Disney's California Adventure: The Press Gang in action (A trilogy in five parts). Part Two: Being T

SimonV

Proud to have called Bob Varley 'friend'
Joined
Aug 18, 1999
(Disclaimer: I am obliged to point out that I am fully aware I am hugely privileged to be doing this. Admittedly, I am having to leave my family behind for five days, but, as most people would probably give their right arm to be along for the ride, it is a small price to pay. So, as you read on, please try not to say 'Lucky %£"!!*&^' too many times. Those of a sensitive nature are advised not read further)

Trying to get to sleep on the first night of any transatlantic trip is always a problem. The time difference and the long nature of that first day, with all the journeying involved, makes it a tiring experience, but your body-clock doesn't always (doesn't ever, in my experience) agree.

This means that after going to sleep at, say, midnight, your body decides it's time to wake up a long time before your brain does. In reality, you can never count on getting much sleep straight away and, sure enough, I'm awake at 2am, 3am and 5.05am. After finally getting back to sleep again around 5.30am (I guess), I am awoken by the sound of The End Of The World As We Know It.

Some rotten ^%$*££"! has left the radio/alarm clock switched on to 'alarm' for an unscheduled 6.15 alarm call, and this baby is LOUD. Like, from a dead sleep, I am suddenly five feet in the air in best cartoon fashion, thrashing around in the dark trying to work out why the fire alarm is going off, why the phone is ringing and why the radio has switched on all at once. When I finally realise it is only the radio/alarm, I punch it back into silence. Of course, I am now widest awake and there is no chance of getting back to sleep, so I give in and fire up the laptop in a bid to put a few initial thoughts down for the report I will have to file back to the newspaper later in the week.

I order some coffee and Oj from room service ($14.59 - ouch!) and manage to compose a handful of meaningful {Hah! - Ed.} sentences while parts of my brain struggle back into focus. It is again due to be a wonderful day in southern California, so I am glad I brought some shorts and polo shirts, rather than the winter weather we were officially told to prepare for. Thermal underware is definitely not required!

The official press breakfast is held in the hotel's Crystal Room (I guess, so they can make sure that the real guests are protected from the sight of the UK media's finest first thing in the morning :D ), and our friendly Disney TV crew are back to do a bit of filming. A certain mouse also puts in an appearance and we have our own impromptu character breakfast.

At 10am it is time to head 'em up and move on out to our first official assignment - a day in Disneyland. Now, I haven't been here since my wife and I had our first holiday in the States back in 1987, and we managed a day at DL at the behest of a Washington-based cousin, who set us up with tickets for the day.

Returning some 14 years later is a real thrill because our memories of that day are still so strong. Back then, Star Tours was the new ride in town and we were there for rope drop at 9am when just about everyone made a stampede in the direction of the new attraction. After that (and the ride absolutely blew you away), we were totally hooked on the Disney experience, and we were practically thrown out of the park at ten after midnight after riding Pirates of the Caribbean for the umpteenth time. To say it was a memorable day would be a massive understatement.

Now, although the circumstances are vastly different, I am still slightly in awe of being back at the scene of such great memories. Admittedly, there have been a lot of changes in the intervening years, most notably in Tomorrowland which is almost unrecognisable to these star-struck eyes, but the essence is the same and it is truly amazing to feel the differences between here and the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, where I must have been more than 30 times in the last seven years while researching and up-dating my book.

The basic layout may be very similar, but the style and ambience seem really different, with a lot of the detail (not to mention different rides like Indiana Jones, Alice in Wonderland, Autopia, Roger Rabbit {Sadly still in rehab after the tragic accident last year} and areas like Critter Country and New Orleans Square) offering a fundamental difference. Disneyland is smaller, closer, and somehow more intimate than MK and, while at face value they are essentially the same park, there is a definite sense that this is the original; it is clearly older in parts and, while it is still very fresh to most of its visitors, there is an underlying maturity about the park that seems to maintain Walt's vision and memory most strongly.

Anyway, once our feet have hit the ground, as it were, and we have been formed into groups of eight (including our Disney hosts and co-ordinators), it is time to do some proper theme park-ing, and we head for the Indiana Jones Adventure. Seeing as it is a Monday in winter, the crowds are very low this morning and there is barely a five-minute stand-by wait for the ride (FastPass? Who needs it!). DL regulars won't be surprised to hear that this was easily voted King Ride. Orlando goers will probably want to know that this is one ride that is head and shoulders above most of the rides in Disney World (except for Rock 'n Roller, Tower of Terror and Star Tours). It is easily superior to the similar ride-based Dinosaur ride in Animal Kingdom, and the queuing area alone is worth coming to see. It is so much like being in an Indiana Jones film set that it is quite breathtaking. And then you do the ride. Wow! This is just so much unadulterated fun, it will probably be declared illegal eventually.

I came back to ride it a further two times during the day and there are subtle differences each time, but the overall impression is so strong, and the actual ride interior is so cavernous and impressive, you can't help but be swept away by it all.

