Hello Friend, and welcome to another photo update, where I bring you some pictures
of what I saw in a recent visit to the Disneyland Resort. I've had some time away due to
personal reasons, but hopefully we'll start seeing more of each other, ok? I finally found
gainful employment and that takes a lot of stress off a person... and a family. You know the
funny part, the pictures and narrative in these photo updates here played a big role in getting
me hired! You might say that I owe a debt to all of you, these photo updates, and even Disneyland
itself for my job... well, in a curious way, yes that's true.

it looks like there are about 50+ pictures in this update, and as usual your DaddyB is providing
some (hopefully) high quality desktop wallpapers for you to download onto your computer and show
off underneath your icons on your computer.

Hopefully my pictures and narrative will entertain you for a bit, and one or two of the desktops will
remind you of "The Happiest Place On Earth" and sometimes put a smile on your face when you turn
on your computer monitor.

let's get on with it, shall we?

You can see here that the shadows are already getting pretty long by the time I arrived at the resort.
What can I say, I work now. I don't get off work until 6pm and so getting to the park before 6:30
is pretty much going to be impossible. So when winter hours roll around, I'm really going to have to
hustle my bustle to get many pictures at all... or go EARLY on a Saturday to get some photos.

But I'd rather be employed, you know?

Toy Story Mania opened in June, which was the last time that I've really been online with any new photos.
I covered the grand opening, and thanks to "Annual Passholder Sneak Previews", I was able to ride
and snap pictures (and provide some great desktop wallpapers) before the ride opened to the public.

If you're interested, you can click HERE for that photo update

and HERE for the coverage of the Grand Opening.
(although I was dissapointed that none of the voice talents were invited to the
Grand Opening... but was thrilled to see John Lassetter)

Disney also opened up their new "House Of Today" style "Dream Home" inside Innoventions. It's a pretty
technologically nifty place to visit, and I'll provide those pictures, as well as more photos of a
wonderful tour of the "Disneyland Dream Suite" that I got during the grand opening weekend of
both Toy Story Midway Mania and the Innoventions attraction.

Yup... still a "Year of a Million Dreams"...

This floral Mickey looks a lot better in real life than what my camera can do justice to.
Let's face it, Disney's Horticultural department just rocks.

get it... flowers... rocks...

get it?

I arrived too late for the flag retreat ceremony, which happens at 4:30.
The flag area here is spiffy, and part of the "Old Disneyland" that I love.

The Cigar Store Indian is another relic of ages past. He still keeps his vigil on the castle from the other
end of Main Street USA, outside the movie theater.

Here's our first desktop!

The shops right here in the middle of Main street are just SO photogenic. Perhaps in a future update
I can get a great photo of each of them.

I also love the old flower cart that is now a fruit/veggie stand right here by the market house.
Given the crowds this day though, I wasn't able to get a good shot of that.

Did you know that this area used to have an actual plastic flower mart? You could buy your
high quality fake flowers right here in Disneyland!

As I said, it's hecka busy. Summer season is in full swing with so many kids still out of school.

But heck, I gotta admit there are FAR more adults than their are kids.

This is just a "hail Mary" shot where I hold the camera above my head and snap a couple pictures.

Oh, did I mention that I have a new camera?
Yeah, my wonderful Canon Rebel XT took a dive into a tidal pool this spring. I lost my balance on
a family field trip to the tidal pools out in Corona Del Mar. It ended with me gashed to pieces from
the coral and sharp rocks lying on my camera backpack in a pool of water. My camera and the most expensive
lens I own literally underwater. The flash having fell off the camera from the impact, lying in another pool and the
battery door open and 4 batteries scattered around a different little puddle.
My wife took one look at me, and knowing my orthopedic history said "we need to get you to an emergency room".

I said "forget the emergency room, we need to get to the Canon Service Center!"

Canon wouldn't even accept the camera, flash, or lens to inspect it. "Total Writeoff" is what they said.

So long story short, after selling off the broken pieces (still a good market for broken camera and lens parts
on ebay), selling my tiny little notebook/tablet, and then dealing with a rip-off ebayer and the hassle of paypal's
money-back guarantee.... I was able to purchase a new Canon 40D with lenses. A nice upgrade, all in all.

Although I miss the little laptop.

