Riding The Rails On The Disneyland Railroad

The Disneyland Railroad isn't my most favorite ride in the park but it is the most indispensable. In fact, if Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and I were planning a trip to Disneyland and knew the railroad would be closed, we'd probably be looking for a different set of dates to make the trip. It's that important. For us the Disneyland Railroad serves multiple purposes. When we first arrive in Disneyland, we often jump on the railroad first thing to kind of get the lay of the land and our Disney juices flowing. Toward the end of the day the railroad provides some much needed assistance getting around for people with tired and sore feet. Perhaps during the day and we need a break to plan what to do next, a ride around the park may be just the ticket to relax and work on our plan for the rest of the day. In a full day at Disneyland, we are probably on the thing at least twice and maybe 3 or 4 times.

Walt Disney & Mickey on the E.L. Ripley
A Disney Photo

The Disneyland Railroad is cool, it's historic, a special gift from Walt Disney himself. And I remember as a kid thinking how cool it would be to be a conductor on the Disneyland Railroad (if I couldn't be an engineer). The conductors got to ride around all day hanging off the side of the train on one of those little platforms waving to the guests as the train passed by. Although today I think the conductors spend half their time telling people to sit down, keep your kids away from the exit space, and stop taking flash pictures.

But you know what, another little piece of vintage Disneyland legacy is in the process of being tossed aside in the name of safety once again. You see, those little platforms the conductors stand on while the train is making its Grand Circle Tour just quite aren't up to snuff when it comes to cast member safety or so "they" say. Has a conductor ever fallen off a moving train in almost 60 years of operation? Not that I'm aware of. But the little platforms have got to go and Disney is in the process of building little safety compartments for the conductors to ride in while train is in motion. I haven't seen a picture yet of these compartments but they are being installed, one train at a time, over the next few months. A cool job just got a little lamer.

What's next? Seat belts for the horse drawn carriage on Main St.?

My Disneyland Bucket List - Item #6

I don't know what happened to it. Many years ago, I had a Disney silhouette cut-out made by one of the very nice artists that work in Disneyland's Silhouette Studio. I never had the silhouette framed or otherwise prominently displayed but over the years I'd see it in assorted boxes or in a closet somewhere around one of the several residences I have lived in. Haven't seen it in years though so I'm sure it is permanently lost.

Every once in awhile, as Mrs. DisneylandTraveler made our walks down Main St., I'd take a quick peek into the Silhouette Studio to watch the ladies proudly show their craft work. But I never stopped to have a silhouette actually done. Why not? It's a lovely souvenir and quite inexpensive by Disneyland standards. Why haven't Mrs. DLT and I had a silhouette done of us - together? The only thing I can think off is that we always seem to be in a hurry to run off and do something else.

Well it's time to stop - stop and have a silhouette done. I'm adding this to my Disneyland bucket list. It's official. And when we come home, it will go on a wall.

The Orange County Register did a nice little video of the Silhouetted Studio and a couple of the cast members who work there. Yep, it's on the bucket list.

Disneyland's Candlelight Processional: From 2 To 20

Disneyland's Candlelight Processional
A Disney Parks Blog Photo

One of the highlights of the Christmas season at Disneyland has been the traditional Candlelight Processional. Since the event has only taken place over one weekend per year during the holiday season I have never seen it myself but those who have report that its a wonderful experience during the Christmas activities. Of course WDW's EPCOT has their own Candlelight Processional which performs twice nightly to overflowing crowds for about a month or more. Now Disneyland is going to a swing at bringing their intimate Candlelight Processional to the big time expanding the 2 night affair to 20 nights for an audience of Annual Passholders and those who purchase.....wait for it.... expensive dining packages. Disney gave preliminary details, sketchy as they may be, in a posting in their Disney Parks Blog this past week.

