Disneyland Trip Report

Hey everyone, I just got back from Disneyland! Here's a quick trip report on a few of the changes that had taken place since my last visit.

I was surprised to find out that Star Tours had closed....for good. At first I thought it was just for the installation of the long rumored new film and special effects, but it turns out that a decision was made to just close it permanently and convert the queue into a clothing store. An cast member also informed me, that "brown" is going to become the primary color of Tomorrowland once again.

Over in Critter Country, I noticed they were using redesigned ride vehicles for Splash Mt. The new logs now hold only three people at a time. Unfortunately, this change has cut down ride capacity quite a bit.

In Fantasyland, the characters from the soon to be released animated film, "The Princess and the Pickle" were greeting guests. That's Susie Sandwich there on the right. She's the princess' sidekick in the film, at least until.....SPOILER ALERT!.....she gets eaten by the evil Pickle King.

Disneyland Trip Report....From Christmas 1979!

Let's travel back in time once again, for a vintage tour of Disneyland. We'll just set the Way Back Machine for December 27, 1979 and VOILA, we're there!

While we're at the main gate, don't forget to pick up a copy of today's entertainment schedule!

Big Thunder is only 3 months old right now, so let's go over there first before the line gets too long. I'm armed with my Kodak Instamatic camera and a roll of 110 slide film and I'm ready to take pictures. Well, maybe not too ready. The first pic of the day is an "oops" taken accidentally while waiting for our train to pull into the station.

Now I'm ready!

Here's a shot of the dynamite-chomping goat, taken from the front seat of the train.

Now we'll take the brand new Big Thunder Trail over to Fantasyland where we find Skull Rock and Spawn of Skull Rock. Okay, here's the deal....in past vintage trip reports, you've seen the reflection of my friend Alvin and you've heard about my friend Tonya. Well, today's visit includes two more friends, we'll call them Marie and Kenny just to protect the innocent. Since I have not yet asked their permission to post photos of them, this is what we have for now. I could have left these photos out, but I thought they were worth posting.

A ride on vintage Dumbo.....Wheeee!

Let's now board the Skyway and take it over to Tomorrowland. Fantasyland sure does look empty, but it's not going to stay that way. It is two days after Christmas and it will soon be PACKED! Notice how Space Mountain (far right side of pic) is visible from the top of the stairs leading to the Skyway chalet. Also visible are the Rocket Jets and beyond that is the Grand Hotel of Anaheim. These stairs still exist, but are now blocked off, so don't attempt to recreate this photo today kids....you might get kicked out of the park!

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There's the Abominable Snowman. He used to be visible from the Skyway. See him? He's there! He's just too far away to get a good shot with this camera. By the way, this was my period of experimenting with 110 slide film. Yep, these are slides with itty bitty sized negatives....or I guess they would actually be positives.

Now we're in Tomorrowland. We may as well head on over to Space Mountain since the line for it won't be getting shorter anytime soon. See how the park is already getting busier? Hey, I wish they would bring back the Speedramp that used to take you to the second level. Tokyo Disneyland still has theirs.

Let's go on Autopia next, but we'll each drive our own car, thank you very much. I see a Rolly Crump ticket booth and the Rolly Crump Stage over at Tomorrowland Terrace. Hmmm, and the PeopleMover appears to be open. Gee, I LOVE the 1967 Tomorrowland!

How about taking a cruise on the Monorail? Only two of us can fit up in the bubble dome on top with the monorail driver. I don't have to have MY arm twisted....I'll do it! There's the Disneyland sign, although between the distortion from the glass bubble and the crappy camera, it's not a great photo, sorry!

Uh-oh, we better get back and find a place along the parade route for The Very Merry Christmas Parade. Well, it looks like it's too late to get a good spot, so now we are going to have to stand behind several rows of people. I'll have to aim high for the taller floats because I won't have a clear view of any of the performers on the the ground. It's a shame too, because a guy that I sat next to in Geometry class was in this parade. He actually convinced me to try out for the Christmas parade since you only had to be 16 years of age to be hired for parades.....however, I would still have to wait a couple more years until I turned 16.

