We never actually did anything in Frontierland. Sadly, there was a roller coaster there – Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – and we never got on it. Beenie, Keke, Stewie, and I passed through there on the way to Splash Mountain, but that's as close as we got.
On an unrelated note, it seems that the designated “smoker's corner” for Disneyland is in Frontierland. On a back path. Behind a rock.
Critter Country is the area of the park where, if I remember correctly, the Country Bear Jamboree used to be located. It's not there anymore. Nor is it anywhere, it's just gone. That is too bad, as I bet the kids would have really liked it. Now, in Critter Country, is The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. It is another one of those rides like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride where you are in a car and you go through a twisty, turny ride while looking at Day-Glo cutouts that illustrate the stories from Winnie the Pooh. Particularly fun was the psychedelic “Heffalumps and Woozles” section. Crazy, man!
Also in this area are Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger characters. We naturally got in line to see both. When visiting with Pooh, Stewie was so excited that he wouldn't turn around for a photo op. Ellen yelled, “Turn around!” Stewie didn't move, but Pooh turned around so his back was to us. Ellen had to clarify, “Not you, Pooh!”, at which Pooh turned around again and if it's possible for a character to have a sheepish look, he had one. It was classic!
In the meantime, Tigger was bounce-bounce-bounce-bounce-bouncing all over the place. He would even leave the area when kids were visiting, bounce over to Pooh, and then bounce back to the kids who were waiting for him. They (and the crowd) loved it!
Critter Country also has a restaurant where we ate lunch a couple of days. I expected the food and other amenities inside the park to be outrageously expensive, but I was pleasantly surprised. We ate at the Hungry Bear Restaurant for about $50 for a family of six. That's about right. We spent that much at the IHOP outside the park, and that was with 3 kids meals for free. And, the ambience! We sat on the patio, overlooking the “lagoon” where the boat rides were. As we ate, we were passed by the Mark Twain Riverboat, the Sailing Ship Columbia, and the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes. Also, the guys in flak jackets who were setting up the evening spectacular laser light show.
After lunch, the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes looked like so much fun that we decided to give it a try. We all climbed into these large canoes, and we had to paddle ourselves around the “river”, staying ahead of the riverboats, of course. I shared a seat with Munchkin, who was not so adept at paddling. Ahead of me was Stewie, and we kept getting our paddles tangled. Behind me was a kid not much older that Munchkin, who couldn't seem to get his paddle in the water without soaking me! I didn't mind so much, but as I was holding the paddle with both hands, and then when Munchkin gave up (about 4/5 of the way through) I was holding two paddles, I really couldn't protect the camera. Fortunately, it didn't get too wet, and we all had a lot of fun.
Critter Country also has what I believe is the newest ride – Splash Mountain. It was the one with the longest line every day we were there. On the good days, the line was 45 minutes. On the bad day it was 90. Again, FastPass to the rescue. I got a FastPass for it and Beenie, Keke, Stewie, and I got to jump the line and go on the ride. It was fun, but I don't get why it is so popular. The ride is a boat that floats through a flume, and all around is the Song of the South story. It's calm and tranquil, except for a couple of short hills that the boat slides down. Right near the end of the ride there is a huge drop down toward the Briar Patch, that culminates in a big splashdown where everyone gets soaked. And then it's over. The ride was fun, everyone had a blast, but I don't get the appeal – definitely not worth an hour and a half wait.
The thing that I noticed first about New Orleans Square was how crowded it was. That was my first impression on a day that wasn't the “I can't believe how many people are in this park” day. It must've been a combination of the layout of this part of the park, or all the people trying to squeeze around the lagoon between Frontierland and Critter Country, where the newest, most popular attraction, Splash Mountain, is located. My first thought was that it was jam packed because NOS is where my favorite ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, is located. However, the line for PoC wasn't very long. Even on the “bad day” the wait was only 25 minutes. (The other days it was 15.)
One of the best parts of this ride is that it is cool. And I mean temperature-wise. So on these really hot days, it was nice to be able to climb into a boat, and meander through the pirate's lair. The only changes to the ride that I noticed was at the beginning where there is a creepy, disembodied voice intoning “Dead men tell no tales” over and over again. I don't know if that is new, or if I just noticed it as I was trying to look at things as the kids would.
