LA Freeway Wake Up Call at Start of First Disneyland Trip

In the 1980s, during my first trip to Disneyland the plane arrive in Los Angeles pretty late.  It was in the evening, maybe 11, so I was feeling pretty sleepy.  We got on a bus to take us to a smaller shuttle to our hostel. But once the bus got on the freeway the driver, while still driving, actually started reading a newspaper with both hands! Happily we still make it to the transfer point in one piece, but it was as if I’d been injected with caffeine with a syringe. I stayed wide awake the rest of the bus trip.

Disneyland Trip September 2008 Final Thoughts

UPDATED February 4, 2022

This is part of a series of trip reports from a 2008 southern California trip. Changes since then are noted with "NOW".

This is the 11^th of 11 posts (10 travel days plus final thoughts) adapted from e-mails I sent to friends and family. This was my 3^rd trip there, the previous two being in the early 1980s and 1996. My dad came with me this trip. Here were my final thoughts at the time, with minor fine tuning:

Overall

Favourite Park: Hollywood Studios

Favourite Attraction: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Disneyland Park)

Nice “pre-show” atmosphere, smooth roller coaster, nice sight gags during the ride, nice periods of suspense building.

Favourite Outdoor Ride: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Disneyland Park).

Favourite Indoor Ride: Soarin' Over California (Disney’s California Adventure)

Nice music, breathtaking scenery, great use of illusion to create a relaxing yet thrilling ride.

[NOW: Soarin' Over California has been replaced with Soarin' Around the World.]

Favourite Stage Show: Waterworld (Universal Studios).

High-energy, live action, full of pyrotechnics, well-orchestrated. There’s a reason why this show is always packed despite the commercial failure of its movie inspiration.

Favourite Walk-Through: Penguins (SeaWorld)

Frankly most of the walk-throughs in the other parks are pretty dismal so it’s not surprising that a zoo would win here. This walk-through has lots of energetic baby penguins

Favourite Eatery: Doc Brown’s Chicken (Universal Studios)

Surprisingly tasty, affordable, and reasonably healthy food for an amusement park

[NOW: Doc Brown's has closed.]

Favourite Pre-Show for an Attraction: Star Tours (Disneyland Park)

Not overly long before the main ride (a nice motion simulator), some nice gags. I understand this has since been replaced with a new Star Tours show so I can’t comment on how good the pre-show is now.

[NOW: While Star ours has been replaced with a newer version, the pre-show is the same.]

Favourite Ride Type: flume ride

Generally they had a nice blend of energetic moments and relaxing in the water

A note about 3-D rides: Terminator 2 3-D (Universal Studios) was the most fun 3-D show, but didn’t use 3-D as much as it could have. It’s Tough to Be a Bug (Disney’s California Adventures) made better use of the 3-D technology

[NOW: Both 3-D shows have closed.]

Most Overrated Attraction: Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage (Disneyland Park)

Strip away the new visuals and it’s still the old submarine that doesn’t really submerge ride. Also, of those rides based on movies I haven’t seen, this one was the least accessible to me and probably benefits the most from having seen the movie. Long line-ups too. A close second is Toy Story (Disney’s California Adventures) which only worked right for a small part of the ride.

Most Overly Long Pre-Show: Simpsons (Universal Studios)

A testament how too long a pre-show can bog down a good ride

As some of the categories above are hard to quantify on a park-by-park basis, only some of the above categories are covered below.

Disneyland Park

Favourite Attraction: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Favourite Outdoor Ride: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Favourite Indoor Ride: Space Mountain

I preferred the 1996 visuals more, but this is still a fast paced, exciting roller coaster with nice pre-show area and exciting music.

Favourite Stage Show: Enchanted Tiki Room

This show feels like it was designed by Disney on a drunken bender, probably the only amusement park attraction to be hosted by a singing robot Hispanic macaw. Corny yet bizarre, with some unique visuals.

Favourite Pre-Show for an Attraction: Star Tours

Disney’s California Adventures

Favourite Attraction: Soarin' Over California

Favourite Outdoor Ride: California Screamin’

Lengthy but smooth roller coaster.

[NOW: California Screamin' has closed.]

Favourite Indoor Ride: Soarin' Over California

Favourite Stage Show: Muppets 3-D

[NOW: Muppet 3-D Vision has closed.]

Arguably It’s Tough to Be a Bug may be a tad better, but I have a soft spot for the Muppets, and the mayhem you’d expect from them is present.

Favourite Pre-Show for an Attraction: Muppets 3-D. Muppets thrive on pre-show activities, plus there’s some great gags involving monitor screens.

Knotts Berry Farm

Favourite Attraction: Bigfoot Rapids

Energetic yet surprisingly smooth flume ride.

[NOW: Bigfoot Rapids has closed.]

