Mickey's Halloween Treat (Disneyland)
Andy Dannelley
Hi Gang;
i just thought I would post a few misc ramblings about my trip to
Mickey's Haloween Treat at Disneyland last night.
We arrived about 6:30 and we were directecd to park in Happy 2. This is
fairly close up of which I was glad.
At the entrance we found the lines from the gate to the ticket booths,
not bad. It is usually nice going to parties at DL, because when you
arrive early they have entertainment, and last night was no exception.
They had 2 differnet bands. One played for awhile, then was replaced by
another. I didn't see much of the first, but the second was costumed in
Haunted Mansion/graveyard outfits. They even looked dead, or else they
really, really needed to get more sun. They were all a pale chalky
white.
The gates opened promply at 7:00 PM We went in to find something to
eat, as we had not yet had dinner. The Plaza Inn had some interesting
sandwiches. A teriyaki chicken breast sandwich, a Southwest burger of
some kind, and a Kielbasa wrap. The Southwest burger had jack cheese
anf ortega chile, the teriyaki chicken breast had, well teriyaki sauce
and chicken. The Kielbasa wrap was a grilled sausage wrapped in a pita
bread with red and green bell pepper. Very good.
We ate on the patio, and watched the first showing of the *Battle
between Good and Evil* taking place at Sleeping Beauty Castle. The show
takes place every half hour, and there is a chance to interract with the
characters after. Overall the show is very good, and the special
effects on the Castle are *great* (much better than a castle looking
like a birthday cake <vbg> )
From there we wandered over to the Lonesome Ghost Town (Fronteerland
renamed for the festivities) and New Orleans Square. We rode the
Haunted Pirate Cruise (Columbia). The fog effect on the Rivers of
America was teriffic. The speil was very humorous. He told us all to
not go in the building with the rotating beacon on top (Pirates of
Carabean) as his last crew that went in there and was never seen again,
and they were forced to sing the same song over and over. (I thought
they only used that gag when talking about Small World) The effects
were very laughable, the Ghost Indian, the ghost story teller at the
indian village, the ghost dog, ghost bear, ghost gophers, and ghost
praire dogs. So corney they were funny. I'm sure that was the point,as
was the whole speil. One of the funniest was when we were passing the
buring cabin, the reason for burning (last night) was that they were
trying to scare the ghosts away. He said it must have worked, as there
were no ghosts anywhere close to the cabin. ;)
There were numerous character interactions available. IMHO some of the
best were; Chip and Dale persuing a *guest* dressed as Cinderella
beacuse they were *in love*, Burt and Mary Poppins on the carousel (Mary
Popins rode side saddle as would be expected for a lady) They Mary
Poppins and Burt were also carrying on on Main Street to the music, the
most memorable was when they were shuffling off to the Twilight zone
theme song. Third character was the scarecrows at each end of Main
Street.
Some of the more enjoyable times of the evening was just being able to
walk in New Orleans Square and by the Rivers of America after dark
without the Fantasmic mob! I really enjoy this area of the park, and
special events without Fantasmic make it worth the price. I like
Fantasmic (sometimes), I just also like RoA and NS without the crowds
*more*.
The only downside was that BTMRR, Tomorrowland and Toontown were closed.
The main reason it would have been better if they were open would be
that the crowds would be spread a little more in the park, thus making
Fronteerland and New Orleans Square not quite as crowded. Even just
BTMRR and Tomorrowland would have helped greatly.
I got a surprise when we rode Pinocchio's Daring Journey to find
Pinocchio in the last scene. (I gave him a high five).
The only thing not present that I would have liked to have seen would
have been a fifties band or DJ at Carnation so I could dance. Well, I
guess I'll just have to go dance tonight to the big band (whoops
rambling). The only complaint would be the event specific merchandise.
The tee-shirt at $22 and the sweatshirt at $46 were just too much for
what you get (IMHO). I can't see paying thet much for a painted shirt
that I can wear once or twice a year. Last year the tee-shirt was $12
or $16 and I believe the sweat was in the mid to high 20's.
One thing Disneyland always seems to do right is the overall decorations
for special events. The decorations were great! Even to the point of
putting up a special sign *Lonesome Ghost Town* for Fronteerland.
Overall it was great, the crowds were manageable, and it was a reall
nice night. If you've not got your ticket yet, if they are still
available, by all means get one and go!
The only caution is; when looking at the lines at PoTC, HM and JC, be
aware that there is a Treat Stop right outside each of these
attractions, thus maing it look like there is a big line. If you want
to ride one of these get up close so you cansee what is attraction line
and what is the Treat Stop line. We made this mistake on HM and didn't
ride it, next time we'll be more observant.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the most humorous thing I saw (heard) all
night was the Small World theme being played in NOS by an *undead*
pirate jazz band. Real strange beat, but very, very funny. My wife
almost didn't recognize it.
I guess I'vre rambled on enough, if any of you have any specific Q's
please feel free to email me or post them here. I know there is quite a
lot I'm forgetting. The main thing is *it was fun, do it*
CU@DL
Andy D
John Edward Colino
As promised, I scanned the best shots of the construction of Tomorrowland
(America Sings). I left the Fantasmic page up too in case someone hasn't
seen it. There's also 3 bonus pictures of Toon Town: Under Construction
for your enjoyment :-)
If you look closely, you can see the I-beams on the top of the new
entrance to America Sings in a horizontal "V" shape. That will probably
be the shape of the final entrance. Comments? Suggestions? Flames?
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(_) "I'll have a twist of lemon." (_)
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| \ /\ \ /\ /\ \ jco...@oboe.calpoly.edu |
| \ \ \ \/\ \ \ \ \ \/\ http://www.calpoly.edu/~jcolino |
| \/ \/ \ \ \ / (c) All Rights Reserved, 1996 J.C. |
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Andrew Rich
I've got some decent shots of the inside of the America Sings building, looks
like about a week before yours were taken. These are at night but the inside
lights are all on. Once I get them scanned I will put my page back up and post
them there. I've also got some of the backstage walkway between Fantasyland
(near the old Skyway station) and ToonTown (the big double doors next to the
Videopolis stage). These will all be going online very soon...
--
Lt. D'Amato (Andrew Rich)
d.a...@ix.netcom.com | ar...@davd.com | http://198.147.120.23 <- note change!
LosCon XXIII Homepage: http://users.aol.com/loscon23/lc23.html
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On 10/27/96 7:12PM, in message
<Pine.A32.3.91.961027...@flute.aix.calpoly.edu, John Edward