The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[TP2000]

I believe it’s July 2nd for new Soarin. I forget have you been on ROTR and MMRR?

July 2nd, check! Thanks.

I won't be in San Diego until after the 4th anyway, as I've already bought a new Uncle Sam hat and beard getup to wear as the judge of my neighborhood's Decorated Bike & ATV Parade 250! event on Saturday the 4th. I also got a fancier clipboard.

I haven't been on Runaway Railway yet. Looks great though! Always a big fan of family dark rides!

I've been on Rise Before Dawn several times, all in January/February 2020. I was the one who invented the brilliant strategy of Ubering to the International House of Pancakes an hour before the park opened for Silver Dollar pancakes, then when everyone rushed on to Main Street itself cradling their iPhones like newborns, I went straight up the stairs at the Main Street station to get just a little bit closer to Telstar when Boarding Times went live at park opening. I'd refresh the app at the last moment, then hold my Iphone aloft pointed at the sky with gentle thoughts in my heart. And it always worked! That extra 30 feet of elevation closer to Telstar (and God himself) made all the difference.

I may be hot, er... cute, no that was decades ago... um, handsomely distinguished looking for my age, but I'm not dumb.

 

[mickEblu]

Really Target? Your store is the size of a theme park and you cant dedicate one small stand for brand new movies? Silly. Went to Target this morning before work to pick up Zootopia 2 for the kids and they only sell blu rays online now. Kids have been asking me to buy it for weeks but I would not be suckered into paying the same price for digital only. Anyway, Walmart is getting my business now.

Nevermind. Walmart is hell. Wow

 

[mickEblu]

July 2nd, check! Thanks.

I won't be in San Diego until after the 4th anyway, as I've already bought a new Uncle Sam hat and beard getup to wear as the judge of my neighborhood's Decorated Bike & ATV Parade 250! event on Saturday the 4th. I also got a fancier clipboard.

I haven't been on Runaway Railway yet.

I've been on Rise Before Dawn several times, all in January/February 2020. I was the one who invented the brilliant strategy of Ubering to the International House of Pancakes an hour before the park opened for Silver Dollar pancakes, then when everyone rushed on to Main Street itself cradling their iPhones tuned to the App like newborns, I went straight up the stairs at the Main Street station to get just a little bit closer to Telstar when Boarding Times went live at park opening. And it always worked! That extra 30 feet of elevation closer to Telstar made all the difference.

I may be handsomely distinguished looking for my age, but I'm not dumb.

Lol. Ok it’s coming back to me now

I wouldn’t make a trip just for MMRR but I suppose seeing something new could be the cherry on top of a trip if it’s been a while. I’d wait for July though and then you get the new Soarin and Smugglers Run to go with it.

 

[TP2000]

I wouldn’t make a trip just for MMRR but I suppose seeing something new could be the cherry on top of a trip if it’s been a while.

Yes, it just wasn't a big draw for me. If my sister and the family had wanted to go last summer, I would have done so happily, yet they had no idea Runaway Railway even existed and they just didn't want to go to Disneyland (crowds, lines, hassle, App-based monotony, etc.). And I couldn't get myself wanting to go enough on my own just for that one ride. I loved going to the park on my own, but that was when I was a 20 minute Uber ride away.

The 90 minute drive changes the calculus on those types of solo day trips.

I’d wait for July though and then you get the new Soarin and Smugglers Run to go with it.

I'll give it a go, under the guise of celebrating the 250th. Runaway Railway does look very cute, I must admit. And I'd love to see that gloriously imagineered Walt's Dreaming Tree, Presented by AstroTurf Division of Monsanto in person!

The Marvel stuff does absolutely nothing for me. The pew-pew Spiderman knock off of Midway Mania ride, the mannequin they throw through the air, etc., Just not my scene at all, unfortunately. I love that others love it, though. More power to 'em!

