New Disney Collection Arrives With Great Park Tracks

That enormous 4-album Disney Music set we previewed earlier is now available for purchase and download on iTunes. The best news for park fans is the happy confirmation that all but one of Disneyland/Walt Disney World Tracks on disc 4 are available for individual purchase (Disneyland's Splash Mountain is the only album-only park track). Collectors can now pick out any tracks they need without having to pay $39.99 for a massive set of tunes they probably already own.

I'm very happy to finally have a great recording of "The Best Time of Your Life." Happy music browsing!

Park Quote Wednesday

Geeking Out Over the Saving Mr. Banks Trailer

I didn't expect to shift into Disney Geek Overload mode at the debut of the trailer for the upcoming film Saving Mr. Banks, but...wow. Let's run down the checklist of fun, here...

1: First and foremost, we've got two great performances by Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson as Walt Disney and Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers.

2. We've got Disneyland portraying itself as a young park. With attraction posters front and center.

3. We've got scenes portraying the songwriting Sherman Brothers caught in a cultural crossfire with very funny results. "Responstable is not a word!"

4. We've got a re-creation of one of Walt Disney's most playful appearances on television, when Tinkerbell sprinkled him with pixie dust in his office, levitating him off the floor--much to his annoyance.

Flik's Flyers in A Bug's Land

DCA features several great ways to fly, carrying guests skyward on everything from virtual hang-gliders to the nerve-jangling swinging gondolas of Mickey's Fun Wheel. For pure strangeness and wonderment, though, I can't pick a more delightful DCA aircraft than the airborne juice boxes and take-out containers of Flik's Flyers.

As with Dumbo and The Mad Tea Party, here's another case of incredible theming transforming a basic carnival ride into something amazing. Although A Bug's Land is aimed toward families with small children, this ride manages to catch the attention of many an adult party heading through en route to Cars Land. Seriously, who wouldn't want to cruise the heavens in an egg roll box?

Photo by Lana Whitham

How Casey Jr. Sums Up the Disney Difference

An afternoon in Fantasyland wouldn't be complete without the sight of Casey Jr. chugging by on his way to the chain lift that'll help him up the "I Think I Can" hill.

This miniature railroad, one of the park's oldest rides, beautifully represents a key design philosophy that sets Disneyland apart from other theme parks: It's so much better than "good enough."

Back when Disneyland was first being constructed, it would have been far less draining to the park's tight budget to create Casey Jr. as a basic little railroad ride with a simple oval course. Fortunately, Walt had a grander vision for his little train.

Casey follows a winding, ingeniously laid out multi-level course that includes rocky passes, bridges you travel across and under, and a long, thrillingly dark climactic tunnel. You can almost picture Walt scribbling a checklist of every element he wanted included in the layout. The above-mentioned chain lift pulls the train to the track's highest point as Casey (of course) chugs "I think I can, I think I can," and the entire adventure gives you an elevated view of Storybook Land that complements the water-level vantage point of the Canal Boats.

What a fantastic little masterpiece. If, by chance, you've never taken a ride on Casey Jr., please don't miss it on your next trip to the park. It's not just a great old ride. It's a great ride, period.

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

Seen through a thin web of overhead Trolley wires, the supernaturally twisted Tower of Terror rises above Hollywood Land at DCA.

It's the only ride at Disneyland resort that still scares me every single time I climb aboard. The anticipation during the story scenes--knowing what's coming--creates one of the most awesomely tense, nerve-wracking first moments of any ride I can think of.

And when the drops begin, the whole elevator cabin echoes with passengers' screams and laughter (a perfect combination of both) at an intensity you'll find nowhere else on property. This ride plugs directly into everyone's instinctive fear of falling, and somehow makes the sensation fun and terrifying at the same time. When it all finally ends, I always find myself grateful it's over, yet glad I went.

An import from Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida, DCA's version of ToT lacks the original's horizontal track Fifth Dimension corridor, opting instead for an extra scene inside the main drop shaft. I hope to someday try the Florida original to compare the adventures; I'm sure I'll be every bit as scared dropping faster than freefall on the East coast as on the West.

Photo by Lana Whitham

New DL Passholder Freebie Is Just About Perfect

Disneyland's customer base includes about a million California-dwelling Annual Passholders, and the free calendar now arriving in their mailboxes sends a pretty clear message: the management understands its most loyal fans.

My two all-time favorite ride posters

Instead of generic publicity photos or princess posing, the calendar features excellent little 6" x 9" attraction poster reproductions.

