During my trip to Anaheim for Worldcon in 1996, I first watched the Hunchback of Notre Dame Festival of Fools. After my first viewing I thought, "That was nice. I'll have to see what it's like at night and also closer to the stage." After my second viewing, which was the evening after the first, I thought "That was fun!". After my third viewing, which was almost a year later, I was hooked. I knew that I would watch this show as often as possible. Still, all good things must come to an end. When Disneyland announced the Festival of Fools was closing, I knew that I had to make the trip for its final performance, which, was eventually announced as April 18, 1998.
My original plan was to drive to the park, but time constraints and a newly-arrived Southwest Airlines flight certificate made me decide to fly to LAX and rent a car. The flight gave me a chance to start the trip with a good deed. I overheard a little girl sitting in the row behind me that she was going to Disneyland. I turned around and asked "Have you ever been to Disneyland before?" When she and her mother said "No.", I said "Be sure to stop at City Hall" and tell them it's your first visit. I then mentioned other things such as "Ride the Splash Mountain and the Fantasyland rides early", "Wait to ride Indy", "Don't miss Fantasmic", and closed with mentioning the final Festival of Fools. They both thanked me for the hints.
My flight arrived LAX on Friday afternoon. I had hoped that it would have been early enough to avoid traffic, but not that day. Traffic on the LA freeways was bad enough that I went to surface streets when I got in the vicinity of my friend Adrienne's apartment. Since she was out of town with her fiancee Tony, I was able to stay at her place that weekend. After greeting Adrienne's cats and dropping my stuff off, I was on my way to the park. Her place is close enough that I was able to avoid the freeway, and soon park in the Pinocchio lot.
I arrived with just enough time to satisfy my Disneyland corn dog fix before heading to the Festival arena. The festival waiting area was almost full, but I managed to bump into Sue and Tina, a couple of "Hunchies" (or Hunchback regulars). They were interacting with two of the Festival guest control CMs, who were standing inside the rock formation which reminds me of the time portal in the Star Trek episode "The City at the Edge of Forever". The CMs were giving the usual pre-festival spiel and warming up the crowd. As usual, they were unable to complete spiel before we started to enter the arena.
Once inside, I joined a bunch of other Hunchies near the stage. One of the most fun things about being next to the stage was to be able to hear some of the chatter that doesn't go over all of the speakers. For example, during one performance we heard someone say "Well he SAID 'no'!" We just started laughing.
After the 6 PM performance we started to leave the arena to get in line for the next show. While walking out, we were startled to see Sue and Tina carrying one of the boxes used to hold props for the show. For this performance a sign language interpreter used the box to stand on, and the props people had forgotten it. We were all laughing as Sue and Tina carried the box to the arena exit, then set it down (they weren't going to take it) and start to leave. We said "Wait! We have to get a picture of this!" They posed, then walked the box over to one of the guest control CMs and asked "Are you missing something?"
The 7:15 performance was also fun as expected, though after the performance ended, the props CMs watched their props with a lot more care. Following the show, there was plenty of time to enjoy the evening, including dinner at Redd Rocket's Pizza Port (where the CMs again were awesome, the chicken fussilli scrumptious, and the coffee delicious), some wonderful piano duets by Rod and his protege, and a pretty good performance of Fantasmic. The evening also included a special surprise. Andrew and his fiancee Jennifer announced that they were going to come the next day for the final Festival despite Jennifer being blacked out (thanks to Cindy who gave Jennifer a one-day passport for as a belated birthday gift).
The next morning, I again parked in Pinocchio, but decided to walk over to the hotel and catch the monorail into the park. It was a good choice, as I was able to survey the construction of DCA and bypass the main entrance. After wandering around Tomorrowland to see that they had finished painting Space Mountain, I went over to Storybook Land to get some photos. For only the second time, I was in a boat with a male guide. He did a really good job in delivering the spiel and even got the passengers involved by asking questions such as pointing at Agraba and asking "Who can tell me what movie that is from?" the kids really liked it. Before pulling into the dock, he mentioned that the final performance of the Festival of Fools was that day and suggested that everyone go see it.
One of my favorite activities as Disneyland is the classic princess storytelling in Tinkerbell's Toy Shop. After leaving Storybook Land, I went over to Tinkerbell's since it was almost 11 AM. There Todd and Belle did a wonderful job telling the story of Beauty and the Beast. Each story telling assistant has different qualities for the stories; Justin is good at pratfalls, Rupert knows all of the songs, and Todd was good at using props. For example, when Belle described seeing a castle rising through the mist, he grabbed a copy of the "A Day at Disneyland" video (which has a picture of Sleeping Beauty Castle on the box) and held it up. After the story, I thanked both Todd and Belle and went over to Main Street.
