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Tomorrowland and Fantasyland
We next headed over to Tomorrowland. Jonn wasn't up for riding Space Mountain so we
opted for a "ride" called Innoventions. Except for the pretty attractive ride attendant,
it was pretty silly. Just a bunch of coming-soon inventions and games. Does anyone come
to Disneyland to see "real" futuristic stuff? It would be much more entertaining to see
what was on display back in the 50s when the park first opened.
After that, we walked towards the back of the park and "It's a Small World." Yet again, the
ride had been "updated" for the holidays. It was pretty psychodelic on the outside but once
the little boat (again) left started down the little canal, the real freakiness began. Just
room after room of what was nearly the same thing and the same music. Instead of the classic
"It's a Small World" song, it was a hybrid between that and some regular Christmas tunes (in
various languages). To top it off, it was hard to believe the "magic" on the ride
when the ceiling tiles were so obvious and even in one place a curtain was pulled back
revealing an employee-exit tunnel. Even at the end of the ride, the little boats got backed
up and our almost tipped over! I think what really sums it up was a scene we saw while
leaving the ride where a mother was telling her kid they were going to ride again and the kid
said "No Mommy, No!"
As we exited "It's a Small World", we could hear a marching band... the parade route ends
right next to the ride. So we ran off the ride to catch the last half of the band. They were
really great... very loud and heavy on the tuba sound! We strolled over towards Fantasyland
and found the teacups ride. It was closed because of the rain but we took our pictures with
it anyway. A second, smaller band came through the parade route but they had a ton
of flag girls... almost as many as band members.
After the band there was a short car parade with Disney characters. We kept trying to get
them to do a "Hook 'em" back to us. As the car with Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus passed, we
managed to get her attention, flashing the Hook 'em. She must have been confused because
she waved back and gave us the "I love you" hand sign, which is like the Hook 'em but without
the thumb over the two fingers. It's quite possible that she thought we were deaf and just
big fans of Mrs. Claus!
We walked through the castle and back into Fantasyland. Some of the great older rides were
still there... Mr. Toad's Wild Ride... Peter Pan... Snow White... Pinnochio. We rode them all.
While we were getting USC-type comments from most of the park employees, the Peter Pan operators
were hilarious. For a second, we weren't sure they would even let us on! The Snow White ride
was really short and abrupt. It goes through the story of Snow White but leaves out the ending.
The final scene is of the dwarves killing the evil queen... then the car goes through a door
where you see a scroll with "and they lived happily ever after." Just like that! No scene
of Snow White after she eats the apple or her receiving the kiss from Prince Charming. Just
"and they lived happily ever after."
We walked around Fantasyland a bit more, taking our picture with the Dumbo ride and wandering
over to Frontierland.
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Jimmy in Innoventions |
Jonn outside It's a Small World |
Jimmy outside It's a Small World |
Jimmy in line for the Pinnochio ride |
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