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Ken Coates -- September 1999 -- Disneyland

Dates: 9/25/99 -> 9/28/99

Who: me, my wife, and our two kids: boy & girl 2.75 years old (twins)

Background Information

I've been to Disneyland four times. Twice as a youngster and twice as an adult. The first time I went as an adult was during the 30th anniversary (1985). I got lucky and was one of the 30th visitors, so I received (and still have) a pass good for admission to Disneyland. I'm going to get it out for the 50th or 60th anniversary and see if it is still valid. The last time I went as an adult was about 10 years ago. My wife visited Disneyland a few times as a child.

We visited WDW and other Florida attractions once after we got married and I visited WDW another time during a conference.

Our kids have never been to a Disney park before, but are familiar with Disney from the sing-a-long videos of Disneyland and WDW we have. They know the characters and have seen some of the rides (like Dumbo and the teacups) on the tapes. I made a calendar of the month of September with some clip art I got off the Disney web site. We marked off each day as the trip approached. They kids liked that.

Saturday 9/25/99:

We flew from the S.F. Bay Area to Orange County airport and drove our rental car to the Disneyland hotel. I never really considered staying anywhere else since we are probably only going to go to Disneyland a few times. It turned out to be a good choice since we could catch the tram (tramzilla is its name I've read -> good description) to and from the hotel with no more than about a 5 minute wait any time of the day. The Bonita tower worked out well since it was closest to the tram stop and we had to carry our kids a few times when they were very tired. After we arrived, I asked for a refrigerator for our room and it was supplied promptly at no extra cost.

We booked our travel through AAA. One advantage to this was we were able to get low cost trip insurance covering everything including air fare. With 2 year olds, you never know when an illness will strike that would make the trip impossible. With the package we got 3 day passes with a Flex feature.

After checking in, we headed to the park around 5:00 p.m. to get our feet wet. Our kids have ridden on a merry-go-round before, so we figured that would be a good first ride. We had a little trouble with my son who wanted to walk rather than ride in the strollers we rented. We all enjoyed King Arthur's Carousel.

The rest of the Fantasyland rides were pretty crowded, and it was about 6:00, so we decided we should get something to eat. Our kids like pasta and pizza so we headed over to Tomorrowland to Redd Rocket’s. My son didn’t like this, I think he wanted to keep riding rides. He ended up not eating anything.

We knew he would like to ride the train, so we headed to the Tomorrowland train station and rode the train all the way around the park. The only bad part was the dinosaur section which my son found a little scary. We had to promise we wouldn’t ride the train anymore.

After that it was about 7:45pm, so we decided to head back to the hotel and give the little guys some rest. They hadn’t taken a nap that day which I’m sure contributed to their crankiness somewhat. Our room had two queen sized beds. We put one mattress on the floor and kids slept on that.

After we had them down for the night, I headed back over around 9:30 p.m. to ride my “must-do’s”. I hurried over to Adventureland and into the Indy queue. It was moving pretty fast, so I didn’t have a lot of time look at details. It sure was long though. I can see that if they institute the fast pass system, they could save a lot of money on building queues. I didn’t find the spike room very scary. When the ceiling came down, it didn’t move that far and wasn’t that noisy. I could imagine it being much more startling. I liked the guy down the hole with the rope you can pull on. I really enjoyed the ride. I wished I had time to ride it again to see more of the details.

When I exited it was about 15 minutes before Fantasmic. This is something I’ve been reading about for a few years that I really wanted to see. It definitely lived up to its prior billing. I had a fair spot up against a railing behind one of the light towers.

When Fantasmic was over, I quickly caught the train over to Tomorrowland to ride Rocket Rods. That worked out well, since I didn’t run into any crowds. Rocket Rods was my last must-do. It is the other major ride built since I last visited Disneyland or WDW. The queue was very tedious. I think I waited 30 minutes or so. I sure hope they get a sponsor soon. I think they’ve done the best the could with the amount of money they ad. I liked the movies.

