Photo TR: Chuck's Quick Christmas Trip!

Love Christmas at Disneyland. I don't know that I've ever done Knott's at Christmas, but it looks like they do it right. Great report, Chuck!

Wait! A Compliance Sign? When did "Snow White" get this posted?

And is this (of course, the children...) the only attraction with such a sign?

 

Important questions, Chuck.

 

I saw them at a number of attractions.

These are required to be posted at all attractions in California. Every park will have them in CA, typically the message is on the ride restrictions signs. In all my time at a park, I've never heard of someone asking for one, but I'm sure it happens.

Love Christmas at Disneyland. I don't know that I've ever done Knott's at Christmas, but it looks like they do it right. Great report, Chuck!

 

Wait! A Compliance Sign? When did "Snow White" get this posted?

And is this (of course, the children...) the only attraction with such a sign?

 

Important questions, Chuck.

 

I saw them at a number of attractions.

 

These are required to be posted at all attractions in California. Every park will have them in CA, typically the message is on the ride restrictions signs. In all my time at a park, I've never heard of someone asking for one, but I'm sure it happens.

On rule I like to go by is that there are more things illegal or criminalized than there are legal in California.

*Edit: For example, 300 foot tall chair swings named Windseeker.

What I don't understand Chuck is how you could go to Southern California and Northern California and not stop in Fresno!

^I didn't even make it to Firebaugh this year.

OK, on the theory that you can never get enough pictures of Disney . . .

I had the better part of a day to kill before catching the Super Shuttle back to LAX, so why not head back to the parks and do (for the most part) stuff I didn't do the day before? My main objectives were the Matterhorn and the classic Fantasyland dark rides, because I've always been a fan of them. When I was a kid, my favorite ride was Mr. Toad.

So, let's have a look at day two.

Oh, great--my body is now riddled with cancer! Thanks, Disney.

Let's start out in the original Magic Kingdom today, shall we?

Well, it was a little chilly this morning, so I guess Goofy's sweater is justified.

This morning's objective: a thrilling bobsled run down the slopes of the majestic Matterhorn.

"Permanecer sentados por favor."

"Pull my finger, kids!"

"Whee . . . clunk--ow! . . . Whee . . . clunk-ow . . . Whee . . . clunk &%%$@*&^!!!"

Well, being as it's right next to the Matterhorn, let's check out Disney's only Alice in Wonderland dark ride.

"Am I not 'adoorable' . . ."

I'm going to slam you so hard for saying that.

"Have you seen Angus? I have a message for him."

"Do you like croquet?"

"I do like croquettes."

"AGGH! CROQUETTES SUCK! OFF WITH HIS HEAD!"

Railings = lame. I remember the old days before the railings, when this part of the ride was actually a bit scary.

"Oh, you didn't mention 'croquettes,' did you? No wonder you're spiraling into Hell."

I remember being scared of the Matterhorn when I was younger.

So, the rest of the family went to the mountain, while I paid my respects to Toad Hall.

"You might want to relieve yourself before queuing up for Peter Pan's Flight . . .

. . . but not in the Snow White Grotto."

Sleeping Beauty's Castle actually looks somewhat, er, less short in this photo.

Yep--the Cheshire Cat spoke words of wisdom.

At least I didn't have to take a whiz on Neverland.

Pinocchio's Daring Journey is another one of those rides with a "WTF" Snow White ending. In the movie, Pinocchio becomes a real boy; at the end of the ride, he's still a puppet.

This mural pretty well sums up the whole attraction: dumb wooden kid gets tricked my a wily and fox with a lame-brained henchman while being nagged by a cricket. Yeah, that all makes sense.

"Hey, I'm a gonna smacka you silly for making me such a stereotypical Italian villain!"

I'm always amazed at how popular this little Jedi show still is. They sure sell a lot of those plastic light sabers. More to come.

One last set of photos--sigh!

Never got to Toontown yesterday. I remember them having more Christmas decorations, such as ridiculously over-loaded trees, in past years.

The Roger Rabbit ride is all decked out, though.

Phew! Again, what a relief.

Hmm--I wonder if Jessica Rabbit is in "compliance."

"We can help you comply, pal!"

Let's head back to Main Street via the Grand Canyon . . .

. . . and see the sights our ancestors never saw in the majestic Primeval World. (Well, if your ancestors visited the 1964 New York World's Fair, they saw thses sights.)

OK, I think an "unfrozen" ice rink would be a swimming pool, correct?

Look at all those game tourists out there.

Lunch at Trader Sam's is just OK, but they do have a wide assortment of fruity rum drinks.

Sheesh! Belle has really let herself go.

Here's my main reason for returning to DCA.

A nice minty sundae--yum!

Let's get a look at Cars Land when it isn't raining.

The forced-perspective work on the mountain range is pretty effective on a bright, sunny day.

"Ho, ho, ho! I just took a big nasty dump in Johnny Depp's and Gore Verbinski's stockings!"

I haven't been in here in years.

Yep--looks about the same.

If you're into zoetropes, has DCA got a room for you.

"Er, I need to use the restroom. Little help here?"

Yes, this is all pretty much the same as the last time I visited this section . . .

. . . except that Ursula has taken over the grotto.

Cool stuff--for which you will pay cool prices.

Almost time to leave . . . sniff!

But first, an extreme close up of creepy Santa!

Remember--it's all about the Jingle Cruise. Thanks for reading!

Great Photo TR. Like the pics of Disney and California Adventure the best. It's been years since I've been to those parks during Christmas time. Makes me want to go back.

I've never made it there yet during Christmas so thanks for the quick TR and uploading all those great pics!

Disney and Knott's at Christmas time look AMAZING

I have to admit that I like the Jingle Cruise poster. A miniature version of that would make a great Christmas ornament.

Great TR and pictures, Chuck! It looks like the crowds were much better for you than they were for me. Everything at KBF had a 1-2 hour wait including Mrs. Knotts restaurant. I'll get a TR up soon about my experience.

^Knott's was dead that day. Our longest wait was about 15 minutes for the chicken-dinner restaurant.

On 12/30 it was packed. Here's the 1 1/2 hour line for Silver Bullet as an example:

^The time between Christmas Day and New Year's tends to e very busy at the southern California parks--I've been caught in that before, myself. But business tends to be slower the week before Christmas (I was at Knott's on December 18).

^Yeah, we did know that before heading out there but when you have a kid in high school, they can't miss like when they were in elementary school. When she's in college we'll be able to pick better dates to travel.

I made it clear before we left that everywhere would be packed and to set expectations accordingly. So we all did and had a great time knowing we'd have tons of crowds. Hopefully our next trip to SoCal will be in the fall when kids are in school.

Well, ya do what ya gotta do. And a day at Disney beats a day at work.