Wishing Well Contest

17 Comments Posted by on May 13, 2011

True confession time…

So I posted that there are two wishing wells at Disneyland and lots o’ people asked me where the other one is, and since I happen to already have a picture of it I thought I would be all clever and sneaky and post a picture of a part of it, and then pick a winner from the correct comments ON THE BLOG (not on Facebook!) to win my little contest.

Okay, the confession part is that I wasn’t actually going to give out a prize, like I was just going to write in tiny letters that the “prize” was my love and admiration for a period not shorter than 24 hours, actual retail value (ARV) $0.00, your mileage may vary, and so on.

BUT! BUT! Then I won a Disneyland prize myself!

That’s right! I won a prize!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The exclamation points are because I rarely, if ever win prizes. Now my grandmother, on the other hand, is just one of those lucky people. She can buy one raffle ticket and be the winner. If you walk into a room with a door prize, she’s leaving with it. But I, on the other hand, am not one of those lucky people.

So I was feeling all Scrooge McDuckish about not actually giving a prize, but once I won something myself, I dove into my money bin. Or something. Did you know that Scrooge McDuck’s German name is Onkel Dagobert? Which translates to “Uncle Dagobert.” Just your German Disney trivia of the day*.

The prize I won was a sweepstakes to preview the new Star Tours before it opens to the public. I was all in Cloud City and stuff until I realized that I wouldn’t be able to go because it’s the morning after I’m having some minor surgery. Naturally I immediately called to reschedule the surgery, but neither the hospital nor the doctor seemed inclined to consider my case a “last minute change of circumstance.”

I’m kidding. I didn’t try to reschedule. But I thought about it.

ANYway, here’s my contest to  you. This is part of the second wishing well at Disneyland. Leave a comment here with your guess of the name and location of this wishing well, and I’ll pick from among the winners and send you a pair of mouse ears!

Yeah, sorry it’s tiny. I’m not real great with pictures, so you’re going to have to squint or something. COMPLAINERS WILL BE IMMEDIATELY DISQUALIFIED!!!

Go ahead and leave your guesses. I’ll check back in on Sunday night, because right now Kevin and I are taking our very first baby-free vacation in VEGAS, BABY!

*if you’d like to make my husband and my German friend Melinda very happy, you can identify the translator who named Dagobert Duck.

See ya on Sunday!

Everything Else ,

Castle Secret Passages Part 2: Tomorrowland

23 Comments Posted by on May 10, 2011

Yesterday I introduced you to Castle Secret Passages Part 1: Frontierland, with two bonus princesses (Belle and the pink one) thrown in. Today, I’m going to talk about the other secret passage.

This one is on the right as you walk through the drawbridge, and goes to Tomorrowland.

Portrait of a smart woman taking a shortcut

Compared to the secret passage to Frontierland, the passage itself is a little more interesting and also more of a straight shot to Tomorrowland. By interesting I mean a little more windy.

Doesn't this look like it's going somewhere interesting?

The nice thing is that you pass the very charming Snow White’s grotto and wishing well.

Oh look! There it is!

The first thing you’ll notice about Snow White’s wishing well is her dulcet tones ringing through the air. Unless the first thing you notice is the fact that there’s a wishing well at all. This is one of the most hidden charms in the park.

One of two wishing wells in the park. Anyone know where the other is? I do.

Apparently they clean out all of the coins and send them to some charity or something. The sign was non-specific.

Also in the grotto are all seven dwarves.

Dwarves in their natural environment--water.

It has been at least 20 years, maybe a good 30, since I saw Snow White. As the original Disney animated feature, I’m a little nervous to see it again. Oh, and am I the only one who remembers this–way back in the day before VCRs, Disney used to release the classics in the actual movie theaters periodically? So if you wanted to see Cinderella, you just waited a certain number of years and then you could go see it in the theater. In some ways I long for that simplicity. Then I turn on my DVR and watch 6 episodes of the same show commercial-free.

In a rather sickeningly sweet touch, the bridge leading to the grotto is festooned with hearts.

