Last Day at the Place Walt Made

Day 5 dawned, our last day in the parks . The fam was dead to the world after the early day park hopping and the ToT party. I however was up with the sun.

I still had a bit of a cough but I was feeling the call of the Magic Kingdom. I showered and dressed and grabbed some food from the cabinet and fridge. Bean stirred a bit and I told her that whenever they were ready, I would come back and get them. She said ‘okay’ and turned back over to go back to sleep.

I walked out the door and down the hall. While I waited for the elevator I took in the sunrise over a very smoggy Disneyland. It made me glad that the early rain in the trip had kept the skies clearer and also glad that we didn’t live in this. Nice place to visit and all 😉

The sun was still peeking through the trees as I left the Wonder Tower

All was still quiet at the Rainforest

I went to the monorail station not long after it opened …and yes, I got my own monorail car again 😀 As I glided in I caught a couple of great shots of the Matterhorn

The morning dawned over Tomorrowland

As I came around the other side of the Matterhorn I caught some other early risers going on the Alice ride.

I got off of the monorail took a shot of my fellow passengers as they disenbarked

Strolling along I took some random shots through Tomorrowland – I wonder if this was a leftover from the attempted redesign to make the area more steampunk/H.G. Wells?

The pristine mountain itself

I had been making my way towards the center of things to visit the man who started it all. And there he was with his our favorite mouse, pointing towards the future and welcoming all who came to share in the magic.

For Halloween they had made up jack-o-lanterns representing each land.

Buzz for Tomorrowland

Roger Rabbit for Toontown

Tink for Fantasyland

Pooh for Critter Country

Woody for Frontierland

Jack for New Orleans Square

Tarzan for Adventureland

There was a Photopass guy there and I couldn’t resist getting my pic taken with Walt and Mickey

I then took pics of the little statuettes that surround Walt’s statue that I’d walked past several times but had never really looked at in detail.

First the Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland

Chip and Dale

Donald

Minnie

Pinnocchio

Dumbo

and finally Pluto

the park was still still pretty quiet as this empty car can attest to

The horse drawn trolley was parked by the statue so I said ‘hi’ to the horse 🙂

and there went the double decker bus

Meanwhile families were making the pilgrimage to Fantasyland

I moved away from the crowds and headed over to the grotto. Not a soul over there – it was very peaceful and shady. Hello Mr. Bunny rabbit

The castle looked very majestic

And the grotto was very …uh, grotto-ish ;-]

And a wishing well to make that special wish

And back to Snow White and her deer

Her and most of the crew

And there’s Dopey watching the fish swim by

Turrets against the blue sky

I started strolling back towards Main Street and ran into a flock of VIP/Behind the Scenes guides learning to guide …hehehe

Halloween Time banner

Main Street was lookin’ good

The pumpkins in the windows were cool

Down one of the alleys there was an open upstairs window where you could hear piano lessons going on

And howls from the “painless” dentist – lol

I actually took pics of all of the windows, but I won’t bore you with them. It was interesting to google some of the names to see what great works they had done – some amazing people.

My next stop was Disneyland – The First 50 Years. The full exhibit wasn’t open, but there was still some very cool stuff to look over. First was a great pic of Walt walking through Snow White’s castle

Below the picture was a bench …a very special bench

There was a great model of Snow White’s Castle

Next was Inspirations and The Dream Begins:

Then more sketches

And a painting of Disneyland as it looked right after it opened

More sketches

And Disneyland Grows Up

And A Golden Age For Dreamers

Then A New Generation of Dreamers

There was a cool model of Splash Mountain

Walt and Mickey

Some info about Walt’s Apartment

Next was a full model of the Disneyland park

And the oh so famous quote – still affects me a bit to read it

A copy of the Disneyland Newspaper from opening day

They still had a montage up from Great Moments with Mr Lincoln

Then some great shots of Walt in the park

They were showing a cool video narrated by Steve Martin if I remember correctly. When the video was over it showed a cool screen saver of the castle at night

Next door there we some great paintings on exibit

I walked out and looked across the square and took a quick shot of City Hall

The train station was closed down with the trains getting their yearly maintenance

I turned around and who walked out – Mickey!!!!

I then got in line to get my picture taken in front of the giant Mickey Jack-o-lantern. By then it was starting to get really hot and humid and every moment in the shade was golden.

