Disneyland - Mr. Lincoln - Thanks

Dear Disney:

Congratulations! You definitely got this one right. The family and I recently visited Disneyland and saw the re-opened Opera House and "The Disneyland® Story featuring Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln." We at "Jungle is 101" (okay, ME at "Jungle is 101") have long called for Mr. Lincoln's return to Main Street.

Well...he is back.

Fabulously back.

The entire attraction lobby area has been renovated beautifully and spills over into the new Disney Gallery next door. The homage to Disneyland's history that fills the main entrance area of the lobby is well done---with a fabulous model of the Park as it looked on Opening Day, a focal point.

In the large room where the entrance doors to Lincoln Theater are located, you find another gem: a detailed model of the United States Capitol building, complete with tiny lights, windows, columns---the works.

Most importantly, the Lincoln show itself has been redone to great effect. Mr. Lincoln looks downright dapper in his coat and tails. His famously tousled hair is a bit unruly, but not so much as to be a distraction. His eyes are one of the major improvements I noticed. In the past, they were shadowed (intentionally, I would think, since making convincing eyes is one of the trickier elements in animatronics, so keeping them a bit shadowed made them less noticeable). Now, he scans the audience and the eyes are much more visible. The excerpts of his writings and speeches that have been amalgamated for the show still raise hairs and goosebumps. The content of his speech timeless---but amazingly fitting for the times in which we now live.

"At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, that if it ever reach us, it must spring from amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we ourselves must be its authors and finishers. As a nation of free men, we must live through all times, or die by suicide."

Strong words for trying times---be it 1863 or 2010.

My sincere thanks to the folks at Disney for an amazingly well done revamp of this classic attraction. Dear reader, if you have not visited Mr. Lincoln yet, make it a point on your next visit to the Park.

Have a great weekend!

---Mike

Disneyland - 1987 - A Flashback Video Montage

Today, we offer you a compact video tour of 1987 Disneyland, direct from Youtube. Check it out.

The clips of 1987 Tomorrowland (including Captain Eo) and the "Gift Giver Extraordinaire" that graced the Main Entrance as a holdover from 1985's 30th Anniversary celebration are great. Also, get a load of the grand Gray Lady---Disneyland's old main parking lot (now rumored to have been replaced with some sort of California-based theme park)---as seen from the Monorail. There are many nuggets crammed into this clip---the Tomorrowland stage at Coke Terrace, the Rocket Jets, the People Mover, the newly-painted yellow Subs, America Sings, the old Bubble-top Monorail, big 80s hair, the Main Street Electrical Parade, Storybookland Canal Boats, Mission to Mars, Big Thunder---but, sadly, my Jungle didn't make the cut.

In any event, it is a great montage and a nice bit of time travel. Thanks to whomever posted this originally! Glad you saved your videotape!

---Mike

Disneyland - Jungle Is "101" - A Brief Hello To Our 4 Readers

Good day, Jungle fans and Disneyland patrons.

We hail our blog followers today, be they from San Rafael, California, Las Vegas, Nevada, Salt Lake City, Utah or Mililani, Hawaii. Indeed, greetings are sent to visitors from as far away as Brisbane in Queensland, Australia, Colombo in Sri Lanka and the primeval forests of Florham Park, New Jersey.

How you all managed to find your way here, I'll never know. Of all the blog joints in all the towns in all the world, you walked into mine. Most stumble here, I suppose, from wayward Google and Yahoo searches.

An orthopaedic surgeon looking for a deal on "casts" gets directed here because of our frequent reference to "cast members" at Disneyland.

Many happen upon one of our many photographs of the Park and its Cast Members through a search of Google Images.

Others are looking for serious jungle tours and eco-adventures and get this site in a search result.

Oops. (But, we DO have piranhas. Strangest thing.)

However it was that you arrived in this corner of cyberspace, this much I can say to you without reservation:

Um, hi.

Come on in.
Can I get you anything?
A drink? A snack?
Make yourself at home.
It's good to see you.
How is your family?
My how you've grown!
Have a seat anywhere.
Sorry the place is a mess, but you would not believe the week we've had around here.
How long are you in town?
When is the last time you made it to Disneyland?

Seriously, we love our readers---especially our four (4) loyal readers (Hi, mom!).

You know who you are.