The other new thing was the inclusion of Capt. Jack Sparrow. Now, maybe he was in it before, but this time the story being told was based around him, and there was a new animatronic character, that looked just like Johnny Depp. Creepily life-like. As a matter of fact, it was interesting to see how lifelike it looked compared to the other pirates, who had the old-fashioned jerky movements, and mechanical feel. I had to look a couple of times to see that it wasn't an actor playing the part.
One interesting thing is that as you embark on the ride, you pass through the “old bayou” on the left (with working fireflies, which was cool), but on the right was a restaurant. A real restaurant, where you could actually go eat. I so want to do that! Eating lunch INSIDE the Pirates of the Caribbean ride – how cool would that be!
The other big attraction in New Orleans Square is the Haunted House. That's always a hoot! The little ones didn't get as freaked out as I thought they would, which was good. Munchkin said that she didn't want to go on it again, but she did a good job on the way through. We packed her, Beenie, and me in one eggshell car, so there wasn't a lot of room for the “hitchhiking” spectre at the end of the ride, but it was still a lot of fun. (And the ghosts pretty much squeeze themselves in whether there's enough room or not!)
I almost lost my sunglasses in the Haunted House. In the first room, where the walls extend up (or we go down, whichever), I was looking up at the paintings getting longer while holding Munchkin. My glasses were perched on the top of my head. Near the end, all the lights go off and I felt my glasses start sliding backward. Then, pop, they were gone. Now, I'm standing in a room filled with other guests, in the dark, and my sunglasses are somewhere on the floor behind me. I can't bend over and start feeling for them, as I'm holding my daughter. I just had to hold my breath and wait for the lights to come on. Fortunately no one stepped on them. That would have been bad.
Toontown wasn't there when I was a kid, nor was it there when I was 20. I guess that's because Who Framed Roger Rabbit still had about 2 years before it came out.
Toontown is styled to look like the cartoon houses and buildings of cartoon history, in an homage to Roger Rabbit. Actually a large part of the “land” is taken up by the Roger Rabbit ride, and other attractions that are related to the movie.
Ellen and the kids went on the Roger Rabbit ride, while Keke and I wandered around. We got a chance to look at the fountain and climb on the firetruck, and detonate the TNT. A couple of days later, Stewie wanted to go on it again, so we got a FastPass (a great innovation – allows you to return within a set time frame and jump to the front of the line) to come back later. We got back about 10 minutes after our FastPass was set to expire, but we went into the FastPass lane, I acted like I was all out of breath, and said, “Are we too late?” The guy said, “You're just in time”, and ushered us in. Sweet.
Toontown is where the main characters live. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy all have houses there. (Although Donald's is a boat.) The nice thing is that Mickey and Minnie also make appearances at their houses, so after a time or two in line we got to see both of them. We went as a family to Mickey's house, and got to see him “on the set of his movie”. Beenie went back a couple days later by himself and got to see Mickey on the set of “Steamboat Willie”, so that was pretty cool.
Other than Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, the only other ride in Toontown is a roller coaster called “Gadget's Go Coaster”. It was a smallish coaster, but it moved pretty quickly. Beenie found out from someone that it travels at the same speed as the Matterhorn. It is a much smoother ride, though. Even Munchkin enjoyed it – going on a couple of times.
There is a stop for the Disneyland Railroad just outside of Toontown, and we picked up the train there. It circled back through It's a Small World, then into the tunnel where you could see the Grand Canyon and the dinosaurs. It passed around through the Main Street station at the front of the park, and the next stop was New Orleans Square, where we got off.
Fantasyland was probably the place where we spent the most time. The carousel, excuse me, the King Arthur Carousel, is there, and everyone enjoyed that ride. Also Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and the Matterhorn, both of which had mixed reviews depending on who you spoke with. But, the Mad Tea Party (the teacup ride) is there and that was enjoyed several times. Except by me. Spinning, you see.
The Storybook Land Canal Boats was surprisingly fun. It was a soft, gentle ride through the gardens that have been manicured to look like miniature replicas of various storybook places. We saw Geppetto's Workshop, the Three Little Pig's houses, Aladdin's castle, and the place where Prince Eric washed ashore when he met Ariel.
Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride seemed to be enjoyed by all. More spinning – not me. One time we got there and the ride was shut down, although there was still a line. Turns out that right below the elephants is water, and a duckling had decided that it would be a good place to go for a swim. The “pool net” was brought out, the duckling scooped, and carefully taken away toward Storybook Land.
