When we moved to Anaheim just over two years ago, from the Belmont Shore area of Long Beach, I was prepared for the sound of fireworks. In Long Beach we lived on the shore and frequently there were fireworks over the Queen Mary. Although we were a few miles away we had a great view and it was fun to see the fireworks, they were only on the weekends and special events, but they never disturbed us.
When we moved to Anaheim we moved into a new loft style apartment in the downtown area of Anaheim, one and a half miles away from Disneyland, we were aware of the nightly fireworks and were prepared for the nightly sounds created by the display.It has never disturbed us, actually we look forward to it. We can look out the window and see them, but it's an odd angle and we have to stand right in front of the window, yeah I know how lazy? Well the point is we knew there were nightly fireworks, well almost nightly.
Recently in the community there have been whines and moans among residents and homeowners of Anaheim that the the fireworks were causing a nuisance and disturbance, really? Did you know where you were buying a home or renting and apartment?
Now I know that the fact of the matter is that half the population has an IQ under 100, but really are you that stupid? You're moving in to basically a resort town with the most famous theme park in the world, with a long standing tradition of fireworks, but you thought you wouldn't hear them? Really?
Like I said before we look forward to hearing it, and all I have to do is close my eyes put in the CD soundtrack of the most current firework display and I can see it all in my mind. I also think about all the people in the park enjoying the show! Some of the guests have seen it dozens of time, but for some it will be the first time they have seen the the fireworks explode in the air over Sleeping Beauty Castle.
I can remember the first time I stood in front of Cinderella Castle in Walt Disney World and the thrill and excitement I felt. I want everyone to have that "tingle"! And that was only about 10 years ago.
So to those who would have Disneyland put and end to their "Magic in the Sky", I say it's time for you to go. that's right, if you don't like it, MOVE!
Disneyland was here first!
But don't get me started with the Downtown Anaheim Events, I'll save that for another time...
Friday, March 18, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
OK, so deep breath! Here we go, I will try today to be more positive and fun in my posting. Last night I was a tad negative, did you notice? I have decided that every other day I can be a little mean, but honest. Today I will focus on the positive, first off I am a premium annual passholder to the happiest place on earth, it doesn't get much better than that!
Now to continue with yesterday...
I left off with us on the Monorail riding into Disneyland in style, Saturday morning we sat in the front of the Monorail with the pilot, so Sunday we let others have the chance and thrill of it. If you haven't done it I suggest you do, it's really exciting to be in the very front of the Monorail, the view is unsurpassed. And depending on the pilot it can be very insightful as well. All you have to do is ask at the Monorail station if you can ride in the front car, or you can ask to ride in the very back, it's really fun back there too. Anyway on Sunday we were neither in the front or back, we were somewhere in between.
As we wound around on the loops of the Monorail track we noticed that despite Disneyland being open for almost an hour, the queue for the Matterhorn was pretty short, so as soon as we got off the Monorail we headed straight for the Matterhorn. Hey, did you know that even the Matterhorn is based on a Walt Disney Film, Third Man on the Mountain? Check it out, it's a good film. Also Walt Disney and his family vacationed often in the Switzerland so the idea all came together for the film and the first tubular track roller coaster in the world. Even after all these years, the Matterhorn opened in 1959, it is still one of my favorite rides ever. AP and I always ride in separate seats when we ride the Matterhorn, why should two men both 6'2" and over 200 lbs ride in one tiny seat? Not fun for us, so we ride separate, and always prefer riding in the back. The Matterhorn has two sides the right and left, the left is by far the better side, and more and more people are finding that out, you will notice the queue for the left side is always longer than the one on the right side, that is if they separate queues. Often, they use only the queue on the left and once you get to the front of the attraction you can choose either right or left, choose left, trust me, it is the more exciting track, and believe me the tracks are different. Here's a little fun fact, scream as loud as you can on the Matterhorn and you will be heard all over the park. It's a great way to get out your pent up frustrations. Go on, YELL! It's fun, you may lose your voice like we do, but you'll be heard from Small World to 'the hub'.
