PDA

View Full Version : Trip report: Wed. June 28 afternoon



potzbie
06-28-2006, 07:46 PM
Trip report for Wednesday June 28.
***
Goal was to do POTC, and then do whatever, until 6:00 p.m.
Got there at 12:05 for the MICKEY AND FRIENDS tram.

• FOOD
First food: DOLE whip float.
The sun and heat kind of made up my mind for me.
I needed liquid, and I needed ice cream.
Even before a ride.
Later, New England clam chowder in bread bowl, in that nook above POTC.
I nearly chose the "steak" bread bowl.
Has anyone tried the steak bread bowl?
It looks like celery and onions and tomatoes are the sauce.

* BILLY HILL AND THE HILLBILLIES
The #1 "gold" team was playing (Kirk; Dennis; Duane; John).
They included Bad Finger's "No Matter What You Do."
They did the comedy bit about the time when they were being heckled by five teenage boys, who requested "Zepplin, man!", whereupon BILL HILL & THE HILLBILLIES did the riff of "Black Dog" of Led Zepplin.
To wit:
"Hey, hey, momma.
Like the way you move.
Gonna make you sweat.
Gonna make you groove."
(Chorus, a cappella! In harmony!)
"Uhh-uhh. Uhh-uhh.
Uhh-uhh. Uhh-uhh."

• CORNER CAFE
New piano player!
Piano player, PATRICK, told me there will be 7 piano players for the summer.
PATRICK said that JOHNNY will soon retire.
You know that I like JOHNNY best, of all piano players since ROD MILLER retired. -- Great chops, that JOHNNY.
PATRICK played the daytime, since as I was leaving DL at 5:30 p.m., I saw ALAN working with the DAPPER DANS's routine at the CORNER CAFE.
PATRICK knows "ROBERT" whom I had mentioned previously was the newest of the piano players.
ROBERT is a showman, i.e., he likes to do the left hand cross over, a la CHICO MARX.
How many of the seven piano players can YOU name?

* VILLAIN'S LAIR
Villain of the day was CRUELLA DE VIL.
A good one.
This one had a swagger to her, a la Capt. Jack Sparrow (which I found endearing!).
(The swagger is not authentic to the movies' villain, in my opinion, but it "fit" well on this character.)
The ad libs were perfect.
Inside information: After the mid-day parade, the "Villain's Lair is in the sunlight, so the photo op site changes sides to the other side of the castle courtyard. Why don't they move the set up? They got about an HOUR between the last set and the end of the parade. Right?

• DISNEY PRINCESSES
Full complement of princesses were out:
CINDERELLA, AURORA, BELL, ARIEL.
( :) Gosh! I just gotta take one home with me. -- Maybe Christmas time, I'll stuff my stocking! Do you think Walt would mind if I borrowed ARIEL for spawning purposes? :eek: ;) )

• PARADE
For the parade stop, I got a good view for the first time of the LION KING float's entertainment for that given "stop".

• ALL AMERICAN COLLEGE BAND
Band is now under the direction of "RON".
I did not have an opportunity to ask "RON" his last name nor college affiliation.
As you know, Dr. Arthur C. Bartner of University of Southern California (Trojans) was the director for many years, even up to last summer.
Someone must ask "Ron" his COLLEGE AFFILIATION, and his LAST NAME, so that we get the full story straight.
Band was super, as always. -- They did Chicago's "Make Me Smile" (album version) and I got tears in my eyes, it was so right-on. -- No cop out. Full coda. -- Chicago fans know what I am talking about.

* Pirates of the Caribbean
Line moves well! -- One set of ZIG + ZAG in the rope queue and I was in the real POTC courtyard queue.
What is the meaning of the foyer's map, where the squawking parrot is? The map looks like it says "Isle of [something]". Is this a reference to the movie? I guess we won't know until July 7. Right?
Waterfall effect for Davy Jones face is surprising. (I cannot "spoil" the surprise.)
Well done effect. I thought, from the previous posters, it would be identical to the effect of FANTASMIC, but it was clearly cleaner, neater.
Boats did stall toward the end of the ride, and boats were bumping each other, in the last scene, before the ramp raises the boats.
But no, the ride did not technically stop.
So, I think they are launching too many boats, or launching them too soon in time together.
The audio-animatronics for CAPT. JACK SPARROW is clearly new technology.
The movement of the head and eyes is more human-like that all of the other, older mannequins.
When they did the refurb, you'd think they'd improve the look of the other mannequins. -- Real cheeks do not shine like that, and real eyeballs are not that dull.
See MADAME TUSSAUDS WAX MUSEUM for excellence in rendering of human skin and human eyeballs (New York City and Las Vegas).