That's how the do it in EPCOT - tie the traditional Christian Christmas story to moderate to high priced dining packages and there are no shortage of takers. When Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and I were making plans for a Christmas trip to WDW a few years ago, a booking for the Candlelight Processional was tops on our list of things to do and we succeeded with a lunch reservation at Le Cellier then over to the CP stage with our celebrity narrator being Brad Garrett from Everybody Love's Raymond and 'Til Death fame. Of course, that trip never happened due to unexpected surgery but that was the plan....

Now Disneyland will try to duplicate the massive success of the WDW event and of course, pocket some profits along the way. Traditionally, Disneyland's Processional is held in the Town Square with the stage set up in front of the railroad station and as of now, there is no indication that this will change but it does lead to some logistic questions. That space is small and right at the park entrance, how will CP event attendees and regular park visitors co-exist without creating massive gridlock type of conditions? That area is also right on the parade route and what about the nightly running of the VERY popular Christmas Fantasy Parade? Will they leave up permanent seating for the event in place during the day detracting from the beautifully decorated Town Square area and home of the Disneyland Christmas tree?

Some have speculated that the now unused Fantasyland Theater, now vacant, would be a better choice and it certainly makes sense to me. Time will tell as the details are released. And let me be the first to wish you a Merry Christmas.

The Slow Death of Disneyland's Abraham Lincoln

Every American school child should know the story by age 10 or so, or at least they should. Abraham Lincoln, viewed by most as America's greatest President, was tragically assassinated in Ford's Theater in Washington D.C. April 1865, while watching a play from his private box. The assassin was an actor named John Wilkes Boothe, a Southern sympathizer who maddeningly put a gun to Lincoln's head and pulled the trigger to both avenge, and perhaps resurrect the South's defeat and surrender in the Civil War at the hand of Lincoln's Northern armies. Lincoln died in a boarding house room across the street from the theater a few hours after being shot, never regaining consciousness. Boothe was killed while on the run by soldiers several days later with many of those who participated in Boothe's assassination plot subsequently hanged. 

Lincoln was America's first President to be assassinated in office. Over the years, his story left an impression on countless people including Walt Disney. Walt Disney admired Lincoln greatly, so much so that when Walt was asked to develop attractions for the New York World's Fair in 1964, he created the first animatronic Lincoln to deliver inspiring words to the throngs of people who came to see it. When the fair ended it's run, Lincoln was taken to Disneyland and set up in the Opera House to continue to deliver words everyone should hear but few take the time bother.

Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln has been playing at the Opera House since July 1965. It's one of those attractions that as a young boy, I remember seeing with my parents in the lovely little theater. Lincoln hasn't exactly played continuously since it was installed. Like most Disneyland attractions, it has been updated and refurbished over the years. Back in 2005, Lincoln was removed for almost 2 years as a special film commemorating Disneyland's 50th Anniversary was shown in the theater instead. But Lincoln did return thanks to Tony Baxter and those at Disney who want to preserve the legacy of Walt Disney and the Disneyland he created and not the corporate decision makers that run the place today.

But the hand writing has been on the wall. The last time Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and I saw Lincoln in the Opera House we were in an audience of about 30 people. The theater holds 400 people. That's sadly typical. I've used this analogy before in this blog - Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln is the attraction people run by on their way to get to Indiana Jones or Space Mountain (only to find out those rides will have probably broken down by the time they get there). Crowds in Disneyland can swell to about 50,000 people on many days, the number who take the time see Lincoln is a fraction of that.

So Al Lutz reported this week that beginning in late August, Disney will use the theater at least part of the time to show Annual Passholders special screenings of classic Disney films. The question is why would you want to go to Disneyland to spend an hour and a half watching a movie that most Annual Passholders probably already have in their home video collections? That's my question anyway, at least one of my questions. Of course the answer lies in the fact that most Disneyland Annual Passholders are local and many are within a short distance who find little effort in driving over to the park for a few hours. For them, the opportunity to see a classic Disney movie inside the classic Disney Opera House is something special. Of course for Disney, the theater will once again fill and hopefully those movie viewers will take the time to maybe have a nice (expensive) dinner before or after the showing.

