This interlude brought to you by the letter D, for Disney
This LJ used to be mostly for convention reports, and when I was still living in the Far East (as far as Massachusetts, anyway), my trips to the Disney parks while visiting Mom. Now I'm back in California and bought the top-level annual pass, which now costs about as much as a car, and go more often.
I even joined the official Disney fan club, D23, sponsored by the big D itself, because no other mere "fan club" could pull off the ridiculously huge Expo every two years. It's the kind of corporate blowout where they can parade out the cast of The Avengers movie and every employee at Pixar. I attended the 2010 version and almost passed out the first day from dehydration, because I'm an idiot.
The fan club sends me weird stuff sometimes, like iron-on patches and vinyl car stickers and weird calendars. If they sent me address labels, too, they'd be like every charity that I've never joined. Anyhoo, one of the items was a journal. After some eye-rolling about it - I've been typing everything for so long that my handwriting is nigh-illegible even to ME - I decided to use it according to its purpose: as a journal for things Disney. I've been handwriting my experiences instead of in here. Fittingly, the first thing I wrote about was the 2010 D23 expo, but that was three days of hilarity ensuing, so I'll save that for later.
Instead I'll chronicle my most recent visit, for the 2012 Disneyland Halloween Party. I think it's official name is Mickey's Spooktacular Happy Funtime, but we'll skip that moniker. Just DHP will do. Adults are allowed to wear full costumes on those special occasions, not just silly hats. But they still have a bunch of rules around them, like the eyes being visible, no death rays or other weapons, etc.
The character I was going for was Gadget Hackwrench, the Wrench Wench / Genius Inventor of the Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers TV show. Now, I realize that I have a face for radio, so I won't pretend that I pulled that part off, but I think I managed the costume decently. I also learned that not only do I look terrible wearing any kind of hat, but wigs don't work well for me, either. It turns out that my head is larger than I thought. And my ears are very large. I probably could have used my natural ears for Gadget's.
If interested in the costume basics: pants and top from TJ Maxx. They weren't a set, but matched each other well. The pants got a tail - tough to see in these pics - and the top's collar and lapels were reduced significantly, and the bottom was trimmed. I added Velcro to the pants and top so they'd stay together. Ultimately I had to use two safety pins to really keep them together. The belt came from a large, purple T-shirt, I just cut off the bottom, folded it around a bit of stiff brown wrapping paper, then added Velcro on the ends. The ears were sewn, with soft wire inside to keep their shape. Then both were attached to a plastic headband. The goggles were two round containers that I found at a hobby shop, painted and attached to elastic. The crescent wrench was made from two pieces of foam board glued together, cut to shape, painted, then a Sharpie for the details. You probably can't tell in the pics, but the brand is "Heterodyne," That's in case you know your other Girl Geniuses. I'm not thrilled with the wig, but it was an Ebay purchase from China for a "cosplay" wig. I wasn't looking for something that I'd keep wearing. I also got a wig cap which never did quite flatten my ears. Then I bought white socks and flat white shoes that offer no foot support whatsoever. So, almost every single piece needed to be purchased, so you'll hear none of those "And I put it all together for just $17!" claims from me. I even had to buy the white T-shirt. The same thing happened to me last year, when I was Ellie from "Up."
I had purchased a ticket long ago, but could not find it anywhere in my emails, and I do not delete things like that. Nevertheless I got dressed at home and left in time to make it to the park by 3:45. The party started at 7, but you could really go in at 4. It's just that a bunch of non-partyers will be giving you funny looks if you have a costume. I went to the ticket booth so they could look up my purchase ... and they found none. No record of any purchase for the party, under the only name I ever use for purchases, nor the only credit card I ever use. It was... confusing. But the ticket lady still sold me a ticket to the sold-out event - being in a full costume probably helped - and I was off!
Now inside the gates, the guy giving me the wristband said "And don't dismantle it!" Because that's what Gadget does. Clever boy! I must give Disney props for drilling the employees on all the different characters. Pretty much everyone there recognized the character. A few needed slight prodding.
First stop was Toontown, because Gadget's Go Coaster is there. Toontown is, to my horror, shut down during the actual party, so I had to ride it as soon as possible. It was while in the queue that I discovered that my goggles needed to be worn very sparingly, because they fell off very easily. All three castmembers (henceforth known as "CM") running the Go Coaster recognized Gadget. Surprise inspection time! Also, I wanted to ride a slower coaster to see how the wig and goggles held up. They did, as long as I held on tight. The headband stayed in place by virtue of digging hard into my ears, so you can tell I was in for an uncomfortable adventure.
