my father was a musician at disneyland on-and-off from the early eighties to ~2004, so my sisters and i spent a lot of time there + had a bunch of people in our peer group who worked there. i've probably told this story on ilx before, but i took a college creative writing course with one of the guys who played Goofy; he was very tall and strange and every story he submitted had something to do with infant and/or child murder.
― ban opinions (reddening), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 21:24 (1 year ago) Permalink
moral of the story: stay away from Goofy
― Full Frontal Newtity (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 21:26 (1 year ago) Permalink
garsh
― I spend a lot of time thinking about apricots (DJP), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 21:28 (1 year ago) Permalink
i haven't seen that guy in 10 years but there's an ~85% chance he currently posts to reddit
― ban opinions (reddening), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 21:31 (1 year ago) Permalink
rip skyway ride
― Aerosol, Tuesday, 24 January 2012 21:33 (1 year ago) Permalink
in ref to those pics obv
unfortunately can't get to my 50s-60s photos, waiting for flickr to unlock/renew my account arrgh
― Full Frontal Newtity (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 21:34 (1 year ago) Permalink
also RIP: creepy waving dolls inside Sleeping Beauty's Castle
― ban opinions (reddening), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 21:37 (1 year ago) Permalink
i miss you, disneyland :(
― chaki, Tuesday, February 12, 2008
― Aerosol, Tuesday, 24 January 2012 21:38 (1 year ago) Permalink
ohhh just realized you can see Monstro the whale in the background of Shakey's first pic! <3
also i covet the shirt the girl in the lower left corner is wearing
― ban opinions (reddening), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 21:47 (1 year ago) Permalink
so.... gossip?
― Mordy, Tuesday, 24 January 2012 21:55 (1 year ago) Permalink
here is some gossip for you: last week, Disneyland quietly hooked up the Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin Fastpass system to the park-wide network of Fastpasses! for the last decade you could go get a Fastpass for the ride and it wouldn't count against your limited Fastpass total, because it wasn't hooked up to the main network. now you have to either waste a good Fastpass on Roger Rabbit or wait in line, which is of course fascist bullshit.
― ban opinions (reddening), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 22:09 (1 year ago) Permalink
this is an outrage
― Full Frontal Newtity (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 22:14 (1 year ago) Permalink
oh man, i abused the fuck out of the fastpass last time i went cause i was there with my whole family and a bunch of peeps didn't want to ride the fastpass rides so i just grabbed fastpasses with all their tickets and had like five fastpasses at one time
― Mordy, Tuesday, 24 January 2012 22:45 (1 year ago) Permalink
how do the fastpasses work?
― Full Frontal Newtity (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 22:46 (1 year ago) Permalink
instead of waiting in line you go to a machine for the line and swipe your ticket and get a fastpass. the fastpass has a time on it and if you come back at that time you basically get automatic admission to the ride. but you can only have like 1 (or 2?) at a time
― Mordy, Tuesday, 24 January 2012 22:49 (1 year ago) Permalink
iirc
yeah, i think it goes: you get a fastpass with a return time on it, and then you can't get another one until it's that return time. however, if the return time is way later in the day, you can get another one two hours after you picked up the first one.
― ban opinions (reddening), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 22:55 (1 year ago) Permalink
I am going to WDW in April. I am very excited. What are your pro tips, ILX friends?
― gnome (remy bean), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 22:55 (1 year ago) Permalink
use your fastpass.
find hidden mickeys.
get autograph book + have characters sign it
get the secret character phone number and call in to stalk, uh, hunt down, uh, find your fave characters.
― Mordy, Tuesday, 24 January 2012 22:56 (1 year ago) Permalink
playing drinking around the world where you drink at every country in epcot world pavilion. ride the troll ride.
― Mordy, Tuesday, 24 January 2012 22:57 (1 year ago) Permalink
ride the troll ride. 4chanstorm
You can get a second Fastpass if you approach the fifteen-minute window of the first -- at least in WDW.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 22:58 (1 year ago) Permalink
whoa, neat!
1 day in Magic Kingdom1 day in Animal Kingdom & Epcot (together)1 day at Sea World
Sound good? I would skip Sea World but girlfriend is a big coaster fiend, and I don't think I can get away w/o going to another park outside Disney. I don't like coasters terribly much, so I figure Sea World might be kind of fun when she's whipping around upside down.
― gnome (remy bean), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 22:59 (1 year ago) Permalink
if you have a smartphone, i believe there's an app that shows you the wait times for all the rides. there's one for disneyland at least, i'm sure wdw has one too.
