Category Archives: Tomorrowland

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

2 Comments Posted by on April 4, 2011

Once upon a time, over in Tomorrowland, there was this attraction called Circle-Vision. True to its name, it was this big round building and you stood in the middle and all around you in 360 degrees they showed a movie. The one I remember was all about America and you were speeding around on vehicles and whatnot.

It was horrible. I threw up.

Not inside the the attraction, but outside. I’m very sensitive to motion sickness. Even Star Tours makes me queasy.

So when Disneyland closed Circle-Vision and later turned the space into Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, I was positively thrilled. The Mouse-in-law still has Circle-Vision in Epcot. I can’t do it. I just can’t.

Buzz Lightyear is cool because you sit in your car and ride through rooms (like a regular dark ride), but you get a blaster gun and you get to shoot stuff. What’s there not to love about that?

Well, it’s just not all that popular anymore. They had a FastPass for it, and then that became effectively useless because the stand-by wait was generally about 20 minutes anyway (on non-crowded days).

Stand-by wait is 15 minutes. Sign me up!

They have finally given up the charade and are using the FastPasses for the new Star Tours refurb. This is probably a good idea.

Your primary queue is outside around the building.

People

Also, you can see greenery on the left there. They actually grow real things, like strawberries. People really do pick them and eat them.

Why would you eat something that grew next to the queue of a Disneyland ride? WHY???

I’m not sure if those were strawberries or not, but still, I wouldn’t eat them.

Inside the actual building, the theming is immersive and fabulous.

There are lots of things to read, like this

Unfortunately, when the wait is short, you have to zoom by them and don’t really get the full experience. It’s like waiting in line for the Mona Lisa, and then you finally get to the front, take your one picture (if it doesn’t bounce off the glass box) and leave. I have to say, the Mona Lisa was definitely one of the most anticlimactic things I’ve ever seen. I suppose if I were able to study it or even get close to it, I would have felt differently, but there are plenty of other pieces of art in the Louvre to spend your time looking at.

Anyway, you are quickly introduced to your enemy, the Evil Emperor Zurg.

Nice chest plate

And in the next panel, you are told what you are supposed to do, which is to find these targets throughout the ride and hit them with your laser.

You're supposed to aim for the middle of the Z, but in case you didn't pick that up, there are handy little lines on every shape showing you where to shoot

Also, did I mention that you get points for shooting stuff? Well, you get points for shooting stuff. The shapes correspond to point values as well as difficulty in finding and shooting them. The circle is the easiest to hit with the lowest value, then the square, then the triangle, and then the diamond.

Should you spend your time just hitting as many circles as you can, or patiently wait for the triangles and diamonds and shoot those even though you’re losing time? I really don’t know. I totally suck at this game.

Then you hit the cool part of the line, which is the debriefing room. Buzz himself is there, larger than life (wasn’t he like really short in the movies? Shorter than Woody?), and his face is a hologram giving you more instructions.

Awesome to look at, difficult to photograph

The Etch-A-Sketch also draws pictures that are supposed to be helpful but really are just an Etch-A-Sketch drawing pictures by itself. Which when you think about it out of context, is really creepy. I mean, it’s like an Etch-A-Sketch ouija board or something, but unlike a ouija board, it would be really obvious if someone was moving it (OMG, nobody is touching the knobs!!!). I’d hate to be in a horror movie with this thing.

This is the dude you're supposed to shoot

Then finally you board your Space Cruise XP-40.

Moving sidewalks to get on a ride ALWAYS make me nervous

Your car has a joystick that allows you to turn from side to side, but not all the way around. If you’re competing with another person in your car, it can be a real disadvantage to be in charge of the joystick. If you’re sitting with a 2-year-old, that’s also a real disadvantage with the joystick.

Theo stayed like this pretty much the whole ride

Once you get into the dark part of the ride, that’s when you shoot things.

This is Zurg #1

As you can see (or as you could see if I were a decent photographer), there’s a couple of moderately-easy square targets and a difficult triange behind Zurg’s arm. It’s difficult because it can only be hit from a certain angle, and Zurg’s arm goes up and down, periodically blocking it.