After my momen in pumpkinland my eyes fixed on something I had seen many times but had never taken the time to explore. Ye Ole Firehouse

I did a little digging and the wagon was an active ride down Main Street until 1960, when it was permanently parked. And the horses that pulled it were indeed named Jess and Bess as the names on the stalls relate.

A certificate from 1929 from an operational fire dept

More sundries

1920s Fire Dept Pic

I left the fire department and went right into the first big shop next to it – the Mercantile. I looked over the merchandise and bought a pirate pin and took a couple of pics of the full sized dioramas they have up in the eaves.

Time for a haircut

She really enjoys her birds

But I don’t think this little girl cares for the outfit

On to the toy store which had all kinds of stuff in the rafters including a running toy train and my second favorite pirate captain 😀

Outside of the shop there was an open air space to eat at, but I was looking at the posters

I wandered back down Main Street U.S.A and made my ritual pit stop at the Dole Whip stand for a pineapple juice to soothe my scratchy throat. While I waited I snapped a couple of pics of the Hawaiian theming

From there I made a beeline for New Orleans Square or more specifically the ferry barge to Ole Tom Sawyer’s Island AKA The Pirate’s Lair. From the barge I had a good view of the back of the Columbia.

On the way across I had a good view of the wrecked ship on the rocks

And one of the pirate caves

The sunlight filtered through the morning haze to the entrance of the PotC ride.

And the crowds were starting to pour in and fill up the queues at the Haunted Mansion

Once I got over to the island I strolled up onto the “stage” area where Mickey hangs out for Fantasmic and took a bunch of pics of the shoreline.

I got another shot of the Columbia

and then turned around and took a shot of the …ummm, what is this building anyways?

From there I circled around towards Will Turner’s Blacksmith shop

I wonder if he’s in?

Shouldn’t there be a donkey turning this?

Hey, sharp things!

More cool signage

As I came out what did I find? The riverboat was starting its journey

So what’s next you ask? Well I’ll tell you, I’m headed for trouble!!! I’m going in the out door! Bwooohaahaahaaaaa!

Yo ho, yo ho! And away we go into the dark depths of a pirate tunnel …..backwards!

After passing under the “wrong way” sign I came across a note from Mr. Gibbs

Next up was a captured pirate with a pretty cool projection over the face …which my flash completely zapped – lol

Look – treasure!

eeeek! It be guarded

Davy Jones’s heart chest with his beating heart

More bad luck for treasure seekers

Shall we heed the warning?

Oops, maybe we should have

More goodies

And hard luck ex-pirates

And finally the entrance through which I made my exit

I took a trail back around to the other side and found another soul lost to the pursuit of treasure

This ship and her crew did not fair well

Bone cage a la PoTC 2

I walked up to a higher vantage point and looked across the river to a spot that used to part of the old Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland

It was actually kind of cool with that as there are spots all around the rivers and Big Thunder Mountain and the walkways in between where you can see old tracks and old tunnels boarded up from the ride. It was in operation until 1977 and I vaguely remember riding it as a kid on our trip to DLR in 1976.

I took the trail all the way to the top to the tree fort

Some okay views from up there, but mostly everything is obscured by trees.

I took a different route down and came down just as the Mark Twain was coming around to finish her journey.

I started walking towards the back of the island and had fun watching kids going in and out of some of the smaller “just for kids” tunnels they have through that area. I climbed up to the old shipwreck I had seen as we were first heading across. I really looked like it had been there for a long time.

There was some yummy salt pork and other barrels of provisions on the battlements

And from here I could see the top of the cave labyrinth that the kids were having so much fun in down below. It was extra funny watching the parents who had sent there kids in and then had gone up to the top to meet them try and coax the little ones out. The kids just kept turning around or ducking into other passages …hehehe.

I walked to the edge of the structure, past the pulleys and other dockside apparatus and what did I spy? Twas the Mighty Columbia setting sail!

I worked my way back down to ground level and trekked my way to old Fort Wilderness. It was still standing proudly, but locked down and quiet.

I walked around back and paid my respects at the old graveyard

By then the Columbia was coming by, tall and majestic but empty of passengers – I still hope to sail on it one day.

Her gunner gave a test fire off the foredeck

Then she sailed off on her grand adventure

I had been following a trail as the ship went by and lo and behold, I found a ship’s ransom of treasure! Only some wee pirates had found it first – blast!

