We haven’t had a whole lot of time to post this week, so we thought we’d share this Disneyland-inspired comic that was just posted to the XKCD website. (Click to see it full size.) Enjoy!
Archive for August, 2012
Disney XKCD
Thursday, August 30th, 2012Mustache day!
Monday, August 27th, 2012This weekend, we attended Disneyland’s first (hopefully annual) “Mustache Day” event. It was great fun! It was a little disappointing that most of the mustaches were cardboard or plastic instead of more professional-makeup quality, but the novelty was enough to make up for this minor gripe. Other than that, we don’t have a whole lot to say, but we’d like to share a few of the pictures we took. Enjoy!
If you were able to attend Mustache Day, please share your photos with us!
Partners costumes
Thursday, August 23rd, 2012As we mentioned in yesterday’s post, every year Disneyland dresses the park’s “Partners” statue in a costume for Halloweentime. The tradition began in 1994, the year after the statue was installed, with Walt dressed as Mickey and Mickey dressed as Pluto. It was such a hit with guests that a new costume has been custom created every year since then.
How many of the costumes from years past can you remember? If some are slipping your mind, here’s a complete list:
1994: Mickey and Pluto
1995: Indiana Jones and a snake
1996: Chip and Dale
1997: Dr. Frankenstein and the Monster
1998: Abraham Lincoln and Mini-Lincoln
1999: Father time and Baby New Year
2000: Two dalmatians (surrounded by 100 tiny dalmatian-puppy statues)
2001: An astronaut and a black, rectangular monolith
2002: Ron Stoppable and Kim Possible
2003: Pirates
2004: Mr. Incredible and Buddy Pine
2005: Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney
2006: Captain Hook and Mr. Smee
2007: Howard Hughes and the Rocketeer
2008: Jack Skellington and Zero
2009: Carl Fredricksen and Russell
2010: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and a broom
2011: Captain America and the Hulk
2012: The Wizard of Oz and Dorothy
A few additional trivia tidbits:
- It is rumored that past suggestions for costumes of Mr. Roarke and Tattoo, Batman and Robin, Ghostbusters, and The Blues Brothers were put aside because Disney could not obtain the rights to those characters.
- The 2008 suggestion of dressing the statue as Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus was nixed because it was decided that Walt’s statue should never appear in drag.
- This year’s John Carter and Tars Tarkas costumes were scrapped at the last minute when it was decided that guests would most likely have no idea who they were supposed to be.
Rocketeer Redux
Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012Fans of 1991’s The Rocketeer are foaming at the forums, atwitter on Twitter, and getting ‘faced on Facebook over rumors that Disney is considering making a sequel to the film.
If online gossip is to be believed (as it obviously should), the film will take place in modern-day Los Angeles, 74 years after the events in the original film. Cliff, a retired former test pilot, spends all his time on the rocking chair on his front porch reminiscing with his grandchildren (and anyone else who will listen) about his adventures. His teenage granddaughter Jenni gets tired of hearing the same old stories and wanders off, only to find Cliff’s old helmet and jetpack in the attic. A musical and mechanical genius, she modifies the jetpack to comply with modern air-quality regulations and takes to the skies to secretly perform gigs around town and, ultimately, save the country from a reality-show promoter who’s secretly a foreign terrorist!
It has not been decided if the film will focus on Jenni’s musical ambitions or on Cliff looking to relive his past from the comfort of his rocking chair, but in either case The Rockerteer should be out for Christmas in 2014.
Halloweentime is coming
Tuesday, August 21st, 2012It’s almost September, which means that Disneyland will soon begin preparing for Halloweentime in the park. This year there will be several completely new elements to help celebrate the Halloween season, including:
- The giant jack-o-lantern on Main Street will, for the first time, be carved from a real, gigantic mutant pumpkin.
- During after-hours events, all popcorn will be “horrifyingly stale.”
- The over-sized gingerbread house in the Haunted Mansion Holiday ballroom will be an actual, working, scale model of the original Haunted Mansion.
- Turkey legs will still have the feet attached.
- The Big Thunder Ranch petting area will feature an animatronic “Hatbox Goat.”
- The Little Red Wagon corn dog stand on Main Street will offer Frankenweenies.
- Marvel-comics-themed costumes are being custom made for all the park’s feral cats.
- Special Mickey Mouse ears hats will be available that look like the top has been bitten off and the wearer’s brains are showing.
- Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island will become Haunted Ghost Pirate’s Lair on Zombie Tom Sawyer Mysterious Island.
- This year’s costume for the Partners statue: The Wizard of Oz and Dorothy.