Right now Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln is a labor of love of a few people trying to preserve the legacy of Walt Disney and the park he created. While the incredible animatronic Lincoln is a technical wonder (with a cost in excess of a million dollars), Disney doesn't make a dime off the attraction. No one pays park admission to specifically see Lincoln. There isn't a gift shop attached to the attraction that sells Lincoln dolls or even stove pipe hats. It sadly plays to small groups of people who probably go in more as a curiosity than anything else. 

Oh, but if Disney announced the permanent removal of the attraction, the complaint line would be long and vocal as many would look at is as the continuing erosion of the park that Walt built into the money sucking corporate revenue stream of a theme park that they see it as now. So the answer is somewhere in the middle I suppose. I really don't have a problem with the classic Disney film screenings. Not a bad idea at all - to watch Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and then walk over and get on the ride itself. From what I have read, the theater has a movie screen that electronically drops from a place in the ceiling then can quickly be retracted without affecting the Lincoln attraction behind it at all. I wouldn't even mind removing Lincoln for longer periods of time like they did for the 50th Anniversary but always, always, Lincoln must be able to return to delivering inspiring words to new groups of park visitors from time to time. Lincoln was tragically assassinated. Let's not hope his namesake attraction in Disneyland isn't.

A Disneyland Fourth of July

Daily Flag Retreat Ceremony
An O.C. Register photo

Ah yes, the 4th of July at Disneyland. It's a big day. One of the biggest days of the year in fact. By this afternoon, Disneyland proper will be busting at the seams with people and everyone is there for one event - the annual July 4th fireworks display. But before you grab your spot to see the fireworks, do one thing first. Around 4:30 this afternoon there will be a flag retreat ceremony. Stop by and check it out. It happens everyday at the Disneyland when the flag flies. Walt Disney insisted on it.

Its a little sad. I stop by the flag retreat ceremony now occasionally on my visits to Disneyland to witness the event. Sometimes it seems like there are only 20 or 30 people on hand to see the flag solemnly brought down while the band plays the Star Spangled Banner and half of them look like they are there by accident. Walt Disney's daughter said the ceremony would sometimes bring tears to her dad's face. And Walt said the ceremony is one thing that would always need to continue on in his park.

So stop by today or any afternoon sometime to watch and listen. It takes very little time, about 10 minutes or so, maybe a bit longer today because of the holiday but its well worth a few minutes of your time. Splash Mountain can wait a bit. The flag retreat ceremony is just a wonderful part of Disneyland tradition and history and a connection with Walt Disney himself.

More Great News - The Carnation Cafe Reopens Today

Chef Oscar at the remodeled Carnation Cafe now indoor seating
A MiceChat Photo

And still more great news. After a six month refurbishment, the Carnation Cafe has reopened with an all new indoor dining area to go along with the traditional outdoor patio dining. The indoor dining area of the Carnation Cafe was created by the moving old Blue Ribbon Bakery to the new Jolly Holiday Bakery found at the end of Main St. The updated menu features some new items along with some Carnation Cafe traditional favorites.

And right back where he belongs is Chef Oscar back home at the Carnation Cafe, charming guests with his warmth and friendliness, a Disneyland ambassador of good will of the highest regard. If you are new to this blog or not acquainted with Chef Oscar, he is Disneyland's longest tenured cast member. I believe he started 1957 just a short time after the park opened. 1957 - 2012, you can do the math but I believe he has worked at Disneyland for 55 years. Now, he isn't a real chef. Maybe he was at one time but for now, he just makes sure your Disney day and a visit to the Carnation Cafe is as pleasant as possible.

Did I mention that the Carnation Cafe is the mine and Mrs. DisneylandTraveler favorite place to eat at Disneyland yet? A classic Disney dining experience that will not break your budget.

Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln...Vampire Hunter

Disneyland Opera House Theater Lobby

What has happened here? 