There was plenty for all to share though

And right when I was getting ready to celebrate finding my plunder …my cell phone rings! Bean is up and would like to come join me on my adventure 🙂 I have to leave the treasure for others to discover as I make my way back across the island to the barge dock.

On my way I catch a great view of Splash Mountain. I took a shot of a log coming out of the top, thinking it was a pretty cool pic.

It wasn’t until weeks later while editing pics for posting that the voyagers in the back of that log were veterans and knew how to strike a pose for the cameras – lolol

I kept walking and the Mark Twain was making the rounds again. I really love the look of the paddle wheel scooping its way around the river. Such a cool method of locomotion :-]

I got to the barge waiting area and it was really starting to get HOT!!!! Hot and humid. I was finding every sliver of shade I could, which wasn’t easy at the barge dock. I looked up and took one more picture of the crows nest and building behind me and then got on the barge.

Before we started out a couple of canoes came around the bend. They were really workin’ up a sweat!

The sun beat down on the open barge – making me want for another ice cold pineapple juice!

I made landfall and started working my way around the walkway next to the river. I couldn’t help take a couple more shots of the Columbia as she came at me going the other way.

I headed for the Frontierland exit towards the hub and said a quick “how” to the cigar store indian

I entered the hub and snapped another shot of the Matterhorn, looming majestic above the crowds

I weaved my way into Tomorrowland, heading for the monorail station. A monorail swooshed over my head as I walked. I was happy for the shade 😉

At the station I took that same darned shot that I’ve taken before and just about everyone else takes from the platform

Then I was on my way. No monorail car to myself this time – I squeezed in but managed to get a window seat. We passed above Autotopia

As we wound around I snapped a pic of another monorail coming in

And then we were zooming away from Disneyland and quickly passing Cali Adventure. Big Grizzly howled as I went by …hehe

I arrived at the station and made my way up to the room. Kris had gotten up too and him and Bean were ready to roll. I had a quick snack and rehydrated – warning them how hot and humid it was going to be. They were still game so we packed up to head back to the park.

Roxy and Pumpkin Girl were more than happy to just hibernate and enjoy the wonder that is a closed blind and climate control – lol.

So out the door we went – Bean, Kris, and I. We zipped past the ESPN club but Bean couldn’t resist stopping in front of the Rainforest as they had a parrot out with its handler.

Bean listened to her talk about the bird’s habitat and such

And then of course got a picture with them. And you can finally see a clear picture of our Jack Skellington shirts – I had a couple of shots taken wearing mine but my lanyard mostly covered it up.

We hit the monorail and as we sped past the entrance we got a birds-eye view of the character jack-o-lanterns

and the Halloween Mickey head along with the train station

…and then the rest of the jack-o-lantern crew

Hey look – a slightly different view of the Matterhorn ;D

Followed by ‘morning sun on Matterhorn

Matterhorn waterfall

and Matterhorn as seen from monorail just before entering the station – lol

We got off of the monorail and were really starting to feel the heat of the day. And it coupled with a humidity Bean and I were starting to think we were in Orlando! We followed the shadow of the monorail track around the Matterhorn and up towards It’s a Small World.

We had decided that AC rides were the way to go for the time being. We made a quick pit stop to pick up some waters from a stand and looked on as a couple of villains did a meet and greet on the raised area to the right just before the ride.

The kids didn’t want to wait in line for them even though I wanted to – my official notice that I was no longer on my time, I was on theirs 😀 I stopped to take a quick shot of Jafar as we went by.

Then came IaSW itself

We were shuffling along in the line trying to go from one shady spot to the next. Once we got onto the ride boat I handed the camera over to Kris and he took pictures as we made our way around the winding course to the interior.

Hallo Mr. Moose!

Rawwwrrrr!

Bean really liked the horse

Proud elk

…and the horse again 😀

We crossed the threshold into blessed shade and air conditioning ….aaaahhhhh! Kris took a bunch of pics, I’ll share a choice few as you’ve seen all of these plenty of times before.

Alice and the White Rabbit

Some dancing girls

Ye ole bagpiper

Pinocchio doing a dance

some billygoats doing a balancing act

Aladdin and Jasmine

A trip to India

Cool camel

A very colorful Zebra groovin’ next to the Hyenas was next

The Three Caballeros

Little Ariel

…and of course Flounder

Keeping to the nautical theme we found Nemo swimming along after him

And then we break the surface in time to catch Stitch hanging …uhhh, not ten …hmmm, how many toes does he have anyways?

