Happy Birthday Space Mountain

A Few Facts:

~Space Mountain opened today in the year 1977.  

~It took nearly two years to construct.
~The ride was built 17 feet into the ground because of building codes in Anaheim.

photo from coasternet.com

I also found this online
"Right when you go in the door on the light blue walls - If you put pennies on the wall they will stick. I don't know why. Also, in the room with the TVs one the black walls, they stick too." 

I tried to find a picture to share with everyone but couldn't so I'm not sure if it's true. If anyone is taking a trip to Disneyland and can prove this take a picture and send it to me. I would love to know!

Tower of Terror

 

Hi Everyone, I wanted to introduce you to my friend Lyndsey. She is a Disney fan like the rest of us and is actually the reason why I started my blog.  Lyndsey had been planning a Disneyland vacation for months and kept asking me what secret tips I could give her family for their trip. It just kinda grew from there and I began my blog.

Well since Lyndsey started this whole thing I only thought it be fair that she help me out with a little post of her own. So here it is!

 

OK! Here we go! One awesome secret we discovered at Disneyland's California adventure was in the Tower of Terror. After you watch the movie clip of the family that haunts the tower you stand in line in the furnace room with all the piping and the metal stairs and rails. If you listen carefully you can occasionally hear the little girl from the family laughing and talking in the pipes!

~Lyndsey

photo by Joe Penniston

Star Tours

 Something fun for the re-opening of the new 3D Star Tours ride.

 

Click here to make your own passports; Star Tours Passports.

Up or Down

When you first enter into the Haunted Mansion and are escorted into the elevator, have you ever wondered while watching the stretching photos if you are going down or if the ceiling is going up?

photo from Mousechat.com

At Walt Disney World the ceiling rises while at Disneyland you are in an elevator and are being lowered.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Ahoy, hi e'erybody today is Thursday which means tis' Blog Hop Day, shiver me timbers! Since this Friday is the release of Pirates of the Caribbean on Stranger Tides. the topic for the blog hop is Pirates! I love Pirates! So here is a fun fact for The Pirates of the Caribbean ride and click here to visit a fun pirate translator.

Have you ever noticed the painting of the girl dressed as a pirate hanging in the skeleton's tavern? If you have great! If not you are going to have to check it out the next time you are on the ride because she looks very similar to the portrait of the young woman that hangs in the entrance hall of the Haunted Mansion. (the one that changes into the Medusa)

photos by Robert Miller

I'm not sure if they were modeled after the same girl but I do know that both pieces were created by the same artist, animator and imagineer Marc Davis! I have also posted fun facts about the Pirates of the Caribbean ride before. If you would like to go read them you can click here, it will take you right to them. Oh and don't forget to test your Disney knowledge on my poll to the right.

Make sure you go visit Babes in Disneyland to see all the other awesome Disney Blogs.

Watch out Mickey!

Did you know that there is a population of feral cats that live in Disneyland Park. Yep it is true, when Disney cast members built the Sleeping Beauty walk through in the 60's they found around 100 cats living inside the castle. Instead of getting rid of the cats they allowed them to stay and help with the rodent population. They are still there today (their off spring anyway) and can mostly be seen at night.

Our Disney Decor/The Disney Gallery

  Hey,Hey, it's Blog Hop Day! The Topic this week is Disney Decor/decorating.  The Disney Gallery I have to admit that I miss The Disney Gallery that was once above Pirates of the Caribbean. I would visit every time I went to the park. The gallery was located in New Orleans square from 1987-2007 an showcased artists creations of everything Disney. Walt Disney originally started planning this space as a VIP suite in the 1960s. The "Royal Suite" was abandoned after Walt Disney's death in 1966. Ron Disney felt that the "family could not fully enjoy it with Walt gone."  As of August 2007 The Disney Gallery was closed and designers created a two bedroom, two bathroom suite better known as the "Dream Suite". The design used for the Dream Suite are the original plans from the 1960s.

I was lucky enough to purchase this print from The Disney Gallery before it closed. We love it! It is hanging in our son's room.

 He is our little pirate in training.

Some other Disney Decor we have hanging in our home are these traffic signs. They are hanging in our son's toy room which couldn't be more appropriate. You always have to enter that room using CAUTION!!!

Last but not least, we also have this painting. I'm embarrassed to admit it but I can't remember when we got it or who the artist is. It's not even hanging on the wall it's tucked away in a closet some where. If anyone knows more about it I would love some info.

update: I pulled the picture out of the closet and hung it up on my wall :)

Click on the button below to visit Babes In Disneyland host of the Disney Blog Hop and all of the other wonderful Disney blogs.

Happy Mother's Day

True or False? Cast Members

Are Disneyland Cast members allowed to have facial hair?

Picture via http://www.distantcreations.com/dreamjob/

The answer is true.  This use to be false but in the year 2000 Disney officially changed the rule. Now cast members are allowed to wear beards, mustaches and long hair. 

Fun w/Food

Hip Hip Hooray it's Hop Day! Blog Hopping that is! This weeks topic is FOOD! We have had so many wonderful experiences with food at Disneyland I had a really hard time deciding what I was going to share. I finally decided to share some of our Character Dining pictures! I love Character dining because it makes visiting with the characters so easy! You aren't searching for them all day long or waiting in lines, they come right to your table it's wonderful! Our first experience was the Minnie and Friends Breakfast. It seems to have the most characters and it offers early entry into the park! My son was two and had a blast! (He didn't eat much but Daddy made up for that.)

We also have been able to visit with Characters at Goofy's Kitchen! Goofy's Kitchen is located at the Hotel. I loved this breakfast as well but my favorite is still Minnie and Friends. (My son was three here.)

Disneyland offers other dining experiences as well! You have to make reservations for these and also Character Dining so call in advance. Here is the phone number, 
714-781-DINE (3463). 
You can also read my previous post on the coffee at Disneyland  here .

Don't forget to hop on over to Babes in Disneyland and check out all the other great Disney Blogs!

True or False? Space Mountain

I've decide that its going to be True or False week here on my blog so with out further ado. Was a guest actually beheaded on Space Mountain because they stood up while the ride was in motion?

Photo~ Joe Penniston

The answer is FALSE, it was only a test dummy who lost his head on a test run of the ride! Thank goodness!