DaddyB's February 7th DOYD Photo Update

What's that you say?
Time to head to the park, DaddyB?

HI HO!!!!
Let's jump in the convertible and go!

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I went to the Disneyland resort, and now let's take a look at what I saw:

Or as they say in the South:
Here's what I done seen".

Have you ever walked to the theme parks from the Mickey and Friends parking structure?
Not much fun.

Lots of these, um, "leaves" promoting the "Year of a Million Dreams" have appeared.
I'm not sure how many people notice this one that's up so high when folks are so 'focused" at ground
level looking for the parking tram.

Rounding the bend on the way to the Downtown Disney District from the Tram loading area.

And then some more as the tram approaches the unloading area.

Really, they look like Giant multi-colored Weeping Willow leaves to me.

Even more... although these have been up for quite some time.

Hopefully by the time spring break crowds start arriving, the marketing department will figure out how to make
this "year of a million dreams" a little more exciting.

But come to think of it, does every year have to have some big promotion tied to it? Did they do anything
for the 48th anniversary year? 49th?

I remember the 2004 logo was "a whole new world" which was appropriate because so much of the
old crumbling park was being replaced and updated and painted gold for the 50th. But who says every
year has to have a big giveaway promotion tied to it?

Jay Rasulo, VP of Disney parks and recreation?

Really, just keep the parks looking good, do the maintenance on the machiary, and when things DO break
down, fix them, don't just bulldoze them over (or leave them to sit like the Submarine ride did for so long).

If you do this, and add/change some of the big things once in a while, the guests will continue to come.
Most people don't care about the giveaways, they just want to see the park clean and the castmembers friendly.

you know, like Walt wanted it...

Speaking of the subs:

Nice poster on the little billboard area after you get through the security checkpoint.

Oh lordy, what are they doing now?

I mean, the floral upright Mickey for the 50th was cool, but the swirls on the ground?
What's next, PAISLEY?

...and the little tinkerbell figure?

Just a bit much.

Are we supposed to equate these swirls with the "Million dreams" promotion? Is that
what marketing (or groundskeeping) is thinking?

Even the tunnels under the Disneyland Railroad are "plussed".

It's not a terrible decoration, I guess. But really. WHY?

Brings new meaning to the saying on that plaque overhead
"Here you leave the world of today..."

Yes, please. Let's.

I love getting to the park early when the water from the sprinklers is still on the flowers, and the sun is hitting
the gardens just right. This makes a beautiful desktop wallpaper.

Another plus of arriving early is that often times, the clouds haven't had a chance to burn off yet.
This makes for some nice landscape shots of the buildings.

The lamp posts have all been changed from gold back to green.
Since I took this picture, they've added a little metal swirl to the lampost top
much like the Tinkerbell swirls from the 50th.

Look for that in my next update.

Here's my man Goofy

It's like they went from gold spray paint to silver

As Al Lutz of Miceage.com said, looking rather like he's ready for his prom
(in a 1970's style).

Dig the ascot, though.

At least he doesn't have the big ol' ruffle shirt that those baby blue tuxes had during those days.

And here's everyone's every~~man~~mouse, Mickey.
Meeting one of his fans in a typical magical Disney moment that happens
a hundred times a day.

I have to say, he "makes this look good".

I think the bow tie on my 1970's tux was about the same size!

Mickey took a moment to wave at me.
I knew this was going to be a picture perfect day at the park when I took this shot.

But really, who knew Mickey Mouse was a trekkie?
trekker?

anyway...

"Live long and prosper"

I hopped on board the Omnibus (the double decker bus). Since the top front was already taken, I asked the
driver if I could ride shotgun. He was an older fellow, and judging by his reaction to my question, I don't think
he knew what I meant by "shotgun", so I rephrased to ask if I could sit beside him.

I was impressed that the driver knew the names of the two castmembers in the streetcar even at this distance.

Here's a shot of the castle still in the middle of it's de-50-izing.
Most of the tarps are gone by now, so we should see some pictures real soon of the castle without much of it's
gold. I understand some of it is going to stay, and I think that's a wonderful thing. It really adds a lot to the castle
without being tacky (in my opinion, anyway).

Here's a full width shot of the fence.

If you walk around the side, you could see the tarps and some of the work that's been done (like removing
the gold from the railing along the bridge).

Also, another plastic swirly thing appears to have sprouted in the moat.

