Disneyland - Resurrection, A Recurring Theme

As you drift through a day at a Disney theme park, it probably never jumps to the forefront of your consciousness that you are repeatedly encountering metaphors of renewal and resurrection in most of the attractions you enter.

What?
What the heck am I saying?
Was that first sentence even mildly comprehensible?

Here's the deal:
You start with a sunny day enjoying yourself at Disneyland, Disney World, etc.
You decide to go on an attraction---let's pick the most obvious one, the Haunted Mansion.
As you enter the darkened foyer, the sunny day dims behind you. You are "dying." Indeed, before you know it, you are in a chamber with no windows and no doors (sounds kinda like a tomb or a coffin--gulp!). There's no way out except the famous "My Way" of our disembodied spirit host.
Lightning fills the chamber and then total darkness. For a moment, you are in the abyss---separated from your fellow guests and alone in the black.
As the lights come dimly up, the doors slide open and you are presented with a corridor. A corridor you must walk down. An endless storm clatters and blows outside the windows, and the paintings on the wall of the corridor graphically flash images of the speedy deterioration of flesh and earthly things.
Soul-less statues mechanically follow your movements with sightless eyes. You step aboard your "Doom Buggy" and fantastic otherworldly sights play out before you.
When you disembark in a dark corridor, you step onto a moving walkway ramp and are pulled upward toward "the light." As a ghostly woman beckons you to "Hurry Back," you turn a corner and literally walk from the door of a tomb and back into the bright sunshine of the world of the living.
As a child, I recall the wave of relief and the spark of joy inside me as I saw that I had made it through the darkness of the Mansion and back to the warm sun.
This "light-to-darkness-to-underworld-visions-to rising-to-return-to-light" drama plays out in many of Disney's most popular attractions.

Take the Pirates of the Caribbean: sunlight--murky swamp--a death's head warns "there be squalls ahead" and "dead men tell no tales"---a plummet down a waterfall into darkness---another waterfall---skeletons in a cave-like underworld---marauding invaders of a darkened seaport---fire, flames---a stony prison of iron bars---and then you rise up, up toward the light. As you exit the attraction, the sunlight from New Orleans Square almost blinds you, along with the upbeat pirate music.

Or next take Indiana Jones: sunlight--long dark corridor--enter your vehicle--see the eye of a deity--plunge into darkness--skeletons aplenty and snakes (why did it have to be snakes?)--fire and flames (is this hell?)--a boulder threatens to crush you into nothingness---a flash of light---more darkness--it is finished. You exit your vehicle and walk back up out of the darkness and return to the light---adrenaline pumping. (Thanks to disneylandcompendium for posting the Mara photo from Indy).

There are other examples, some more obvious than others: Snow White, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (come on, we get hit by a train and literally drive through Hades---how's that for a kiddie ride?), Pinocchio (bad boys on Pleasure Island find out the hard way that blind pursuit of pleasure aint all it's cracked up to be, and Monstro is a living, breathing metaphor for death swallowing us up; an angel--in the form of the Blue Fairy--brings us back to life and it's back out into the sunshine again!), Alice in Wonderland (down a dark hole into a bizarre fantasy world and then back up and out into the day), and even Star Tours and Space Mountain (if you'll be kind enough to indulge a little poetic license with these two--still, on each of these attractions you go on a wild journey into dark space and then return to life and reality).

This concludes today's study in Adventureland eschatology. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: We apologize in advance for Mike's sometimes meandering posts and random thought processes. We are aware of the problem and are working diligently to address it. We appreciate your patience and thank you for your continued patronage despite these occasional digressions into La La Land.]

Disneyland - Big Thunder

Hello Adventurers and Adventurettes!
I was out of town for a couple days, so sorry for the extreme lack of posts. For punishment, I was sent to the African Veldt and spent seven hours up a tree with a mechanical rhino beneath me.
Oh, the indignity.