Favourite Outdoor Ride: Bigfoot Rapids

Favourite Indoor Ride: see below

Not much to choose from here. In Sky Cabin you’re inside but get a nice view of outside. If you think this counts, then this is it. If you only count attractions where the views are of the inside, you’re left pretty much with the okay Calico Mine Ride.

Favourite Stage Show: Mystery Lodge

Fascinating look into the life of one native tribe, with nice visuals.

Favourite Pre-Show for an Attraction: n/a

Not a strong suit of the park.

SeaWorld

Favourite Attraction: Penguins

Favourite Outdoor Ride: Shipwreck Cove Rapids

Lengthy flume ride.

Favourite Indoor Ride: Journey into Atlantis

Another flume ride. Actually most of it is outside but this is the closest I came to an indoor ride there.

Favourite Stage Show: Dolphin Discovery

Dolphins are always willing to play.

[NOW: Dolphin Discovery is now Dolphin Encounter.]

Favourite Pre-Show for an Attraction: Journey into Atlantis

Not much to choose form, but this ride’s pre-show does have some nice visuals.

Universal Studios

Favourite Attraction: Waterworld

Favourite Outdoor Ride: Universal Studio Tour

Actually if you see Jurassic Park as outdoor, then that wins out; otherwise this provides a lengthy but fun look at Hollywood life, with nice effects.

Favourite Indoor Ride: Jurassic Park: The Ride

Actually a lot of this is outdoors, but its visuals are indoors in spirit, a flume ride with lots of spitting dinosaurs etc. If you don’t count this as indoors, then Simpsons wins (a great motion simulator, albeit hampered by an extremely long pre-show; with a more edited down pre-show, Simpsons would have been a more clear-cut favourite but especially from the second viewing on the pre-show quickly outstays its welcome).

[NOW: This has been replaced with Jurassic World.]

Favourite Stage Show: Waterworld

Favourite Pre-Show for an Attraction: Terminator 2 3-D

Mock commercial, nice parody of a host, a cheeky computer.

Disneyland Trip September 2008 Day 10 (September 18)

UPDATED February 4, 2022

This is part of a series of trip reports from a 2008 southern California trip. Changes since then are noted with "NOW". 

This is the 10^th of 11 posts (10 travel days plus final thoughts) adapted from e-mails I sent to friends and family. This was my 3^rd trip there, the previous two being in the early 1980s and 1996. My dad came with me this trip.

We got up pretty early. My dad went to war with the alarm clock when it went off. I finally managed to help him out by hitting snooze, then on and off again, but he managed to accidentally reset the time three hours again.

We checked out and while we were waiting for the bus, I made a last minute dash to Millie's to buy an IQ game with pegs the restaurant showcased.

[NOW: Millie's has closed.]

We had the front seat, but as it turned out, our bus was bound for the other airport, so most of the passengers had to transfer to another bus at Disneyland Hotel.

Despite a minor bit of heavy traffic, we made good time to LAX, where we checked in and ate breakfast at Burger King. Too late to buy some more there, I realized I was almost out of batteries. Luckily by alternating between three sets of batteries I was able to make them last to Vancouver with minimal picture loss. Skies were pretty clear until we got close to Vancouver.

At Vancouver we got through Customs surprisingly quickly. I finally reached a newsstand for batteries. We had lunch at White Spot, and then we walked to my gate (Dad's flight left later). While there, I saw three people from my former government branch returning from Kelowna. (one lived in Vancouver but the other two were on the same flight). 

[NOW: Vancouver International Airport is in Richmond]

As before, clouds around Vancouver but they parted while we were over the sea. I got my bags soon enough and again took an 83 bus (same driver as on the way over I think), though this time only to the nearby Park and Ride, were I transferred to a 70 Downtown Express. Close to downtown I saw another former co-worker. Unfortunately I doubt she even saw me because she was outside and I was on the top floor of the doubledecker.

[NOW: Victoria International Airport is in North Saanich. Both buses were Victoria Regional Transit. The P&R was McTavish.]

 Arriving home, my apartment proved to have the last word this trip: I learned upon reaching my door that they had done a routine pest spraying a couple days earlier (the "advance" notice was on my bed).

Disneyland Trip September 2008 Day 9 (September 17)

UPDATED February 4, 2022

This is part of a series of trip reports from a 2008 southern California trip. Changes since then are noted with "NOW".

This is the 9^th of 11 posts (10 travel days plus final thoughts) adapted from e-mails I sent to friends and family. This was my 3^rd trip there, the previous two being in the early 1980s and 1996. My dad came with me this trip.

