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Nephythys
09-25-2003, 12:43 PM
Well- this last week has been filled with negative issues. Eisner loathing and disrepair woes. Even I asked what your least favorite attraction was.

Time for a change!

What is your favorite?

Attraction?

Disneyland memory?

Helpful CM?

Put the emphasis on the positive!

My favorite is Haunted Mansion, hands down! Though I do also love Splash Mountain as well. Actually I love them all, but HM is always the first attraction I go to when I get to the park.

Fave memory? The wide eyes and smiles on my childrens faces when they went on Space Mountain the first time, and for the rest of the day the first time they were at DL- it was so fun to see my childhood (and adulthood) joy reflected in them.

Fave CM moment- The Mad Hatter made a real effort to be friendly to my daughter, Rose. He knew she was waiting to meet Esmerelda so he went to find her for Rosie. When Esmerelda arrived she went straight to Rose and called her by name and spent a nice amount of time chatting with her and giving her hugs and taking pictures. She even personalized her signature in Rose's autograph book- "To Princess Gypsy Rose"- it was a very sweet moment.

I wil always LOVE Disneyland, no matter the thorns, it is truly a beautiful place to me.:D

Cadaverous Pallor
09-25-2003, 12:54 PM
Positive moment:

Last Friday we were at the park. We wandered by Club Buzz. Behind us, a father said "To infinity..." and a small child of about 7 years said "AND BEYOND!" It was so adorable, both GD and I busted into grins. :D

mrscoach
09-25-2003, 01:23 PM
Favorite memory: When my then 2-year old son got to go to the park for the first time, and we watched the parade. He was grinning from ear to ear, and they kept playing that Disney feel-good music, and I was totally in tears. I'm such a dork.
:)

DivaPrincess
09-25-2003, 01:33 PM
As a child/teenager, I always wanted to go to Disneyland with my family, but my parent's idea of fun was two week long camping trips every summer. I had only gone to DL two times when I met my husband. We got engaged on a Saturday night and had a short trip planned for the next day in San Diego. On the trip down, he decided he would take me to Disneyland the next day. (He grew up with Disneyland trips every summer). So we went together, our first date as an engaged couple. Just being in love in the happiest place on earth was amazing and every time we go back, it's great to be in a special place for us.

Of course, seeing my daughters eyes light up when she saw the castle for the first time was amazing, too.

tod
09-25-2003, 01:35 PM
Originally posted by Nephythys
Attraction?

Pirates, probably. Peter Pan before the RED EXIT LIGHTS appeared.


Disneyland memory?

Late Summer afternoon, in the shade in front of City Hall. Alice, in her cute blue pinafore, trilling about a Mad Tea Party and the Mad Hatter was going to be there in this awful fake accent (40% Kathryn Beaumont, 60% Moon Unit Zappa) and Tigger stepped behind her and in mid-sentence she stopped and shrilled "TIGGER!!" The lovely Mrs. tod and I think he goosed her.

Another day, by the Mad Hatter, Donald in the street and every time new children come up for a hug or a picture taking a small step backward. I see that he is close to the curb and I say in a loud voice, "Donald! Curb right behind you!"

He turned around, looked down at the curb, looked up at me, and gave me a salute.


Helpful CM?

My CM friend Michael who signed me in the day I won the million points.

HONORABLE MENTION: The nurses who always have a smile and a Band-Aid or an aspirin when you need one.

HONORABLE MENTION 2: The sweet old granny ladies who run the baby center. They helped me get the little tods through many diaper changes and quiet feedings far from the hurly-burly.

HONORABLE MENTION 3: At Retreat, I love watching Ernie. Very thin, very military, he wears the Security uniform like a Marine's deess blues. Barking out orders, lowering the flag with perfect timing, folding it precisely, cradling it in his arms as the Honor Guard marches off.

HONORABLE MENTION 4: The drummer in the Disneyland band. I have seen him beat out a marching cadence on his snare that sounded like he had two other guys with him. Put him behind a kit and he is awesome. I have been a fan of the guy for 20 years, give or take.

I guess these last two are "Favorite CMs"...


Put the emphasis on the positive!