Here’s a better picture of something you’re supposed to shoot.

Bring it, bright orange robot thing

He has a diamond on the side of his arm because you have to turn your car around to shoot it and also it moves.

You meet Zurg again, but he’s got something up his sleeve this time. No, it’s not shootable. They take a picture of you. At the end of the ride, Buzz himself steps in and zaps Zurg, because I guess you’ve been doing a crappy job. I mean, Zurg does appear twice, so if you didn’t neutralize him the first time, it’s probably time to call in the big guns.

I AM AN AWESOME PHOTOGRAPHER!

After all of that, you get a tally of your score. Mine was a bit problematic because 1) Theo kept turning the car every which way according to his whim SQUIRREL! 2) I was holding the camera in my right hand, which is my dominant hand, and 3) I was attempting to shoot with my left hand but it’s important to know that my left hand is so unadept it’s really just there for decoration.

Oh, also, the one thing I don’t like about this ride is that you can’t really see where you’re shooting. The pictures all show these laser beams coming out of the blasters, but in reality, you just have a little red dot that shows up when you pull the trigger. The other problem with that is that you see everyone else’s red dots too, so if you’re me and lousy at the game, it’s very difficult to know which dot is yours, making it difficult to aim.

Still, despite all of that, I managed to make Level 3 with my results

Level 3? Are you serious? I think even Theo can get to Level 3!

Once you step out of the car and onto the nervewracking moving sidewalk, you are funneled out through a separate exit. On the way, there are screens where you can go up, find your picture, and email it to yourself. For free! One of the few things in the park that are actually free.

Everyone seems to forget their own email address when they step up to the screen

You also have to scroll through a big bunch of pictures to find yourself. Some people are more successful at this than others.

Help! I've forgotten what I look like!

I generally skip this step because it takes a long time, but I was going to try to do it for the blog. Alas, it was not to be. Theo was in a rotten mood and actually kept throwing himself on the floor crying, so I had to carry him throughout the entire queue. This kid weighs approximately 7,000 pounds, and by 7,000 pounds I mean 33 pounds, so he’s very heavy.

While waiting for our turn at the screen, Theo once again launched into his schtick. Let’s just say that he would make the ideal non-violent protester, as his skills at going completely limp are truly unparalleled.

The only reason I didn't take a picture of his face was because he will probably see this when he's older and will be horribly embarrassed. You're welcome.

Disneyland likes to make you exit through a gift shop as often as possible, so Buzz is no exception. The good news is that there’s another passage out of there.

Store Command--get it? Star Command/Store Command? Ha ha ha?

Now I like Buzz. I really do. But he is nothing compared to Toy Story Mania over in D-CAP. I may have to cover that one for you because of its sheer awesomeness.

Tomorrowland , ,

Space Mountain!

2 Comments Posted by on March 27, 2011

And now we get to my favorite ride in all of Disneyland–Space Mountain! Space Mountain is one of four Mountains at Disneyland, each corresponding to a thrill ride. Space Mountain is an indoor rollercoaster (as is Big Thunder Mountain and Matterhorn Mountain, while Splash Mountain is a log ride). The cool thing about being inside is that it’s dark so you can’t see the tracks.

According to Standard Research Methodology, Space Mountain opened in 1977. One of my earliest memories of Space Mountain was when I was little but finally tall enough to ride it (I was a very small child), I was really chicken, but I wanted to ride it, so my mom kept saying, “are you sure? are you sure?” and I was like “yeah yeah yeah, I’m totally sure.” So we waited for hours (it seemed, it was probably about an hour) and then at the very last second–very last second meaning sitting in the car–I freaked out and started bawling and refused to go on it. My mother had to stay behind with me and she was livid that we had wasted all that time standing in line for me to chicken out. LIVID.

Ah, the joy of Disney magic.