― ban opinions (reddening), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:01 (1 year ago) Permalink
Confession: ten trips to WDW since '98, still haven't visited Animal Kingdom.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:01 (1 year ago) Permalink
I would go for Universal Studios for your coaster needs.
Is Disneyland a completely different beast than WDW? We are tentatively considering a West Coast trip and loved WDW so much that Disneyland is under consideration.
― ailsa, Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:04 (1 year ago) Permalink
Animal Kingdom is great. Not sure about feasibility of doing AK + Epcot on the same day, though. Epcot is my fave park. Also you're going to miss MGM? Tower of Terror is classic. Other good stuff (like 3D Muppet Movie! Star Wars ride!) worth doing there too.
― Mordy, Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:04 (1 year ago) Permalink
Is Disneyland a completely different beast than WDW?
yes. it's much smaller for one thing.
― Full Frontal Newtity (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:05 (1 year ago) Permalink
I would go to MGM instead of Sea World and ride Tower of Terror and Aerosmith roller coaster which are both thrillier rides than most of WDW attractions.
― Mordy, Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:05 (1 year ago) Permalink
also it's way older, there's stuff there from the 50s
xp
― Full Frontal Newtity (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:06 (1 year ago) Permalink
There's no comparison: WDW is immersive. You can hang out in a Disney hotel playing golf, swimming, eating, and hanging with bros and not step foot in a park.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:06 (1 year ago) Permalink
even the drive into the Magic Kingdom represents a triumph of Walt Disney learning from the mistakes of Disneyland. You drive further and further north until you're forced to park at the Transportation and Ticket Center, and even then you still can't see the park until you're on the monorail or ferry boat.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:07 (1 year ago) Permalink
mistakes!
― Full Frontal Newtity (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:08 (1 year ago) Permalink
Also you're going to miss MGM? Tower of Terror is classic.
Isn't MGM now called Disney Hollywood Studios? Is that the same thing? We've done Muppets and Star Wars in California, so really we'd only be going for Tower of Terror.
I like the idea of Epcot, but a lot of what I've read says it's very out of date, and I don't want to invest myself in too much hoakum.
― gnome (remy bean), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:08 (1 year ago) Permalink
I remember it so fondly from the '87, I'm worried it won't hold up
Disney regretted the development around the Disneyland park.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:08 (1 year ago) Permalink
Epoct is by far the best park! It's the one with all the restaurants, and you can Drink Around the World.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:09 (1 year ago) Permalink
I've never been to WDW but yeah it seems much closer to, like, an actual functioning city or resort town than Disneyland, which is very much an amusement park.
I am also very fond of Disneyland's original inspiration (which is even smaller in scale), Children's Fairyland in Oakland.
― Full Frontal Newtity (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:09 (1 year ago) Permalink
some parts of epcot are out of date (like the technology pavilion, the growing grain pavilion, and the communications throughout history pavilion) but they're out of date in an incredibly sincere optimistic way about the future of humanity and the promise of technology. it's a very renewing experience!
― Mordy, Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:10 (1 year ago) Permalink
Hollywood Studios is the one to miss if you can't do them all, but I had the most fun on the Toy Story Midway Mania ride there, and my coaster-loving other half loved the Rock'n'Rollercoaster.
End your Animal Kingdom/Epcot day at Epcot for the IllumiNations show, do Animal Kingdom in the morning.
― ailsa, Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:10 (1 year ago) Permalink
Epcot is really the only thing I am curious about at WDW
― Full Frontal Newtity (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:11 (1 year ago) Permalink
Yeah. Future World doesn't feel dowdy.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:11 (1 year ago) Permalink
Epcot is the one park in which I feel no pressure to ride anything. You can walk with a beer and soak it in.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:13 (1 year ago) Permalink
Okay, we'll do Epcot. Only thing: neither of us drink. Will it still be fun? We can afford three days at theme parks. We both want to do Animal Kingdom (suckers for giraffes), and obv. Magic Kingdom. Epcot would be our third day, just want to make sure it's a good call, and that we're not gonna regret skipping Sea World and/or Universal Studios.
― gnome (remy bean), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:13 (1 year ago) Permalink
Cheers all, I realised it was smaller and older, is it just that it's not so Disneyfied? We stayed offsite in Orlando, but visited a park about 10 out of our 14 days. This would just be because we're there and wouldn't be the major point of our trip.
― ailsa, Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:14 (1 year ago) Permalink
if anything it's MORE Disneyfied
― Full Frontal Newtity (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:16 (1 year ago) Permalink
basically every ride/feature is tied to a specific Disney film or property
Ah, cool. I think I meant how WDW is so immersive with hotels and transport and whathaveyou, I sort of feel Disneyland seems more pop in then pop out again as opposed to being swallowed up in the whole culture of it. I may have this all wrong in my head.
