Q.

I'm wondering - Has anyone in Imagineering proposed the idea of turning the Rocket Rods into a technically simpler coaster-style ride? Remove the engines from the cars and re-tool them into coasting vehicles on tubular rails. They could be shot through the first section of the ride using a modified version of the Peoplemover's tires- in- the- track method. The outdoor section could use lifts and banked turns to turn it into a truly fun coaster. Heck, they could make Pressler happy and buy all the track off-the-shelf! 

There's nothing wrong with the Rocket Rods' concept - it'd be a shame to see it all just vanish after so short a time.
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A.

I don't know how they can say that though - weren't the saucers fun to ride?  ;)

Rumors continue to swirl that we may see them gone very VERY soon now.  About the only thing I think I'll miss is the "flash 'n poof" special effect in the last building.  I think the Imagineers were just trying to see if they could blow off Eisner's toupee again like they did in Indy.  ;) 

Q.

So if Rocket Rods were a dud and too expensive to run... AND there's a lack of real attractions in "new" Tomorrowland... Think there's a chance we could get the PeopleMover back? (If not, what's the fate of the extensive track?)

Now for the obligatory "I love you, Al" comments... Thank you so much for the site and the frequent updates, Al! As others have written, it is the one site I'm sure to check every day. I really love getting all the news and the photos. And you do such a smooth job with lay-out that it all looks effortless -- but I know you must put tons of time and thought into it. I really appreciate that. 

I could do without the overly (and seemingly increasing) self- referential comments of the columnists, not to mention their (and sometimes your) tendency to sensationalize. And I understand the concept of being critical because you care about something, but sometimes the balance of your comments is tilted too heavily toward the negative for me. But we all draw the line at different spots, don't we? And even if the writing is sometimes a little too snarky or precious for my tastes, I still love the site, and am still forever grateful to you for it.
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A.

What will most probably happen, from what some folks say within the company, is that the track will mostly be taken out and the buildings sealed up where the cars zipped through.

Thank you for both the kind words and the criticism in your note - I do read each and every e-mail and trust me, no one is more critical of how negative I can be than myself.  

Q.

I'm writing concerning your links to other themepark websites. What a helpful idea. I've noticed though, that the only unofficial site you list is for Sea World. I've noticed that the unofficial sites are usually better than the official ones (using Disney's as my only example), and I was wondering if you knew of any good unofficial sites for Universal, Knott's, Magic Mountain, etc? 

I know there must be many, but do any singular sites stick out in your mind? Thank you very much for your time and effort.
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A.

Hmmm, that gives me an idea John.  Stay tuned to the site the next couple of weeks and see if it pans out...  ;) 

Q.

Instead, she LEASES that small chunk of land to Disneyland. Well, you can guess that she's fabulously wealthy. Have you ever heard of this? My dad says he's met her on several occasions and she's constantly traveling and has a huge house, all bought with "Walt's money". Love the site.
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I also understand that the Disneyland Pacific [soon to be Paradise Pier] Hotel is also leased from the original developers for a pretty penny too. 

Q.

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In most cases you just notify the CM at the attraction you would like to use the device[s] at and they will set you up.  The Disneyland Today guide you get when you come in lists with symbols the attractions that you can find these devices at. 

Q.

Since my visit in March 1999, I have lost over forty pounds and I am quite concerned about eating well. (Before I began a weight  loss / exercise program I was content to eat half of the French Market Café! Not to mention churros, we don't have them here in Calgary, Canada.)

Could you please tell me which grocery store is nearest to Disneyland and where it is located? I'm planning another visit and would like to purchase some provisions for breakfast and lunch. On a similar note, is the area around the park a safe place to do some jogging?
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A.

As far as jogging - there is one area to STAY AWAY FROM in particular [and I use all caps because I mean it] and that is the area behind the Disney Hotels [west] and also to the north behind the park.  It's kind of sad that in the shadow of this place there are such problematic neighborhoods.

I would suggest jogging south from Disneyland down Harbor Blvd., a major street with plenty of lights which is always pretty busy, as this area is pretty safe all the way down to the 22 Garden Grove [not Newport as I'd said before] Freeway.

Q.

