Datameister's second TR (5-10-08)

[Datameister]

Part I

So I lost my trip report virginity a few months ago, and I think a good time was had by all, but, you know...it's better the second time. With that in mind, I'm proud to present my second MiceChat TR.

Saturday the 10th was a blast for me. 15 straight hours just in Disneyland itself with a group of friends, and it my admission was free, thanks to an extraordinarily cool cast member friend and fellow MCer. (Thanks so much, Star!) We got lots of attractions in, and, as per usual, I got plenty of photos no one else would think to attempt. They're not terribly beautiful for the most part (though the original subject matter often is), but they'll serve me well as reference for my 3D modeling project, and hopefully they'll be interesting to at least a few of you. But consider yourself forewarned...you're not going to be seeing the usual sights in this TR.

I started off the day way too cool for Disneyland.



But, as always, I eventually softened my outlook on things. We arrived at the resort around 8:20 and milled around, waiting for more friends, while I took obligatory photos of the Indiana Jones show building.



But come on...I take photos of that major landmark every time I visit. I needed something slightly more obscure. So I became curious about an area behind/beside the Guest Relations department (looks like this: ). So my first truly unusual photos came before we even entered the park.



After passing beneath the yucky DreamClouds, I was overjoyed to enter the Happiest Place On Earth, as always. First stop was Space Mountain, but our voyage to get there was sprinkled with my commentary on Imagineering processes and backstage tidbits as we went. After all, when you do Disneyland with Datameister, you get all the data. Anyway, Space Mountain rocked, as it always does when it isn't Rockin'. One of our group members had never experienced this phenomenal attraction before, and she loved it, which was gratifying. Me...I was still feeling cooler than the intergalactic air conditioning.



Then came Indiana Jones, and boy, was that an experience. For years, the lack of proper photographic documentation of the Indy queue online has bugged the heck out of me. I can relate to all the other photographers out there, honestly, since it's tough to take meaningful photos of EVERYTHING in that queue while constantly moving through it, and you don't want to hold people up or annoy them with your flash or take blurry non-flash photos...but still. Well...suffice it to say I finally managed. You'll find extensive coverage of everything I haven't seen online in the Indy queue in this set. I won't bother posting 'em all here, but here are a couple:




It'll all help me as I model the queue interior, but this wasn't the really exciting part. The first jaw-dropping moment of the day was as we exited and I hung behind in the bamboo canyon. Standing on tippie-toes, back pressed against the east (exit side) wall, holding my camera at arms' length above my head, I was able to capture four shots of the Pirates show building above and part of the backstage catwalk that allows CM access above the bamboo canyon. You can also see the lights attached to the handrails of the catwalk. Here's one photo, debatably the most interesting, but there are three others like it if you head to my Flickr photostream.



So I was pretty much set for the day at this point. But things continued to be interesting when I soon afterwards caught a shot of a POTC roof access ladder:



...and a bit of New Orleans Square rising above the Indy queue.



Not excited yet? You might want to give it another chance when I return with a vengeance for Part II, since there will be some rather more nice-looking, conventionalish photos mixed in with the backstage insanity.

[hockeyguy3]

Nice TR Data. Cant wait for Part II.

[Kritter]

awesome TR!

[elly]

i love the interesting angle pix, can't wait to see more!

[MasterGracey]

Ooh cool! Love the look at the Pirates show building and the catwalk. Nice!

[mycroft16]

I am so going tip-toe through the bamboo canyon no matter how funnily people look at me next time I'm there.

Can't wait to see the results of this trip in your renders Data! Great report so far.

[Aura of Foreboding]

Cool shots! Can't wait to see part two!

[orbitalpunk]

Nice. keep it coming.

[Snow_White_Raven]

I love seeing this unique view of DL... Thanks Data...

[Legally Brunette]

Great TR so far. Can't wait for Part Deux.

[pratt55]

I love the angles. You have given me a fresh perspective to look at the next time we in the queue. Good job. Can't wait for part II.

[Jacky B]

Can't wait for part II! Hurry back..

[IzzyInWonderland]

Ah yes the infamous Datameister...interesting perspective on the park for sure! Keep it coming!

[Datameister]

Great TR so far. Can't wait for Part Deux.

Tu veux Part Deux? Je te le donne maintenant!

