Lights Here, Lights There, Lights And Lights Everywhere!

Leave a comment Posted by on August 6, 2012

It’s the post you’ve all been waiting for–lights! Or to be more specific, lighting fixtures on Buena Vista Street.

I know you’re on the edge of your seat. You’ve probably already scrolled down to go straight to the pictures. It’s okay, I still love you.

But seriously, lights? Who cares?

Disney, that’s who.

In the children’s section

Corresponding with the above–sun and moon

 

I’ve talked a lot about detail on this blog. So obviously I’m going to…yeah, talk about detail some more.

But love is in the details; is it not? What do we love the most about people, or about places or things? The fact that Disneyland is a theme park, or that Disneyland is so full of lovingly curated details?

What’s really awesome about this fixture is not just the fixture itself, but the reflection it throws onto the ceiling.

Who looks up at Disneyland? I’ll admit it–not me. Not until I started this blog. I had NO IDEA that so many amazing things happen within 6-12 inches of the ceiling.

NO IDEA.

But people, I’m telling you, LOOK UP.

The rustic look of the fixtures coordinates nicely with the open-beam ceiling

What’s really fascinating and inspiring to me is that Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) pays just as much attention to the tiny little details that, let’s face it, the vast majority of guests are not even going to notice, as they do in the things that people see and touch every day.

Individual lighting makes each booth in the Fiddler, Fife and Practical Cafe that much more cozy

Who does these things?

Disney, that’s who.

The slim dropping fixtures echo the tall feeling of the high windows

Details? Here’s stuff I never looked at.

Buy your jewelry here.

Geometric shapes abound in the dining area

Look up. You’ll be amazed by what you see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mouse-Next-Door

Mad T Party House of Cards

1 Comment Posted by on August 3, 2012

So over in CA Adventure there’s the Mad T Party, see part 1 here, a rockin’ dance party in Hollywood that lights up the night. I’ll admit I went in rather suspicious. I love Alice in Wonderland and this funked out version could have gone either way for me. I haven’t actually seen the whole latest Alice movie, the live action one. We were at a friend’s backyard movie night and Theo just hit his wall so we had to go home. But I totally digress.

House of Cards

I like to throw in a picture when I’m getting off on a tangent.

Anyway, Mad T Party is quite awesome. It’s got a very high energy vibe. In the earlier entry I talked about the main stage with the live band, and the Drink Me bar. This time I’m hitting the smaller stage and other bar, the House of Cards.

The House of Cards stage is front and center, and you can walk all the way around it. People dance there.

Here’s another view

The dancers play to different parts of the stage.

4 dancers, 4 sides

And the bouncers are Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

I love these guys

The House of Cards also has a bar with the same menu as Drink Me.

Bar

Menu

You can also play air hockey in this area, which reminds me of the number of quarters I dropped into the air hockey tables at the Starcade back in high school. Because I was awesome like that.

I kind of suck at air hockey

Not surprisingly, they did a great job carrying through the card theme of this house of cards.

Cards and dancers

Dancers and cards

And once the dancers are done, they show a close-up of the white rabbit DJ over on the other stage.

I just completely love this. I can’t really explain why.

And if you’ve got a pair of Glow with the Show ears, they work here too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mouse-Next-Door , , ,

Cars Land After Dark

2 Comments Posted by on August 1, 2012

One of the coolest things about Cars Land is the way it looks after dark. Which makes sense, because in the movie they make this huge deal of sprucing up all the neon and such.

Why do neon signs make that buzzing noise as they light up? Not a trivia question–I want to know.

Postcard perfect

I knew from my original Cars Land post that Cars Land at night was going to be spectacular. I was so excited to see it all lit up.

Flo’s and Ramone’s

The neon really makes you feel like you’re living the movie.

Of course, there’s my favorite Cars Land eatery area:

I mean seriously, this sign alone is awesomeness

Here’s some more:

Even shots from an angle are awesome

Luigi’s looks particularly cool after dark, although I didn’t ride the ride itself this visit.

Cars Land is not to be missed day OR night.

Mouse-Next-Door , ,

Trolley Treats–DADDY I WANT SOME CANDY!!!

10 Comments Posted by on July 30, 2012

First off, thank you so much everyone for indulging me in a short blogging break. I have been busy–I did graduate with my MFA after all–so it’s not like I’ve been sitting around with nothing to do.

Well, there has been SOME sitting around. And plenty to do. But I was recharging.

So we’re still over here at the Mouse-Next-Door and playing around on the new Buena Vista Street. As many of you know (or don’t), Buena Vista Street is the new entrance to Disney California Adventure Park. It’s like Main Street but set in the 20s when Walt first arrived in Los Angeles. And it’s awesome.

One thing I love is the candy store, Trolley Treats. You can recognize Trolley Treats by the giant candy mountain in its window.

The window with reflections

Yes, please.

Next stop, Candy Mountain.

Sign me UP! Also there’s a model train that runs around there.

Now look, I’m a candy addict. It’s a flaw. But I love it. Chocolate, fruity, gummy, sour candy, I rarely discriminate. The only thing I don’t like is mint chocolate. Other than that? Bring it.

So a candy store right there on Buena Vista Street makes my little sugar-powered heart jump with joy.

Trolley Treats has that beautiful sight–the Disneyland candy counter.

I can never decide

Oh, here’s a picture of the back of the Candy Mountain window

Not as exciting from this side

Anyway, one of the best things about Disneyland candy stores is that each location has a few special items made only in that store. For example, the Tigger Tails and Hunny Pot Crispie Treats at the Pooh Corner Store. Trolley Treats is no exception.

Marshmallows, for example

Yep, Trolley Treats serves up some gourmet marshmallows.

Flavors include watermelon and chocolate

I’ve been meaning to make my own marshmallows for a long time. Seriously! They don’t look that hard, and I keep thinking I’ll make some chocolate marshmallows to put in hot chocolate, but then I realize it’s practically August so I’ll have to do it later, and then I’m like oh, handmade Christmas gift! Awesome marshmallows! And then I forget or run out of time and just buy people Target gift cards or something.

But I mean well.

Back to Trolley Treats, they make another one of my childhood favorites:

Taffy!

Not just any kind of taffy, either. It’s that super-thin flavored taffy. The kind where if it’s at all a bit hot or maybe you just hold it in your hands too long, it’s very hard to get off the paper, but if you stick it in the freezer (at home) and whack it on the counter top it breaks into convenient bite-sized pieces. When I was a kid I loved taffy so much I named one of my hamsters Taffy.

Of course, I also had a hamster named Twerp because I liked the word.

Anyway–thin taffy! Yay!

The rest of shop is–well, I was concentrating on the candy, but if you look up, there’s some trolleys!

All aboard!

 

Candy…yummmmmmm

 

 

 

Mouse-Next-Door , , , , ,

← Older posts

Newer posts →