My question is, during the recent renovation of Tomorrowland they added a expanded indoor queue area for Star Tours. Why isn't this area ever utilized. I always see people in the outdoor queue.
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A.

[Whispering] They don't use it to save on keeping it up for the most part - but mostly the lines for Star Tours are now usually very short except for the first morning rush.  By the time they get the crowd routed into the indoor queue, the need for it is just about gone.  

It's been my observation at theme parks that people do get tired of ride films / movies pretty quickly - unless they replace them often.  Something they probably should have thought about with the new park come to think about it...

Q.

Did management simply cover them over or did they ruthlessly tear these tile murals apart? I thought they were great, although better appropriate for It's a Small World?
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A.

As nice as it is to think they may have been trying to preserve Mary's whimsical works - the real reason for doing it this way may have been that it's just cheaper to cover things up than tear them out and resurface them.  I agree with you, they did seem out of place there - although the replacements just look like faded billboards now.

Q.

It's Chanticleer and the Fox; A Chaucerian Tale. It's a children's book completely illustrated by Marc Davis, his development art work for the never produced feature. Excellent illustrations! You can clearly see the influence for his America Sings / Splash Mountain designs. 

It was published in 1991 by Disney Press but unfortunately, it is now out of print. However, it could possibly be found through Amazon's out- of- print search. Check out this link (hopefully I've linked it correctly): It's a 'must have' for any Marc Davis fan. Keep up the great work.
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Q.

My question is not Disney-related per se but more of to the effect of how you manage your email. I know AOL is not IMAP compatible and while 5.0 has some great mail features it still does not allow you to store "tons" of messages over a period of time. 

My question is ; 1) how are you able to manage this? 2) If you know of any programs out there that can manage the AOL email client?
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A.

Mostly I manage the incoming load [which as you can imagine is considerable] by creating new folders and dumping the new arrivals into the proper subject matter areas.  [For example I have one folder labeled "Ask Al" just for the questions I get for this column.]  

I find if you ask people to properly label the subject area - that goes a long way to helping manage it for now.  Hopefully someone will come up with a utility that can allow you to import PFC files into "real" mail programs such as Outlook or Eudora.

Q.

Thanks for the great site! I visit often.
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As close as we can figure, this seems to stem from a bug in the IE 5.0 browser - and not from faulty HTML.  If we could even find out what that pesky bit of HTML is, we'd go ahead and remove it.

Right now, after about a week of fruitless effort on this, we've put our quest on hold until we can find out more.  It's come to a choice between providing new content for you daily, or fixing this one bug [for a very comparatively small part of our readership] and we are focused on the new content for now.

If any of you Mac experts know just what is the problem here, please let us know, and we'll go ahead and make the fixes.  I wish I was better at this, but hey, I try.  :)

Q.

A.

It will be busy from now until after Labor Day, so prepare for crowds, this is the summer season now.  

Construction should begin to calm down after June, when the new parking structure opens and the major esplanade work is completed between the new parks - although the new mall area will remain a mess for most of the summer. The surrounding streets and freeway should be much closer to completion by the time you arrive too. 

You may want to stop by Adrienne Krock's new column, Parenting in the Parks for tips and hints about taking the little ones to Disneyland, she's done a terrific job on it. 

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You are truly his kind of guy. :)

Q.

I read your 5/18 "Ask Al" column, and you were asked the question "who does the voicework for Disneyland?" Actually, there's been a few, as this job changes hands from time to time, and it's usually kept pretty quiet, from what I understand - not really a position you advertise for, much. Luckily, through my oh- so- nefarious connections, I can tell you that the current "Voice of Disney" (yes, this is his ACTUAL title, as I understand it) is a gentleman by the name of Jim Hall. 

He does the voice work not only for Disneyland, but most of the work for the other parks, as well. As you might guess, this isn't a regular 9-to-5 type job, but from what I gather, he IS kept on the regular payroll, under contract for this type of work.

BTW, I just, after a VERY long absence, got back onto the newsgroups, and started perusing ADD again. Didn't see you around. Leave of absence, or did you finally get fed up with certain people in there? It's a damn shame if that's the case... your posts were always some of the highlights of my readings.

