Disneyland TLC - 1/12/2007 - Trip Report

[Gemini Cricket]

Here are some pictures of things I noticed today (1/12/2007):

First the good stuff:

Today was the perfect day to be at Disneyland. The sun was shining and the park was deserted.

The Christmas decorations were gone gone gone. You couldn't even tell that the Christmas tree was there at all...

Main Street was empty. It was weird/nice seeing the holiday crowds gone.

All along Main Street USA there were workers sanding the gold paint off of the light posts.

Disneyland's painting crew totally rocks. It's amazing how much they have to paint and how good things look. Kudos to them.

When I took this picture this afternoon, the paint on this almost finished pole was still wet.

It says 10 minute waits here and there but they were more like 5 minute waits for almost everything and a 30-35 minute wait for Space Mountain.

It's been awhile since I've seen the Pirates' queue this empty.

The progress on the Haunted Mansion is coming along. The Holiday overlay is disappearing.

A wood fence popped up at the exit to the Haunted Mansion.

Dumbo's getting a refurb.

It also looks like some of the white stains were scrubbed off of Monstro.

This was a cool bit that a CM and Brer Bear were doing. It was pretty funny. Brer Bear tried to eat this kid's autograph book and the CM was trying to get it away from him.

The only reason the CM got the book was because Brer Bear sneezed it out of his mouth.

After signing the book, Brer Bear wiped his nose with it and gave it back to the kid. He was then scolded by the CM. Funny stuff.

It's a little blurry, but this is one of my favorite parts of the park. See if you can guess where it is...

It's amazing how beautiful the park is.

[Gemini Cricket]

And now the bad stuff. I noticed some things that needed some Disneyland TLC. Let's hope this stuff gets fixed soon...


Firstly, the grotto area in front of the Ariel meet and greet area. I'd call it Ariel's Grotto, but isn't that the name of her restaurant in DCA?


This area is really bad off.


The entire place needs paint badly. Or it needs to be taken out. One or the other.


King Triton's trident is not shooting off well. One of the water blasters is not shooting well. Now here's the best part...


The star of the grotto area needs help. She looks rusty and corroded. Brace yourself for a close-up...


Yeah, Ariel seems to be leaking something from her face. Yikes. Disney needs to fix this. It's gonna scare the kiddies.


Someone's log house has a cracked window. It's located by the bathrooms below Hungry Bear Restaurant.


TLC needed for the White Rabbit's house.


It looks like his window sills are rotting...


And speaking of the Alice area... The cute little garden in front of Mad Hatter's is gone. A new floral arrangement is there now.


The golden apple is gone from in front of Snow White.


The Villain's Lair is also gone from the backside of the castle.


Toon Town's Post Office is missing a sign. Also, if you try the mailboxes, the characters will mention things about attractions long gone. Mickey talks about Goofy's Bounce House and another talks about Chip and Dale's Acorn Crawl...


The area behind Donald's boat needs paint.


Daisy's got a little bird poo on her backside. She needs a scrubbing...


That's about it. I know this stuff may sound like nitpicking, but a little TLC never hurt this park.

[Mac Daddy]

Thanks for your great report, Gemini. I was there last night and it was indeed weird to be there after the decorations were down and the Christmas rush was over. Almost a bit too quiet, but the lack of crowds was rather nice.

And about the fix it list...I hope they are in process. Seems like there were only one or two things that were refurbed since last Summer. I took some shots of the railing surrounding Innoventions as the paint was pretty much gone all the way around.

But I think they'll get to it. With the lack of CM's nowadays, I would think there's quite a backlog of things that need to be painted, fixed, and replaced.

[SpokkerJones]

Why do they have to do the light posts during the day? They don't want to pay third shift rates or something? As big Al would say, BAD SHOW.

Great pictures by the way. I was there today and while it was cold as hell I loved seeing the park relatively empty like that.

[Neverlandtink]

Great thread! I love the "Good" and the "Bad". Please do that again next time! Hopefully someone at the Team Building is watching...

[Grumpy4]

Love the pics Cricket!! Yikes on the Little Mermaid. And didn't Daisy's mom teach her how to wipe?

No more Villains Lair? Now I really need to keep on my toes.

[tinkermonkey]

It's a little blurry, but this is one of my favorite parts of the park. See if you can guess where it is...

It's amazing how beautiful the park is.

Looks like the waterfall near the exit to the treehouse that used to have a baby elephant in it.

[Gemini Cricket]

Looks like the waterfall near the exit to the treehouse that used to have a baby elephant in it.

Nope.

[Abominable Snowman]

Great TR

[2DieFR]

It's a little blurry, but this is one of my favorite parts of the park. See if you can guess where it is...

It's amazing how beautiful the park is.

I know where it is - it's the beginning of that little stream in Critter Country, over in a corner near the exit of Winnie the Pooh. I've always liked that spot.

Great trip report, I enjoyed it.

[Morrigoon]

Glad to see they gave ol' Monstro a scrub. Nice TR!

[Coheteboy]

Fantastic trip report! Eeeee, brer bear and brer fox! I never see them anymore!

[Alchimedes]

Great Trip Report G.C. It's interesting to see the process of what goes into some of the changes along Main Street.

[PragmaticIdealist]

Why do they have to do the light posts during the day? They don't want to pay third shift rates or something? As big Al would say, BAD SHOW.

If for some reason, the maintenance crews have to paint while the guests are on the stage, then those cast members need to be in turn-of-the-19th-Century costumes.

Walt Disney World used to have to paint sometimes during the day because the area would be so humid that nothing would dry, but W.D.W. made it a point to put their paint crews in costume in order to make them part of the show. People don't pay $63 to go to Disneyland and see guys in sweats.

This is, indeed, an example of poor showmanship and a lack of professionalism.

[2DieFR]

If for some reason, the maintenance crews have to paint while the guests are on the stage, then those cast members need to be in turn-of-the-19th-Century costumes.

I think that's ridiculous. There still is no explanation why it's being done during park hours, especially since those hours are shortened right now as the offseason begins. Put those maintenance workers on a night shift for goodness sake, and keep the time-period crap to the cast members.