I enjoyed the ride itself. Particularly the sensation of zooming around the Tomorrowland. I was in seat #1, so I got the maximum wheelie effect which helped I think. There were more wheelies than I expected. With a sponsor they could theme the track some more, add neon to the cars, etc. That would really make the ride a lot better.

We found Tomorrowland to be very noisy. However, I enjoyed the sensation of the Rocket Rods zooming by every 10 seconds or so. If you look at the movies they had in the queue and others I’ve seen, there are always cars zooming along roads in the cities of the future, so I think Rocket Rods is a good addition to Tomorrowland. After I got out of Rocket Rods it was close to midnight, so I headed back to the hotel.

Sunday 9/26/99:

The park didn’t open until 9:00 a.m., so we slept in until about 7:30 (late for us). We ate breakfast outside the Captain’s Galley at the hotel. They have bagels, fruit, cereal, milk, and juice. Just right.

We went to Toontown first thing today. That turned out to be a good move. When our kids spotted Pluto and Donald Duck they were in heaven. I had been warning them for a few weeks, that “Mickey is the same size as Daddy, so don’t be afraid”. They had no trouble going up to the characters and giving them a hug, posing for pictures, etc. I think Toontown is probably the best addition to the park since my last visit. It is perfect for small kids. We got pictures with Pluto, Donald, Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy within about an hour. I even got my picture taken with Goofy!

It wasn’t crowded, so Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy were standing at the front door to their houses, with very short lines. Minnie was very cute and got the kids to kiss her nose. They also had fun visiting Mickey’s and Minnie’s houses. Goofy’s bounce house wasn’t open, but we spent quite a bit of time on Donald’s boat. We didn’t go on the roller coaster because it looked “too scary”. Ditto for Roger’s cartoon spin. I didn’t want to start out with that as our first dark ride.

I kept telling my son he should ride in the stroller since “he needed a break”. As we were leaving Toontown, he announced “I need a break” and climbed into the stroller. Things were much easier after that. We headed over to Frontierland and had lunch at Casa Mexicana. I had a burrito that was pretty good. We saw Goofy and Dale walking around.

After lunch, we rode the raft to Tom Sawyer Island since I was sure they’d have fun running around over there. They didn’t want to go in the caves very far (too scary). They love climbing, but some of the rocks were a little too advanced for them, so we had to guide them to the easier parts. They both liked running around the fort, but didn’t like the sound of gunfire.

The canoes on the river looked great! I’m so glad they are still running them this late in the year. Kudos to the new Disneyland Manager Cynthia Harris. I sure hope they bring back the Keel Boats some day.

It was about 1:30 p.m. when we left Tom Sawyer Island and headed back for the hotel. On the way, we stopped at the Gibson Girl ice cream shop and shared a chocolate milkshake. It was okay, but not great. Apparently it is made with soft-serve ice cream and syrup. I was disappointed that I couldn’t get a milkshake for any flavor like you can at most ice cream shops. They only had Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla.

The kids didn’t want to go to sleep but they did eventually. My daughter woke up first, so she and my wife went down to the pool while I stayed in the room with my son. We had dinner reservations at Goofy’s Kitchen in the hotel at 6:00 p.m. It is an all you can eat buffet. We were meeting some friends from San Diego who were in town for a conference. They have a daughter the same age as ours.

The kids really enjoyed Goofy’s Kitchen. It was $25/adult and $3.95 for kids under 3. I kept telling them that Goofy and Pluto had done a great job cooking their food. We also saw Timon who are kids don’t know because they haven’t seen the Lion King (I tried playing it once, but it was too scary -> notice a pattern here?). But they gave him a hug anyway. I thought the food was quite good and with the entertainment, a good value.

That night it was my wife’s turn to go to the park on her own. She ended up doing the same three things as me! They had added a second Fantasmic show that wasn’t on the schedule. She enjoyed all three as much as I did.

