To Infinity and Beyond!

I can't remember the first time I went to Dizzylan', but I know I was probably around 3 or 4. Every few years, when we visited my mom's family in Southern California, my grandparents would take all of us to Disneyland. So I've seen Disneyland at various points in its history for more than 30 years. I enjoy Disneyland even today, but I definitely have fond memories of rides and attractions that are no longer there, such as the Pirate Ship in Fantasyland that once hosted a restaurant sponsored by Chicken of the Sea; they served tuna sandwiches and other like fare. The ship was in a "lagoon" with a "plank" bridge that led to seating by Skull Rock, which was also appropriated from "Peter Pan". I remember the skyway buckets that used to transport people across the park from Fantasyland to Tomorrowland. This "ride" went through the Matterhorn, so you could see inside that ride and see the bobsleds caroming down the "mountain." I also remember "Adventure Through Inner Space"-- it was (as I remember it!) a cool ride that allowed you to be shrunk down to the size of an atom and you traveled through the atom. There was a huge microscope outside the loading area, where the queue wound through the building. Today that ride area now houses "Star Tours". But if you are on "Star Tours", look carefully at the right corner screen just as your "ship" leaves the dock; you'll see a reminder of the old "Adventure Through Inner Space" ride. Another long-time favorite that is now gone is the Submarine Voyage. I remember being fairly pissed when they pulled that ride; it was a lot of fun, and besides, how often do you get to go in a submarine? I'm mollified these days, but only because I understand they're overhauling the ride and will be recasting it with a "Finding Nemo" theme. It's supposed to be ready to go a couple of years down the road, which is about when I'd be ready to visit again. When we originally drove to Disneyland, the anticipation would build, and it would become almost a game to see who would be the first to spot the Matterhorn from the freeway. In those days, a lot of the taller buildings/rides/aspects of the park were visible from the Santa Ana Freeway. Today, motels, hotels, and office buildings block much of the vista. The original sign for Disneyland was memorable; a huge "D" followed by "isneyland" in fairytale script, with a marquee underneath. Today it's just a glitzy sign with a digital readout underneath. The original Disneyland parking lot had trams winding through it, and you boarded the tram, which brought you directly to the front gates. Today that lot is now the much ballyhooed "Disney California Adventure," and parking is now in what seems like the world's largest such parking garage, west of the park itself. They still have the trams, but it isn't quite the same.

I'm not old enough to remember the original Disneyland, or some of the rides/attractions that vanished before I was born, but I certainly went to the park often enough I remember things as they used to be. A few years back, I found this neat website that lists these long-gone aspects of Disneyland.

That doesn't mean I don't appreciate the changes. For example, I *love* the "new" Indiana Jones Ride (not so new anymore!), and I've enjoyed going on Star Tours since it opened, regardless of the fact that I miss "Adventure Through Inner Space." A couple years ago, we went to Disneyland at Christmastime, since I'd always gone during the summer, and was curious as to what it looked like during the holidays. I wasn't disappointed. They have overlays on certain rides to celebrate the holidays, with the best being the remake of the Haunted Mansion into a set from "The Nightmare Before Christmas", complete with the characters from that movie. There's also holiday decorations, a huge Xmas tree in the Main Street section, and not as many people as the summer. Since it's Southern California, it was cool but not cold; nice weather to be outside in in the winter!

Earlier this month, on May 5, Disneyland kicked off their 50th year celebration, slated to last 18 months (ah, marketing and public relations!). They had a lot of hoopla on the 5th after several months of cleaning up and rehabbing the park. The promise of a cleaner, brighter, rejuvenated Disneyland, along with commemorating the 50th year, made me want to go.

Luckily my wife and I received tickets as a graduation gift for my wife, so we headed off to Anaheim yesterday to play. Everytime I go there, I am about six again. *grin* At least it gives my wife the opportunity to pretend she has a child for a while...