 

[mickEblu]

Yes, it just wasn't a big draw for me. If my sister and the family had wanted to go last summer, I would have done so happily, yet they had no idea Runaway Railway even existed and they just didn't want to go to Disneyland (crowds, lines, hassle, App-based monotony, etc.). And I couldn't get myself wanting to go enough on my own just for that one ride. I loved going to the park on my own, but that was when I was a 20 minute Uber ride away.

The 90 minute drive changes the calculus on those types of solo day trips.

I hear ya! We also often had a 90 minute drive bout ours is worse - fewer miles / more traffic. Not to mention much uglier coming from the San Fernando Valley. If we were local, I probably wouldn't have let our passes expire. As I've said, a day at Disneyland is not always a walk in the park and when you combine that + the commute it just gets to be too much.

I'll give it a go, under the guise of celebrating the 250th. Runaway Railway does look very cute, I must admit. And I'd love to see that gloriously imagineered Walt's Dreaming Tree, Presented by AstroTurf Division of Monsanto in person!

The Marvel stuff does absolutely nothing for me. The pew-pew Spiderman knock off of Midway Mania ride, the mannequin they throw through the air, etc., Just not my scene at all, unfortunately. I love that others love it, though. More power to 'em!

It's hard to hate MMRR at Disneyland. The queue is great. The placement is perfect. You added a big ride to DL's lineup without losing anything but the ride experience is just kind of meh and it fell short of my expectations.

 

[TP2000]

You added a big ride to DL's lineup without losing anything but the ride experience is just kind of meh and it fell short of my expectations.

Well, not everything can be the Golden Zephyr Pirates of the Caribbean.

Now imagine that the 5 minute long Runaway Railway D Ticket replaced the signature 25 minute long Animatronic-Spectacular E Ticket the entire park was based on, sitting in the park's icon centerpiece. Imagine how painfully idiotic that would be to swap out The Great Movie Ride for Runaway Railway, and in a relatively young park that's missing at least a dozen other E and D Tickets, plus a half dozen C Tickets, and that has dozens of acres of expansion pads ready to go.

I swear, as quickly as I can join in on making fun of TDA, the executives who have been in charge of WDW for the past 30 years are some of the dumbest people on the planet. They're like that charmless McDonald's CEO who calls his hamburgers "product", and then has an army of equally charmless corporate Yes Men on his team who tell him that "product" video is great and should be released immediately on Twitter. Clueless idiots, all of them.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Hearing that Animazement trio again is something special



Kinda stings when you think about the extinction of entertainment at Disneyland.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Hearing that Animazement trio again is something special



Kinda stings when you think about the extinction of entertainment at Disneyland.

Meh, there should absolutely be more/better entertainment, but this wasn't particularly impressive IMO.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Meh, there should absolutely be more/better entertainment, but this wasn't particularly impressive IMO.

Do you have NO nostalgia for Animazement?!

Take a knife to my heart why don’t you.

 

[Parteecia]

Yes, it just wasn't a big draw for me. If my sister and the family had wanted to go last summer, I would have done so happily, yet they had no idea Runaway Railway even existed and they just didn't want to go to Disneyland (crowds, lines, hassle, App-based monotony, etc.). And I couldn't get myself wanting to go enough on my own just for that one ride. I loved going to the park on my own, but that was when I was a 20 minute Uber ride away.

The 90 minute drive changes the calculus on those types of solo day trips.



I'll give it a go, under the guise of celebrating the 250th. Runaway Railway does look very cute, I must admit. And I'd love to see that gloriously imagineered Walt's Dreaming Tree, Presented by AstroTurf Division of Monsanto in person!

The Marvel stuff does absolutely nothing for me. The pew-pew Spiderman knock off of Midway Mania ride, the mannequin they throw through the air, etc., Just not my scene at all, unfortunately. I love that others love it, though. More power to 'em!

Don't forget Pillow Guy Walt on Main Street.

 

[MK-fan]

While they’re at it, how about a Maliboomer seat photo op as well as a photo with the actual Gummi Bear cardboard cutouts from Motor Boat Cruise to Gummi Glen.

