Trip Report - July 8, 2009

Time for a report. Wednesday (July 8th) was a marvelous day all around. Amazingly there was no traffic coming or going to the park, none. We got to the park at 8:30am, left at 8:30pm. The weather was made to order, topped out at 80 degrees; crowds were great early on and reasonable all day. Since this trip was with family, I didn’t have my usual opportunity to go camera wild, so today’s trip report consists of some odd shots I was able to get in between “Celebrations” with the family.

Let’s start at the tram loading area. This first photo is actually from July 3, 2008 showing the east side of the tram loading drive way.






As seen currently, they are completely repaving the driveway. It looks like it used to be just a few inches of asphalt, I’m guessing it was not strong enough and they are going to pour concrete, just as the turn around area is pure concrete.






The Mighty Matterhorn. This attraction is slowly edging out Thunder Mountain as my current favorite “thrill” ride at the park. Something about the historic significance, the fact that there is only one Disney “Matterhorn”. It just trips me out to no end that Walt Disney himself rode this very attraction many times; it’s kind of a wild ride for an old man!






The castle looking grand as always.






Look who I stumbled into on my way over to the wishing well… She was so nice and beyond realistic. I know Disney hires “actors”, but this lady was spot on, her looks and accent were perfect. She was so nice I can’t even explain it. She spent several minutes talking with me and the kids, when we asked her why the wishing well was silent, she walked us back towards the front of the castle to point out a commercial that was being filmed, and she said they turn off the recording when filming. She then told us the tale of the Frog Prince.








After telling us a modified version of the Frog Prince (he doesn’t get kissed in her version) she walked us over to the wishing well and showed us that the frog ended up in the well, trapped for eternity. Check out the lower left, there's the frog!!!!






The Crusader Sword is on sale for $125! That seems like one heck of deal, these swords feel like the real deal to me! I want one really bad….








I do love those little flags…






Usually when I visit the park on slow winter day, the Canoe’s are never running. Well, they sure run in the summer! They were all over the river. Someday I want to try it…








Looks like the two cast members were doing all the rowing here. We were stopped on the Mark Twain near the old Cascade Peak area to wait for the Columbia to finish loading. As soon as the canoe approached the stopped Mark Twain, the Cast Members took over the rowing.






Since we were stopped right here for a few minutes some folks were asking what “N.W.R.R.” stood for on the little train. I just so happened to have a 1971 “E” ticket with me (never leave home without one) so I did a short Disneyland history lesson for half a dozen guests, I even passed around the “E” ticket, its fun to watch someone under 30 check out an “E” ticket for the first time…






The head waters of the Bear Country River.






I like this shot of Splash Mountain, its back a little further than my usual shots, the sky isn’t so great, but I like the overall feel.






Again, not something you see on weekdays in the winter months. I am so used to seeing the Columbia here it was a bit shocking to see this.






The wood timbers on the roof sure look authentic!






Not quite the same as shooting with live .22 rounds, but still plenty of fun.






Is this the original flooring for the Tomorrowland Terrance? The round circle pads are new of course. When compared to this 1971 image (link) it does appear to be the same floor, however it looks like there was some sort of pattern overlay back then. Does anyone know or have better old photos of the floor in that area???






Loyal readers know I’ve been following the cracks in the monorail awning for over a year now (September 2008 w/old Monorial), (December 2008), (January 2009) (February 2009), (April 2009). A large section has been replaced with a new shinny metal awning. It looks OK, not as stylish as the old one, but its fits still.






What is this? I can pickup these light fixtures at Home Deposit for $12.99! Please tell me this is temporary?






That piece of wood from 1967 isn’t going to last long if left exposed like that. My guess is that they are not finished with this project.






Moving down the awning towards the Submarine ride, you can see cracks developing in the large section of awning, part of the never ending maintenance at Disneyland.






Follow up on Kevin Kidney’s super post on the Swift Market House “1955 Birthday Cake Room” (link) here are a few current photos of the room. Many of the original features still exist, the cast member in this area kept asking me if I needed assistance.












The magic shop will be closing very soon (from what I hear). I know its small and cramped, but it will be sorely missed. I hope they bring it back, but I know it just wont be the same.








Hey is this the same lady I saw over by the Wishing Well???






Lastly, who remembers getting a Mickey hat with your name on it? I sure do! Remember how the cast member would struggle with those industrial sewing machines, contorting the hat all over the place to perform the magic of handwriting your name with thread on the back of the hat. Well, now it’s all computerized. They embroidered results are stunning, but it takes forever to finish and all the charm is gone.