In the course of the next few hours, we do the Jungle Cruise (the usual hokey fun), Pirates of the Caribbean (such a different start to the ride compared to MK), Big Thunder, Haunted Mansion (again, with some real differences in the detail which I didn't expect from knowing the MK version so well) and Honey I Shrunk the Audience (transplanted from Epcot, for Orlando folks!).

In between, I manage a lunch meet with the Dis's very own Webmaster Michelle - at the Blue Bayou in the New Orleans Square (a bit like a Louisiana version of the Restaurant de San Angel in Epcot's Mexico pavilion) - and catch up on all the latest Boards gossip. As she lives (or so she says) all of 15 minutes down the road from DL, Michelle selflessly tears herself away from computer duties for a while to bring me up to date with events.

Back with the Press gang, some of the party are distinctly flagging after the previous long day and various incidences of sleep deprivation, so I am left to my own devices for the last couple of hours, in which time I manage to do Space Mountain (and Wow! What a different ride to Orlando. This is faster, tighter and generally whizzier than the MK version, with different vehicles, a different take-off and none of the quick drops which characterise the Orlando copy), Matterhorn Bobsleds (an oldie but still a goodie; somehow I remember this ride as longer, but I guess that's just one of the tricks of time) and two more rides on Indy, as well as having another drink with cousin Derek in mid-afternoon.

With virtually no queues (sorry, lines, :) ) at any of the rides, it would have been tempting to keep going for longer, but I do need to get back to the hotel, freshen up and change for the evening programme (which basically consists of going back to DL for the Believe fireworks show over the Castle at 8pm and then back to the hotel for dinner).

The one nuisance of the day is that, right at the start, we were given a DCA backpack to use to carry our various journalistic bits and pieces around the park, and mine has fallen apart after only minimal use. I suspect someone is playing tricks on me as first one strap breaks, then the other, then the drawstring toggle pulls off and finally the third, and last, strap just comes unstitched. Where's that candid camera?? Hmmmm. Methinks someone has been sold a cheap batch of backpacks!

Anyway, back at the park, the Believe show is truly wonderful, brilliantly choreographed to the music, and with a clever twist at the end just when you think it is all over. If you like Fantasy in the Sky at MK, Believe is definitely a must-see for you.

On the way back to the hotel, there is a mutually-agreed 'refuelling' stop at the open-air Catal bar in the centre of the Downtown area. From here, the linear style of the district is quite striking and there is a most congenial, albeit very gentle, bustle about the area that is sure to appeal to the grown-up audience.

Finally, it is back to the hotel for dinner, with many of the party (your correspondent included) now sorely flagging. Dinner at such a late hour is probably not the best idea in the world, but the food at the PCH Grill is extremely appetising and goes down well. There is also a good choice of micro-brew beers and so, suitably replenished, it is time to retire about 11.30.

Until tomorrow........(perhaps!)

simon.veness@virgin.net
 
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<font face="Comic Sans MS"><font color=#00009c>Simon, I'm like totally enjoying your trip report!!

You have me laughing out loud in parts, and just grinning in others. :)

<font face="Comic Sans MS"><font color=#FF0066>Mary Jo
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Bravo! This is great! :) I was LOL at your DCA backpack falling apart....what a hoot! :D

Can't wait for tomorrow's update. :)

<font color=red size=4>HAVE A DISNEY DAY</font>

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Well done Simon. Hope you continue to have fun. Can't wait to get out to DL in September!!

Andy :) :) :) :)

:) REMEMBER IT'S MAGIC :)
 
Thanks for the wonderful reports so far!!
I just had to agree that the Indiana Jones ride is just the BEST! When my friend and I got off the ride we were grinning like a couple of loons and got back in line for another trip. Although I enjoy the Dinosaur ride at AK, there is No Comparison!!
Anxiously awaiting to hear the rest of your trip!
 
i agree the indiana jones ride is head and shoulders above dinosaur. we kept going back in line until we'd ridden it half a dozen times.
 


Next! :D :D :D

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Disneyland is smaller, closer, and somehow more intimate than MK and, while at face value they are essentially the same park, there is a definite sense that this is the original; it is clearly older in parts and, while it is still very fresh to most of its visitors, there is an underlying maturity about the park that seems to maintain Walt's vision and memory most strongly.
[/quote]

Well said. Very well said indeed :D

And aren't Indy, Believe, and Fantasmic great? :D :D :D

-Rajah
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cdrtrisal@aol.com

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So this is life from a reporters point of view! I'm still enjoying your reports...keep em coming.

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<FONT COLOR=Red> Co-Chat Mistress</font>
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Excellent report... even the second time through!

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"My brain takes a vacation just to give my heart more room..."
teri@iluvdisney.com
 
You will have to let us know if your backpack is replaced. A great day on little sleep. Thanks for posting!
 
Good point, Marla. I'd forgotten all about the deficiencies of the backpack design!

By the end of the week, I was on my FIFTH backpack :eek: as they all had an uncanny knack of coming apart at the most inappropriate times! However, pack No 5 is still going strong - not that I dare put too much in it, from previous experiences :D

simon.veness@virgin.net
 

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