My Year With The Mouse

Lately Theo has decided that there are “happy monsters” in the world. I don’t know if this is his way of  dealing with his subconscious fears or what, but if ever there were happy monsters, you can find them in Monstropolis.

So it’s with this in mind that he and I headed to Monsters, Inc. Mike and Sully to the Rescue!

Yeah, I took this during ElecTRONica so it's not a very good representation of what Monsters, Inc. actually looks like.

It’s over there on the right.

Monsters, Inc. replaced one of the Mouse-Next-Door’s strangest opening rides, the Superstar Limo. I won’t go on about Superstar Limo except to say that it was truly strange and you should go look it up on Youtube if you never experienced it for yourself.

Anyway, Monsters, Inc. is hidden back in the Hollywood Backlot area, which I think is a wonderful little part of the park that gets easily overlooked.

You’re about to take a taxi through Monstropolis, so be sure to follow the signs for tickets and departures.

Right this way!

I totally love the Monstropolis theming, including the adorable logo.

Keep your eye out for human children! Here comes one now!

The queue was designed to hold a number of people but when we went it was a walk-on.

This would be a nice place to wait, though.

Inside the building, mysteriously, the ticket window is closed.

Was it something I said?

There are tons of great visuals while you wait. I particularly liked the vending machine.

"Sugar, Salt & Fat"? Now THERE'S truth in advertising!

I’m going to wash that down with a Blort. Actually I’m just going to say the word Blort. It’s funny. You try.

See?

Funny.

Fully refreshed, we approached our taxi.

Even in Monstropolis, the taxis are yellow

The cast member suggested my “little monster” might have the best view from the back seat, so  we climbed in and sat down. On the left of the taxi was a little screen.

Mommy's little monster looks a little apprehensive

As we started our drive into Monstropolis, the screen came alive with a Special Report. Here’s a really bad picture I took of it:

I AM AN AWESOME PHOTOGRAPHER!!!

Boo was on the loose! It was monster chaos! And that’s the worst kind of chaos! And what am I doing in this taxi?

All looked reasonably calm at first

There's nothing like taking pictures from a moving vehicle.

Theo particularly liked this anxiety-ridden monster

"Look, Mommy! Monster have Band-Aid!"

And then we saw those sneaky monsters–our heroes Sully and Mike, and the barely disguised Boo.

Theo called Boo the "Baby crab." Which I guess she kind of looks like in a sort of crab-like monster costume.

You’re treated to various scenes from the movie, including this one, which is particularly relevant since my little monster does this a lot.

"Mommy! She's singing on potty!"

My favorite room is the door room. You enter the big dark room and there’s all kinds of doors and reflections of doors swinging around. The optical illusion is fabulous here.

I'll take door number 3!

Once the crisis is averted, you and your taxi are decontaminated for your trip back to, well, not Monstropolis.

"They vacuuming!" (yes, Theo pretty much narrated the entire ride. It was very cute)

Oh, and this is Roz. Talk to her and see what happens!

Bye now!

Theo LOVED this ride. In fact, as soon as we got off he asked to go on it again, but we were right at closing so we weren’t able to. This is a fantastic dark ride for the adults and the kids, even if you haven’t seen the movie.

Happy monsters!