Let The Madness Begin! Mad T Party Soft Opens in DCA

Entrance to Mad T Party - USA Today Travel

Though Disney California Adventure's Mad T Party street party isn't officially scheduled to open until June 15th with the rest of the DCA relaunch, last night the audio visual assault on ones senses soft opened to an enthusiastic crowd of mostly a younger demographic than the ol' Disneyland Traveler here. Colorful? You bet. Upbeat? C'mon, it's a party after all. Weird? Well, there's that too.

Anyway, my favorite Disneyland (and all things Southern California) YouTube videographer - Asianjma123 - has already uploaded the Walk Thru of last night's premiere of Mad T Party. Enjoy the sights and sounds in his video.

I was pretty hard on ElecTRONica in some of my posting over the last year until it closed up for good. The street party concept in DCA, now in it's 3rd generation, is just something that seems foreign to my vision of a Disney experience. But they are very popular with a certain age group and Disney parks are supposed to be for people of all ages. I'm not going to be as hard on Mad T Party as I was with ElecTRONica. Mad T Party already has a big plus for me by confining the rigging, sets, and equipment to the plaza area outside Monsters Inc and Stage 17 rather than having it sprawl all over the Backlots (now Hollywoodland) area like the obtrusive ElecTRONica. (My other issue with ElecTRONica was that at just under 2 years, it just lasted far longer than it should have)

Anyway, if Mad T Pary is still playing when Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and I make our next trip, we'll make it a point to stop by and take pictures and shoot video to check the box and prove that we were there. I'll stand around scratch my head and wear a look of bemused puzzlement. I'll need one of those $11.50 cocktails to reel in my sanity. And once we've spent about a half hour taking in the sights and sounds, we'll move on probably never to return to the Mad T Party, just like our ElecTRONica experience. 

House of Cards - Mad T Party - USA Today Travel

Changing the Landscape - Removing Stuff from DCA

The X-1 in front of Taste Pilot's Grill - it has now been removed

As Buena Vista Street motors toward its June completion, the decision was made to remove a couple very large decorative pieces that have been in place since Disney California Adventure opened. The first item of note that was removed last week was the replica X-1 plane that came blasting out of the front of Taste Pilot's Grill over by Soarin' Over California.  It appears the rather large plane was rather an eyesore to the Buena Vista St. site lines so John Lasseter himself wanted it removed. I'm not sure how I feel about this.  I rather liked looking up seeing the X-1 and if you don't know its history, it is a replica of the jet plane that Chuck Yeager flew that first broke the sound barrier.  If you have an extra 3 hours, go rent the great movie The Right Stuff and see the X-1 in action.  Sorry to see it go but they could be right about the site lines.  A plane from the early 1950s in view from an area to was built to recreate Hollywood of the 20's and 30's - probably not cool.

The other two items of note removed were the two large elephants that sat on pedestools at the entrance to Hollywood Pictures Backlots (now known as Hollywood Land).  Been looking at these things for years.  Good riddance.  They were actually kind of silly looking.  I'm sure there is a story of what they were supposed to represent but I don't care enough to want to go find out why they were there in the first place.

Aldaddin - A Magical Musical Spectacular

Yesterday at the 4:45 pm performance of Aladdin A Musical Spectacular (that is performed 5 days a week at DCA's Hyperion Theater) the magic carpet that soars above the theater with Aladdin and Jasmine riding it while performing A Whole New World, flipped upside down leaving the two performers hanging in the air by their safety harnesses. The audience was quickly removed and the performers were brought down safely.  Thankfully, no one was hurt. Here is a short YouTube video of the performers dangling from the magic carpet as the audience evacuates:

All Disney accidents are investigated. Sometimes internally. Sometimes by safety officials (OSHA). In either case, I would suspect at least a temporary interruption in the performances of the 50 minute stage show that has a large cast and entertains guests by the thousands each day. Another story has come out that performances would continue but without the flying carpet sequence (the highlight of the show).

Aladdin is one of the jewels of Disney California Adventure and is easily one of the top ten attractions in either park.  This is a true Broadway musical in an abbreviated form but at 50 minutes it still packs music, adventure, comedy, and stunning stage visuals by the score as the story, based on the animated Aladdin film, is told.  I have to say I have probably seen Aladdin 8 to 10 times and enjoyed every single minute of it with the only drawback being having to stand in that miserable queue line outside, as they don't let the guests in until right before show time. 

The Whole New World segment is one of my Disneyland (DCA in this case) goosebump moments.  To see Aladdin and Jasmine soaring above you (or below you if you are well up in the balcony) with that beautiful song being sung is just one of those pure Disney magic moments.

A year or so ago, Disney tried to remove Aladdin. They floated out the rumor of a new stage show (Toy Story The Musical) coming to replace Aladdin and it was immediately met with a chorus of "NO, DON'T DO IT" from the throng of fans of the show. The rumor quickly faded away however, the idea of a new show coming on board once all of the construction/expansion is complete is still strong.

If you go to Disneyland and haven't seen Aladdin.....put it on your must-do list. Yes, it does take a chunk of time both in the performance and the wait to get in but it is well worth it. It's a delight for guests of all ages.