Anyway, I'll put a picture and link down below. The biggest feature for me of the 40D being the "live view"
so that one can look at what you're about to shoot thru the LCD screen... like most any
point-and-shoot digital camera, but rare for Digital SLR's like mine.

Back to Disneyland...

So I made it up Main Street to the partners statue.
I waved hello to Walt (yes, it still feels a little weird to do that, but it's a tradition of mine
since the early 90's shortly after they installed the tribute to Walt.) and was amazed at the
beautiful flowers installed around the base of the bronze statue.

These are a beautiful, dark purple-ish blue rose

*** I've been told by one of my best friends that this is actually a Purple Lisianthus ***
(they were used in her wedding)
Thanks Lori!

Yeah, I had to make one a desktop!

If you do a google search for "purple If you do a google search, for "Purple Lisianthus", you'll come up
with some pretty pictures from flower bouquet sellers offering these beautiful flowers.

I'm pretty sure I've seen these banners before, but I never noticed the Mickey Ears
pattern before. Very nice!

Word is that Sleeping Beauty's Castle is going to have a "walk through" again (it was closed after 9/11).
It's not open yet, though. I would HOPE they would have a small ceremony for it's re-opening.

Don't expect much, but they should do something.

So here's a picture of Sleeping Beauty and Prince Phillip dancing to Tchaikovsky's "Sleeping BeautyWaltz"
as the three Disney Fairies (Flora, Fauna, and Merrywether) look on.

Found this little known artifact in one of my hunts and poking around of antique shops while I was
visiting my cousin in Colorado:

okay, you got me.

Well, we won't be seeing this scene in the near future. Disney has announced the closure of all three
McDonald's stops at the Disneyland Resort. Two in Disneyland (this and over in Fowler's Harbor) and
the one in California Adventure (Burger Invasion). No plans have been announced to the replacement of
these, but you can bet that Disney will not let Burger Invasion sit empty for long.

I'd be happy to see the Conestoga wagon gone forever.

Perhaps replace it with a real Conestoga from Disneyland's early days!

I miss this area. I'd like to see it opened to the public. It has a great view of the Rivers Of America and
New Orleans Square.

Still love the poster here!

Wasn't this a loading dock for wheelchair access to the Sailing Ship Columbia?

Instead of heading into New Orleans Square, as I usually do, I decided I was pretty hungry
(it was probably 7:30 by then) and the Bengal Barbeque was calling my name.

What a mess of folks at the worst bottleneck in the park:

YIKES!

Folks always come to a stall here... this is where Indy Jones' entrance and exit is, and it's always full
of groups of people who thoughtlessly stop in the middle of the walkway either deciding if they
want to go wait in the queue for Indy or where they want to go instead, or full of groups of people
who just got off the ride wondering what to do next...

InJuly and August, it's just a nightmare of a maze of people.

The line for Bengal Berbeque was pretty long as well, but my hankerin' was strong. So I went over to the
store at the Jungle Cruise and bought a bottle of Diet Coke and went to wait in line at Bengal.

One Banyon Beef skewer, one Bengal Beef skewer, and order of Tiger Tails breadsticks,
and a dipping cup of Bengal BBQ Sauce (and just less than $10) later, I heaaded over to the end of
Main Street U.S.A. again to wait for the fireworks. Disneyland was just SO busy, I just didn't care to try
and deal with the crowds of just trying to get from place to place. Riding any rides was pretty much out of
the question because to get good pictures to present here, I usually ride about 3 times in a row. It had
been quite a while since I'd seen the fireworks (the last couple times I tried it was cancelled due to high wind)
so I thought maybe I'd give it a go... if I could find a good place to photograph from, that is.

Sure enough, at 7:30 there were already people holding spots for the "Remember Dreams Come True"
fireworks show that didn't begin until 9:30... but I was able to score a spot just behind a trash can
to the right of the castle. A good spot because I hopefully would be able to set my tripod on the
trash can to shoot over people's heads.

You see, Disneyland officials made this weird decision to divert foot traffic
RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE CASTLE during the fireworks. So they have to have all these castmembers
waving their little flashlight sticks and yelling "KEEP MOVING! DO NOT STOP! KEEP MOVING PLEASE!"
right in front of the whole crowd during the WHOLE show!!!