::hopes he said that right::

Part II

(I forgot to mention that Indy was the first of many attractions to go 101 that day, but I'm enormously frustrated to say we missed it by that much. The lights of the queue stopped flickering as we were starting to descend into the loading area. Things got started up again in perhaps ten or fifteen minutes, and no one was evaced, but I'm sure they still got plenty of interesting work-lights-on views of the attraction. )

After running to catch up with my group, who'd been waiting with decreasing patience over by River Belle Terrace, we headed over to the nearby Pirates. The beauty of NOS never ceases to amaze me.




By the way, for anyone who hasn't realized it, all of these photos--er, most of 'em--are links to full-resolution versions. We're talking 8 megapixels here, so if you've an eye for detail, happy pixel-peeping! Anyways, I was enormously fortunate to be re-routed through the extended queue to the left of the building. Fortunate, you ask? Why fortunate? Because no one ever takes photos of that area. Well, except for a few. So that means I needed to so I could get my model right. But unfortunately, this behemoth--



--does a fantastic job of making it impossible to get the shots I needed. It's great that a few guests a night get to spend some time in the suite, but honestly...

Anyway, POTC was great, as usual, though many of the changes are a bit frustrating, naturally. I've tried to give them a fair chance, and they have grown on me, but meh. Oh well. Anyway, things got interesting as we approached the first drop and hit a pileup. Oddly enough, a CM's voice told us to start rocking the boats--which we'd already joked about doing!--so we did, and things got moving again. More pileups happened throughout the mayor-dunking and bride-auctioning scenes, including a few moments when a CM's voice interrupted the audio to warn us about "stormy seas ahead" and "technical difficulties." She even called for a full shutdown at two points, but it never happened. The evac I was so desperately hoping for never happened, and things got moving again.

More miscellaneous NOS reference shots followed, none of them especially unusual except perhaps this photo of a passage by the bathrooms that leads into the Pirates show building. I've actually been fortunate enough to travel the length of the corridor this leads to--yes, I did it legally!--starting from the outdoor service area on the far side and walking all the way through to this point, where you enter onstage NOS.



The Haunted Mansion was next on the list. Great fun, as always, though the loading area has become INSANELY bright and I could also see Madame Leota's strings a bit. It was also the third attraction to apparently go 101 on us that day. However, it happened while we were in the ballroom, and to be honest, I've always wanted that to happen! Spending five minutes surveying the entire scene was a dream come true, and I was really quite disappointed when we got moving again. I gotta say, the effect of the birthday cake candles blowing out along with the ghosts is great. Marc Davis, we are eternally indebted to you. Anyways, the attic portraits were still not looking quite right; the lighting shifts were extremely apparent. And I saw the blast-up strings in the graveyard. I hate sounding like such a whiner! I had a great time on the attraction, but I do wish some of these lighting issues would be taken care of. Such a fix wouldn't be costly or dangerous.

But enough of that. I next spent a little while alone while the rest of the group went canoeing. My first stop was the extended queue of Splash Mountain, where I took some photos that have probably never been taken before. By anyone. EVER. Seriously. I had to ask a CM to let me past the rope, walk back behind a shedlike thing in the back of the area, and take photos like these through the bushes:





That's a small spot of land I've wondered about for ages. On the right is a bit of Splash Mountain--specifically the themed wall on the left of the flume as you are about to enter the final scenes after the drop. On the left is a bit of a Haunted Mansion crypt that includes a wheelchair-accessible exit, I think. Some backstage areas, too. Anyway, I'd always wondered what was between the HM pet cemetery and Splash, and...well, here it is. There are two more photos like it on my Flickr photostream if you're interested.

Just for reference, here's what a more "mainstream" area nearby looks like.



Part III will be up as soon as possible, so keep checking back! Highlights will include more backstage shots of the Pirates show buildings, the backside of Fantasyland, and...perhaps best of all...what Harold the abominable snowman looks like without all the stage makeup.

[Datameister]

Part III

I followed up that unusual photo op with the obligatory railroad trip. How could I pass it up? There was backstagery to see!






Those're a blocked tunnel (about which I need more information, please!), a passage to the back of house, the area near the FNSV drydock, and part of the first POTC show building, respectively. You can also see the stairwell that leads to the roof of the Indy queue in that last one. I also tried my best to get a shot of a rarely-seen themed area of NOS above the train station, but it was quite difficult. There are more shots, albeit grievously overexposed, on my Flickr photostream.