The Amazing Toy Story Zoetrope

I can't help myself. I have probably seen it a dozen times before but on every trip to the Disneyland Resort I have to stop by the Disney Animation Building in DCA to check out the amazing Toy Story Zoetrope. I can't explain my fascination with seeing this thing but it's there. Maybe it's seeing what the human brain is capable of doing when models spinning on a platter hit the magical speed, but it never ceases to amaze me. The Toy Story Zoetrope, built by Pixar, is just one of the things that make visiting a Disney park so special - how a small little attraction adds so much to the detail and intricacies of the parks. Check out the Toy Story Zoetrope below in a video I found on YouTube and you can be amazed too.

Turtle Talk (with Video)

Turtle Talk with Crush in the Disney Animation Building in the Hollywood Backlots (soon to be Hollywoodland) area of DCA is for kids.  Well, kids of all ages, but mostly kids.  It allows them to interact in real time with the super cool Crush from the Finding Nemo Pixar film.  It can be hysterically funny but can also fall a bit flat.  Like most "live" performances, Turtle Talk is dependent to a certain degree of the level of audience participation, the questions being asked, and what is being said.  Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and I are Crush fans but I have to say, the last couple of times we have been in there, the performance has been a bit on the flat side.  With Crush, you never go in there quite knowing what you'll get.  You may get a fall down funny jewel or a "why did we go in there?" when all is said and done.  That being said, if you have kids, Turtle Talk with Crush is a must-do.  All others, eh, sometimes yes, sometimes no.

It may be taken for granted at this point but you do have to marvel at the technology that allows a live audience to interact dynamically with an animated character.  Something tells me computers and "blue screens" are behind the magic.

Here is a video Mrs. DisneylandTraveler took of one the more cuter interactions between the audience and the talking turtle.

Monsters Inc. and the Creepy Superstar Limo

I subscripe to the Disneyland Twitter feed that sends tweets to my smartphone. The wonders of technology. So Disneyland probably sends out a dozen tweets a day most of them I delete within two seconds of reading them because they are so trivial. Yesterday morning, they sent out a tweet asking (paraphrased because I deleted it) "What's your favorite thing about Monster Inc. in Disney California Adventure?", It took me about four seconds to delete this one because I had to pause and smile for a second or two because the answer is "Because there's no line". If you have to wait more than 5 minutes to get on Monsters Inc then well, the park must be packed that day because you can mostly just walk on. Heck, if you want a car to yourself, they'd probably give it to you. A Disney ride with no line - that's the best thing about Monsters Inc.

Now to be fair, I've probably ridden the thing a dozen times and sometimes I find it quite enjoyable, other times it seems like a time killer waiting to something better. Sometimes you ride it just because its there. Now for a dark ride, its huge compared to Disneyland counterparts in Fantasyland and Pooh - big show building, nice length but whether I really enjoy it or not may just come down to what kind of mood I am in at the time the car takes off. For better or worse, its just something to do.

Oddly enough, I have the same reaction to Monsters Inc. the Movie. I've seen it about four times and sometimes I like it better than others. It all comes down to the mood I am in. But to be fair, the Monsters Inc. ride has to be a hundred better than the buildings previous tennant the ill-fated, much hated, Superstar Limo. I never rode Superstar Limo in Disney California Adventure because, Disney park management pulled the plug on it very quickly after all the negative things that were being said and written about a mad dash from the L.A. Airport to Hollywood. It opened in February 2001 and by the time I made my first trip to Disney California Adventure in October 2002, the ride had already been shut down several months. Luckily, for those who want to experience the shear creepiness of Superstar Limo, there are ride-throughs on YouTube like the one below. Have fun....sweet dreams....

The Hollywood Tower of Anxiety

When it comes to getting on the one of the "thrill" rides at Disneyland and DCA, I'm a pretty good sport. The way I look at it, a gazillion people walk through the turnstiles and hit these ride - thousands in a day (providing the ride can stay open). Through the years, the safety record has been remarkable. Oh, there has been the occasional fatality but I believe most of these have been attributed to the passenger and not the ride. And there has been the occasional heart attack when getting off but if it wasn't the ride, it probably would have been something else.

So I really do enjoy California Screamin', Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and the Matterhorn. And certainly Splash Mountain and Grizzly River Run can provide their moment of thrill. Which brings me to the Hollywood Tower of Terror in DCA. I've probably been on the the thing six to eight times since it opened. The ride itself really is a thrill. It also is very, very, short which is what I tell myself every time the castmember closes up those doors with a sinister look on his or her face. It probably last 40 seconds once the assent begins. Hey, what can go wrong in 40 seconds? Yeah, there is that sensation the your seatbelt is going to fail and you are going to fly right out of your seat, but it all comes to a peaceful close.

That's the easy part for me. What's tough is once you go through the study after seeing the mock Rod Serling video and hit the queue line, the anxiety build begins. The line generally moves pretty quickly but still there is that wait staring at the elevator doors knowing you have an appointment with a calculated, programmed free-fall. That is the part that gets me.

Mrs. DisneylandTraveler has called it quits on the Tower of Terror. She did it twice with me but that, I think, is enough. The same is true for my sister, another Disneyland partner in crime. She got off the TOT, patted herself on the back, and said "that's it, I'm done". So I may be done too unless there is a trip ahead with one of my nieces and their families. They'r young and have no ride fear (yet). I could go on the TOT by myself, and maybe after a visit to the Karl Strauss beer wagon, I may but I think my days on the TOT may be over. In my cubicle at work, I got one of those around the neck badges that reads "I survived the Tower of Terror". Yes I did.