A few weeks ago, I posted a chronicle of my friend Cathy's Birthday visit to Disneyland. During the trip I purchased a ticket for the Annual Passholder (AP) Light Magic Premiere on May 13. Other friends, Cindy Yan and Tim Castro had bought their tickets earlier, but that day I also found out that Tim was bringing his friend Sara to the premiere as well. We all made arrangements to meet at the start of the premiere.
I made arrangements to fly on Southwest Airlines to Orange County the morning of the 13th, stay overnight in Anaheim, and fly back the next evening. I had a free ticket with Southwest, and they also allow you to easily change your itinerary. I wasn't sure if I was going to return from Orange County or LAX; it depended on other factors.
There are people who read the group alt.disney.disneyland that also meet at the park. To help them spot other readers, one reader designed a small button that says "I DIG add". The buttons are distributed at meetings in the park or at other special events. I received mine when a group of a.d.d readers in the Bay Area got together with Al Lutz (who maintains the Disneyland Information Guide on May 3.
Before leaving for the Oakland Airport, I put on my Cal hat and my a.d.d button. Since I had a low number, and only my backpack, I sat in the first "lovely lounge area". A couple boarded later on and said "I like your button"; The couple was Donald Laird, and his wife. I should add that Donald's Virtual Disneyland Tour site is excellent. They ended up sitting further back in the aircraft.
In the joke department, the flight attendants were introduced as "Trixie, Pixie, and Dixie" even though those weren't there names (though one of them was named Tracie). Tracie also reminded us that it's all first class seating on Southwest.
The flight was uneventful. There was a couple sitting across from me with their 15 month old daughter. The daughter was as good as gold throughout the flight. Other kids were also on board. Behind me a mother was reading a childrens version of Star Wars to her child. In the lounge across the aisle, a girl was excited that tomorrow was going to be her first ever trip to Disneyland...I told her mother that they should stop at City Hall first thing and tell them about that... City Hall gives out stickers to first timers that say "My first visit to Disneyland"
When we approached John Wayne Airport, the aircraft flew over "The Big A"...passengers on the left hand side of the aircraft got to see Disneyland (oh well, next time I fly into Orange County, I'll know which side of the plane to sit on). At 1pm, I was off the airplane.
DRAT! I had just missed The Airport Bus which takes you from John Wayne Airport to Anaheim. Fortunately, however, I saw Donald and his wife walking to their rental car. I said "hello" and they offered me a ride to my hotel--The Days Inn Suites (which is on Harbor just past Ball).
Donald also maintains a site of California State Historical Landmarks; When I told him where he could find the marker for the UC Berkeley campus, he said "You've earned your ride!". I appreciated the ride... I know that this got me to my hotel earlier, which meant I got to spend more time in the park.
Checking into the hotel was easy. They gave me a ground floor room with two queen beds. I got a room with two beds because I had offered the room as crash space to several friends who were going to attend the AP party. Tim Castro and his friend Sara took me up on the offer so they could go to the park on Wednesday as well and have dinner with me on Wednesday night.
The room itself was pretty spacious. It was clean, and the TV and air conditioning worked. The only odd things:
The air con unit did not have a "vent open/close" switch
When you checked in, you got your TV remote, which you had to return upon check out.
The shower had separate HOT and COLD knobs...I'm not used to that in a hotel.
The bathroom had NO ventilation (argh!)
It fit its two diamond AAA rating, and was "nicer" than the Anaheim Stadium Travelodge. The room cost $49 + tax, which, because other hotels were booked, made it the cheapest nice hotel I could find.
After getting settled, I decided to walk to the park, since the shuttle bus (their own, not Western Transit) wasn't due for over an hour. During the walk, I learned a few things:
Once you cross the freeway, you can't walk on the west side of Harbor; the bushes grow right into the street.
The Saga Inn is now the Ramada Maingate
The old Ramada Maingate is now either a Fairfield or Hampton Inn.
The walk didn't take too long, and soon I was inside the park.
Because I had been to the park recently, I wasn't in a hurry to ride a bunch of rides. Instead I wanted to hit a few quiet spots.
My first stop was the Hungry Bear Restaurant. I was hungry, and I am a Cal Bear, so what better place to go. I went to the spot in the back of the upper deck to eat my cheeseburger and fries, and drink my sprite in peace. It was nice.