Toontown license plates
Monday, August 20th, 2012When you visit Disneyland, you can’t help by being impressed by all the detail that goes into creating the magical atmosphere. While waiting in line on Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin, I noticed these clever license plates hanging on the wall. Here’s a little puzzle for you: can you name the Disney cartoons referenced in these plates?
Hidden Lincoln!
Wednesday, August 15th, 2012Our good friends at Hidden Lincolns have notified us of a new — and very rare! — hidden image of President Lincoln in Disneyland.
Everyone knows that Walt Disney was a huge Lincoln fan. That’s why he asked Imagineers to hide little tributes and images of Lincoln here and there all across Disneyland. Continuing this tradition, Imagineers have added a secret surprise animation to the “mist wall” projection in Pirates of the Caribbean. If you’re the lucky one-boat-an-hour that reaches the projection at the correct time, you’ll see this:
The animated Lincoln warns guests that the Union will not tolerate piracy then sees them on their away. It’s awesome!
No
Tuesday, August 14th, 2012For future reference, don’t do this:
Hideous mistakes in this picture include:
- Walking in a fountain.
- Wearing a hat that makes it look like your head is on backwards.
- Letting a blogger photograph you acting like a moron.
Have you got a photo of someone being a moron at Disneyland? Send it to liar(at)disneylies.com and we’ll be happy to shame them publicly!
Items of Disneyland interest
Monday, August 13th, 2012During our most recent visit to Disneyland, we noticed three interesting things. Have you ever noticed these before?
Strange Sign
While aboard the Mark Twain, we noticed this sign on shore:
We had never seen this before, and weren’t able to locate it from the ground when we returned. Can anyone tell us what “The Olden Rseshoe” is or what the sign is supposed to refer to? It’s probably some kind of obscure inside reference, because it’s a complete mystery to us!
Revealing Call Board
In the queue for Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin we noticed this rather telling sign:
Read the listings carefully. For all of us who have been wondering for years exactly what kind of animal Goofy is supposed to be, this sign clearly lists “Dog Tricks — Goofy”. So sure enough, Goofy is a dog! Take that all who thought he was a weird hybrid long-eared chipmunk!
Wacky Warning
By far our favorite little treasure that we saw for the first time was this “government mandated” sign on the wall in the lobby of the Blue Bayou:
We blew up part of the picture so you could see the detail, but for those without squint-o-vision, the relevant sentence reads, “[Pregnant women] should also limit their consumption of other fish, including Nemo”!
Wow, those Imagineers really know how to hide little treasures where you’d least expect them!
Nets to you, guests!
Sunday, August 12th, 2012The internet was all abuzz last week after Disneyland — apparently at the behest of secretive, behind-the-scenes lawyer types — added distracting, view-obscuring netting all around one of the park’s original attraction vehicles. Don’t know what we’re talking about or unsure what the fuss is all about? Take a look at this!
What is that all around the edges of this Tom Sawyer Island raft, from stem to stern, from rail to river? That’s right — Netting!
Said commenter DisPurist1955 on the ThawWalt.com discussion board:
I actually, literally broke down and cried when I saw this. How can they take one of the symbols of my childhood and so thoroughly desecrate and denature it on the altar of visionless corporate anti-consumerism?
According to a source who is said to know someone who once dated a Disney lawyer, the park claims that the nets were added because (and we quote), “guests on the Rafts to Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island attraction will sometimes reach over the side of the raft while it is in motion and put their hands in the waters of the Rivers of America, which — due to the large population of uninvited water fowl and other uncontrollable factors — is considered to be a class-two minor health hazard by the Federal Department of Toxins, Poisons, and Carnival Foods. There have also been incidents in which guests have dropped cameras, hats, shoes, purses, toddlers, and other objects over the side of a Raft, resulting in both complaints and burdensome paperwork.”
Responding to this excuse, poster churroguzlr on the LaughingManiacallyPlace.com discussion board commented:
This is completely unacceptable. Walt Disney did things for a reason, and that reason was wisdom and awesomeness! When you mess with His vision, you destroy something simple and pure. Do you think that the real Tom Sawyer had a raft with ungainly nets all around it, ruining sight lines for children and disabled American veterans in wheelchairs? No way!
Right here, right now, we need to get together and add our voices to a petition to end this madness at Disneyland. In particular, we need to demand that park management immediately:
- Restore the Tiki Room show to its original length.
- Reconvert the Disneyland Railroad to coal power.
- Bring back the dancing Indians.
- Get rid of “Captain” Jack Sparrow and restore Pirates’ complete allotment of sexism.
- Give Big Thunder a humorous narration track and a 5 MPH speed limit.
- Add massive balloon releases to all parades.
- Dynamite Toontown.
- Reintroduce the ticket book system.
- And, of course, get rid of the nets on the rafts!
Do you agree or want to add to this list? Let us know in the comments!
