Splash Mountain Articles
14 Venues, Show Temporarily Close In Disney Parks
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Disneyland Resort parks have 14 venues and one show that are temporarily closed during May, mostly for major makeovers or special events. Many of the projects are ending this month as the two parks -- Disneyland and Disney California Adventure -- prepare for the summer season. Along Disneyland's Rivers of America, four attractions and the Fantasmic! Show are shut down for preparations of the ...
Disney Parks Adding Fancier Foods, More Beer
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
As a longtime annual pass-holder, dining inside Disneyland's two theme parks never crosses my mind. For those who desire more than your average pizza, fries and burgers, Disneyland concessions don't cut it. But menu makeovers debuting throughout the park and resort area could be a game-changer for finicky theme park foodies. Items like bacon-and-fennel-topped flatbreads, premium beef burgers and ...
The Majestic History Of Matterhorn Bobsleds
Disneyland Park opened its gates for the first time ever on July 17, 1955. Since that notable date in history, Disneyland has grown, expanded, and renovated countless times making it the enticing vacation point that it is today. For some people, however, Disneyland is not just a vacation spot. The rich history that Disneyland holds along with the captivating attractions within its gates is why we, the ...
There Are Ways To Beat The Line At Star Tours
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
The revamped Star Tours attraction at Disneyland is subtitled "The Adventures Continue," which is appropriate since right now just getting in is an adventure. Star Tours officially opened last week and has been generating lines that grow like the price of gold or oil. On Monday, the wait in the standby line reached 210 minutes, which makes one wonder what it will be like on Saturday. But ...
Analysis Shows 284 Med Issues At 7 OC Theme Parks
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Park-goers at seven Orange County theme parks reported 284 issues that required medical attention and were investigated by a state agency over a two-year period, according to a newspaper analysis. The Orange County Register's study of state records found ten rides at county theme parks had 10 or more injuries or medical problems that prompted state investigations in 2009 and 2010. About half of the ...
Disneyland Memories
Two months ago, I was warned that my article for the July issue would be about my first memories of Disneyland. I knew from the outset how hard this would be. If I had been asked about my first visit to Florida's Magic Kingdom this would be easy. It was November 18th 1988, which was Mickey's 60th birthday. I could write reams about my memories: the parades; my first trip on a monorail; finding ...
8 Secrets About Disneyland
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
From how to score a cocktail to where to scatter grandma's ashes, this is your ticket to the real Magic Kingdom. 1. There are dead bodies in the Haunted Mansion The Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland is one of the scariest places in the park, but not for the reasons you'd expect. In his 1994 book "Mouse Tales," former Disney employee David Koenig tells the story of a tourist group that ...
Happy Birthday, Disneyland
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
"To all who come to this happy place: Welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future." Walt Disney It was 56 years ago today July 17, 1955that Walt uttered those memorable words as he welcomed the first people to pass through the gates of Disneyland. The first day was deemed a disaster because ...
Looking To The Stars
Hello Friends! Steven here with my latest take on anything Disneyness. I have been taking a break from writing for the last couple of months due to selling my house, buying a new one, and moving closer to town. I really had forgotten how much junk a person can collect being at the same house for 20 something years. I almost thought of calling myself a hoarder when I saw all the boxes we had packed ...
California vs. Blackpool: General
Earlier in the year, I wrote an article for DLDHistory.com comparing the Alice in Wonderland ride in Disneyland to Alice's Wonderland at Pleasure Beach Blackpool (the most visited theme park in the United Kingdom). As I have recently come back from a week's vacation in Blackpool (and seeing as my main article this month was shorter than usual) I thought I would compare Anaheim's Disneyland Resort as a ...
Reflections On My Trip To Disneyland
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
I was a little worried about our trip to Disneyland, which took place last week. Last time I went with my older son, then 4 years old, and misjudged the scariness of Pirates of the Caribbean by a factor of about 10. He didn't want to go on rides after that, pegged me as a complete liar (it was going to happen some time ) and stayed in the fetal position for the rest of the month. Adding to ...
Who Says This Is The Happiest Place On Earth?
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
This column wasn't supposed to happen. The subject was supposed to be out of the way, and out of my life, last Sunday. That was before readers started calling: A few even stopped me on the street. "So how was ... " The "D" word. Disneyland. Inevitable. My wife and I took our son to Disneyland during spring break. Every kid has to go to Disneyland at least once; it's an inalienable ...
Disneyland On The Cheap
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Sure, tickets to Disneyland are usually pricey. But you don't need a hoard of cash the size of Scrooge McDuck's to have a great time. They say that money can't buy happiness, but Disney seems to prove that statement false. As the self-proclaimed "Happiest Place on Earth," Disneyland (along with California Adventure) is indeed a lot of fun for the whole family. But with exorbitant prices on ...
7 Tips For Tackling Disneyland In A Day
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
I've been to Disneyland hundreds of times over the last two decades and have been writing the Funland theme park blog for about four years now. As a result, people are always asking me how to do everything at Disneyland in a single day. The short answer is you probably can't. It can be a struggle for even hard-core fans with military assault-like strategies. The longer answer is there's lots of ways ...
8 Memory Keepers To Pick Up At Disneyland & Almost ALL Under 10 Dollars
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
I dare you to go to Disneyland and not buy at least one souvenir on your visit. Unless you work there or are a season pass holder who drops by whenever you please, odds are you will pick something up to help you remember the "magical" time you had. Me, I'd like to take the entire park home with me, but that just wouldn't be practical. Instead my family picks up a little this or a little that some sort of ...
Disney Adventure Without The Kids
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
When I told a New York friend I was heading to Disneyland to explore its appeal for adults, his immediate retort was that it would be a very brief visit. And when our group, not a person under 35, walked through the gates of Disneyland on a warm Saturday and contemplated the crush of elbow-high humanity before us, I wondered if perhaps he was right. Yet seven hours and eight attractions into my first ...