― ailsa, Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:19 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah, i think the fact that it's older + smaller actually makes it ideal for a "just popping by" trip. also the new cars land is going to open this summer, presumably with new rides that haven't made it to wdw yet? i heard one of the new rides is going to be like the old flying saucer ride and i am psyyyyyyyched
― ban opinions (reddening), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 23:20 (1 year ago) Permalink
xxpost Whiney: yeah I love rollercoasters too! the first drop always feels like imminent death and the worst mistake of my life and then: fun!
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 14 January 2013 17:49 (4 months ago) Permalink
Tower of Tower fake drop is brilliant. Yeah im not a fan of falling either tho.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 14 January 2013 18:04 (4 months ago) Permalink
lol Tower of Tower
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 14 January 2013 18:06 (4 months ago) Permalink
it's true that about the only way Tower of Terror could be better is if they took the entire Tower up another, larger Tower and dropped it while you drop inside the smaller tower
― DJP, Monday, 14 January 2013 18:13 (4 months ago) Permalink
Inception?
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Monday, 14 January 2013 18:14 (4 months ago) Permalink
xposts actually the data-mining potential for everyone carrying around trackers is enormous, they could tell if you're taking an unusually long time in the bathroom and have the toilet paper holder ask "Your name, you've been in here for awhile, are you feeling all right?"
― says a future man to his crystal son (reddening), Monday, 14 January 2013 18:16 (4 months ago) Permalink
I've mentioned this before, but:
Before the fun starts and the car drops, like every other fricking ride in the Kingdom, there's an announcement made that there's been a problem detected in the ride and that it might go haywire (or take you into the Twilight Zone.)
There's comes a point where the doors open (like an elevator) and there's a dark room with ghosts and shit and Rod Serling comes out to say something to the riders. Except, as my sister says when she first rode it, the interior fluorescent lights were turned on in that level, so you saw this utility room with wooden beams and sawdust with this pane of glass in front of the car that the ghostly apparitions were being projected on.
― pplains, Monday, 14 January 2013 18:17 (4 months ago) Permalink
So my sister really believed there was a problem with the ride and then WHOOOOSH.
When I went on Expedition Everest, there was no wait, which was kind of too bad, because the winding line in is full of all sorts of fake artifacts and news clippings and every once in a while mention of a yeti. It's quite subtle, though the attention to detail was admirable. See also: the fun wait for the Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain. Not that I would prefer a wait, but I kind of missed out on lingering.
I really liked Animal Kingdom. A couple of cool rides, but mostly awesome details, like the fake '50s amusement park set up on a fake parking lot. We skipped Hollywood Studios, so no Tower of Terror for us. It was the one ride our kids were too little to go on even if they wanted to, anyway.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 14 January 2013 20:12 (4 months ago) Permalink
when I go to WDW these days we spent no more than three or four hours at a park before returning to the hotel for pool/drinks. Nothing quite like doing the monorail drink-a-thon stoned.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 14 January 2013 20:14 (4 months ago) Permalink
This sounds like a good idea. We usually try to wring out every last possible minute in the parks which means that after a day or two, trudging around the park devolves into a march of death. Building breaks into the day could be a big help.
― Moodles, Monday, 14 January 2013 20:19 (4 months ago) Permalink
Moodles, few things depress me more than zombie parents pushing strollers full of screaming children at 6 p.m.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 14 January 2013 20:22 (4 months ago) Permalink
We were there over Halloween, which apparently is the only time of the year they allow guests to wear costumes (for obvious reasons). We had to leave at 7pm, because we didn't pay for the special ticket, but all the decorations and lighting were Halloween themed, all the villains came out in the parades, and the usual Disney cast was all dressed as gravediggers. There was spooky music and stuff, and as well left we faced an incoming tide of Batmans, Incredibles, pirates and god knows how many civilian versions of Disney characters. Which we could tell from the real Disney cast by their, um, girth.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 14 January 2013 20:24 (4 months ago) Permalink
we wouldn't hang out until all hours if we weren't genuinely excited about doing as much as we can (child included), our problem is more that our enthusiasm and ambition to ride every ride is greater than our physical capacity to do so.
― Moodles, Monday, 14 January 2013 20:29 (4 months ago) Permalink
We did the Halloween night several years ago and it was really fun. The Halloween fireworks were really cool.
― Moodles, Monday, 14 January 2013 20:32 (4 months ago) Permalink
Our first night at WDW we wandered over to the park pretty late in the evening, I would say around 7 or 8pm. And it was kind of awesome because there wasn't really a ton of people around. We rode Space Mountain two or three times in a row because there was no line at all.