Monday 9/27/99:

This was our early entry day. We ate a quick breakfast in the room with supplies we had gotten from the Captain’s Galley the day before and headed for the park. We got there about 8:45 a.m. and rented our strollers. This morning, both kids said “I need a break” right away and jumped in the strollers. They were “old pros” at this point. :)

We headed straight for Dumbo which the kids loved. Then we rode the carousel which had no waiting. At that point we decided it was time to try a dark ride. The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland said that Peter Pan wasn’t scary at all, so we went on that. It turned out to be quite scary for our kids and they didn’t want to go on it again. I was disappointed that Casey Junior and the Storybook canal boats weren’t open. So we headed over to the teacups which we all enjoyed.

Small World wasn’t open yet either and we were getting hungry so we headed over to the Tomorrowland Terrace to use our Flex feature and get breakfast. It took quite a while for my wife to the food, but there was a lot happening with the Rocket Rods zooming by and the Observatron coming on. I really liked the Observatron, especially the music from the Rocketeer. It is too bad they can’t do something with lasers at night that wouldn’t run afoul of the FAA. It would be much more dramatic. The french toast sticks, juice, and fresh fruit hit the spot and we were ready to move on.

After breakfast, I said I’ve always wanted to go on the Rocket ships, but the line was always too long. It wasn’t bad this morning, so I got in line while my wife waited outside with the kids. Well by the time I got to my ship, the kids were complaining that they wanted to go on too! So I lifted them over the fence and we all got on the rocket together. Luckily they can hold 3 people or I would have been in trouble! The rocket ships are rigidly attached to the arm that comes out from the center, so when you go down, you are really leaning out to the side. I felt like I was almost falling out. On Dumbo, your seat is always level. Needless to say, the kids enjoyed the rocket ships. My son has already declared he wants to grow up to be an astronaut and fly a rocket to Mars. :)

Then we headed over to Ariel’s Grotto. The line wasn’t very long but it went slowly since she spent a lot of time with each person. My daughter didn’t want to see her, but my son did. I got a really cute picture of him holding her hand.

After the Grotto, we went up to Small World which was open by then. The kids didn’t say much during the ride, but they talked about it afterwards and are still singing the song (which they had heard before on the Disneyland Sing-A-Long video) a week after we got back. My son didn’t think it was scary at all.

Off to Adventureland via the castle we go. I’ve never done it, so I decide to go through the castle walkthrough with my son, while my wife did some shopping with our daughter. The first two dioramas are okay, but as we approach the third, he hears the cackling witch and says he wants to go back out the entrance. Too scary! My wife isn’t back yet, so I take him over to the paintings that are just inside the gates of the castle. One depicts Prince Phillip about to kiss Aurora to wake her up. The other shows the dragon. I explain to my son that after the scary part (the dragon), everything is all better and they live happily ever after (the kissing part). I explain it to my daughter too when she and my wife come back. They both pick up on it and by the time we get home they want to read books with scary parts in them (as long as everything is all better at the end!). Luckily we have copies of Sleeping Beauty and Pinocchio (Golden book versions) that I had stashed away until they got older. They still aren’t ready to watch movies with scary parts, but it is a start.

We passed by the Tiki room (which is one my favorites), but I think it might be too scary, so we decided to see if the kids were interested in going on Tarzan’s Treehouse. They weren’t and my son had already decided that the Jungle Cruise was too scary, so it was time for lunch. We ended up going to the French Market. Our kids are picky eaters but do like pasta. I had the shredded pork sandwich, my wife had a chicken salad, and the kids split a kid’s pasta meal. Everyone enjoyed their lunch. We were treated to a unicyclist in white face who expertly rode between the tables at the restaurant. The train showed up during our meal which was a hit with the kids too.

After lunch we went back to the hotel for their nap. This time they went right to sleep. While they were asleep, I went swimming at the new Neverland pool at the Hotel. I really like water slides, so I was anxious to try it. I thought the pool and the slide was well done. The construction noise made it difficult to lounge by the pool, so after a dozen or so rides on the slide and a little swimming, I headed back up to the room.

