Ch-ch-ch-changes (to Disneyland)

Our first moments back in the House of the Mouse were spent eyeing up changes, much to the amusement of friends who work there and didn't experience the jolt we did.

When not in use

We first noticed the scant decorations for the 60th Diamond Jubilee. Then what appeared to possibly be an opening to backstage -- and is -- for the nights Disneyland is very crowded and they need extra traffic flow for safety. Fortunately/unfortunately we saw this in action a couple of times.

Voila -- a magic tunnel

First Aid received a nice face lift. Fortunately no trips there this time.

Due to the construction of Star Wars Land, anything involving the Rivers of America was closed, including the trains. The Mark Twain was open, but not traveling. Instead during the day engineers talked about the trains and we could walk around them, and the Mark Twain was used to hear live music and pose with characters from "The Princess and the Frog" (Tiana's movie).

Less people wearing costumes, even though they raised the age from 10 to 13 (had we but known in advance, Ashley may have tried to pass for 13). I did not see many Disney bounders, even on weekends. Ashley did not even Disney bound. (Disney bounding is when people wear ordinary clothes to evoke the image of a character. Typically if you see someone wearing a dress, or slacks and a tie, they are Disney Bounding. Easy to spot ones are a woman wearing a yellow skirt and blue top = Snow White, or green pants and a purple top = Ariel. They are likely done by locals with Annual Passes.) 

Jungle Cruise got a face lift. Even some of the jokes seemed new.

As did Tarzan. I predict this dangling rope won't last long:

And Big Thunder Mountain Railroad has added special effects:

Another change was the sheer quantity of really large groups wearing matching t-shirts -- just like the one that have been seen in Florida for a long time. I don't remember seeing it in California before. The kinds that say "Pillsbury Family Reunion" and you see thirty people walking towards you wearing the exact same shirt.





Frozen-mania. Read the link for my thoughts on that.

The traditional marching band was replaced by a jazzier, more modern band that seems a lot like the college bands.

Space Mountain had an awesome Star Wars-themed overlay, making us wonder why they didn't just turn Tomorrowland into Star Wars Land and skip the really, really, really expensive addition.

The most charming, and unexpected addition, was Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters. Watch the YouTube. They play a song and the cars dance to it. There seems to be a rotation of about five songs, including "Eh Cumpari", a song we heard at at Enzo's last week while finally celebrating Ashley's graduation, and practically fell on the floor with laughter thinking of the Luigi ride. My couple of pictures will not do it justice, but here they are for you.

Disneyland has a new night time parade. One friend said "if you don't compare it to the Electric Light Parade, it is a nice enough parade." Another friend raved about it. For me the best Disney parade I saw was for the 50th called "Parade of Dreams." No other quite compare. Here are a few pictures from the Paint the Night Parade, which will probably be around for at least five years given how long other parades have been around.

The CROWDS -- they have been creeping up, but reached intolerable levels for me. Made me nostalgic for our earliest trips, especially one rainy day in January 2006 when Ashley went puddle jumping with Alice (something Alice also still remembers).

Personal changes include riding lots of rides (some over and over again), no costumes, no autograph books, and only one session at the Animation Academy. That is something I have always loved about Disney -- it meets you at the stage where you are and provides a quality experience. You never quite outgrow it.