• HAUNTED MANSION
I like the bride's patter, for this turn.
To wit:
---
(Hands are folded, as normal.)
"I do!"
(Hachet appears in hands.)
"I did!"
---
What other patter is there? I don't remember.
I did explicitly look at the photographs to look for the effect of the disappearing head of the husband.
It looks like EVERY SINGLE PHOTO has the effect.
The attic must be better lit now, because the first time I rode it months ago, the attic was way too dark to see anything even close to the quantity of things one can see now.
Back then, I never saw any photograph.

• WEATHER
It was so hot ...
(How hot was it? -- Ursula the sea witch was wearing sweat bands on ALL her wrists, during the mid-day parade.)
(How hot was it? -- Al Gore is right. -- There was no snow on the Matterhorn when Mickey Mouse climbed it today.)
(How hot was it? -- The penguins of Mary Poppins took off their dinner jackets and loosened their ties.)
... I had to stop by the Main Street First Aid station to lie down with a cold compress.
But in a half hour, I was good-as-new.

* RECOMMENDATION
Do the evening hours.
The killer heat interfered with my enjoyment of DL. -- I was wiped out.
Always wear a hat. Always wear sunglasses. Drink lots of fluids.
You know the lines are all shorter after the fireworks, when a significant percentage of families leave.
So, arrive at 9:00 pm or 9:30 pm, and avoid the HEAT, and avoid the LINES.

That is my report.

SeansMom
06-28-2006, 09:55 PM
Thanks for sharing, Potzbie! I love it when I get to take a "mini-trip" to DL through anothers trip report!

The heat...ah, yes, the heat. Isn't it grand their is a place to lie down and a nurse to attend to you ;)!

I Heart Disneyland!
06-28-2006, 11:45 PM
Great report and entertaining. Living vicariously through other's trips is wonderful! :)

Bassman531
06-28-2006, 11:58 PM
I just got back to my hotel. I was VERY glad to see that the crowds were much lighter today than yesterday. I got to ride pirates with a minimal wait during F! I had a much better time without so many people. It reminds me why I don't usually try to come to the park on busy days/weeks.

Mommy2NicknMax
06-29-2006, 08:36 AM
Great report Potzbie!

We were there yesterday evening. Our goal, to ride POTC. We got in line at 8:00PM and got on 20 minutes later. The ride is awesome! I can't believe how much I've missed it! I just have to say all the pictures I've seen of the new Capt Jack AAs are really great. But to see it in person, it looks so much more lifelike! It blew me away! The crowds last night weren't bad at all. The weather cooled off and we had a great time. Can't wait to go back Sunday.

Frogberto
06-29-2006, 11:07 AM
I went last night, again, and what a difference a day makes! Although Space, Indiana Jones, Buzz, and Autopia, has waits as much as 50 minutes, the information board said 30 minutes for pirates, and I rode it twice, with only a 25 minute line wait each time.

I love this high capacity ride!

I Heart Disneyland!
06-29-2006, 11:16 AM
Great report Potzbie!

We were there yesterday evening. .

Okay, you can't just LEAVE Seattle and pop up here saying things like, "We were there yesterday evening", like it's SO easy to just hop over to DL. ;) ;) (The jealousy is coming out, isn't it?) :p :p

Mommy2NicknMax
06-29-2006, 12:09 PM
Okay, you can't just LEAVE Seattle and pop up here saying things like, "We were there yesterday evening", like it's SO easy to just hop over to DL. ;) ;) (The jealousy is coming out, isn't it?) :p :p
LOL, you know what you must do......move to CA!!!! ;)

ChipmunkStar
06-30-2006, 07:22 PM
* VILLAIN'S LAIR
Inside information: After the mid-day parade, the "Villain's Lair is in the sunlight, so the photo op site changes sides to the other side of the castle courtyard. Why don't they move the set up? They got about an HOUR between the last set and the end of the parade. Right?


Due to the Merchandise Cart, there isn't enough room on the opposite side of the Courtyard to move the location ropes. Also, have you ever tried to move those poles? they're hard enough to move out to their location, much less 30 feet further. Each one has to be individually ROLLED out and into place.

Besides, you felt the heat, it simply makes it worse.

Simba's Mom
07-06-2006, 01:14 PM
To the OP, "Ron" is Dr. Ron McCurdy (I got the info from DS, who was in the All-American College Band last summer, the last one Art lead). He's the head of the Jazz Department at USC. He was a clinician last year, but this is his first time leading the band. Joe, who plays the quads, is the student leader (I can't remember the correct name), the only one returning from last year. If you see him, say Hi from Matt, the trumpet player.