14 posts tagged “disneyland”

My birthday is on Tuesday. Paul asked what I wanted, and I said, "DISNEYLAND!" So that poor, Disney-indifferent soul had arranged for a one-day, turnaround trip for Tuesday.

Well, then it turns out he's going to be in Southern California on Monday, and it seems silly to take a flight back that evening only to get up at the crack of dawn to haul my Mickey ass to Disneyland, so we decided to stay over Monday night, with me flying out after work and meeting him there.

Because I have an Annual Pass, I get discounts. I called the hotel and got a room at the Disneyland Hotel for $100 less than it would normally cost. AWESOME. One catch - I have to present my pass at check-in. I don't have my pass. It was stolen. I had planned on taking a flight from San Jose that gets me into Orange County at 8:45. Guest Services closes at 8:00. No problem, thought I, I'll just take the earlier flight and get there in time to get the pass. I gave the very nice and helpful reservation agent my Visa card, and made the nonrefundable reservation. The next earlier flight is at 4:45. DAMMIT. Too early. What happened to the 6:30 flight?!?

I tried calling the Annual Passholder hotline to talk to a real-live human to explain my plight. Surely, Disney being a customer service-type company will help me out, right? The hotline turned out to be a voicemail. Nothing more. Oh, but they promise to get back to you within 48 hours. WTF? How is that acceptable customer service?

Okay, fine. I get the general Disneyland phone number for human beings (thank you, MousePlanet) and get somebody. "Hi!" I said in my nicest voice. "I have a problem." I was explaining the situation regarding my stolen pass and my hotel reservation and she cut me off. "OKAY," she said, "You need to go to Guest Services and get a replacement pass." "No, I know that," I said, "but I'm not sure I can get there in time." "Well, that's the only thing you can do," she said. I paused, waiting a beat. Seriously? That was all the help she was going to offer? Not put me through to someone else who could help me? Get creative? Anything?

"Um... okay," I said, "Well, is it possible I could have the pass sent to the hotel?" "No." Again, nothing. No explanation. Whenever someone tells me just "No," I always respond, "Why not?" So I did. "Because we need to verify your photo and you need to pay the replacement fee." Fair enough. "Okay, what if I called Guest Services, gave them my barcode number and faxed my ID? They could send the card to the hotel, where I would verify with my ID and pay the money there."

"No," she said, impatient.

Beat. Beat. Beat.

"Why not?"

"Because. Because it's not - er, because it's not our policy."

Beat. Beat.

"Okay, so, you're just not going to help me with this at all, because it's not your policy?"

"Yes."

CLICK.

I hung up on her. I was so mad at that point I couldn't bring myself to be even a little civil. There was no helpfulness in her voice, no sympathy, no inkling that she even remotely wanted to help me. Even a, "Wow, I'm sorry you had your pass stolen. Gee, I'm not sure if there's anything we can do," would have gone a long way. I couldn't continue the conversation any further or even say "thank you" before I hung up on her. 

I know Disneyland "cast members" hate Annual Passholders. I get it. But maybe there's a reason why we sometimes act the way we do.

Disneyland: You're on notice.

You know what I need? Another blog.

This one is to help me learn about affiliate programs, and it's fun. It's called Disneyland Finds and features for-sale vintage Disneyland items I really shouldn't be buying due to lack of space. And money.

It's very difficult to not buy some of these things.

However, rest assured if it's something I really want, I won't be posting it. Don't want the competition. Sorry. That's the way I roll. I'm kind of a jerk.

I haven't even designed the thing yet, but the domain resolved today. So there you go.

Buy something and gloat, won't you?

So, on Sunday, after I attempted to paint the cabinetry in the master bath in our rental house, I WENT TO DISNEYLAND. I! WENT! TO! DISNEYLAND!

It started off as a lovely, sunny, blue-skies-and-puffy-clouds day, and it wasn't crowded at all. I visited some of my favorite "secret" parts of the park; the scenic, out-of-the-way areas that most people don't gravitate toward because there's no ride situated there.

One of my favorite things about Disneyland is the fact that these little pockets exist. They don't make money. They don't "entertain" anyone in the traditional sense. They're just there.

A couple of photos (more here):

Monorail track

Across from Big Thunder

(This is going to earn me a scathing comment from my mom. Sometimes being a smart ass is worth it.)

...before I go to bed. The storm caused me to sit in an airport for four hours, I still have to get my stuff ready for work tomorrow, and I'm tiiiiired.

But I had to tell you this.