Another good news bad news thing on the health front. Good: my cold was mostly gone (didn't even take Nyquil that night, though the cold returned when I got home) and my dad's food poisoning is gone. Bad news is my dad definitely had the cold now. Today was the second of two days at Universal Studios. My original thought is we would just revisit the stuff we liked the best on Sunday, thus giving us a chance to do our favourites multiple times, but my dad didn't really remember the attractions too well so we basically went through the circuit a second time. Upon arrival we saw Adrian Pasdar being interviewed for Heroes. It was tricky getting a good shot because first the bus had to park and then had to switch memory cards, but I did get shots of him of some sort. Regardless it was nice seeing an actor I like from a series I like with my own eyes. I had a slight bit of trouble getting in because my print-out ticket got water-damaged on Splash Mountain yesterday, but I got a nicer looking replacement ticket in the deal. Okay, here's the order this time around: 

* Simpsons (dad skipped this this time, plus the next two rides as before) 

* Revenge of the Mummy 

* Jurassic Park: The Ride

[NOW: Replaced with Jurassic World.]

 * Universal Experience 

* Universal Special Effects Studio 

* Backdraft

[NOW: Now closed.]

 * Studio Tour: We saw a wild animal for real; driver said it was a coyote, my dad thought it was a fox; while I took photos, they were too distance to tell for sure, but coyote seems likely 

* Lunch at Doc Brown's (and the first of three refills of the souvenir glass I bought last time, only costing 69c/75c before/after tax) 

[NOW: Now closed.]

* Shrek 4-D 

[NOW: Now closed.]

* Blues Brothers 

* Animal Actors 

* I bought a set of 3 superhero shot glasses(!) at the Marvel Store (Spider-Man, Hulk, Wolverine; the latter two make sense but for drinking Thing would have been a better fit than Spidey) 

[NOW: Marvel Mania has closed.]

* Universal's House of Horrors 

[NOW: Now closed.]

* Waterworld (one of the actors sprayed my back a little with water) 

* Terminator 2: 3-D 

[NOW: Now closed.]

* After my dad left the park, Simpsons once more, making my final attraction this trip a high-energy one 

* Bought some comics again outside the park at Universal's CityWalk's Things from Another World store.

Disneyland Trip September 2008 Day 8 (September 16)

UPDATED February 4, 2022

This is part of a series of trip reports from a 2008 southern California trip. Changes since then are noted with "NOW". 

This is the 8^th of 11 posts (10 travel days plus final thoughts) adapted from e-mails I sent to friends and family. This was my 3^rd trip there, the previous two being in the early 1980s and 1996. My dad came with me this trip.

I felt a lot better but my dad apparently got food poisoning at Mimi's (or maybe Wetzel's). My dad wanted to go shopping instead of Disneyland so because we hadn't used up Magic Morning (early admission), even before the food poisoning we had agreed that I would meet with him for that in the afternoon. Attractions are only described if they weren’t in previous trip reports, or if new details need to be added.

This was the fifth day of the five-day pass. During the Magic Morning period I used a bit of strategy that seemed to work: I knew not everyone would check which areas were open during Magic Morning (only Fantasyland and Tomorrowland) so I knew some people would try to head to Indiana Jones, but the greatest quantity of people would head to Tomorrowland, with the greatest quantity of "big ticket" items. Which left me with: 

* Matterhorn twice (the only big ticket item in Fantasyland). I was the first person to pass out of Main Street and the first person on the Matterhorn. This proved interesting because even though I was the first one on, I still heard thrilled screams and thus realized that some of the screams you heard on that roller coaster are canned, not actual riders 

* Buzz Lightyear thrice. I think it was the left side that I determined I scored more points with 

* Space Mountain twice. All that during the extra hour provided by Magic Morning. Then: 

* Indiana Jones Adventures 

* Big Thunder Mountain Railroad thrice 

* Splash Mountain twice (got really soaked the second time) 

* The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh (first time; I think this replaced the Country Bear Jamboree); Okay minor ride not unlike Fantasyland's minor rides 

* Raft (motorized) to Tom Sawyer Island (revisit, but now pirate-themed): The island is a recent walk-through with some nice photo opportunities. The raft is a short but pleasant enough ride. 

* Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 

I then met with my dad, now feeling a bit better, for shopping. A shopping area we wanted to see proved closed just before we were to arrange a shuttle; we spent an hour on a wild goose chase, and then took a cab to another shopping mall: Westlake. I found some memory cards a couple blocks away at Staples and my dad found some shirts across the street from the mall at Men's Wearhouse. I forgot my dad gave me the card with the number for the return trip but we made it back anyway. Returning to the park 3.5 hours later, back to solo: 

* Big Thunder Mountain Railroad twice 

* Matterhorn Bobsleds

* Space Mountain 

* Star Tours 

[NOW: This has been replaced with a newer version.]