You are people with discernment.
Unrefined discernment, but discernment nevertheless.
You have an odd interest in the perspective of Disneyland cast members.
You have plenty of time on your hands.
You enjoy long walks on the beach at night.
During a rainstorm.
Wearing flippers and a snorkel.
Perhaps little else.
You rummage.
Through the Internet.
Through garage sales.
Through pawn shops, thrift stores and trash bins.
Perhaps you live with several cats, say 30.
You mumble to yourself repeatedly on street corners.
Aluminum foil wadded into spheroids fascinates you.
Your mind wanders.
Often for days at a time.
Some days, you never get out of your bathrobe,
yet you still make it to the grocery store.
You don't remember where you put your keys or if you took your medication.
Many of you, for some strange reason, are engineers, and therefore you do not dress well and have difficulty communicating with others.
Some collect things.
Like dried glue.
Or Ivory Soap wrappers.
Or flavored stationery (we're not sure about you guys).
One or two of you have been known to frequent 7-11 stores (but only at 6:00 a.m and Midnight---just so you can prove them wrong).
You work for great and storied institutions like Amgen, Southern Methodist University or Del Taco.
You are vaguely aware that someone is watching you.
For several of you, personal hygiene is important, but not a priority.
Some favor the great thinkers: Herman (as in "Pee Wee"), Spears (as in "Britney") and Cyrus (take your pick: Billy Ray or Miley).
You are bold.
Different.
Special.
Unsung.
Unrehearsed.
Unheralded.
Uncertain.
Bewildered.
Bemused.
Befuddled.
Bedraggled.
Aware.
Alert.
And oriented x3.
Your pupils are equal, round and reactive to light and accommodation (these last three are for you EMT and Emergency Room types) .
You reach for the stars.
You soon realize that they are enormous masses of incandescent gases, gigantic nuclear furnaces where hydrogen is made into helium at temperatures of millions of degrees and are light years away, so what the heck are you really reaching for here, hmmm?
You find yourself reading lengthy descriptions of you by random people on the Internet who do not even know you.
You are the future.
You are why we at "Jungle is 101" are paid so handsomely for these posts.

Thank you.
If you are on the Jungle side of the boat, stand up, turn around and you will be helped out by the rear.
Of the boat that is.
Ladies don't get agitated.
Those of you on the dock side, you'll be heading out the front doorway.
But don't go through our windows.
You'll get a window pain.
Trust me, it can be a shattering experience.
Heck, it could be curtains for you.
I "shutter" to think about it.
Bye now!

---Mike

Disneyland - In The Bowels of Village Haus

A while back I made my way to Village Haus for a hamburger.
I recalled my sweeper days when I would enjoy a quick burger at the break room downstairs below the restaurant.
There is a service window for cast members at the far western end of the main counter (it is behind the wall, just inside the service door there).
A diet Coke, Village Haus burger and fries provided me with sustenance on many days.
It was hardly haute cuisine, but it was good enough.
Better yet, it was cool to wind my way through the corridor in the back area and down the stairs. There, in the bowels of the building, was another hallway that led to the break room on the left and restrooms on the right.
Breaks in that windowless room were fluorescent-filled and usually quiet. The room was a pretty good size, with tables and chairs and the obligatory TV set on the wall (usually out of service). Of course, sometimes we would arrange our breaks so that a few of us would head down there together. The company was nice. We always had a good time.

No, there are not tunnels under Disneyland everywhere (like at Disney World).
However, there are a few underground spots---beneath Tomorrowland Terrace and the old America Sings building in Tomorrowland, below New Orleans Square at the old Pit and under Fantasyland and the Village Haus, to name a few.
Lucky me. I have seen them all.

This is Mike, signing off. Enjoy your weekend Jungleteers!

---Mike

Disneyland - Pirates Before the Bridge - Sweeper Peeps - Adventure/Frontier Attractions Saves the Lost Safari

Today is Post Some More Old Photos Day here at Jungle is 101.

Sadly, it is not a national holiday. It is, however, recognized as a half-day-without-pay in the Republic of Malta.

So we've got THAT going for us...which is nice.

Moving right along and to our immediate left, please note a vintage photograph of the Pirates' queue before "the Bridge" was erected. Must've been pretty early, as guests could practically walk onto the attraction. Based on costuming and guest clothing, I'm putting this one in the 1980s.




Next: the only known photograph of a failed rescue mission to save the Lost Safari in 1987. A host of Adventure/Frontier Attractions cast members somehow managed to find their way to this remote beach.