We got back to the park around 4:30 p.m. We thought the kids would like Anamazement so we headed over to the theater. I should have checked the schedule more carefully. It isn’t open on Monday’s. Instead we rode Casey Junior. The kids loved it. We all said “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…” when going up the lift hill half way through. :)

I was sure the kids would like riding the Mark Twain, so we headed there next. We went up to the 2nd floor which wasn’t very crowded and had a solid railing. As we went around the Rivers of America, we talked about what we had seen yesterday on Tom Sawyer Island and the other sights along the river. The kids had to look through the railing, but they seemed to enjoy it. Especially when they tooted the whistle, and when the canoes went by.

We wanted to see the 7:00 p.m. Mulan parade, but I figured we had enough time to see one more thing before grabbing a seat. So we headed over to the Country Bear Jamboree which I was sure they would like. As we passed by Splash Mountain, we watched the logs come down and a big splash go up. My son didn’t want to leave. He kept saying, “Here comes another one… Splash!”. Eventually I convinced him that we could look at it again on the way back. We got there about 15 minutes before the show started, so we wandered around. The kids really like Winnie the Pooh who had a character greeting nearby. Unfortunately it had a long line which we knew we couldn’t get and still make the show, so we had to skip it.

Before the show, the kids were fascinated by the dancing bear coin-op machine in the lobby. They each took a pair of buttons and pressed them rapidly, making the bear dance. The kids had a great time at the show. My wife and I enjoyed it too. While I was video taping one segment, my son poked me and said, “Clap Daddy, Clap!”. Great fun.

After the show (around 6:30 p.m.), we headed over the Main Street to pick out a spot for the parade. We got a pretty good spot at the corner where they turn onto Main street at the hub. I parked the strollers side by side along the curved curb and there was room for me in between. My wife and daughter went over to Redd Rockets and got some pizza and drinks to go. I had a wonderful conversation with my son about what we had seen and what was coming up.

Fantastic is the word that best describes the parade for me. We all really enjoyed it. The kids are still excited about it and say, “The parade is coming!”.

It was 7:30 p.m. and the park was closing at 8:00, so rather than fight the crowd after the parade, we decided to ride carousel one more time before leaving. We went back through the castle (hearing my favorite song one more time) and got on without a wait.

The classic Disney moment for me, happened after we rode the carousel. As I was carrying my daughter off, she whispered in my ear “Ride Dumbo Daddy. Ride Dumbo”. So we went to ride Dumbo one more time… :)

General comments on the Hotel, etc.

As I said, it was perfect for us since we didn’t have wait more than 5 minutes for a tram going to or from the park. The noise from the construction was bad, but I only noticed it when I was at the pool. From what I saw, when it is finished it should be great.

When we made our reservations, I knew there would be some construction, but I didn’t know the monorail was going to be down. That was a big disappointment for my wife and I, but the kids didn’t miss it since they are too young. They thought it was fun riding the tram. Only the new Neverland pool was open which at 4 feet deep is too deep for our kids. They were working on the area around the other pools. They did have free life jackets that kids could wear.

The other disappointment was that the Autopia was down. I’m sure our kids would have loved that. The new one they are building sounds great though with a longer track and different cars.

In general (ignoring the construction at the entrance) I thought the park was in very good shape. There were some areas of Toontown that needed painting. The one I noticed was the handrail on the back stairs at Chip and Dale’s house. I only noticed one light bulb burned out on Main Street, but I didn’t look that carefully. I never saw Disneyland during the period of poor maintenance I’ve read about, so I can’t say how much things have improved.

We really enjoyed this trip, but we probably won’t go again until the kids are big enough to ride the bigger rides like Splash Mountain and Big Thunder. By then DCA will be up and running with some of the kinks worked out. The new roller coaster looked like fun and from what I’ve read about Grizzly Mountain it should be a great ride. I’m anxious to see how the Grand Californian turns out. It would be nice to stay in a fully themed hotel like they have at WDW.

I was really glad we went at this age. Our kids learned about waiting in line and that after the scary part everything is all better. For me, if we hadn’t gone, I would have missed my classic Disney moment…:)

Ken Coates

ken@osisoft.com

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