After Matterhorn we went over to Fantasyland and rode Snow White, or Snow White's Scary Adventure, another ride we scream on, because it's so frightening! LOL After Snow White we got fast passes for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, then headed to Pirates of the Caribbean where we again asked to ride in front, it's more fun and helps you avoid the flash on other guests cameras blinding you. I will leave the whole flash photography for another time, I have very strong opinions on it, as I am sure you can imagine. After Pirates, we rode the Mark Twain around the Rivers of America, always a nice relaxing attraction and we were lucky enough to be able to sit on the chairs in the front of the ship, nice and relaxing. After the Mark Twain we headed for the hub for what we call a 'sit down'.
There is no place on the face of the earth for better people watching than Disneyland, people from all over the world are here having fun, and it's fun to watch them having fun.
*(Note to self, on one of my not so nice days I will describe some of the fashions that can be seen in the park! Really? Do you own a mirror?)
We lunched at Cafe Orleans and had the world famous Monte Cristo sandwiches, yummy and filling.
After lunch we spent a few hours walking around the park and riding the horse drawn trolley up and down Main Street USA. On our way out of the park we walked through the World of Disney, just to see what's new.
Was that better? Everyday I will try to improve...
OK honestly I am biting my tongue off, I will find a happy medium.
Now to continue with yesterday...
I left off with us on the Monorail riding into Disneyland in style, Saturday morning we sat in the front of the Monorail with the pilot, so Sunday we let others have the chance and thrill of it. If you haven't done it I suggest you do, it's really exciting to be in the very front of the Monorail, the view is unsurpassed. And depending on the pilot it can be very insightful as well. All you have to do is ask at the Monorail station if you can ride in the front car, or you can ask to ride in the very back, it's really fun back there too. Anyway on Sunday we were neither in the front or back, we were somewhere in between.
As we wound around on the loops of the Monorail track we noticed that despite Disneyland being open for almost an hour, the queue for the Matterhorn was pretty short, so as soon as we got off the Monorail we headed straight for the Matterhorn. Hey, did you know that even the Matterhorn is based on a Walt Disney Film, Third Man on the Mountain? Check it out, it's a good film. Also Walt Disney and his family vacationed often in the Switzerland so the idea all came together for the film and the first tubular track roller coaster in the world. Even after all these years, the Matterhorn opened in 1959, it is still one of my favorite rides ever. AP and I always ride in separate seats when we ride the Matterhorn, why should two men both 6'2" and over 200 lbs ride in one tiny seat? Not fun for us, so we ride separate, and always prefer riding in the back. The Matterhorn has two sides the right and left, the left is by far the better side, and more and more people are finding that out, you will notice the queue for the left side is always longer than the one on the right side, that is if they separate queues. Often, they use only the queue on the left and once you get to the front of the attraction you can choose either right or left, choose left, trust me, it is the more exciting track, and believe me the tracks are different. Here's a little fun fact, scream as loud as you can on the Matterhorn and you will be heard all over the park. It's a great way to get out your pent up frustrations. Go on, YELL! It's fun, you may lose your voice like we do, but you'll be heard from Small World to 'the hub'.
After Matterhorn we went over to Fantasyland and rode Snow White, or Snow White's Scary Adventure, another ride we scream on, because it's so frightening! LOL After Snow White we got fast passes for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, then headed to Pirates of the Caribbean where we again asked to ride in front, it's more fun and helps you avoid the flash on other guests cameras blinding you. I will leave the whole flash photography for another time, I have very strong opinions on it, as I am sure you can imagine. After Pirates, we rode the Mark Twain around the Rivers of America, always a nice relaxing attraction and we were lucky enough to be able to sit on the chairs in the front of the ship, nice and relaxing. After the Mark Twain we headed for the hub for what we call a 'sit down'.
There is no place on the face of the earth for better people watching than Disneyland, people from all over the world are here having fun, and it's fun to watch them having fun.
