Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Behind the Scenes!

Went to Disneyland last week with my oldest daughter. We had a blast!

One of the best parts-for me-was when the Winnie the Pooh ride broke down while we were on it. Instead of making us sit there for 5 minutes while they ironed out the kinks, the Disney folks walked into the ride, got everyone out of their honey combed shaped vehicles, and lead us- on foot- out of the ride and back to the exit!

Now I'm a theme park nut. I love rides and I am especially a fan of the 'dark rides' (what they call the story based ride thru attractions like Winnie the Pooh,Pirates of the Caribbean,Haunted Mansion,etc). So you can image (I'm assuming) what a thrill it was for me to be able to stroll thru the path normally limited only to the ride vehicles. It was so cool to get up close and personal with the props and to touch and examine the animatronic characters in the Winnie ride! Sure, Pirates of the Caribbean woulda been a better, cooler ride to breakdown in, but this was a still a thrill!

My daughter is only 5 and I tried to explain to her what a big deal this was but it was clear that she was not that amazed. What she doesn't realize is just how rare this is! At least I think it's rare. The only other time anything like this has happened to me was in MR. TOAD'S WILD RIDE back when I was around 10 years old. And in that case, the lights just came on for a few minutes while we sat in our stalled cars while the Disney folks tinkered with this or that (they never explained what the problem was to us). Then the lights went back down and we finished the ride. No fuss, no muss. But it was still cool.

But THIS? This was totally different! We were WALKING thru the damn ride! To me, that is just the coolest thing in the world! Here are some picks I snapped on the way out (and the Disney folks didn't even seem to mind...how cool is that?)...


Here's the Ride Guide coming around with these little step stools to help the guests out of our vehicles...it was very organized, very 'not a big deal' which means that this either happens a lot more often that I am aware of OR Disney is just that good and that prepared for EVERYTHING that could happen in their parks...


Walking thru the ride- while crazy cool- also felt very natural...it made me wonder why there are not any walk thru dark rides like this...I guess crowd speed and crowd control gets tough/impossible in those sorts of cases. But the experience of walking thru the ride and getting right up to the displays was very, very cool and it made me think a walk thru dark ride would go over great (lots of stuff to touch and interact with and hidden things to find and discover,etc).There is something like that at LEGOLAND (the ADVENTURE CLUB or something like that that you get to walk thru) but it's real low rent compared to the amazing dark rides at Disneyland.


Check out all the blacklite! I feel like I'm at Spencer's Gifts at the mall! Where's the +18 section and DIO posters!?!? :)


Here is one of the mythic Hidden Mickeys that the ride guide showed us as we walked thru. I thought there were only like 50 Hidden Mickeys in the whole park, but it seems there may be around 500 or more! They really are everywhere if you know where to look!

Ok, later ya'll!

David

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

*crying*...I miss my childhood so much. Jesus Christ all this college application this, early application shit IS DRIVING ME FUCKING INSANE. I wish I could seriously just relax and go through a ride and have it break down.

Walking through an actual ride would be an awesome experience since you would feel so much more free you know? Instead of having a limited time looking at a certain object in the ride, you can still stare at it, while taking your time to get out and see other objects within the ride.

But yea...I might be a teen...but I have to say that childhood has to be the best part of life.

David Jaffe said...

Ah don't limit yourself Shadow...each phase has its own pros and cons...make sure you really enjoy each stage...it's there for a reason and I don't fine one is better than the other...they can all be great or they can all be nightmares depending on how you choose to live for life :)

Free, unsolicited advice mode is now over :)

David

simon said...

I've never been to disney land/world *tear* I've been in the area of both of them when I was a kid but didnt go... BTW those pics look really trippy haha

Anonymous said...

Jaffe, it sounds like you were enjoying yourself even more than your 5 year old daughter was! =P

Glad you both had a great time!

Gazzo said...

Man. That's cool, Jaffe. Makes me kinda nostalgic of my younger days.

I really do need to go to Disney Land someday. Probably won't be anytime soon, though, I'd imagine. I'd say something like that would be pretty swell. Fuck, I may even run into your crazy ass, Jaffe. I do need a vacation. :(

Anyway. I'm sorry to hear I missed the free unsolicited advice mode. Maybe next time. haha.

