The Disneyland Traveler Wraps Up August

While I am certainly bound by no rules in this blog, this will probably be my last post for the month of August. Things to do today. Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and I get to go see the elegant song stylings of Mr. Neil Diamond tonight. Back to work (yes, I do have a job) tomorrow.

Speaking of Neil Diamond, the tickets were generously given to us by a couple who left town and could not use them. Face value of the tickets is $82 each and these are not even the high end seats. So about $165 for two hours or so of entertainment for me and Mrs. DLT. Maybe Disneyland admission prices are a "value" as Disney claims.

This has been about the slowest month in Disneyland News that I can remember for quite some time. With the opening of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street, Disney seemed perfectly willing to sit back and let the summer season play out. There are only two construction projects currently going on of note - the erecting of the new Fantasy Faire Village out in front of the castle and makeover of the Fantasyland Theater which will be put back to its original use of live stage performances.

Of course there are rumors aplenty. With the lack of hard Disney news, websites and forums love to speculate - changes for Tomorrowland, expansion of Frontierland, Marvel attractions and characters coming to Disneyland. Everything written about these topics is just that - rumor - until Disney says otherwise. There will be major announcements about park changes coming I am sure. They have to have something to show off at next Augusts' D23 Expo (but you can get your tickets now so Disney can make better use of the money rather than you).

Of course, Disney is regularly posting updates about its Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Fantasyland expansion for which I care not a lick. I can't get too excited about anything that goes on in Fantasyland either in WDW or Disneyland. You have to have small children or be a totally head over heals Disney fanatic to get excited about Fantasyland. The Boy has grown up and my days of pondering fairy tales are over I'm afraid. Now I go to Fantasyland to take pictures because its nice and every few years, Mrs. DLT will do the Fantasyland rides just to remember these really aren't that great (except Peter Pan's Flight and it's a small world). As for WDW Fantasyland? I'll have more interest when the 7 Dwarfs Mine Train coaster is done which won't be for awhile.

So what's in store for the Disneyland Traveler in September? Well there's the transitioning into Halloweentime at the Disneyland Resort. More on the fall ride closures including extensive refurbishment time for Indiana Jones Adventure, Alice in Wonderland, Storybookland Canal Boats, and Casey Jr. Circus Train. Three Fantasyland rides closed at the same time? Cancel my trip! Well that's not likely but many with long planned trips aren't too happy about Indiana Jones closure and why Disney couldn't have given more warning about one of its major Attractions going down for 3 months.

Since this is The Disneyland Traveler I think I am going to do a couple of posts on what we pack for a trip to Disneyland. And of course, whatever else pops into my head or news that Disney throws our way.

Disney's Wreck-It Ralph Trailer

I can't say I look forward to the release of too many animated feature films. Maybe I did when Toy Story 3 came out. I certainly look forward to the next release of the Despicable Me Minion's movie but that still is over a year away I think. But I do look forward to the release of Disney's Wreck-It Ralph set to come out November 2 if I'm not mistaken. Ever since I saw the trailer below with the previews shown before The Avengers, a mental note has been made to see Wreck-It Ralph in the theaters, in 3D, and maybe even IMAX if that is available. This looks like a lot of fun as Disney Animation takes a big step to make a movie Pixar probably should have made instead of their last two. Ralph has all the makings of being a major hit for Disney.

Poised For The Return Of Jack Skellington

Come Monday, Disneyland's classic Haunted Mansion attraction will be shut down for about 3 weeks for its annual right of passage - the transformation to the Haunted Mansion Holidays which will take over from about mid-September until just after the first of the year. I explained my preference for the overlay version over the traditional HM in a previous post - Haunted Mansion Holidays - The Argument Ensues. Basically, it comes down to this, I prefer the color and clever whimsy of the Tim Burton holiday version over the drab grey traditional version (even though I am no fan whatsoever of The Nightmare Before Christmas movie on which the overlay is based). 

But today its a remembrance of what the 3 week closure of the Haunted Mansion is all about. It brings to a close of Disneyland's summer season and the transition into fall and Halloween immediately followed by Christmas. Gone are the long warm days and nights as we move into the ever so gradual transition to shorter days (and shorter park hours) and welcomed cooler temperatures. Especially in the evenings, the ever present shorts and t-shirts are replaced by pants and sweatshirts or jackets.

Yeah... I look forward to Haunted Mansion Holidays because the air conditioning in my house will no longer need to run 24x7, stepping outside will actually be comfortable, and there is always return of college and NFL football.

