Mothers in the Mouseland

14 Comments Posted by on March 25, 2011

As you no doubt know, I am the stay-at-home mother of a two-year-old, Theo. This lifestyle offers many advantages–one of which is having the time to go to Disneyland frequently and blog about it. However, there are some drawbacks, like being limited by the rides only 2-year-olds can go on. And outside of Disneyland, motherhood can become rather monotonous.

For social activities, one can join a mom’s group. I happen to really like mine–the Gen X Moms of North OC. We’re all moms born in Generation X (1965-1980) and we have kids roughly the same age. The best thing about a mom’s group, other than that I have something to do with my time and my kid gets to play with someone other than me and the television, is that they have Mom’s Night Out events. MNO are as they sound–leave the kids at home, moms get together on their own and have a good time.

Alcohol is often involved.

Our latest MNO was at Disneyland. We met at La Brea Bakery in Downtown Disney for dinner. Well, for dinner, and for the people who didn’t want to park in the garage, so they could get their Downtown Disney parking validated.

Half of the group--the drinking has started

Clockwise starting at 9:00, this is Monica, Ruth, Renay, Kelli (a repeat MYWTMouseketeer), Kristin, and me.

The food is actually quite good. I’d never eaten there before.

This is Ruth and Renay

Ruth had been to the park earlier in the day with her kindergartener and passed him off to his daddy to join us. Renay’s husband is a Disney employee so she has a special awesome pass that gets her and three of her closest friends in for free.

If I didn’t have an annual pass, Renay would be my closest friend.

Actually I just met her last night, which is another fun thing about a mom’s group that keeps changing so you keep meeting nice people.

Kelli and Kristin

You many remember Kelli from the Churro cart post. Kelli is the mother of Princess Katie, my go-to rental princess when I need to write a post about something involving a little girl, like the Princess Fantasy Faire.

Kristin also spent the earlier part of the day at the park with her husband and her three kids. She greeted us with some joyful news–she had a “minor celebrity sighting.” And living in LA, it’s not a huge deal to see celebrities and you try to act all nonchalant or whatever, but Kristin argued that when it comes to, like, celebrities who are actually on reality shows on TLC, that’s different than a regular LA celebrity and you can be all weird and want to get a picture or whatever when you see them.

I had to agree when she said that the minor celebrities in question were Kody and Christine from Sister Wives, a TLC reality show about a polygamist family.

Self portrait of me and the woman who saw Kody and Christine from Sister Wives

Kristin was also the one who said, “Is anyone else having another glass of wine?” which prompted me to naturally say “I will if you will,” which lead to a new round for the whole table.

It got darker and we added a few people

That's Bex in the white hat

And after we finished up our drinks and paid the bill and got out our rain gear, it was time to head into the parks.

Bag check without a stroller!

We went on Soarin’ Over California, Space Mountain, Matterhorn, Indiana Jones, and we stood around in some confusion for a while. I’ll post separately about the first two.

CJ, Renay, Carissa, Kelli, Bex, Liz, Me, Melanie, Kristin, Monica, and Ruth

CJ, Renay, Carissa, Kelli, Bex, Liz, Me, Melanie, Kristin, Monica, and Ruth

While we were in line for Soarin’, we met two ladies in front of us who had ALSO seen Kody and Christine from Sister Wives.  We got to chatting and they actually got a picture, so I took a picture of their picture of Kody and Christine. Obviously it turned out well. They promised to email the actual picture to me, so I hope they do!

This is Janine and Brianne Kingston from Atlanta. They’re an adorable mother-daughter duo who were very fun to talk to while we were in line. Everyone say “Hi Janine and Brianne!”

Leave me a comment if you know Janine and Brianne!

After Soarin’, we headed over to Disneyland. Sadly, as so often happens when a large group attempts to do something at the Mouse, we ended up getting split up, when those of us who usually tote kids around really wanted to go on Space Mountain and the one of us who was pregnant could not. Ah well, you do what you can.

Last big picture before we parted ways and pretty much never saw half the group again

I almost panicked because by the time I decided I really needed to eat a churro RIGHT NOW, the carts started closing. Fortunately Main Street still had one open.

Churros in the rain

And we ate them in line for Indiana Jones

Me and Carissa, right before waiting approximately 35 minutes for Indiana Jones

We met at 6:00 and it was quarter to midnight when we got off of Indiana Jones. Poor Kristin was like, “Haunted Mansion? Anyone? Anyone? Jungle Cruise? ANYONE???” but the rest of us decided to call it a night and schedule another mom’s night out another day.

All in all, it was awesome. Particularly where we’d pass other mothers dealing with their kids in strollers and we’d look at each other like, “isn’t it nice that our own children are home without us?” Although I did spend much of the night feeling like I left something behind. Like you know that feeling when you walk away from somewhere and you feel a little bit naked because maybe you forgot your purse or your phone, or maybe you left the gas on? I kept having to remind myself that no, I did not accidentally leave Theo alone in the stroller at the bag check, and that I was, in fact, there without my child and was already carrying around everything I needed.

