16 Years and Still Around! - "Jungle is 101!"

Greetings, Jungle-teers!

It has been but a brief 16 years or so since this blog first left the dock.

Much has happened since then, no?

Happy to report this old skipper is still adventuring.  Actually headed to Walt Disney World in June.  Perhaps a post or two may arise from this sojourn to our sister Park(s) to the East.

I miss you all terribly, though the warm confines of the Jungle are always here for company. 

It is 2024, and we are 40 years out from the time when I first set foot on stage as a Cast Member.  If you scroll on back through the entries in this blog, you will get a good glimpse into the story.  Here's a link to one of the first entries: The Jungle Cruise - All Downhill From There. 

My thoughts today, as always, go out to my three (3) loyal readers -- bless each of you [Note: sadly, I lost Mom as a reader a while back, though she will ever live on in this old West-Sider's heart!].  Here's hoping that you are still reliving fond memories of the past while savoring the challenge and promise of the future.

I guess there must be a lot of imagination left in the world, because the Park sure has changed.  Hardly anything has been left untouched, from the Jungle, to the Rivers of America, to Main Street, to the Matterhorn - even the shadeless wonder that is Toontown.  Speaking of Toontown, an area that has been shellacked a time or two in this blog, I'll give them Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railroad as something "new" that is actually quite well done, from its queue all the way through to the end of the attraction.  I warn you not to picture the song, "Nothing Can Stop Us Now," in your mind's ear---oops!  Now you've done it haven't you?  I hope you enjoy listening to that little diddy for the next hour, as it is as hard to shed from one's brain as a Mekong tapeworm from your digestive tract.  Sorry for that, but to be fair, I just did it to myself, too.

Well, over here at "Jungle is 101," we'll have to move on at this point, because...Nothing Can Stop Us Now!

Keep backsiding into water, my friends!!

---Mike 

Disneyland - The Skyway

Today Jungle-teers we take a glimpse back (and up) at the Skyway. 

I have posted before about this attraction. Who hasn’t, really?

I thought I would share a few shots from various angles to help those who never experienced it get a feel for its location within the Park. 

If you have ever had your path from Fantasyland to Tomorrowland blocked by a parade traveling from Small World down Matterhorn way (or from Main Street heading back to the Small World gate), your options for getting over the parade route are limited to pedestrian crossings along the way, where you wait for a gap in the parade and a rope drop from a friendly Cast Member to herd past with hundreds of your fellow guests. 

Ah, but there was a time when you could head up to the Skyway station in either Fantasyland or Tomorrowland and climb aboard this aerial tramway to glide above the parade and through the majestic Matterhorn to your destination.  You also were treated to a unique view of the parade as you drifted over it. 

The attraction also was beautiful to watch from the ground. Its colorful buckets or gondolas floated in the background over a busy Fantasyland, Matterhorn Way, Submarine Voyage lagoon, and Tomorrowland (with the Monorail, Tomorrowland Terrace — aka Coke Terrace in the 1980s—the Peoplemover, the Autopia, the Mod Hatter and America Sings in close proximity). Other guests would wave down at you as they drifted past.  Sometimes you would see your friends or family members above and would make your way ahead of them on foot to connect with them at the station at either end of the Skyway’s sturdy steel cable. 

It was a pleasing, satisfying sight.  Pictures and videos of the attraction are helpful, but do not do it justice when compared to seeing it live, in person, in glorious 3-D. There was something about its motion, swaying and rocking slightly as it noiselessly passed, its buckets going in opposite directions, that was calming as well as exhilarating.  It helped to reflect the movement, color, joy, transcendency, togetherness, and even the adventuresome spirit of the Disneyland experience in a simple, albeit essentially mechanical, fashion. 

It still gives me butterflies. 

As with the entirety of the Park, it offered both common and individualized experiences simultaneously.  You would ride it with friends or family and enjoy a cozy camaraderie as the cable lifted all of you out of the station and up and over each support tower.  Likewise, each person had their own unique view from their small corner of the bucket. 

This could be quite dramatic for those not keen on heights.  Despite knowing you were safely within the confines of the Magic Kingdom, part of your subconscious could not help but gently remind your rational side that you were dangling from a wire high enough above the ground to expose you to serious if not permanent damage—really permanent—should things somehow become less Sky and more Way. 

This little drama played out in the background, until the Park itself, the breeze, the smells of popcorn, diesel, and chlorine, the mists of alpine waterfalls, the brightness of the sun or the brilliance of twinkling lights after dark, the cool confines of the Matterhorn—and the screams and laughter of those challenging its icy slopes, the sparkling, bubbling clearer-than-clear waters of the Submarine Voyage, the yellow-clad vendors with enormous, primary-colored handfuls of Mickey-eared balloons spinning and bound to earth by only the thinnest of red string, the muffled noise of the crowd below, the otherworldly roars of “Harold” the Yeti, the drumbeat and guitar riffs from the rising stage of Tomorrowland Terrace, the distant and rhythmic tick-tock of the Small World clock, the competing whistles of the Disneyland Railroad and the stately, unseen Mark Twain—somewhere out yonder in Frontierland, the smiles, the teasing, the satisfied and carefree looks of those riding with you, the pure experience and Skyway-ness of it all, collectively  carried your conscious self up, up, up into that moment—that joy—of being present and … floating.  Swaying. Gliding. 

At Disneyland, the Skyway and others are called Attractions for a reason. 

Keep relieving fond memories of the past and savoring the challenge and promise of the future, my dear friends!

—-Mike

A Stirring, Deep in the Jungle

Oh thank heavens you found me.

It feels as though I’ve been wandering through this jungle for years. 

I’ve used up the last of the food we carted in with us. 

The old tent is torn and dripping. Our vehicle is out of fuel and overturned. 

I cannot seem to locate my compass.

Very disoriented.

I’m far up river.

The jungle, once familiar, chokes and surrounds me — almost alien, unforgiving — forming a verdant fog of dense growth that is ever changing.

The generator is long dead. No way to power up the wireless and connect through the ether to the world I left behind at the dock. 

Even the local villagers, who were so friendly and welcoming, appear to have moved on and are nowhere to be seen.

My old friend Trader Sam also left sometime ago.

Last I heard he was slinging drinks at a bar he opened at the outskirts of civilization, along the edge of the forest.  

Poor Sam. He seemed melancholy when he left. 

His misty eyes no longer as fire-filled and purposeful. 

He handed me one of his last shrunken heads and disappeared into the teeming dampness.

Landmarks that I knew well have been reclaimed by the jungle, have sunk, or become unrecognizable.

