You know what time breakfast was, right? 7:00 am! Exhausted from our late and busy night before, but we all gathered in the (freezing cold) lobby on time to start another exciting day.
We had a couple of look-a-likes thanks to our shopping spree at Mickeys of Glendale. Think they called each other last night to coordinate?
Michael and Dean led us through a still-sleepy Downtown Disney to an empty Disneyland entrance. How often do you get to see this sort of thing?
After using our tickets to get into the park Michael collected all our tickets because he was going to get us FastPasses to use for World of Color tonight! Yahoo!!! We had been asking and asking about this in the weeks leading up to this, and no one at ABD could (or would) give a clear answer. We were all thrilled beyond belief we were going to get to see it!
Where IS everyone?
Oh, there we are!
Our first stop was, of course, Sleeping Beautys castle.
I dont care that its smaller than Cinderellas castle in WDW. This is the one that Walt built. This is the first one. It is gorgeous. I adore it.
We visited Snow Whites grotto off to the side of the castle where the sculpture doppelgangers appear that we learned about the day before. We all decided someone needs to get in there with a good stiff brush and clean them up a bit. Notice the forced perspective in action here?
Michael and Dean shared some stories from the early days of Disneyland, but my favorite one is about Herb Ryman, one of Walts right hand men. He was in fact the person Walt called in on a Saturday to draw up his vision of Disneyland that Roy took to New York on Monday to meet with the bank and secure financing. So hes been around, and was inducted as a Disney Legend in 1990 (Michael and Dean didnt tell us that I looked it up!). In the last days of his life someone brought him a small spruce tree while he was in the hospital. He asked that it be planted in the park. No one had the heart to tell him that a spruce would simply not do well in the southern California climate, and after his death that little tree was indeed planted. The original tree has since died, but an evergreen is always planted near the castle as a tribute to Herb.
We had fun playing as if we were the original Disney guests, running through the castle (Michael and Deal took photos). It was so special to have so much time alone in the park before anyone else arrived.
By now tummies were rumbling and it was time to find breakfast. Michael and Dean enjoyed playing with us, saying they were looking for the Pancake House. We first went to the Plaza, but oh, no, they didnt have room for us. Another restaurant had lost our reservation. Oh no, were hungry, where can we eat???
What a non-descript door this is!
A closer look
Nichole, why dont you ring the doorbell?
Gasp! They answered the door! And let us in!
Club 33 is a private, extremely exclusive club. There is a 14 year waiting list just to get on the waiting list (or something like that). Walt conceived it as a place where he could entertain dignitaries and clients privately in the park, but unfortunately he never got to see it since it was completed about 5 months after his death. There are a lot of rumors and urban legends about the club that Jeff, the manager, was happy to dispel for us. He wouldnt answer anything about who is a member or how much it costs to be a member, but he was happy to provide truths to all those half-truths weve heard about.
Truths:
It is the only place in Disneyland where alcohol is served
Membership is guarded
Falses: (is that a word? Spellcheck says no
how about Myths instead)
Microphones in the ceiling were so Walt could spy on his guests (no, they were to make it easier to hear the animatronics)
33 in the name does not refer to anything in particular, although it is the address of the club in the park (33 Royal Street) however that is an internal and not an official address
Up the stairs we walked
The restaurant was set up especially for us!
Merchandise we were allowed to buy:
The food was buffet style typical breakfast food. I didnt think it was anything special, though I didnt have any complaints either. I know a lot of folks had trouble getting coffee. I would have liked a Diet Coke, but decided not to ask I later found out someone else in the group did ask, and was told it was not possible. The best thing on that buffet though, was the chocolate macaroons! I ate one before the manager talked about them he said they are so popular they serve them at breakfast, lunch and dinner. So I had a second one!
We were told we all had to check out the ladies room (even the men), so here is what we were apparently supposed to see:
Who would want to actually use it, I ask?
The Trophy Room (I was surprised they let us into this):
Me in the elevator (which none of us used):
We hung out for awhile, buying stuff, stepping out onto the balconies, waving to the minions below (the park had now opened and people were curious about us).