Everything Else ,

The Pearly Band

10 Comments Posted by on March 21, 2011

So let’s file this one under the “things I never knew existed” category! Theo and I were coming through the castle after the Superman Ad incident, and saw a brightly colored band marching through.

Instruments, bright colors, and the back of some girl's head

They circled and then lined up in formation. I checked my Entertainment Guide and it made no mention of brightly-colored musicians gathering in front of the castle, so of course in the interest of this blog, I stopped to listen.

Also, Theo seemed interested so why not?

I cleverly discerned their name by reading the drum. Because I’m smart like that.

Funny how the drum so often gives away the identity of the performer

If you’ve been following this blog, you’ll know that 3 minutes on Google is my standard at-home research methodology (if you’re new to the blog, my standard at-home research methodology is 3 minutes on Google), and according to my research, the Pearly band follows the traditions of London’s pearly kings and queens. I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean, since I’ve been to London a couple of times and I have NEVER seen any royalty dressed up like this playing instruments. But, you know, it’s Disneyland, so I’ll go with that. Apparently the “pearly” part refers to the mother-of-pearl buttons on their natty outfits.

When Mary Poppins arrived, it made a LOT more sense. Because there’s a pearly band in Mary Poppins, and apparently Disneyland has had their own Pearly Band since the movie released.

That’s one movie I really should see again, by the way.

Anyway, Mary Poppins immediately came over and started shaking hands with all of the waiting children.

Shaking hands with the kid next to us

Sadly I was so unprepared for this turn of events that I failed to get into a good position to see Mary Poppins shaking hands with my own child. Instead, in my panic, I ended up with this:

I AM AN AWESOME PHOTOGRAPHER!!!

Geez.

Anyway, when Bert came out with his portable chimney sweep vehicle, I knew we were in for a treat.

Sweeping the chimneys of Disneyland in style

After wheeling in his chimney sweeping cart, since apparently 47 Disney years later Bert’s still stuck in an archaic manual labor job, Bert joined with Mary for a jolly holiday.

This Bert looked nothing like Dick Van Dyke, but given Dick's current age, that's probably not a bad thing

They joined with the Pearly Band leader to sing a song, which I can’t remember because I’m writing this entry a week after the visit to Disneyland took place. Blogger fail.

La la la, some song from the Mary Poppins movie

There were more musical numbers, and then Bert revealed that his “trash can” was actually a cleverly-disguised banner holder/retractor, reading Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

Super California Surfers, Experts On the Ocean

Mary tried to get everyone to sing along, but she thwarted her own efforts by standing in front of the word we were supposed to be singing. Lucky for her, everyone in the crowd seemed to know it anyway.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious has its own Wikipedia page. Seriously.

Then the fun went into high gear as Mary and Bert selected a few children from the audience and gave them each a chimney sweeper.

Honorary Chimney Sweeps, we will exploit your child labor and pay you nothing, just like Victorian England!

The kids actually did a fabulous job of keeping up with Bert and Mary.

Raise your knees high and crush the upper class! Let them sweep their own chimneys! Or invent forced-air central heating!

Mary led the children around the Pearly Band as a grand finale.

Let us skip and revel in the joy of central heating!

All in all, it was a wonderfully pleasant surprise to happen upon a performance I never even knew existed at Disneyland. I have to say, that’s one thing I’m loving about writing this blog–there’s just so much I never paid attention to!

 

Fantasyland, Main Street , , , ,

Main Street Magic Shop

3 Comments Posted by on March 17, 2011

Out of all of the stores at Disneyland, of which there are many, my favorite is the Magic Shop. In fact, I can remember even as a small child loving the Magic Shop best of all. There are real magicians (REAL!!!) who do magic demonstrations all the time, and of course you can buy the tricks yourself.

Or to quote Arrested Development, “They’re illusions, Michael…” If you can finish that quote in your head, I know you’re laughing now. If not, then either watch the show or send me an email because the last part is a little off-color.

The first thing you should know about the Magic Shop is that Steve Martin used to work there. Yep, that Steve Martin–the guy who went on to make significantly more money than a Magic Shop cast member makes–was once an Magic Shop cast member. (Steve Martin also used to play the banjo at the Bird Cage Theater in Knott’s Berry Farm as well, but this is a Disneyland blog, not a Knott’s blog).

But anyway, into the Magic Shop it is. The Magic Shop is easily identified on the right-hand side (East) of Main Street. The entrance looks something like this:

Actually, the entrance looks exactly like this, because this is the entrance

Which brings me to the second thing you should know–the Magic Shop is actually owned by Houdini’s Magic Shop, which is a chain of magic shops primarily in Las Vegas. According to my vast internet searches (once again, about 3 minutes on Google), the shop now carries a wider variety of  tricks illusions for all skill levels.