I like it when Jack Skellington makes his return because I know I will no longer have to sweat like a pig. I like it right up to the point I will inevitably utter the phrase "man its cold outside, I can't wait till it gets warmer".

The Disneyland Turkey Leg - Channeling The Inner Fred Flintstone

There are certainly some iconic foods around Disneyland, legends in their own time. There is the infamous churro of course, the Monte Cristo sandwich, the Little Red Wagon's corn dog, Mickey Mouse ice cream bars, but none of them probably stand up to legendary status of the Disneyland turkey leg. It's hard to explain but there seems to be kind of an addiction to these things. I once had a seat on a bench near the turkey leg cart at the Disneyland Hub and listened to the cast member attendant tell guest after disappointed guest that he was currently out of turkey legs and was expecting a delivery of more shortly.

I have to say, when it comes to turkey, I am not a leg man. Like most sane people, I go for the turkey breast. In fact, come Thanksgiving, I would have to say that the first turkey meat that goes into the day-after turkey soup is what comes off the legs. Once in a while, the Boy may gnaw on leg but I think its mostly for showing off.

That I recall, I have had a Disneyland turkey leg one time and it was wisely split among 3 people I think. Yes, it was juicy, smokey, salty, and quite good but still, I felt guilty about eating it. Never mind the nutritional facts. Turkey is healthy, right? Well, I think I read somewhere that the Disney parks legs have close to 1200 calories, a days worth of fat intake, and enough salt from the brine the legs are soaked in to last the normal human a few days. That should scare a few people off. My reservation about the turkey legs is that it makes me see an image of myself as some dark ages carnivore glutton or perhaps some sort of neanderthal man chomping down on a massive piece of meat with one hand tied behind my back. To me, there is just something that seems kind of primitive about eating a turkey leg. Maybe its from watching too many Fred Flintstone cartoons as a kid or seeing countless caricatures of King Henry VIII which almost always show him with a large turkey leg in hand.

I don't hold anything against anyone eating a turkey leg at Disneyland. They seem to enjoy themselves thoroughly as they gobble down (pun intended) the juicy legs. But if I were to eat one, my self-conscious self would be thinking that every one that passed by me would muttering to themselves "look at that pig eating that big ol' turkey leg". No, that's no good. I'll go get a corn dog instead. Handheld food on a stick trumps handheld food on a bone in the civility department.

Trick or .... Wait A Minute. It's Still August, Isn't It?

Halloween Merchandise Hits Disney Parks
A Disney Parks Blog Photo

Never being one to be late at ringing up seasonal merchandise sales, Disney is now stuffing their park souvenir stores to the brim with Halloween merchandise. In the meantime, back here at home, the temperature remains a pretty consistent 95 to 105 degrees for seemingly weeks on end. The cool respite that October brings still seems like a long way off.

Never let August heat be a deterrent to making some money off a "holiday" that is still over two months away. If you want to check out what's new - here's a link to a preview of Halloween merchandise from Disney Parks Blog

Poor Luigi - Flying Tires Struggle To Have Fun

Luigi's Flying Tires - Cars Land - DCA
Beach Balls Now Removed

As predicted by many, the Luigi's Flying Tires ride in the new Cars Land is experiencing growing pains. Over the last week or so, the colorful beach balls that were added to the ride when it opened in June were gradually removed. Now the beach balls are gone entirely.

The beach ball element was added as means in inject some energy into the slow moving and slow loading ride. Kids loved the beach balls but as kids have a tendency to do, tracking down a colorful ball of their very own became job one when boarding the ride. Strapping in and taking off were secondary so what was slow to begin with just got slower with the beach balls distracting attention from keeping the ride moving.

Luigi's Flying Tires with Beach Balls
The balls have now been removed from the ride.

And of course with people madly tossing large plastic balls around there were a few "incidents" according to Disney as getting unexpectedly whacked in the head led to some minor injuries and complaints here and there.

So the balls are now gone. Disney is looking at alternate ways in bring energy to the attraction starting with removal of some weight from the underside of the tires for a joy stick controller that was never implemented which, in theory, should make the ride move a little faster. Other things are being discussed as well. No one yet has said this ride is a complete failure but that certainly remains a possibility.

MiceChat's Dateline Disney (link here) posted this video this morning. Keep in mind before this ride ever takes off, guests will likely have been waiting 60 minutes or more to get on. And this is what you get:

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.