Category Archives: Main Street

Main Street Cinema

1 Comment Posted by on September 21, 2012

In all the times I have walked up and down Main Street I have never once stepped foot inside the Main Street Cinema.

Until now.

But you saw that coming, didn’t you?

Steamboat Willie is, as everyone knows, the first film in which our pal Mickey appears

Trivia time! Who was the original voice of Mickey Mouse?

A. Walt Disney
B. Walter Disney
C. Walter E. Disney
D. Walter Elias Disney
E. That guy who built Disneyland

Did you guess the correct answer? Yay! We’re all winners here at My Year With The Mouse!

The Main Street Cinema’s luminous marquee promises two other movies:

Because the fine sport of polo is just rife with comedic opportunities…

…as is traffic

Did you know that the working title for the movie Speed was “Traffic Trouble”?

It wasn’t. I totally made that up.

The difficult-to-photograph-but-when-have-I-ever-let-that-stop-me pole promises six (SIX!!!) different cartoons running continuously and simultaneously.

Mickey sure looks pleased with himself here

The sign also says “exclusive engagement” and that, my friends, is a fact. No other Disney park runs 6 classic cartoons in the Main Street Cinema. The Mouse-in-law’s Cinema is a shop.

Admission to the Cinema is free, although you’ll have to get past Tilly and she’s kind of hard core.

Hiding behind that bulletproof glass and all

I mean seriously, look at this woman. She’s totally going to throw you out if you make a ruckus.

You can tell by the look in her eyes

Interestingly, a close look at the tickets she’s peddling reveals that they are not, in fact, admissions tickets.

Identification check?

I mean seriously, it says right there on the ticket “NOT GOOD FOR TAXABLE ADMISSIONS.”

For a fleeting moment I wondered if the ID check tickets were like the kind you get at the fair that proves that you’re over 21 and you can buy beer, and then I wondered if perhaps there aren’t 6 different cartoons being shown continuously and simultaneously and there’s actually a hidden bar back there. I mean this curtain looks totally ominous.

When is a cinema not a cinema? I don’t know, make up your own punchline.

But no, it’s actually a smallish room with a platform in the middle and six screens each showing cartoons. And no alcohol. You’ll have to cross the Esplanade for that one.

Continuously and simultaneously, I might add

A sign outside indicates that the platform is for children.

Also an oldey timey turnstile

Here are some pictures of the cartoons. I did photograph all six but I’ll go ahead and spare you now. You’re welcome.

In which Minnie tortures a goat, causing musical notes to emit from its mouth

Violence is not the answer, Mickey!!

OMG MY HEAD IS ON SIDEWAYS!!!

If it seems deserted, don’t fear! Each screen has a VERY rapt audience.

I wanted to touch them because they looked fuzzy, but I did not

Although the cartoons were not originally silent, the only soundtrack that plays is Steamboat Willie.

So here’s a fun little way to spend a few air-conditioned minutes. I’ll admit I always breezed past it because why would I come to Disneyland to watch cartoons? But these aren’t just any cartoons! They’re Disney cartoons!

Six of them!

Continuously!

Simultaneously!

Stop by a have a look.

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Penny Arcade

1 Comment Posted by on June 8, 2012

I have fond memories of the Penny Arcade, namely as the cheapest place that costs money in Disneyland. Like, a lot of Disneyland is free (and by free I mean included with your admission ticket) and there are some things you pay for (like frozen lemonade) or the penny squashing machines. And the Penny Arcade, that actually cost a penny.

I mean, one day they’re just going to stop making pennies, so let’s live it up!

The Penny Arcade, Candy Palace, Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor, Blue Ribbon Bakery, and Carnation Cafe were all closed for quite a while for the major refurb, and many are now open.

The opening of the Penny Arcade is now where the Restaurant That Can’t Decide What It Wants To Be Called is.

I took this right after the musical chairs, actually.

So I have to say, they mashed the Penny Arcade and the Candy Palace into one sort of conglomerate, because you walk under that “Penny Arcade” sign and see this:

Stuff for sale

That stuff is candy, my friends. CANDY.

I love candy. It’s probably a personal failing of mine.

Rows of candy

If loving candy is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

Candy in a case

I particularly love the candies in the case. You can get all sorts of awesomeness. My favorite is the s’mores. It’s like a brick of graham crackers and marshmallows dipped in chocolate. What’s there not to love?

There are only a couple of jobs I REALLY wish I could have at Disneyland, and this is one of them:

Candy maker!

There are two more. Can you guess what they are? I’ve mentioned them here.

Go ahead, guess!

You know you want to.

Anyway, aside from the candy and merch, there are the arcade games that made the Penny Arcade be Penny Arcadeable. Yes, that’s a word. Pronounced arcade-able.

Yes, I can make up words just because I want to. It’s my blog.

Dance, Pinocchio! Dance!

Put in a coin and watch Pinocchio do this thang.

I also love the pipe organ thingie.