We also went on the Alice in Wonderland ride, which was fun. I went with Munchkin, and she wasn't too sure about it until we popped out of the dark, fluorescent-lighted tunnel. That is, until she realized that we were about 10 feet in the air over the line of people waiting for the ride. Then we turned the corner and went back in the ride for the second half. It was because of things like that that we tried to alternate between “scary” rides and “not scary” rides. Still, everyone was a trouper, and tried different things.
The Bibbidi Bobiddy Boutique was one place that Keke really, really wanted to go. It seems that here you can get yourself made up in full princess regalia. Hair, makeup, dress, the whole nine yards. The downside – it cost something like $250 to do this. I don't think so. She did get to go in the shop, but didn't get the makeover.
I can't believe that I'm saying this, but, by far, the best bang for your Disney buck would have to be It's a Small World. While it may play the most annoying song ever, it also appeared to be the longest ride we went on, with the shortest line. The longest we stood in line for it was maybe 20 minutes. And the kids loved it!! Absolutely loved it, so that made it all worthwhile. However, one time, when I was taking Keke, Stewie, and Munchkin on the ride we got almost all the way through (I think we were in the second to last room), and the ride stopped. There was a big pileup of boats just sitting there. We were probably only stuck for about 5 minutes, but it seemed like much longer. But, we got out just as the clock was striking, so we got to watch all the characters in the facade do their little dances right from the exit line. It was like being in the front row!
Also technically in Fantasyland, but more nestled between Fantasyland and Toontown, is the Princess Fantasy Faire. What a racket! The only thing here is the Disney Princesses.When you get to the front of the line, you are taken in and get to visit with whichever three princesses are there at the time. That would be great, except they are all behind a big wall so if you are waiting in line you can't even see them. And the line is incredible. We waited for a half hour one day, and hardly moved at all. We bailed. The next time, we waited almost an hour before bailing. Finally, we decided that Ellen and Munchkin would wait in line while Beenie, Keke, Stewie, and I went to Splash Mountain. Naturally, at this time, the line moved very fast, and they got in in no time. Munchkin was thrilled!! She got to meet and talk with Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine.
After passing through Main Street, we veered right and went to Tomorrowland. There is a ride there called the Astro Orbiter that Munchkin was bound and determined to go on. It was a bunch of “rocket ships” that are lifted up in the air, then spin around. (It's like the Dumbo ride, but with rocket ships.) That was the first ride we went on. I say we, except Stewie and I just watched. If it spins, I'm not getting on it. It's better for everyone that way.
It was in Tomorrowland that we met Buzz Lightyear. He was the first character that we actually met, and Stewie was thrilled!! Beenie and I did Space Mountain. Although I had talked about riding it while wearing sunglasses, we didn't. Still, it was dark enough. Pitch black as a matter of fact.
We didn't do much else in Tomorrowland, except for the cars. Autopia is one of those tracks where you are actually driving the car, and steering. (Except for the track in the center of the lane to keep you on course.) Stewie and I went in one car, following Ellen and Munchkin, and just ahead of Beenie and Keke. Stewie was excited for the ride, but at the last second he decided that I should drive. Didn't help much as I kept stalling the car. The only way to keep it going was to floor it. I wouldn't normally do that in a car. Nope. Not me. Really. Prior to the ride we all got our official “drivers license”s, and they didn't take them away when we were done, so we must have been okay.
Tomorrowland is also the place where we got on our last ride and departed the park for this vacation – the Monorail. While I recognize that it isn't technically a “ride”, it's really transportation, I do remember it being one of my favorite things when I was a kid, and our kids really wanted to do it. It was a one way trip from Tomorrowland to Downtown Disney, so we left the park and walked back to the hotel on Tuesday night, saying goodby to Disney and the fireworks at the same time.
Disneyland is the first amusement park I ever went to. At least I think it is. At the very least, it's the first amusement park that I remember going to. I went there first when I was seven, and again when I was eleven. Those trips are probably blog posts in themselves, although I'm sure in the dark recesses of my mind one trip has bled into the other, so I might be a little soft and loose with the facts.
I was there one more time, when I was 20. I was in college, and we went to California for the University of Arizona – UCLA football game. It wasn't a great weekend – UofA lost the game – but a couple of us went out on the town, as it were. We went to Disneyland and had a great time. That was 23 years ago.
This trip was totally different than any other one. This one I got to experience through the eyes of my children. Their fascination, awe, and wonder was just amazing to watch. I'm not really sure I can do it justice in words, but I'll try a tour through the park to see what happens.