My next stop was Tom Sawyer Island. Cindy had mentioned a spot opposite the waterfalls with the abandoned mine. On the way, I walked along the Rivers of America. I noticed another quiet spot. Two tables and some chairs were on one side of the Columbia, which was docked. Because Fowlers Harbor (which serves chowder) was closed that day, nobody was there; this seems like another hiding spot.
When I reached Tom Sawyer Island, I walked around, over the pontoon bridge, and then along the riverbank towards where you are told "No guests beyond this point". There are actually three spots I like in this area:
A bench on a little landing on the river.
Some rocks which are over the "hide and seek caves".
A bench, close to the end the path, with a tree behind it.
The bench was my favorite of the spots because the tree trunk bended over the bench, allowing one to sit against it. While I was sitting down, I could easily hear (and see) the story teller further down the far side of the riverbank. I also became fascinated watching a crow wash itself in one of the waterfalls; the crow stood at the edge of the "middle" waterfall and somehow stood there as the water washed over and around itself. It later flew off, but then I noticed a duck and a duckling not more than one foot away from me (we'll see how that picture turns out). They looked around for a little bit, and then got back in the water and swam away.
After that, the Mark Twain came around the riverbend. I started waving to the people on the deck, and some of them waved back. The cutest moment was this little girl who spotted me waving and then excitedly smiled and waved her hand back and forth.
I would have stayed in the spot a little longer, but then an adult couple came by and decided to start smoking...yuck...talk about spoiling the moment.
Next, it was time for another quiet spot--The Disney Gallery. This time I just went out onto the balcony overlooking the Rivers of America and sat down and people watched. While I was sitting, a cast member pointed out the "WD" and "RD" in the ironwork of the balcony to a couple. The couple thanked her. When I went back inside, the same couple had asked about "Disney's California Adventure". The CM pulled out a map showing what was going to happen to the parking lot. I then took a look at the Charles Boyer Light Magic Lithograph...it looked nice, but I didn't feel like spending the money.
My next stop was Indy. I wanted to see if the snake had been repaired...It hadn't. I rode it twice, since the line was short. The first time I went to the Riches room, but for some reason we got Sallah's "Fountain of Youth" spiel at the end. The second time we went through the "Fountain of Youth"...and again we got the fountain of youth spiel at the end. After the second ride, I asked a CM when they were going to fix the snake. He said, "We're working on it." I said "Thanks."
When I walked out of the building, I got to be "picked on" by a Jungle Cruise skipper. He shouted "Hey sir! You left your bags back there! Oh that's your wife." I replied by yelling back to the boat "Thanks very much! Hey you folks in the boat, give him a hand, maybe he'll start telling funnier jokes."
I then decided to ride the jungle cruise and see if I got to hear any funny jokes. The funniest ones were in the queue:
Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to the World Famous Jungle Cruise Please do not take pictures while you are in the queue, Once again please do not take pictures while you are in the queue; They are nailed to the walls for a reason.
Ladies and Gentleman, I'd like to remind you that cutting in line will not be tolerated here at the World Famous Jungle Cruise. That's right...there is to be no cutting in line. Anyone caught with scissors will be ejected from the queue.
Attention ladies and gentleman! If anyone has lost a roll of 50 hundred dollar bills wrapped in a rubber band please come to the front. I repeat...if you have lost a roll of 50 hundred dollar bills please come to the front...Good news! We have found your rubber band.
The best one on the boat was when we reached the Temple. Some ducks were sitting atop one of the crocodiles. Our skipper said:
And look, over here we have some terrifying killer ducks... You can tell how much they've frightened that crocodile below them because he's scared stiff.
One last note, the elephant that looks like it's going to squirt the boat was not working.
There was still a little more time before the meet, so I decided to visit one more quiet spot--The Main Street Cinema. I watched Mickey's Polo Team, and then it was near 5 o'clock. I had an appointment at the flag pole.
Several people were already gathered, and so we all started talking. Different rumors as far as when the performances would be and how many there would be were passed along. Several of the people had taken the "Walk In Walts Footsteps" tour. They were beaming about their tourguide and mentioned that they had taken her onto Pirates to show her the hidden Mickeys and also gave her an a.d.d button (do any of you who went on the tour want to add anything?) Someone else was showing off his Pilot, on which he had loaded Al's Disneyland Information Guide (that's pretty convenient).
