And it was with great vengence and furious enthusiasm that I, your intrepid host at Fresh Baked Disney, took to Disneyland on February 18th. I say as much as I had missed an opportunity to shoot the True Love Week event that was ongoing over the weekend as part of Disneyland’s Limited Time Magic promotion. So off I went bright and early Monday morning, a Presidents day holiday, excited to really take in what I thought to be the best event to date for Limited Time Magic.
Perla is Perfect
And right off the bat, just about as soon as I entered the park, I saw her, my new favorite walk around character in all of Disneyland. I saw Perla from Cinderella.
The pictures are great, but they don’t do justice to how much fun she is. The video really shows her at her best. She’s fun and she’s generous. She has something special for every guest. And she somehow, more than any other costumed character I’ve ever encountered, is able to express true and real personality through the costume. It’s amazing to me and I hope Disneyland has recognized her by now. I think the fact that they had her working the front gate may be a good sign of that.
And that was when I made the sudden and soul crushing realization that I was a day late for True Love Week. My internal calendar was telling me this was the last day off of the work week, which made it feel like a Sunday. But it was MONDAY due to the Presidents day holiday. I was a day late! I was really bummed obviously because I had been looking forward to this for a while. I wanted to get a photo with Mickey and Minnie and Donald and Daisy together as couples. This is maybe a once a year opportunity.
A Slice of Disneyland
My mood improved quickly though when I saw Alice and the Mad Hatter. And so off I went to the horse drawn trolley right nearby in Disneyland’s Town Square. This is a simple ride, if that’s what you want to call it, but if you don’t ride it regularly, or don’t make it a point to really enjoy Main Street and Town Square thoroughly, you’re really missing out. Main Street and Town Square are pure Disney in my view. Not that I’m the only who shares that view. It’s really what Disneyland is all about. Folksy charm. If you love folksy charm, you’ll love Disneyland, and you’ll really love the horse drawn trolley.
And as the trolley dropped us off at the Hub, I thought it would be a good idea to catch some photos of the Partners statue. I’ve been working on framing and perspective in my photography and I wanted to mess around with things a bit. I rather liked some of the shots I got. What do you think?
What’s better than Streetmosphere at Disneyland?
From there I made my way to New Orleans Square via Adventureland, as I wanted to see if there was any crane work going on. I’ve been dying to get a shot of a crane dropping a piece of track somewhere. On the way though, I was presented with more good fortune when I ran in to this band of pirates, better known as The Bootstrappers, singing and playing classic pirate songs. It was without a doubt, one of the most fun things I’ve stumbled upon in recent times. I don’t know how long or regularly they’ve been running this little bit of streetmosphere, but I know I can’t remember the last time I saw it. If there are any cast members out there who can give me a heads up, I’d be grateful. And of course I just so happened to have my cameras rolling and caught these photos and video.
So naturally, no sooner had I come off my high of seeing the band of priates was I greeted with the Jambalaya Jazz Band making their way down Market Street en route to playing a set in front of the gumbo counter service restaurant. Now, I’m not a big fan of Jazz, and preferred the Pirate group over this one. But I must say, in this setting, the Jambalaya Jazz Band is perfectly enjoyable. The set is too long I think, but then I believe they’re not so much meant to be show, but rather just ambiance. Background music if you will.
Tea Cups are Back
It was getting a little lonely in this corner of the park so after a quick stop at Adventureland, I decided to head over to Fantasyland to see if there were some actual mob type activity going. There sure enough was, but it still wasn’t too bad. And the good news is that the Tea Cups are back. The Tea Cups aren’t really my cup of tea, but I do love to watch others enjoy them. They look like a lot fun at least 
My next stop in Fantasyland was to the old Fantasy Faire Theater to check on the remodeling progress. This location will be the new home of some stage shows, beginning with Mickey and the Magical Map. It’s difficult to tell if they’re getting anywhere with the construction though, as the walls are pretty ginormous, and there are no elevated locations in that area from which to look down on it. But I am looking forward to catching this show. As I mentioned in an article on this not long ago, I’m just hoping it’s something original, and not a re-telling of stories we already know. This also is when we discovered the broken down monorail.
Fastpass Rants Here, But For One Hour Only
Heading over to Tomorrowland, I took the opportunity to check in on how the fast pass enforcement was going. I found that they are in fact enforcing the 1 hour window, but I don’ t know yet how firm they are being yet. There are signs posted on the fast pass machines reminding everyone to mind the hour window, and cast members are checking times more closely then before. For example, I used to be able to simply hand the CM a stack of fast passes for my group and the CM would give them only a cursory glance. I’m guessing to make sure we were on the correct day or not too early. Otherwise there was no problem. I didn’t see anyone though getting turned back.
In the video to follow, you’ll find a little commentary on this fast pass issue that I’d like to relay here as well. You see, I just don’t get the point of it from an end game perspective. What is it that Disneyland is trying to achieve in doing this. Is it to shorten the stand by line? It was 55 minutes at 11:30 am on this trip. On our trip the day before, the line was longer than I’ve ever seen it in my life. And that’s not an exaggeration. The end of the stand by line was at the BOTTOM of the ramp. The bottom. Where the first pair of CM’s are, and where you can pick up a fast pass. That’s obscene.
So if that’s not the result they’re after, is it t hen to allow for more fair distribution of fast passes? This didn’t bear out on this trip, or on the day before either. At 11:30 am there was already a four hour delay in return times. I guess what I am asking is…who are they trying to help here? Stay tuned as I plan to follow this little policy change closely.
Disneyland Trip Report
And so I finished off the visit with a trip down Main Street and a view of the all the Main Street vehicles. I had been so enamored with the horse drawn trolley that I wanted to see more vehicles in action, and to capture their awesomeness forever. Enjoy!
Thanks guys, I had a great time making the trip and getting this trip report to you. Until next time, be well and please try to love one another.