Main Street USA
Walking in to Main Street USA is like walking into another world, another time. The most amazing thing about this area of the park was the characters. (I mean the Disney characters, not the other visitors.) Each day when we arrived, there were at least three characters in the town square signing autographs, posing for pictures, greeting people. It was cool. Beenie got an autograph book and started a collection. Munchkin was so excited for some of the characters that I thought her head was going to blow off. Stewie surprised me with that excited look on his face, but holding it together until he got to the character, then giving them a big hug. Keke was 9-year-old cool, until afterward when she was very excited in her retelling of the encounter. Even Ellen was excited as she got to meet Cruella DeVille! (I later had that excitement when I got to meet Sully from Monsters, Inc. - another park, another day, another post.)
Main Street hasn't changed much that I noticed in the years since I've been there. Shopping, mostly, and the arcade with the machine where you grab the two metal poles and see how much electrical current you can withstand. I forgot to go back and do it this trip, but 23 years ago I maxed it out. Of course, my left arm twitched the rest of the day. Ahh, good times!
We found the Magic Shop, which was in, or at, the castle when I was little. Beenie spent time chatting with the clerk and checking out the card tricks. He ended up buying a deck of cards that glow in the dark, and have pictures from the Haunted House on them. That night when we got to the hotel, he discovered that the 2 of clubs was missing from the deck. I went back to the shop to return them and told the clerk that they must truly be magical, as they are missing a card. She looked at me like I was an idiot. But, she exchanged the deck, and that was the goal.
We seemed to have pretty good (or bad) timing, in that almost every time we tried to go down Main Street, there was a parade going on. It was called “Celebrate – A Street Party.” Designed to celebrate all the reasons people were visiting (“First Time!” “Birthday!” “Colonoscopy! Yay!! Good for you!!”), it is a parade with singing, dancing, and characters, and these confetti canons that shot Mickey-head shaped pieces of paper all over the place. Thanks to Munchkin, I have a whole backpack pocket full of them (inexplicably crumpled up, though). We studiously avoided the parade until the day that Ellen took Beenie on the Matterhorn and I took the rest of the kids to It's a Small World. We couldn't get there because of the parade so we watched the parade. The kids did really enjoy it, though.
Ellen and the kids arrived at General Convention on Thursday. Jim was able to make the drive with them, so the driving and kid-wrangling wasn't so overwhelming. I talked to Ellen when they were about an hour out, and she said she would call me when they got to the hotel. I got the call right at 2:00, just as Bonnie Anderson was announcing that the House of Deputies would come to order in one minute.
After our session I went back to the hotel room and saw everyone. Was mobbed by the kids, actually. The idea was to come into town in time to go to the U2charist, so that was the next thing on our agenda. We got to the ballroom, the service started, and three of the four kids fell asleep. We decided to take them back to the room, and Jim offered to stay with them while Ellen and I went back to the U2charist. In the elevator on the way back we decided to skip the rest of the service, and hit the hotel bar. Good move.
Friday, while I was in the final sessions, everyone else wandered around the neighborhood (heading toward Disney), then they discovered the hotel pool, and hung out there the rest of the day. Dinner was at the New Orleans style restaurant in Downtown Disney, then some browsing on our way back. But the kids did get to see the fireworks from just outside the park.
Jim really wanted to see the Pacific Ocean, and Ellen and the kids had never been there either, so today we piled into the car and drove to Newport Beach. The beach was very different from the one we are used to (Nantucket Sound at Cape Cod). It went on for miles in either direction, and the walk from the boardwalk/sidewalk to the ocean must have been 400 feet (instead of the 4 feet at high tide in Cape Cod! - I exaggerate, but not by much.). The waves were pretty big, and the kids had a fun time playing in the surf. And getting their clothes wet even though we tried to minimize that. But the most amazing thing to me was that there was hardly anyone there. It was a beautiful Saturday morning and there couldn't have been more than two or three dozen people as far as the eye could see. I guess that's what happens when you have these enormous stretches of beach.
On the way to Newport Beach we passed the former Tower Records store in Costa Mesa. It's just sitting empty and falling apart. Sad.
Jim's flight is this evening – he is taking the red-eye back to Tallahassee – so we got him on the shuttle to the airport, then we decided to go visit Disneyland. We got these 5 day passes (for the price of a 3 day pass – what a deal!! Thanks, Mom!) so we figured we'd better get hopping as we are supposed to leave LA on Tuesday (although I'm thinking an extra day might not be so bad).