One moment for me requires a little set up. After my last trip report, Adrienne (an a.d.der with the login AVBalloons) had sent me mail asking "Where's the Eyore sign in Indy?" I gave her a rough idea of where to find it. When I found out which woman was Adrienne (and I should have been able to tell--she was wearing tiny balloon earrings) I said "Hi! We're you able to find Eyore?" "No! And before we leave the park tonight you're going to show me where it is. ;)" she answered. Of course I would show it.
Eventually after more talking in small groups, we all gathered on the steps of the Main Street Railroad Station to get our picture taken. We managed to snag 3 cast members to take our photos. I also got a photo of the three cast members taking our picture.
The meet then broke up, with some people heading off to Stromboli's and others saying to grab spots in front of gates 1-5. Since Cindy was at work, and Tim had to pick up Sara from Union Station, neither could make it to the 5pm meet. I needed to meet them at 7:30pm meet near the picnic area. Because I wasn't sure how long dinner would take, I decided to eat inside the park at the Plaza Inn.
Because the park was closing at 7pm, the lunch menu was still up (hey, it makes the meal cheaper!) I opted for the chicken rice bowl and some coffee (you get free refills of coffee at the Plaza Inn) and grabbed a spot outside where I could people watch. The only bad show for the daytime visit was that the cast at the Plaza Inn did not bus the tables very quickly (c'mon, do you want all of those birds around the place?). It wasn't until I had finished eating and had my second cup of coffee that they started to bus any of the tables outside.
After a brief conversation with an a.d.d couple (I'm terrible with names) I then went to my next quiet spot...Snow White's Wishing Well. Before I got to the wishing well, I noticed the swans in the moat. Along with two adults swans was a child swan (a swanling?)...I watched them take some handouts until the chimes of the grotto called me to the wishing well. This time a little girl was trying to cast her coin into the wishing well...as Snow White started to sing, the girl's father lifted her up so she could make her wish.
After a ride on the Matterhorn, I slowly walked back out the park, this time over the castle drawbridge and down main street. When I got outside I saw that people were already lined up outside the gates. Not too many people made it to the 7:30 meet, but at least Cindy, Tim, and Sara showed up...which made me happy. But then we also found out that the first performance wasn't until 9:50! Talk about a long wait.
When Al came by, we all went to the spots that other a.d.ders had held for us (thanks!). Eventually the gates opened and we went inside and made the dash for small world plaza. It was painful to walk through the castle into Fantasyland and see nobody in line for Peter Pan's Flight, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, or Dumbo, and not take advantage of it (if only had we only known better).
We got to Small World Plaza and grabbed a spot on one of the platforms between the two towers on the east side. Cindy and I were near the tower closest to It's a Small World. It was a long wait, everyone managed to pass the time chatting about various things.
Then the performance was about to begin. Dinseyland president Paul Pressler was introduced, and people actually applauded. He gave a short speech telling us that "[Annual Passholders] as our most important guests and a very much a part of our Disney familly...you get to see the first of what will be many rehearsals". Matt's Disney Sounds Page has the speech if you want to listen to it.
After that, we started to hear the opening for the show. It took a while for the floats to roll out, and the first thing that struck me was how long these things were. Since I don't want to spoil anything, I mention some of the glitches that took place instead.
As the floats (actually rolling stages) slowly rolled out, the introductory song was able to loop. The floats then stopped, but the song looped again (it looked like they were trying to align the floats with the projection towers. Finally, the music stopped (and there was much rejoicing) and announcement that there were "technical difficulties" was made.
We had all heard the opening song enough times that the melody and some of the words were still our heads. Tim started singing the "chorus", almost immediately, others joined in and sang:
Other people around us started laughing, and a few clapped along. If you want to hear the opening song, visit the aformentioned Matt's Disney Sounds Page.
Eventually, the show (and that song) began again, but this time the performance began. Was there light? Yes. Was it magical? No. Was it like the commercial? No (in fact, you can tell what was added in post production to the commecrcial). One blessing for Cindy and I though was that we could see two floats. When the middle projection tower failed, we had no problem seeing the display on one of the other floats.
When the show ended, some of us said "What happened?". I'm willing to wait for them to get the bugs out of the show, but I think it's going to take sometime. My recommendation, do not make a specific trip to the park just to see Light Magic...go to the park because you want to enjoy the park, and then decide if you want to see Light Magic.
Though the main event was Light Magic, they had other events as well. One that we were interested in was a display on the New Tomorrowland which include the oppertunity to ask imagineers questions. At first we walked past thinking that there was a line, but after a quick ride on Space Mountain (the lights were off, darn), we came back. Sara wanted to find out about the replacement for the People Mover.
