As you know by now, I love visiting Disneyland. I kicked off 1997 by visiting Disneyland on the first Sunday of the year. The park was pretty empty that day, but everything for the holidays was still up and running. I knew that I would return for the first Sunday in 1998.
My original plan was to spend new years in the Bay Area and then drive to LA on the second. In fact, when I found that nobody up here was having a party, I pondered having my own party. Then, my friend and fellow storyteller Liz started telling me about the plans for her new years party. Her party just before Christmas seriously rocked! I decided to drive down New Years Eve and return home on Sunday night.
The drive down was pretty uneventful. It was kind of frustrating passing scores of cars with Washington license plates. I knew that most of them were Washington State fans who were going to watch the Cougars play Michigan in the Rose Bowl. I really wish I could see Cal play in the Rose Bowl on New Years Day. The most memorable moment of the drive involved this car being driven by two women from WSU; we had been passing each other through much of the drive down I5 (and that was funny on its own). At one point we both passed a car containing some Michigan fans. The WSU women were in front of me, and as they passed the car, the Michigan fans held up a Michigan flag. I couldn't help but laugh. As I passed the Michigan fans, I gave them a thumbs up, even though I wanted WSU to win the game.
By the time I reached my hotel -- The Howard Johnsons in Santa Ana -- it was almost sunset. As I was driving through LA, I noticed that there was nice layer of stratus over the Santa Monica, Westwood, and downtown areas -- I knew that people there would be treated to a gorgeous sunset. Unfortunately, the stratus covering wasn't over Santa Ana, so I only watched a pretty sunset rather than a gorgeous one. Still it was nice for the last sunset of 1997.
The invitation said "New Year's Party! At Liz's place. New Year's Eve, 12/31, 9ish. Dress to impress". The morning of New Years Eve, Liz had warned me that a few of her friends were not feeling well (I did not know that a nasty flu strain was going around southern California at the time) and that this was going to be a quiet party. I opted to dress to impress anyway, going with all black, including my leather tie and suspenders.
I arrived at Liz's a little after 9, and she was correct, it was quiet. Her friends, Erica, Bianca, and Ali were there helping decorate the apartment. I pitched in as well, and soon lights were hanging from the ceiling and over the door to the balcony. Other decorations included the "lucky" disco lemon ball and the lemon ball balloon souvenir from Seattle. Liz had one unpleasant surprise as she prepared. She wanted to use some special champagne glasses that had she had bought a few years ago. She thought that the glasses had been etched in commemoration of an event. Unfortunately, after she opened the dishwasher (the glasses were dusty), she found that the "etching" was cheap water based paint, which washed off of the glasses. Oh well. The glasses still looked nice.
As I had been warned, the party was nice and quiet. I had brought along photos from the previous party, and also some other photos which I had promised to share much earlier. During the course of the evening two other guests arrived -- Claudine another teacher, and Mike, another U2 fan.
It was still a few hours before midnight, so we decided to have dinner someplace. We were hoping to eat at a Chinese restaurant, but we arrived after closing (drat). We had to settle with eating at Spoons.
We opted for having dinner at the bar because some people wanted to play trivia. Unfortunately, we found that the more than one of the trivia remote units were for same person. At first this was kind of fun, as it turned not only into a trivia game, but a "who can get the answer in FIRST" game. Eventually, frustration won out and the trivia game ended. We watched music videos instead. Dinner itself was alright, and our waitress was nice.
After dinner, we walked back to Liz's to ring in the new year. We decided to open a bottle of mead (honey wine) which I had brought to Christmas party two weeks earlier. The adventure was in opening it -- Liz didn't have a corkscrew (I should have remembered this). I ended up using the knife on my SAG tool to open the bottle. Being without practice, I ended up mangling the cork, and pushing it into the bottle. We poured the mead through a tea strainer to get rid of the cork. The mead came with mulling spices, which you would use while heating the mead over low heat on the stove. Liz, unfortunately, did not have a good pot for mulling the mead in. Instead we poured it into a microwave safe bowl and heated it in the microwave. Somehow this managed to work. We had just enough mead to split with everyone. We poured the mead into the glasses which Liz had washed earlier, gathered around the lucky disco lemon ball, and each made a toast. I was last because I needed time to think of a good toast -- I raised my glass and said "May this be the last year Paul Pressler is president of Disneyland" To which Liz, an ex-cast member said "Here! Here!"