Our first evening at Disney was spent getting a feel for the park layout, what rides there were, and trying some things. We did some things like the Matterhorn, and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, both of which were met with mixed results, to say the least. I had promised Keke that I would take her on the Matterhorn as that was the first roller coaster I had ever been on. I thought it was great, but she was not a big fan. As a matter of fact she hid her head, and tried to duck down during the whole ride. Stewie wasn't a fan either, but I think that was because it shook you back and forth too much. Ellen didn't enjoy it because she spent the whole time keeping Munchkin from sliding down onto the floor of the car.
Speaking of Munchkin and rides, she got off Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and announced that she was never going on it again. What we were able to determine is that it wasn't the intensity of the ride so much as it was that she thought she was actually driving the car, and she wasn't doing a good job of it. Hmmm...better ride prep next time.
At the end of the evening we left Disneyland and went over to Disney's California Adventure. We went specifically for, and got there just in time for, the Main Street Electrical Parade. Of course, since it's now not on Main Street, USA, it's just the Disney Electrical Parade. Still, the magic is there - floats that are lit up and sparkly, and the characters are in lighted-up costumes. I think the music is the same as it was when I was little. The most fascinating thing in the parade was Elliot, the dragon from Pete's Dragon. Amazing, since the movie is not available (AFAIK), but the kids were mesmerized by the disappearing dragon. We'll have to see if we can rent it somewhere when we get home.
Once the parade ended, we left the park, watched the fireworks from the plaza in between the two parks, and then headed home (to the hotel).
I had a luncheon today that was sponsored by the Chicago Consultation. The theme was “Doing Justice, Building Communion.” As I walked into the room, Bishop Robinson gave me a nod and said “hello” from across the room. Once he had finished his conversation, he came over and greeted me and we chatted for a few minutes. I thought that was pretty neat, although I was aware that he was acting as greeter for the event. Still, he remembered me, and I'd only met him twice.
I looked down at the name card that I had been given to find that I had been assigned to table number seven. Since part of this event was designed to have us discuss the topic with our table mates, the Chicago Consultation, in their wisdom, sat those of us from the same diocese at different tables. I set off to find table seven. As I found it, I had to pass by Dr. Jenny Te Paa, the "ahorangi" or dean of Te Rau Kahikatea (College of St. John the Evangelist) in Auckland, New Zealand. She is one of the smartest people I have ever heard talk. I saw her speak at the General Convention in Columbus, and she addressed the House of Deputies yesterday, in a speech that can only be described as “transformational”. However, I digress...
So, as I'm passing by Dr. Te Paa, I realize that she, too, is assigned to table seven. Not only that, there is an empty seat next to her. So, I casually meander over to it and place my name card on the table, all the while thinking “Oh. My. God. I'm going to sit next to Jenny Te Paa for this lunchtime discussion.” It turns out that she was one of the speakers for the luncheon, and she delivered another brilliant speech about the Anglican Communion, justice, and the Episcopal Church.
Our discussion was really very good, with all of us at the table sharing our stories of how we came to be interested in the call of justice, or the work of the Chicago Consultation, or the issues facing the Anglican Communion. It was great, if not a little nerve-wracking, to have to tell my story to Jenny (she said I could call her Jenny – how cool), but she was very gracious and as I said, it was a good discussion.
I should mention that also at the table were Bishop Henry Parsley from Alabama, Bishop John Chane from Washington DC, Esther Mombo from Kenya, who also addressed the convention yesterday, and three other deputies.
The other thing that happened today was that we (the House of Deputies) passed Resolution D025, which is our response to Resolution B033. It is a very pastoral response that I believe spells out how we intend to remain in relationship with the rest of the Anglican Communion, while still stating/embracing who we are as an inclusive church. Gay Jennings (the chair of our deputation) is the chair of the World Mission committee, whose members listened to testimony about and debated all of the resolutions that had been presented about this. After the session ended for the day I told her that I thought the resolution that she had presented was a good one and that I had come to Anaheim with the belief that B033 should be overturned. Through the conversations that I had during the week, I came to realize that doing so could cause more pain, and potentially push people out, and the last thing I want to do is exclude anyone. I told Gay that, to me, D025 spoke to exactly where I was with the issue.