* Buzz Lightyear twice 

* Splash Mountain 

* Pirates of the Caribbean 

This brought me top the final attraction, at Disneyland, for this trip. It was... ... ... ... drum roll... ... ... ... ... The Enchanted Tiki Room! I thought it would be nice to end things on a slightly quiet note, and I hadn't had as much of a chance to visit Jose and friends as I'd like. I didn't want to regret leaving without one final look at Disney at its most bizarre. Unfortunately I had to leave before it ended to meet my dad for dinner (at Millie's) but the first half's the best anyway. I'm happy that my final memory the park is this quirky and delightful show. There was also a quick, apparently impromptu firework display as I was leaving the park. Coincidence?

[NOW: Millie's has closed.]

Disneyland Trip September 2008 Day 7 (September 15)

UPDATED February 4, 2022

This is part of a series of trip reports from a 2008 southern California trip. Changes since then are noted with "NOW". 

This is the 7^th of 11 posts (10 travel days plus final thoughts) adapted from e-mails I sent to friends and family. This was my 3^rd trip there, the previous two being in the early 1980s and 1996. My dad came with me this trip.

This day we returned to Disneyland Park. Attractions are only described if they weren’t in previous trip reports.

* Visited Indiana Jones Adventure; ride broken down 

* Did Jungle Cruise 

* Indiana Jones Adventure still broken down * Visited The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh; ride also broken down 

* Indiana Jones Adventure still broken down 

* Did Pirates of the Caribbean 

* Indiana Jones Adventure working but 20 minute wait; got Fastpass 

* Took Disneyland Railroad to Toontown (which didn't exist last time dad was there but which I had visited in 1996) 

* Rode Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin: Track tide where the steering wheel can spin the car). Wanted to take pics thus didn't spin the car, but wheel had a mind of its own

 * Visited Minnie's House: If memory serves, I meant to visit in 1996 but was pretty tired after a long line at Mickey's House); cute walkthrough through the female mouse’s home 

* Visited Mickey's House (revisited): Similar to Minnie’s house, but more masculine, and more elaborate; longer line * This concluded my token visit of Toontown for this trip 

* Rode Disneyland Railroad to Main Street 

* Rode Indiana Jones Adventure; My dad tried this ride but didn't care for it, considering it to be too close to a roller coaster 

* Visited Honey I Shrunk the Audience (first time; was Michael Jackson's Captain E-O during last visit): Another cute 3-D show 

[NOW: This wa sin the now closed Magic Eye Theatre.]

* Took Monorail to Downtown Disney 

* Ate lunch at Wetzel's Pretzels 

* Took Monorail back to Tomorrowland 

* Took train to Main Street 

* Saw film Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years: Amiable history film starring Steve Martin & Donald Duck

[NOW: This show has closed.]

I Left the park with Dad 

* On my own, I visited the 7-11 I used to go to during 1996 visit 

* Visited the outside of Jolly Roger Hotel, where I stayed last visit.

[NOW: Jolly Roger has closed.]

I returned to the park 

* Rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad twice 

* Rode the Matterhorn 

* Did a short visit to Innoventions (in Tomorrowland), displaying devices anticipated for the near future if I understand correctly 

[NOW: Innoventions has closed.]

* Rode Space Mountain twice 

* Considered Splash Mountain but too long a line 

* Rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (started on the left side track rather than the usual right); you may have guessed that this is my favourite ride 

* Rode Pirates of the Caribbean twice 

* Tried to reach the Matterhorn but blocked by a parade 

* Matterhorn packed upon arrival so moved on 

* Visited Star Tours twice

[NOW: Star Tours has been replaced with a newer version.

I then returned to the hotel, meeting my dad for dinner at Mimi’s.

Disneyland Trip September 2008 Day 6 (September 14)

UPDATED February 4, 2022

This is part of a series of trip reports from a 2008 southern California trip. Changes since then are noted with "NOW". 

This is the 6^th of 11 posts (10 travel days plus final thoughts) adapted from e-mails I sent to friends and family. This was my 3^rd trip there, the previous two being in the early 1980s and 1996. My dad came with me this trip.

It turned out I did have a cold, though I managed to repress a lot of the symptoms until AI got home. Mixed in were possibly allergies from feeling the furthest most effects of Hurricane Ivan. No winds, but sky was brown in the morning. Today we went to Universal Studios. In order: 

* Simpsons (first time for me on this one per se, but it's largely a reworked Back to the Future, which I went on in 1996). You're still in a car which is really a motion simulator giving the illusion of a very rough flight, in this case at a theme park. I quite liked it but my dad didn't care for the fact that it felt like a real roller coaster 

* Revenge of the Mummy (first time): Intense but pretty quick roller coaster. Dad skipped 

* Jurassic Park (revisit): Flume ride with great robotic dinosaur effects, including spitting water at you. 

[NOW: Replaced with Jurassic World.]