How'd I do?

--T

:fez:

Nephythys
09-25-2003, 01:43 PM
Tod- that was awesomely positive- loved it!:D

Disneyphile
09-25-2003, 02:25 PM
One of my favorite most recent incidents was over the summer when I needed a bandaid and went to First Aid. Not only did they give me one, but provided me with a few extras in case they fell off, and then wouldn't let me leave without offering me sunscreen. It was almost just like going to my mom for a "boo-boo" when I was young. :D Super-duper friendly!

Gr8Scott
09-25-2003, 02:34 PM
I live in Canada so I don’t get to DLR as much as I would like to. As I was growing up, my family went to DLR a few times and I had a blast but nothing compared to taking my 7 & 8 year old sons in late February 2003. My wife, boys and I had the best time imaginable. We stayed for a week and always had something to do. The last time I was there, DCA was a parking lot. We hopped back and fourth from park to park. (Yes, we really enjoyed DCA) My sons loved California Screamin’, ITTBAB and Soarin’ over California. Both parks were less than crowded. We practically walked on to every ride we wanted. We rode Space Mountain, Pirates, Indy and BTMRR continuously. I don’t know how someone could be in that atmosphere and have a negative thought. The music, the weather the scenery and the CMs just made things great.
Driving was an interesting experience. We left with snow on the ground and the scenery changed ever so slightly until we saw cacti and palm trees. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we are driving down again in late February 2004.
:D :D :D

MammaSilva
09-25-2003, 02:36 PM
Oh wow.. I love this thread already!!!

Favorite memory.. all of them ..but seriously right now my 'most favorite' of all... was standing on the bridge watching the trains fly by with the most adorable 2 and 4 year old little boys and listening to the 4 year old explain to me just what the Goat trick was and how he knew about it...his face was so serious but so full of wonder.

Favorite attraction: Mine...Haunted Mansion....I love it that I see something 'new' it seems every time we go.

Favorite CM memory....ok this one is a LOT harder...we've had so many wonderful interactions with CM's, there was the awesome CM helping in the portrayal of John Smith that was right there when my little one fell, and he came and picked her up (ok we know he probably wasn't supposed to but he did) he dried her tears and talked to her about how brave she was...

Another CM story....The kids all went on Big Thunder but I wanted to smoke so I sent them on without me, with instructions to walk to the smokers area if I wasn't at the exit when they were finished. Well I was walking back towards the exit just as they come down the walkway but there is a CM right on their heels...I really didn't think much about it til I started talking to the kids and the CM approached me and asked if she could speak to me. MY HEART stopped... all I could think of is OMG what did they DO wrong???? Imagine my amazement when she started telling me how impressed she and the other CM's were with how attentive the boys were in watching their little sister and cousin, and how polite they were to the CM's and as a reward would it be alright with me if she gave them a coupon good for free ice creams?????? The kids actually asked us NOT to use the coupon, they said it was worth more to have the coupon than to get the ice cream... naturally we saved the coupon but bought them their ice creams anyway!

Favorite "non attraction" thing to do....stop and listen to the street musicians and watch my daughter "bop" to the music either in her wheelchair or if she's walking at the moment...start to dance.

Like I said I'm really loving this thread.. it's reminding me why I drive 8 hours as often as we can to take her to this magical place!

Tigertail777
09-25-2003, 02:42 PM
hmm attraction hmmm gosh thats really hard... sorry I cant pick just one (used to be only pirates hands down).

I still absolutely love pirates, still probably my fave ride... however, Indy (despite its flaws when I went which I wont get into here) was AWESOME! Sure I had a fastpass and could have just breezed through the que like everyone else was... but I couldn't I was absolutely enthralled and entranced by just the que. The que to me was a ride unto itself... I tried to watch the entire loop of the que move, but my folks wanted to move on LOL.
I only got to ride it twice, but wow Indy is just magic!