I took a quick trip to Disneyland today, a reward for going to Southern California and working on the (now) rental house. As usual, I headed over to Haunted Mansion and waited in the foyer with all the other eager guests.

A little girl, maybe seven years old, held a pink balloon. One of the "ghost hosts" came over and told her parents that he was sorry, but the balloon couldn't go in. He left them, and the girl burst into tears. Not wanting to deal with a possible meltdown, they decided to hide the balloon.

It's really hard to hide a pink balloon.

The host came over again and told them the balloon couldn't go in. At this point, her mother explained to the girl that she would have to either let the nice man take the balloon, or she couldn't go on the ride.

The girl went ballistic. I mean, absolutely ballistic. The parents - both of them - tried to wrench the balloon from her grasp, but she was having none of it. And this somehow, someway, became funny. The entire room was watching this contest of wills between this abnormally strong seven-year-old and her parents - holding up the ride, no less - and it was freaking hilarious. Even her parents were laughing. I'm sure it wasn't funny to the girl who was clearly in distress, but the superhuman way she was defending the balloon against two (I assume) much stronger adults and the grim determination she had was... well, funny. I was actually rooting for the girl. Those parents must have stores of patience, because my conversation would have gone like: "Give him the balloon. No? Then go wait for us out front. No?" *POP!*

I offered to take the balloon myself and wait for her at the exit. Nope. Having none of it. The host in turn offered the same. Nope. Finally, after about five minutes (but I assure you it seemed longer), the balloon was liberated. At this point, the girl screamed a bloodcurdling scream which seemed appropriate considering our surroundings, and we were allowed to enter the ride.  By the time we entered our Doom Buggies, she had completely calmed down.

I waited a few moments after I exited the ride to see her reunited with the balloon, but it had started to rain. Come to think of it, I didn't see anyone holding the balloon. Hm. Hope it didn't pop.

...the previous post. [Warning: High Disney geek content]

We drove down to Southern California to celebrate Christmas with Paul's family (and of course, they're my family too, but I just needed to clarify). Michael had been wanting to go to Disneyland for a while, so I offered to take him on Christmas Eve day. Since we were attending church with the family at 5:00, I explained it would be a pretty short trip. It would require leaving the house by 7:00, and we'd probably head for home around 1:00. And it was understood the park would be crowded.

I told him all of these things up front not to dissuade him, but to set realistic expectations. He chose to take a rain check, but thanked me profusely for the offer.

I, however, needed my fix, so I got my slightly hungover self out of bed at 6:30 am (the night before was Paul's cousin's annual "Eve before the Eve" celebration, and it was a particularly rowdy one. The neighbors were treated to many different carols, including "Don't Stop Believin'"), swung by Starbucks, and pulled into the Disneyland parking lot right at 8:00. I was in the park by 8:20, got my Space Mountain Fastpass by 8:35, and took a detour through Storybookland before hopping on Small World. I dallied a bit after that, killing time by taking photos before heading back to Space Mountain.

After Space Mountain, I got in line for Peter Pan, but it was 9:15 or so, and the 40-minute wait would have eaten up a lot of my precious Disneyland time. I booked it for New Orleans Square, saw the line for Pirates was snaking toward the river, so went to check out Haunted Mansion Holiday. My plan was to get a Fastpass, then go back to Pirates.

When I got to Mansion, however, there was no wait at all. Walked right in. As I waited in the foyer, I noticed two Cast Members at the far end. They weren't dressed in Mansion garb. I eyed them suspiciously. Security? Sweepers? Who were they and what were they doing there? I got my answer soon enough. As soon as the doors closed, one of them spoke up: "Good morning!  We're the Disneyland Dream Team. In celebration of the Year of a Million Dreams, we'd like to award you the Disney Dream Fastpass!" I jumped up and down and clapped, but there were a lot of people around me who just blinked at them. I ended up explaining it to a circle of people around me. Basically, it's a front of the line pass for most of the major attractions at both parks. AWESOME.

Problem was, by the time I got off of Mansion, it was about 9:45. I needed to be back on the road by 1:00, and I had a bunch of Fastpasses to use. I needed to switch tactics. My Disneyland trip to check out a couple of rides, take pictures, do some shopping and have some hot chocolate changed to a mad race to see if I could get to AS MANY RIDES AS I POSSIBLY COULD.  In the three hours that followed, I didn't eat, I didn't go to the restroom, I didn't take photos. My only concern was using those Fastpasses... GO GO GO! MOVE IT, GRANDMA! ANNUAL PASSHOLDER WITH A DISNEY DREAM FASTPASS COMING THROUGH!