Anyway, somewhere along the way I found the guts to ride it and it quickly became my favorite. This visit I was with my mom’s group for “Mom’s Night Out” (see Mothers in the Mouseland). We were all keen to go on Space Mountain, since it’s a difficult ride to go on with toddlers (difficult = impossible unless you have someone to ride switch with). Well, not all of us. One of us was pregnant, so SM was out for her. Still, this was that last picture of the whole group before we parted ways.

Look familiar? Thanks for reading!

Space Mountain was completely shut down in 2003, and they dug all the way into the ground to rebuild it. I was hoping they’d put in a new track, maybe something with a loop, but they ended up with the exact same track. That’s kind of the only disappointing thing about Space Mountain, once you learn the track. You bank to the right a LOT.

In the 80’s and 90’s, Space Mountain had this moving walkway that went right to the roof of the mountain. It was all futuristic and cool and stuff, but totally useless because it backed up the queue and they always had it turned off. After the re-do, you walk around the side and schlep yourself up to the roof. You can get some cool pictures up there

Oooooo, it's all glowy and stuff!

One baffling thing about the re-do is that it gets unbelievably hot up there on the roof while you’re waiting. You’d think they would take the opportunity to put in misters, or even just cover the whole thing, but no. In July, you bake.

After a thoroughly uninteresting queue in which you zig zag a number of times, you finally reach the actual mountain building. They let you through in groups, presumably so you don’t back up inside.

What ride are we waiting for again? Oh that's right--Space Mountain

Once inside the building, you descend. So yeah, you climb up to the roof to wait, and then descend to board. There’s not really space at the base of the building for a line, so there ya go.

Hi Kelli!

Inside, there are various monitors with loops talking about the ride and how if you’re pregnant or you don’t like high-speed adventures or shooting into space or whatever, this isn’t the ride for you. Which kind of bites because by the time you’ve made it to the building, you’ve already invested a huge amount of time in line. The inside looks a lot like this:

Boring

Kristin attempted to entertain us with some ballet and yoga moves.

I almost killed myself trying to imitate her. It was bad.

Again with my awesome photography skills.

Back in the olden days, there were darkened windows in the queue where you could actually look into the ride and see space shuttles go shooting by. There was also a viewing area from the Peoplemover. Both of those things let in a lot of light, so originally Space Mountain wasn’t completely dark.

It is now.

Which is pretty awesome.

In lieu of the windows, they installed the above-mentioned monitors. They try to give you a clue as to what your riding experience will be like, but trust me, it’s nothing like this.

Are they shooting lasers or something?

You finally open onto the space port area and get a nice aerial view before you board.

You're almost there--hang on!

After being seated, you move to the launch tube. This is all futuristic and there are black lights, so when you insist that everyone in your group turn around and smile so you can take a picture, their teeth glow.

It's like a freaky Crest commercial

You approach Mission Control, and then off you go.

We haven't actually started yet. Monica needs to get out more.

In the launch tube, the lights start flashing and spinning until you get to the inside of the coaster where it’s completely dark.

This starts spinning and stuff and it's kind of nauseating, actually

When you get to the actual track, the music goes all “Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!” and then you get a countdown from 10. At 1, you shoot through the entire track, completely gravity-fed. It’s really awesome. There’s also this cool soundtrack that just kicks it up a notch.

At the end of the ride, you get your picture taken. I always try to think of something clever to do, but tend to fall short. However, this time I attempted to take a picture of my own. This is the part where you get your picture taken:

Flashy streamy lights and stuff

When you get off, you can buy your picture for $14.95 for a 5×7. Or you can go all ghetto and take a picture of your picture, like I did.

You're actually supposed to buy this

So there I am, taking a picture of the part where they take a picture of you. I mistakenly thought that the camera was off to the left a bit, so my camera is pointed off to the left, but I later realized that the camera is directly overhead and it’s just the flash that comes from the left.

This is a picture of me taking a picture of the camera taking a picture of me

That is so postmodern, my head exploded.

Tomorrowland , ,

Disneyland Railroad

5 Comments Posted by on March 15, 2011

Kevin is a huge, huge, huge train fan, and unsurprisingly the train gene was not lost on Theo. This makes the Disneyland Railroad a constant favorite in our household.