This is still in the back of the store

Yeah, about that. I should probably mention that the Penny Arcade used to have its games lined up along the middle and walls of the store. Now with the expansion of the Candy Palace, they’ve moved the games up to the front right by Main Street.

These things, you put your money in and watch a movie. Much easier without glasses.

Of course, there’s the Kiss-O-Meter, which measures the awesomeness of your kiss. It’s pretty much a high schooler’s worst nightmare because what if you’re there trying to impress the guy/girl of your dreams and your kiss registers “frigid.”

I don’t even think we’re supposed to use the word frigid anymore. Besides, that sounds like a brand of freezer.

You can get your fortune read (but not Fortune Red) here, with Esmeralda.

I AM AN AWESOME PHOTOGRAPHER!!!

There she is.

And if you weren’t able to impress that girl/guy with your Kiss-O-Meter, you can always try the True Grip Challenge

Trust me, people, this never ends well

And there are a couple of other fun arcade games as well. Now for those of us who grew up in the 70s/80s and think that “arcade” is synonymous with pinball and Ms. Pac Man, it’s not an arcade, but it is an arcade in keeping with the time period of Main Street, U.S.A. And anyway, it’s fun. So bring some spare change and check out the Penny Arcade.

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Musical Chairs with the Mad Hatter (and Giveaway!)

33 Comments Posted by on May 28, 2012

Yep, time for the second Fantasmic! popcorn bucket giveaway! Details below…

Today we’re going to chat about playing musical chairs with the Mad Hatter. I had heard of this but had never actually witnessed it myself until one day when I was enjoying the amazing hot angus beef sandwich at the Jolly Holiday Bakery (highly recommend) and I glanced over into the Coke Corner (also known as The Restaurant That Can’t Decide What It Wants To Be Called) to see Alice and the Mad Hatter come over and start arranging chairs in a circle.

This happened at about 2:30, by the way.

Participants: Alice, Mad Hatter, Piano Player, Children, and Chairs

My understanding is that Alice is not always present at this event.

The Mad Hatter selected children from the surrounding tables to play, and went into a lengthy speech that made little sense

In the way that speeches by the Mad Hatter never make sense

Thankfully, Alice was there to translate. Musical chairs then commenced, but the Mad Hatter couldn’t abide by a regular old game of musical chairs.

Oh no, he could not.

The children had to do a number of things while circling the chairs.

First they merely had to skip.

Pretty straightforward

But then, they had to pretend to be pirates with a peg leg, and hop on one foot, cover one eye with a hand to simulate an eye patch, and make the other hand into a hook.

Easier said than done

The Mad Hatter enjoyed waxing rhapsodically, but Alice did not approve.

Blah Blah Blah…

Get. To. The. Point.

A pair of sisters were responsible for the first “cheek check.”

Mine! No, mine! No, mine! No, mine!

The Cheek Check involved the pair having a dance-off.

This little girl spun in circles and also did an impressive cartwheel

This little girl did a seriously awesome Running Man.

The game continued until, predictably, there were only two children left.

And ZOMG only one chair!!!

The pianist struck up a tune and Alice led the finalists around the courtyard, through the quick service window, and basically around a lot of stuff while the Mad Hatter added a bunch of chairs to the stack.

Wha???

The finalists were understandably confused about where they should sit when the music stopped. However, the Mad Hatter declared them both winners.

And the prize?

They got to put the chairs away. HA!

The musical chairs performance was such a fabulously fun performance, I highly recommend anyone hanging out near the Coke Corner at around 2 or 2:30 to see if you can catch it!

And oh yeah, the giveaway? Popcorn bucket number 2!!! Pictures are over on this entry right here. Enter by leaving a comment HERE saying…oh, I don’t care what you say. Just leave a comment, okay? 😉

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Disneyland Fire Department Firehouse

2 Comments Posted by on May 25, 2012

You’re doing a little shopping on Main Street, U.S.A., and suddenly…there’s a cat in a tree! Who do you call? The fire department!

Save the kitty!

Okay, just kidding. There are no cats in trees on Main Street in Disneyland.

During the day.

There are feral cats that roam the park mostly at night, but I’ve only ever spotted one once, and that was by the Hungry Bear back in Critter Country.

Today I’m talking about the Disneyland Fire Department. Located next to City Hall, the firehouse has a very special feature.

Of course you know what this is…

Yep, Walt’s apartment! Walt himself kept a very small apartment in the park above the fire station. There’s a lamp in the window, and when he was alive he’d turn it on whenever he was in the park. Now it’s kept on continuously in memory.

Here’s the firehouse from another angle.

I’m not really sure why I took this picture

The main feature of the firehouse is, of course, the fire engine.

Pulled by horses, since it’s the turn of the century and all. The last turn of the century, not the most recent one.

There’s rooms for the horses

The stalls are small, and for some reason, empty

And important supplies for the horses

There’s also a fold-out table with a checkerboard here

Fancy

There’s also a decorative fire pole.

Walt used the stairs

The firehouse is charming–stop in and ring the bell! And stick around to see if you can catch the Hook and Ladder Company (check your entertainment guide!).

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