Insiders Guide To Disneyland
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
If I could live anywhere, I would live in The Haunted Mansion, like all year long," director Guillermo del Toro said last year at Comic-Con while discussing his upcoming film featuring Disneyland's iconic haunted house. And he's not alone. Hollywood is full of filmmakers and talent who are addicted to Disneyland, which opened in 1955 and now averages 40,000 visitors a day. Zachary Levi, Gwen Stefani, ...
Temperatures Rise And Crowds Drop
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
If you're still out of school and have a high tolerance for heat, this might be a good week to visit Disneyland. One of the longest lines of the weekend was at Splash Mountain, which had a 65-minute stand-by wait Sunday afternoon, a good 40 minutes longer than Star Tours. The line for the Dole Whip stand was pretty long, too. Over at Disney California Adventure, there was an hour wait for ...
Learn From Disney And Let Single Riders Have Their Day
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
I was in California recently for a wedding and, because I hadn't been since I was a kid, I did something unusual and slightly inappropriate: I went to Disneyland by myself. No one, from the park patrons to employees, wants to see you do that. It defeats the purpose to be alone in The Happiest Place on Earth. The single rider lines to fill out odd-numbered parties for the Matterhorn or Splash Mountain ...
Disneyland For Adults Only
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
When I told a friend I was heading to Disneyland to explore its appeal for adults, his immediate retort was that it would be a very brief visit. And when our group, not a person under 35, walked through the gates of Disneyland on a warm Saturday and contemplated the crush of elbow-high humanity before us, I wondered if perhaps he was right. Yet seven hours and eight attractions into my first day, a ...
Learning To Love Disneyland Again
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
As we walked across the broad, brick-paved plaza, a burst of music swelled, the strings rising to cinematic heights amid a pounding of kettle drums. A man in a crisp white shirt waved and beamed. Perfectly manicured flowers swayed in the breeze. It felt, for a moment, that we had accomplished something greater than simply walking out the gates at Disneyland in Southern California. But that is the ...
Still Returning After 36 Years
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Having first visited Disneyland as a 2-year-old, Fairfax journalist James Croot reflects after his recent sixth visit. "To all who come to this happy place: Welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savour the challenge and promise of the future." Walter E Disney's words when he opened his theme park in July 1955 have never felt truer than ...
Tour Visits Walt Disney Apartment
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Disneyland Park has revamped its "Walk in Walt's Footsteps" tour with new attractions and a new price. The new tour is called "Walk in Walt's Disneyland Footsteps" and it began on Sunday, according to park employees. The Disney Parks blog announced the change in August without providing details. But booking agents I talked to both at the park and on the phone say that it includes Walt Disney's ...
At Disneyland Even The Plants Have A Purpose
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Did you know that the trees and flowers planted throughout Disneyland were as well thought out as the design of the attractions and lands themselves? I didn't. In scurrying from one attraction to the other, I must admit that I never paid much attention to the foliage until I took Disneyland's two-hour "Cultivating the Magic" tour during which the guide talked of how the hundreds of varieties of ...
Memories From The Mansion
It was August 1969 and I had just turned 9 the month before. Summer was rapidly coming to an end so, as a treat, my Dad let me go with my summer camp group on a day trip to the Magic Kingdom. We were scheduled to leave early the morning of the 12th which was a Tuesday. We would spend the entire day at the park and return early the morning of the 13th. Little did I know that this would be the most ...
Disneyland To Close Big Thunder Mountain Railroad For Overhaul
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is closing Jan. 7 to get new tracks, vehicles and paint. It will be the third major overhaul of a major Disneyland ride in as many years. The railroad in the Frontierland section of the Anaheim park has been operating since 1979 and portrays a runaway train that speeds through a barren Old West landscape. The ride is expected to reopen in fall ...
Disney Begins 4 Million Dollar Big Thunder Overhaul
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will undergo its biggest project in more than three decades when the ride closes Monday for at least nine months. The Frontierland ride, which mimics a runaway mine train through an Old West canyon, will close so crews can begin a makeover that will last until fall. A reopening date has yet to be announced. The renovation will cost $4 million, according ...
Disneyland Day Every Day For This Couple
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
At 8 a.m. today, Tonya Mickesh and Jeff Reitz were to go through the entrance turnstiles to Disneyland for the 366th day in a row. It's a journey that's seen them spend 24 hours in the park for the 24-hour Leap Day, watch baby ducks grow up, and go from unemployed to full-time jobs while becoming nationally known as the "everyday Disneyland couple." "It was a way to keep ourselves occupied because ...
Top Disneyland Ride Creator Steps Down
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Tony Baxter began scooping ice cream at Disneyland in 1965 as a college job and rose up to spearhead the creation of some of the park's biggest rides, including Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Star Tours. Now, 47 years later, Baxter is stepping down from overseeing Disneyland attractions. Baxter, who lives in Anaheim Hills, announced Friday that he was leaving his job as senior vice president ...
Fastpass Service At Disneyland Resort
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Free to all guests Available for 13 attractions Spend less time standing in line The FASTPASS attraction entrances are separate, with much shorter lines Park admission passport goes into the machine A ticket prints out with a window of time to return Simple to use Saves time for more fun Follow these 3 easy steps to learn how to use Disney's FASTPASS Service at ...
Deplorable Scheme To Skip Lines
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
It's made headlines recently. We all know how frustrating it is, waiting in those long lines at Disney. But now some families are cheating the system. They're hiring disabled tour guides so they can cut right to the front. We went undercover and caught it all on tape. The rides, the characters: Disneyland is "the happiest place on earth" -- except if you're waiting in those long lines, you and your ...