A week earlier I had bought a Little Golden Book edition of "The Lion King" and had a bunch of a.d.ders sign it as a birthday card for Karen O. This time Adrienne "AVBalloons" Vincent was celebrating her birthday, but was away from the park with her fiancee Tony. Since the book card was such a success before, I decided to do it again. This time I purchased a copy of Peter Pan (which had really nice pictures in it). At the same time, I purchased some packs of Disney Villains trading cards. The trading cards have beautiful drawings of Disney villains on the front and a description of the villain including which film the villain appeared in and who provided the villain's voice. When the cast member saw what I was buying she said "I collect those too. If you come back later maybe we can trade some cards." Unfortunately I wasn't able to return to trade, but it was nice of her to offer.
At this point it was time to go to the Festival. Since it was the last day, we wondered what special treats we would get to see and share. Sometime earlier, folks had suggested bringing Festival memorabilia to the show. Along with my Clopin plush doll, I brought an album of photos which I had taken at previous shows. Others had also brought photos, Clopin dolls, and even some Clopin hand puppets. The most impressive Clopin puppet was one which was wood carved; Everyone was talking about it. Some people were creative in other ways. John Frost handed out copies of computer designed artwork which said "Thanks for the memories". Kaz and Brandi had special self-designed commemorative tee-shirts (which they had made that morning). The biggest surprise was provided by Glenn's mom, who after staking out spots for us, handed out several dozen harlequin style hats just before the final performance. It was a riot to see everyone (including myself) sitting next to the center platform wearing "Fools' Hats".
We were also wondering what the performers would do for the final shows. A few months ago, my friend Mariah and I speculated and came up with the following Top Ten lists ...
First, Mariah's list.
and the number 1 thing planned to celebrate the Final FoF
Now, my list:
and the number 1 thing planned to celebrate the Final FoF
Well, the guest control CMs did revive some stuff which had earlier
been banned. They got the crowd to do some other cheers, such as
"Sanctuary!
The last show started with an announcement that this was the final performance. Then all of the performers marched in to a standing ovation. The back-up vexilators, who would normally dress as peasants, appeared in their vexilator costumes. All of the technical crew and performers tossed out confetti. Finally, the show began. Esmeralda showed the most emotion; At one point her voice cracked when she set Quasimodo free and told him to go. At other times I could see tears in her eyes. Frollo got in a special line; When he would normally say "Enjoy the peasant festival, it may be the last you ever see" he said "it will be the last you ever see".
After the show ended, the audience gave an extended ovation and then tried to stay as long as possible. Unfortunately, they had another event scheduled in the arena later that evening, so we had to leave. I'm going to miss the Festival of Fools, but I think it is leaving at the right time.
There goes my favorite dish
After the show it was time for dinner, but not right away. We first went over to the "Bat Cave" (which isn't a cave) near where the festival performers leave after completing the show. There I ended up talking with a few friends whom I had not seen since last year. The first was Ammy, who had moved to LA last year to teach. I was totally surprised to see her. The second was Kim, who I knew would be in the park that evening with her friend Sam. Kim and I had not seen each other since September, so it was great to see her after such a long time. After talking for a while a few of us decided that we really wanted to eat. Different ideas were tossed around, and eventually decided upon The French Market even though Fantasmic was about to start. Kim and Sam had already eaten and wanted to get in some rides, so we made plans to meet the next day. Other folks wanted to hang out at the Bat Cave for a while longer.
A group of us left for New Orleans Square. People were getting ready
for Fantasmic (and for the first time we had seen a sign saying "This
performance of Fantasmic is full"), and the French Market looked
crowded. Sheila suggested eating at the Hungry Bear. Some wondered
if it would be open. I pointed to the Harbor Galley and said "If the
Harbor Galley is open, then Hungry Bear is open." When everyone else
heard that the Galley was open, they said "Let's go there instead!"
It was kind of funny, because one of Clopin's lines in the Festival
was "There goes my favorite dish!
Following our scrumptious meal (we ended up grabbing our food and walking over to the Hungry Bear since it has nicer tables), we walked back to New Orleans Square for dessert -- waffles. The waffle stand in NOS offers waffles on a stick with a variety of toppings such as maple sugar, white and dark chocolate, or white chocolate with confetti sugar sprinkles. In the spirit of the festival, I had to have one with the confetti sugar sprinkles. While we were in line for dessert, Fantasmic was going on. We ended up saying a couple of the Fantasmic 3-D lines even though we couldn't really see the show.