Oh and Pirates ( have to explain here.. before my last trip in July of last year... the last time I had been to Disneyland was over 10 years ago) other than the food thing, I really liked a lot of the additions they made... love the new little magical touches; the mist projection of the skull and crossbones in the little alcove, the fog rolling over the water as you approach the wicked wench, the sword fighting pirates shadows, the pop up spaniard heads at the fort, the hauling treasure pirates at the exit. Very cool stuff, I really liked all that! Oh and I almost forgot: the fiberoptic lettering on the little island as you enter the que.

And I fell in love all over again with tiki room... despite its lack of upkeep, still one of the most magical things in the park, plus I finally got to try a Dole whip to add to the experience...MMM yum!

Hmmm memories... there are so many, and a lot of them from our last trip. I was thrilled to get a Mark Twain pilots license (even though I couldnt actually go into the cabin, they still arranged for the license for me) after riding mark twain for the first time in my adult life, and loving every minute of it (what great views you can see from the deck! wow!) the perfect capper for that first ride was that pilots license waiting for me at the dock with my name on it ... it was just something so special to me.

A funny memory from last trip... you know on haunted mansion the spiel says somethign like 2-3 to a car? well I asked a cm to make sure and they said yes you can fit 3 in a car... well the minute me and my mom and dad go in we very quickly realized 3 was NOT going to work.. but it was too late to get off.. so we ended up riding turned sideways hip to hip throughout the full ride. It was painful and cramped... but really funny looking back on it, and you know I wouldnt have done it any other way now that I think about it... because I had that special time of riding with both my folks on the Haunted Mansion.. something we will probably never do again for obvious reasons LOL.

Watching Fantasmic with my folks for the first time... just truly magical I wasnt sure I would like it, because I really dont care for parades and shows in simular vein... but I just have to say sitting there by the waterfront, feeling the mist from the water screens as we watched them... there was never anything like it I have seen before... it was beautiful.

I can think of so many more... but this will have to for now.:D

Nephythys
09-25-2003, 02:47 PM
I am so happy to see these reponses- it inspires me to share more positive memories -

In 2001 I was absolutely tickled when Cinderella actually blew a kiss at MY little girl when Rose called her name, and this year Belle actually spoke to her from her float in the Parade of Stars. Those little things just made me tear up, that something so small can mean so much.

Haunted Mansion Holiday! I love HM, but I also love Nightmare before Christmas and to see the two married in such a wonderfully creative way just blew me away. No I have two ways to love my favorite ride. I am almost ashamed to admit it, but I just learned the words to Grim Grinning Ghosts this year, and I play it all the time.

This year Rose and I were eating at the Riverbelle Terrace for breakfast, and Rose had pancakes. This little bird flew down, landed on the table, hopped up and took a bite from her pancake RIGHT off the plate. It came back once more, with butter on it's beak!

The sweet CM's who recognized Rose almost every time they saw her on BTMRR, and there was another CM who recognized her from her visits with the Princesses. It was so nice to know that they really "see" us.

The way Dot's Puddle Park gave my daughter her second wind and made her laugh and giggle as she cooled down in the water.

I also have good memories of the way Disney guests seem to watch out for each other. There is a sense of "family" there, even when you don't know anyone.

and FANTASMIC-which caused me to be speechless with delight and I can NOT wait to see it again!

Oh- and lunches at the Blue Bayou. In 2001 we also met Ray Ramano outside the Blue Bayou, he shook my son's hand and said hello to me..wow!

LOYL2DZNY
09-26-2003, 06:07 AM
i would have to say that i don't really have one favorite of anything......I LOVE IT ALL!!!

i can say that growing up, my family would take trips every summer, if not every other summer, to DL and we loved it.
now, seeing my kids enjoy DL like i did when i was young, just makes the trips there all that much more worth it.

one memory that was funny was when my kids were posing for a picture with pluto, but my youngest son kept calling him "goofy". first it was on accident...then he thought it was funny, so insisted on calling pluto "goofy". well pluto "got mad" ;) , so he decided to chase my son ALL around toontown. it was the funniest thing. i have pictures of it, but wish i had it on video as well.