Top Five Favorite Safety Spiels

Who says safety can't be fun? In addition to informational signage, most Disney attractions feature audio warnings to discourage riders from doing incredibly stupid things such as standing up and/or sticking their legs out of a moving vehicle.

Fortunately, Disney injects a lot of character and humor into their audio safety spiels. Some, such as "Hang on to them hats and glasses" and "The spirits will materialize only if you remain quietly seated" have become classics. I'm not including those most famous lines on this list; Consider them forever enshrined in the Great Ride Warnings Hall of Fame.

Although four of these five come from my "home" parks (Disneyland & DCA), the top prize goes to a Walt Disney World ride I haven't even experienced yet! I have Internet Radio and YouTube to thank for my exposure to the joys of WDW attraction audio!

Here we go! Oh--and be sure to remain seated and...well, you know the drill...

TOP FIVE FAVORITE SAFETY SPIELS!

5) Snow White's Scary Adventures as spoken by the Wicked Witch:

"Looking for Snow White, Deary? Then SIT STILL!"

4) Mr. Toad's Wild Ride as spoken by Ratty:

"Welcome to Toad Hall! To be sure of a safe and glorious drive in your motorcar, remain firmly seated with your hands, arms, feet and legs inside. Watch your children--and do try to drive more carefully than Toad."

3) Radiator Springs Racers as spoken by Sheriff over the car radio:

"All right. You be sure to remain seated with your seat belt buckled! Don't make me come after you. Sheriff out."

2) California Screamin' as spoken by The Barker

"Second thoughts? TOO LATE! Head back! Face forward! And hold on like ya mean it! And away you go in five, four, three, two, ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And, here we are: My current favorite ride safety audio:

Video by wdwfacts1

1) TriceraTop Spin as spoken by Chester:

"Hey, spinners! It's Chester here, reminding you for your safety ta stay seated with that seatbelt fastened good n' tight as you spin. Whilst yer spinning, keep your hands, arms, feet and legs inside--and be sure to watch your children."

It's the "whilst yer spinning" part that busts me up and crowns this as number one. I haven't been to Dino-Rama in person yet, and I had mixed feelings about the area's concept--until I heard this awesome performance that tells me all I need to know about the land's backstory in one simple, great delivery of a safety warning. Suddenly, I really, really like Chester and Hester. Dino-Rama has become a must-see for me.

What are your current favorites? Do you find the ever-present safety spiels annoying, or is Disney doing a good job of working the warnings into the story?

Indiana Jones and the Long...Long...Long Entry

Today's post is rated PG-13, because we're heading into the wondrous, occasionally gruesome, amazing--and amazingly long--entry to Disneyland's Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye.

The ride is a huge, sprawling, multi-level Adventureland attraction -- which Disneyland's Adventureland has absolutely no space for. The clever solution involved building the ride's entrance and exit (set in a ramshackle base camp) on a modest strip of Adventureland real estate, while locating the ride itself far, far away on the other side of the park's railroad tracks.

The journey to the ride thus becomes an adventure in itself and an important part of the story. Darn good exercise, too.

The base camp setting and "recently discovered" temple entry immediately cast us as the main characters in this story. It's our decision to enter this temple.

Waitin' at the Buzz Stop: More Fun With Ride Shutdowns

Ride shut-downs caused by technical issues don't happen frequently at Disneyland Resort, but when such a thing occurs (as it did during our recent ride on Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters), fans don't waste the opportunity; this is when the cameras come out.

The downside of a ride shut-down, of course, is that the story-telling and immersion are pretty much shattered. The fun, however, doesn't necessarily stop...

Because a situation like this provides a rare chance to look around at the ride system's workings, the prop construction and the many elements you're not normally supposed to see. For a theme park fan, this is actually a moment to be savored!

Classic Ride Review: Dumbo the Flying Elephant

Just look at those awesome elephants. Their wonderfully sculpted expressions of joy and exhilaration carry the whole experience. When you lift off, you instantly plug into the moment at the film's finale when Dumbo spreads his ears and  a miracle happens. That why the Dumbo ride is magical and rip-off clones are not.

Some folks don't "get" Dumbo. They dismiss it as a mere children's ride or a mundane carnival-style attraction not worth a second look. My theory about those folks: either they never rode Dumbo as a child, or else they commute to work every day on a flying elephant and find nothing unusual about the experience.

All I know is, I climb aboard, the ride starts, I push up on the controls, I hear that familiar hydraulic hiss...there's that little bounce as we get airborne...and suddenly I'm seven years old again, with the wind in my face and all of Fantasyland whirling about below me.

Sometimes you don't need the latest technology to create pure and powerful magic.