One More Day Trip Report, Pt. 1

Interupting the TPE series is multi-part Trip Report of the absolutely INSANE 24-Hour Leap Year Celebration at Disneyland called "One More Day." Yes...one more day of sleep is what I'd love to have right now.

For the first "lucky" 2,000 guests that camped out in the tram area (yes...as in sleeping outside), they received special commemorative Mouse Ears and were allowed to enter the park at 6am sharp. The rest of us saps who decided to get a good night's sleep in our hotel rooms were held hostage outside the baggage check and allowed to enter the esplanade at 6am. The night before, as I was leaving DCA at 8pm, I saw guests already arriving with their blankets, getting ready to reserve their sleeping spot.



By the time I got through the cluster of guests at the turnstiles, it was about 6:30am (see clock below). I can live with the fact that I missed 30 minutes of being at Disneyland because I didn't sleep outside. While waiting in line, I met a couple who had flown in from Canada just for this event. They were admitted Disney fans who enjoyed both parks, but definitely preferred Anaheim over Orlando. No disagreements there.



A photographer was capturing the throngs from "the wrong side of the tracks" at the Main Street Train Station:



Banners commemorated the special occasion:



There was a photo opportunity in Town Square for guests to pose in front of this huge medallion, proving that they were among the throng of 88,000 or so that showed up:



If you think this looks intimidating, you should have seen the crowds at 1am:



I took advantage of the lower early a.m. numbers and got some shots around the park; the best ones were of the special taping of a "Modern Family" episode over in Frontierland.



During the day, different areas were roped off and cast members had the unenviable task of trying to keep gawking guests out of the ranges of the cameras.



Near the Golden Horseshoe, one scene with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, and little Aubrey Anderson-Emmons was rehearsed and filmed over and over again to the delight of passersby. A few fortunate guests got to be in the scene as well.





For the nosy-noozies out there who'd like to know what Eric is looking at here, he is just passing the time by examining his park pass for the day.







Any pin traders want to trade?



It was also cool to see all the different cameras covering each angle as well as the large crew that it takes to make one short scene a reality.







More to come, after I get some much needed shut-eye!

See more Disneyland Leap Year 2012 and "Modern Family" photos on my One More Day web page.

Wednesday WOW: Trip Report

Not my usual vintage "wow" but plenty of pics here that I hope will elicit a "wow" from my readers! My good friend Christy came out from Fairmount, Indiana (James Dean Country!) for a D-Tour weekend, which started out in Hollywood. Since she’d never been to the El Capitan, I put aside my distaste for Jim Carrey and we went to “A Christmas Carol.” The pre-show alone is worth the price of admission; the fantastic organ overtures as well as the stage-show complete with festive Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Chip and Dale.











As for the movie...a lot of yelling and screaming (as you would expect from Carrey), plenty of wormhole shots (hopefully one day the 3D animation will be about the art of the movie and not just showing off the technology), and some creepy Stepford-looking eyes on the majority of characters. Sorry...I’m just not quite a big fan of this 3D animation standing in for human characters. The technology is just not there yet. Sure, you can see pores and tiny hairs, but the characters remind me of watching an audio-animatronic figure from the 60’s; more Stepford than human. Parents—beware of taking very small tots to this one; over-the-top yelling ghosts and other scary apparations could cause some nightmares.

After the movie though, El Capitan did their usual whiz-bang job of showing off some cool props and related ephemera from the movie.







Next stop after Hollywood: DISNEYLAND! Christy had never been before, so naturally we stopped at City Hall for a first-time visit button.



Since the Disneyland Railroad is a must-ride on each trip, we immediately made a bee-line to the Main Street Train Station so that Christy could get a tender-ride and see all of the marvels that one sees on a Grand Circle Tour! As always, the engineers were extra friendly and full of great stories about the trains.







The Omnibus was waiting for us as we stepped off of the C.K. Holliday. The look on Christy’s face as she listens to the driver of the Omnibus says it all.





We took a detour to the castle (blinged out for the holidays) which allowed an opportunity for guest-free posing and a view of the Snow White Wishing Well and Statues:







She loved the artistry and surprises of the Sleeping Beauty dioramas:



Our fast passes for Buzz Lightyear allowed us immediate access to a spirited competition. My ego will not allow disclosure of who these scores belonged to.





By this time, we needed to head over to Frontierland for Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee. Since it ends in January, I wanted to make sure I caught it at least a few more times. It really is a fantastic piece of entertainment and a wonderful introduction to the memorable songs from the movie. On the way, I snapped Christy next to the “Wooden” Indiana.



A churro helped tide us over until the show began:



Starting off in the streets of New Orleans Square, this lively production ends up on the Mark Twain and really gets going as the boat takes off on the Rivers of America.













And of course there has to be a little pyrotechnic action when the villain arrives:







Naturally there’s a festive happy ending, complete with the help of a few random guests from the park.



Watching the show on the banks of the Rivers of America was Jesse Tyler Ferguson from “Modern Family.”



Thanks to his companion we got a photo without me having to outstretch my arms!



Since we were in the area, it was time to introduce Christy to my 2 fave attractions, Pirates and The Haunted Mansion. As we floated by the Blue Bayou, I pointed out that our dinner would be here and she gasped.





For Christy’s first Haunted Mansion visit, Jack Skellington and friends were “in da’ house.”





That’s not the end folks...but I think you’ve had more than enough for one day...part two will come soon! See more Disneyland photos at my website.