You can also enter the Magic Shop from the store next door:

I don't remember what this store is called but it's the one on the corner and I'm sure I'll blog about it eventually

As I mentioned before, the fun thing about the Magic Shop (other than the fact that you can buy magic tricks) are the magicians-in-residence. Meet Andy:

I kind of expected Andy to smile when I asked to take his picture, but I think this pose looks more magician-y myself

Andy was already into his patter and  trick illusion when I walked in. I was impressed, but I’m pretty gullible on the whole. This trick had to do with a deck of blank cards. They were blank on both sides but then suddenly would have faces or backs or whatever. Here’s a really vague and indistinct picture:

Andy is shuffling blank cards

It should come as no surprise that the tricks the magicians demonstrate are all available to purchase in the store. However, if you’re me, that comes as a surprise. I always kind of assumed that the magicians did real magic and the store sold, like, whoopee cushions or something.

Then again, I haven’t been into the store since I was approximately 10 years old, so it’s been a while.

And incidentally, when I asked Andy what his favorite trick in the store was, he said it was the blank cards.

That didn’t stop him from ruthlessly stabbing a dollar bill with a pen

What did George Washington ever do to deserve this?

Andy then showed us that George was well and truly dead

George Washington died on Dec. 14, 1799, and also on March 15, 2011, when Andy the magician stabbed him with a pen

Fortunately for both George and the guest who volunteered his dollar bill, it was an illusion and there were no stab marks left in the bill.

I was impressed. Really.

Then Andy took my annual pass (because I was the first person to whip one out) and proceeded to spin it around in midair with no strings or whatever. I thought this one was really cool too.

Look Ma, no hands!

I asked Andy if he was a magician in real life, and he said that he was. He has worked at the Magic Shop for 2 years now, and he said that he auditioned specifically for the shop when applying to be a cast member.

You can buy all kinds of stuff (because hey, it’s Disneyland, and there’s never a shortage of places to spend your money). According to Andy, the “good” tricks are in the $30-$40 range. I was tempted, but that’s kind of a lot of money. Maybe next time.

Rather boring picture of things they sell #1

Rather boring picture of things they sell #2

This man's arm is not for sale

Main Street ,

An Ad For Another Theme Park At Disneyland???

6 Comments Posted by on March 15, 2011

Today at the park I witnessed something I have absolutely NEVER seen before. Ever. EVER.

The park was a bit crowded (other people’s spring breaks) so as I was coming around Tomorrowland I couldn’t help but notice pretty much everyone looking at the sky. Being the gullible lemming that I am, I looked at the sky too. There were a bunch of planes doing skywriting.

(Skywriting is, I think, quickly becoming a lost art, but that’s not the point here).

Anyway, it was very difficult to read what they were spelling out. I think their message was too long for one, and also there must have been a bunch of wind up there because the first parts kept smearing before I could get a chance to read them. But here’s what I saw:

This one said RIDE SUPERMAN but the RI got cut off and the DE had already started blowing away

I moved to the Matterhorn to try to get a better picture, but if you’ve been following this blog, you know that my photography skills completely suck, so here’s the view over the Matterhorn:

I honestly can't decipher this at all

The message was repeated a couple of times, so I got a shot of the one over Small World:

Can you read upside-down?

Here, I’ll flip it for you. And it definitely read RIDE SUPERMAN 5D, and that was repeated a couple of times:

Digital photography is so awesome

But here’s the thing–there is no Superman ride at Disneyland. In fact, the only Superman ride I could think of was at Magic Mountain (in Valencia, CA). And while I couldn’t see the rest of the garbled messages, the RIDE SUPERMAN 5D was very, very clear, and repeated 3 times, which can only mean one thing:

Magic Mountain is advertising its ride in the skies above Disneyland.

Now honestly, I have to say that that’s probably the most ballsy thing I’ve ever seen. I mean, it’s not like Disneyland controls the air or something, but they’re not affiliated with Magic Mountain (which is currently owned by Six Flags again) in any way. I mean, I think the only thing that would have demonstrated bigger cojones would be to fly a blimp over and drop hundreds of leaflets onto Disneyland guests.

And then I had to go home and Google Superman 5D, because the Superman ride has been around for a number of years, and what the hell is 5D? It took some digging, but it looks like they revamped Superman, now called Superman: Escape From Krypton, and it’s scheduled to open this weekend, according to the LA Times.

I’m still not sure about what the 5D thing is (because seriously, how many dimensions do we NEED anyway?) and Magic Mountain doesn’t define it on their site for the new and improved Superman. It strikes me as very odd that they’re doing a media blitz over the skies of Disneyland including the 5D but they aren’t really explaining what it is. I suppose I could do some research to figure it out, but I don’t have the time right now.

Anyway, I sincerely have never seen anything like that before–advertising in the sky over Disneyland. Has anyone else?

(And don’t forget to Like me on Facebook and you could win a pair of mouse ears!)

UPDATE! File this one under “well that makes a LOT more sense!” I’ve recently learned that the part after “Superman” was not, in fact, “5D,” but was rather “SDRAWKCAB” or “BACKWARDS” backwards, because the new version of Superman goes both forward and backwards. And actually in the second picture on this post, you can make out “SDRAWKCAB” in the smeary part. Mystery solved!

Main Street ,

← Older posts

Newer posts →