* Universal Experience (first time): Cute but nothing special short walkthrough; it replaced Lucy: A Tribute 

* Backdraft (revisit): Simulates a fiery scene from the movie. Nice effects 

[NOW: This has now closed.]

* Special Effects Studio (revisit): Three sections show how various effects are done. Interesting and more fun than my last visit, where the narrator was pretty sarcastic; the new narrators are more people friendly 

* Studio Tour (revisit): The classic tour through the studio backlot, with various effects along the way. We saw where the recent fire was, a stunt rehearsal apparently for an actual shoot, Bruce the shark from Jaws, Desperate Housewives' Wisteria Lane, etc. 

* Terminator 2: 3-D (first time): Show combining a 3-D movie with live action. Unsurprisingly I liked it more than Dad. 

[NOW: This has now closed.] 

We had lunch at Doc Brown's (a good chicken place) then: 

 [NOW: Doc Brown's has now closed.]

* Blues Brothers (I'm pretty sure I saw part of it in 1996 but didn't see the full show): Amiable live musical 

* Waterworld (revisit): Incredible live stage performance on an elaborate watery set. It has to be seen to be fully appreciated; essentially even though the movie bombed in the early 1990s, the stage show still draws in a packed crowd. 

* Universal's House of Horrors (I think it was there in 1996 but this was my first time visiting it): elaborate playful walkthrough based on the early monster flicks 

[NOW: This has now closed.] 

* Shrek 4-D (first time): Cute 4-D movie where you get squirted for real a lot (but not too wet) 

[NOW: This has now closed.] 

* Animal Actors Studios (revisit): Live animal celebrities do their thing. 

I quickly looked in the Marvel Shop, and then we exited the park. While my dad waited for the bus, I explored the CityWalk area outside the park proper, buying a trade paperback at the comic shop Things from Another World (I visited another branch in Portland but didn't buy anything there).

[NOW: Marvel Mania has closed.]

Upon returning to the hotel, my dad and I watched the fireworks again (I shot some videos) and I bought some Nyquil from the hotel store, which helped quite a bit.

Disneyland Trip September 2008 Day 5 (September 13)

UPDATED February 4, 2022

This is part of a series of trip reports from a 2008 southern California trip. Changes since then are noted with "NOW". 

This is the 5^th of 11 posts (10 travel days plus final thoughts) adapted from e-mails I sent to friends and family. This was my 3^rd trip there, the previous two being in the early 1980s and 1996. My dad came with me this trip.

The half way point was reached for SeaWorld, which replaced Wild Animal Park on the agenda because there's no convenient transportation there. The park includes exhibits, shows, and rides: 

* Clydesdale Hamlet: Exhibit - horses, donkey 

[NOW: This exhibit has closed.]

* Journey to Atlantis: Ride (my dad didn't try) - log ride with two big drops 

* Wild Arctic: exhibit - Belugas, polar bears, walruses 

[NOW: This exhibit has closed.]

* Penguin Encounter: Exhibit - includes babies 

* Manatee Rescue: Exhibit - various fish 

[NOW: This exhibit has closed.] 

* Shark Encounter: Exhibit - various shark types 

* Dolphin Discovery: Show - dolphins, whales 

[NOW: This is now Dolphin Encounter.]

* Pets Rule!: Show - dogs, cats, pigs, etc 

[NOW: This show has closed.] 

* Believe: Show - killer whales including Shamu, formerly from Stanley Park 

[NOW: This show has closed. Shamu is now deceased.] 

* Sea Otters: Exhibit * Dolphin Encounter - Exhibit

Dad needed a rest so I did the following exhibits by myself: 

* Tide Pool: Starfish 

* World of Sea Aquarium: Various fish if memory serves 

[NOW: Now called Aquaria: World of Fishes]

* Aquarium del Mar: Ditto 

[NOW: Now closed; apparently called Freshwater Aquarium at time of closing.]

* Turtles 

[NOW: Now called Turtle Reef.]

* Flamingo Cove: Saw white herons there, likely wild

[NOW: Now called Flamingo Encounter.]

I met up again with my dad and we toured the following: 

* Clyde & Seamore's Rocky Rescue: Show - sea lions and otters as submarine officers 

[NOW: Apparently now just a Halloween and a Christmas show.]

My dad and I ate dinner together, and then I did the following by myself:

* Shipwreck Reef: Like Grizzly Bear Rapids (CA Adventure) and Bigfoot Rapids (Knott's) only even if you luck out with the raft you get drenched from above. 

[NOW: Now called Shipwreck Rapid.s. Bigfoot Rapids is now closed.]

I caught a tickling in my throat that evening, which turned out to be the start of a cold. My dad and I watched Disney fireworks from our room at Howard Johnson. Finally, I tried to find info on the free Universal Studios shuttle; finally determined the free shuttle's now $30.