The DLRR is a scaled down version of a real railroad. There’s a lot of history to the DLRR, but I’m just going to cut to the chase by summing it up as such: Walt liked trains. He could often be seen in the engine waving to his many fans. When he was alive, of course.

There will likely be other DLRR posts, but I’m going to start you off for now.

The DLRR has four stations: The Main Street station, which is the iconic station right above Flower Mickey’s head when you walk in, the New Orleans Square station, Mickey’s Toontown station, and the Tomorrowland station.You can get on or off the train at any of these locations, or you can ride the whole loop. Most people start at the Main Street station, but am I most people?

Of course not. Most people don’t blog about their quest to do everything there is to do at Disneyland.

We got on at Toontown station.

You'll never guess where the stroller parking is

This happened to be the same visit where we met the Princesses.

Princess Katie is ready for her ride around Disneyland

Leaving the Toontown station, you immediately come across the back of Small World. Be sure to wave–people always wave back.

Hey, guys closer to the train--the other line is actually slightly shorter!

You do pass through a lot of generic back-side-of-water kind of stuff on the DLRR. You don’t actually get glimpses into the backlot where the Magic Happens, but you do get a lot of this:

Welcome to my corrugated steel quonset hut

And this:

Look, a fence! GET THE CAMERA!!!!!

After moving through the Tomorrowland station, which is very forgettable so I didn’t take any pictures of it, but it’s right by Autopia, you get to go through the Grand Canyon/Dinosaur dioramas.

First, you hit the Grand Canyon as it is today.

The actual Grand Canyon is somewhat larger

And then, according to the highly trustworthy Wikipedia, some of the animals in the Grand Canyon diorama are actually taxidermied real animals (the only ones in the park).

So THAT'S what happened to Bambi's mother!

Once you’re all peaceful and one with nature in the Grand Canyon, you get Dinosaur land. It wasn’t a very friendly place.

"You are what you eat!" "Dude, it doesn't matter what we eat--we're going extinct anyway"

This is supposed to be some pterodactyls or something, but through the power of my superior photography skills, it’s just a really badass picture:

This picture looks like it should be the cover art for some post-apocalyptic fantasy novel about giant bats living in the area formerly known as the Grand Canyon

Disneyland even puts you right in the middle of a prehistoric battle:

Are you Team T-Rex or Team Stegosaur?

Sadly, we’ll never know how that turned out. Well, we do. In the end, everyone lost.

Including Bambi’s mother.

Following the dioramas, you end up at Main Street station. Now this is a really cool station so if you’re going to take the DLRR, it’s a great place to start.

This is not the actual guest capacity of Disneyland

I'm not sure if this is the exact elevation of the DLRR either.

There’s a telegraph office on the south side of the train at Main Street station. Sharp-eyed MYWTMouseketeer Marce correctly identified the location of the telegraph office at New Orleans Square. (I meant to do that. No, I’m just kind of lame sometimes) It’s constantly clicking, which makes you wonder how anyone could sit in a chair and decode Morse code all day. My friend Kelli tells me that the message being clicked out is actually Walt Disney’s speech from Disneyland’s opening day. That’s kind of cool.

Click click click click click click click

After Main Street is the New Orleans Square stop. The only thing I found surprising about this is that New Orleans Square is apparently part of Frontierland, which means that Frontierland must actually sweep around and enclose Adventureland.

Okay, it was interesting to ME anyway.

There is really nothing at all interesting in this picture.

From the New Orleans station, you go through the inside of Splash Mountain. It’s actually quite cool and I would have taken a picture for you, but Splash Mountain is currently closed, so you’re going to have to settle for this very boring picture of the Rivers of America instead.

These deer are fake

Following THAT, you end up back in Toontown, which was where we left our stroller.

The DLRR takes approximately 20 minutes to ride the loop. It’s a great way to see the park, get from one side of the park to another without walking your feet off, and just take a break and let your train-obsessed toddler feel special.

Frontierland, Main Street, Tomorrowland, Toontown ,

Newer posts →