It still wasn't quite new years, so we turned on Dick Clark's New Years Rockin' Eve. For some reason, I could not help but think of Forest Gump, where he's in New York City ringing in the New Year at Lt. Dan's apartment, even though this scene was not like that. When the ball finished its drop, Liz started up the CD player and played U2's "New Years Day". (Side note, on January 27, KFOG played that song as well as Joe Jackson's "Chinatown", and Jefferson Starship's "Eye of the Tiger" as part of "My Three Songs" -- what's the connection there?).
Eventually fatigue began to set in. I figured that the drive had caught up with me, and that it was time to go back to the hotel and sleep. When I got back, I reflected upon 1997, the new wonderful friendships I had made, the old friendships that had been changed, and the wide amount of emotions I had gone through. I wondered how 1998 would compare. And then I went to sleep.
Unfortunately, I did not sleep very long. I woke up about an hour later and realized that I wasn't tired, I was sick. What a way to enter the new year. How sick was I? Well, I wasn't sick enough to not go to Disneyland. I got to the park at about 10 in the morning, which is a little late for me, but that was o.k. I was set to meet some people at noon.
It was a nice day, and the castle was still decked out with new years decorations. A sign over the drawbridge proclaimed "Happy New year" with the year 1998 in lights below it. I then took off to Tomorrowland to see how far construction had proceeded since my last visit. I walked up to the second level of the Starcade, and found, much to my surprise, that the sliding glass door wasn't locked. I slid it open far enough to peek through without stepping out onto the balcony. It looked like more work had been done on the interactive fountain, and on the Honey, I Shrunk the Audience queue.
Following my exploration, I managed to bump into Judi Lane and Don. They were stopping by the park for only part of the day and then going off to Las Vegas for the opening of Star Trek: The Experience. I was happy that I bumped into them before the informal noon meet. We ended up chatting, watching the 11am Classic Princess storytelling, and eventually went to the hub. There we ran into some a.d.ders who had been in the park until 3am. Some of them did not look like they wanted to really be there.
The best moment was when Jeff Graebner showed up. He arrived from the airport, having spent new years elsewhere; He said that he had to catch an earlier flight in order to make the meet. Our comment was "You know you're a.d.dicted if you reschedule your flight just to make a meet".
After Jeff showed up, people were interested in having lunch. Don and Judi had eaten late, and I wasn't hungry, so we opted to do some more stuff in the park. The best part of the day came with the Jungle Cruise. We had gotten into the queue just as Maynard's boat was pulling out. By the time we got to the loading area, Maynard had just returned from his trip. After his boat had finished unloading, he was about to switch with one of the loaders. Judi, upon seeing, said "Nooo! You have to stay!" Maynard, being the wonderful CM that he is, said "Ok. I'll stay" and thus earned my cast member gold star for the day.
My memory for we did is kind of hazy (well, I wasn't feeling well) but we also stopped at Pirates, since we had been told that the "shooting star" effect had returned. We didn't see it, but we did notice that the dunking mayor was not working. It was silly to hear the "splash" of Carlos being dunked while his head was still sticking out of the well. Judi asked, "Why not leave him down in the well if the effect isn't working?"
Following Pirates came the usual stop at Fortune Red, who had this to say:
Cast overboard the doldrums that have plagued ye like the fever, matey, now that ye've sailed a steady course to the Magic Kingdom. Ye be inclined to lose your temper quickly, aye, but ye alters course as fast. Possessed ye be o' proper book learnin' and yer shipmates be impressed with yer intelligence. A swarthy bilge-rat, bent on trippin' ye the black spot will shove off with the ebb tide. Pleasure be yer new cargo. Mark well me words: the breezes o' small pleasures fill the sails o' happiness.
Our next stop was the Adventureland shops, so Judi could introduce Don to Shrunken Ned. Shrunken Ned is a lot like Fortune Red, except that his card is a perscription, and while you are waing for the card, he makes a diagnosis. I had thought that he was voiced by John Clese, but one of the Cast members in the store told us that he was voiced by one of the imagineers, and that the same imagineer supplied the voice of the lamp in the neighboring shop. He also commented that both were kind of annoying, but that the lamp was much worse, since it speaks until someone puts money in.
Eventually it was time for Judi and Don to take off. By this time, I was hungry for some soup. Fortunately, Casa Mexicana was open and had some Tortilla soup. It was delicious, and perfect for someone who wasn't feeling well.