A skull canoe marked a key turn in the river and I cannot find it anywhere. The bends all look the same. 

And there are a LOT of monkeys hanging around—-more than I can ever recall seeing in these parts.

Wait a minute —- is that a gift shop???

WHERE am I?

—-Mike

P.S. To any of my four (4) readers who may still be out there: I’ve missed you terribly!

Oh, for a drink at Trader Sam’s...

Greetings, Jungleteers!

I dug out my old Blogger account access and have taken a few moments to jot down some thoughts about the Park.  My first thought as I sit behind the old Royal typewriter here by the dock is that it has been a very long time since I’ve held an icy tiki drink from old Trader Sam’s.
The above photo was taken in June 2018, and a few things have happened since then. You may have noticed.
I’m not sure I could’ve imagined Disneyland shutting down for more than a few days, yet here we are.
An empty Park.
Do not get me wrong, I always enjoyed the Park when it was empty and I either came on for an early morning shift or was walking out after a closing shift.
But MONTHS of emptiness?
Not a single guest since some time in March?
This is strange.
Now we get word that it will open again In time for its birthday on July 17.
I raise a glass to that.
If I were nostalgic for the good old days when I first began putting together this little blog over a decade ago, I am not sure how to begin to describe my feelings today.
I am even more grateful to have been able to experience Disneyland with thousands and thousands of people around me, no face mask in sight.
We are social creatures. The Park was meant to be a place where young and old could enjoy it together.
It was meant to evoke an individual response, while allowing guests to also share the experience with their friends and loved ones.
Aside from a carousel horse or perhaps an Autopia vehicle or Doombuggy, its Attractions were designed to move people as groups.
It is difficult to remain socially distant on a Jungle boat during peak summer months.
Perhaps a part of the appeal of the Jungle Cruise was the fact that the guests and the skipper were stuck in the boat together, having to face the wilds of the jungle with only each other.
As a skipper, I faced thousands and thousands of guests per day during the peak season, with every imaginable manner of virus and bacteria literally teeming aboard my craft.
At the unload position, my bare hand grasp the elbows of thousands and thousands of men, women and children as I help them to exit the boat.
The locker area backstage was shared and touched by thousands of cast members, as were the offices, break areas, Inn Betweens, vending machines, door handles, attraction control knobs, ropes and poles used for guest control during each and every parade or fireworks display, PA microphones in the queues and at the bow of our Jungle boats, .38 caliber guns we used to “scare” hippos away from our boats, handles of thousands of strollers that we moved from walkways to stroller parking areas, hundreds of thousands of scraps of paper or cups or food or diapers or other debris of every imaginable sort that we routinely picked up and threw away as part of our daily tasks in the interest of maintaining the Park and good “Show.”  Each and every one of these persona, surfaces, objects, tools, or things were encountered by us Cast Members without thought or care that we might be inviting our own doom.
That is how it should be.
If there is one thing I learned in the Jungle, it is that we move through a very dangerous world, and there’s always something around the corner that might represent danger.
There are no guarantees.
Sometimes we will fall ill.
Life itself may bring unexpected challenges, even bacteria, virus, or disease.
There are piranhas, Tse Tse flies, Headhunters, and much worse to be faced.
The trick is not to let fear prevent you from adventure and the joys of life!
For the world also has cures, healing, love, rebirth, strength, heroism, tenacity, togetherness, medicine  of all kinds, and laughter — one of the best medicines of all!
Here’s to reopening!
Here’s to some semblance of normalcy!
Make it a Mai Tai, Sam.
Make it a double!

—Mike

Veni, Vidi, Venti - Starbucks Crosses the Rubicon

Salutations and greetings!
It has been a while, no?
I have crept back to the old Royal typewriter after a year or so.
Darn! These keys are still sticking. Pardon the rust.
The jungle humidity is unkind to machinery.
Today's topic is the loss of the Market House and the rise of Starbucks on Main Street.
It is perhaps the most significant mermaid invasion of the Park since the Submarine Voyage made its debut.
The Market House gave itself up in dribs and drabs over time.
I remember in the late 1970s, early 1980's, there was a back room area of Market House that had a player-piano. It played old rolls of music for one, thin quarter, as I recall.
That room later became part of the Disneyana Shop and gallery (the circular-shaped room that had all the framed artwork displayed in it).
Of course, it is now old news that Mr. Dinglinger has given way to Starbucks.
Right in the middle of Main Street, U.S.A.
An authentic, turn-of-the-century coffee shop ---- from Seattle, Washington circa 1971.
I can hear the old party-line telephone call now:

Mama: "Mr. Dinglinger, is my daughter Annie got to your place yet? If she is, put her on, will ya? And tell her to hurry, because I'm startin' to get me a caffeine headache! Hello, Annie?"

Annie: "Yes, this is me, Mama."

Mama: "Will you ask Mr. Dinglinger if...wait a minute. Just hold the wire. Miss Flump? Auralee Flump? Will you please get off this line?! Now I know you're there, 'cause I hear your microwave going off in the background, and it sounds like it's a bit slow, too. (sound of Ms. Flump's phone hanging up). Hello, Annie?"

Annie: "Yes, I'm here. What did you want?"

Mama: "Ask Mr. Dinglinger what his price is today for a Grande Espresso Macchiato, extra foam, extra hot, with a half pump of vanilla."

Annie: "I already asked him, Mama. Two dollars, ninety-five cents."

Mama: "TWO DOLLARS AND NINETY-FIVE CENTS!!? Who does he think he is, Jesse James! Jing, this family's gonna break us yet! Your father payin' two hundred ninety dollars for an iPad mini! There goes a whole day's pay up in smoke! And what did he do last year? Went out and paid $299 dollars for a set of Beats by Dr. Dre, and now he wants an Espresso Macchiato at $2.95 a cup. I think he's lost his mind!"

