Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Meet Me At Disneyland, Pt. 2



This trip marked my first visit to the completed Fantasy Faire. As for my opinion on this area...



for what it is, it is very well done. The design and feel of the area is top notch, and most of all, it blows me away that an area that seems so large was able to fit into an area that I would have thought was very small in its previous incarnation (The Carnation Plaza Gardens).

The former bandstand area now serves as a theater during the day, and once again at night it is transformed into a place for swing dancing.



There are a few cute details to notice in this area, such as this animatronic Figaro & bird:



Clopin's Music Box:





And a nod to the former tenant here, The Carnation Plaza Gardens, "honored" with this medallion:



Even a bench for relaxing:



And some very friendly cast members, beckoning future Princesses to visit the current ones inside:



Let me preface my overall comments with this: I am not the target audience for this area. I am not really into the "meet and greet" concept, nor do I have any interest in purchasing the merchandise for sale here. I love "running into" characters by chance, and having an unexpected moment. Obviously, from these comments, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this area holds little for me. Even the little details left me with a, "what's next?" feeling. Still, I am sure there are plenty of young children who will enjoy it. To be fair, I did not experience the stage shows, either. At some point, I might go back and give them a try. In hindsight, I think the unused Skyway Station would have made a more magical place for children to meet these Disney Characters, as well as allowing this former portion of Main Street to continue to be Main Street. There you have my 2 cents. Onto the other Fantasyland attractions. Riding Peter Pan is a rarity for me, as the line is usually outrageous, but this trip I was able to enjoy it before it got too crazy.



Love the croc on the weathervane:



The queue mural:



And a few shots from the attraction itself, beginning with the nursery:



How I wish I could control the speed of the ship so that I could enjoy the little details more:





Sailing home:



Tink is spreading her pixie dust:



And then it was time to visit Alice:



She often gets the shaft on my visits, since she's located away from the other four dark rides in Fantasyland.



The wacky and far-out Tulgey Wood; probably the closest I'll come to an LSD trip!









Someone needs some anger management classes:



Only on my last visit did I notice this little feller in the background:



And the final explosive un-birthday scene:





I have no idea what these plants outside of Casey Jr. are, but their vibrant colors were gorgeous:



The circus elephants in the queue:





Today's post leaves you at the train tracks, awaiting a trip aboard Casey Jr.; see you tomorrow!



See more vintage & current Disneyland photos on my Disneyland web pages.

8 comments:

MRaymond said...

I'm thoroughly enjoying this walkthru. I haven't been able to visit DLR since 1993. Texas is a long way away. Interesting to see how thing have changed. I can't count how many times I went to DL between 1967 and 2000.

K. Martinez said...

When I took my niece to Disneyland before they had Princess "meet and greets" it was a real challenge to actually meet these princess characters due to their high popularity. The "running into" concept didn't quite work with them.

Lots of little girls including my niece swarmed around the princesses and it would become very competitive and difficult to actually come in contact with one. This happened several times to my niece as we civilly waited for her to meet one and then have the character walk off to another location leaving several little girls in the dust. It was not a positive experience.

Because of the popularity of certain types of characters I think these "meet and greet" locations definitely serve a purpose and at least guarantee that every child who wants to meet a princess character can do so. Meeting one of the Disney princesses was my niece's main motivation for wanting to see Disneyland on her first visit back then.

From all the photos of Fantasy Faire I've seen, it looks like they did an incredible job with the area given. There’s lots of nice detail and color. It also provides a needed service and makes money for Disney in the process.

Thanks for the review.

Gina said...

I to feel that Fantasy Faire should have been placed somewhere on the other side of the castle walls in Fantasyland and that they should have kept a major piece of Disneyland History alone, but alas the powers to be do not listen to public opinion. I also understand that the Carnation Plaza was an area that was rarely used and they needed to do something with the area. Upon seeing photos and hearing stories from friends and family who have experienced it already, it seems to be a wonderful place to walk through and see the princesses, but I will have to wait until I experience it myself before I truly have a final opinion. I'm just happy that they brought back swing. Also, I am just glad my family got to experience Carnation Plaza one last time, before it went away.

As for you question on the plant, it is an annual called Celosia. It is a hardy annual that loves full sun and comes in a variety of vibrant colors.

Anonymous said...

Dave, What Gina Said About the Plant.

Celosia is the latin name. A common name for one of the original varieties is "Cockscomb" for it's resemblance to a rooster. The newer varieties seen in your photo come in other colors than red and are "looser" in form. The showy part of the plant is a "bract", a leaf changed into a brighter color and shape, not a blossom, so the color lasts much longer.

I agree with K Martinez about the meet and greet notion. I just found some pictures of my kids with Mickey at the pre-ToonTown M&G in the early '90's. They loved it, and ToonTown.

Now, we rarely go beyond Roger Rabbit in ToonTown, so it is an age specific thing. My guess is, the kids will go back there when their little ones (to come) tug on their sleeve.

Don't be apologetic about being indifferent to some part of Disneyland, I don't see anything wrong with having preferences.

JG

Monica said...

I'm so glad you're taking us on a tour of Disneyland! We haven't been for a couple years and since we live on the East Coast now, I don't know when we'll be back. :(

Peter Pan is one of my favorite Fantasyland rides. It's always SO crowded in there though that we used to just skip it a lot of the time.

Girl With Chalk said...

I really love your photographs in this post!

Anonymous said...

Just great shots. How do you do those dark rides without blurring?Enjoyed them all. KS

Daveland said...

Thanks Gina & JS for the info on the plants!

KS: The dark ride shots are made possible by a great camera, riding each attraction multiple times and knowing what occurs where, and the patience of Job! Ha!