A Clue???

Some time back I made mention of the 512 address at Disney's California Adventure. I had no idea how it came to be, but today I may have stumbled on a clue...

I happen to know the address of a nuts & bolts location of Disney's Imaganeering operations. Today I checked out the street view (hence the low quality graininess), and the opposite end of that address happens to have the address 512!!! Sounds like just the sort of inside inspiration those guys would use!!!

So much more to blog about, one of these days...

The Sleep Deprivation Experiment

The flight out to Florida left of Saturday night, arriving a bit after 6 AM on Sunday morning, with a couple of hours layover in Las Vegas. Of course, there was a some delay leaving, but still in time to make the connection. Just enough time in Vegas to get a couple mini pizzas and bread sticks, go to the bathroom, and eat before getting on the Orlando bound flight.


Of course, the theory on travelling at night was that we could get some sleep on the plane. The youngest complied with this on the second leg of the journey without any encouragement. They did push the drink and snack cart through, and they had Shrek the Third for an in-flight movie, which the older boy and I both watched. I did a little bit of snoozing, as did the older boy, but wifey got none. I think she was too excited.



We arrived at Disney's Pop Century resort right at daybreak. Moved our stuff into our room, and then the boys and I decided to go to the Typhoon Lagoon water park during the first part of the day, while mom got a nap in. That didn't last long, the younger scraped his knee in the wave pool right at the beginning, and didn't want to have much more to do with that. We rode tubes around the outer river for a bit, then he was ready to go back to our room and nap some himself.

He fell asleep on the bus heading back, but when we got back he was ready to go check out the bowling pin pool. A little bit of that, and then back to our room (on the opposite end of the resort) through the buildings to check out some of the theming. Everyone was ready to eat by the time we got back, so we did that, then proceeded to the Disney World's Magic Kingdom park.



It was the featured park for Disney's "Extra Magic Hours", a plan where resort guests can remain in the parks for an additional two or three hours in the evenings, or get in an hour earlier in the morning. The featured park changes daily.



One of the first stops was to buy the Pal Mickey of which we had heard. He is pretty cool, but his volume is so low that you need to hold him to your ear to be able to hear what he says. The youngest wore him on the neck of his shirt almost every day.



We rode the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, shorter than the California version, but other than that virtually identical. The youngest was up for riding Thunder Mountain Railroad again, even though he didn't care for it when he got off last time.

Disney World has an area that Disney Land doesn't have, a Liberty Square, and the cars run four across instead of two by two in California. Also, they still have the People Mover ride there, although they don't call it that. Neither of my boys had ever seen that, it was before their time.

We never got a chance to ride Splash Mountain. It differs from the California version in that, instead of riding front to back, it has side by side seating. Interestingly, the older and I rode Space Mountain, and it has front to back seating, whereas the California version has side by side seating. It seems to be a quicker, better coaster in Florida, too.

And, look at this!!! Disney World has a rollable sphere, too!!!

I think it was around 1:30 AM when we left. Too much fun to do any sleeping!!!

Disneyland After Dark

Cuz it's after dark now
And Disneyland is closed
We've been served
Ice cold beer
And Walt is our host

It's after dark now
And Disneyland is closed...
The party is over
The night is here
Let's bring out a toast...

Well, here it is, the recap of our Disneyland trip!!! The event was on Thursday night from 9 PM to 1 AM. We left to get there early, and it was a full half hour before that we arrived. Good thing, because there was a HUGE line to get the tickets from will call. By the time we made it through that and got from the tram and through the security check it was around 9:45. There was also a bit of a line to turn in some recyclable plastic bottles to get a Mark and Brian treasure map.

Upon arriving in the park, there was a touch of the surreal. Disneyland after dark is usually somewhat strange anyway. I remember one time when I was probably around ten or so, we went to the theatre in Fantasyland to see a play while the park was closed. Very strange. This was also strange, we got into the park, and walking up Main Street USA, they have the broadcast of KLOS playing. Tying into the Stones reference once again, the song playing upon our entrance was "Paint it Black".

Our first area that we wanted to visit was the New Orleans Square area, because last time we were there the Pirates of the Caribbean ride was closed, as they were re-tooling it to add in Jack Sparrow. On the way we passed by the Indiana Jones ride, and I asked the firstborn if he wanted to go on that. He did, so I left him and momma in the line and set off with the younger to find something to do in the meantime. On our way through, we came across the first of the treasures that we had to find on the treasure map. Five different lands were specified to have a treasure hidden in them, and we needed to write down the color for each. This one was a projected image on the ground right outside of the Golden Horseshoe Revue. Cool.

The Sailing Ship Colombia is one of those attractions that I have seen for years, but have never been on. It was docked a bit from there, and he wanted to go on it. The attendant invited us aboard, but informed us that it wasn't sailing that night. It was very cool, anyway, great detail, and the boy enjoyed playing pirate for quite a while, until I got the call that they had gotten off the Indiana Jones ride. Met up with them, and they had spotted another treasure projected over a shop opposite the ride.



After that we went to the Pirates ride. I have to say, they did a great job of adding in Jack Sparrow while retaining the original feel. The cannon ball shots are much better than they used to be, and they added in a really awesome Davey Jones effect.

We had figured that going on Splash Mountain would probably be a very short line, because who wants to get wet at night??? That was our next destination, but it was closed when we got there!!! Bummer. OK, what next??? Space Mountain, pretty much on the opposite side of the park. OK, we'll catch the train from there to the other side. Got to the train station, and it's closed, too!!! Fine, we'll walk that way, and ride the Matterhorn Bobsleds on the way. Guess what, those are closed down too!!! Looked like they were working on it, though. Onward to Tomorrowland, and surprise of surprises, Space Mountain is actually open!!! While standing in line, we saw the third of the treasures projected on a wall. I was a bit surprised that the younger wanted to ride it. On the last part of the ride, I looked around to see how he was doing, and he's shaking his head "NO". Guess he didn't like it so much.

We headed back towards Fantasyland, and the Matterhorn is up and running again. Once again, the oldest and momma get in line while the younger and I head off to see what else was of interest. He wanted to go back to the pirate ship (not the Pirates ride, but the Sailing Ship Colombia) but on the way there I spotted the Jungle Cruise (with a very short line), and he was up for that. I'd never been on that after dark, either, and it was cool, with a whole new set of their famous corny jokes.

As we were getting off that, I got the call that the other half had finished up their ride (actually got to go twice) so I told them to make their way to Sleeping Beauty's Castle (which has gotten a whole new pink and purple lighting scheme, looks pretty nice) and we'd meet up there. Wandering through the castle, I spotted the final treasure projected on one of the back walls of the castle.

There was a bit of a line to turn in the completed map for the prize, but took care of that, too. The prize was a VERY cool Mark and Brian pirate flag. I now have a new most valued possession.

The boy was getting hungry and momma was thirsty. None of the pretzel or churro stands were open, so we ended up going to the Royal Street Veranda for some of their AWESOME clam chowder and gumbo in sourdough ball bowls. That was the only part of the evening that cost us a thing, even parking was free for this night.

By the time we were done eating, it was a few minutes until closing. We weren't too far from Thunder Mountain Railroad, so we headed that way. We made it in time for the last run of the night, and got to choose our seat and everything. The younger boy was a bit unsure about it, and wasn't going to go until he saw that it was a train. Afterwards, he wasn't so sure about that ride, either!!!

So, we only got onto a few rides and were out until well after 2 AM. Still, last time I went to Disneyland I was out $228 by the time we got into the park, so this was still very cool. And I got a new centerpiece for my Mark and Brian shrine!!!