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy a Venti iced coffee on an almost daily basis from my friends in the green or black aprons. They also have done a fairly tasteful job in laying out and decorating the Starbucks location on Main Street.
Still.
It hurts to lose another old, familiar friend to the march of "progress" and time.
Market House joins Plaza Gardens, the Mile Long Bar, the Tahitian Terrace, and the Plaza Pavilion in the Pantheon of "things that arent' here anymore" at the Park.
It still says "Market House" over the door.
There is still a pot-bellied stove.
A hand-cranked telephone can still be found along a wall inside.
Yet the gem that was the Market House has been quietly lifted from guests' proverbial trove of available attractions and experiences within the Park, never to return.
We as guests are all diminished by its passing.
Of course, a good cup of coffee IS a welcome addition to Disneyland.
The Park has suffered for quite a while from horribly bad available coffee fare. I am a long-suffering consumer of inferior Disneyland coffee, as both Cast Member and guest, and can ably attest to the quantum leap forward that Starbucks brings within the berm in respect to coffee quality.
I am also heartened by the results of the obvious efforts to try to seamlessly meld this well-known brand into the architectural landscape of Main Street.
Some things are inevitable.
We've gone from no Starbucks within miles of the Park to a massive new Starbucks store location in Downtown Disney, a corner spot at DCA and, now, complete takeover of the old Market House.
Once you let such brands get their "foot in the door," the door tends to get blown wide open.
Fortunately, this is not always the case. Ask our friends at your local Frontierland McDonald's (remember the french fry wagon along Thunder Trail?).
So, in this Skipper's view, Starbucks on Main Street is a somewhat mixed bag. I welcome the coffee, but mourn the loss of another familiar, long-time Main Street location.
I will add, though, that our trip to the Park this past Sunday was absolutely enjoyable! We started with coffee at Starbucks in Downtown Disney (which is a beautiful store that fits very well), and headed as a group down the newly-decorated Main Street (the fall decorations are now out in full force!) and over to the Haunted Mansion. We then took a wet ride down Splash Mountain (on a very warm morning). Disneyland was uncrowded at that point and felt very much like old times. You could see the walkways! You could walk on to attractions with practically no wait!
The iced coffee that started my morning certainly didn't hurt!

Cheers!

---Mike

Disneyland - CHOC Walk 2012 - Some On Stage and Backstage Shots

These photographs chronicle October 2012's CHOC Walk, with a focus on the backstage areas behind Critter Country, New Orleans Square and Adventureland.
We started the walk at DCA (in the pre-dawn hours as you can see) and ended up entering Disneyland at Main Street (after the sun came up), meandering through the Park to the backstage gate just past the exit of Splash Mountain (fifth photo from the top).
We walked past the new home of Outdoor Vending, the Westsider Grill (which has taken the place of "The Pit" down below Pirates as the eatery of choice for Cast Members on that side of the Park), the back side of the Pirates and Indiana Jones buildings, and ultimately out the gate located near the Picnic Area and Parking Lot Tram drop off.
There were high school bands and cheerleaders along the way, as well as smiling, waving Cast Members.
If you are looking at Disneyland from above, with the Main Entrance at the southern part of your "map," the backstage route took us along the west to southwest edge of the Park.
Thought you all might enjoy a view of "what's back there," since you don't often get a glimpse.
Have a great day, Jungleteers!

---Mike

Disneyland - Jungle Cruise - Where's My Boat?

I could sure go for a boatful of captive guests.

Where's my P.A. mic and throttle?

Since it's a work day and I have about five minutes, here are a few other things I could happily go for right about now:

• A walk down Main Street
• A leisurely float through the Small World
• An impromptu performance by Billy Hill and the Hillbillies
• A cushioned chair on the bow of the Mark Twain and a cup of Starbucks, watching New Orleans Square slide by
• A roll of hundreds (hey, I'm dreaming here!)
• Seriously bumping the car in front of me on the Autopia
• A Skyway ride
• A pan, a broom, cigarette butts, popcorn and an audience (behind the back! No looking! between the legs! Alley Oop!)
• A suit, a name tag, a radio and an area where I'M the supervisor!  Heaven help my poor crew...
• Looking forward to tonight's showing of the Main Street Electrical Parade.
• On Main Street.
• At Disneyland.
• An open faced turkey sandwich at the Inn Between
• An early morning "dead head" through the rivers of the Jungle

Must run.

You all have a fine day out there!

Be safe and treat each other nicely.

Don't make me have to pull this car over and come back there!

---Mike

Disneyland - Jungle Cruise - An Early Morning Trip Before Park Opening

Greetings, Jungle Lovers!
Mike here.
Just pulled the Ganges out of boat storage and eased her up to the dock.
Hold on a second while I get these rounds loaded in my .38.
Nice morning, huh?
I am caffeinated, twitterpated, calibrated and now fully loaded.
That's the only way to start a day on Jungle.
Come on in, we'll take her for an animation check.
Nothing like being one of the first boats out.
You have your coffee?
Take the throttle, I'm a passenger now.
There you go.  Easy on the turns, but you can chug along on the straightaways.
Oooh.  That mist from the "rainforest" feels good.
Reach under the bow there and open that door.
See the radio?
I already checked it backstage.  Is the light still on?
Don't play with it!  You hit that button and we are "live" on the Operations frequency.
No need to get any supervisors marching down here wondering who's goofing off on the airwaves!
It you must play, how about I let you shoot the gun at the hippo pool?
Well we're not there yet, so put that thing back in the holster!
You bust out shots here at the Sunken City and every supervisor in Adventure/Frontier will be standing at the dock to greet us on our return!
Honestly, I don't know why I invited an "East Sider" on my boat!
You look ridiculous in that Space Mountain costume.
Good thing we don't open to guests for half an hour.
What's that?
No.  I didn't make it to Acapulco's last night.
Doug ended up in pretty bad shape, huh?
How many times do I have to tell him Long Island Teas are NOT from Long Island and that ISN'T tea!  He's gonna be fun today.  I think he's closing.
Nothing like a Jungle boat after a night of Bacchanalian bliss.
You playing Over The Line in this weekend's tournament?
You know Team Space Mountain's going down again!  Come on, no one beats the West Side.
The team from Canoes has some massive guys.
Eddie the Lead over there has arms bigger than my legs.
I saw him hit one to the breakers from the fire pit area over at Huntington!
Whoa!
Pull back on the throttle and stop!!!
Stop!
Look, Space Cowboy, if you just cruise on by the Elephant Shower without stopping, we're BOTH gonna get blasted by that elephant up ahead to your right.
Once that animation trips, he's going to squirt.
I am NOT starting my day toweling off my boat because you forgot to stop!
See.  Now once he's done you can chug on by.
This is probably one of my favorite stretches through here.
I like how the river is smooth and we're heading straight for the falls.
You ever played with the apes?
Pull the throttle back and stop us right here.
I'll hang in the boat if you want to jump out.
I can't guarantee you'll make it back in without getting your costume wet!
Wise choice.
Last guy I offered took me up on it.
Left him in the Jungle.
Last I saw, he was cursing at me and shaking his fists as I rounded the bend at Schweitzer Falls.
Gorillas and an East Sider frolicking on the bank!!
You know, it was hard for me to tell who was who.
Good thing he was wearing that name tag.
Let me have the boat.
We gotta get back before my lead starts to wonder what's taking so long.
Hang on.
This is about as fast as one of these things can go.
You have to watch out for derails when you're empty.
Over there by the Lost Safari is where we generally jump off the boat.  See where the rocks are close to the edge of the river?  We took our Area picture there last summer.
Okay.  You can shoot the hippos now if you want.
Hold the gun way above the canopy!
I'm telling you that thing is LOUD!
Two shots and NO MORE, got it?
Nice.
That's gonna leave a mark.
Dancing natives.
Yadda yadda.
Backsideofwater.
Oooh.
Aaah.
Water buffalo.
Python.
Trader Sam.
See those lights in his shield.  They both need to be green or we have to stop.
They are probably done bringing boats out, so we should be clear.
Take that coffee with you and get out of my boat!
Have fun in Tomorrowland!  You better move if you don't want to be late!
What's that?
Oh, I know.
Yeah.  We are lucky.
We're working the best attraction in the Park.
Have fun checking seatbelts!!!
Don't go away mad!
Just go away!