I don't know why they didn't divert traffic IN BACK OF the partners statue instead... it'd make more sense to me.

But anyway, usually in the winter months, they will allow folks to sit on the other side of where
the crowd control issue is, and then, even though you're very close to the castle, you can SIT and
have an unobstructed view. With a wide angle lens, I could get really great shots of the fireworks.
BUT in the summer months, again for some unkown reason, they don't
allow this! So EVERYONE has to put up with the crowds passing by in front of them as well as the
minimum wage castmembers yelling for the duration of the show.

I hate that.

So even though there were already a couple hundred people saving spots for
"RDCT" ("Remember, Dreams Come True") by the time I got there, I was able to score a space one step up
up onto the sidewalk behind a trash can. I set up my little dinner on top of the trash can
and hoped I had scored the perfect spot as I noshed away on some meat-on-a-stick.

It was perfect to capture THIS shot of the Matterhorn during a glorious sunset
(yes, it's a desktop)

and even this shot:

I LOVE THIS SHOT!
Unfortunately, there are SO many people in front of me, I had to crop some of the castle
walkway to make it work...

BUT NOTICE THE HIDDEN MICKEY LOOKING DOWN ON THE CASTLE!

RIGHT before the fireworks were about to begin, a family came up in front of the trashcan, and even
though I had already set up my camera and tripod on top of the trashcan, proceeded to try and lift
the girl on top of the trashcan! Right in front of my camera!?

A castmember saw what they were trying to do and told them to take the girl down.

But then there was the tall guy with a bald head in front me...

see the hump at the bottom middle of the picture?

I spent a good deal of time muttering about this guy as I got these shots ready for the update. Some really
nice desktops didn't happen because I had my Male Pattern Baldness standing about 10 feet in front of me.

ah well, thems the breaks!

enjoy the photos of the fireworks... presented by Honda.
(the fireworks show, not the pictures)

"It, it, the, it, flames, flames, flames . . . on the side of my castle."

Is this Haunted Room actually stretching???

I love the "Pirates" part of the show... the castle and the Matterhorn firing off shots at each other...

Tribute to the shooting gallery over in Frontierland

Yes, this is a desktop (finally!)

leading up to the finale

This desktop is reserved as a "thank you" for those kind folks who contribute to these photo updates
through the donation box below. I couldn't even afford the gas to the resort and back without you!

After donating, you will receive a "Thank You" email from me with the link to a special
"thank you" download page.. as soon as I can get to it (in other words, it's not automated).

A nice shot of the Matterhorn towering over the trees at Arial's meet and greet area.

I heard some hard-rockin' sounds coming from Tomorrowland, and the musician in me made me
forget my obsession with the Matterhorn and I headed over the the Tomorrowland Terrace.

The band is called "RePlay", I think.

Aerosmith, John Fogarty, John "Cougar" Mellancamp... even the BeeGees!

These guys covered them all, and pretty darn well, too!

It looks like they've been rockin' since the "REO Speedwagon" days, but hey, there were good.

also VERY loud.

I dislike Disney's policy on the sound levels at the park, but especially here at the Tomorrowland stage.

Usually when referring to rock bands, LOUD means you're trying to cover up for being mediocre.
While I wasn't impressed at all by Replay's stage presence (when I said "they've been rocking
since the REO Speedwagon days", it also looks like they've been playing the same songs since then
too, and are kinda' bored with it. BUT IN THIER DEFENSE, it's not like they were getting ANY energy
from the folks standing around starting at them. "GAWKING" is a phrase I'd use.

There was this one "Napolean Dynamite" looking' kind of goofy teenager who was standing right up
at the edge of the stage with his arms crossed, just staring at them. It was kinda' funny and sad at
the same time.

well anyway, these guys were giving it a good try, and their musicanship was pretty high up there.
I'd difinitely recommend stopping by showing them your support.

Drummers always crack me up.

It always amazes me how they can look at you when they're playing, but not really SEE you.

"Lost in the beat", I call it.

If you're covering songs from the 80's and 90's, you GOTTA have some hair gel!

(and Elvis Costello glasses)

It's easy for me to critique from here in the cheap seats.
These guys have my respect, though.

