Jennifer – Snow White – 80′s Reduction

Apparently Pinocchio’s Daring Journey wasn’t in Disneyland when it opened in 1955.  I didn’t know this.  But getting into a conversation with Cast Member Jennifer (who was working the exit for Snow White’s Scary Adventure) about the different endings for the ride in Disneyland and WDW’s Magic Kingdom, she revealed this little tidbit:  Snow White used to take up the entire west side of Fantasyland.  When Fantasyland was remodeled in the 80′s to it’s current European village feel, Snow White’s track was chopped in two and Pinocchio was installed in the same vibe the Imagineers had built Snow White with.

*EDIT – 7/5/2010*

This is not the truth.  Before Pinocchio’s Daring Journey was built in the 80′s, it’s real estate was occupied by the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (similar to the layout of Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse had many iterations – including a Lion King Theatre – but is now settled on Mickey’s Philharmagic).  Thanks Jeff Allen!

Heather – Wishing Star – no “you break it you buy it policy”

You know those crystal blocks that have images three dimensionally printed inside them?  The store dedicated to them is called the Wishing Star.  And they don’t have a “you break it, you buy it policy”.  I was in the store joking with Cast Member Heather about how one of the display crystals looked rather precarious on it’s perch and she knocked it over (on purpose) to demonstrate that the crystals are more sturdy than you would initally believe.  She then explained that as long as it was obviously accidental, Disneyland doesn’t require you to purchase broken merchandise.

So last Saturday after team practice, Laura and I told ourselves that we would just go to Disneyland for dinner and maybe a little dancing before heading back to Atomic for the live dancing. My friend Lila Desatoff had called me that morning and let me know that Burnie was in town from San Francisco this weekend, so they were spending the day at Disneyland, so we decided to hook up with them and go to dinner.

When we got off the tram, we spent a little bit of time wandering through World of Disney looking at jewelry (Laura and I were still on the quest for the prettiest necklace in all the [Disney]land), then we headed inside the security checkpoint to renew Laura’s annual pass. After spending A LOT OF MONEY (sigh…when did it get so darned expensive to be a Disney die-hard?) we headed into the park to continue our necklace quest. We wound up in the Main Street Jewelry shop when I noticed I had a voicemail! It was from Lila saying to slow down, that they were right behind us (when we were coming through the ticket turnstile’s). I called her back and told her where we were, when all of a sudden we spotted the perfect necklace! It had Sleeping Beauty’s Castle and everything! So we purchased it and walked outside to join Lila, Burnie, Scott (who we already knew from swingin’) and (newcomer) Joel. We decided to go to Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria in Downtown Disney for dinner.

After a lovely meal, Burnie headed to the structure to get a Jacket and Scott headed off to his roommate’s birthday “celebration” (they had no idea what they were doing, except celebrating). The rest of us headed into Disneyland to stand in the behemoth (standard) line at Gibson Girl. With yummy ice cream in hand, we headed over to the swing plaza to “enjoy” Doc Anello and the Swing Machine and do some dancing. About halfway through the break inbetween the first and second sets, Burnie and Joel said they wanted to ride Roger Rabbit’s Cartoon Spin, so we headed off to Toontown.

Toontown was still open for another 10-15 minutes by the time we got there, but Roger Rabbit’s was closed, so we stood in line for Gadget’s Go-Coaster (like 20 minutes). Then we headed over to Matterhorn. Burnie quit on us because the line was rather long and he didn’t think his back could take it, but the three of us kept standing in line. We get up to the loading dock…we get into the car….lights on dashboards start blinking and the ride breaks down. So we stand around watching the employees running around, hauling the bobsleds onto the sidetracks (really exciting). The announcer says the ride will be inoperable for 45 minutes and we agree to wait 10-15 minutes and see what happens.

We start chatting with the cast member on the loading dock (Andrea) about what has to happen when this particular mechanical error occurs (every zone of track has to have it’s brakes, sensors, etc manually reset and then any sleds trapped in those zones can be manually run through back to the loading dock). We ended up waiting the whole 45 minutes to ride, but it wasn’t a wasted 45 minutes. We talked to Andrea, we talked to each other, we watched tinkerbelle and the fireworks. Then finally we got to reboard the bobsleds and off we went! We were on the right side of the mountain (closest to the ice crystals) and it was lots of fun. They still had some work lights on at the top of the lift hill which was amusing and the 2nd yeti (not the glowing eyes) had a really bad hair day (like someone took a hair brush and brushed it back to front instead of front to back). When we finished, I jokingly asked the cast member near the speakers (not Andrea) if we could ride again, and he acted all dramatic and I assumed he was going to say no. But then Andrea told him that we COULD ride it again. So we rode the Matterhorn twice in a row after an hour and a half wait. It was so exciting! Then we headed back to the swing plaza (the last set had already started), danced a little bit, then headed home tired.

But every once in a while you get a breath of fresh air and then you get back underwater with your self-contained breathing apparatus and just curse your own stupidity. But anyways! I was permitted to go social dancing at Disneyland this evening because my dear friend Lila’s pass was expiring soon and I wanted one more chance to dance with her at Disneyland AND Stompy Jones was playing. So I get to Carnation Plaza Gardens just as the band is coming on, and I’m a little concerned with the dancer turn-out…practically nobodies there. But by the end of the third song, the dance floor is crowded! And with tons of really great dancers! I mean people who haven’t been seen at the park in years were there dancing and it was an absolute blast! Hooray for Martin Luther King Jr. getting us a 3 day weekend! Well, and all the other really far more important things he did with civil rights. Actually do I thank the U.S. government for choosing to honor him with a national holiday? I think I do. *shudder* I actually have to thank the government. *shudder*

During the second break (8:30 – 9pm), the Shim Sham gets played very unexpectedly (it’s normally played after the fireworks). Yay! I haven’t done the Shim Sham publicly in several weeks! There are also some high-end photographers (using digital SLR’s) that take some great pictures of me…stay tuned for the results.