---Mike

Disneyland - Remembrance of Cast Members Past

I guess the trauma of Carnation Plaza Gardens being shut down left me in a two-month long funk.
Unable to post.
Languid.
Subdued.
Adrift in the cosmos.

Then...

I was at my sister-in-law's for a 16th birtday party.
My 16 year old niece's boyfriend, Matt, was there, along with his parents.
His mom, Maria, is the niece of a man whose name appears on a window on Main Street above the Market House.
She also worked Adventureland Merchandise in the mid-80s.
We got to talking.
"Remember Guest Control duty and the Main Street Electrical Parade?" Maria asked.
Yes.
Yes I do.
Her eyes lit with joy at the memory of manning the ropes and stanchions along the Plaza in the building excitement before the Electrical Parade stepped off onto its route through the heart of the Park.
"I miss that sooo much!"
Don't I know it, love.

Maria worked the Bazaar, but also handled the barrel of rubber snakes and related trinkets sold just outside the Jungle Cruise exit dock.
We probably passed each other on a number of occasions, never connecting, but then fate placed us at a sixteenth birthday party, sipping mojitos and calling to mind summer evenings of long ago.
My father-in-law was there, too.
He spoke of his time as a Disneyland cast member in the late 60s and early 70s.
He did electrical work on animatronics after he had to leave operations (Matterhorn, Subs) when he married a fellow cast member.
You could not both be in the same department back then, so he had to transfer.
He told us of the noise of the Tiki birds' mechanisms in the control room.
The difficulties in keeping the cannons firing in Pirates --- they were controlled by 8-track tapes and the heads got dirty, so he was in there often fixing them.
He would ride the attraction once an hour to make sure the animation was working.
Maria, my father-in-law and me spent a good amount of time kicking around stories from the Park.
Must've stirred something in this old skipper, because here I am back at my post after what I thought might be a permanent absence.
The Park has a hold on me that I cannot shake, no matter how much time passes.
No use fighting it.
So, thanks to Maria and my father-in-law, I am back to the blog.
Aren't you lucky?

Another thing.
My family and I have formed Team "Jungle is 101" and will be walking in this year's CHOC Walk in the Park.
It is always a great event.
I love that I can share with the family some of the "back areas" I used to haunt as a Cast Member.
All while supporting a worthy cause.
The people who show up for the event are a great boost to one's energy level, too.
Take Disney nuts, add some altruism and caffeine, march them around the Park and California Adventure, and you have an instant formula for success!
Hope to see many of you Jungleteers out there for the Walk.
If you can't make it, perhaps you can swing by the Jungle is 101 Team page at the CHOC website and pledge a donation.
No pressure.
Of course, I will mention at this point that I am in deep with some serious witch doctors.
Just sayin'.

Oh, and Maria's uncle?  Sebastian Moreno, aka "Seb Morey - Taxidermist."
Seb helped with the original railroad around the Park and went on to be in charge of the decorating department.
Maria still has and cherishes one of the placards that adorned Main Street lampposts during the "Blast to the Past" event circa 1987-88.
Her uncle sadly has passed away, but he left Maria and her family a great Disneyland legacy.

Gotta run.
Don't be such strangers!
Sheesh!
Post once in a while or something!
Love you loyal readers.
The four (4) nicest folks I know (hi, Mom!)....

---Mike

Disneyland - Plaza Gardens Requiescat in Pace

An icon of the Hub is soon to be gone.
I saw the skeletal remains of its old red and white, metal "circus tent" roof protruding over the construction wall on my trip to the Park last Sunday.
The colored metal pieces had been removed, leaving only the empty frame behind.
Perhaps the Disney folks are carefully dismantling it so that it may be reconstructed someplace else in the Disneyverse.
Probably not.
Walt danced there, under the circular roof and across its sparkling floor.
Louis Armstrong blew his trumpet from the tiny stage.
The Osmond Brothers made their debut.
Les Brown and his Band of Reknown used to perform before a floorful of happy swing dancers.
The original Mickey Mouse Club Mousketeers had many stints there as well.
The dance floor under the canopy was an area of the Park that had remained relatively unchanged over time.
The sparkling electric sign over the entrance was as much a feature of the Hub as the Castle drawbridge, the Frontierland entrance, the Adventureland sign or the popcorn wagon.
The little wooden bridge that led to Plaza Gardens was tucked beneath shady trees and crossed a winding brook.
Peace amidst the busy, crowded Park at almost any time.
Indeed, to this day it remained one of the few "parklike" areas in Disneyland, where guests could just sit and be refreshed.
Years ago I wrote a lament for this beloved corner of the Park once before, never, ever expecting to later be writing of its utter and complete demise.
I believe Walt wanted the Park to grow, to ADD new things, as long as imagination is left in the world.
Adding or "plussing" something was one of his many traits of genius.
I'm not so sure he would favor seeing "Fantasyland" intrude upon Main Street's Hub when presented with a storyboard or design drawing.
He probably would have coughed and raised that dark eyebrow the moment some overzealous Imagineer ridiculously suggested taking the Rocket Jets down from their old spot and planting them on the Hub, too.
Growing and adding new things is not the same as ripping out old things.
I suppose Sleeping Beauty Castle has had its day.
Maybe we can dismantle it and put up a "meet and greet" area for other "non-princess" Disney characters.
I mean where do you go these days to see Gaston, or Mr. Smee, or Horace Horsecollar, or any cast member from "Watcher in the Woods," "The Black Hole" or "The Black Cauldron" and other such "classics"?
That mountain over there with the bobsleds?
Don't repaint - REMOVE! REPLACE!
Enough with Pirates and Ghosts and Peter Pan!
We can yank 'em all out and put in attractions that have more "crossover" appeal, like "Wizards of Waverly Place Magical Hollow," "Phineas & Ferb's Platypus Manor" and "The Suite Life On Deck's Cruise of Terror."
Imagine an audio-animatronic Mr. Moseby, Zack and Cody in a dark attraction based upon rehashed "Love Boat" episodes and overgrown twins that have lost their appeal.
The heart thrills at the thought.
And Main Street.
What the heck is that place all about?
Does anyone really care about turn-of-the-century America anymore?
Let's lose the 1890s facades and trick out a West Coast version of Times Square!
Slap up some skyscrapers on either side of Main Street, with gleaming steel and glass.
Penny Arcade?
PUH-LEEZE.
We've installed "Studio 54," a 1970s disco tribute bar and nightclub in its place!
Come on in kids, it's a blast!
There's a life-sized "K.C. and the Sunshine Band" animatronics stage show that repeats itself every 15 minutes!
Put on your Boogie Shoes 'cause that's the way aha, aha, we like it!
Over on the east side of the street, the lame old Market House has been transformed into the Guggenheim West!
Immerse yourself in a post-modern, cutting edge retrospective of International Abstractionism, along with some classic Kandinsky!
Oodles of family fun await!
And the horse-drawn streetcars of yesterday are now the Manhattan Taxis!
Take a memorable journey through the streets of New Main Street in the back of a smelly cab operated by a guy with a thick accent and a meter that never stops!!