Did I mention that I worked Big Thunder Mountain Railroad?
It was 1987.
I had it all.
Big brown hat.
Big klunky boots.
Vest.
Scarf.

No, it wasn't some sort of Village People disco outfit.
This was Thunder.
If there's a close second to Jungle Cruise as far as fun jobs at Disneyland, it's BTMRR ("Big Thunder Moutain Railroad").
The crew there had a blast. We loaded and dispatched trains. We stood at the entrance and rejected kids that were too short.
We walked guests off the mountain during breakdowns.
We goofed around on the intercom.

You get the drill.
By the way, you try pulling an eight hour shift in those old boots they issued for Thunder. It's a wonder I can still walk.
Anyhow, one quick BTMRR tale to close out this week.
Tale is that the folks who built the attraction were working on the part of the track known as "Spiral Butte." That's where the train enters into a circular portion of the track around and through "Spiral Butte." (See the photo---thanks to "Arizona Steve" for the picture!).

Well, they built one side of the circle and then they built the other. When the two lengths of track met about the middle of Spiral Butte, they were not perfectly aligned. Doh!
No problem. A little Disney magic and imagineering and the track was bent just a touch so that the two sections of track would meet up.

Now when you ride through Spiral Butte, long about halfways through it, at high speed, you'll feel your car shift a bit toward the outside of the turn. When your hiney jiggles at that spot, this old prospector wants you to remember how the track was bent.
Some say this is just an old dusty story from Rainbow Ridge.
I say, it's true!
After all, this here's the WILDEST ride in the Wilderness!!!

See you next week!

Capping Off Rounds At Disneyland

How many of you---postal workers and police officers excluded---get to squeeze off multiple rounds from a .38 caliber revolver during your typical work day?

Disneyland provides its Jungle Cruise skippers with this unique work experience. Each trip through the Jungle, the skipper fires two shots in order to save his crew from dreadful attack by audio-animatronic hippopotami.

The gun we used in the Jungle was a real Smith & Wesson .38 revolver. Okay, it has been modified so that no one could fit a real round into its chamber, but those plastic "blanks" we use are still mighty noisy. That's why skippers hold the gun above the canopy and shoot upward---it is a little quieter for the guests in the front of the boat.

I heard once of a "friend" who took a boat through the Jungle with a couple of obnoxious teenagers sitting up front, alternatively interrupting, heckling and often ignoring the captain. By the time he arrived at the Hippo Pool, the skipper had had enough. Instead of discharging his weapon above the canopy, he lowered it straight out, pointed toward the hippos and fired two deafening rounds---about three feet from the ears of the teenage pests.

My friend was deafened, too, from the blasts, but---(it is my understanding)---it was worth it! The teenagers kept their sassy little mouths shut for the remainder of the trip.

As we say at the World Famous Jungle Cruise:

"Ride's over. Get out."

Love,

Mike

Disneyland 1987 - Whoa, Nellie! - Jungle Cruising Past The Big Elephant

When your Jungle Cruise boat trips the animation of the Big Elephant---the one located just after the Sacred Bathing Pool of the Elephants---he WILL come up and he WILL discharge a non-stop jet of water from out of his trunk.

If your skipper fails to throttle back your boat into reverse to stop its forward movement...

...you, and anyone in on board who might be in the path of the Big Elephant's stream of water, WILL be squirted and drenched.

Sometimes a drenching of guests occurs accidentally, as when a new skipper forgets to slow his boat in time and the physical law relating to "momentum" refuses to be violated.

In such a case, the befuddled and slightly horrified skipper (who is almost universally doomed to share the fate of several of his soon-to-be-soaked guests/crew members) will frantically slam his boat's throttle into reverse.

This has the unfortunate effect of stopping the vessel dead in the bullseye of the elephant's watery trunk---utterly and hopelessly drenching the guest(s) seated roughly amidships.
Yikes.Let's just say that when such a skipper drippingly pulls back into the dock with a row of drenched guests, it makes for no small amount of unbridled ribbing by the skipper's fellow cast members for the entire remaining balance of his or her shift. The skipper's customer satisfaction index (CSI) rating is also known to take a dip under such circumstances.