The display included paintings of aspects of the rehabbed land, a model displaying what would go inside the old "America Sings" Building (which they had open enough that you could see the inside spin). Eventually we got close enough to Tony Baxter to hear him talk about Rocket Rods (which is what they are calling the replacement for the People Mover).
He started by talking about the Circlevision 360 theatre and how it will be used in the queue for the ride. Guests will enter the theatre, be shown a film which would help set up the ride, and then they will proceed to the loading area. Some of the film will use the full 360 degrees (so you'll have your chance to get disoriented) while other parts will have images bounce from one screen to another.
When someone else asked "How do you know that people won't leave the film early?", I tacked on "Like in Norway" Tony Baxter said that they wouldn't let them into the loading area.
He also talked about the theme of the ride as far as offshoots of ideas...his example was how the wright brothers probably could have imagined faster airplanes but probably not the idea of frequent flyer miles.
He then described the ride itself. The cars will seat 5 guests in a 1-1-1-2 configuration. To compare speeds, the people mover took about 15-16 minutes to run the circuit. Rocket Rods will take 4 minutes, with most of the time spent at slow speeds inside the various buildings. Outside, the cars will go fast. Sara asked how the cars were going to take the turns so quickly. Tony said that the cars will not bank to make the turns. Instead, the cars will also turn, giving quite a different sensation than you would feel on a roller coaster.
Finally, he also mentioned what he wanted to do at the end of the ride, but won't be able to do unless they get a new sponsor...After the ride each passenger would be given a pad in which to design "something" (I wasn't quite sure what it was) and then you would submit your design and also get a copy. We'll have to see what happens.
Even without the design part, this sounds like it's going to be a cool ride. One last note...it's currently Rocket Rods until someone thinks of a better name.
We also heard him talk about Star Tours. The hope is to have a new program in by 1999, a few months before Episode 1 comes out. The film would take you to places you have not yet seen in the Star Wars universe, and preview the new films.
Our next stop was a midnight cruise on the Jungle Cruise. Adrienne had arranged for an a.d.d takeover of one of the new boats. Before we arrived at the Jungle Cruise we saw that the 11:30 performance of Light Magic had not started yet. Oh well.
We all boarded and practically filled the boat. Jacob, our skipper, then guided us through the jungle. He started off by sticking to the script...but when we reached the squirting elephant (which wasn't working) he said "And here's the laziest elephant in the park"
Later, when we got to the pair of bull elephants, we stopped at the second one, and he went through a little spiel:
"Speak!" [elephant makes a little trumpet]
"You can do louder than that!" [elephant makes a load trumpet]
"Ok, we'd like to some pictures,
so stand perfectly still." [elephant stands perfectly still]
The highlight of the evening was when we got to the backside of Schweitzer Falls. Jacob went into the longest circus ringmaster introduction I've ever heard...I know I can't do it justice, but here goes:
Ladies and gentleman, we're now approaching the pinnacle of your journey, the sole reason you came to Disneyland, yada yada yada, it's amazing, incredible, astounding, fascinating, the highlight of the cruise, blah blah blah, yackity-schmakity, the sight that you'll be telling your grandchildren about for generations, insert still more hype, the backside of water.
Of course we all clapped. And he somehow managed to avoid having the boat behind us catch up.
Our next stop was the Indiana Jones Adventure. Not everyone who went on the jungle cruise went on to Indy, but this trip had several highlights. We all stopped in the spike room and waited for everyone to be in the room before setting off the pole. Then we showed Adrienne and some others where to find the hidden Eyore sign.
Just so you know...bring a flashlight and when you enter the film room, stand against the wall on the right hand side of the room. Shine your flashlight up into the highest scaffold and look for something blue standing up--that's the sign. You might need to move along the wall to see that it's the Eyore sign. When California Adventures opens, I have to wonder if CMs are going to hide other parking lot signs in the appropriate locations.
The ride through Indy was disappointing. The snake still didn't work, and even though they were loading on only one side, the rat room didn't work either. To top it off, even though we had gone into the future, we heard Sallah's "Fountain of Youth" spiel at the end (yes, that was the third time that day for me).
After Indy, fewer of us hit Pirates, and then the Haunted Mansion. When we saw Rivers of America, the Fantasmic towers were up, shining lights on various things, the fog was turned on, and the Twain was parked across from the French Market. This was the Taste of Disneyland Food Fest. It looked like they were selling samples of items they might sell in the park. We didn't stop and eat. Instead, we went to Big Thunder Mountain (when we saw the fiber optics in the "Cave-in" portion, Tim and I both said "Look! It's Light Magic"), and then The Matterhorn.