Sadly, not one of them seemed to notice the missing expedition, as the cast members' attention was distracted by my passing boat and camera crew.

Since the Lost Safari had long provided me with some of my best material, I was careful not to point them out.

How those folks from Thunder and the Sailing Ship Columbia made their way to this corner of the teeming jungle remains a mystery.


Finally: a few of my sweeper peeps from back in the day, yo. Looks like another tough day at Custodial Control. To the left of the photo, the poster board bears undeniable proof of the fact that we actually received training on how to sweep up trash and use a gum scraper as part of our "function and responsibilities."

On the shelf at the right of the photograph are various tools of the trade: boxes of Kimbies (paper towels sweepers carried like ammo), cleaning solutions, spray bottles of muriatic acid and a box of lye.

This had to be taken close to the end of the shift, otherwise I have no explanation for why these poor people look so flogging happy. Their demeanor could possibly be explained as some sort of after-effect of the off-gassing of volatile organic compounds from the cleaning solutions in Custodial's main offices. We can never know for sure. [I think I have to thank Robin Mora or Jerry Lofquist for originally posting this---not sure where I found it, but I'm glad I did].

---Mike

Disneyland Musings - Volume VII - Fantasyland, Mr. Toad and flower beds

It is late on a June night in 1984 and I am working in Fantasyland as a sweeper. By late, I mean it is the early morning and Disneyland has ended its normal operating day.

The last few stragglers have been walked out to Main Street by Security and I am alone in the bullpen for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

This was back when the statue of Toad, just inside the front window of the queue, still had its left arm and hand raised, with the fingers pinching his monocle. The monocle never survived being constantly swiped by guests. So for a period of time we would routinely find Mr. Toad holding in his pinched fingers a cigarette---usually with the ends twisted so as to look like an illicit substance often smoked by Cheech and Chong.

These unique cigarettes were placed there by some creative guests while waiting in line.

Later, as we see in the picture to the left, Toad's left arm appeared to have been taken off and put back on upside down so that it bent BEHIND Toad's back (in a pose reminiscent of someone hiding a bouquet of flowers before giving it to a loved one).

The statue in question used to look just like the "stone" statue of Toad that graces the attraction's entrance facade. Take a look. See the left arm and the monocle? Remove monocle and you have a magnificent spot for a "cigarette."

As always, I digress.

What was my point? Ah, yes...flowerbeds.
The closing shift for a sweeper involved spending the last hour or so picking trash out of the many flower beds in your assigned area. Fantasyland---especially the area in the heart of the realm---left me with the most pleasant memories of this otherwise mundane task.

Black, bulky, Disney-issued flashlight in hand, as I swept through the area during closing, I would shine the beam across the flower beds, illuminating cigarette butts, popcorn containers, remnants of Mickey balloons, gum, straw wrappers, cups, ticket stubs, Souvenir Guides, popcorn pieces, drink lids, cellophane, and other detritus that would find its way from the hands of guests into the beds. I would pick up these pieces or sweep them into my pan, one bed at a time, until I'd make a complete circuit. I would usually start this process by Dumbo's calliope and work my way around the flower beds, past Village Haus, Pinocchio, Snow White, Tinker Bell's Toy Shop, the Castle courtyard, and back up the other side---Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, the Mad Hatter and over to Alice and back along the Storybookland canal near Monstro.

Each of us sweepers would be going through this process in our respective areas. Our lead would meander through the area, checking on us and occasionally helping out. The area music remained turned on during the whole process and, of course, the area lights. What made it special was the fact that we became the only humans in the realm once the guests had been walked out by security. To be one of four or five people in all of Fantasyland---from Castle to Small World---was a pretty cool thing.

Dumbo's calliope would bounce out its happy carousel tunes in the background and I would find myself picking to the music on occasion. We sweepers developed a posture for attacking the flower beds. A foot would be slid under the painted wrought iron fence that surrounded the bed and the sweeper would lean forward over that leg to get at stuff closest to the fence line. If you walked through the area during a closing shift, you would see a virtual ballet of sweepers' rear ends in the air and heads down as they bent over their flower beds with flashlights.

Between flower beds, I would sometimes just stop for a moment and take it all in. The lights, the music, the flowers, the familiar attractions, the cobblestones. Once again, me and the Park. Maybe I'm selfish---who isn't at times?---but there are moments when the Park feels like it is there just for me. I wish each Disneyland-o-phile could have that unique opportunity: to be alone in an area of the Park, even for just a few minutes.