Next up Indiana Jones! Hey, some of us used a FastPass on this last night!
We walked down the exit ramp, with a few renegades trying to fall in line behind us. Michael did an excellent job shooing them away! Behind the biiiiig doors and we were backstage cameras away! We were walked into the maintenance bay for the ride vehicles. The head mechanic talked to us for quite awhile about the vehicles. There are 14-15 vehicles in use at any given time on the attraction they like to be able to have 2 out for scheduled maintenance (they own 17 vehicles). Theyve just gone to a new tire which is stickier, and we had to step over tire tracks all over the floor, lest we take a bit of the attraction with us! He showed us how the vehicle works its not the track that rocks and rolls, its the vehicle! It will rise up, twist to one side, or front/back, makng you feel like the truck might roll over, but in fact its firmly on the ground. In fact there are nearly 160,000 different things that can happen and that are programmed into the rides computers. Each of the vehicles has its own on-board ride control and audio system, allowing it to create the ride combinations. These can range from a small bump from hydraulics, to a flashing light, to a burst of fire.
Each vehicle has a unique identification number painted on it, such as TB0201. The first two letters are one of the designers initials, followed by his birthday (Feb) and a vehicle number (01). I love when they can pay homage to the folks doing the tough stuff in little winks and nods like that!
After learning everything we could about the vehicles, we got to ride! Again we were backdoored to the front of the line, passing the folks waiting in the 60 minute wait line and had another raucously fun ride on this attraction! Maybe Ill have to give Dinosaur another try. Maybe. I have a feeling I love this so much because I love Indiana Jones so much, but well see.
When we left we headed out past Its a Small World to a door
..put your cameras away (again) folks, were going backstage!
First, we stopped to talk to a mechanic for the steam trains. He started out by saying, I have the best job in the parks and gave us a lot of information about the trains and how they run. Walt was a huge train aficionado so this was all in keeping with our love of Walt.
We headed deeper into the backstage area, past warehouse looking buildings (Dean had said backstage looks like the back of Wal-Mart yeah, pretty much). Under a covered area a group of cast members in uniform, I mean costume, were doing some warm-up exercises. I didnt recognize their costume so Im not sure where they were headed. Do all CMs warm up before their shift?
We next met up with the guy behind the nightly fireworks. He told us I have the best job in the parks. He works in a tiny hut, across the street from where the fireworks are staged each day. There is a black tube where each explosive is placed, and then he sets them off by basically flipping a shift when its time to start. He has to monitor wind direction to ensure its safe to set them off, and adjust for it if necessary. One of the things we all appreciate so much about Disney fireworks is how well they are choreographed to music. He explained that it is easier for them to do this than a large municipal display (such as Boston or NYC Fourth of July) because of the small venue there is not as much delay for sound. Nice tie-in to the lesson from Imagineering yesterday!
Our final stop backstage was to the barn where the animals who work in the parks are kept. The horses who pull the carriages, who were romping playfully in the field, donkeys, goats, lambs (petting zoo) and even a couple of very talkative cockatoos! Any guesses what this cast member said during her talk? Ive got the best job in the parks. How refreshing to meet so many people in one day who love their job so much!
We said goodbye and started heading back on-stage, but not before passing a sign at the door reminder cast members they were heading out and to Smile!
Lunch time! We went to Big Thunder Ranch where tables were already set up for us. Meals are served family style: barbecue ribs and chicken in a silver bucket, baked beans, cole slaw and corn bread. The cole slaw was vinegar based, just the way I like it. Barbecue is not my favorite food, and the chicken was dry (I think I had one bite). I m mostly filled up on cole slaw and corn bread. There was entertainment going on in the front, but most of us were too busy chatting to pay much attention. Anne and Alans daughter walked by and stopped to chat for a few minutes! She is an electrical engineer working for Disney Alan says her main job is to tell the Imagineers why their high faluting ideas wont work, mostly for safety reasons.
We left lunch before we had dessert, and even though I wasnt hungry for it, I sure do like my sweets.
I have to stop here, as Ive gone over my limit for pictures (gasp!) To be continued!