*(Note to self, on one of my not so nice days I will describe some of the fashions that can be seen in the park! Really? Do you own a mirror?)
We lunched at Cafe Orleans and had the world famous Monte Cristo sandwiches, yummy and filling.
After lunch we spent a few hours walking around the park and riding the horse drawn trolley up and down Main Street USA. On our way out of the park we walked through the World of Disney, just to see what's new.
Was that better? Everyday I will try to improve...
OK honestly I am biting my tongue off, I will find a happy medium.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Sunday in the Park with Glitter
The day started an hour early, not by choice but by that stupid thing we call daylight savings time. As much as I despise Arizona, for a variety of reasons, Bristol Palin, The Ortiz Family, the fact that they were the last state in the nation to observe Martin Luther King Jr.'s Holiday, at least they are smart enough not to do this day light savings B.S.. Anyway we set the alarm, aka our Chihuahua Cha-Chalina for 6am but it was after 8am and we still hadn't left the loft. It takes time to pull ourselves together and look camera ready for Disneyland. So we set out on our journey, one that would take many seconds, well as long as it takes to drive our good old Toyota Corolla with well over 100k miles on her, to travel the mile and a half to get to the Mickey and Friends parking structure. As luck would have it and with our years of experience we have learned to stay to the far left when entering the the structure. The far left lanes are usually the least crowed and we have handicap-able parking so we need to stay to the left for the Chip and Dale parking area anyway.
Bam we got a primo parking space very close to the tram entrance. So off we trudge to the tram stop, what? The tram stop was so crowded and let's face it no one likes a crowd first thing in the morning. So we decided to start our power walking exercising activities early and we powered across the Pinocchio lot and across whatever the name of that little street is that you make entrance into the Downtown Disney Parking lot, oh get off my back, is the name of that little street really that important? Look it up I'm sure you can find it out for yourself if you feel that strongly about it. We charged across the parking lot and into Downtown Disney, why not take the Monorail into the park and arrive in style? We had done this same routine yesterday. however we had a troubling incident. The CM, sorry I didn't get her name, but I am keeping my eye out for her, asked my husband to lift his shirt! We have been through this in the past, if they ask you to this call for security, they have no right to "see your belt line" just because your shirt maybe loose. Do what we do, start screaming for security and they'll back off. You can pull your shirt close to your body to it is clear that you are not wearing a fanny pack, as if we would be caught dead with one! Or have a bomb strapped to your torso. I am not trying to make light of this I am very serious and I know that security at the resort is a serious business, but for several reasons this practice of wanting to check your belt line is just plain wrong. Neither of us was wearing a caftan, as Premium Annual Passholders we are well aware of what is allowed and not allowed in the parks. We have never and would never try to sneak anything in that was not allowed and quite frankly it's disrespectful to have this CM with little more than a second grade education checking us for contraband, as if!
Back to today we breezed through the security check today, even though we were both wearing untucked shirts, which just goes to tell you that there is really no consistency in the policy of the so called "belt line check" it's as if these CM's are just making things up on the fly! Let's see the policy in writing so we know what the policy really is! And yes I am still pissed off! If they are really concerned about security why don't they install metal detectors? Again I am quite serious, I would feel safer using a full body scan than trusting my security to a CM with no security training or knowledge of security procedures, and here's a little food for thought. What would a CM do if they found a gun or God forbid a bomb on a guest? My guess is they would panic, and wet themselves, I know I would. I also want to make it clear that I don't believe all CM's are stupid or uneducated, however I seem to have to have my interactions with the ones that are. It's no wonder that there is such a turnover in CM's as they just about hire anyone and weed them out later. And just so you don't walk away thinking I am a real AH concerning CM's, I was one once upon a time. Oh sure I only lasted two day. yes two days, but I can speak with some knowledge about being a CM.