another time, i was heading to southern california with my best friend and my neice (before i met the husband). we stopped by my friends brother's house and they joined us on our trip to DL. well, 15 minutes into our drive there...we got into a car accident.
i totaled my car, my niece was unconcious....needles to say...we didn't go to disneyland that day. :crying:
to make a long story even longer, i had to call my brother (my niece's daddy) to tell him that we got into this accident and his daughter was being taken to the hospital, along with myself. of course, his response was..."i'm getting in my car right now...i'll be there in about 5 hours." so, about 4 hours later, my brother shows up with his wife, my sister, and her husband. they picked us up and we headed towards disneyland. they told me that they would still take us if that was ok. so, of course, i said yes. we headed to anaheim, got a motel room, and went to DL the next morning. we rented a wheelchair for me, and used a stroller for my niece (who was fine...really). we got on every ride almost right away. we were done with the park in about 3 hours. it was the best and worst trip to DL all together.

anyways...those were some of my good/bad times. sorry for the lengthy reply.
see you soon, mickey and pals!!!!
-A

Pat-n-Eil
09-26-2003, 08:41 AM
I went to Disneyland when I was 7 years old, but I didn't remember much except for foggy memories when I saw photographs in my parent's albums. I didn't feel the magic.

Next, I went to Disneyland when I was 18 for Grad Night. At 18, although I wasn't much of a rebel, Disneyland didn't appeal to me as much as places with more extreme rides, and I didn't feel the magic.

Next, I went to Disneyland when I was 32 with my 8 year old daughter and 5 year old son. She had an incredible time and my wife and I saw the wonder in their eyes. My son was a bit young for some of the rides yet, but we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel and I got some great video footage. This was also the time, during our Magic Morning breakfast where the CM in the Goofy Costume made our whole trip. He saw me with the video camera, made sure my kids were watching then proceeded to clown around with me.. cleaning the lens of my camera with his finger, ribbing the kids.. it was great. I felt the magic.

We have taken at least 1 trip there every year since. We've gone a variety of ways: Flying, driving, using various hotels/motels.. but we always enjoy ourselves.

The first time my son enjoyed the big rides was about 3 years later.. and from that time on we have really had all of our options open and enjoyed every minute there.

Because we have experienced it all we now like to slow down and take in Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and some of the tamer attractions. This year we will be making a point to go to the Tiki Room which we have not done (because until this message board, I didn't even know what it was)..

We especially like DCA ):eek: as a place where we can get our wild ride fix.. We love California Screamin' and will go at least 4 times per day while we are there. We'll go on Soarin' at least twice per day if the FastPasses work out. Who knows, because we are seeing the Holiday Disneyland for the first time this year and staying at the Grand Californian, we may make some new favorite memories! Haunted Mansion? Holiday Main Street? - Stay tuned..

Duane
09-26-2003, 08:58 AM
Cassandra- I'm glad to see a positive thread, it seems like that doesn't happen very often. I think there is a valuable lesson to be learned after reading all of the wonderful responses here. That is: Disneyland is still a magical place to visit and spend time with loved ones. The children are still amazed at the things they see and do in Disneyland. There will be memories which last a lifetime in your children's hearts all because you were kind enough to expose them to this fascinating park. To this day, I still cherish the fact that my parents took me to Disneyland to see a place through the eyes of Walt Disney. My mother has passed away since then but I can still remember our time together everytime I return to the Happiest Place on Earth, Disneyland.

MammaSilva
09-26-2003, 09:04 AM
I was thinking about this thread again this morning and just got overwhelmed with wonderful memories again...

Watching my little brother walk down Main Street with his children.. the first time ever for all of them.....

Watching my 5 year old niece as we walked across the draw bridge into Fantasyland after dark and having her older brother make the comment "NOW I feel like I'm in Disneyland" (auntie figured they would be more into the E tickets so we had done the Mountain range before going into Fantasyland their first time in the parks)

Watching my daughter stare at the Magic Mirror in Mickeys House waiting for him to appear... it's Magic for her every single time.

Watching my adopted kid and his excitement over getting to go back up the hallway and up the stretching room in the HM....

Twilight falling in the park and the lights appear as if by Magic...

It doesn't matter which attractions are in rehab when we go....there are somethings that are just there because we've walked thru the tunnel into another world....and it's why we'll keep going back as often as possible.

