Disneyland Resort A To Z - The Haunted Mansion

The Haunted Mansion is the second of two premiere attractions in Disneyland's New Orleans Square, with the first premiere attraction being Pirates of the Caribbean which predates the Mansion by about 3 years. Now there are Disneyland fans who will fight me out in the street that the Haunted Mansion is by far the better of the two quintessential Disneyland rides but I'll stick to my guns. Pirates is the best ride in the park with the Mansion a few notches down.

To further irk Haunted Mansion fans my opinion of the attraction goes something like this: Pirates is the better of the two because of the color of the scenes and the intimacy it draws you into the Pirate world. Haunted Mansion, by design, is rather colorless, dark, and dreary, (I can hear it now "it's suppose to be you idiot") and just has me moving along in a world that I just can't get very excited about. Sometimes the ride feels rather...well.... boring (which is never the case for Pirates). And to further travel down the path of sacrilege, I much prefer the Haunted Mansions holiday overlay which injections the place with... yes... much appreciated color.

Despite my prejudices, the Haunted Mansion is a great attraction, the last attraction Walt Disney personally had a hand in bringing to life (but opened several years after his death). The omnimover ride system sucks in people by the score which also leads to rather short wait times (usually) on a lavish and lengthy ride.

There are 999 ghosts in the Mansion as Disney tells it but about a thousand ghost stories and urban legends about the place, like the legend of the Hatbox Ghost. The video below tells the story of the Mystery of the Hatbox Ghost from the Disneyland History Institute

At least one visit to the Haunted Mansion is on the must do list for all of our trips to Disneyland no matter what time of year it is or if the holiday overlay is installed or not (typically the HM holiday overlay is place from mid-September until early January). Usually Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and I make to two or three visits to the Mansion on our journeys to Disneyland. Sometimes we get bored with the place, sometimes we don't, but we always make it a point to stop by.

Starbucks In Disneyland - Another Opportunity To Get In Line

Interior view of the Market House
Main Street Disneyland

Many of our Disneyland mornings begin with a great cup of coffee from Main Street's Market House. Save your receipt and they'll gladly refill your cup all day long free of charge. So this past week Disneyland insider David Koenig, in a MousePlanet article, reported that it was the Market House that was going to be the new home for the serving of Starbucks beverages in Disneyland. It makes sense though the early rumor had Starbucks moving their kiosk into a section of the Carnation Cafe across the street from the Market House. 

The Market House primarily serves coffee. Starbucks serves coffee related beverages. Why not put Starbucks in the Market House? There isn't a good reason other than this (and it is purely a selfish reason on my part) - getting a cup of coffee at the Market House was quick and easy, usually in and out. What Starbucks brings to the process is - and you can probably guess - a line, a long line, another line. My simple Disney morning just met another opportunity for getting frustrated.

Disneyland Says Good-Bye and Good Luck To Kodak

The Eastman Kodak Company has been a partner to Disneyland from the get-go. Kodak was one the big name corporate sponsors of the park that Walt Disney personally courted to invest in his grand plan so Kodak has been sponsoring something or other in Disneyland for years and years. Currently the Kodak logo is most commonly seen on the park brouchere that you can pick up when you enter the park. You can also see the name Kodak on various "Picture Spots" around the park and it still sponsors a retail kiosk over by it's a small world (even though I doubt if anyone has bought a roll of film in years).

When film went to Yesterland, Kodak, as a complany, was in trouble. The corporation has been in bankruptcy for quite awhile now mostly trying to figure out what parts of the company may be still capable of making money from the parts that don't. And finally, after the first of the year, Disneyland bids good-bye to Kodak as an official park sponsor after close to 60 years. Times change, things change, will anyone miss a Kodak presence in Disneyland? Probably not unless you really stop and think about it. And then it's a little sad.

Trivia: Linda McCartney, the wife of Beatle Paul McCartney, who set him on the straight and narrow and died at a very early age from cancer was an heir to the Kodak financial fortune in its heyday. Her maiden name was Linda Eastman.

The One Thing Disney Can't Control - The Weather

Candle Processional Stage with Dark Clouds Looming
A MiceChat Dateline Disneyland Photo

Much has been written about Disneyland's annual Candlelight Processional extending from 2 nights to 20 nights and much of it has not been good with Disney publicly flip-flopping all over themselves on just how they were going to administer the seating. And while this past weekend the Candlelight Processional performances were for invited guests and VIPs, Disney learned once again about the best layed plans....

It rained in Disneyland over the weekend, not really hard, but enough that most of the Candlelight Processional performances had to be cancelled. This comes on heels of last year's Candlelight Processional performances which also had to be cancelled because of rain. And more rain is predicted this week.

It's Southern California. No, it doesn't rain a whole lot at Disneyland in the course of year but it does rain and when it does it can be quite disruptive throughout the park because the place just isn't built to handle rain very well. Disney rushed this expanded Candlelight Processional for whatever their reasons were. A lot of people are going to go to these performances and end up leaving unhappy and frustrated for various reasons.

