Disneyland City Hall

Good old City Hall sits on the left side of Town Square as you enter Disneyland. What an incredibly inviting little structure; I'd love to grab an ice cream cone and just relax and people-watch from one of its front porch benches -- and not get up until the next horse-drawn streetcar ambles around to take me to the castle.

City Hall is your one-stop helpful spot to ask a question, pick up a show schedule, find a lost parent...

or -- heaven forbid -- lodge a complaint. In the many years I've been visiting Disneyland, I've been tempted to leave a complaint a grand total of twice...and both times I started having fun again within about five minutes and forgot what I was irked about.

When a Cold Strikes at Disneyland (with Fish Heads & Crumbs)

Must...get..to...hotel...(I knew I'd find a use for this photo someday!)

There's no such thing as a good time to catch a cold, but feeling it hit right as vacation starts is just plain aggravating. I can tell you from personal experience that riding the Matterhorn with a pounding headache is not a good idea. Sometimes there's simply no other choice but to slog back to the hotel, collapse like a sack of coconuts, try not to blame the co-worker back home (who came to work with a fever) and hope it eases up in time to allow you at least a few good rides...or at least an Apple Freeze and a fritter.

For locals, it's not quite such a big deal; they just postpone for a week or two. They might even use the parks as their own comfort-food takeout service. Cue the walrus...oh, wait, he can't leave his house today...

The Happiest Plaque on Earth

To millions of Disneyland guests, this plaque (and its twin above the other entry tunnel) signals the official start of vacation. From this point onward, it's okay to act like a kid, talk to ghosts, pretend you can fly and hug a mouse.

If your family's anything like mine, you've passed underneath this sign while in the middle of an agreement (or friendly argument) about which ride to hit first. For my group, it's Space Mountain nine times out of ten.

Splash Mountain: A Tony Baxter Masterpiece

 

How many people have passed through the barn door entry to Splash Mountain since its 1989 opening? One thing's for certain: no one who enters this incredibly fun (and mega-popular) adventure leaves without some free Splash Mountain water as a souvenir.

I've always enjoyed the way the building provides a smooth transition from reality (well, Disneyland reality) into the ride's animated fantasy world. The queue winds through the convincingly real-looking barn setting while written quotes from the Br'er Rabbit tales foreshadow the adventure up ahead. Before guests know it, they've stepped from the barn into the "underground" rabbit burrow tunnel leading to the loading platform.

From that point on, it's a world of singing geese, evil plots, bees, laughing places and scary drops. The getting-soaked finale actually draws you more completely into the story; it's the price you pay for escaping the fox's lair!

Tony Baxter, the genius and magician behind Splash Mountian, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Star Tours, The Indiana Jones Adventure, Disneyland's New Fantasyland and much, much more recently announced that he's moving from full-time Imagineering to more of a consulting and mentoring role. Tony, thank you for all the great memories, fun, thrills and true magic you've given the world. You have worked wonders and delighted and inspired millions of people. You are amazing.

The Reluctant Dragon Hits Netflix

I have to admit I didn't see this one coming: Netflix just added The Reluctant Dragon to its growing Disney lineup. This isn't merely the short film that's appeared on home video; this is the entire, unedited (and extremely unusual) 1941 feature film starring comedian Robert Benchley with appearances by Walt Disney, Ward Kimball, Norm Ferguson, Fred Moore and Clarence Nash as themselves.

A combination of live action and animation, the film is a wild hodgepodge of fact and fantasy as it presents a very Willy Wonka-like tour of various departments of the Walt Disney Studios, climaxing with the debut of the offbeat and very funny title story. Along the road to Walt's screening room, you'll laugh, groan, and say "What the --" a lot. And --a warning here -- you'll wince at a couple of unfortunate culturally insensitive moments. Speaking for myself, there are two specific seconds of film I wouldn't mind seeing removed.

Most of the movie, however, is a fascinating trip back through time to see how Walt Disney publicly presented his studio to the American public in June of 1941. It's not one of Disney's greatest films, but it contains many terrific moments, and the Dragon short is a mini-classic.

Mater Takes a Break

Mater exits the Cozy Cone and heads out to look for groundhogs...or maybe he's just rumbling backstage to take a break.

Without a doubt, the frequent comings and goings of Mater and Lightning add a huge amount of extra atmosphere and fun to Cars Land. Red the Fire Engine and DJ the boombox car are currently the only other full-size vehicles who drive along the streets (both of 'em) of Radiator Springs.

I hope future plans for Cars Land include having more of the citizens show up to greet the crowds. Seeing Sheriff, Doc, Sally, Filmore, Sarge, Ramone, Flo, Luigi, or Lizzie show up randomly would be fantastic. Of course, it would make it even more difficult for fans to tear themselves away from Radiator Springs to see the rest of DCA!

The Broom That Wouldn't Leave

When you wander through Mickey's House in Toontown, making your way toward his backyard movie studio barn, you run across all kinds of memorabilia from the mouse's life.

My favorite is this lonely little guy, still hanging around hoping for another role in an animated feature. He's still ticked off about the live-action Nicolas Cage film.

That surreal lamp post seems to have escaped from the Roger Rabbit ride.