Space Mountain opened at Disneyland May 27, 1977, so yesterday was its 37th anniversary. This is one of my favorite rides at Disneyland, behind Pirates of the Caribbean and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I find it interesting that it actually opened in the Magic Kingdom (1975) before it opened at Disneyland. It had been thought up in the 60s but there too many other projects in production so it was postponed. If you compare the two rides you’ll notice that the one in the Magic Kingdom seems to dominate the skyline where the one at Disneyland is much less imposing. This is because the one at Magic Kingdom is all above ground because of the water table, while the one at Disneyland is mostly underground. I like Disneyland’s version better because it is darker and thus feels faster.
As most rides at Disneyland do, Space Mountain has changed through the years. They added a soundtrack, the first burst of speed was increased, and now they have a Ghost Galaxy overlay during the Fall. Except for the technology changes I haven’t cared for the improvements they made. I finally experienced Ghost Galaxy last September and I was not impressed. What does impress me is that no matter what they do to this attraction it is still a thrilling ride through the dark that makes me scream with delight. At its core it is an awesome roller coaster.
And now it is time for my confession. I love the chocolate chip cookie that spins through the ride. I look for it every time. I know it is not a chocolate chip cookie but it really looks like one and I hope they never change it. It just wouldn’t be Space Mountain without it. Happiness squared.
Goofy Tip: Disneyland does not have Fastpass+ but you can Fastpass Space Mountain. If I enter the park at opening I try to ride this attraction first so I don’t have to stand in line. Otherwise I would Fastpass it because the lines can get long. But don’t wait too long to get your Fastpass or else they may all be used up.
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Today is Arbor Day so be sure to hug a tree. I tried to find out how many trees were growing at Disneyland but I had no success so instead I’m going to tell you about the first Disney tree to “grow” at Disneyland.
This tree wasn’t grown from a seed. Instead it was built with metal and concrete. It is the Disneyodendron Semperflorens Grandis, but you may know it as Tarzan’s Treehouse. If you are older you may remember that it was once the home of the Swiss Family Treehouse and in the Magic Kingdom it still is. (I wish it still was but I’m trying to get over it.)
Five fun facts about Disneyland’s Disneyodendron Semperflorens Grandis:
1) Guests started climbing through the Swiss Family Treehouse on November 18, 1962. It closed in 1999 and reopened as Tarzan’s Treehouse.
2) This tree weighs about 150 tons and stands about 70 feet tall.
3) It has 306,000 vinyl leaves. Many of the leaves were replaced when the attraction was re-themed to give it a more jungle look.
4) Disneyodendron Semperflorens Grandis means large, ever-blooming Disney tree. I think large is an understatement.
5) Hong Kong Disneyland also has a Tarzan’s Treehouse attraction, but theirs is on Tarzan’s Island which is like Disneyland’s Tom Sawyer Island.
If you want to go to Disneyland and hug the rare Disneyodendron Semperflorens Grandis I would gladly go with you. Perhaps in honor of Arbor Day we could each plant a tree instead. It may not be a Disney tree but it will be special none the less. Happiness squared.
Goofy Trivia: When you think of Disney man-made trees you probably think of the Tree of Life at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. This tree is much larger than Tarzan’s Treehouse. It is 145 feet tall and has 325 animals carved into the trunk.
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Image from Disney Parks Blog
As a child I loved hunting for Easter eggs. We always spent Easter at my grandparents’ house in Lake Havasu, AZ. My brother and I would wake up Easter morning and hunt for Easter eggs. The coolest part was that we didn’t just have one hunt, we had two. The first hunt was inside for candy eggs. Grandma kept these eggs from year to year so we never ate them. We also found our Easter baskets as we hunted for these colorful candies. After we found them all we would go outside. Our second hunt was for the real eggs that we decorated the day before. It was safer hiding them outside in case we didn’t find them all. That Easter Bunny is no fool. I love hunting for eggs and am thrilled that I can soon hunt for Easter eggs at the Disney parks.
From April 10 – 20 Guests at Epcot, Disney California Adventure, and Disneyland can purchase a map for five dollars and then hunt for eggs around the parks. When you find an egg you put the matching sticker on the map showing where you found it. Once you have found them all you can turn in your finished map and get a surprise. (I have no idea what the surprise is but I want to do this soooo bad.)
This sounds like a fun way to slow down and explore the park, especially for people who tend to run from ride to ride. The eggs are decorated like Disney characters and are really cute. And like Easter morning at my grandparents’ house if you are visiting the Disneyland Resort you can do two hunts for twice the fun. Happiness squared.