Such is life.

I am going to say that this never happened to me.

This, of course, isn't true, but I'm going to say it nonetheless.

And, as for those folks who were sitting on the elephant's side of my boat on or about June 1, 1987...

I do apologize.

However, I warned you the Jungle wasn't safe after we left the dock...
...and NONE of you elected to get off my boat.

--Mike

Disneyland - More Cast Member Photos

Today I offer you, dear reader, a few more examples of why Disneyland cast members are able to survive at just above minimum wage. They make up for the lost income by having fun at work.

With Photos 1-3, we start over at the "wildest ride in the wilderness," where the Thunder crew from the 1980s bonded a little too closely with their attraction. (Thanks to Janet Mondragon for the wonderful photos!)

As you can see on the left (Photo 1), fossil fuels can be hazardous to you and your environment. (Note: it is incredibly difficult to get good reception on a land line with a severed phone cord).

At Photo 2, I let you in on a closely guarded Disney secret: this is how they get those funny colored rings to show up in the water of the Rainbow Caverns on Big Thunder. [Again, thanks Janet Mondragon!]

We close out our visit to Big Thunder with a nice group photo (thanks to Matt Smith) of a more recent Thunder crew enjoying "Dinosaur Gap" between trains. Those folks by the ribs better hang on to their hats and glasses when I.M. Brave comes flying around the bend.

At Photo 4, we dash across the Park to Fantasyland, where we find some Small World cast members from the 1990s making like Fredo and "swimming with the fishes." My thanks to Jolene Finn (Tafoya) for supplying this shot originally. Note that the Small World cast members were still wearing the old "gondola boy" costumes.

Allow me to mention at this point that Fantasyland costumes have gone WAY downhill since the 1970s and 80s. Don't believe me? Just check out the girls (and, nowadays, guys) over at the Storybookland Canal Boats. No more cute white stockings! Oh, the sadness and grief of loss.

Photo 5, also from Jolene Finn (Tafoya), shows Jolene at Alice in Wonderland about to issue a "First Warning" to a fellow cast member for a violation of Disney grooming policy.


I'll close out today with Photo 6 (lower right), which vividly reminds us of just how important it is to carefully select one's drinking buddies. Even though these guys could drink ANYONE under the table, their parties always seemed a little...I don't know...dead. Thanks to Ken Heilman for sharing this photo.

As for the rest of you, back to work! Quit goofing off on the Internet looking at other people goofing off! It's not productive.

Disneyland - The Sweeper Walk- The Sweeper Whistle- And A Brief Hello to "Big Red"

Yesterday I took my brother and his girlfriend to the Park with my wife and children.

For some reason, family members seek me out when it comes to Disneyland trips. I find this odd---not because I don't know my stuff and am not helpful in getting them to see the most things possible---but because I can be a "Disney-Nazi" tour guide.

This means that you are up at the crack of dawn, and, upon arriving at the Park, you, as my honored guest, are summarily marched and stampeded through as many as 11 to 14 attractions, across 65 acres, within the first two-and-a-half hours of your visit to Disneyland.

Forget that "happy memories" crapola, we're here to see stuff---and lots of it---before all those other meddlesome guests arrive and pack the Park in like a third world marketplace.

Get it? Disney-Nazi.

Sure it can be tough to handle at first, but for some reason the family members keep coming back for more. They love to tell their friends that they went on more attractions by noon than many people do ALL day---(indeed, more attractions than some have been on in their entire lives!). They love the mile-a-minute spiel about Park highlights, history and hysterics. They thrill at learning the "Sweeper Walk" and the "Sweeper Whistle"---both highly necessary for a successful whirlwind tour.