Oh, also BTW, just wanted to say I LOVE all the work with DIG over the last several months - and I thought it was huge before!
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As far as the newsgroups - well, I have been busy with the D-I-G [as you were kind to note with your compliment].  

Who knows what else the future may hold?  :)

Q.

Of course, one could also, perhaps, count the petrified wood at the park, too. A stretch, granted.?  
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A.

As far as the petrified wood - I never imagined that as Dino material.  In my case it just reminds me of certain key park executives each time I walk by it...  ;)
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Q.

I remember when my parents used to take me to the park in the mid to late eighties. During the summer, the park (all attractions) would be open until 1 a.m. Lately it seems that they only keep the park open until midnight, with Main Street closing one hour later. What is the reasoning for the park closing earlier and are there any chances that they will extend the hours to 1 a.m. once again? Keep up the great work!
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A.

There are quite a few reasons for it, but mostly it has to do with costs [they save an hour of labor during a time of the schedule that over the years has shown the park makes less money than normal], and with upkeep issues - that extra hour is put to good use in the nightly work they have to do to keep things up.

I do think what with all the extended hours they now have in off season weekdays [they now generally close at 8 PM instead of 6 PM like the old days] they have found a pretty good mix of hours that works for them. 

Q.

In planning for our latest trip to DL in June, however, we noticed a price increase on the Disneyland site that was not listed on yours. The prices of the 3-day and 5-day flex passports differ -- your site says $72 for an adult 3-day flex, $99 for a 5-day flex; DL's says the same for a
5-day, but $76 for a 3-day. 

Is this a case of too many price increases, not enough time to keep up with them on your website? Or is this another admission pricing end- around? Also, what do you think about the way DL "publicizes" these admission pricing changes?

Keep up the good work!
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A.

The good thing is that the D-I-G is really what the readers want it to be for the most part - feedback such as yours, with corrections, suggestions and recommendations all gets read - and ends up in one way shape or form on the site to help others if applicable. 

The lovely and charming Sue Kruse [one of the delightful columnists here by the way] has been doing yeoman's duty in helping with updates on merchandise and event info, and many other folks are helping out in other areas too.  

But if you as a reader notice anything that may need a correction or change, please do drop a line to me here at alweho@aol.com - and I'll take a look at incorporating it.  You can help make this a better resource for your next trip that way.  :)

Q.

In any case, I thought I'd share a recipe. Since I don't get to DL as often as I'd like (maybe once a year now if I am lucky), I sometimes long for some of the taste of DL (like a DL Mint Julep). Here's what I do:

1 Quart Lemonade (Odwalla Fresh is the best!)
1 Quart Limeade (again, I get Odwalla when it's in season)
2 ounces Creme d'Menthe Syrup (available where coffee flavorings are sold -- I got mine at Costco)
1 Liter Ginger Ale

Fill glass with Ice. Pour Mint Julep into glass. Get a straw. 

Now close your eyes and imagine being at The French Market, you hear the sounds of the DLRR ("Your attention please, the Disneyland Limited...."), the blast of the Mark Twain whistle, etc..... <sigh>. 
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A.

Again, thanks for the kind words Stew. 

Q.

From what I understand, you can only purchase media with Early Entry through Travel Agents, Disney Store, through reservations with Disney Hotels, etc. Maybe things have changed - could you check this out? LOVE YOUR SITE!.
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A.

I have a feeling what she really may have meant to say was that you can now purchase early entry at your nearby Anaheim Hotel along with your regular or flex pass tickets if you so choose - that's been in effect for quite a while now. 

Q.

A.

I still have those original pages archived somewhere, and I remember how huge a project I thought it all was when I broke up that six / seven part FAQ into the basic contents / chapters format you now see online.  Little did I know...

As far as GO - well I don't think they sponsor or support me - but I don't think they do that for any outside sites either.  ;)

Q.

Our latest planning started just yesterday on finding that I'll be attending a small conference at Cal Tech in the middle of June. Plan A is to stay at the DL Hotel (our first time) and I'll commute to the college campus while my wife and our two daughters "commute" across the even more treacherous DL parking lot :-)

I haven't had much luck getting the online reservations to work. They seem to keep banker's hours and when I did get through they indicated that no rooms at local ANY hotels were available. By clicking through from your page, I did discover that 15,000 audio / video folks will be at the Anaheim convention center for INFOCOMM 2000 for the last 2 of the 4 nights we were hoping to book at DL.