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The Dumbo and Santa Claus floats above were both used again two years later in Fantasy On Parade '81. That year, I would be cast as one of the Christmas Trees in the parade (there was a team of eight) which are visible here in this close-up of today's entertainment guide.


Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this visit to the park from 30 years ago. I will leave you today with two views showing the Christmas decorations on Main St....and a VERY crowded park!

A Vintage Disneyland Trip Report from 1982 - Part 2

This is a continuation of my last post , which was a vintage Disneyland trip report from November of 1982. During that visit, my friend Tonya and I rode the Skyway to get a sneak peak at the new construction (and sadly, the demolition) of Fantasyland. The Skyway at that point was "round trip." That meant they weren't letting guests off at the Fantsyland station. When the Skyway gondolas entered the station, you had to stay inside the vehicle and the cast members would push you around the curved section of track and back onto the cable in order to send you back over to Tomorrowland.

The view at this time was spectacular....or horrific, depending on your outlook. I really didn't have too much of a problem with the "New Fantasyland," EXCEPT for the fact that Captain Hook's Pirate Ship and Skull Rock had to be sacrificed in the process. I think they both should have stayed at any cost and that Dumbo could have been relocated somewhere else. After all, Dumbo was originally supposed to be relocated to where Videopolis/The Fantasyland Theater ended up being built. It was going to be part of a "Dumbo/Circus" themed area that would have been an entirely new land for the park. But as usual, plans change when it comes to future attractions at the Magic Kingdom.

Oh, but I digress. Let's begin our 1982 round trip excursion on the Skyway! You won't see any aerial shots of Tomorrowland here. This is back in the days of film, so I saved every remaining shot I had for the Fantasyland portion of the ride. First up, is a view of the Alice In Wonderland attraction. It would not be opening in 1983 with the rest of the New Fantasyland. It's reopening would have to wait one more year.

Sniff, sniff.....bye, bye Pirate Ship!

Bye, bye Skull Rock....okay, now I'm just getting mad all over again!

The west wing of the castle was shut down for rehab first (just after the Christmas season of 1981/82), while Mr. Toad and Peter Pan remained open. That's why the Snow White & Pinocchio side of Fantasyland is so much further along in these next two photos. I remember that the east wing's construction went much faster....it would be completed by May of 1983. Again, these photos were taken in November of 1982.

Here's a pic of the Village Haus Restaurant under construction. Big Thunder Mountain used to tower over Fantasyland....at least until the pine trees grew taller.

I have many more photos of the New Fantasyland construction. Some were taken earlier than this visit and some later. During that time period, we always had to ride the Skyway to check on the construction progress. I will post more of these construction photos in the future!

A Vintage Disneyland Trip Report From 1982 - Part 1

Well it's November and you know what that means....Mickey turns another year older on the 18th! He's a Scorpio! Let's go back to the early 80's when his birthday used to be the cause for a month-long celebration at the park. That's right, it's Mickey's Month at Disneyland!

You met my friend "Alvin" (or at least his reflection in the window of the Candy Palace) during my vintage trip report from November, 1980 (link). Now it's November of 1982 and my friend "Tonya" is going with me on this trip. My friend Alvin and I were still going to the park together...I was lucky enough to have two fellow Disneyland-obsessed friends to go to the park with. In fact, I'm still good friends to this day with both Alvin and Tonya!

So anyway, it's November 1982 and when we first arrive at the park, we find that they are handing something out to all guests at the entrance. Hey, it's Mickey's birthday, but WE get the gifts...lucky us! The gift is a spongy bath mitt in the shape of Mickey. It has now been stored in a box in the dark for 27 years, but somehow the color faded around the edges anyway. How does that happen?


While we're at the main gate, we better pick up the entertainment brochure for the day. Hmmm, I don't want to miss the birthday parade. And how about that Mickey's Birthday Lunch at the Space Place? Maybe we should eat over there since someday that will be turned into the entrance and Fast Pass area for Space Mountain.