The "Sweeper Walk" (or "Disney Walk") is a fast paced gait used to pierce through thick pedestrian traffic, as you dodge slow pedestrians ahead of you like a running back blowing through the defense. The others in your group follow you, single file, and dodge and weave while keeping the brisk pace. It's not quite running, but it's a close as most would like to get.

The "Sweeper Whistle" is an attention-getting device used by old-school Day Custodial types to locate each other in a crowd. It is a whistle that starts with a short low note, shoots to a long-held high note and then descends to a short low note again. It is very distinct. My children have never lost me in a crowd because they recognize and respond to the "Sweeper Whistle." It doesn't take long for the family members that I am guiding through the Park to learn to recognize (and occasionally employ for themselves) "The Whistle."

If we become separated during a Sweeper Walk from Point A to Point B, the moment we realize the problem, the lead (that's me) pulls off to the side, turns around, surveys the crowd and gives The Whistle. The lost members of the group can hear the sound across the noise and commotion of a thousand fellow guests and instinctively move toward the sound. I repeat the whistle until I spot the lost group members (or they spot me). Upon seeing me, one of the lost will give The Whistle in response.

Very effective.

The weather yesterday was perfect at the Park. We scored an amazing number of attractions before 11:00 a.m. had arrived.

At around this time, we slowed our pace to take in lunch. Then we found ourselves again at the Hub at the top of Main Street. There we met "Big Red."

He was proud, tall and quite muscular. He was a Disneyland cast member who went about his duties with calm and steady devotion. Though he was often egged on or held back by his fellow cast members, he never raised his voice in protest or gave so much as a sideways glance. He epitomized patience, even when guests clamored for his attention.

Big Red works on Main Street and has for several years. A lot of regulars recognize him, but even new guests that he's never met seem to develop a favorable impression of him almost instantly. A couple nearby saw him and were anxious to approach him and get their picture taken together.

Even I never got that kind of buzz when I worked Jungle. While the Japanese tourists loved to gather around me for a group photo near the main entrance of the attraction, I'm pretty sure it was the Jungle---and my costume---and not my deeply charming personality that got the shutters clicking. Still, that was nothing compared to Big Red.

My brother's girlfriend even wanted her picture with him. As he approached the top of the Hub, I mentioned to the young couple that Big Red would stop for a photo right in front of them.

And he did.

Then our group had to get in on the act.

My youngest daughter and I approached. I saw one of his fellow cast members and asked if a photograph would be okay. Sure.

"What's his name?" asked my daughter.

"Big Red."

"Is he a Percheron?" I asked.

"No, a Belgian."

"Can we pet him?" begged my daughter.

"Sure, but not near his face. Pet him on his side by his tummy."

I watched her small fingers stroke the sleek hair along the giant horse's side, just below the harness and tack that helped him to pull the heavy trolley car up and down the street.

Big Red never flinched. He turned his head slightly toward my daughter and patiently accepted another guest's adulation. He lifted his head proudly as we stood for a photo with him.

With a clang of the bell and a shake of the reins, he dipped his powerful head again and slowly clip-clopped away.

We watched him and a trolley-full of guests glide around the Hub and back down Main Street.

My daughter won't remember that we went on Peter Pan, Dumbo, Matterhorn, Finding Nemo, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, The Jungle Cruise, Tarzan's Treehouse, Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye, The Pirates of the Caribbean AND Splash Mountain BEFORE 11:00 a.m. yesterday.

She'll remember rubbing Big Red's tummy.

That, my Disney friends, is as it should be.

Disneyland - Jungle Cruise - Unload Corn

The following bit of Jungle junk was tucked in the "comments" section as a response by me to an earlier post, but I guess it's worth a separate post--if only for the sheer "ugh!" of the corny jokes. I figure, if I had to suffer through this, then so should you.

When our boat arrived at the dock after journeying through the dark jungle waters, I would launch into one of many "exit spiels," including this one:

"Well folks, that's our trip. I really enjoyed taking each of you through the jungle.
I hope you enjoyed being taken.

As we say farewell, please don't be strangers---I work with enough strange people already...