Checking the INFOCOMM web site does show that they still have rooms available in their own block at the DL Hotel (most of their other hotels are sold out). I even thought about registering for a room through their own booking page at $175 a night.

So - questions:

1) Will a convention of 15,000 make DL (and Katella) unbearable?

2) How does the DL Hotel deal with such conferences? Are they likely to allow such to swamp their entire capacity?

3) Is it otherwise reasonable to expect to be able to book a DL Hotel room six weeks in advance? (We attended an event at WDW with 20,000 other folks a couple of years ago. They have so many rooms that we were able to make bookings all over the onsite resorts and played them against each other. I presume this doesn't work very well at the DL Hotel.)

4) What sort of specials should one typically expect to be able to finagle? Is $175 a steal? At WDW, we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge for less, and could have stayed at the Grand Floridian for just a few bucks more.

5) Any DL Hotel hints or web sites to suggest? Any other (very clean and relatively quiet) hotels to suggest?
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A.

1] No, the crowds should be fine - for that time of year.  Keep in mind you'll be arriving just as school is letting out.

2] They usually always have other bookings, which thanks to people changing their minds, is always in flux.  Best thing to do is what people do in Orlando, keep calling them to either check, confirm or change your reservation until it suits you.

3] During peak seasons - not always.  Anaheim is a smaller market than Orlando is, and has fewer close-by hotels.  You should almost always be able to find something in the area though, if you can be flexible enough standards / price-wise.

4] What with the current construction going on - and not even the Monorail running full loop until October of this year - I would strongly suggest you may find a better value elsewhere.  

Yes, the Disneyland Hotel / Pacific [soon to be Paradise Pier] Hotels are nice - but what you are paying for is the Disney name, not state of the art rooms, [the Towers at the DL hotel tend to be cramped] and with the way things are going now, not even prime access to the park.

Steve's Walking Distance hotel guide is no longer up - but the City of Anaheim does maintain a listing of hotels in the area and price ranges at this LINK [which is also on the contents page of this site].  As you can see by looking around at the rates, you can choose many hotels in the $99 [or even less] range around the park.

One that does come with many recommendations, but is NOT listed on the above site is the Candy Cane Inn - many readers like the price and quality of rooms offered, not to mention it is within comfortable walking distance from the Disneyland main gate.  The link above will take you to a hotel booking site [Metro Manager], by using the other links listed above the hotel listing, you can compare discounted rates in the area and do a bit of shopping around too.

Hope this helps.

Q.

A.

Here's something interesting I just found out about it though - Eisner never expected to be able to build this park.  It was a bit of a surprise to him when the deal was set up, as he hadn't even seen the site.  Imagine that.

Q.

2. Each Christmas season that we are able, we have had a caricature done of my daughter at Goofy's Kitchen (Her birthday is just before Christmas). We hang the framed drawings on the wall to show her changes over the years. Before GK was relocated, the paper used for the caricature had the logo of GK on it. This year, the caricatures were not done as part of GK and were done on plain white paper. Is this another symptom of cost cutting or did we happen to have it done at the wrong time? Have they returned to using GK paper?

3. Is there any word as to when the remodel / replacement of the restaurant next to Big Thunder will be completed? Will it still be a combination Mexican / BBQ restaurant? If a BBQ restaurant, what will happen to the outdoor restaurant behind Big Thunder?
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A.

1] It seems most folks tend to save or make Disneyland the highlight of their L.A. trip - Disney's the 800 lb. gorilla in the theme park market because they do a better job for the most part than others in meeting or exceeding expectations and giving a bigger bang for the buck.  

The new fireworks show is a good example - it simply blows away many other park's efforts via a combination of a slickly produced audio track and some unique innovations in pyrotechnics.  Add to that the fact they have a library of music to use in it that is unsurpassed in audience recognition, and well you have a crowd pleaser.

I don't think for a minute Disneyland even considers LegoLand any kind of competition - they lack the synergy of the film tie-ins for example - and one look at their more modest entertainment offerings shows that LegoLand isn't really gunning for their business.  If anything Disneyland may welcome more themed entertainment options in our area - as we probably are still not as built out as Orlando is now. Anything that gets folks to stay in the area longer, which could mean an extra day at Disneyland, would be good for them.