Following my soup, I saw that I had time to catch the last Hunchback of Notre Dame Festival of Fools. There I bumped into a few of the a.d.ders whom I had seen earlier. The show was fun as always. The funny part was afterwards when all of us decided that it was time to go home. We went through the traditional Snow White coin toss, said goodbye to Rod, and left the park.
Once again I had a horrible night's sleep, but I decided that I would have more fun in the park then in my hotel. I was glad I did because Rupert was doing the Princess storytelling. He did a wonderful job as always, and earned my CM gold star for Friday.
My next stop was the Festival of Fools. I decided that I was going to do a Hunchathon, since I really wasn't up for anything else. As usual, the festival was fun.
During the Hunch Break we thought about what to do. Dodie, who had been blacked out since Christmas had yet to ride any attractions. We checked the board and saw that the queue for Star Tours was short, so someone other than Dodie suggested Star Tours. She felt that this was an appropriate choice for her frist ride of the new year. While we were in the queue, I shined my flashlight up at the baskets in the droid room to spot some hidden items. I'vce seen an energizer bunny up there, and there are supposed to be some old miniture atom-mobiles as well. On the ride itself, we played "spot the Y wing" and though we still have yet to reach Endor, had a fun time.
The rest of the day involved going back to Hunch, and another early exit of the park.
I slept a lot better on Friday night, and though I did not arrive for opening, I arrived early enough to sit down for my first breakfast in the park. I opted for the waffles at Carnation. My server did a great job in keeping my coffee cup and water glasses full. And the waffles were fine.
Now I needed to catch up on all of the rides I missed. First stop was Big Thunder Mountain, where I got to sit in row 15 by myself and do the goat trick. I didn't even hurt my back.
Next stop? Space Mountain! A friend had told me that the ride was better if you kept your feet up. It's not an easy thing to do, but she was right! I did enjoy it more.
After that, it was time to stop in Fantasyland, where it was time to ride the tea cups. I didn't get my favorite tea cup, but I did get it to spin fast. That confirmed that I was well on the way to recovery.
It was time for the 49er game, so I went over to the Neon Cactus to watch it. It was tough to sit in a bar and not drink anything alcoholic, but I had a fun time watching the 'Niners win, and I enjoyed the cut vegetables. Actually, I didn't watch the whole game because it was a blowout, and I saw that I had time to catch the 3:45 Festival of Fools.
I decided to take the monorail back to the par, and I was treated to two unexpected events. During the ride, I spotted people testing the wheelchair loading for the new trams (which we call Tramzilla because of their size) in the new shuttle drop-off are (which we call The Christmas Tree Lot because that's what the area looks like). The area has ramps which allow wheelchairs to be wheeled to the same height as the floor of the tram cars. I couldn't tell whether or not the wheelchair was being pushed directly into the front passenger area of the first car.
The highlight though was when the monorail entered the park. All of a sudden I heard this sound like a slot car -- It was the Rocket Rod prototype. I watched it wiz past in the opposite direction. After exiting the monorail, I walked over to the Tomorrowland entrance to snap a couple of photos of the rocket rod. It took about two minutes to make the circuit. My photos didn't turn out. (One funny moment -- a kid, say about ten years old, asked me, "Are you waiting for the thing to come back?" "Yes" "It should take about five minutes." "Well, it's supposed to be two minutes, and over a minute's gone by, so it should be here soon." About thirty seconds later, we heard the electric motor, and the kid said "Hey! You were right"
I arrived just before the start of the FoF and as usual, I had a fun time. After the show Robert Jordan, John Frost, and I left for Rod's. The sun was starting to set, and cast a golden glow across the park. The clouds above added purples and pinks to the scene. We all had to stop after walking onto the drawbridge. Later, I took some photos of the Matterhorn that turned out gorgeous.
We returned to the Festival arena for the 6pm show, and kept watching the clouds. They kept building up as a storm was approaching. The 6pm show came off without a hitch, but while we were waiting for the 7:15 show, it started to rain. As soon as the sprinkles began, we did an about face and went back to Rods where we met up with John Collin.
You would think that was the end of our Hunchback experience, but it wasn't. We had a few others:
We went to Stromboli's for dinner. While we were waiting for our table, we went into a room where kids could watch videos. They were showing Hunchback of Notre Dame.
