Christmas Eve 2010 Page One
We were so excited we got to Disneyland about 30 minutes early so we went to Catal for a glass of champagne before breakfast at the Rainforest Cafe.
The bar wasn't even open yet
One tall glass of water and she is wasted! Hic !
To The Rainforest Cafe
Health food... The orange juice that is!
Did you know? - Orange juice is a good source of vitamin C (ascorbic acid), potassium, thiamine, Phosphorus G, folic acid (Vitamin B9) and vitamin B6. The vitamin C in turn aids the body's absorption of iron. One 8-ounce (227 ml) glass of 100 percent orange juice counts as almost 25 percent of the USDA-recommended daily fruit and vegetable servings, based on a 2,000-calorie diet. Research shows orange juice is more nutrient dense than many commonly consumed 100 percent fruit juices, such as apple, grape, pineapple and prune. ~ Wikipedia
We are ready to go!
Nick stayed with his Grandmother today and we missed him a lot
We Made It
Did you know? - Under the original track plan, two trains (one freight and one passenger) could operate on the railroad simultaneously in the same clockwise direction. A rail siding was incorporated at Main Street Station and at Frontierland Station, where one train had to wait to allow the other to pass. To allow the use of more than two trains, the operation was changed so that the trains no longer passed each other.
The passing track at Main Street Station was disconnected and now is only used to display a narrow gauge Kalamazoo handcar, while the passing track at Frontierland Station was removed completely. Walt Disney dictated that two trains were to operate at all times, and it is not uncommon for three or four trains to run simultaneously on busy days.
Tour Time
Where to put the tag??
Disneyland's 'Holiday Time at Disneyland' is a guided tour filled with holiday
history, legend and customs of cultures throughout the world. You'll learn how these traditions are a part of
Disneyland's holiday heritage.
Tour Highlights:
- Priority boarding on two holiday themed attractions
- Sweet treat and beverage
- Collectible trading pin
- Collectible Tour Tag Ornament
- RReserved seating for 'A Christmas Fantasy Parade'
The purse is perfect
Excellent choice Robin
We are ready to go!
Bells assure we can find her as the day progresses
We be wired now!
Meet our guide
Off We Go
Did you know? - Disneyland California's Christmas Tree, the centerpiece of Main Street USA, became completely artificial in 2008. For the first time in 53 years an artificial tree was installed to facilitate a holiday light show with a whopping 62,000 energy-efficient LED lights and enhanced effects. Not only is the park actively participating in energy-saving holiday celebrations in keeping with other efforts throughout the seasons such as the more efficient, less polluting Disneyland Fireworks display held many nights throughout the year, but the event planners are also reach higher in an effort to wow audiences.
Bob approves... We think!
"Piece of candy little girl??"
It was a beautiful day
Five days of rain made the castle sparkle
Modeled after the castle of Neuschwanstein in Bavaria, one of King Ludwig II’s fairy-tale castles built during his years of madness
The Matterhorn was magnificent today
- The 1/100 scale 147 foot tall Matterhorn at Disneyland is set in exact geographical alignment with the real Matterhorn in Switzerland.
- The real reason for the bobsleds to run through water (at the end) was that the company Arrow, who designed the ride, wanted to scrub off speed at the end, and they thought water would be the best solution. When Walt informed them there would be an Alpine like lake at the base of the mountain, they pitched the idea.
- The Matterhorn has an interesting design. When you board the ride at the Fantasyland side of the mountain, you will experience a "mild" ride- theory being that this is the side that more children will enter and that teenagers will be more attracted to the "rougher" side at Autopia/Submarines.
- While on the Matterhorn, I noticed that you can see the elevator that goes to the top of the ride. Its location is hard to find but if you are on the left side of the ride (looking at it from Fantasyland), keep looking on the left side while the ride is going. Its pretty cool when you find it.
Off To The Haunted Mansion
Did you know? - Despite praise from other Imagineers, Disney did not like the idea of a run-down building in his pristine park, hence his well-known saying, "We'll take care of the outside and let the ghosts take care of the inside." Despite this, Disney journeyed out to the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California and became deeply captivated with the massive mansion with its stairs to nowhere, doors that open to walls and holes, and elevators. Anderson came up with stories for the mansion, including tales of a ghostly sea captain who killed his nosy bride and then hanged himself, a mansion home to an unfortunate family, and a ghostly wedding party with previous Disney villains and spooks like Captain Hook, Lonesome Ghosts, and the headless horseman. Some of the Universal Monsters were even planned to appear.
Did you know? - The decision was made to place the attraction in the New Orleans Square section of the park, and thus the building was themed as a haunted antebellum mansion. In 1961, handbills announcing a 1963 opening of the Haunted Mansion were given out at Disneyland's main entrance. Construction began a year later, and the exterior was completed in 1963. The attraction was previewed in a 1965 episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, but the attraction itself would not open until 1969. The six-year delay owed heavily to Disney's involvement in the New York World's Fair in 1964–1965 and to an attraction redesign after Walt's death in 1966.
Did you know? - The original Disneyland Haunted Mansion required clever space management in a theme park that has always contended with a lack of space. When the New Orleans Square area was added in the early 1960s, there was no more room in that quarter of the park for large attractions. The Imagineers therefore placed the bulk of the two major attractions — Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion — outside the park's earthen berm. The famed "stretching rooms" were implemented simply so guests could be moved underground and outside of the park without them knowing.
Most guests do not realize that the portrait hall is actually an underground passage leading under the berm behind the mansion facade. As they enter the loading area, they pass beneath the Disneyland Railroad's tracks and into a vast, approximately 37,000 square feet (3,400 m2), soundstage-like show building located outside the park boundaries. Painted dull green like most Disneyland show buildings, this 35-foot (11 m)-tall facility is roughly rectangular, with a front section that is covered by the berm and through which the train tunnel passes.
Guests may catch a very brief glimpse of the building while riding the tram from the Mickey and Friends parking structure, or by boarding the Disneyland Railroad at the New Orleans Square station and facing backwards in the train. However, the show building has no visible above-ground connection to the themed façade within the park.
It's Indeed A Small World
Robin is becoming blond again
Did you know? - The original concept for It's a Small World had the dolls singing the national anthem from each country they represented, resulting in a loud dissonance of music. Walt Disney asked staff composers Robert and Richard Sherman to write a single theme song for the ride that could be easily translated into many different languages. The Sherman's first version of the "It's a Small World" song, which was written in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis, was played as a low ballad.
Walt requested something more cheerful, so the song was sped up and sung as a round, or roundelay. At the first presentation to Walt, the Shermans performed the song while walking through a scale model of the attraction, singing and clapping their hands. Walt was delighted, and that song became the famous "It's a Small World (After All)" tune that is sung in each version of the attraction.