By this time, it was time to go. We walked down Main Street to buy something to snack on from the Blue Ribbon Bakery...but alas it was closed. Fortunately, the hotel was close, so I didn't need any coffee.
We also bumped into Ammy Hill (Captain Oblivious). Ammy and her friend get the "you must be nuts" award for the night. Even though others had traveled farther, Ammy and her friend drove down that day from San Jose, arrived at the park around 7. When we bumped into her on Main Street, she and her friend were just getting ready to drive back to San Jose (her friend the driving) to get back in time for work the next day. Ammy mentioned that she'd never have imagined she'd see Irish Dancing at Disneyland.
When we arrived at the square we saw a crowd of people around City Hall. Tim joked that they were storming City Hall. It turned out he wasn't too far off as we later found out they were getting refunds for the night. I've since sent back my ticket asking for a refund.
Sara was hungry, so instead of going to the hotel, we stopped at the Cocos on Harbor. I know that it was late on a weeknight, but snails could have taken our order and served us faster than what we experienced that night. After we had placed our order, an a.d.der from the Phoenix area (sorry, I can't remember you name) came in and sat with us. He told us that they were surveying the guests at City Hall.
We got to the hotel in time to get some sleep for the next day. Given how tired I was, I got to sleep quickly...though I got to wonder, "Why do they put the lights for the bathroom outside along the sink?"
After about 5 hours of sleep, we all woke up and got ready to go back to the park. Unfortunately we had missed most of the hotel's complimentary continental breakfast, so we opted to eat in the park. Since Sara is a castmember at the Disney Store in Santa Barbara, she wanted to stop by the Company D store, which offers discounted merchandise to CMs. Walking to the store was fun, since Tim and I aren't CMs. I stowed my camera and hat in Sara's backpack so I'd look less conspicuous. The merchandise in the store didn't really interest any of us, but it was fun to look.
Our first stop in the park was City Hall to get a copy of Disneyland Today, follwed by the Main Street Lokcers. You can tell it's a light day in the park when you can get a locker near the front of the 1st row after 11am. At the same time, we were surprised to find that Rod's Piano was no longer next to the cone shop even though it had been there the night before. We walked over to Coke Corner to see if the piano had been returned to its old spot. It had! and Rod was setting up to perform.
Sitting next to Rod's piano was a guy wearing a Light Magic shirt. He ended up moving some shade umbrellas onto to the piano's platform so Rod would have some shade. Afterwards, I joked about the LM shirt by saying "You bought it before you saw the performance, right?" He said that he had, and that he wouldn't have bought it if he had known what the show was going to be like. Siunce he was wearing it, it was probably too late to take it back for a refund, but someone suggested adding a circle with a slash through it over the LM design. Light Magic became an ongoing joke through the day. We could have stayed longer at Rod's piano, but we were hungry, and there were cheese pizzas with our names on them at the Village Haus.
The day was planned to be a relaxing one. Our main objective was to determine which Matterhorn track was faster. While in line on one side, we saw a woman drinking a "blue" slushee. We decided we wanted one after riding the Tomorrowland track. While Tim and I stood in the queue for the Fantasyland track, Sara bought one for all of us to share and got a "suicide"--all three flavors (Coke, Cherry, and Blue er-um Blue Rasberry); It was delicious.
The Fantasyland track timed out at just under 2 minutes, while the Tomorrowland track timed out at just over 2 minutes (your mileage may very). One of the CMs said that the Fantasyland side was faster, while the Tomorrowland side was "more thrilling". The CM also confirmed that the Tomorrowland track was built first.
Sara also wanted to visit the quiet spot on Tom Sawyer Island. One thing we noticed about our raft ride to the island was that water was coming over the "bow"...enough that the CM up front stood on the box supporting the mast...I guess this foreshadowed the capsizing of one of the keelboats (which happened on Saturday 5/17). We didn't spend too much time at the quiet spot as I had the day before. This time some teenagers were smoking at the rock. Still, I like this spot.
Other notes:
On Pirates, we sang along until a woman sitting in front of us turned around and gave Tim a stare.
On Splash Mountain, the photo shop is open, but the owl doesn't talk, nor do you see your photo from the boat. To see your photo, a line of photos is in a spot after you exit your log, but before you exit the mountain.