Nephythys
09-26-2003, 09:07 AM
I have another one- we were having dinner at Ariel's Grotto in DCA and Goofy came by and almost tripped over an untied shoe. I said he should be careful and he made several attempts to tie his own shoe, with humorous and useless results. So I offered to do it for him, he blew me kisses and I got down on one knee and tied Goofys shoe!

I got a big hug for the effort- it was a riot!:D

The Photographer
09-26-2003, 09:20 AM
So many wonderful days spent at the parks, it's hard to sum up but here are a few examples.

My friend Yoli and I were in Toontown, standing around, eating popcorn. Pluto is heading towards us when a woman grabs him by the arm and tries pulling him back. (Rude) He kept going. Walks up to us and sticks his nose in the popcorn. We're laughing of course thinking he's kidding around. Next thing we know, he's got my friend's bottle of water and he's trying to drink it. We're yelling Pluto, the cap isn't locked!! He puts his head back and the water goes through the holes in the costume head. We said, Pluto, you must be really hot and he shook his head yes and gave us the thumbs up.

Then a little boy walked over and when Pluto went to lick him, water came out and got the boy a little damp. He thought it was doggy slobber. That was hilarious.


Next...I went to DL trying to collect character autographs for my friend's birthday card. I thought it'd be a cute idea since we were always running around there. I was waiting for Mickey who was encircled by families drawing closer and closer to him. The CM came, and asked everyone to back up, that Mickey would go to them. She walked off to help another character. Things were good for 2 minutes and then it got much worse. I went over and got the girl to help Mickey. After, she asked me what I needed and I told her about the card.

She said that when they go on a break, to hand her the card. I did and she came back maybe 15 minutes later with about 20 signatures. She found everyone in the break room who could sign as characters. I was floored. I filled out a form in City Hall so DL could see just how appreciative I was and hopefully they'd be so as well.

Boy that was long. I'll stop now. :fez:

Ferris
09-26-2003, 09:25 AM
My favorite Disneyland memory is when my friends and I went to Goofy's kitchen for breakfast one morning (this was probably about 2 or 3 years ago). It was a slow day, and at one point we were the only ones left in the restaraunt, so we got all of the attention from the characters (walking us around the restaraunt, putting utensils in our hair and other general hijinks). When it came time for us to leave, Goofy wouldn't let us go. After much haggling (which is hard to do with a character that can't speak) we all agreed that he should go to the park with us. So we all snuck out together! We were just wandering around the hotel with our own personal Goofy guide! No handler, CM or anything! Just us and Goofy! One of the CM's (obviouslly annoyed that he had left) finally found us and said that she had been looking all over for him. She made him go back to the restaraunt and continue with his duties, but it was fun while it lasted.

This, BTW, is a great thread! I couldn't help but smile reading everyone's posts.

Pirate Girl
09-26-2003, 09:47 AM
The last time I was at DL My cousin and I were wandering around in the Disney Gallery looking at all the pirate stuff. We spied a pirates tank top that we wanted, but they unfortunatly only had smalls. One of the CMs (David?) tried to locate other sizes for us. He spent about 15 min on the phone trying to find out when the next shipment was coming in. And he was so upset when he couldn't find them for us that we ended up reasuring him that it was ok and we would just keep checking back. We reported how helpful he was a city hall, hoping he'd get a raise or a pat on the back or something. He was really helpful.

LOYL2DZNY
09-26-2003, 10:03 AM
oh yeah...i forgot this one....this is more of a favorite feeling, though......
the feeling of walking thru the tunnel after the main gate into mainstreet and reading the plaque above. i can't remember the exact words but it's along the lines of leaving today, and entering into lands of fantasy, adventure, tomorrow, and so on. i'm sure some of you know the exact words, but i actually just noticed the plaque about 2 years ago, so it's kinda "new" to me, but i still love that feeling of reading it, then entering into "another world".
such a good feeling, and then i forget about all my worries on the "outside world" for the day. it's wonderful! :)
-A

Pirate Girl
09-26-2003, 10:08 AM
Originally posted by LOYL2DZNY
oh yeah...i forgot this one....this is more of a favorite feeling, though......
the feeling of walking thru the tunnel after the main gate into mainstreet and reading the plaque above. i can't remember the exact words but it's along the lines of leaving today, and entering into lands of fantasy, adventure, tomorrow, and so on. i'm sure some of you know the exact words, but i actually just noticed the plaque about 2 years ago, so it's kinda "new" to me, but i still love that feeling of reading it, then entering into "another world".
such a good feeling, and then i forget about all my worries on the "outside world" for the day. it's wonderful! :)
-A

"Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy."