[NOW: There is a free Universal Studios shuttle still, but it only connects with the nearest subway station.]

Disneyland Trip September 2008 Day 4 (September 12)

UPDATED February 4, 2022

This is part of a series of trip reports from a 2008 southern California trip. Changes since then are noted with "NOW". 

 This is the 4^th of 11 posts (10 travel days plus final thoughts) adapted from e-mails I sent to friends and family. This was my 3^rd trip there, the previous two being in the early 1980s and 1996. My dad came with me this trip.

On this day we went to Knotts Berry Farm, which I last visited in the 1980s. In my second trip down I passed in favour of 6 Flags. Unless otherwise noted, the rides were roller coasters, thus my dad passed on them and thus I often had to remove my glasses. Events are listed in order, after walking through the Ghost Town (as in Western, not supernatural): 

* Pony Express: Horse themed coaster 

* Calico Railroad: A tour railroad, not a roller coaster, kind of like its Disney counterpart (see below), only it doesn't surround most of the park, just a large portion, you see more of the "backyard" of the park. And it has a mock hold-out. My dad also went on this. 

* Silver Bullet: Didn't really stick in memory but I think it had a large 360 degree turn 

* Boomerang: A number of loops including a 360 degree one, then backwards the same course 

[NOW: This ride is now closed.]

* Perilous Plunge: Mild until the large plunge down water at the end; brief. Went twice, even though it felt until the plunge like it might tip over and even though there's been a fatality 

[NOW: This ride is now closed.] 

* Sky Cabin: Not a coaster; went twice: once solo, once with my dad. You're in a cabin that slowly rotates as it goes way up, then gently lowers to the ground 

* X-Celerator: Very fast roller coaster 

* Supreme Scream: Like the Maliboomer in Disney’s California Adventure, only taller and with more of a drop

[NOW: While Supreme Scream is still around,  the Maliboomer has closed.]

We had lunch at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant, then: 

* Bigfoot Rapids (rode twice): Circular raft like Grizzly Bear in Disney’s California Adventure, only longer and smoother 

[NOW: This ride is now closed.]  

* Calico Railroad again 

* Calico Mine Ride: My dad went on this (not a coaster). A train travels through a mine with various displays 

* Log Cabin (went three times): Flume ride like Splash Mountain in Disneyland Resort, only with western instead of Song of the South theme 

[NOW: This is now called the Timber Mountain Log Ride.]

* Montezuma's Revenge: Pretty dramatic while it lasts but unlike the real thing ends fast * Jaguar: Long but relatively tame coaster 

* Mystery Lodge Theatre (show that my dad and I saw). A Native American show with interesting visuals; no photography was permitted for the show 

* GhostRider: Went on twice. It's a wooden coaster with very long track. Not related to any of the comic book Ghost Riders. 

* Bigfoot Rapids twice more. 

Three families missed their bus; their own fault because the designated pick-up time was made very clear. After dinner I decided to burn an extra day at the Disney parks because my pass is good for five days and we had slotted in time for four full days. And the parks were open late that night. At Disney’s California Adventure I took a lot of really nice night time shots, visited part of Disney Animation (only one or two sections were open; an interactive showcase), bought a Disneyland history book at a nearby store in the park, and then, as this was likely my last visit this trip, finished where I started, with Soarin' over California. 

[NOW: Soarin' Over California has been replaced with Soarin' Around the World.]

 I arrived at Disneyland Park during the fireworks and took some photos. I rode two tame rides: 

* Disneyland Railroad: Does a circuit around the park with a few stops. Present and prehistoric Grand Canyon dioramas between Tomorrowland and Main Street Stations. 

* Monorail: Travels to and from Downtown Disney, passing Grand Californian Hotel and California Adventure. Young girl coughed on me, complete with saliva. I was on this ride during the previous trips but not with the current route. Then I did another trip on the Monorail to Downtown Disney, not realizing how big it was thus how far from the hotel.

I finally wandered back to the Howard Johnson.

Disneyland Trip September 2008 Day 3 (September 11)

UPDATED February 4, 2022

This is part of a series of trip reports from a 2008 southern California trip. Changes since then are noted with "NOW".

This is the 3^rd of 11 posts (10 travel days plus final thoughts) adapted from e-mails I sent to friends and family. This was my 3^rd trip there, the previous two being in the early 1980s and 1996. My dad came with me this trip.

I didn’t record much of the meal info for this day unfortunately. This day was spent at Disney's California Adventure (which was a parking lot the last time I was down here, so all the rides were new to me). Rides and shows in the order I went to them: 

* Soarin' Over California: A better than IMAX screen plus a few other effects creates the illusion that you're gliding over various spots in the state. Great ride, though sometimes the scents from one section carry linger into another section, disrupting the illusion a little. 