You should take more pictures next time you go, or at least post some more pictures on the blog. I'll feel like I'm really there. :)

Anon Raeg said...

DUDE YOU AREA DIPSHIT

ALL YOU DID WAS ONE GOOD GAME

GOD OF WAR IS NOT YOURS ANYMORE STOP PRETENDING IT IS

FUCK YOU

-Anon Rage

Anon Raeg said...

ALSO

STOP APPEARING ON THE MEDIA

YOU ARE FUCKING PATHETHIC LEARN SOME FUCKING ETIQUETTE

HAVE YOU CHECKED YOUR WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE?

YOU HAVE NO REPUTATION AND NOBODY TAKES YOU SERIOUSLY

DIE IN A FIRE, YOU ARE CANCER IN THE GAME INDUSTRY'S LUNG

GET RAPED OR SOMETHING.

Anonymous said...

This post is funny to me. Not like making fun of you funny, but like I watch your video blogs and you swear and talk about violence or whatever and then you have this post about Disneyland. lol

I've never been to Disneyland, only Disneyworld, which I think is bigger? But it's been a long time. The last time I went I was a freshman in high school, 15, and now I'm 21. That was when I was an angry brat who hated everything and I still loved it. Other than the lines, those get annoying fast. I can't say that I can't wait to have kids so I can go back, but if I have a chance I'd definitely take the opportunity.

David Jaffe said...

Oh man, when we went the parked was crowded but they're doing something now that has the lines so much better. Even long ass lines we only waited in for 30 min tops. And yeah, I hate lines and they make me cranky but again- not sure how they are solving it design wise- but something is up with that....

starblinky said...

WHAT!? That wasnt mickey mouse! That was just 3 circles. Pshhhh

I went to disney land as a kid and I remember going on the pirate ride (btw dave I dont think you COULD have done a walk through unless you want to walk around in like 3 feet of water) like 3 times. God the line ups were so bad.

I also remember waiting for a ride for 2 hours that lasted about 15 seconds. We timed it. It was some dumb ride my parents dumped us off at so they could go out on their own.

hmm I so bad want to go back there. So much I missed. So much was still being built when I went there, same with universal studios. They didnt even have the Jurassic park ride yet :(

TrevDogg said...

aah makes me remember when i went to disney land :-D good times good times. mickey shaped pancakes FTW :-P

Gazzo said...

I HAVE been to other theme parks though. Worlds of Fun in particular, look it up if you haven't heard of it, or don't. :) And even there, if you go on a weekend, the lines are a pain in the ass. Especially if you go in the summer. Standing in the line, sun in your face...Ugh. Gives me a headache just thinking about it.

I doubt I could stand the lines in Disneyland. Although, it IS Disneyland. So I'd probably make myself stand it. I love places like that though. Such a fun atmosphere, everyone is so happy.

Also, to David: On a forum I go too, I noticed someone had a Sweet Tooth signature. Just thought you might find interest in that.

decimalator said...

That's awesome!

Reminds me of a high school trip to Disneyland way back when. Some boner friends of mine thought it would be funny to jump between boats on Pirates of the Carribean. So they got escorted back to have a chat with security.

Unknown said...

Ok, 3 quick things.

When I went to Universal Studios Park they had a good walk through "ride" (it was The Mummy) but they changed the theme every year so I really don't know if it is even still there.

Have you seen Slumdog Millionaire? Because I freakin' loved that movie.

HIDDEN MICKEY SPOILER----------There's a hidden Mickey on Pirates of the Caribbean near the end of the ride on the shields if you look VERY close. Have you seen it?
The hidden mickeys make the park so much fun every time you go to Disney Land.

Anonymous said...

If there is any amusement park you ever go to, head up to Cedar Point. Awesome ride after awesome ride.

Josh said...

Awesome. I was on the Dinosaur ride in Disneyworld on my honeymoon and it broke down in complete darkness and didn't move for like 5 min. The cool part was that I was in a car full of kids and they were just freaking out and crying... I just laughed at them all because they were afraid of the dark......and the dinos. Seeing a kid crying because he seriously thought a t-rex was going to eat him is still one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Yeah, I know it's wrong but I don't care. lol

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