(At the dock)
Now, all you crusty adventurers, rise like bread.
No loafing about.
Please exit the boat.
But don't go off half-baked,
even if you thought these stale jokes were crumb-y.
They're the yeast I can do.
Sorry for any mix ups.
I promise to do butter next time.
I didn't mean to cause a stir.
Any way you slice it,
this monologue is a recipe for disaster.
I milk it for all its worth and still end up with egg on my face.
But I take it all with a grain of salt.
And, sifting through it, pick up kernels of wisdom along the way.
Sure, I may get battered,
since this job is no cakewalk.
But I can't let that frost me.
Because I really need the dough.

Hey, don't stop me now,

I'm on a ROLL.

Thank you! Enjoy your day here at Walt Disney's Magic Kingom!"

---Mike

Disneyland - Haunted Mansion - The "Real" Ghost

I was a Sweeper in 1985. Late one summer night I was assigned to Haunted Mansion in New Orleans Square on a closing shift. This meant I was responsible for a final sweep of the Mansion queue and to clean out its bordering flower beds.

Now when Disneyland closed the guests were slowly, but surely, escorted from the back areas of the Park and herded toward Main Street by Security. As closing hour approached, most guests had long headed for the exits anyway, but the few stragglers were evenutally walked out (encouraged no doubt by the closing announcement: "Disneyland has now ended its normal operating day...").

So.
It was dark.
The area music was still on, but there was a strange quiet nonetheless.
The other sweepers in New Orleans/Bear Country were far off doing their own closing routine.
I was alone.

There I stood in the large bullpen near the east side of the Mansion, with my ever-present pan and broom in one hand and my trusty black flashlight in the other.

A breeze lifted the branch of a nearby tree as I stooped over a flower bed in search of old napkins, cigarette butts, guidebooks, cups and other such castaways. The tiny leaves of the branch ran along the back of my neck like fine fingers. I started and stood up straight.

Then I saw it.
I had been going to Disneyland for umpty years and had been working there for almost two.
I had never seen it before.

My eye caught what looked like a yellowish ball of light bobbing gently past the inside of one of the upper story windows of the Mansion. As soon as I saw it, it was gone.
I blinked, looked away, then glanced back up.
Nothing.

Well...I decided I'd better finish up my flower bed, sweep the queue and get out of there. I didn't even have a radio with me.
Nope.
Just me.

And the Mansion.

I directed the beam of my flashlight back into the dark flower bed and gingerly picked out more debris with my pan and broom. I was pretty sure I had seen something, but tried to push it away as the reflection of an airplane in the window panes, or maybe one of my fellow cast members had shined their flashlight up there.

Needless to say, I picked up the pace of my work. I looked forward to heading back to the area locker. I was working near the brick wall of the queue and meandering along the bullpen (that's what we lovingly call the area where guests line up) toward the porch of the Haunted Mansion. As I dumped my pan into one of the trash cans of the queue, my eye wandered up the Mansion's facade toward those upper windows again.
There it was.

The ghost.

A flickering light moved across the inside of one of the windows again.
There was NO mistaking it this time!

Then...

...it moved on to the NEXT window!
Whoa.

When it proceeded to pass in front of the NEXT window, then I knew.

Darn Imagineers!

This special effect was clearly an intended part of the attraction and could only be seen in the dark of night. What appeared to be the ghostly light of a candle moved along inside each of the windows, as though the widowed bride were marching around inside her home, waiting for the return of her captain.

The effect was well done, with a slowly bouncing, flickering light moving past the opaque curtains of the windows. It moved slowly from window to window, with a slight pause in between.
When I had first glanced up, the light had reached one of the corner windows, so that it proceeded around the corner to the next window (where I couldn't see it). That is why I caught a glimpse and then it had appeared to vanish.

Another smart part of the illusion was that the "walking light" paused for some time between cycles, so that the windows would return to their darkened state and, if you didn't stare up at them for a few moments, you might not notice the light when it began moving again.