The chocolate mousse and clam chowder at the Blue Bayou were delicous, and made for a nice lunch.
I finally got to ride in the back car of Big Thunder Mountain; It's a much better experience.
On Indy, our jeep stalled just inside the Rat room, but there still was no rat effect (darn). At least we got the correct spiel at the end (we went to the riches room and Sallah said that the loaders could help us with our treasure).
On the merchandising front, they were out of Tomorrowland Construction hard hats, but the CM said that more were being ordered. Later on Tim and I purchased one Blue Ribbon Bakery coffee mug each (they retail for $5)...well, Sara bought them so we could take advantage of her 20% CM discount.
Sara had two rides she wanted to ride--King Arthur's Carrousel and Peter Pan's Flight. We rode the carrousel first, and were fortunate enough to find three horses side by side by side (hey I had to slip a Sondheim reference in here somewhere). Next, it was off to London for the last ride of the day. Tim and Sara took the first "ship" and I got the one behind them. During the ride, there are a couple of spots where you get close to the ship in front of you (or behind you). At the second spot, Tim and I "high fived" each other. I'm glad Sara pushed for riding Peter Pan's Flight...it's one my favorites, and it was a great choice to close out the day at the park.
I had made reservations for the last flight from LAX to Oakland so that we'd have a chance to have dinner at Encounter. We had no problem getting to the airport by taking the 5 to the 91 to the 605 to the 105 to the airport. To get to Encounter, follow the "Arrivals" lane and then stay towards the left. Take a left when you get to the Enounter sign. Valet Parking is $3, which isn't bad at all.
The building is lit up in different colors at night, which made it fit the theme of the restaurant. When we entered the lobby, we were greeted by a receptionist and then took the elevator up to the restaurant. During the elevator trip a song plays that sounds like something you hear on SMTV in the Space Mountain queue. The song ends when you reach your destination.
The restaurant wasn't busy, and we were seated right away. The interior is sort of a late 50's/early 60's idea of what "futuristic" looked like. There are quite a few lava lamps, some plants, and the ceiling was painted in different colors "purples", "oranges", etc. Again, music similar to SMTV is piped into the restaurant to help set the mood. The servers wear purple space jumpsuits.
The menu itself is California Cuisine and the prices are typical of any other restaurant of that type. Tim and I both ordered "Vegetables over the Moon" while Sara ordered the half Broccoli/half Sweet Potato soup. Everything was delicious. The vegetables were lightly sauteed and were served on top of a crunchy tortilla with a sauce on the side. The soup was heavenly. My only slight disappointment was the dessert. I opted for a peach, Irish Oatmeal cobbler while Tim and Sara split a slice of cheesecake. While I liked my choice, their choice was better.
I definitely had a good time at the restaurant, and I would suggest that if you are flying into or out of LAX, you should try and visit it. One last note, while Disney did help design and theme the restaurant, it does not operate it. Operations are handled by CA One services, who also has the catering contract for Oakland Airport.
I left Tim and Sara at the restaurant and walked to the Southwest terminal (which is close by). I had no wait to check in, and after a brief rest stop, I found it was time to board. This time I found out I had a crew who liked to tell jokes. Upon boarding, I heard:
Ladies and Gentleman, during your flight, our lovely flight attendants will be taking orders for drinks. Juice and soft drinks are complimentary, beer and wine are $2, liquor is $4, and valium and prozac are $6.
Aside from the other jokes which I had mentioned in my last trip report, she also said these:
Exits are clearly marked with red disco lighting in the floor.
In the event of a water landing*, your seat cushion may be used as a floatation device. Just hold onto the straps and remember kick-paddle, kick-paddle, kick-paddle
Should there be a loss in cabin pressure, four designer oxygen masks will drop down in front of you. Stop screaming and grab the mask in front and firmly pull it down to activate the flow of oxygen. Then put the mask over your nose and mouth and breathe like you've never breathed before. Secure you mask using the elastic straps.
*On flights to Phoenix, they sometimes say "In the unlikely event of a water landing in a nearby swimming pool..."
When she finished the emergency briefing, I clapped. At the end of the flight I thanked her for telling the jokes and I also noticed her name tag. It said "Oh Miss".
It was definitely a fun trip, and despite the problems with Light Magic, I'm glad I went.
Thanks go out to everyone who enhanced the experience:
And finally, if you've gotten this far, thank you for reading this. You've been a great audience! Be sure to tip your waitress!