Now we're in the Plaza and there's a huge birthday cake sitting in the center planter (Mickey, Walt...are you under there?) Hey, where are all the people?

That cake is making me hungry. Let's head on over to the Space Place in Tomorrowland for that birthday lunch. Looks like the Mousketeers are going to be back on the Space Stage once again. We've seen their reunion show before (see the link above for my 1980 trip report), so maybe we'll just skip the show this time. I love the openness of the Space Stage area though. Too bad they had to wall it all in and put a ceiling over it. It ruined the whole feel of the original Space Mountain complex.

Well, the meal has been served, along with a piece of birthday cake and here comes our free birthday balloon....free with the price of the lunch, that is. Suzy (or is it Perla?) from Cinderella is helping the cast member hand out the balloons.

Here comes the guest of honor, Mickey himself! Let's all sing happy birthday to him!

Oh, and here's the birthday hat that was included with the meal. I think I'll save mine for a few years. Well, at least 27 years. Okay, maybe longer!

Now let's go check out the birthday parade.

By the way, I wish Disneyland would sell the parade soundtracks for ALL of their parades like Tokyo Disneyland does!

Hey Mickey, you turned around....and Minnie, you're blocking your face! Don't you hate it when that happens? Oh well!

Look, the American Egg House is still open with outdoor patio dining! Why isn't this space still a restaurant today?

Well, that's it for today, but how about a "part two" to this vintage trip report? A "part two" where Tonya and I board the Skyway in Tomorrowland for a ROUND TRIP ride over Fantasyland to view the demolition and construction for the all "new" Fantasyland. Stay tuned!

POST UPDATE: For part two of this trip report, click here.

DL Halloween Trip Report...From 1995!

Today, we'll be taking a look at Disneyland's Halloween decorations from 14 years ago. It's October of 1995, the very first year of "Mickey's Halloween Treat." As we approach the park, a huge inflatable Maleficent can be seen in the parking lot. This is the same inflatable that was used to promote Fantasmic in 1992. Check out this photo of the Maleficent balloon on Westcot 2000's blog.

Once inside the park, we are greeted in Town Square by Grandmother Willow from the film, "Pocahontas." This is the same spot where the Christmas tree is placed every year as well as the giant Mickey-shaped pumpkin and the recent "Celebrate" envelope and balloons.

If we stop and take a peak inside the Emporium, we'll see that the revolving centerpiece of Mickey, Goofy and Donald has been decorated with leaves and acorns for the Fall.

On a recent trip to Disney's California Adventure, I took the following photo but I didn't realize that I had seen these figures before until I was reviewing my photos for this post. It looks like they have repositioned Donald and changed the color scheme on Goofy, but they are obviously the same ones. They also decorated these figures for the Winter of 1995 and I will be posting a photo of that in the near future.

Moving a little further up Main St., we see that the Candy Palace has also been decorated for the season. Here's a vignette featuring the Wicked Witch. There is a jar of candy corn nearby, as well as a Jack O' Lantern filled with more yummy treats.

Now let's head on over to the patio area of the Plaza Inn Restaurant, where there is a giant pumpkin carving demonstration taking place. That pumpkin on the right weighs 516 pounds!

Upon leaving the patio area of the Plaza Inn, we get a nice view of the Fall flowers planted in the Tomorrowland entrance way. I could rant right now, but I've done enough of that in the past, so for today I'll just say, oh how I miss THIS version of Tomorrowland!

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Note the topiary of Goofy on the far right. He's wearing a mask and cape and from what I remember, he was holding a sword too.....sort of a la Zorro. Also note the absence of PeopleMover cars. I believe it had closed for good at this point, even though I have photos of it running just 3 months earlier. That year was kind of sketchy for the PeopleMover. Sometimes you would go to the park and it would be open and other times not.

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Unfortunately, the Halloween decorations stopped there back then. They did not decorate Frontierland and there was no Haunted Mansion Holiday yet. I have a set of photos from the following years' Halloween season (1996) and will try to get those posted before the 31st!