At the end of the shift, our area crew of sweepers would gather into a group and make our way back to the Custodial locker. We would then go to the locker room and Wardrobe, to turn in our costume, change and head home.

We were a closely-knit group. Indeed, this blog is a testament to the lasting impact that those precious few days as a Cast Member had on me. It is either that or some strange sort of mental illness that keeps me at the keyboard, posting this stuff.

As my dear friend Mr. Gump would oft impart, "That's all I have to say about that."

---Mike

Disneyland - Jungle Cruise - 1980s - "Last Day Dip"

It is a tradition lost to the ravages of time: launching a Skipper into the river on his last day on Jungle.

Our thanks to Ed Cunningham, fearless skipper of the early 80s---and (thankfully) someone who bothered to document the antics (and keep the photos). Ed originally posted these pics of what was no doubt his last day on Jungle (even then, Management was not keen on Cast Members swimming in attractions during Park hours).


The initial push into the river by a fellow cast member was clearly quite effective, as the victim made it all the way across to the catwalk!

Alas, this grand tradition is no longer in favor at modern Disneyland (ahem, "The Disneyland Resort"). This is probably for the best. We've heard tell that Ed suffered from the dreaded "Jungle River Slimepox" on and off for over 27 years after hitting the river. Yeeewwww.

By the way, I do not think I will ever tire of seeing photos of the Jungle boats with their striped canopies or the Skipper costumes with the leopard print hat bands.

These photographs also help to answer the time honored guest question: "How deep is the water?"

In the middle photograph, our victim has resurfaced and is standing on the mucky bottom, with his head and shoulders out of the water.

It's that deep.

For now, my friends, stay well, keep dry and remember, as Trader Sam used to tell me often: "There's no known cure for Slimepox."

So when next you cruise the Jungle, STAY IN THE BOAT!

---Mike

Disneyland Musings - Volume VI - Matterhorn Way

All right, I've been bad. Very bad.
I have been dealing with a lot in my other life and have neglected my blog.
What's strange, though, is that I've actually picked up more followers during this "frozen screen" phase.
Perhaps the best way to increase readership of "Jungle is 101" is for me to stop writing...

No such luck folks.

Today I muse about my first shift as a spry, young custodial host in brilliant sweeper "whites" in May 1984. As the title of this post indicates, I was assigned "Matterhorn Way" in Fantasyland for my first shift "on my own" after training.

It is an area of the park (like I need to tell any of you Parkophiles) that runs from the northeast corner of the Hub on Main Street (to the right of Sleeping Beauty's Castle if you are facing the Castle from Main Street) and northeast toward the Small World (on one side) and more easterly toward the queue for Finding Nemo (on the other side---Matterhorn Way splits at the base of the Matterhorn---the Alice side and then the Tomorrowland side). See the photograph from 1985 (note the 30th Anniversary logo on the light pole).