2] I looked this past visit at this, and saw the paper was still plain and without a logo.  Usually Disneyland does their own printing in house on most items - so missing something like this kind of detail is unusual for them, the logo does add to the value of the item.  This may just be an aberration, let's see what happens here.

3] Last thing I heard about the Casa Mexicana / Carnation Plaza Gardens rebuild was that it would combine the two locations into one two story building - and allow you to walk through from the hub to Frontierland from the inside.  

It was also supposed to provide a "scatter serve" service situation [Like Plaza Inn and Pizza Port now provide] that would feature three menus - Texas BBQ, Made to Order Burgers and a new Mexican menu.  Also I heard they would cover more of the dining area so there would be more shade / cover.  

As this evolves, I will keep asking about it - I know plans always keep changing, and this one is still a work in progress.

Q.

A.

Best of luck on your career!

Q.

But overall we had a great time and I will be a regular reader from now on to your site.

PS I asked a CM at the Pirates of the Caribbean where the "WD" and "RD" [Walt's and Roy's initials on the railing] was and he didn't know. We kept looking and it was right above him. Do they train the CM on the history of the park?
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A.

Most CMs [Cast Members] get a very brief introduction to the park in training, [they focus in on just about everything but history nowadays] but many don't know all the details such as the Disney brother's initials on the railing until they get a few years under their belts.

Usually it's the CMs who've been long time fans of the park, who got a job there, that really impart a lot of this info to their fellow workers.

Q.

Tom also writes: Are there any campgrounds in or around Disneyland? -

A.

Tom, there are several RV / campground parks near Disneyland, below I've listed only a few of them, with links where available and e-mail addresses where they can be found.  [Keep in mind I have no way of recommending any of them in particular - my motto has always been that if God wanted you to visit somewhere, he'd have put a Hilton there... ;) ] By the way, all links below open in new windows, so you won't lose your place here:

First of all you may want to visit the following site:

CALIFORNIA TRAVEL PARKS ASSOCIATION

They are an excellent listing of all locations available in California -- some of the parks they list [along with the Anaheim Visitor's Bureau] are: 

Anaheim Harbor RV Park, LP (cmhpmgt@gateway.net)

1009 S. Harbor Blvd., Anaheim, CA, 92805

714/535-6495, fax: 714/535-4239 - Deborah Shea

Closest RV park to Disneyland main entrance. Daily, weekly, and monthly rates. Showers, pool, laundry; 198 sites.

Anaheim Resort RV Park (rvdr@aol.com)

200 W. Midway Dr., Anaheim, 92805

714/774-3860, fax 714/774-5970 - Paul Bostwick

Open all year. Located directly east of Disneyland on the east side of I-5. 150 full hookup sites. Featuring 20-30-50 amp electric and cable TV to all sites; club room. Rates available by day, week or month.

Destiny's Anaheim Vacation Park (avpark@pacbell.net)

311 N. Beach Blvd., Anaheim, 92801

714/821-4311, 800/772-3636

Shuttle service to Disneyland, walking distance to Knott's.

Orangeland RV Park (orangeland@msn.com)

1600 W. Struck Ave. Orange, CA, 92867

714/633-0414, fax: 714/633-9012 - Cindy Wimbish

5 minutes east of Disneyland, extra large spaces for extra large rigs.

Hope this list gets you started!

Q.

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Don't miss Indy either - make sure you visit late in the evening as the lines are at their shortest for this ride.

You won't regret any of these - trust me!

Q.

A.

Best of luck on your project!

Q.

A.

Stick around a bit and catch up on the other parts of the site other than the updates.  You may find we both do share a love of the park - we probably just disagree as to how well it may be run at this time.  ;)

Suggested links on the D-I-G that you may enjoy include the FIREWORKS and FIRE GUIDE pages - the FREE DESKTOP PHOTOS and the DON'T MISS pages.  

You may also enjoy some of the articles I keep in the AL'S ARCHIVES section of the site - in particular the CARNATION FAREWELL DINNER or the GOLDEN HORSESHOE REVUE REUNION

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A.