It's Party Time
Following that it was time to leave the park. After stopping at Snow White's Grotto to make the traditional wish, and sauntering down Main Street singing "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow", we all caught the tram back to the Pinocchio lot, said our good byes, and went our separate ways. Most were going home, but I was going to a party. Earlier in the week, my friend Liz said "You just have to come. It's going to be wild." I decided to keep my Fool's hat on, since I felt that it was in the proper party spirit, and left for Liz's apartment. When I got to Liz's place, her friend Emerald was on the balcony and spotted me. I dashed to to the apartment, walked in, and was greeted with "Sean! You made it!".
The party was definitely a blast; a few friends who I had met at earlier parties such as Darlene, Anne, Emerald, Colin, and Ali were there, as well as some people whom I had never met, including Liz's boyfriend Jason (for a pic, check Liz's Special Exhibit of Even More Good Looking Men), and some of Jason's fraternity brothers. I was asked to bring along something to drink, and since I was told it would be a wild party, I brought some bourbon (no, not Wild Turkey, I prefer Knob Creek). However, the drink of choice that night seemed to be a beverage called "Tattoo", so named because it would change the color of your tongue. While it comes in three different colors so you can create any color coating, only yellow was available. This was not my "drink" of choice. I preferred Jello shots, which someone else had contributed. Though Liz and I agreed that the Jello shots were weak, they were still good.
Surprisingly, I did not do that much drinking, which allowed me to remember a few more details of the party. While I had missed some of the wild stuff going on earlier I still got to watch plastic snowball juggling, participate in mass Jello shots, talk to some cool people, crowd the kitchen, laugh a lot, and listen to a lot of cool music.
One of my favorite bits in the party was watching three women torment one of the fraternity brothers. They wanted to see how drunk he would get, so they kept offering him shot after shot. They got him and one of his friends to drink more of the Tattoo stuff by saying "You're tongue's not yellow enough". He eventually caught on, but still allowed them to paint his finger nails with sparkly nail polish. This prompted Liz to start painting Jason's nails. (She did a lovely job.)
At this point it was time to access forbidden web pages (I can't say which sites we visited, but everyone had fun) and sign guest books, which Liz does at all of her parties. She visited my guest book and left the following comment:
Yet another party. These cool people were present: Emerald, Colin, Sean, Jen, Ali, Angela, Jason, Liz, Mike, Amy, Mitch, Annie, Anne, Jeanne, Darlene, Brian, Nate, Jason B., James. What you missed: urban legends, strobe light porno being filmed across the way, "If you can't drink that shot, you're GAY!", bleach patterns on a lawn and penis topiary, a buncha people in Liz's kitchen, the smoking section is on the balcony, mass Jell-O shots, NIN and other good music, Highland and Irish Dance ("Ah! The Irish Eyes are smiling on me now! I feel it coursing through my blood!"), The Shark, tattoo comparison, "When he was in high school, he said he wanted to have sex with Bono," ice cubes, Egypt, political prisoner piss torture, the Xmas Light Room, the 3D glasses ("Run down the hall with them and look at the lights!" "Do you have any Pink Floyd?"), the kid who threw up in Darlene's classroom, manicures on males, 2 Delta Kappa Psis, 4 Acacians, 1 Alpha Sigma Pi and 1 Sigma Kappa. We drained a bumload of beer and other spirits. And we're doing all this again next Saturday! BE THERE!!!!
If you see something like this on your guestbook, then you'll know that Liz had another party, and visited your site.
Anyway, by this time the party had wound down, and it was time to go. I really enjoyed attending, and hopefully I'll make it to the next one much earlier so I get to experience ALL of the fun.
The next morning I arrived just after rope drop. I saw signs up welcoming guests participating in the "Happy Hearts" program. Happy Hearts is a program which gives discounted admission to physically and mentally disabled guests. I've heard that Happy Hearts days are long and tiring ones, so I decided I would be extra friendly to the cast members. I think it paid off, because the cast members were friendly in return.
My first stop was Fantasyland. I had ridden so few rides that I wanted to get a few favorites in before the park got crowded. Somehow I also kept giving out advice.
As I exited Alice, the strains of the Unbirthday song enticed me to go to the Mad Tea Party, where I waited for my favorite tea cup. The CM asked "You have a favorite?" I said "Yes. There's one cup that just seems to spin better for me." She looked skeptical and said "Ok". Well, I gave the cup a good spin, and I guess I must have convinced the CM, because as I exited she said, "You spun that quite well."
My last Fantasyland ride before the Classic Princess Storytelling was Snow White's Scary Adventures. I usually ride just to see if the apple is there (It was!), but the highlight came after I got off the ride. The couple behind me looked at me and said "That's it?!? Where's Prince Charming?" I laughed because I agreed with the sentiment, and then said "Other people agree with you. Look at the mural behind you." They said "Oh."