What Disney should have done was wait. Wait until next year when the covered Fantasyland Theater will have completed its remodeling and the performances could have gone on even in inclement weather. Sure, the Main St. location is probably better equipped to handle the large standing room crowd for the event but it sure plugs up the park entrance.

My suggestion would be to use the Fantasyland Theater for the reserve seating and limited standing room then put one of the massive HDTV monitors over in ToonTown for additional viewing. PS: Even if your Candlelight Processional event gets cancelled, be sure to pick up one or more of the many Candlelight Disneyland 2012 merchandise items that are available for sale on your way out of the park. 

Christmas Spirit For Sale
A MiceChat Dateline Disneyland Photo

Epcot's Test Track 2.0 Reboot - Wow!

Test Track Entrance - A Kevin Yee Photo

Although the new reboot of the Test Track attraction at WDW's Epcot is only in the cast members preview / invited guests phase of operation ahead of its official opening next weekend, and video is supposedly forbidden by Disney, it didn't take long for the first POV ride through to hit YouTube thanks to Theme Park Review.

All I can say is Cars Land's Radiator Springs Racers - detailed, ornate, cute, special, fun..... The new Test Track - well, it's Radiator Springs Racers for grown-ups. Wow - Chevy meets Tron.

Walt Disney and Toys For Tots - A Christmas Story

In  Los Angeles, CA back in 1947, a woman named Diane Hendricks hand crafted a Raggedy Ann type doll and asked her husband Bill to it donate to a charity where it could be given as a gift to a needy child at Christmas. As the story goes, Bill told Diane that he was unable to find a charitable organization that was set up to do that sort of distribution. Diane told Bill that maybe he should start one and so Bill Hendricks set up Toys for Tots but he needed help. Bill was a Major in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. He had a ready made work force of hard working (but big hearted) volunteers - namely the U.S. Marines who were in the reserves. 

Being a reservist in the Marine Corps was Bill's weekend job. Monday through Friday, Bill Hendricks was Director of Public Relations at Warner Bros. Studios. Bill knew some well known celebrities and entertainers who he could enlist as supporters for his Toys For Tots project and one of those he sought some support from was Walt Disney. Walt designed the original Toys for Tots logo that is still used to this day and ever since Walt's initial support for the Toys for Tots charity, the Walt Disney Company has continued to be a major proponent of this most worthy charitable foundation.

What began locally in Los Angeles in 1947 grew nationally in 1948, distributing toys to thousands of needy children in every community where the Marine Reservist were based. Toys for Tots has continued to distribute toys to children every Christmas since 1948 at to date has distributed more than 450 million toys to children.

Toys for Tots sits extremely high as a worthy and reputable charitable organization by those who watch where charities distribute their donations. It has never wavered from its original purpose for distributing toys to those in need at Christmas just as Bill and Diane Hendricks wished. So like Walt did many years ago, support the U.S. Marine Corps and their Toys for Tots Christmas drive. You will be glad you did. Giving to others, especially those less fortunate than ourselves, is kind of what Christmas is all about.

Disneyland Christmas - Is It Celebrate or Sell-abrate?

I've said it many times before and it still holds true, Christmas is my favorite time of the year to visit the Disneyland Resort - the decorations, the Christmas Fantasy Parade, the holiday fireworks, the snowing on Main Street, the lights on the winter castle and it's a small world. Disney does a first rate job of capturing the magic of the holiday season with all the decorations and lights. Kind of puts the boxes of Christmas decorations that you have in your garage to shame.

My contention has always been that a trip to Disneyland during the holidays should be an effort to enhance your celebration of the Christmas Season. A trip to Disneyland during the holidays can really send your Christmas spirit to the moon. The caveat is - just don't look too closely or you will see Disney is really into Christmas for the money - a glittering display over the sometimes great expense a Disneyland trip can be. Disney doesn't want to show you a Christmas display as much as they want to sell you the magic of Christmas. Like I have said before, if you want to go to Disneyland to get into the holiday spirit you could come away just the opposite because a Disneyland Christmas is a Christmas built on commerce - a never ending barrage of you paying them money.

And if you believe the internet rumors out there - going into Christmases of the future - the magic of a Disney Christmas is only going to cost you more by way of separate admission Christmas events or  "parties" where you may pay to see things like the popular Christmas Fantasy Parade and the holiday fireworks display. It's also a strong assumption that Disney begin to sell expensive dining packages that allow you to see their newly expanded Candlelight Processional.

This isn't new ground here. Walt Disney World has done these things of years and people pay and pay dearly for a WDW Christmas. To do it right in Walt Disney World during Christmas would cost a family thousands of dollars to take advantage of all that Disney offers. 

So it comes down to where a families ability to really enjoy a Disney Christmas comes down to their financial resources and budget. In a way, that's a little bit sad but it's just the way it is. 

Having missed out on a Disneyland Christmas trip the last 2 or 3 years, my hope is for a return holiday visit in 2013. How much into the Disneyland Christmas celebration I get will ultimately depend on how much money there is in the bank.