The word "treacly" comes to mind

And although I did not catch any this visit, I have also seen princesses hiding on this side too. Here’s your obligatory map. Circle denotes princess area.

You're welcome.

Fantasyland , , ,

Castle Secret Passages (Plus Bonus Hidden Princess) Part 1: Frontierland

14 Comments Posted by on May 8, 2011

I seem to be making a habit of very long post titles as of late. I’d file this one under “Things I knew existed but never actually looked closely at,” but my Categories over there —–> are getting a little crowded.

Anyway. The castle holds some secrets within its walls, or just outside of its walls as the case may be, two of which are secret passages to other parts of the park. In this post I’m going to talk about Frontierland. You probably knew that if you read all the way to the end of my very long post title. Also the post title gives away the surprise. Maybe I should be more vague.

So when you’re heading North through the hub and cross the drawbridge, right as you come through the castle, look to your left and see the secret passage to Frontierland.

It's a passageway I never ONCE walked through before I took these pictures. Why? No clue. I'm too cool for secret passageways, I guess.

If you’re thirsty and/or want to see a lovely little statue of Princess Aurora and the Prince who woke her up, there’s a water fountain right there. According to my Standard Research Methodology (3 minutes on Google), the Prince does not have a name. As such, he will henceforth be known as Prince Biff.

Princess Aurora and Prince Biff enjoy a lovely waltz or equally romantic dance

Oh crap, I just utilized my SRM again, and Prince Biff does have an actual name. It’s Prince Philip. What a shame–Prince Biff was so catchy.

Anyway, the passage itself is rather unassuming.

There's a light at the end of the (very short) tunnel!

But the exciting thing is what’s directly on the other side.

It's Princess Aurora sans Prince Biff/Philip

Not only that, there was also

Belle sans Beast or, according to my SRM, Prince Adam

This is very significant.

Why is this significant?

Glad you asked!

Princesses are pretty much the Holy Grail of character meet-and-greet. In fact, back at the Princess Fantasy Faire, people wait in line for well over an hour at times to meet a mere 3 princesses. However, when I stumbled across Aurora and Belle, there were exactly 8 other people there, not counting this guy:

The exact words he was saying into his phone were "Honey, come quickly! It's Belle and...the pink one!" I'm totally not joking here.

Belle and the pink one indeed! Two princesses with virtually no wait for pictures and autographs. SCORE! I believe the various  princesses frequent these secret passageways quite often, so it’s always a good idea to take a look. In the following picture, the yellow line is the secret passage and the circle is where I saw the princesses (I always feel like that should be princessii).

Aren't you impressed by my skillful use of Microsoft Paint?

Tune in tomorrow for Part 2. I’ll give you 3 guesses where the other secret passage leads. If you said “Tomorrowland,” you’re right.

Sorry to spoil the surprise there. I’ve never been very good at suspense.

Fantasyland , , ,

Sister Wives at the Disneyland Resort

4 Comments Posted by on May 8, 2011

So only tangentially related to MYWTM, it’s Sunday and Sister Wives is on! So I can’t believe I forgot this picture in the Picture Roundup! Back in Mothers in the Mouseland, Kristin the troublemaker announced that she had an amazing celebrity sighting in California Adventure–Kody and Christine from Sister Wives! Sadly, while Kristin did make eye contact with Kody and he did his trademarked hair flip, she did not get a picture.

Luckily we ran into Janine and Brianne Kingston from Atlanta, and they also saw Kody and Christine. They even got a picture! I tried to take a picture of their picture, but, well, here’s how that worked out:

It's really hard to take a picture of a camera screen, apparently

Fortunately, Brianne emailed me the picture she got. Okay, it’s of Kody and Christine’s back, but it’s proof people! PROOF! Both that Kody and Christine were at California Adventure and that Kristin isn’t as big of a whackadoodle we all think she is.

They actually look quite sweet

Don’t get me wrong–Kristin is still a whackadoodle. Just slightly less of one now that photographic evidence has been verified.

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