One reason I went to the classic storytelling was to see if the mother and child to whom I had suggested it to showed up (they did!). Once again I was treated to the story of Beauty and the Beast presented by Belle and Todd, only this time they had a sign language interpreter helping out. It was as much fun watching her help tell the story as it was watching Todd and Belle.
After some shopping, I was off to the noon a.d.d meet at the hub. Adrienne "MrsChemDoc" Krock and Cindy were playing with Justin (Scott and Moira's child). Andrew and Jennifer were showing off their press kit from Disney's Animal Kingdom. While other people were talking, I passed around the birthday book for people to sign. Then Kim and Sam arrived, and some of us worked on being a corrupting influences. We started by giving Sam an a.d.d pin and introducing him to everyone.
The next stop was lunch, which we had at Casa Mexicana. The lunch was good, and we were treated to a couple of shows. First, one of the servers gave us an abbreviated version of it's a small world. Second, for some reason they had women in can can outfits bussing the tables (if we were inside the Golden Horseshoe, I would have understood this, though I shouldn't complain, I enjoyed watching them bus the tables).
Following lunch I went off with Kim and Sam to do some things. A week earlier on my birthday I had been in the Mark Twain wheelhouse and signed the guest book with a special note for Kim because we share the same birthday. She wanted to see what I wrote, so we boarded the Mark Twain and went up to the wheelhouse after getting the captain's permission. The captain let all three of us work the bell and whistle (I got to blow the whistle as one of the trains went by). During our ride we also noticed something you don't see every day. Someone had laid out his shirt on the rock next to the burning cabin. Kim commented "Well, that's how a settler would dry his shirt."
After the ride on the Twain, we decided to go to Tom Sawyer Island. As we walked along the cider mill, Sam was figuring out how it transformed during Fantasmic. We then went up to the Tree house where I pointed out the hidden Mickey in the chimney. After that it was over to Fort Wilderness to pick off some tourists. On our way over we stopped at the cemetery. Neither Kim nor I had noticed Sacajawea's grave before and wondered if it was new.
Following the island exploration, and a stop at the Disney Gallery, it was time to meet up with everyone else at Coke Corner. Rod was getting ready to perform, so I gave Kim her belated birthday present -- A copy of Rod Miller's CD, "Rod Miller Ragtime". It was the perfect time as she was able to get Rod to sign it. By this time Kim and Sam had enough fun that they wer thinking about becoming APs (I guess I needed to hang out with them longer, because they decided against it).
A few things happened while we were relaxing at Coke Corner. First a group showed off their Matterhorn tee-shirts (ooooh), which prompted some people to dash off to purchase some. Then another group of people mentioned that a rocket rod had caught fire, which prompted another group to dash off to see if there was anything to see. Finally, we spotted Kazoo and Barker Bob from the Aladdin's Storytelling walking by. We called them over and chatted with them for a few minutes. Kazoo then told us "Be at the Oasis at 6:15." We wondered what special treat would get.
While we were waiting for 6:15 to arrive, we decided to hit some more rides and attractions. Unfortunately, Kim and Sam had to leave to get ready for dinner, but a decent sized group of us was able to visit the Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, and the Enchanted Tiki Room. The highlight for us was when we exited our doom buggies on the Haunted Mansion -- Maynard was working the unloading area. He pulled us aside and we all waited until the doom buggies were empty. Then Maynard entertained us by conversing with one of the alien toys from Toy Story.
Eventually 6pm rolled around and we went over to Rod's to see if anyone else was going to join us. Nobody else was there, and it was their loss, because we were treated to a tour of Adventureland as seen through the eyes of Kazoo and Barker Bob. During the tour:
Afterwards we were granted entrance into the Oasis, where were able to get a few group photos on the stage. It was all lots of fun.
After our special tour, it was time to say good bye. I grabbed a quick snack for dinner, stopped at Snow White's Grotto to make a wish, took the Fire Engine to Town Square, bought myself a Matterhorn tee-shirt, and then left the park. After dropping off the birthday book and apartment key at Adrienne's, and returning my rental car, I caught an early return flight (and it was a good thing I did, because the flight I was supposed to take left an hour late). I had a great trip, but in a way, I was sad because this trip marked the end of my first year as an annual passholder. My friend Cathy, who was with me on the trip where I purchased my AP asked me to look at how much I used my AP.
Over the past year, I took eighteen separate trips to Disneyland (an average one and a half per month). I entered the park on 42 occasions. That averages out to less than $4.75 an entrance. I'd say that the pass was definitely worth buying, and my next trip will mark the first on my second AP.
A few people deserve thanks for making this an awesome trip: