other animals rubber-necking to see what happened instead of running away.

K. Martinez said...

It looks like the Central Hub flowerbed hasn't sprouted a Partners statue yet.

What the Jungle Cruise' African Veldt scene needs is an overlay of "The Lion King". Perhaps play the beginning of the song "Circle of Life" when the African Veldt scene comes up. Something like that. Oh wait! They did that at Tokyo Disneyland. Synergy! Synergy! Synergy!

Chuck said...

Just back from a week at Scout camp. While I'll admit it was nice - really nice - to unplug from the outside world for a while, I still had two "Disneyland flashbacks" (neither of which required medical attention) that today's blog brings back.

On an inner tube float trip down a local river, we passed a small waterfall that was absolutely picture-perfect - and my first thought was that it looked like it could have been designed on Flower Street.

The other experience was walking back to camp after dark and my son pointing out the trees across the meadow filled with winking fireflies. My initial thought? "Disneyland's fireflies are brighter." I think there's something wrong with me.

Or maybe it's a testament to Disneyland's immersive environment. Which one requires less professional help?

Major Pepperidge said...

Monkey Cage Kurt, here it is, after 9 in the morning and Nanook STILL hasn’t commented!

TokyoMagic!, oh no, the puns. THE PUNS! They hurt, like when somebody accidentally splashes holy water on me.

Scott Lane, oooouuuuuuccccchhhh.

MRaymond, I don’t think I’ve heard that particular joke on the Jungle Cruise… I wonder if the skipper made it up?

K. Martinez, yes, as much as I admire Walt Disney, I am not crazy about that statue. Just my opinion of course. I’m really surprised that there never was a Lion King tie-in on the Jungle Cruise - how did they resist?

Chuck, after reading your comment, I thought, “Fireflies? We don’t have fireflies in California!”. Then I remembered that you don’t live in CA!! Doh. I miss fireflies, and will never forget going on a fishing trip in Minnesota. After a brief rain shower just after sunset, a million fireflies came out along the shore - it didn’t look real. I’ll bet a lot of Disneyland fans see things in their every day life that evoke the park in some way.

Unknown said...

"Howard! They're EATING Howard! Oh, no! Howard owed me money!"

A good skipper would have a field day with that set-up. Oh, for a good, truly funny skipper. Rare as hen's teeth, they are, but when you get one... ah, the joy!

Monkey Cage Kurt said...

Hope Nanook is ok. He’s probably having an extravagant 4th of July weekend. Oh man! now it feels like such a hollow victory :(

“Lion King tie-in on the Jungle Cruise” PLEASE DON’T GIVE THEM ANY IDEAS!!! Sadly though, I seem to recall hearing a “can you feel the love tonight?” line as we passed the feasting lions.

Indeed Chuck and Major, living in Oregon I frequently have Disneyland flashbacks, there’s quite an abundance of nice realistic looking waterfalls and very natural looking landscaping here, must’ve cost a fortune! But I am very jealous of your flashbacks, what with the fireflies and all. We don’t have them here and I’ve never seen them in person. You and the Major are giving me firefly envy.

Monkey Cage Kurt said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

@Chuck, sometimes I really miss taking the scouts to camp. Good for you to keep going.

JG (14 years in BSA, now retired)

Monkey Cage Kurt said...

Patrick, I’ve had a few really bad lemons on Jungle Cruise. It’s SO painful at times. But I remember my all time favorite JC skipper was a girl named Brook in the late 90s. She was funny and SUPER cute! My all time favorite skipper of all time! Does anyone remember Brook at all? What’s her phone number?

Major Pepperidge said...

Patrick Devlin, I wonder if anybody else has been on the Jungle Cruise and been stuck with a PA system that was so tinny that you can barely understand what the skipper is saying? It’s happened to me multiple times. Maybe it’s time to get my ears replaced?

Monkey Cage Kurt, Nanook is probably out identifying classic cars. You know how he is! I have fairly modest (i.e. boring) plans for tomorrow, which is kind of a bummer. God, did they actually plan “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” on the Jungle Cruise? I’ve never cared for that sappy song to begin with, and then to use it to sully that classic attraction is a double slap in the face with a knee in the groin. As for fireflies, you’d think they would like the mild weather of the West coast, but perhaps they require a cold winter as part of their reproductive cycle. If only there was some repository of information where I could look up such a thing.

JG, you can still wear a uniform; in fact, I insist on it. Each morning at 5 a.m. I like to go out front and blow the bugle. I don’t know how to play a melody, so I just make squawking screeching noises, but it’s a free country.

Monkey Cage Kurt, I don’t know Brooke, but I have seen my share of insanely cute female cast members. There was one girl working on “Pirates”… so pretty. And another one working in the old Market House, she was so friendly and adorable, which is impressive when you consider how many hundreds of people she probably dealt with. It makes me wish I’d worked there in my younger days!

Nanook said...

@ Monkey Cage Kurt-

You DID beat me - easily-! I'm afraid last night @ Midnight I was still in the throes of a great meal a little earlier in the evening, and wasn't feeling all-too-inspired to 'put pen to paper'. I'm afraid any commentary on my part then would've qualified me for the "poor JC skipper" category. But when they're funny, as Patrick rightly points out... it's almost like kismet.

Monkey Cage Kurt said...

Oh, there you are! Welcome back to the land of the living Nanook. Hope you are doing better. Missed you this morning.

Nanook said...

OH - I'm fine. Thanks. I was just savoring the delightful meal a bit longer.

TokyoMagic! said...

Major, I have also been on the Jungle Cruise when I couldn't understand the skipper. I don't know if it was the sound system or if it was because of something the skipper was or wasn't doing. I also experienced a skipper just about a year ago that said, "Riiiight?" at the end of every line he spoke. Super annoying......riiiight?

M.K. Kurt, they don't need to be given any ideas! As Ken mentioned, Disney has already shoehorned the Lion King into Tokyo Disneyland's Jungle Cruise. I used to praise the Oriental Land Company (the owner of TDL) for not letting Disney talk them into putting anything crappy in their park, but hearing the Circle of Life play as you enter the African Veldt is pretty crappy, if you ask me!

Unknown said...

Hey, Monkey Cage Kurt, I was going to throw in an anecdote of mine about a skipper from about that time (late 90s) and that sounds like her. She had a sort of naive but dead pan delivery and her material was superb. And I mean bent-at-the-waist or head-all-the-way-back laughing hard out loud funny. I was sitting all the way forward on the left and as we debarked I told her, "You slayed! You killed! You murdered!" I think she must have been moonlighting in local comedy clubs. She knew it was all about the timing and delivery. It was during my AP years and though I kept an eye out for her for years I only got to hear her routine the one time...

Anonymous said...

@Major and Chuck, I'm wearing my uniform right now, but no bugle.

Also, fireflies are forbidden in California due to Fire Code rules about Hazardous Insects.

JG

Monkey Cage Kurt said...

Hey Patrick, must’ve missed this. I don’t think it’s the same girl, but I what to meet the one you’re talking about! This girl Brook was kind or bubbly, but not in an obnoxious way. Extraverted, with long brown hair if I recall, CUTE! Never saw her again either, and like you I kept an eye out as well. Maybe it was the same girl, only with a different routine (?).

Monkey Cage Kurt said...

To whomsoever it concerns: I was just rereading this dialog and felt like I needed to clarify that the “can you feel the love tonight” was being sung acapella by one of the cheeseball Jungle Cruise skippers.