It wasn't too many months ago where I found myself sitting in Disneyland's Main Street Opera House listening to the wisdom of the great President, Abraham Lincoln. The spacious seating at the Opera House was probably about 20 percent full. Since I make it a point to see Lincoln once on every trip, that 20 percent in the audience seems about average sad to say. Like I have said before, most people race by the Opera House and Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln without a glance on their way to Space Mountain which most likely would have broken down by the time they get there.

I love the animatronic Lincoln and all that goes with it, the beautiful theater lobby, the stirring pre-show before Lincoln takes the stage, and the haunting music. It's a wonderful way to spend 20 minutes or so (and guess what? no line at all). Better than my fondness for the Lincoln attraction was Walt Disney's fondness for it. He built the original Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln for the New York's World Fair in 1964 then moved it into Disneyland following its run at the fair. Through the years it has been changed a few times. For periods of time, they have removed the attraction completely. But Lincoln always comes bank thanks to imagineers like Tony Baxter who won't let it die (though many wish it would go away). There's a history with Abraham Lincoln, Walt Disney, and Disneyland that needs to stay alive. With the shear commercialism of a trip to Disneyland where you pay through the nose to get in then they try and sell you everything under the sun, Disney doesn't make a cent off the Lincoln attraction. There are no Lincoln toy models, t-shirts, or stovepipe hats sold in an adjoining store. The Lincoln attraction is a labor of love and respect for the President who was assassinated in office.

Respect. I bring all this up now because a new movie hits the theaters soon with the title of Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. How sad is that? How can taking a fallen hero in real life and put him in a cheesy horror movie be a good idea? Who sees this sort of thing? I tend to think its the same group of people who race by Disneyland's Opera House and Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln on their way to Space Mountain only to find out the ride has broken down by the time they get there.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, I urge you take your family, friends, whomever, and stop by and see the Lincoln attraction in Disneyland. You'll be glad you did since the animatronic is amazing (just watch the subtle movement of the hands and fingers) and what Lincoln says still needs to be heard today. And I also urge you to stay far away from Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter the movie as possible. Fallen heroes deserve far more respect.

The Majestic Horses of Disneyland's Main St.

Take One:  Many years ago, I used to carpool with someone who kept a horse on a rural piece of property a few minutes off our carpool route.  A few times she asked me if I would mind if we could stop on the way home to see the horse who was getting up in years and actually no longer rideable.  Now I'm an inner city kid who moved to suburbs as a teenager.  Horses were kind of foreign to me.  I really hadn't seen very many up close and personal.  Man that horse was big but it was also quite friendly and loved visitors. But it was the eyes, those big soulful eyes that had my heart melting.  So hard to describe, I'll never forget it.

Take Two:  Again many years ago, the Rolling Stones, Mick and Keith, wrote a song called Beast of Burden.  Of course, the song was written about people in a relationship of sorts but its one of those songs that just kind of sticks in your head and surfaces every once in awhile.

Take Three:  Arriving at Disneyland first thing in the morning right after opening, you can see the cast member attendant and driver of the horse drawn streetcars that parade up and down Main Street pull one of the majestic horses out from behind a gate by the firehouse to begin the morning's service.  What a beautiful animal.  As an adult, I kind of made a vow to myself that I wasn't going to let one of these glorious creatures drag my sorry behind around Disneyland.  That horse was not going to be my "beast of burden".

Someone I work with now is a horse person.  She owns 7 of them and rides competitively in endurance events.  We don't specifically talk about horses because, even now, it is subject that I'm not really familiar with but over the last few years I've gained enough information from her to know that horses really kinda of like having something to do.  They can get bored.  So the horses that go up and down Main St. might actually like it.  

I actually think the Disneyland horses (I don't know the breed, sorry) have a pretty good life.  Main St. vehicles (all of 'em) only run up until 2 or 3 in the afternoon.  They are done when people start getting lined up to watch the afternoon parade.  And if you watch closely, the horses get rotated fairly regularly so its not the same horse doing the streetcar pulling for hours on end.  They get to go back to their comfy home at Disneyland's Circle D Ranch, a first rate animal facility just outside the park where I am sure they are well, well taken care of.  One day I was partaking in one of my favorite Disneyland pastimes - a cruise around the Rivers of America on the Mark Twain.  I know the recorded schpiel by heart.  So I glanced over at the Indian village and almost shockingly I saw a horse doing a little running in pen tucked up behind the village.  It took me by surprise at first, was it an advanced animatronic?  No, it was just one of the Main St. horses out having a nice time for himself.

I'm still not going to get in a Main St. horse drawn streetcar.  No, I'm sticking with my conviction of not letting that animal drag my rear end up Main St.  He's not going to be a beast of burden to me but the reality of it is - he's probably got a pretty good life with a lot less stress, worries, and fears than my own

.

A Pause to Remember Levon Helm

I promise not to stop the endless Disney babble that comes out of this blog very often but every once in awhile, I need to pause and remember something/someone that isn't about Disney.  A few days ago legendary drummer and principal vocalist for The Band passed away after a long battle with cancer.  Though 4 of the members of The Band were from Canada, Levon Helm was from Arkansas and his scratchy voice with a southern twang can only be described as uniquely American. No one was able to present a sense of place and beat down emotion through the sound of a voice above the music like Levon Helm.

I actually can make a Disneyland connection if I do make a bit of a stretch.  As readers of this blog know, I am a huge fan of Great Moments of Mr. Lincoln.  Before the appearance of the great president himself there is a stirring pre-show highlighting the countryman vs. countryman, brother vs. brother tragedy that was a huge part of the Civil War.  If the pre-show takes a slightly pro Union bias  the counter to that would be Levon singing The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down.  That song is never far from my mind after a viewing of Lincoln.

As I wander up Main St. on one of those rare quiet mornings in Disneyland, grabbing a cup of coffee  at the Market House, I may head over to a nearby bench to grab a seat to enjoy the morning.  If I had already been at Disneyland for a few days, the bench is a welcome site to take a load off for awhile.  A load off?  Not far from memory I'll hear Levon's voice wearily singing The Weight (below).

The people I grew up watching, listening to are dying off.  Dick Clark died this past week.  Most people think of him as the guy who brought in New Years Eve on TV.  I remember when he was a game show host and before that, bringing music into the homes of American teenagers through his American Bandstand.  What does it all mean? Life grows shorter each day, for some of us, its a little bit shorter than the rest.

Rest in Peace Levon Helm and thanks.

Gridlock - Taping the Disneyland Christmas Parade

Without any knowledge or forethought, Mrs DisneylandTraveler and I along with our traveling parties twice booked November trips to Disneyland the same weekend film crews were taping the Disneyland segment of Disney's annual Christmas Parade television special shown on ABC. I guess there are plenty of people interested in these type of Disney events and show up early to the park with hopes to get a good spot on Main Street to check out the action and maybe have an encounter with some kind of celebrity that is performing or making an appearance in the annual event. Who knows - maybe you might just get a chance to see yourself on network TV. Anyway, today is the day they are doing the taping at Disneyland

But then there is the other side of what seems like something that may be fun and exciting. Today is November 5th and we are a long way from Christmas but for the last week, Disneyland overnight crews have been frantically decorating Main St. for Christmas so the taping can gather in the full Christmas atmosphere. Once the taping of the Disneyland and WDW segments complete, several weeks are needed to get the editing and post production work completed in time for the Christmas Day showing. Along with Christmas decorations, various lighting towers, fixtures centered around cameras, and large stages are also set up around Main St. and the castle hub. For you classic Disneyland picture takers out there, these fixtures large and obtrusive, and another reason to get this filming completed before the official start of the Disneyland Christmas season. They are an eyesore.

Once the filming begins today, Main St. is blocked off to foot traffic for long periods of time. It is virtually impossible to get from the front of the park to the Lands because everything is gridlocked. There are some pathways opened up behind the Main St stores for foot traffic but these are rather narrow and get congested. On the other hand, it may be your only chance to see some of the Jungle Cruise maintenance areas. 