My like-the-back-of-my-hand knowledge of the park layout served me well; after Mansion I jumped on Splash Mountain. From there I maneuvered my way through Adventureland and hit Indy, then cut back over to Big Thunder. I couldn't pass up another turn on Space Mountain, so it was back to Tomorrowland. I still had Autopia, Roger Rabbit, and Buzz Lightyear passes, but I decided to forfeit those and go across to California Adventure. There, I had just enough time for Soarin' Over California and Tower of Terror. Sadly, I ran out of time, and had to leave my California Screamin' pass unused. I thought about giving my pass to someone else, but I figured it would be of little use to just one person. Or I'm just selfish and wanted to hang on to the lanyard. You choose the scenario.

When I told my family about my day, Michael was initially disappointed, but I assured him had he been with me we probably wouldn't had been at that exact place at that exact time to receive the passes.  My sister-in-law had her own explanation as to how I got those passes, "God wanted to make sure you got on the rides as quickly as possible so you could get to church!"

Maybe. I hope God wasn't watching when I mowed down that little kid. Oops.

What's the best thing you ever bought off of Ebay or Craigslist?

<curmudgeon>It's spelled "eBay" with the CamelCase.</curmudgeon>

The best thing I ever got off of eBay was a sign from Disneyland. It used to hang over the Mad Hatter shop in Fantasyland, but eventually became too weathered for Disney standards and was put up on eBay by a guy who insisted he obtained it by completely legal means. Later, I came to doubt this.

It was expensive - over $200 - but I had to have it. It was, after all, a Disneyland "artifact" (a prop or other item that has been used in the park), and it had an Alice in Wonderland theme. This was also my first purchase ever on eBay (this was back in 1999), so I was a little wary. Still, I braved it, bid, and won.

Then the trouble started. I was told it shipped. Two weeks later, nothing. I sent numerous emails. He would respond, but always with the same info, "It shipped," but wouldn't give me a tracking number. I became increasingly nervous. I sent more strongly worded emails. My contact would blame his "partner," whom I doubted existed.

When I finally threatened to get eBay involved, I got an email explaining they were confused, it was a different item that had shipped, and my item had indeed been shipped by FedEx. My request for a tracking number was ignored.

It finally showed up on my doorstep hastily "packaged" in a collapsed brown box, the open ends loosely taped shut. There was no waybill or any indication it had been shipped at all. My suspicions were confirmed when I checked the location of the sellers - they were one city over from me. Clearly, they shoved it in a box, drove it over, and dropped it on my front porch - and pocketed the money I had given them for shipping and insurance.

I could have pressed it, but I didn't. I was so relieved I hadn't lost my $200, I let it go, but not without sending them an email explaining I knew what they did. And that Mad Hatter sign is still one of my favorite things ever.

You'd think that experience would put me off, but no; I've used eBay quite a bit since then and haven't had a single transaction that's gone bad. Everyone should use eBay for all their ecommerce needs. Shop victoriously.

Today, the international members of our team were on campus for a summit. It's really cool; since I've just started it's nice to meet the entire team right away.

A week ago, we were asked to provide a "fun fact" about ourselves as part of an icebreaking exercise. It could be something like "I majored in anthropology" or "I like turtles" or some such thing. I submitted, "I got married at Disneyland. With Mickey Mouse in attendance." Today, during our opening session, we were given bingo cards with 16 fun facts on them. We were to go around the room and find the person who corresponded with each fun fact in an effort to achieve bingo. Not everyone's fact was included to make the game a little easier, but mine was on there.

Now, I've only been at this job for two weeks. My desk isn't decorated at all yet. I don't wear any Disney stuff. I am professionally attired. The only time I think I've mentioned Disney at all is in my interview; I was asked if I ever used the company website and I reponded that I had. When asked what items I've purchased from said website, I responded, "Disneyana."

So imagine my surprise when I walked around the room and people pointed at me and said, "Disneyland, right?" Finally, after the fifth person I'D NEVER MET BEFORE got it right off the bat, I said, "How did you know?" She said, "It just seems to go with you."

I'm really not sure how to react to this.

Welcome to Disneyland! Isn’t it great? Yeah, I love it too. I really hope you have a wonderful time, and that you’ll remember your visit fondly.

That being said, here are a few things you might want to think about:

1. Have your ticket ready as you approach the main gate turnstile. It makes things go so much smoother when it's your turn to enter the park. You might want to hold on to your little ones' tickets, too. They're little and at Disneyland, so they might get distracted and forget where they put it.
   