Sorry.

I got a little carried away there.

Carnation Plaza Gardens, I will miss you.

Thanks, as Bob Hope said, for the memories.

---Mike

Disneyland - The Price of Poker's Gone Up, Kids

Renewing my annual pass recently, I saw that the Park has significantly raised admission prices.

Why not?

The Euro has collapsed (it's just waiting for everyone to "officially" admit it).

The dollars that we here in the United States have electronically "minted" (through the looking-glass magic of the Federal Reserve's "quantitative easing" program) are holding steady, supposedly, at somewhere around $2 trillion.

Among friends, after all, what is $2 trillion anyway?

Here in California, the cataclysm of today's "economy" is visible everywhere.

Count the shuttered car dealerships.

The carcasses of former banks.

The "for lease" signs at the mini-malls and corporate parks.

The empty "big box" stores.

The failed restaurants.

The boarded up department stores.

As an example, the Montclair Plaza shopping mall in Montclair, California, has had a huge amount of retail square footage at its eastern end sitting vacant since 2006.

The space used to be a Broadway store from 1968 until it became a Macy's in 1996.

It stayed a Macy's and finally closed its doors in 2006, never to reopen.

It's kinda weird to see a mall in the middle of populous Southern California with a giant, empty store at one end.

All those stores, banks, dealerships, mini-mall shops, restaurants and retailers were once filled with people.

And merchandise.

And jobs.

Banks would accept money from businesses and individuals for safekeeping.

Workers would deposit their paychecks and businesses would deposit their cash receipts.

Banks would take the money and invest in assets and lend some of money back into the community---to businesses and consumers.

Businesses would use the money to buy product, build things, create retail space, hire employees, etc.

Consumers would borrow money to buy cars and homes and appliances.

They would also earn money from working for the businesses and restaurants and such.

In turn, they would save a little of their money in the banks and, of course, spend a little at the restaurants, amusement parks and businesses in their community.

THOSE were the days.

What is YOUR home worth today?

Are you even still living in a house?

Still employed? Thank God.

You know several people who are not quite so fortunate.

Even here in Southern California.

California was once the 6th largest economy on the planet, I've heard.

If we in the "Golden State" have such visible signs of decline, I can only imagine how others in this grand country are faring these days.

Yet.

Folks will still find a way to buy admission into Disneyland.

The Park is perhaps taking the place of the old movie theaters of the 1930s, where Americans escaped the woes of the Great Depression by spending precious money on a matinee or a double-feature.

An hour and a half of "fantasy" in the darkened cinema, with Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Fred Astaire, Giner Rogers, Shirley Temple, the Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, Mickey Mouse or the Three Little Pigs, brought a respite from the literally depressing state of Americans' daily life.

While today's malls may be emptier, the Park has remained crowded to capacity.

Cars Land and the recent efforts to "fix" the Eisner-iffic masterpiece known as Disney's California Adventure have sparked further interest.

The Park has cleaned up its act tremendously in the past four years.

Check out the newly refurbished West Side of Main Street, from the Emporium to the Candy Palace.

Look at the gleaming new Matterhorn paint job and the mountain's suddenly glowing waterfalls.

Do waterfalls actually glow in the Swiss Alps?

Ah. I digress.

March along with the crowd of guests around you.

Start doing the math.

Think what each of them has spent to be there (either as an annual passholder or a ParkHopper purchaser).

Of course, each of them has to eat and drink and perhaps grab a plush toy or a sweatshirt.

Where are all these folks getting all this money?

Disney seems quite happy to provide them with a beautiful place to spend and enjoy it!

The Park masterfully anticipated the coming financial collapse by permitting passholders to pay for their passes on a monthly basis over the course of a year!

Now Disney has an income stream, even if folks can't make it to the Park.

It worked.

The crowds are thick as ever.

The guests seem pretty darn satisfied, too.

I am still one myself!

Hike the price?

Looks like we all will still gladly pay it.

Even in the midst of the Greater Great Depression of 2008-present!

Of course, I imagine the number of Greek, Italian and Euro-zone guests may have dropped off a bit of late (and more so in the coming weeks and months, no?).

How's Euro-Disney doing these days, I wonder?

For us in Southern California, the Park remains a place to set aside one's cares for a while.

Truly a place to "leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy," as Walt wished for his guests when the Park flung open its waiting arms in 1955.

I am still willing to pay to answer its embrace.


Sorry for being gone for so long, Jungleteers! I missed each of you deeply!

