Trip Report - February 3 & 11, 2009

It’s time for another trip report, this one is actually from 2 separate days, most photos are from February 3rd and a few area from February 11th. There’s a ton of photos in this report, it covers the 2 days and commemorates the loss of my digital camera (rip).

Tuesday’s in early February have very short wait times to enter the park. The cast member on right was spinning the turn style over and over, inflating the daily attendance numbers?






Always fun to see the cattle cars at the Main Street Station upon entering the park.






Not sure what was going here, this was right at opening time.






The flag pole usually has some kind of landscaping, but today it looked like my back yard!






Just 8 days later it was spring time at Disneyland! By the way, notice the shadows? The above photo was taken at 10am, the one below at 3pm.









Looking back at Daveland's Bank of America post (link) here’s a photo of the bank in August 1956.






Here’s the Bank of Main Street today. Hopefully the exterior will remain the same after the Disney Gallery moves in. If you missed my vintage B of A at Disneyland post, check it out here (link).







A few interior shots of the bank. I hear they may keep this area as a check-out location for the Disney Gallery, boy would that be great!












You’ll have to cope with a blurry photo of the vault door; my camera didn’t make it long enough on my second trip to get a second look.






Look who I found outside of the bank! What happened to his right shoe…






This is the only gas light post I could find without all the celebrate stuff smothering it.






Café Latte from the bakery on Main Street, better than Star Bucks!






The castle looking great, a small construction wall for the ongoing repaving project.





One of my favorite spots in the park, hey check out the roof on the concession stand on the right.







This is from Walt Disney World last July, I never noticed Disneyland has similar roofs!






Off to New Orleans Square for my latest favorite Disneyland lunch.






The Steak Gumbo bread bowl is no bargain at $9, but it sure is tasty and there’s never a long line at 11am!






Here’s the bread being delivered. If you zoom in you’ll see the bread is fresh and dated for “2-3”, also the Veranda has reached a new sales record according to the themed banner on the door.





Now that I'm full of steak gumbo, bread, crackers and coke (can it get any better?) let’s take the Circle Tour on the Disneyland Railroad.





The only one waiting for the train was me! I felt special….

I felt so special that I rode the caboose to Toontown Station! If you ever get the chance to ride the caboose be sure and do it.






It’s old but in great condition.






The back area with the observation deck is locked and off limits, however it looks ready to be used at any moment.






It’s a charming ride, but the windows only go up as much as you see, it gets a little stuffy in the summer.






Original detail, yes I touched it.






Who is this man and why was his standing backstage on his cell phone? If you look closely you can see the monorail at the end of the clip.

Exiting the train at Tomorrowland station to go check out the Majestic Matterhorn and Tomorrowland.






The big falls aren’t falling today.






Here's some Disney magic, water gushing at the bottom of the falls but no water from above!






Have I missed this for the last 31 years?






The water is flowing nicely on the eastern slope.






Note to Disneyland: Fix this already before the whole thing comes crashing down on unsuspecting sirloin burger eating guests! Don’t make me say “I told you so”.






And if you’re not going to fix this, I want one of those square tiles please.






I like this.






Back on the train heading into Main Street Station.

Jumping the train and stowing away on the Mark Twain, here a shot looking at the petrified tree and the Golden Horseshoe. If you look real close at the far right side of the balcony there is a table setup with a wine bottle and wine glasses that appear full, nice touch!






Maybe the train from Nature’s Wonderland will come chugging down those tracks any second.






Then again, maybe not.






The dolls on the clock at It’s a small world are in fabulous shape, shining like new, as does the rest of the attraction.






Heading over to the Tiki Room I stumbled into this chap, I think he needed a cigatette break.






Now we’re talking! This is so yummy it’s hard to describe if you’ve never had one. Also notice the generic “what will you celebrate” napkin created in Photoshop 1.0. Nice Tiki costume!






I try and steer away from bathroom humor here on the blog, but I couldn't resist. Did you know the Tiki Room has its own bathroom just outside the main entrance doors? I’ve been told these are original to the attraction and their tiny size would indicate they are probably old.






Don’t you love that door? I didn’t go near the women’s door, it was weird enough that I was taking pictures of the mens bathroom!






Here’s something you don’t see on the “In Walt’s Footsteps” tour. I’ll bet my Dole Whip that Walt walked on this exact floor. That pattern is “1963” for certain, the sink and “other” appliances have been updated with water savers, but the floor and tiles look original.






Now heading out on the monorail to get a few photos of the Disneyland Hotel. The Monorail got some new windows and they look great. The upper half is fully open making for a much welcomed and familiar ride.






On my way to find the Dancing Waters Fountain, I found these water falls were roaring away so I took this photo.





That was the last photo from my camera, it died right there, all alone, just me and my Olympus. It was really weird, all that water rushing is loud and kinda spooky when you’re alone. In fact, they entire “Disneyland Hotel” property was eerily quiet and spooky.