   
2. There's a lot one could say about waiting in the lines, but I'll boil it down. Here's the thing - it's not a race between you and the rest of the park to see who gets on first. Is it really worth cross-checking Grandma in order to get on Pirates of the Caribbean directly ahead of her? You'll probably be on the same boat with her anyway, and see Jack Sparrow, like, a millisecond before her. Not worth it.
   
   Oh, and having 18 people in your party does not mean Dad can bully his way in front of me and invite the other 17 people to just go around me.  If your party gets separated, the polite thing to do is to move back to be with your party, not wave them all ahead.
   
   
3. Please don't allow your child to continuously bump into, push, or step on the people in front of you. I know personal space is subjective and cultural, but I would say to the couple behind me from Irvine it probably wasn’t. We taught Michael, "Space, Michael," when he was very young, and he caught on quickly.
   
   Oh – and please don’t allow your kids to swing the queue chains. They hit everyone in line and is pretty damn annoying (or painful to the little kids whose faces are just about chain-height).
   
   
4. Strollers. God, what I could write about strollers. Again, I'll just summarize. I know they're hard to maneuver and see around, but having a stroller does not automatically give you the right-of-way. I have permanent scars on my ankles from having chunks taken out of them from NASCAR-bound strollers.
    
   
5. "Excuse me," "Oops, sorry, didn't see you there," and "Thank you" go a really long way.
   
   
6. The reason they say, "No flash photography" isn't because the Audio-Animatronics will malfunction; it's because it's distracting to the other guests. The couple in front of me on Space Mountain who thought it was a great idea to take a picture of yourselves on the ride - in the dark - by turning the camera around to face you? Yeah. I was blinded for an hour and a half. Thanks. If you would have asked me, I could have taken the picture for you as we were pulling into the station. It would have been a much better picture, too.
   
   
7. Please don't take pictures of your entire family across a crowded walkway. Other people try to be polite and wait for your photo, and that gums up the works. Lots of great pictures can be taken in less crowded areas. I'll even take the picture for you.
   
   
8. Walking hand-in-hand and four across... Looks cute, I'll admit. But it makes everyone have to go around you, or break your hand-in-handedness. Don't give me the stink eye because I made you break your own personal Hands Across Disneyland.
   
   
9. If you need to stop and look at a map, move off to the side, please. Again, some of these walkways are narrow and it's hard to get around someone with a fully unfolded map.
   
   
10. If you need to yell for someone, please consider if it's really necessary. Most of the time there are ears directly next to your mouth. Sometimes my ears. And you can yell really, really loud. Don't know if you knew that.
    
    
11. When the walk-around characters are out, there are usually controlled lines. I understand the kids want to meet Pooh Bear, but so do the other 12 kids who were there before your kid. This is a great opportunity to teach patience and politeness.
    
    
12. Don't harass the characters. Seriously. If you smack Tigger, I believe Tigger has every right to beat the freaking crap out of you. I fully support that and will take video of the smackdown for my own amusement.
    
    
13. Don't stretch out for a nap on the benches.
    
    
14. It's not usually the Cast Members' fault the ride broke down. Please don't yell at them. It makes everyone tense and embarrassed for you.
    
    
15. I've been sitting here on this spot for the parade for over 90 minutes. No, it's not okay if your little one stands in front of me, now, two minutes before the parade starts. It's not fair to me, or the other little ones around me who have been waiting just as long who would be completely squished if an extra person (even a little one) is added. If you wanted your child to see the parade from this exact spot, you should have been here 90 minutes ago. We could have had a nice chat.
    
    
16. Think long and hard about buying your child a sword, light saber, or anything that makes noise.
    
    
17. (This one is from Michael): Don’t make your kids go on rides they don’t want to go on. (Uh oh... Did we make him go on a ride he didn't want to go on...? Sorry, Michael.)
    
    
18. Height restrictions are there for a reason. Don't try to fool the Cast Members or get angry when they tell you your child cannot ride.
    
    
19. Menus are usually posted in a place where you can see them before you get to the order counter. Think about deciding on what you and your entire 8-person family would like to order before it's your turn.
    
    
20. I know you're an Annual Passholder. I know you know the entire stretching room spiel for the Haunted Mansion. The family next to you is from Iowa and have never been on the ride before and may never be on it again. They don't want to hear your version of the spiel. SHUT. THE. HELL. UP. (Um... this rule was meant for me.)

Have a magical day at the Happiest Place on Earth! ...And please don't spit from the Monorail.

It's your wildest dream come true!

There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow

5 comments

What is your current obsession(s)?
Submitted by eijsr.

It's a good thing I'm not obsessed with anything, otherwise I'd be really annoying.