Damn why did I encourage them

 

[mickEblu]

View attachment 910311
Damn why did I encourage them

lol wow are those the actual cut outs from the early 90s. I have no recollection of the Motor Boat cruise but I distinctly remember seeing the Gummi Bears cut outs in that area during one of our trips in the early 90s.

 

[TP2000]

lol wow are those the actual cut outs from the early 90s. I have no recollection of the Motor Boat cruise but I distinctly remember seeing the Gummi Bears cut outs in that area during one of our trips in the early 90s.

I have no memory or knowledge of this Gummi Bear overlay thing. My career had taken me way out East at that time.

But I liked the Motor Boat Cruise in my youth and into adulthood! It was one of those silly things that we always went on because there was never a line, and you just could wander onto the dock and plop into a boat and off you went. It also was an easy thing to spend your extra C Tickets on. The CM's had these adorable little sailor uniforms, with striped tar flaps and little hats. (Why does my brain work for stupid stuff like that?!?)

It was pleasant, leafy, and always nice to putt-putt-putt around in for 10 minutes on a warm summer day. Don't forget to wave at the Autopia drivers!

Disneyland, and all Disney parks, need stuff like that! There's barely any of it left, and the WDW parks have none.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Do you have NO nostalgia for Animazement?!

Take a knife to my heart why don’t you.

It was before my time and I just was not particularly impressed with the clip, sorry.

 

[mickEblu]

I have no memory or knowledge of this Gummi Bear overlay thing. My career had taken me way out East at that time.

But I liked the Motor Boat Cruise in my youth and into adulthood! It was one of those silly things that we always went on because there was never a line, and you just could wander onto the dock and plop into a boat and off you went. It also was an easy thing to spend your extra C Tickets on. The CM's had these adorable little sailor uniforms, with striped tar flaps and little hats. (Why does my brain work for stupid stuff like that?!?)

It was pleasant, leafy, and always nice to putt-putt-putt around in for 10 minutes on a warm summer day. Don't forget to wave at the Autopia drivers!

Disneyland, and all Disney parks, need stuff like that! There's barely any of it left, and the WDW parks have none.

I’m upset that I don’t have a memory of it because it didn’t close until I was 12 years old. That one and Mission to Mars bug me. Perhaps my parents took me on it when I was younger but I wouldn’t know and I doubt they’d remember. Was it always sort of hidden from view from the main IASW pathway? Just seems odd that I don’t have one memory of those boats at all.

Oh well at least I rode/ saw and have memories the People Mover, Skyway, America the Beautiful and America Sings.

 

[TP2000]

I’m upset that I don’t have a memory of it because it didn’t close until I was 12 years old. That one and Mission to Mars bug me. Perhaps my parents took me on it when I was younger but I wouldn’t know and I doubt they’d remember. Was it always sort of hidden from view from the main IASW pathway?

Nope. In fact, before they built the Light Magic terraces there in 1997, it was very prominent from the IASW mall and the Matterhorn walkway. The Light Magic terraces also reworked that area directly in front (back?) of the Matterhorn, plus added quite a bit of new trees and landscaping, and by that time the Motor Boat Cruise was closed so it became even more obscured by all that frenzy and work to accommodate the Light Magic terraced viewing.

It used to be a normal, prominent ride you could see from several different pathways converging at the Matterhorn. It had a big, block letter sign, plus nautical flags and pennants all over the place, and the audible putt-putt sound from the boats themselves. I seem to remember sea shanty's playing, and ship's bells ringing, over the speakers in the queue and dock too. It was festive and things were hoppin' down at the Motor Boat Cruise!

Let me see if I can find a photo of it before Light Magic reworked and rebuilt that entire area...

That marquee made me laugh, with its claim to "Navigate The Roaring Whitewater Rapids". That was definitely the creative highlight of the entire cruise, but it was just the same effect they use on the Canoes; jets of water aimed at some rocks placed along the track. Look out!

Just seems odd that I don’t have one memory of those boats at all.