I was a bit disappointed by my photographic turnout in the last leg of this trip; I had hoped for clearer shots of the POTC show building, service area, and NOS. But oh well. At this point, I learned that my friends were done canoeing and had begun queueing up for Big Thunder, so I rushed over from NOS station, and a cast member was kind enough to let me catch up with them in line. I spread the word about the goat trick, though it tragically didn't work nearly as well that time since we were seated closer to the front. (We later had much more success. I cannot get over how amazing the goat trick is when you're sitting in row 15!) Anyways, I did manage to get some shots of the backstage side of Pinocchio and Snow White.




Wait, what's that you say? Hmmm? Too much backstage? You want something pretty and standard? Sigh...all right, you win. But know that I only took this shot as reference for some of the disguised HVAC units on top of the show building.



That was taken from Tom Sawyer's Island, which I hadn't experienced since before the overhaul. I gotta say, it doesn't thematically make all that much sense, but I did definitely enjoy the cursed pirate. If only the viewing area was much larger! But anyway, the trip to PLOTSI came after a ride on Splash Mountain, on which I got soaked a lot more than I would have liked, though my camera bag amazed me by protecting my camera and three lenses from the moisture.

At that point, our legs were beginning to really need a rest. It was mid-afternoon, and we'd been in the park since 9. So we decided to hit BLAB and then go for a spin on the railroad. BLAB wasn't anything spectacular, which is more than I can say for my score--



But at least I looked hardcore. Anyway, we jumped onto the railroad in Tomorrowland station--my second trip of the day, which was great, because I needed to take photos of the opposite side of the track anyway. (By the way, a college student in our group said "Whoa!" upon experiencing the dioramas for the first time. I think they've stood the test of time.) I got a few photos of the Indy show building and then some really great ones of the second Pirates show building, including a path next to it whose existence I'd internally debated for weeks. Unfortunately, I couldn't quite get a photo of a door at the end of this path, leading into the building, but I can see it pretty well in my head.





But then...oh boy. Then I made the BIGGEST FREAKING MISTAKE OF THE WHOLE DAY. Immediately after the train tunnel, I was supposed to take shots of the NOS theming. But I totally forgot to. Now I'll probably need to wait a few more months at least to get those photos. I just cannot believe I did that.

Sigh...anyway, NOS persisted in being beautiful, so I took more photos. Standard, but that's all right.




Dinner at the Blue Bayou was awesome, as always, though I was sad to be about as far from the waterside as one can be. Oh well. Still a fantastic ambiance, and the Tesoro Island chicken ain't bad at all.

The Jungle Cruise was nicely conducive to digestion, and I of course spent much of the tour examining the land forms and peering over berms at backstage areas. Our skip tried, but she'd apparently lost her voice, and she did more or less the standard spiel. I was sitting right next to her, and I made a point of laughing at anything I found funny--before we even left the dock, she'd claimed me as her personal flotation device in the event of catastrophe.

Another, more gratifying ride on Thunder Mountain came next. Row 15 offered splendid goat trickery, and I managed to take an awesome on-ride photo of myself and a friend, which I won't post here as I haven't asked her permission to broadcast her face to the entire Internet.

It was time for another trip on Space Mountain after that; our FastPasses kicked in around 9. But lo and behold, ANOTHER 101! We milled about, trying to decide what to do. Nemo had too long a line, as always. So we tried the closest attraction to it--the Matterhorn! And this is where I had another felicitous photographic experience. I'd always wondered what the first Harold on the Tomorrowland side really looked like--you know, the one where all you can see is the glowing eyes. My previous attempt had been unsuccessful, but this time, my flash managed to capture the elusive abominable snowman as he TRULY looks when he gets up in the morning. Shield your children's eyes...this may be disturbing.



I got him! Weird, n'est-ce pas? Anyway, I was delighted at this, but that wasn't enough, so we rode again on the Fantasyland side as the fireworks went off. It was quite beautiful. And in line, we were given another set of SM FastPasses by a man who didn't need them! But we headed over to find the mighty mountain still shut down. While we waited around, trying to decide what to do, the attraction began functioning again, so we experienced the mad rush of squeezing into the line. I now know what sands in an hourglass feel like. Something like...well, this:



Feeling pretty much all thrilled out, we spent the remainder of the evening enjoying Mr. Toad, the carousel (my first time since childhood! ), and a final whirl through the Haunted Mansion. Overall, an enormously fun day, not to mention extremely profitable in terms of unusual photos. I can't wait till my next visit, which will probably be sometime in fall.