LOYL2DZNY
09-26-2003, 10:16 AM
YUP!! THAT'S IT...THAT'S THE ONE!

see, i knew one of you would know it!

THANKS!!
-A

cstephens
09-26-2003, 10:26 AM
I have a lot of good memories associated with Disneyland, but I think the cumulative good ones are the first two years after I got my first AP. I got my AP in late March of 1997, during the tail end of the Lion King Celebration. I absolutely loved that parade, so I made it a habit of making it to DL by about 4:30 every Sunday afternoon and planting myself in Town Square right where I knew the percussion float would stop. I liked the parade as a whole, but they were my favorites.

About a month or two later, I found out about the Light Magic AP preview and though I knew nothing and had heard nothing about it, I decided to go with my friend and a bunch of his friends. During that night, I met a few other people in passing. A short while later, my friend mentioned to me that a bunch of people who had DL APs would get together on Sundays and asked if I wanted to go. I said sure, not knowing what really to expect.

He had told me to be at the hub at noon, because that's where they all met. I got there and saw this huge group of people gathered around, but since I didn't know and hadn't even heard of a single soul, I didn't approach them. Instead, I sat nearby, on the concrete circle seating that surrounds the Partners Statue. Time went by, and I could hear the group discussing going to lunch, but my friend still hadn't shown up. Since I didn't know anyone, I had decided that if he didn't come by the time they left, I'd just go on my way like I normally do. Just as people were getting ready to leave, my friend came running up, said hi to various people and then saw me and dragged me over and introduced me to a few people. This was my first noon meet, and there must have been about 20 people or so there. I think he had told me that this was a special meet because someone was coming back from a trip to Paris or Tokyo and so people wanted to hear about the trip.

It was a bit overwhelming to be introduced to a group that big, knowing only my friend, and to even digest that people would get together and hang out at Disneyland together. What a weird thing to do. :p But everyone was really friendly, and everyone enjoyed being at Disneyland, so it was a lot of fun.

After that day, I went to the noon meet every week for at least two years, not to mention the Friday nights and all or parts of Saturdays that I was also there. The group size would vary week to week, from 10 people to 40 at times. We'd all decide on a place to go to lunch, invade the place because of our numbers and then after lunch, we'd usually decide on one big ride to go on together, something like Pirates or Small World, before different people split up to do different things, only to have most of the people re-gather at 6pm at Coke Corner for the dinner meet. The part I enjoyed the most about the whole experience is that I got to meet a lot of people on a cursory basis, but every week, I seemed to spend separate time with different small groups of people, so I also had the opportunity to get to know each of the people on a more personal basis. Over time, I clicked more with some than others, but it was great to be able to form friendships and relationships that way. Many of the friends and acquaintances I have today are as a result, either directly or indirectly, of the countless hours I spent hanging out at Disneyland.

Captain Josh
09-26-2003, 11:29 AM
I think my best memories involve taking girls out on dates to the park. I'm just a gushy goof ball like that.

I'm also very easy to take advantage of, but that's another unrelated to the thread story...

Other good memories are just when I try to contribute to "good show" and it doesn't backfire....which it tends to do...but explosively comical results, usually, so I guess it IS a good thing.

Nephythys
09-26-2003, 11:33 AM
Originally posted by G-Hawk
I think my best memories involve taking girls out on dates to the park. I'm just a gushy goof ball like that.

I'm also very easy to take advantage of, but that's another unrelated to the thread story...

Other good memories are just when I try to contribute to "good show" and it doesn't backfire....which it tends to do...but explosively comical results, usually, so I guess it IS a good thing.

Ok, I want more details!:D