---Mike

Disneyland - Fantasyland Break Area - Costume Changes and the Disney Look

Through a pathway among the bushes at the back side of Storybookland was the entrance to a small covered break area.
It had old-school vending machines, including one that had Eskimo Pies and chocolate ice cream bars.
I loved those!
Orange picnic tables were available for taking a few minutes' rest from being on one's feet.
Chief among this break area's positives was the fairly constant flow of female cast members clad in classic Fantasyland style.
Blue skirt, knee-high white stockings, cute shoes and a neat white blouse with colorful trim and short sleeves, sometimes accentuated by a matching headband or bow.
Adorable.
We were mostly college-age folks, clean-cut and with cheerful dispositions.
Come on, it was the old Disney.
Way before political correctness.
Back when costume policies and grooming standards were still strongly supported and enforced. No facial hair for men.
No wild hair styles or excessive make-up or piercings for either sex.
It was, as the Disney University taught us, the "Disney Look."
Why the "Disney Look" in 2012 must now permit facial hair after 56 years is not an issue for my pay grade.
Why the Park long ago decided to allow its cast members to wear their costumes home instead of turning them in to Wardrobe at the end of the shift is beyond me.
Moreover, who designs the modern costumes?
If you are out there, hear my plea - "Do something for the poor folks in Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and just about EVERYWHERE over at California Adventure!"
I am sorry, but no one can really pull off the strange uni-sex olive pants, blousy shirt and frumpy hat that Fantasylanders must don today.
Think "poochy."
And this is true for folks who may be thin as a rail!
The entire kingdom of Fantasyland looks "poochy!"
Oh, Peter!
It's true, Wendy!
And what is with the hats?
It's as if "Newsies" collided with Lampwick after a particularly hard night of drinking at Pleasure Island.
Not a skirt or primary color to be found north of the drawbridge these days, I'm afraid.
Then there's poor, poor Tomorrowland.
Never a region to top the list of "best costume" award winners, this area is absolutely languishing in the modern era.
The flumpy silver jackets.
The 21st Century shirts from a futuristic bowling alley or full-service gas station.
Hey, it isn't like they aren't trying.
Here is an article about modern Disneyland costuming, to show that it is quite a process to outfit thousands of cast members.
No doubt, one or two stinker costumes are going to rear their ugly heads within such a wide and varied mix.
Anyhow, we really should applaud the fact that the Disneyland show continues.
There are pirates and Haunted Mansion hosts and hostesses, Riverboat Captains, Big Thunder miners, canoe explorers and even jungle skippers that actually look the part.
Soon they'll be bearded and mustachioed.
Not so bad for Pirates, I guess, but I'll miss the clean-cut, All-American look that Disneyland cast members once sported.
I know, I know, "But Walt had a mustache!"
Okay, you start your own animation and entertainment empire, design, build and launch an utterly new type of theme park against all odds and amass armfuls of Academy Awards, all while keeping the whole enterprise moving and afloat somehow - then you can wear any mustache you want.
Oh, and Walt could pull it off. Like Clark Gable or Caesar Romero or Douglas Fairbanks.
I am sure things will work out.
Not every change is the equivalent of "New Coke" or the Edsel or doubling the price of Netflix.
Look, most of the dwarves have beards.
So do Jafar, Stromboli, the Queen's Hunstman, Merlin, King Triton, Jack Sparrow, Captain Hector Barbossa and others.
Mustaches abound as well: Captain Hook, Mr. Darling, Gepetto, Mr. Potato Head (okay, he's Pixar), etc.
Of course, back in the 1980s, things were a bit different.
Let us close with a quote from one of the Three Little Pigs:
"Not by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin!"

Today's post was brought to you by Burma Shave:

To get away

from hairy apes

ladies jump

from fire escapes!

Burma Shave


And one more for the road:


He had the ring

He had a flat

She felt his chin

And that

Was that!

Burma Shave


---Mike

Jungle is "101" - Disneyland's Jungle Cruise And Other Disneyland Stuff: Disneyland - Bats Day

Jungle is "101" - Disneyland's Jungle Cruise And Other Disneyland Stuff: Disneyland - Bats Day: Long after my initial romp as a Disneyland cast member, starting in 1999, a curiously strange and clearly "unofficial" event began at the Pa...

Disneyland - Bats Day

Long after my initial romp as a Disneyland cast member, starting in 1999, a curiously strange and clearly "unofficial" event began at the Park - Bats Day.
It started as a promotion put on between "goth/industrial and death rock clubs Absynthe and Release the Bats," according to the official Bats Day site at http://www.batsday.net/.
Gee, when I worked there I think Sparks was about the most "cutting edge" thing to enter the Park.
Now, a hapless guest at Disneyland on the weekend of May 18 - 20, 2012 will stumble upon herds of folk in black "Goth" attire, eye liner, pancake makeup, fishnets, high leather boots and occasional vampire fangs.
And those are just the toddlers of the group, tagging along in strollers with their similarly-clad mums and dads.
Disneyland and Goth/Death Rock.
Practically peas and carrots, coffee and donuts, salt and pepper, Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, Martin and Lewis, Simon and Garfunkel, or any other natural pairing, right?
I remember stumbling into my first Bats Day as a guest.
A child in black crepe with eye liner and black lipstick was walking ahead of me with a Mickey Mouse balloon in his small hand.
His proud parents, dressed as what can best be described as a zombie bride and groom, walked on either side of him, beaming with parental pride (as much as folks can "beam" while wearing pasty white makeup!).
I paused.
A longtime resident of Southern California, I chalked it up as a typically family visiting from the San Fernando Valley or maybe North Hollywood.
But then I saw another group of folks in similar dark attire.
And another.
Soon enough I began to feel somewhat out of place in shorts, t-shirt, Nikes and a baseball cap.
Putting self-consciousness aside, I decide to strike up a conversation with one of these guests, to see just what in the heck was up.
"Hi. I'm Mike and I love the top hat and death's head cane! Are you guys with a wayward youth group or something?"
"Oh no," came the friendly and smiling reply, "It's Bats Day!"
Now I had been in and around Disneyland for many decades, but "Bats Day" had never made it onto my Park radar.
He may as well have told me it was "Opossums Day" or "Capybaras Day."
"Ah. Bats Day," I said.
"What...uh...what is Bats Day?"
"It's like when Goth people come to Disneyland for some fun. This is our second year!"
Clearly this was no accident. It appeared to be an event that happened regularly.
Hmmm.
"Well, have a great time! Enjoy the Haunted Mansion!"
"Oh, we've been on that three times already! Now we're going to Snow White!"
That went well, I thought.
The rest of the day, in lines, along walkways, in shops and food service locations, I encountered and conversed with Bats Day participants, never quite getting the concept but enjoying the outfits and conversations.
I felt like the guy giving candy on Halloween.
"Look! What a cute little undertaker/dark overlord! Honey, come see!"
Without exception, the people I met were nice, happy to share and genuinely were enjoying themselves.
Maybe this year I'll sport a Dead Skipper or Guest-Control-of-the-Damned costume.
Disney does not officially sanction this gathering, but they seem happy enough to sell admissions, churros and bat-Mickey ears to the participants.
Well, I'll be da...darned.
Hurry! You have only about 60 days to get your outfit together, book your hotel and rent a hearse for the 2012 edition of Bats Day(s)!
Oh, the angst!