Goofy Tip: For more scavenger fun you can have an egg hunt in your hotel room. Buy some plastic eggs and put a small Disney surprise in each. Then hide them around the room and have the kids find them. This is a good activity when it is too early to go to the parks but the kids are wide awake and too excited to sit down. Okay, maybe I am describing myself.
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Image from Disney Parks Blog
February is steampunk month. Have you heard of steampunk? Many people have not, or they have seen something that is steampunk but did not know it was called that. A good example of steampunk is the movie Wild Wild West with Will Smith and Kevin Kline. According to the Oxford American Dictionary steampunk is:
a genre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery rather than advanced technology.
Merriam-Webster forgot to put steampunk in their dictionary but I’m sure they’ll rectify that now that Disney has added a steampunk float to their new parade at the Magic Kingdom.
The Festival of Fantasy parade celebrates Fantasyland with a float for each of the our favorite fairy tales. Sleeping Beauty’s nemesis Maleficent is represented by a great metal dragon covered in clockwork and bellowing steam. You can’t get more steampunk than that.
It may seem weird that dragons, a fantasy idea, can be found in steampunk, a science fiction sub-genre. That is the coolest part about steampunk. If you keep the essentials, steam technology, clockwork gears, and a somewhat dystopian world, then you can add whatever you want. Magic, fairies, dragons, vampires, and anything else you can imagine are found under the steampunk umbrella. It has a universe of possibilities. I like to think that Disney is the same way. Happiness squared.
Goofy Tip: This is not the first time Disney has incorporated steampunk into one of their shows. If you are at Disneyland make sure you see Mickey and the Magical Map. This entertaining stage show follows Mickey as he learns the importance of being yourself. The dancers wear wonderful costumes designed with steampunk elements. Want even more steampunk? Wander through Tomorrowland. It was built to look like the world of Jules Verne, the patriarch of steampunk.
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Image from Wikipedia
The Brave Little Tailor, an adventurous Mickey Mouse cartoon, came out September 23, 1938. I don’t know how many times I have seen this short, but I use the phrase, “seven in one blow” pretty often so this cartoon must be ingrained in me. It is really fun so I encourage you to watch this eight minute film. It can improve any Monday. Happiness squared.
Goofy Trivia: Walt Disney did the voice of Mickey Mouse in the Brave Little Tailor. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film but lost of Ferdinand the Bull, another Walt Disney cartoon (I like the story of the Brave Little Tailor better but the animation for Ferdinand is pretty amazing.)
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Photo from Disney Parks Blog
In honor of everyone’s favorite Mouseketeer, Annette Funicello, who passed away yesterday, April 8, 2013, I am adding an extra post. I grew up watching the original Mickey Mouse Club on the Disney Channel, and I saw all the beach blanket movies with my Dad, who is one of her biggest fans. My favorite movie of hers is Babes In Toyland. I have many of her songs, including The Parent Trap and Monkey’s Uncle, on my iPod. She was a symbol of the magic of Disney.
Many blogs are remembering her, but I liked the photo montage found at the Disney Parks Blog. Click here to watch Annette grow up. She will always be treasured.
Goofy Trivia: She is honored in many different ways, but the craziest is at Muppet*Vision 3D at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. As you are waiting to go into the theater look over your head. There you will see “a net full of jello.” Wakka Wakka.
For great tips that you can take with you on your tablet or smart phone download the Kindle app and buy a copy of Goofy Tips for a Happy Disney Vacation
Image from Disney Insider
Spring is here and Easter is on its way. All I can think about are bunnies and eggs. This week I found two great Disney articles about bunnies (okay, actually hares) and eggs and I would like to share them with you.
Touringplans.com shows you where the eggs were hidden during the Limited Time Magic Easter egg hunt. I wish I could have visited the parks last week. I would love to have played this game.
Disney Insider (an e-newletter that you can sign up for here) had a great article on why the March Hare in Alice in Wonderland is mad. I love both Disney Alice movies (although for very different reasons) and found this article wildly entertaining.
If you enjoyed these stories, why not share them with your friends? Spring may be the time for bunnies and eggs, but any time is the right time to share something fun. Happiness squared.
Goofy Trivia: My favorite March Hare factoid is that in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland the March Hare has a name listed in the credits although not mentioned in the movie. And what is his name? Thackery Earwicket the March Hare! That is an awesome name. I’d love to give him his own animated show just so I could say his name over and over. Thackery Earwicket!