I bet this is a generational thing. At your age, you came along after the A-E Ticket system was dismantled. The ticket system was brilliant, because it forced you, both emotionally and financially, to seek out and experience the smaller attractions. I just did a quick check on Google because I had originally called it a C Ticket here, but then I thought it could have been a B. Yup! By the 1970's to the end of the tickets it was a humble B Ticket. But well worth that!

"B" Ticket From The Nixon/Ford Era

Oh well at least I rode/ saw and have memories the People Mover, Skyway, America the Beautiful and America Sings.

You definitely got the better end of the deal if the one attraction out of that list you forget is the Motor Boat Cruise. Congrats!

 

[TP2000]

Here's a better look at that area showing how open and visible the Motor Boat Cruise was until Light Magic. Or as good as a look as we can get from the blurry Kodachrome aerial photos of the 20th century. This shot is of the dock and ride entrance during the Nixon Era, over 5 years after the Small World Mall opened up the northern flanks of Fantasyland in '66.

Compared to the area today, that is far more landscaped and sloped into the Light Magic terraces, plus the trees have had another 50 years of TLC by the Disneyland Horticulture team and natural growth.

From the Small World Mall area, the view is obscured by the Light Magic terraces, plus the parade lighting towers the big trees, and all the various Churro carts and whatnot the walkways of Disneyland are now littered with.

And then when you are walking around that area today right in front of the dock, the old dock entrance area has been obscured by new structures, like that gift shop/snack bar thing that never seems to be open.

The Small World Mall was called that because it was, quite literally, just a giant, flat, wide-open mall that stretched from the Matterhorn to the Small World ride. Here it is in the late 1960's.

Daveland Vintage and Current Disneyland Photo Index

Current and vintage disneyland photos at daveland featuring adventureland, fantasyland, main street, frontierland, tomorrowland, and other areas from the anaheim theme park

www.davelandweb.com

 

[Figments Friend]

Oh @Figments Friend , we have another Logan fan

Fantastic.
Now they too can savor your immortal, descriptive words regarding Boston’s Logan Airport :

“…all the charm of a third world concrete prison..!”

Those words are forever burned into my brain, and EVERY time I have to go there ( usually yearly, sometimes twice a year! ) I think of YOU and that description you gave more then a decade ago.
Legendary.

But ya gotta admit, that double legged Logan tower is pretty iconic and sexy.
It’s the New England version of Tron’s ‘Recognizers’…and that’s cool too!

-

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

What's next, a hazy-romantic photo of the Pog exhibit in Tomorrowland in 1995?

Excuse me, the WHAT???? Why was I only now made aware of this and not when it mattered a GREAT amount back in 95????

I completely understand! I put together an itinerary to go to DC later this year to celebrate the 250th ; my Congressman got me a Capitol tour and a White House tour ticket, I'm going to do several of the Smithsonian museums, have a steak and martini at the Capital Grille on Pennsylvania Ave. and look for politicians canoodling with their summer intern in a corner banquette, etc., etc.

In DC, I highly recommend the Old Ebbitt Grill. Directly across the street from the treasury building and great food. Same sort of situation with politicians frequenting.

If you're up for a bar/lounge- when we were in town for the inauguration, we checked out Off the Record in the basement of the swanky Hay-Adams hotel. Great cozy setup that can either be quiet or a happening place depending on who is in town. They feature artwork/cartoons from a variety of artists and have them all over the walls and feature up-to-date cartoons on their coasters which are great to bring home.

If you want a tasty simple meal and if your stomach can handle it... head over to Ben's Chili Bowl... yum.

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

So now that we're bombing the hell out of Iran, how long do we give it until Disneyland Abu Dhabi is canned?

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/04/travel/travel-advisories-middle-east-air-disruptions

It's curious to think about... likely a component before, but undoubtedly one now, there are possibly a few extra levels of security and safety aspects Disney will be working with for this park vs. the others.

I wonder if Disney would even consider having any sort of air-defense mechanisms within the property? It would undoubtedly be a major target... moreso than some of the other attractions of the area due to its relationship to the US/ symbolism.