---Mike

Disneyland - Starcade

The crowded cosmic alley that the Space Mountain exit dumps you into, where you can get a photograph of you riding on the attraction or make a quick restroom run, also leads to what was once...

...the Starcade.

In the days before everyone had three gaming systems at home, an iPhone and an iPad, people would actually pay a quarter to play a single video game.
Oooh!  Tell us more, Uncle Mike.
It's true, children.
Why, you can still find some of these old-fashioned, coin-operated video game machines at places like your local miniature golf "family fun center," or the waiting areas of some restaurants, or in dimly-lit, smoke-filled bars that sell Pabst Blue Ribbon on tap and smell of decades of spilled pilsner.
In the mid-1980s, there was even a really goofy TV game show called "Starcade" in which contestants played video games for prizes.  Check it out...

I lived through the 80s.
I can safely say that somehow, I never knew of, nor did I ever see even a moment of, "Starcade" back then.
I only came across it in a search for Disneyland's "Starcade," which actually debuted at the Park in 1977 along with Space Mountain.
It had that late 70s vibe.
It had two stories of video and arcade games!
Air hockey?
How about 10 or more tables?
Asteroids?
Pacman?
Tron?
Even Star Wars made an appearance eventually.
Two stories of arcade!
Nowadays, the arcade is confined to the lower level, with two escalators to nowhere blocked off on the first floor.
An old X-wing fighter hangs from the ceiling above the dormant escalators.
No lines for the hottest machine.
No rows of quarters lined up to "reserve" a machine for the next game.
No groups of people milling around.
More merchandise location than arcade.
Even the Peoplemover no longer glides by the second level (or anywhere else in Tomorrowland for that matter!).
The bands cannot be heard from the Space Mountain stage either, since it was long ago covered over for such 3-D extravaganzas as "Magic Journeys," "Captain Eo" and "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience!"
It isn't the lively and bright area it was in the late 70s and early 80s.
It looks like Today finally caught up with Tomorrowland.
Such is life, no?

For now, friends, a fond adieu!
And here's to a great big beautiful Tomorrow!

---Mike

Disneyland - Pirates Adventures

Having friends in New Orleans/Bear Country Attractions had its benefits.
Among them, the chance to join in the fun before opening or during special events and parties when the Pirates of the Caribbean would be opened up for a cast member tour (some official, most---and the best---unofficial).
If you have never seen the Pirates from outside the boat, let me tell you, you've missed something special.
The Pirates show building sits on the south side of the berm and takes up a good portion of the backstage area behind New Orleans Square.
Like Small World, Pirates has walkways that track the flume where the boats go.
They wind in and out of the "on stage" scenes, blinking back and forth from cavern to chicken wire and plaster (the backside of the rocks that make up the sea caves of the attraction).
There are gangways for access to lighting and sound elements.
A large room near the end of the attraction makes up "boat storage."
You can see the access to boat storage just after you pass under the laughing pirate and enter the burning jail scene.
The backstage areas literally look like a soundstage or a true "back stage." Lots of plywood, 2x4s, wires, electrical boxes, light fixtures and the like.
Most of the back stage consists of walkways with wooden railings.
These are lit with the old style light bulbs in little wire cages to protect the bulbs from being broken when bumped by a ladder or some other contrivance as the maintenance crew works behind the scenes.
Deep in the bowels of the attraction, one will find the pump room.
It is an all-important part of a water-based attraction.
Imagine the amount of water those pumps push through each day!
While you are enjoying your trip, there is an entire crew of maintenance personnel keeping the water flowing, the lights lit, the fire detection/response system operational and the audio-animatronics moving smoothly.
Oh, and they can see you.
Really see you.
Those romantic trips as a teen in the back of the boat through the darkest parts of the ride?
Yeah.
They saw you.
Infrared cameras televise it all to the control tower so that safety can be maintained.
I've heard tell there are still some ancient video tapes floating around with some pretty racy scenes of guests getting the most out of the attraction.
Next time you're feeling amorous in the POTC, be sure to turn and smile!
It'll make some cast member's day!

Gotta run for now.
You guys stay here with the boat.
And don't eat anything Sam tries to sell you.

Trust me.

---Mike

Disneyland - Some Thoughts

I miss Burl Ives.
And the days when you could step out of the heat and into "America Sings."
Remind me again why they took out the attraction?
Don't get me wrong, "Innoventions" is deeply compelling.
So is the Museum of Ceramic Art.
And the Gallup New Mexico Center for the Development of Motel Management.
And the San Bernardino County Water Treatment Symposium.
The songs and colorful characters of America Sings were always a pleasant experience.
Kids today have nothing like it in the Park.
Winnie the Pooh?
Meh.
Buzz Lightyear?
Nope.
Man. There's not even a Country Bear Jamboree this side of Florida.
(Insert wistful sighing noise here).

Meanwhile...

back at the helm, I remember pushing the throttle gently as my boat chugged along the dock.
I would stare out from my launch at the guests waiting in the queue.
"Oh, Hi! Hey check out my boat!!!
It was WAY more crowded when I left!
Ladies, your wait is over.
Your dreamboat has arrived.
Hey, why the long faces?
You were expecting Clark Gable? Douglas Fairbanks?"
Coasting to the loading dock, I pull the boat into reverse and slip the throttle back to neutral.
The doorways line up with the dock load areas.

"Hi."

(Pause and stare).

"Get in."

(stare some more as guests start to file into the boat).

"Look at you guys.
What? You been at a theme park all day?
Sheesh!
Larry (at rear load), I thought I ordered LIVE bait!

(Stare some more at guests).

Sir, let me ask you something,
when you got up today did you say to yourself: Disneyland. Jungle Cruise. Gotta do it!?
Really?

(Pause, sighing heavily)

Me too.

(Stare blankly over mic at the guests, raise left eyebrow).

Keep 'em coming, Larry.
Slide all the way forward, ladies.
Forward, ladies.
My! How we in the Jungle enjoy forward ladies!
But that's another long story and I don't want to go into just now.
Looks like Larry and Dave are almost through overloading our boat.
Nice work, fellas.
Remember: a full boat is not just a sign of this attraction's popularity,
it also gives me much more bargaining power with the local natives.
Speaking of which, let me take a quick "head" count.
Okay, 47 and a half.
Looks like we are ready to launch.
Just a friendly reminder before we leave, the Jungle Cruise is not responsible for any lost personal items such as purses, cameras, children or in-laws.
You folks enter the Jungle at your own risk.
And...
away we go.