[NOW: This has been replaced with Soarin' Around the World.]

* Twilight Zone Tower of Terror: This is a fairly quick ride in which you have a few visual illusions before a drop, then shooting up 13 stories, then a few more ups and downs. The lurch up is the scariest part, especially if sitting at the front (Dad skipped) 

[NOW: This ride has closed.]

* Monsters Inc: This is kind of like the minor Fantasyland rides, but nicer visual effects. Unlike Finding Nemo, I was able to get the gist of the story from the ride despite not having seen the movie 

* Grizzly River Rapids: Circular raft goes down rapids. Leaky pipes etc guarantee you'll get wet but the drops will likely do the trick anyway. Fun because the ride spins so it's never the same twice (Dad skipped) 

* California Screamin': A very long, huge roller coaster. The scariest part is a 360 degree loop around a Mickey Mouse head. Very smooth ride if you like roller coasts (Dad skipped) 

[NOW: This ride has closed.]

* Maliboomer: This ride basically simulates the effect of a hammer causing a ball to hit a bell above, only with you substituting for the ball (Dad skipped) 

[NOW: This ride has closed.]

* Mulholland Madness: Strictly speaking, this is a milder roller coaster than California Screamin' but messes your head more because the first part creates the illusuion that the car is about to fall off the track (Dad skipped) 

[NOW: This is now Goofy's Sky School.]

* Toy Story: This was the newest ride at the time, having opened May 2008. A "4D" shoot 'em up (Dad scored higher than me). It was initially closed the first few times we tried to go on it due to breakdowns, took a while before the shooting seemed to start, and broke down again at the end. Popular but overrated at least at the time. Assuming the glitches have been worked out over the years, I might like it more if I tried it now. 

* It's Tough to Be a Bug: This is a cute 3-D movie about the hazards that can befall a bug. * Muppets 3-D: This is a funny 3-D show based on the characters from the 1970s show. 

[NOW: This ride has closed.]

'Then we went for a quick buffet lunch and I returned to the park as my dad returned to the hotel. After that I revisited some favourites but didn’t try anything new. In order: 

* Monsters Inc, Soaring, Grizzly River twice, Mulholland twice, Maliboomer, California Screamin' twice, Grizzly River twice more, Twilight Zone, Monsters Inc twice. I had a bit of a different scare just before/after the final California Screamin' ride: I couldn't find my park ticket. I finally took out my map to find the lost and found and happily located the ticket there (perhaps mercifully my mind has blanked out that incident and I only know of it from the e-mail I sent to friends). My final go at Monsters Inc. was just as it was being closed for the day, a minute before park closure. Disneyland Park was still open two more hours after California Adventure closed for the day, so I revisited the following in order: 

* Indiana Jones Adventure, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad twice, Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones Adventures.

Disneyland Trip September 2008 Day 2 (September 10)

UPDATED February 4, 2022

This is part of a series of trip reports from a 2008 southern California trip. Changes since then are noted with "NOW". 

This is the 2^nd of 11 posts (10 travel days plus final thoughts) adapted from e-mails I sent to friends and family. This was my 3^rd trip there, the previous two being in the early 1980s and 1996. My dad came with me this trip.

My dad and I had breakfast at Mimi's. Food was okay but a bit pricey. This was our first actual day in Disneyland Park this trip. Below I describe the rides/shows in the order I went on them, with mini-reviews the first time I tried a particular ride this trip. 

* Finding Nemo: Mock submarine voyage, a revamped Undersea Voyage ride, i.e. the boat pretends to submerge when it’s actually just visual effects. Visually interesting but not having seen the movie couldn't make much sense of it. A lot of people love this but it was probably my least favourite ride. 

[NOW: On my 2014 trip I found it to be a good ride for taking photos but there's not much else to recommend it.]

* Space Mountain: Science-fiction theme roller coaster, with lots of visual effects. This one time I found the ride a bit scary, but mainly because I left my ear band at the hotel, so I was hanging on to my glasses the entire ride. Dad didn't go on. 

* Matterhorn Bobsleds: Abominable Snowman-themed roller coaster. Fun with the above caveat. My dad didn’t go on this ride either 

* Mr. Toad's Wild Ride: Okay minor ride through various rooms. Not really that wild. 

* Storybook Land Canal Boats: River ride with images from various fairy tales. Okay relaxing ride, good for taking photos. 

* Peter Pan's Flight: Decent ride where the track is above rather than below you, so your feet tough air. Otherwise like Mr. Toad it was a pleasant multi-room ride through surprisingly popular. 

* Snow White's Scary Adventures: Another decent multi-room ride, albeit one that punches some young kids' buttons apparently. No real wait this time around. 

* Pinocchio's Daring Journey: The last of a quartet of decent but similar minor Fantasyland rides. 