For great tips that you can take with you on your tablet or smart phone download the Kindle app and buy a copy of Goofy Tips for a Happy Disney Vacation
Image from www.disneyparksblog.com
Beet Lollipop. Ratatouille Tarte with Goat Cheese. Baked Goat’s Brie with Kumquat Chutney. Would you eat these items? Do you think a kid would want to eat these items? Disney thinks they will. More importantly, Disney wants to encourage kids to try new foods at the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival by making them look fun and taste great. The program is called TRYit and is part of the Magic of Healthy Living initiative.
I rarely got the chance to try anything really exotic when I was growing up; I mostly ate American and Mexican food. But in high school we had international food fairs and I learned that I loved to try new foods. I hope this Disney program is a success and expands outside of the festival. A great way to connect with other cultures is through food.
It’s great that Disney is trying to get kids to eat new foods, but this program will only work if parents like to try new foods, too. What was your reaction to the foods I listed at the start of this post? Were you interested or grossed out? Kids will eat what they see adults eat and this openness starts at home. Why not follow Disney’s example and eat new foods in your house? There are tons of online recipes or you could go out to a new restaurant.
If I was going to make an exotic recommendation that appeals to kids, I’d recommend food from the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Flat breads are fun to eat and there are lots of great dipping sauces that can be tried. What child does not like kabobs? Kabobs are a great way to try something new. All food is fun when it’s on a stick. So TRYit when you visit the Disney parks and TRYit at your own home. Happiness squared.
Goofy Trivia: Have you ever met PUSH? This fun, talking, robotic trashcan was introduced to Tomorrowland on February 18, 1995. In honor of his birthday Disney is selling an IPhone 5 cover that looks like PUSH. I would laugh every time I picked up my phone.
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Every year when I was growing up we hung lights on our house and in the tree in the front yard. Dad had made a plywood Santa in his sleigh with two reindeer and we put them up on the roof with a string of lights for the reins and a red light for Rudolph’s nose. Our house looked very festive. It took my family several hours to put up all these decorations.
I’m sure you have seen the decorations at Walt Disney World in advertisements and Christmas specials. Maybe you have even visited the parks during the Christmas season and have been wowed by the amount of lights and garland strung everywhere. Have you ever wondered how many decorations are used at Walt Disney World? Below I will share some of those numbers. I find it amazing how quickly they can get the parks decorated. They probably could have done my house in five minutes.
5 fun trivia facts about the Christmas decorations at Walt Disney World (These numbers came from the allears.net newsletter)
1) Walt Disney World has 1,300 decorated trees.
2) There are 15 miles of garland strung and 1,314 wreaths hung all round Walt Disney World.
3) Walt Disney World has 8.5 million lights strung throughout.
4) The lighting used for the holiday decor is 98 percent LED; 2 percent is compact fluorescent.
5) There are 10 miles of twinkling rope lights in the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
And how do they transport all these decorations? In 150 semi-trailer truckloads. That’s a lot more than the five Rubbermaid bins I have. Happiness squared.
Goofy Craft: After you are done putting up your decorations why not relax with a fun game of checkers? If you don’t have any checkers never fear. You can print out a checkers template and have fun playing this version with Mickey Mouse.
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My best friend Rhonda took this wonderful photo
5 fun facts about the Partners statue:
1) The statue was sculpted by Disney Legend Blaine Gibson. Mr. Gibson started working at the Walt Disney Studios in 1939 and retired in 1989. To design the statue many people who had worked for decades with Walt Disney were consulted.
2) The Partners statue is found at the Hub in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. Walt is holding Mickey’s hand and showing him everything that “started with a mouse.” They face Main Street U.S.A. to welcome Guests to the various lands.
3) The statue is made of bronze. Unlike the new Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse statue that is found at Disney California Adventure the Partners statue is larger than life.
4) There is a Partners statue at various Disney Magic Kingdoms around the world. The statues all stand in front of the individual park’s castle at the end of Main Street. I think it would be fun to photograph each one and put them in a collage frame. I’ll add that to my bucket list.
5) There is a plaque on the front of the statue. It reads, “I think most of all what I want Disneyland to be is a happy place…Where parents and children can have fun, together. – Walt Disney.”
This is one of my favorite objects to photograph at Disneyland and I love that Walt’s vision lives on through his parks and his movies. Thanks to this statue the man will be remembered along with his vision. Happiness Squared.
Goofy Trivia: Mickey Mouse debuted in Steamboat Willy, which is still one of the most fun Mickey Mouse cartoons ever made. Did you know that Walt Disney did the voice of Mickey Mouse from 1928 to 1947? I find that remarkable considering how busy he was creating animated movies and other projects. I think he loved Mickey so much that he wanted the voice to be as he envisioned it. If you haven’t seen this fun cartoon set to Turkey in the Straw in a while then take time to watch it here in honor of Mickey Mouse’s 84th birthday.
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