While they didn't have the giveaways they had for the 35th anniversary (and I wonder why not-- 50 is a much more magical birthday milestone than 35!), you could tell they had repainted and fixed a lot of stuff. There were Mickey outlines everywhere on buildings, rides, and around the park with "50" in the center. There were commemorative displays in the store showcases on Main Street, and a 50th anniversary exhibit and movie (which is rear-window captioned) in the space previously inhabited by "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln." The castle underwent a tremendous makeover with new paint and five crowns on the turrets.

I originally was planning for us to go in the fall, but we checked our schedule and realized now would be the best time to go, before the summer crowds got too heavy. I was a bit nervous, since Memorial Day weekend isn't exactly the best time to go to any theme park, but it turned out the crowds were fairly steady, which was a pleasant surprise. Although the train was down most of the day, and Space Mountain was still being updated (it's supposed to re-open in July), we got to go on just about everything once, and even went on certain favorites twice, such as "Pirates of the Carribean." The park was sparkling clean, some of the wastebaskets in Fantasyland had the retro castle look from it's pre-1983 makeover days, and I was pleasantly surprised by some of the food fare that was on sale. In addition to the usual junk food, there were fruits and vegetables for sale. While it was (of course!) overpriced, it was a welcome alternative to the sugar and fat that usually pervades park concessions. I got some pineapple spears in Adventureland after going on the Jungle Cruise (which has a new element or two added to this venerable ride). Those rides that existed in the summer of 1955 have one car/vehicle painted gold. One flying elephant on Dumbo is painted gold, as is a ship on the Storybook Land ride. A golden motorcar and a golden pirate ship were located just outside of "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" and "Peter Pan," respectively.

Another nice surprise was the opportunity to go on the newest ride, "Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters." It's the latest addition to Tomorrowland, which is the saddest part of the whole park. While Main Street has been reliably commercial, New Orleans Square the most fun, Fantasyland the most magical, Frontierland generally the most hokey, Tomorrowland has been rather moribund the last few years or so. Other than Space Mountain and Star Tours, there really isn't any reason to be in this part of the park anymore, so the new Buzz Lightyear attraction is welcome news. We decided to use Fastpass, as we figured there'd be long lines for this ride, as it had just opened earlier this spring. A wise decision-- the Fastpass cut our wait down to less than five minutes, compared with a estimated 70 minute "wait time from this point" for the masses.

This ride was neat, but it really is an interactive video game. I suppose now that video games have been around for more than 20 years, it's a concept whose time has come, but it was both fun and cartoonish at the same time. You get into the vehicle, a cartoonish vehicle with two "blasters" in holsters and a digital readout in front of each on the dashboard. The ride then takes you through on a "dark ride" experience, with Zurg, the green three-eyed aliens, and tons of other Buzz foes -- they've all got "targets" on them. You take the blaster gun and aim it, and a "laser" that is properly aimed will register as a "hit," which then gets added to the total number of hits on your counter. At the end of the ride, you can see how many points you racked up. It was just neat enough that we decided to go on it again. It definitely doesn't have the magic of a ton of other rides, but it certainly was fun enough I can see myself going again next time I'm at Disneyland.

We continued to sample as many rides as possible. They have a new fireworks show this year, in honor of the 50th anniversary. When I was little, I always waited with bated breath for Tinkerbell to descend from the tip of the Matterhorn to the Sleeping Beauty Castle, and with her wand, "set" off the fireworks. However, I decided to pass on this this time, and we used the time to go on other rides while everyone else crowded around the castle and Main Street to see the show. It's probably neat for most people to have the opportunity to see fireworks twice in a year, but I'd bet the people of Anaheim get sick of it. Disneyland has fireworks daily during the summer tourist season, from Memorial Day weekend until Labor Day weekend.

After more than twelve hours, we finally left Disneyland, and entered shopping hell to collect a few souvenirs. Once that was done came the weary march back to the car, and the drive home. It was definitely a fun day, and a good way to end the school year.

Until next time... to Infinity and beyond!