It is a section of the parade route for most every Disneyland parade. The main section of Matterhorn way runs between the Matterhorn and the Fantasyland restrooms just south of Alice in Wonderland. It is an open area that is usually not too crowded. It is shaded along its western edge by the trees and the castle wall facade that run along the southeastern edge of Fantasyland.
It's a great place to be a sweeper.
Plenty of foot traffic.
Lots of guest interaction.
The bathroom is easily located and most guests can be directed there without a map or a 20 minute geography lesson.
The bullpen for the Matterhorn runs in a single line along the base of the mountain---easy to sweep. Just jump in line with your pan and broom, ease along with the guests, sweep as you go and jump back out when you get across from Alice.
There are sunny areas but also blessed shade. July and August are rough if your area is a place largely devoid of shade like Tomorrowland or along the Rivers of America (between the River Belle Terrace and Tom Sawyer's Rafts landing).
Matterhorn Way is a travelers' zone---people who are going through it are moving to and fro on their way to other places.
They usually know where they're going, too, because once one rounds the corner from Main Street, the Small World unmistakingly beckons in the distance, with Alice very obviously to the left and a great, big, white mountain to the right. The echoing roar of Harold sounds from inside the mountain and rolls along Matterhorn Way rhythmically.
Sure, you'll get the occasional, "Can you tell me how to get to the Matterhorn?"
But there is something deeply satisfying about being able to put on your best Disney smile for the guest, slowly turning toward the megalith behind you, and answering with a two-fingered point, "Why you're almost there! It's that white mountain to my left!"
Most smile embarrassedly and nod a thank you as they step into the line.
As that young sweeper on his first shift, Matterhorn way was perfect.
First of all, for your lead, it was an easy spot to keep track of a newbie.
There's nowhere to hide (or get lost). It is also an easy area to point out ("I want you to start at the popcorn cart---hit that area often, by the way---over in front of the Matterhorn and then sweep the area all the way past Alice down to the Hub, and then the back side of the mountain and back along the Alice side to the popcorn cart again, you got that? Don't forget to hit the line every half hour or so and don't forget the restrooms!")
It's a spot "between worlds" within the Park. It's a little Main Street, it's a little Tomorrowland, it's a little Fantasyland---all within an area that takes about 15 minutes to cycle through with a pan and broom.
Guests enjoyed (and still do enjoy) sitting along the concrete benches south of the restrooms. They are themed to be part of the Sleeping Beauty Castle and are smooth and usually shaded.
I often met the most pleasant people seated along there. They were happy to have a conversation with a sweeper. Many were seniors---resting their legs while the rest of the family scurried elsewhere in the Park.
"How are you today?"
"Just fine," I'd answer. "Where are you from?"
"Oh, we're from "X"---we're visiting the grandchildren. What a lovely day! Not too warm for you is it?"
"No, I keep moving and there's shade. Besides, those restrooms over there are cool and air conditioned---and they need sweeping!"
"I hadn't even noticed. I'm glad you pointed them out! Thank you."
Et cetera.
I couldn't believe I was actually getting PAID to stand in Disneyland and talk with people! Or to walk through my assigned area with my pan and broom and keep the place Disney clean! (I was pretty gung-ho, I'll admit; you know, even later on the Jungle Cruise, I was quick to pick up trash in the queue or in the boats).
For your next visit, your assignment is to take a seat along the concrete Castle benches on Matterhorn Way and people watch for a while. Grab a corn dog or a churro or a turkey leg and take a seat. Watch the guests going by.
Better yet, take some time and watch for the sweeper.
Be sure to say hello.

---Mike

Disneyland: Happy New Year! Tomorrowland, Then and Now, Plaza Gardens and 1985 Cast Members

Salutations and best wishes for a healthy, happy, safe and productive new year to all four of you loyal readers! It is kinda silly to have a site meter to track my mom and three other people, but what the heck, it was a free application.

Since we tend to look back here at Jungle, there's no better way to start the new year than to compare 1980s Tomorrowland with its present counterpart.

The photograph below shows the east side of Tomorrowland viewed from the upper bullpen area of Space Mountain in 1985. Bright primary colors catch the eye, from the Monorail, to the Skyway, to the America Sings building and even the Tomorrowland Terrace umbrellas. Palm trees also rose gracefully to the sky, perhaps evoking a positive, upwardly moving future.
This same area today (a touch more crowded) seems a little "off." You can really see how Innoventions was kinda slapped together over the old America Sings building. Hey! They got rid of the flag poles and replaced them with---a triangle thingy! Now there's also a big wet ball in the middle of the walkway. Not sure why. Further, they've added a green tower to the skyline (over at the Autopia) and replaced a nice shady spot near the old America Sings building with one that's a little less shady. Stainless steel handrails have become brass or rust-colored, too.
And what exactly has taken over the old Rocket Jets platform to the upper left of the photo? DirecTV? Dish Network?
Enough of that.

Next, I share with you a 1985 view of Carnation Plaza Gardens and a link to an old post about this location. This photograph was taken by a guest during Park operating hours in early 1985. Imagine, open, empty space within Disneyland! Trust me, it can happen.

Finally, let's close with a fun shot of several 1985 cast members perched above the moat at the entrance to Sleeping Beauty's Castle. See? Cast members have fun at Disneyland, too.
That, I can assuredly and thankfully tell you, is one thing about the Park that has not changed over time!

Here's to 2010! May each of your lives continue to grow and add new things! May there continue to be imagination left in the world!

---Mike

Disneyland - More 80s Nostalgia - Jungle Cruise - Tiki - Orange Polyester - Merry Christmas!

Ok. Ok. I know---it's been a month since my last post. I have been, shall we say, remiss.