Turn.

Wave.

You'll never see those people back there again.

E-ver.

Oh, my, where are my manners?
My name is Mike, and I'll be your captain, tour guide and fearless leader until things get even the slightest bit dangerous or uncomfortable.
Please keep your hands, arms, feet, legs and in-laws inside the boat at all times.
Watch your children.
First of all, chances are good they're watching YOU!
And secondly, it's literally a Jungle out here.
Most of the plants along the banks are known to actively feed on small children.
But look at the colorful flowers!

I believe you folks know your way in the spiel from here...

Have a wonderful day!

---Mike

Disneyland - "Hello Everyone..."

"Hello everyone! Welcome aboard the Disneyland Railroad," boomed the familiar baritone voice.
The smell of hot steam and burning brakes wafted past as we pulled out of the station.
I never worked the trains during my stints at the Park, but knew a good deal of folks who had held this position.
The world in front of us clicked steadily by as we rolled through the outskirts of Adventureland.
This shady part of the train's grand circle tour was breezy and cool.
Children seated in the front row of the passenger car peered out over the railing, their eyes tracking the scenery.
The wooden bench felt incredibly smooth.
The rythmic motion instantly instilled a calm humour.
Closing my eyes, I listened to the sounds around me.
I thought how this attraction is another one of the "time portals" the Park has in its arsenal.
Really.
Riding the train today feels almost exactly the same as my first trip as a child.
Or as an energy-filled teenager.
A twenty-something college student.
A newlywed.
An uncle.
A dad.
A semi-beat up middle-ager with chronic Disneyland-itis.
Some of the scenery along the way has changed, but the long train, the colorful canopies, the smells, the swaying of the cars---pretty much identical.
Honestly, if there were ever a time portal, I think a steam train would be the vehicle through which it would be entered.
Perhaps that is why a steam train has been the choice of authors of books from "The Polar Express" to "Harry Potter" as a means of transporting characters to distant, magical and fictional places.
Even the "Twilight Zone" employed this device in one of Rod Serling's (and my own) favorite episodes, "A Stop At Willoughby." Check it out for yourself if you've never had the pleasure of seeing the episode: http://www.tv-links.eu/tv-shows/The-Twilight-Zone_9038/season_1/episode_30/ and also a snippet for flavor is below:

Wouldn't it be something to step on the train today and step off at the Frontierland Station in say 1979 or 1983, or any other date since July 17, 1955 for that matter?
Today's wacky world got you down?
Head on over to the Main Street station.
All ABOARD!!

If you need me, I'll be over in Adventureland in 1986.
I'm thinking, summer-ish.
See you there!

P.S., You will also find a "Willoughby" reference as you exit the "Tower of Terror" over at that "other" Park over in Disneyland's old parking lot.

---Mike

Disneyland - Jolly Holiday - Photos From Last Thursday's Visit

Today we pop by the Park for a view of some updated locations and an out of the way pathway.
We begin at the new Jolly Holiday food service location on Main Street.

These plucky fellows adorn the main windows. "Order what you will, there'll be no bill...it's com-pli-men-ta-reee!"


Here is the interior:



A view of the front porch, looking out onto the Plaza and Hub:

"I'd know that 'sill-you-wet' anywhere...Mary Poppins!"

Further down Main Street we see there is still construction at the Carnation Cafe and Blue Ribbon Bakery:

And an out of the way locale on the far western edge of the Park in the area now known as Critter Country. Below we see a walkway under the Hungry Bear Restaurant and its back stairway, which are falling into decay it appears. No one seems to use the back porch seating upstairs either.




A view of the Rivers of America from this path under the Hungry Bear.

The Matterhorn is getting a facelift. The picture below seems to be missing a Skyway, no?

Trust me, the old Fantasyland Skyway station is still up there, waiting:

And the archway below leads from Snow White's Grotto to Fantasyland (and vice versa).

More Matterhorn rehab (as seen from the Hub)...

Finally, we will close with a view of Main Street on a crystal clear day (last Thursday), with its flowers aglow.

I hope you've enjoyed today's slices from around the Park. Many happy returns to each of you!

---Mike

Disneyland - Oh Dear, Mike's Got An Ipad2!

Kids, Mike here. Blogging from Starbucks somewhere in Orange County (Fullerton-ish).
Jungle fans are in trouble.
I've got a new Ipad2 and I'm not afraid to use it.
Perhaps posts will increase precipitously.
You have been warned.

Is it just me, or...

...could you go for a noseful of Pirates of the Caribbean watery cavern smell?

...is the new "Facial hair is okay" policy adopted by the Disney folks kindofa heartbreaker?

...have you encountered one or two pretty good Jungle skippers in your recent trips to the Park? Must be something in the water...

...does a Hearthstone Lounge Bloody Mary sound good right about now? I can see the droplets of condensation forming around the outside of the glass as I type this! Extra spicy, please, James!

...would a front row deck chair on the bow of the Mark Twain be a nice thing to have under you? Ah, watch New Orleans Square slide slowly by you. Be sure to wave at the folks along the shore! Cue the steam whistle blast. One more for good measure. Now the bell: Ding! Ding! "Bowman, cast off bow lines...!"

...are you overdue for a trip to the Park, too?

...do you find that work really seems to get in the way between trips to the Park? Sheesh!

...are these venti iced coffees wickedly good around 10:50 a.m.? Or 5:50 a.m., or 10:30 p.m. for that matter? The first step towards a cure is admitting you have a problem. Hello, I'm Mike and I am a caffeine addict...and I do not wish to quit.

...does Trader Sam look like he's lost some weight? I hear he's switched over to a vegetarian diet, and we all know vegetarians just don't have much meat on them...

...is a return of the Peoplemover now embarrasingly long overdue? Um...hello...the track is pretty much still there (a little Rocket Rods leftover demolition and, boom, we're in business...come on! WED still has the old blueprints somewhere, I'm sure!)

...have an amazingly high number of this blog's hopes and wishes for the Park actually come to pass over the past few years? (Lincoln's back, they've put in a food service location at the Plaza Pavilion, the Park is immaculate, Plaza Gardens has big bands with regularity, the Skyway is again floating high above Fantasyland...okay, 4 out of 5 isn't bad). That's the kind of pull we have here at Jungle is "101"...

...do a few of you out there in Internet Land wish you still had the mouse on your name tag and the name tag on your costume? Move it up, Skip! How many here? Right this way, stay on the outside of the boat and head all the way up to the front by the skipper!

I love you people!

---Mike