Then we did some crocodile rockin’

Followed by some strumming by Jessie

And a hearty yee-haw from Woody and Bullseye

Then it was the smiling sun letting us know our journey was almost at an end

We said our tearful goodbyes to the AC

And were enticed to come again soon

Outside we met yet another cool zebra

We had already hit all of the classics in Fantasyland so we wound our way from there down into Frontierland. I had promised Bean that we would make some time for saying “hi” to the critters.

We passed a cool harvest wagon.

And then went into the petting zoo. Bean said hello to a big sheep relaxing in the shade

And then spent some time with the goats

I snapped a shot of another overloaded harvest wagon

and of the back side of Big Thunder Mountain peeking above the trees

We came out of the animal area and who was there but Woody!

Now this I really don’t understand – there was no line for him. NO LINE. And they still didn’t want to say ‘hi’ to him. Sometimes I just don’t understand my kids.

We walked down towards Big Thunder Mountain and I caught one of the trains as it was taking it’s passengers on their wild ride

We got in line and I took a couple of random shots as we waited

Bean and I got in the front car, right behind the engine. Looking forward the view was a bit obstructed.

But to the sides we had some great views

Well we got rolling down the tracks and were soon in great danger!

The mountain goat seemed oblivious though

Oh no, explosives!

Most of the rest of the ride was too fast and/or jolting to take pics, but I did get a shot of other parkgoers winding their way through the line to take their turns

We got off and started heading around the Rivers of America with the Haunted Mansion as our destination. On our way we stopped and looked at the petrified tree that Mrs. Disney donated to DLR and took a shot with Bean posed next to it

I didn’t take any pics of HM since I have already shown it twice in this TR. The line wasn’t horrible – probably a 20 minute wait. We came out and Bean wanted to ride Splash Mountain. It was really hot and humid by now so the line was pretty long.

I tried to convince her otherwise but she stuck to her guns and we got in line. Kris had no interest in waiting that long so he asked if he could have the camera and walk around a bit. I told him to stay in Critter Country and have a good time.

So now we embark on Kris’s photographic journey through Critter Country! First stop was Pooh for him:

A blue elephant bee

Where the honey is made

Oh no, hold on Roo!

Wheeee!

Always the neat freak

Telling the tale

Tigger will save him!

What is Rabbit holding?

Hunny Time!!!

It’s a party everybody!

Honey overboard

It was a Beary Great day!

He wandered to the river and caught the Columbia sailing away

The male CM at the canoes gives good testament to how hot it was

He gave us a call to see what was going on since he hadn’t seen us in about 45 minutes. We were trapped in line and hadn’t moved for about 15 minutes. We found out later that some idiot had jumped out of his log and tried to have a more direct interaction with the characters on the ride. They had to chase him down and drag him out. Then inspect the area he was in to make sure there was no damage. What a loser.

So we were stuck and I knew it would be another 20 minutes easy before we came out. He wandered back up into Critter Country and found that Pooh and Tigger were out for a meet and greet

And he liked the Piglet banner :-]

After watching the character interactions for a bit Kris managed to wind his way up the exit ramp of Splash. Bean and I had good seats – she had wanted to be up front but the CMs wouldn’t let her. That’s my little daredevil!

So anyways Kris did a good job of covertly taking pics of us as we came off of the ride 😀

Now is when we finally see the mystery of my shirt! Take a look at the graphic on my T-Shirt

And then look at Bean’s

Mine did this weird blurring thing, especially at the border. Nobody else’s did it …but then again I had been tooling around since rope drop on a hot day and Bean and Kris didn’t get out there until hours later. Ah well, mine still looks cool and is unique!

Back to the story! We of course stopped off to check out our pic. I had schooled Bean well on doing “the big lean” so she could be seen behind me – I leaned right and she leaned left 😉

Kris took a couple of good close-ups of us

We headed back out of Critter Country with the intent to meet up with the family for lunch back at the hotel room. On our way out we ran into Braer Bear and snapped a pic.

We were all too hot to wait in line to get a pic with him. There’s always next time, right? We were taking the monorail out so we made our way across the hub and into Tomorrowland.