But hey, this isn't "Julie & Julia," or even "Mike & Walt." I never promised to post every single day or to cook every dish in Julia Child's first cookbook over the course of a year.

Still...if you're gonna be a blogger, I guess you have to actually blog occasionally. Even if you have but four (4), count them, four(4) readers to your name.

I have seen somewhere that "Jungle is 101" is described as being a bit on the nostalgic side. That's like saying the Boy Scouts are a bit on the "help-an-old-lady-to-cross-the-street-and-learn-how-to-tie-really-good-knots" side.

I confess, when it comes to the Park, nostalgia is my game (though I do seem to recall a post or two relating to my most recent stint as a cast member!).

Thanks to the magic of the Internet, I've been able to come across many old photographs from my first tour of duty at the Park. Today, we peek at a few more, starting with the Jungle Cruise crew from 1986-87-ish (thanks to Sue B. for originally sharing this photo). Two of my favorite old skippers (Jimm and Dougg) (they insist on the double consonants) a pictured in the group below (Jimm to the far left and Dougg smack in the middle). See? The hats, the costumes, the canopies, the old seat cushions, 7 cast members on a single boat (doing absolutely nothing but posing for a picture)---Jungle at its finest!
I remember the macrame-style belts were a bit cheesy, but overall, we cut a fine form in our Jungle gear, eh?

In our next photograph we have old-time skipper "Wally" taking a zip around the rivers of Adventureland on the world famous "skiff." I worked a lot of parade shifts and Mark Twain with Wally. He was a great Jungle captain. Back in the day, they actually trusted us skippers (at least a few of us anyway) to pilot a boat through the Jungle that was not connected to the riverbed. Imagine.

Of course, our old lead (Don) was known to pilot an unwitting skipper or two (seated at the front of the skiff) directly under Schweitzer falls for a ceremonial jungle baptism (one of several preferred forms of the ritual---others included: the squirter, the falls, the Spur side, the unload, the front switch, the rear switch, the "it's clear to cross the bow! (and then throttle into reverse suddenly)" to name but a few).

Of course, after several times around the Jungle (or more, if the rest of your rotation was mad at you for taking an "extended" break), you would retire to one of the many premier break areas available to Disneyland Cast Members.

Each break area came stocked with: (1) a 40-year old vending machine (complete with 40-year old snacks inside), (2) an inoperative change machine (that would instantly spit back any type of bill one attempted to feed into it---from a crisp, newly minted greenback to the more common crumpled single), (3) a bench or table (usually orange for some reason) and (4) a videogame.

In a photograph below (originally shared byfrom Lee S.), we see a fellow Thunder cast member (Henry D.) enjoying a few mushroom-shooting moments with Centipede (with an inoperative brown change machine in the background). The old Thunder costumes were also pretty cool (though the boots would absolutely KILL your feet after a typical shift).
Some attractions actually permitted the cast member to be both on the clock AND taking a break AT THE SAME TIME. This wonder of the modern workplace was available in many forms around the Park, but none so perfect as the Tiki Room:
Here (in another Lee S. photo---thanks Lee!), we see a graphic demonstration of the work/break principle in its purest form, with Dave P. as our Tiki Room attraction operator. Uh, Dave, first you wake up Jose and now THIS? By the way, I think that same chair is STILL at Tiki (though now it's in the "office" in the back and not on stage as depicted above).

The photograph of Dave also brings back memories of the Tiki costume. Slacks and an orange Hawaiian shirt made entirely of polyester. Those pants would literally tear the hair off of your legs. They also would not breathe! Nice combo once July and August hit, let me tell you.

We close today's post with a 1986 photograph (again thanks to Lee S.) of Jeff Cravello at the turnstile position leading to the Tiki lanai. It looks like the sun is setting and the lights are coming up in Adventureland. Soon Jeff will be hearing the drums of the Tahitian Terrace show rumbling into action behind him. Very 80s specs Jeff is sporting, no?Okay, there is one thing I do NOT miss about 1980s Adventure/Frontier Attractions: Tiki polyester.

It took 25 years, but the hair finally has grown back on the front of my thighs. Sheesh.

Oh, and in case I don't post between now and then, may each of you have a safe, happy and Merry Christmas!

"Jungle Bells! Jungle Bells! Jungle all the way! Oh what fun it is to run...from an elephant about to spray! Hey!!"

---Mike