Now I'm not saying that there aren't ghosts in the Mansion, but I almost became a true believer on that summer evening! I kept that little effect under my hat, sharing it only with a few family members on evening trips to the Park. I have not been out there after dark at any time in the recent past. I wonder if the haunted candle is still pacing around the old house's windows...

Check it out for yourself next time you're there. I will close by sharing with you this excerpt from The Haunted Mansion album:

"It's a house that people avoid walking past at night. Strange sounds come from within the walls, and it's said that eerie lights have been seen both in the attic windows, and in the graveyard at the side of the house."

Hurry Baaack. Hurry Baaa-AA-aack!

"Jungle Is 101" An Official "Blog of Note"

I thought my "Site Meter" was broken. What's going on?

Then I saw that "Jungle is 101" has been identified as a "Blog of Note," by our friends at Blogger (thanks, Pete!).

I am humbled and appreciative. Hope I can think of something to write!

For those who may be stopping by for the first time, this is a Disneyland site for folks who remember a different era at the Park. If the title of the blog is confusing, here's the answer: In Disneyland cast member lingo, "101" means that a ride or attraction has broken down. I used to work the Jungle Cruise and when the attraction broke down it meant, for most of the operators, an extended break.

I'll try to keep this blog from "going 101," as we move forward. Thanks for stopping by! The attraction should be back up in about oh, half an hour....

Coke Corner - Main Street Pianist - Rod & Johnny

Dateline: Main Street, U.S.A. 1984-1985.

In the late afternoon, as twilight began to settle over a summer day at the Park, the white piano at Coke Corner would burst forth with a ragtime tune and guests would plant themselves on the red and white, wire-backed chairs nearby.

And listen.

Soon the fading sunlight would give way to the sparkling fancy of hundreds of electrical light bulbs along Coke Corner's facade and overhang. The hum of the crowd was a mixture of laughter, broken bits of conversation, distant crying children and orders for hot dogs and Cherry Coke. The clip clop of the horse drawn trolley disappeared as the horses were brought back to their stable and the Street readied itself for the Electrical Parade.

Strollers and pedestrians flowed back and forth past the Candy Palace, the Penny Arcade and the Sunkist Citrus House. On the curb, people began securing their spots for premium parade viewing. The gas lamps of Main Street flickered and the lights along all of the storefronts came up, bathing the area in a yellow electric glow. The area music bounced happily from unseen speakers.

Heat from the warm summer's day began rising up from the sidewalks and pavement that had earlier absorbed it. A soft evening breeze barely ruffled the trees and umbrellas in front of the Plaza Pavillion. Folks on the southern end of the Pavillion's porch leaned toward the distinct and rollicking sound of the piano.

On many days such as this, Rod Miller (pictured below on the cover of his CD) was the source of that fabulous sound. Also sharing keyboard duties back then was a cast member I knew as "Johnny" from his name tag---his full name is Johnny Hodges. He was a pleasant person who, like Rod, knew how to keep the small group of folks within earshot of the piano entertained and upbeat during his sets.

He is pictured here in a photograph from a 1988 special edition magazine entitled "Mickey Is Sixty," published by Time, Inc. and issued in honor of Mr. Mouse's birthday.

The boy's smile (and Johnny's, for that matter) tells you all you need to know.

If you never got to experience one of Rod or Johnny's performances, I am truly sorry.

Rod had played on Main Street since the late 1960s and was an institution. He has since retired and is doing well raising plumerias and visiting the Park now and then, as I understand it.

You can see plenty of videos of Rod over on YouTube and even a few of Johnny. I include one of Rod's here.

Here's one of Johnny's.

Here's another.


And another photograph of Johnny from 2005 (with thanks to "Big Brian").

Simply put, these gentlemen created countless positive experiences for Disneyland guests (and Cast Members) over the years.

I thank them for the many they gave to me.

Perhaps you have an encounter or two with the Coke Corner pianists that you recall?