I've seen FAR worse bands playing at Disneyland's Tomorrowland Terrace stage
(I shudder to even thing of them!) and "RePlay" is easily in the top three of the best.

Heading out of Tomorrowland to "It's A Small World" area, I once again was mesmerized by the
Matterhorn's siren song.

I wish the sky around the Matterhorn weren't so "Sodium light orange". This would have made
a terrific picture!

"It's A Small World" is still closed and will be until this fall... I'm thinking it wil open just in time
to be dressed in it's "Small World Holiday" attire.

It's been closed since January because you all are too fat and you're sinking the boats.

Okay... to put it nicely:

In an effort to allow as many visitors as possible to experience this classic Disneyland attraction,
the waterways and boats of this beloved ride are being redesigned to accomidate today's park guests.

well, I'm not quite ready for a spin doctor phd yet.

With "Small World" closed, as well as "Mickey's ToonTown" for the fireworks... and of course the
"Princess Fantasy Faire" stops running at like 1pm, the only reason to be on this side of the park
is either to get on or off the Disneyland Railroad, or to take pictures.

I did the latter.

Y'know it's amazing how one area of the park can be totally deserted, but as soon as I set up my
tripod and start going for some really long exposures... folks just HAVE to come see what I'm
taking pictures of! Well heck, for that matter, even if I just stop to take a couple pictures of something
I'll have folks walking right in front of me wanting to check out what's so important.

It cracks me up and irritates me at the same time.

All of a sudden, about 30 people started walking UP this walkway straight at me as I was taking
various exposures of this shot (note that it's a downloadable desktop).
Each exposure takes about 20 seconds, so I had to wait quite a while for these guests
to figure out that there really wasn't anything to see or do behind me, and to just move on.

thereby walking back DOWN the walkway that I wanted to shoot.

ah well, they paid for their visit just like I did... right?

I love playing with exposures of the teacups at night. I always get something interesting. It's just
more challenging on busy evenings to not get someone's face in the picture. The colors here are
just breathtaking to me. I swear Disney has recently changed out all the lights above the teacups.
Even though they're washed out in this exposure, in real like they're just a riot of dark blues,
greens, pinks, reds... chartreuse and aqua.

Innoventions was one of the first things I took a desktop wallpaper shot of when I moved back to
California from Tennessee in 2001. For that reason alone, I hold a place in my heart for it.

other than that... um... nope. nothing there.

I just like the "wedge of swiss cheese lying against a flying saucer" look, I guess!

Disneyland is making a lot of use of the new LED lighting technology.

After the fireworks and "Fantasmic!" (which I heard several different people STILL call "Fantasia"
throughout the night!), the park begins to wind down. It's still open for and hour and a half after
the last showing of "Fantasmic!", but folks just seem to want to go home after that.

Getting this shot was not as hard as you'd think... even with the park still open!
By the time I took this shot, it was almost midnight, so it was close to closing time... but I'd have
expected crowds of kids running to get into line for Space Mountain for one last ride before the night
is finished. That's what I use to do, anyway!

Again, the whole "What's he taking a picture of" thing happened here. The place was deserted until
I set up my camera to take a picture of the big marble... then folks came out of the woodwork to play
with it.

I'd be offering this as a desktop if it wasn't for the guy with the stroller just to the left behind the big
ball. I totally didn't see him as I was taking these pictures.

And finally we come to saying goodbye for now... a quick wave to Walt and Lillian's Apartment above the firehouse,
and I joined the crowds waiting for one of the THREE running parking lot trams to take me back to my vehicle.

that's right. THREE.

Well, I don't want to sign off on a negative note, so I'll just say that I had a GREAT time taking these
pictures, and for all my negative Nelly whining, Disneyland is still "My Laughing Place". Even if I can
only be there for a few hours, it's still a great few hours!

That having been said and done, it's time to say goodbye for now. I'll be back at the parks soon,
so look for me if you're there!

Love uP!
DaddyB

thanks for anything you can give to help support these updates!

I use a 12 megapixel Canon EOS 40D with the superb Canon 580EX flashgun
and an assortment of fine Canon lenses.

-

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aw heck... here's a couple Tomorrowland shots for those wishing for just two more desktops:

even though I said I wouldn't, here's this one:

Now, who's your DaddyB?