After dinner, we walked around the hotel grounds, where we heard the Bellhops play a wonderful rendition of "God Help the Outcasts" (a song from Hunchback).
We took the tram back to the park. In one of the shops we heard a strange version of "Out There" (another Hunchback song).
It just seemed so weird.
After that, people went there separate ways. I went over and stopped at the Matterhorn. I ended up chatting with a couple of off-duty cast members who were in line in front of me. Even though I'm an annual passholder, they were friendly. The Matterhorn ride was fun (I always enjoy it at night). My next stop was Fantasyland, where I saw a short line for Storybookland. Storybookland is another ride which I enjoy at night (though I agree with a friend of mine who says that it's best during twilight). Our guide really didn't stand out though (darn). Following that was Dumbo. The rain had stopped, but most folks had left so the line was short. I just had to ride it.
By this time it was close to Rod's finale, so I returned to Coke Corner. A couple of the regulars were still there, and even though we didn't have any umbrellas to spin, I was able to hold up a Disney Dollar for "Mickey Money". Following that came the coin toss and the drive back to the hotel.
After another good night's sleep, I was ready for my final day in the park and the drive home. I arrived before the opening of the gates and got to park in Bambi. I was a little sad because I knew that this was the last time I would park so close to the main gate. From now on I'll have to park next to either the Disneyland or Disneyland Pacific hotels, or in the Timon lot next to the parking lot entrance.
I decided to start my day with some coffee and a Really Big Cinnamon Roll from the Blue Ribbon Bakery. It was almost too much for me to eat by myself, but I sat back on the porch, relaxed, and enjoyed it.
My first stop was Fantasyland. The lines are always short early in the day, and I was able to get through all of the Fantasyland rides without any long waits. The best part was that I was able to spin in my favorite teacup.
After that was Toon Town, where I looked for the hidden Playboy Bunny icon in Roger Rabbit (still haven't spotted it), rode the Go Coaster twice, and said "hi" to Mickey.
It was time for the meet. And we got to meet a newcomer to a.d.d; Julie and her younger sister. We all went over to Casa Mexicana for lunch (is this now the official lunch stop for a.d.d?) which was good (as it has been recently -- yay Sue!). Next came a few rides. I found out that to see the "shooting star" in the swamp on Pirates, you need to look above the Blue Bayou dining area.
After the rides we went over to the Festival of Fools arena and nervously watched the sky as clouds kept building. Every so often we would feel a drop of rain, look to the sky and say "Stop that!" The show began and it looked like things were going to be o.k. Unfortunately, just as Esmeralda began dancing, it started to sprinkle harder. Then the show stopped (we wouldn't want the dancers to slip and get hurt).
Without Hunch, we had to think of something else. It was the last day for the Country Bear Christmas show, so we went there, and had a fun time too. I know that the next time I visit, the show will be the Vacation Hoedown. I really wish that they would have the original show, or another Country Bear show.
Eventually it was time for dinner. Our only choice was the Plaza Inn, so that's where we went. We arrived while the line was still relatively short. I opted to have the chicken and vegetables. Unfortunately the veggies had been cooked for so long, that they ceased to be vegetables. Still the chicken was good.
After dinner we hung out at Rod's while we thought about watching Fantasmic. Soon it was a moot point ... Fantasmic was canceled. There was one funny moment. When it came time for the park to close, they ran the wrong announcement -- they erroneously announced that the park was staying open an hour later rather than just the Main Street shops. We then heard the correct announcement about a minute or two later.
It was time to go home. For me this meant the long drive up I5 back to the bay area. The drive was uneventful, and I made it home in about six hours. During the drive I kept myself entertained with a lot of loud music. When The Fenians' version of Drunken Sailor came on my tape, I couldn't help but rock, but also laugh. When I got home (at about 3am), I was ready to sleep. My first night of the new year in my own bed was quite comfortable. All in all, despite being sick, I had a great time.
As always, I have people to thank for making my trip more fun. These include:
Liz, for throwing a nice party, and getting me to make my trip longer. I'm looking forward to the next party that I can attend.
Judi and Don, for hanging around me despite the fact I was sick. I was glad to spend part of my New Year's Day with you.
John Frost, Robert Jordan, and John Collin, for taking me along with them to Stromboli's. I enjoyed my dinner there.
The friendly CMs at Disneyland. This was the first trip in a long time where all of the CMs I encountered were happy. That made me happy too.
and finally You, for letting me share this with you.