Aah.
An ugly duckling.
on the tip of an iceberg,

Or is it steamed milk from the cappucino maker?

I wonder what the real swans will think of this.

This will be one of those things I will have to shoot around
(or photoshop out) for the coming year.

I actually took this shot from the omnibus passenger seat was we drove by (thats the
roofline of the cab at the top of the picture). After taking the castle shots, I headed into
tomorrowland to grab a fastpass for Rockin' Space Mountain. I ended up
giving the fastpass away.

Did you know there was some kind of office or closet (or tunnel entrance?) in those giant bronze McDonald's
french Fry rocks? I had never noticed it before, but I took the Alpine Gardens walkway (looking for flower shots)
and saw a castmember walk into the area.

Into the heart of Tomorrowland

This area of the Pizza Port is one of my favorite places to eat. It's outside, but not really outside, and it
still retains that old school tomorrowland feeling about it.

I've always loved the 'eggs' in the planter. I don't know what the backstory is about them. I'd love to hear it
if anyone can tell me (I couldn't find it when I googled them).

Evidently the future is 'eggs'?

I started to head over to "Small World"

Sometimes, pictures of the Matterhorn just come out looking so cold
but then there's the odd juxtaposition of the palm trees in front of it.

I so miss the skyway going through the Matterhorn.

Talk about a classic example of just bulldozing something instead of spending the money to fix it, the Skyway
was (by my understanding) exactly that.

It was still pretty early, and I was able to get this picture without people in it because "It's A Small World"
was closed (finally!) for it's changeover from "Small World Holiday". It was still in Holiday mode as late as
the 21st of January this year!

I thought I'd head into Toontown to see if I could get some shots of flowers and maybe some pictures
without tons of people in them.

There's not a whole lot of attraction to Toontown, so I don't go in this land very often.

There are a few people milling about, trying to find something to do. Mostly posing for pictures on the
now defunct "Jolly Trolley" or heading over to "Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin".

I'm telling you folks, there's really nothing over there unless you want to find Mickey in his house... or go
on the worlds shortest roller coaster with the longest wait time.

I thought maybe there might be a fireman or two that read the updates that might like a shot of the
toontown fire department for hte computers.

Hey! Goofy changed into his casual attire!
I love this shot. He was much more 'in your face' at the moment I caught
him here than he usually is.

I can't wait for spring to start happening again. There's a definite lack of flowers in the resort right now.
Many trees are SO dormant and brown.

That's the thing about Winter. Just when you think everything is dead and there just won't be
a spring, buds finally start showing up on the trees.

I know I'm spoiled living in Southern California and all. Back in Minnesotta and New England, the high
temperature for the day is like 2.

Today's high was about 73 here.

Having had my fill of Toontown, I decided to head over to Fantasyland to see if Dumbo was open yet.
It's not.

But I noticed that the lamps over the teacups are in need of a good cleaning with a webby or something.

Alice's area is looking a little more like "Little Miss Muffet" land than heading down the rabbit hole.

Not much of a line at the classic "Storybook Land Canal Boats", so I thought I'd take a ride.

I took this picture while waiting for my boat.
You can see the construction fence around the "Dumbo" ride on the left side of the picture.
They must have recently replanted the "Storybook Land" letter flowers, as they're usually
in bloom in either white or yellow.

This is about the only photo that came out from the ride. I let the camera shoot in auto mode, and the shutter
was just to slow for taking pictures from a moving vessel. Only because this castle is far away did it come out.

I'll try to remember to to to shutter priority next time I take this ride.
I really do love the miniature houses. It's just that the line is usually so long, it doesn't seem worth the wait to me.

Off the boat and on to "Snow White's Scary Adventure".
There's suppsoed to be an apple here, but it is missing once again.

The apple holder kinda' looks like a pillar for a candle though.

Looking down into the dungeon area from the Queue for the "Snow White" ride.
People once again tossing their change into this area... makes no sense to me.

That's quite a cookbook holder, isn't it?
I wonder if the missus would like one like that?

Here's a shot of the queue.
This is a seriously fast dark ride. Without flash I couldn't hope to get any
decent pictures on just one ride through. By the time I got off the ride, the
queue had already filled up so that the wait was considerably longer.

It's interesting how these dark rides are so popular. Snow White and Peter Pan
are always full to overflowing.

Mr. Toad's and Pinnochio not as much, but still they're very popular rides.