Mrs. DLT and I really had no interest in any of this. On one trip, we got to the park early and headed for the back then stayed out of the way of the television fray. I think on another trip, we just stayed in DCA until everything was done and the Hollywood people packed up and headed for home.

One person in our traveling party on one these trips did get to cross paths with Ryan Seacrest though. Not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

The Main St. Cinema

Do any regular Disneyland park visitors actually go into the Main St. Cinema? I'm thinking not many. Vintage black and white Disney cartoons playing on six 'screens' simultaneously, it's not the most exciting to in the park to check out. Kids will wonder where's the color. Most will think "these are old".  I've seen people walk in and about 5 seconds later, walk out. Too bad. This is history. This is where it all began. Now I don't go into the Main St. Cinema on every one of my trips but every couple of years or so, I'll go in and spend a few minutes with a Mickey that most people don't remember. Attractions like this is what makes Disneyland special, remembering its history and reflecting on the past.

In Praise of a Bowl of Soup

Don't get me wrong. Mrs. DisneyTraverler and I love to go the Blue Bayou when we make our trips to Disneyland. The ambiance and experience of eating in that magical setting is second to none. But the expense and limited menu selections (almost none of it appealing to the aforementioned Mrs. Disneyland Traveler) make our visits to the Blue Bayou only an occasional event. Save a couple of bucks and walk over across the way from the Blue Bayou and go to the Cafe Orleans - pretty good food and the Pommes Frites (that's garlic fries in English) are to die for. Strangely enough, we also enjoy the other table service restaurant in Disneyland as well - the Big Thunder Bar-B-Que once Disney got wise and figured out it was over-charging everyone when the all-you-can fixed menu outdoor restaurant first opened and people chose to stay away in droves.

And that leads us to the last of the table service restaurants (excluding the members only Club 33), the Carnation Cafe, a Main St. fixture thats been around almost as long as the park has been opened. It features a pretty standard breakfast and lunch menu that is limited but is always good. And the price is extremely reasonable, right in line with the better counter service dining facilities in the park. And you'll have a pretty good chance to meet "Chef" Oscar who probably doesn't do a whole of cheffing but greets everyone with warmth and charm. He is the longest serving castmember in the park going on 55 years now. We always visit the Carnation Cafe on our trips.

As mentioned, the food is quite good and the service is excellent. We usually go for lunch having made the reservation in advance. The  actual hours of operation seems to fluctuate with the season - generally opened for breakfast when the park opens a closes when it starts to get dark. Great sandwiches, nice big featured salad, excellent pot pies, and a very generous helping of meatloaf are all present on the menu. But it all starts with a bowl of soup, loaded baked potato soup to be exact, the best soup I have ever had anywhere, anytime. Mrs. DisneylandTravel probably agrees and we generally don't agree on anything. Yeah, the amount of calories contained in that delectable bowl of goodness would throw your family doctor into fit if he/she found out, buts worth it. So good. We have several must do's when we hit Disneyland but enjoying that bowl of soup is somewhere near the top.

Now There's A Parade

The new Mickey's Soundsational Parade made its debut on Main St. this past Thursday and early reports have this parade being a more in line with the tradition of great Disneyland parades. The MousePlanet Video posted here gives a generous flavor of the music and color of this classic character filled extravaganza. The parade in its entirety looks like it runs about 15 minutes in length from the full videos posted on YouTube.

I look forward to seeing Mickey's Soundsational Parade down the road sometime. The Disneyland parades usually have about a 2 year lifespan and this one looks like a great improvement of its predecessor whose name escapes at the moment since its been gone about 6 months. How disappointing was the last Main St. Disneyland Parade?  Like I said, I can't recall its name and its not even worth the 30 second effort it would take me to find out.  It was so bad, I'd rather be in a Main St. gift shop rather than outside looking at a parade that was more insufferable than memorable.

Strike up the band Mickey and get ready for a great summer.