MotorBoat Cruiser
03-08-2004, 09:38 PM
A summers day in March – 3/8/04 Trip Report
We decided today that it was just too beautiful outside to sit at home. It felt like a summer day, even though it is still “winter”. (gotta love California). Disneyland seemed like the place to be. Particularly appealing to us was the fact the last few trips we have made have been cold, rainy, and pretty gloomy. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore DL in the rain. We were however, ready for a nice hot day for a change, with no coats, no ponchos, no hot chocolate. We got our wish.
One of the first things we rode was Grizzly River Rapids. I have heard that they have the ability to control how wet the guests get, depending on the weather. While it could have just been a coincidence, we got freakin soaked on this ride today. Not damp, not wet, ... absolutely drenched. And you know what? It felt great. We dried pretty quickly.
After a spin on California Screamin’ to further dry off, we headed to Disneyland. It has been a long time since I have been to Disneyland when it was so hot. It reminded me of a lot of days of my youth, visiting with my family while on vacation to Southern CA. When I was little, I never focused on how hot it was outside. It didn’t matter, I was at Disneyland. Today felt the same way. Besides, the great thing about hot days, is how really good the air conditioning feels when you finally get inside a ride. The Haunted Mansion never felt better. Likewise with "Pirates". On my favorite ride, the Jungle Cruise, we got a really good skipper today. I didn’t catch his name but he had the whole boat laughing out loud. He used a lot of lines that I haven’t heard before, which always scores points with me. And the Jungle Cruise, while awesome in the rain, really is neat when it is hot out. I guess the heat just works with the theme.
Then came Splash Mountain. We got on right as the sun was going down. Now, I usually get anywhere from a little to moderately wet on this ride, but nothing that doesn’t dry pretty quickly. Until today, that is. Let’s just put it this way. My shorts and shirt are still wet and the park has been closed for almost 3 hours as I write this. I got just about as wet on Splash as I did on Grizzly. That was a surprise.
We decided to head over to Matterhorn to dry off a little and took the Big Thunder trail to Fantasyland. This little stroll is what really made my day. They are taking down the wall finally and the trail looks so much better. You can see the waterfall and track again. I really missed seeing that. I can’t wait for this ride to re-open. Another change, one that should make non-smokers a little happier, is that they moved the smoking section a little farther from the main path and it is laid out much better. There are also a lot more benches in the entire pathway.
Other tidbits….
The monorail was not running today. That was kind of sad to see.
I noticed a large tear in the wallpaper in the ballroom at HM. I couldn’t help but feel that something like that would just kill Walt to see. By the way, it sure seems like there are more ghosts in there than I noticed before.
No Mark Twain either today. What going on with that??? It was just refurbished!
Anyway, I know my trip reports aren’t exactly filled with a bunch of earth-shattering information, but they are always fun for me to write. Every day at Disneyland for me is a day that is magical in its own way. Thanks for allowing me to share. :)
We decided today that it was just too beautiful outside to sit at home. It felt like a summer day, even though it is still “winter”. (gotta love California). Disneyland seemed like the place to be. Particularly appealing to us was the fact the last few trips we have made have been cold, rainy, and pretty gloomy. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore DL in the rain. We were however, ready for a nice hot day for a change, with no coats, no ponchos, no hot chocolate. We got our wish.
One of the first things we rode was Grizzly River Rapids. I have heard that they have the ability to control how wet the guests get, depending on the weather. While it could have just been a coincidence, we got freakin soaked on this ride today. Not damp, not wet, ... absolutely drenched. And you know what? It felt great. We dried pretty quickly.
After a spin on California Screamin’ to further dry off, we headed to Disneyland. It has been a long time since I have been to Disneyland when it was so hot. It reminded me of a lot of days of my youth, visiting with my family while on vacation to Southern CA. When I was little, I never focused on how hot it was outside. It didn’t matter, I was at Disneyland. Today felt the same way. Besides, the great thing about hot days, is how really good the air conditioning feels when you finally get inside a ride. The Haunted Mansion never felt better. Likewise with "Pirates". On my favorite ride, the Jungle Cruise, we got a really good skipper today. I didn’t catch his name but he had the whole boat laughing out loud. He used a lot of lines that I haven’t heard before, which always scores points with me. And the Jungle Cruise, while awesome in the rain, really is neat when it is hot out. I guess the heat just works with the theme.
Then came Splash Mountain. We got on right as the sun was going down. Now, I usually get anywhere from a little to moderately wet on this ride, but nothing that doesn’t dry pretty quickly. Until today, that is. Let’s just put it this way. My shorts and shirt are still wet and the park has been closed for almost 3 hours as I write this. I got just about as wet on Splash as I did on Grizzly. That was a surprise.
We decided to head over to Matterhorn to dry off a little and took the Big Thunder trail to Fantasyland. This little stroll is what really made my day. They are taking down the wall finally and the trail looks so much better. You can see the waterfall and track again. I really missed seeing that. I can’t wait for this ride to re-open. Another change, one that should make non-smokers a little happier, is that they moved the smoking section a little farther from the main path and it is laid out much better. There are also a lot more benches in the entire pathway.
Other tidbits….
The monorail was not running today. That was kind of sad to see.
I noticed a large tear in the wallpaper in the ballroom at HM. I couldn’t help but feel that something like that would just kill Walt to see. By the way, it sure seems like there are more ghosts in there than I noticed before.
No Mark Twain either today. What going on with that??? It was just refurbished!
Anyway, I know my trip reports aren’t exactly filled with a bunch of earth-shattering information, but they are always fun for me to write. Every day at Disneyland for me is a day that is magical in its own way. Thanks for allowing me to share. :)