Right before the third break and fireworks, Stompy decides to play Hand Clappin’, which is an awesome incredible high-tempo lots of fun number and one that 9 times out of 10 creates a jam circle on the floor. This jam circle was kind of weird though since there were basically two lines on either side of the stage creating the circle instead of the usual circle like apparatus (my favorite word of the day obviously). After Morgan and Lila started it off, everybody just kind of stood there clapping along. So I walked around the circle and technically participated in the jam circle. I didn’t do anything really flashy or performance worthy though…I just wanted to dance with Lila to a great song. Soon enough, someone else jumped in the jam circle and it was off again, but just as the circle was heating up, Stompy comes to the “false ending” they have built into their version of Hand Clappin’. But because they’re up against the fireworks, they can’t keep it going, which is just MURDER!

During the fireworks, Lila and I head over to the Tiki room and lindy-bomb it! SOOO much fun! When we get back, the fireworks have ended and canned music is playing. Suddenly it’s Shim Sham time! Again! W00 h00! There isn’t much more to talk about except that I had a really fun time getting back into the world – even if just for a couple of hours. Of course it becomes bittersweet upon being re submerged in the “real world” (needing to leave as quickly as possible once dancing is over so I can keep my curfew)…but I’m still thankful that I got to have a little bit of fun…making the last 11 days of January that much more bearable with the bittersweet memories and the glorious promises of February.

Brief run-down

Friday
school [grumble]
Atomic Ballroom’s Frankie Manning Weekend 2007

    Harlem Lindy Variations with Jerry and Aubri
    Big Apple with Frankie Manning and Audrey Wilson
    Friday Evening Swing Dance (left early)

Saturday
5:30 AM wake up call, arrive at Disneyland at 7 AM, Cruzin’ Disney’s California Adventure Tour (Flickr: Bullfrog117′s photos tagged with segwaytour)

    This was a lot of fun (mostly because I didn’t get rained out like last week*).  The tour takes about 3 hours.  The first half hour is a talk through about the Segway I-2 and it’s various features.  During the next hour, you go inside California Adventure and do a training course in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot (drive in a circle, duck, uphill, downhill, around poles).  At 8:45 the tour of California Adventure begins.  First stop:  Condor Flats.  Dedicated to the history of aviators in California (Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier at 2:20 something…the time is frozen on the clock inside Fly’n'Buy).  Next stop, Grizzly River Rapids and Redwood Creek (most of which is surprisingly Segway accessible…that was really cool).  Next we headed to the Fine Arts Palace replica that houses Golden Dreams for a brief talk about that.  Next was the two hidden mickeys near Burger Invasion and a bathroom break.  Next we were allowed to tool around all along the front of California Screamin’.  This was rather frustrating as we were in “Turtle” mode, which only allows you to go 6 miles per hour max, and I couldn’t figure out how to maintain that speed.  So I’d ramp up to 6 and the Segway would push back on me saying, “Oh no you don’t!” and then it would start all over again.  So that was frustrating, but it was still fun to just tool around for fun.  After that we headed around the pier to that ampitheatre for pictures.  Then it was through the Pacific Wharf area and into A Bug’s Land.  Then we went backstage (where there’s an exterior door on the second floor of the animation building…bizarre) to get back to the Hollywood Backlot and that was it.  We got a special pin and a printout of the picture.  The only real downside of the tour was the fact that even though the park is all dressed up for Halloween, all the guides did was talk about DCA as it was originally constructed.  That and the fact that it was California Adventure.  I mean, all that really matters is that you’re on a Segway for about an hour and a half and walking sucks afterwards. 

Atomic Ballroom’s Frankie Manning Weekend 2007

    Frankie’s Favorites I with Frankie and Audrey
    Shim Sham Variations with Jerry and Aubri
    Real Bar-B-Que Lunch
    Frankie’s Favorites II with Frankie and Audrey
    Charleston and Tandem Variations with Jerry and Aubri
    Meet Frankie’s Story Time
       This is probably the thing that is MOST worth your time.  Frankie Manning was one of the first innovators for lindy hop and he has shared so many unique experiences with so many great people in swing dancing that it is a hoot to hear his stories.  So much fun.  That and the underwater lindy hop clip he showed us.  Oh and the clip of Bill and Hillary watching a private performance of lindy hop.  I need that clip…prime material to roast Hillary with! 

Disneyland Swing Dancing featuring Jumpin’ Joz
Atomic Ballrom Vintage Night Swing Dance Featuring The FABULOUS ESQUIRES Big Band Orchestra until 1:30 AM

Sunday

Atomic Ballroom’s Frankie Manning Weekend 2007

    Frankie’s Favorites III with Frankie and Audrey
    Aerials I with Jerry and Aubri
    Pat and Oscar’s Lunch (aka nap time and food)
    Mystery Class with Frankie and Audrey
    Weekend Wrap-Up (Puttin’ It All Together)

* Last week, Laura and I tried to take the tour, but we went outside for the training just as it started to rain.  We got on and off the Segway’s, but at that point, they officially canceled the tour on account of the weather.  So we whined and moaned and then went back to the “briefing room” to get refunds/reschedules.  Had I known what the tour would be like, I would have argued a bit more because by the time we put the Segway’s away, the rain was finished.  The Segway’s aren’t waterproof and the puddles wouldn’t be a problem – on the tour, we drove through puddles all the time.  SOOO depressing, but oh well.