As we approached the monorail station I saw that we had come by just in time for the Jedi Academy so I stopped to take a few shots.

A young Padawan takes on Vader

Vader is not happy

He stomps across the stage trying to intimidate the young jedis

Then Darth Maul comes striding by

He actually came right up into the camera lens but I couldn’t focus quick enough to catch him before he moved on 🙁 Vader ordered him to attack

The jedis were ready for the fight!

Maul moved in

The female jedi wasn’t taking any flack from him though

Vader was not amused

Great cape swoosh 😀

Darth Maul hops back onto the stage

The Darth twins make good their escape

The storm troopers realize they are being abandoned

Oop, time to go!

I moved back so I could catch them as they headed for safety

off they scamper

Guess he didn’t like the look of me

…or the guy next to me

A little boy told him to “move along”

So off they went …..to The Kitchen! 

One last “oh yeah” and they were gone

Guess they had to go scrub pots or something :D. The kids were hot and tired and hungry, but I wasn’t quite ready to leave yet. So I got Kris and Bean on the Monorail and told them to go straight back to the room and call me when they got there.

I strolled back down Main Street USA. I was there in time to see the marching band march in and the Dapper Dans come out and sing some patriotic songs. It was pretty cool, I’m glad I went that way.

I had a leisurely stroll back through DTD and met up with the fam back in the room. We all had a nice lunch in the room and the kids wanted to go play in the Neverland Pool again. Roxy and I kicked back in the room while Kris, Pumpkin Girl and Bean all went down an cooled off for a couple of hours.

It was our last night and we had still not seen the Halloween fireworks from inside the park. So we packed up and headed out for MK. I stopped off and snapped a couple of shots of the waterfall outside our building, loved the subtle lighting.

I had my timing off and we just missed being able to take the monorail into the park – oops. So we strolled back through DTD and on into the Magic Kingdom

The place was already pretty packed, but we got a decent spot to camp out at. The view was partially obstructed by a tree, which blocked a chunk of the castle. Real bummer was that it also almost completely obscured the “orb” they project the villain’s faces on. Oh well, we’ll just have to get there earlier next time 😉

While we waited I took a pic of the Astro Orbiter

And the kids found some pavement to collapse onto until the show began – lol

Kris kept Bean entertained off and on with a glowy ball spinning thing he picked up

And then they finally announced the start of the show! I’m sure you’ve seen the vids on the video sites so I just took some pics.

As far as the show goes, I have to say it was the best fireworks productions I’ve ever been to between the music and the explosions and the theme for each villain.

We were all amazed by the show and all wished we had seen it more than once. I withheld the “I told you so’s” as I had tried to get them down there on Wednesday evening but they weren’t up for it.

The crowds split with large groups heading towards Main Street and others towards Tomorrowland. We weren’t about to walk all the way back again so we got in line for the monorail station. Pumpkin Girl and Kris found a spot on a railing off to the side while we waited.

We slowly made our way up to the platform and awaited our monorail. I took a couple of shots of the neon wonderment while we waited for the gates to open.

Once we got off at the other end we realized that we were absolutely STARVING! Since we had started our trip with a meal at Rainforest we thought ‘what the heck’ and made our way in.

Unfortunately they stuck us in a back corner so the service wasn’t the best, but we were just happy to be sitting again. Kris played with his color ball thing some more

He was pretty happy about the day and the trip in general and especially happy when the food came

Kyra on the other hand was not being very social – lol

Bean was tired but had fries, so all was right with the world for her

Roxy had held up very well considering she was still feeling pretty icky from the flu

Once the kids got some food in them their energy level went up and they started getting a little goofy

Roxy took the camera and got a pic of me and the kids

and then one of me

Either Kyra or Kris took the camera (can’t remember which) and took a couple of pics of Roxy and I

smooch smooch

We sat and talked about our adventures for a bit longer while Kris played with his toy some more

By now it was about 10:30pm and we paid the check and headed out. We walked under the magic hat one last time and said ‘goodbye’ to Tinkerbell.

I stopped and took a picture of the sign for the Dreams building, smiling as I thought of the dreams answered and memories made on our trip.

We wound our way back over to the Wonder building and rode the elevator up to our room. We were all tired but happy and slept the sleep of a properly exhausted Disney family on their last park day.

Next up – packing up and saying ‘goodbye’ to DLR