* Buzz Lightyear: This was a fun ride where you shook at targets while on the tracks. I beat my dad, in part because I figured out ways of firing at some targets multiple times. Completely new for me. I later realize that the left side seems to have an advantage over the right. 

* Star Tours: Motion simulator with the premise of a robot pilot in the Star Wars universe screwing up on its first flight. I understand they’ve changed this since, but I really enjoyed this version. 

* Mark Twain Riverboat: Pleasant multi-story boat that travels around Tom Sawyer Island while a narrator tells tales. 

* Big Thunder Mountain Railroad: Fun, mild but scenic roller coaster, probably my favourite ride at Disneyland Park. Same caveat as previous coasters and my Dad passed again. 

* Tarzan's Treehouse: Decent walk-through diversion with a short suspension bridge. New for me in this incarnation; it used to be Swiss Family Treehouse 

* Jungle Cruise: Pun-filled boat ride through a jungle of robot animals. Definitely fun. 

* Enchanted Tiki Room: Surreal show performed by singing robot tropical birds. A very entertaining way to relax. We then had lunch at McDonald's using a 10% coupon after I grabbed my ear band for my glasses, then I returned to the park while my dad relaxed at the hotel. 

I then rode: 

* Space Mountain twice more, then Matterhorn, then Big Thunder 

* Splash Mountain twice: Fairly mild (until the end) but wet flume ride based on Song of the South, ending in a 52 foot drop. Some people flash during the drop at the end, as a photo gets taken then; if they do the photo gets ”washed away” and people wanting to buy a photo can apparently redo the ride immediately. 

* Pirates of the Caribbean: a fun politically incorrect boat ride. Mild but inventive. I liked it better though before they grafted material from the movies onto the other material, which is decades older. I then bought a Fastpass for Indiana Jones, then visited: 

* Star Tours, then Pirates (a boy and his dad sneaked ahead of me and wound up in the back of one boat while I got the start of the next) 

* Indiana Jones Adventure (using to Fastpass to save a little time in line): Fun if jerky jeep ride with great special effects. 

* Space Mountain, then Big Thunder On my way to the exit I briefly glimpsed a stray cat. A variety of things conspired to screw up dinner plans with my dad, which I felt bad about. A shame because most of the rest of the day went well. Well except that the guy beside me has been on the Internet for over an hour, messing things up for others wanting to use the terminals.

Disneyland Trip September 2008 Day 1 (September 9)

UPDATED February 4, 2022

This is part of a series of trip reports from a 2008 southern California trip. Changes since then are noted with "NOW".

Back from a trip and still a bit tired. Using e-mails of a previous set of trip reports (cleaned up for typos and bits of hindsight etc) to allow myself some breathing room before typing brand new material. This is the first of 11 posts (10 travel days plus final thoughts) adapted from e-mails I sent to friends and family. This was my 3^rd trip there, the previous two being in the early 1980s and 1996. My dad came with me this trip. 

I left my apartment just after 7 am and grabbed a bite at the McDonald's on Douglas & View, Victoria, BC. There was only one till open. The cashier did her best but was pretty worn down; to make matters worse someone tried to pay with a $100 bill. At the bus stop at Douglas & Fort, there was a smoker with bad smoking hygiene so I felt a bit ill (another such person later got on the second bus). I passed up a few busses to ensure I got a double-decker (73 I think; if so, that route has since been discontinued); at Royal Oak Exchange I switched to the 83 bus to the airport; I was going to visit Sidney after checking in, but because I arrived so early I was allowed to get an earlier flight, which was a relief because I was originally going to cut it a bit close. 

[NOW: The buses to Victoria International Airport, North Saanich were Victoria Regional Transit.]

Since I was now leaving the airport at 10 am, I visited the cows near the airport [note: visits to the cow field in 2011 have not actually turned up any cows] and then went back and got a magazine before going through security. Going through Customs in Vancouver I fit some profile and had to visit Immigration because someone wanted to talk to me briefly. For once “briefly” was accurate: I was basically asked two of the same questions the first guy asked and was then sent on my way. I got confused re: which departure gate I was supposed to leave but found out in plenty of time, though it meant that I connected with my dad slightly later, after a brief bite at Skyways. 

[NOW: Vancouver International Airport is in Richmond.]

There was a slight delay when one passenger arrived so late her bag was almost removed. We then made decent time getting into town but my dad was worried for a bit because my bag was one of the first to arrive and his was one of the last. We just made it onto the Disneyland Express bus at the last second. Traffic was so heavy the trip was almost double the time it should have been. We had a decent dinner at Mimi's, not to be confused with Millie’s next door; I later tried that as well and liked them both. We then made plans for the first actual day at the park.

 [NOW: Millie's has closed.]