But that was in June about 10 years ago. (Trust me, we didn't pick June, it was picked for us...god I have never sweated so much in my life as I did that week)
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 14 January 2013 20:59 (4 months ago) Permalink
Nothing quite like doing the monorail drink-a-thon stoned.
Some friends of mine have a really cool story about taking acid and going on It's a Small World. It sounds like simultaneously the best and worst idea ever.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 14 January 2013 21:02 (4 months ago) Permalink
I think every senior class has a grad night story
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 14 January 2013 21:10 (4 months ago) Permalink
yes, this fucking shit fuck that no.
a lot scarier when you're seven and no one's popping flash cubes at the ride.
― pplains, Monday, 14 January 2013 21:12 (4 months ago) Permalink
DUFF BEER FOR MEDUFF BEER FOR YOUI'LL HAVE A DUFFYOU HAVE ONE TOO
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 14 January 2013 21:13 (4 months ago) Permalink
this sounds awesome:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-sundance-2013-escape-from-tomorrow-disneyland-randy-moore-release-20130118,0,4296.story
The result of Moore’s quixotic dream is “Escape from Tomorrow,” a Surrealist, genre-defying black-and-white film that was shown for the first time at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday night and that was primarily shot across the vast expanses of Disney theme parks in Orlando and Anaheim. There is Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin and Space Mountain, Tiki Room and teacups, princesses and a Main Street parade. At one point, Epcot Center blows up.It is one of the strangest and most provocative movies this reporter has seen in eight years attending the Sundance Film Festival. And it may well never be viewed by a commercial audience.Sitting at a Park City café shortly after the screening ended, Moore, 36, is trying to take deep breaths. The director has been living the last three years in a state of heightened tension, fearful that Disney would find out about his stealth project and try to quash it.
It is one of the strangest and most provocative movies this reporter has seen in eight years attending the Sundance Film Festival. And it may well never be viewed by a commercial audience.
Sitting at a Park City café shortly after the screening ended, Moore, 36, is trying to take deep breaths. The director has been living the last three years in a state of heightened tension, fearful that Disney would find out about his stealth project and try to quash it.
― ❏❐❑❒ (gr8080), Monday, 21 January 2013 04:17 (4 months ago) Permalink
read about that today: agreed that it's awesome.
― Cunga, Monday, 21 January 2013 05:22 (4 months ago) Permalink
inside Walt Disney's private Disneyland apartment
― Welcome to my world of proses (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 25 January 2013 19:47 (4 months ago) Permalink
Put a silly hat on them and every family looks the same.
― pplains, Sunday, 3 February 2013 06:42 (3 months ago) Permalink
omg i treasure everything about hillary's outfit right there
― says a future man to his crystal son (reddening), Sunday, 3 February 2013 07:58 (3 months ago) Permalink
so jealous of these people who got stuck on the monorail for 45 minutes and had to be towed back to the station. i assume the WDW monorail is in good condition since it's actually part of the transportation system, but the DL version is bumpy as fuck and every time me + my sisters ride it, we assume the track will finally crumble and pitch the whole thing into the submarine lagoon.
then again, back when the rocket rods were a thing, we were also convinced our rocket rod would skid off its track and pitch us into the submarine lagoon. we were just really scared of being flung into a body of water filled with plaster monsters.
― says a future man to his crystal son (reddening), Wednesday, 20 February 2013 03:02 (3 months ago) Permalink
Sadly I've read more and more stories in recent months about monorail problems on both parks. The problem is the monorails don't themselves generate revenue, so Disney hasn't given them much thought. On the other hand, most guests at the Polynesian, Contemporary, and Grand Floridian, and Disneyland's Disneyland Hotel, regard monorail access as an essential commodity.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 20 February 2013 03:46 (3 months ago) Permalink
http://www.drinkingatdisney.com/
― The New Jack Mormons! (kingfish), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 07:58 (3 months ago) Permalink
apparently OSHA got sassy with disneyland/dca yesterday and shut down four of their biggest rides for safety violations (matterhorn, splash mountain, space mountain, soarin' over california). they managed to make a fix on splash mountain and get it reopened, but the other three are still closed today. considering big thunder mountain is closed for a refurb, that means at some point yesterday the entire mountain range was down.
― a sentimental knife (reddening), Sunday, 14 April 2013 22:41 (1 month ago) Permalink
Hm. I saw an OSHA notice on one of the Disney boards today.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 14 April 2013 22:42 (1 month ago) Permalink