Apr. 13, 2012: Mickey & Minnie in the Parking Lot

[Werner Weiss]

Encountering Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse in the parking lot — before you even buy your ticket books — is a great way to start your day at Yesterland.

Link to Characters in the Parking Lot Yesterland

Please discuss it here.

[SpectroMan]

I love those old ticket booths! Also always loved the attraction posters on the Monorail pylons. However, never remembered them box framed so nicely. Did that go away at a later date when they were just mounted directly on the pylons?

[Disneylandfan85]

Also it’s a different Disneyland these days, with more attractions and bigger attractions—and much better character costumes.

Not to mention (usually) setting characters up in predetermined locations.

[danyoung]

I think those were the characters that I remember from my first trip ever to DL back in 1963. Now they look so creepy!

[JiminyCricketFan]

Whilel the character design has definitely improved, the whole character encounter experience has not. There was something special about suddenly encountering a couple characters just roaming the park. As a child, that made the whole experience, even if I did not actually go up and touch or take a picture with the character. When I was growing up, I don't remember Mickey really. I remember the seven dwarfs, Baloo, Captain Hook and so on. That made a day at Disneyland a bit more magical. Somehow getting a fastpass, waiting in line and then only to see a character in a cloistered room does not seem fun to me.

[jpg391]

Whilel the character design has definitely improved, the whole character encounter experience has not. There was something special about suddenly encountering a couple characters just roaming the park. As a child, that made the whole experience, even if I did not actually go up and touch or take a picture with the character. When I was growing up, I don't remember Mickey really. I remember the seven dwarfs, Baloo, Captain Hook and so on. That made a day at Disneyland a bit more magical. Somehow getting a fastpass, waiting in line and then only to see a character in a cloistered room does not seem fun to me.

I agree with you that it was better when the characters where allowed to "roam" the park freely instead of having a set location as they do now.

[Susan Hughes]

I do like that Disneyland still entertains the park guests with characters while they wait for the park to open.
Unlike Magic Kingdom in Florida, where everyone is forced to be "sardine-canned" in the entrance, causing a traffic jam at the turnstiles, Disneyland allows the guests into Main Street before the actual opening time so they can wander around and shop, grab a bite to eat, and meet various characters in Town Square.

[danyoung]

That's true, and I agree that it's nice in DL to have Main Street to spread out in. But I do enjoy the park opening show that they do at the entrance to the MK in Florida!