My two little ones have only gone on Peter Pan, and they don't like it at all.
I don't know when they'll finally be brave enough to try these classic Fantasyland rides.

I think a lesson could be learned here that the dark rides could be done well
and still be very popular without all the flashing gizmos and such.

My kids are bored with the "Pooh" and "Monster's Inc" rides, but terrified of Peter Pan...
hmm...

This is the horse that is currently in "Jingles" place on the carrousell.

"Jingles" is the lead horse on "King Arthur's Carrousel" ride, and the only horse original to the ride
prior to it's purchase by Disney. It's also the most ornate with jingle bells along it's side (thus the name).

For the 50th, they painted Jingles gold and of course took him away after the 50th.
I hope he's back soon!

"The Sword In The Stone" is one of the most magical and nostalgic things for me. I LOVE taking pictures
of it from nearly every angle. It was one of the things that I most looked forward to seeing when I was
a child and heading to Disney World the first time (I didn't get to go to Disneyland until I moved to California
for college).

The Autopia was another big thing for me as a kid (before my first trip).
It doesn't hold as big a magic for me as the Sword, though.

It's just a Disney Magic spot where the movie comes to life for little boys.

The backside of the castle is not completely covered for the refurb back to pre-50th conditions.
I wonder if the columns will stay gold, then since they're not behind the wall?

Lots of gold still up there, too.
Nice shot with the morning clouds overhead.

As I was heading to the front of the castle, I heard an announcement to
join Mickey and the Disneyland Band as they welcome us to
"Sleeping Beauties' Castle".

I hadn't heard or seen this, so I hustled over.
I was glad I did!

Look at Mickey in his Bandleader's uniform!
WOW!

He looks really great!

If only the castle wasn't behind tarps, this would have been a classic shot!

I wish I could have salvaged a desktop out of one of these shots, but there was
someone standing in front of me, and the shots I got were mostly obsured by
hair or shoulders or a head. Blowing these up much higher for a desktop
just wouldn't work... plus the faces of people in the background are against my
own personal rules for desktops.

After the little show, which included some Disney songs and more than a few
Disney characters coming out to lead us in singing, I headed over to Adventureland.

DId the mail every get postmarked as "Disneyland" in the past or was that only at Disney World?

I miss the fishing goddess at the entrance to the Tiki Room. I knew there was something missing, but
I couldn't place it until recently.

I appreciate the rehab of the entrance to Adventureland that they did before the 50th, but UTI the
fishing goddess was part of the original Tiki Room pantheon of gods and goddesses, and should be
restored (or recreated) to it's original spot right there where those gas flames are.

Inside Adventureland, we see the women of Indiana Jones lining up like a superbowl team, ready to knock
over anyone who dare approach asking when the ride will be 'back up' and running.

Really, those costumes.
ick.

Lucky for me, the ride reopened withing minutes of me having taken this shot.
I thought "what the heck".

I jumped the line for the queue and grabbed this shot of the entrance.
I know I've taken a shot like this before, but it's so rare to get one without
people in the way.

here's a flower shot from just outside the Tiki Room, as I left adventureland to head on home.

I noticed Mickey climbing the Matterhorn without the 50th program with Minnine and Goofy that they used to do,
so I lined up to take this shot, and Mickey turned around to wave at just the right time.

Since I had gone over that way to take the Matterhorn shot, I decided to ride the Omnibus back down Main Street
to the exit, since that was my mode of transportation up the street earlier in the day.

Here's a shot of the castle from the top of the bus.

Well, another update come and gone...

There are likely a few things that have changed already since I
took these pictures, so the next update should have some changes in what's
fenced in, and what's not.

If you found some joy, awe, or laughter in this photo update, and
especially if you've taken the time to download any of the desktops for use
would you please consider a donation to the costs of this site?

Just a quick donation will help cover costs!
Any size donation is gratefully accepted.

thanks so much!

until next time

God bless,
and as always:

Love uP!
DaddyB

let me know what you think!
daddyb@visionsfantastic.com

Camera Info

I shot these photos using an
8 megapixel
Canon EOS 350D Digital Rebel XT with a
Canon 580EX speedlight flash,
and whatever lenses I could get my hands on.

I also use a Moose warming/polarizing filter on many of my shots.

not a paid product endorsement in any way, simply letting you know the equipment I have paid for
and use and really, really appreciate!