Back to the Monorail, are you still with me? Good! Even the Monorail was crowded, lots of tourist, and not well traveled tourists. How many times do the Monorail CM's have to ask guests to take their children out of strollers and fold up the strollers before boarding the Monorail? The Monorail gets to the station and here they go trying to ram their strollers with their children still strapped in. Another thing I would like to ask at is at what age should children be made to walk on their own? I believe by the age of 8 children who are able bodied should be walking on their own and not taking up space in a stroller. Parents seem to believe that pushing a stroller gives them some sort of entitlement, and use the stroller as a battering ram.
LOL I can hear the fireworks out my window so I know another day of magic is ending at the Disneyland resort so for now I am going to end here, for now, but fear not I will pick up where I left off and go on and on some more.
I want to leave you with this thought tonight, Stroller Free Day at Disneyland, or Adults Only Day at the Resort, thoughts? I think it's a good idea and really isn't that all the matters?
Bam we got a primo parking space very close to the tram entrance. So off we trudge to the tram stop, what? The tram stop was so crowded and let's face it no one likes a crowd first thing in the morning. So we decided to start our power walking exercising activities early and we powered across the Pinocchio lot and across whatever the name of that little street is that you make entrance into the Downtown Disney Parking lot, oh get off my back, is the name of that little street really that important? Look it up I'm sure you can find it out for yourself if you feel that strongly about it. We charged across the parking lot and into Downtown Disney, why not take the Monorail into the park and arrive in style? We had done this same routine yesterday. however we had a troubling incident. The CM, sorry I didn't get her name, but I am keeping my eye out for her, asked my husband to lift his shirt! We have been through this in the past, if they ask you to this call for security, they have no right to "see your belt line" just because your shirt maybe loose. Do what we do, start screaming for security and they'll back off. You can pull your shirt close to your body to it is clear that you are not wearing a fanny pack, as if we would be caught dead with one! Or have a bomb strapped to your torso. I am not trying to make light of this I am very serious and I know that security at the resort is a serious business, but for several reasons this practice of wanting to check your belt line is just plain wrong. Neither of us was wearing a caftan, as Premium Annual Passholders we are well aware of what is allowed and not allowed in the parks. We have never and would never try to sneak anything in that was not allowed and quite frankly it's disrespectful to have this CM with little more than a second grade education checking us for contraband, as if!
Back to today we breezed through the security check today, even though we were both wearing untucked shirts, which just goes to tell you that there is really no consistency in the policy of the so called "belt line check" it's as if these CM's are just making things up on the fly! Let's see the policy in writing so we know what the policy really is! And yes I am still pissed off! If they are really concerned about security why don't they install metal detectors? Again I am quite serious, I would feel safer using a full body scan than trusting my security to a CM with no security training or knowledge of security procedures, and here's a little food for thought. What would a CM do if they found a gun or God forbid a bomb on a guest? My guess is they would panic, and wet themselves, I know I would. I also want to make it clear that I don't believe all CM's are stupid or uneducated, however I seem to have to have my interactions with the ones that are. It's no wonder that there is such a turnover in CM's as they just about hire anyone and weed them out later. And just so you don't walk away thinking I am a real AH concerning CM's, I was one once upon a time. Oh sure I only lasted two day. yes two days, but I can speak with some knowledge about being a CM.
Back to the Monorail, are you still with me? Good! Even the Monorail was crowded, lots of tourist, and not well traveled tourists. How many times do the Monorail CM's have to ask guests to take their children out of strollers and fold up the strollers before boarding the Monorail? The Monorail gets to the station and here they go trying to ram their strollers with their children still strapped in. Another thing I would like to ask at is at what age should children be made to walk on their own? I believe by the age of 8 children who are able bodied should be walking on their own and not taking up space in a stroller. Parents seem to believe that pushing a stroller gives them some sort of entitlement, and use the stroller as a battering ram.
LOL I can hear the fireworks out my window so I know another day of magic is ending at the Disneyland resort so for now I am going to end here, for now, but fear not I will pick up where I left off and go on and on some more.
I want to leave you with this thought tonight, Stroller Free Day at Disneyland, or Adults Only Day at the Resort, thoughts? I think it's a good idea and really isn't that all the matters?
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