At this point I should say that, because it was normal hours at D-land, and it was a Friday evening, it. was. packed. Sardine time. 80 minutes wait for Space Mountain/Ghost Galaxy. Packed. This meant that I did a lot of walking in uncomfortable flats, trying to find any ride that wasn't packed. Failing miserably at this, I wandered aimlessly a while, then had dinner at 6:30 at the pizza place near Space Mountain. The greeter divulged that another Gadget had just stopped by, but ultimately, I never saw any other Gadgets. This made me sad. Last year I saw all sorts of "Up" characters, including another Ellie.
The party was just about starting now. CMs started asking to see wristbands - because an adult in a full costume is totally not a clue - and the commoners were being ushered out of the park. Now that it was dark, I rode Big Thunder Mountain, because it's tres cool at night. Then on to the Pirates of the Caribbean, where I encountered a pirate family who were first-timers at the party, so I gave them some tips. They amounted to this: avoid the candy lines, and you'll own the park. Seriously. Half of the people there are standing in lines to get candy or for character pictures. The only ride that has any queue of significant length is the Haunted Mansion, set up Jack Skellington-style. That line practically wraps around the park. I avoided it, then, just like last year. It stays in Skellington mode till the end of the year, anyway.
After the POTC I went right into the photo line for Jack Skellington. I don't know why I'm such a sucker for pics with him. Sally was not with him, which made me sad. While waiting I failed to get the real explanation from a CM why she needs more breaks than Jack. Guys, I'm an adult; I can handle the truth. Also while in line, two Aussies showed up and asked which movie character I represented. It broke my heart to tell them that I was not anyone from "Rescuers Down Under." Maybe next year. The CM who used my camera took terrible pictures, so I had to buy the "Photopass" version instead. Well, I didn't have to. But Disney owns my soul, so it's a compulsion. "Jack" did not get my jokes about needing to fix the Mansion. I said that everything about it was wrong and needed repair... meaning it was messed up because of Jack taking over. Ah, well. The Photopass photographer said that I was the best Gadget she'd seen so far. Yay.
Speaking of Jack, I had to try three times for a pic with Captain Jack Sparrow. When the line was first set up, Wendy and Peter Pan were there. Not what I expected, but took a pic with them, anyway. For the second attempt, I was almost at the front, when Jack was suddenly switched out with Wendy and Pete again. They do things like that, I guess. So I left that line and got Jack's schedule from a handler. The third time, around 10pm, was the charm! It was weird to hear "Jack Sparrow" recognizing Gadget, though. Maybe she's a time traveler, too??
Next stop was Splash Mountain. Was really starting to suffer the consequences of the so-called shoes by now, but the show must go on! I'm so used to using the Single Rider line that I was almost at that entrance, when I realized that there was no line for the ride already, so I had to go alllllll the way back to the front and take the long way in. {{sigh}} But the best part is that once again, I got the log to myself! Proof, you say? HERE'S YOUR PROOF!!
In case you're wondering, it's not easy to pose like that while plunging. The instinct is to grab the bars on the side of the log and shut your eyes. In fact, I've yet to make it down the chute with my eyes open all the way. As soon as they take the picture, I lose all nerve and brace for impact like for a plane making a water landing. I've even recorded a video with my eyes closed.
After Splash Mountain, I was wandering aimlessly around Frontierland - specifically, the passage between Frontierland and Fantasyland, behind Big Thunder Mountain, and encountered the pirate family again. We showed off our respective Splash Mountain photos. They asked about Chip and Dale. I should mention, then, that I had been on the lookout for photo lines for Chip and/or Dale, but had been unsuccessful. Oh, Mickey and Minnie were prancing about to get to their own photo line, but no chipmunks in sight. Even a bunch of Villains were off somewhere, posing away.
I kept walking until I heard the pirate family calling for me. I guess they'd asked around, and told me that Chip and Dale were at something called Piratepalooza. So... more walking! Just what I needed! I didn't know where this Piratepalooza was, so I asked a CM at the Jack Sparrow queue, and it turned out to be directly behind me. There's a Mexican...ish restaurant there, which had been shut down for the night to make into a dance party. Odd place for photo ops with Chip and Dale, but whatever. But no, they weren't posing for pictures there. They were at the dance party, dancing, with Donald Duck. Dressed as pirates. See, this is why I don't need drugs. I can go to Disneyland and have hallucinations there.
We've established that Gadget is their buddy, and the CMs have to know all the characters, so I managed to dance my way between Chip and Dale. The hard part was getting their attention afterwards - vision-restricting costumes, dontcha know. I tried different things unsuccessfully, and was going to pack it in, when "Chip" finally turned enough to see me, and mimed being all excited, then got "Dale's" attention. They both mimed being all excited, and next thing I know, I'm buried in a hug and "kiss" from two chipmunks. (q.v reason for not needing drugs). I yelled "My Boys!" and danced some more. If I wanted to be racy, I would say that the highlight of the party was a threesome with Chip and Dale, but that sort of thinking is beneath me, so I won't say that. I did a bit of victory dancing with The Boys, then waved goodbye and left them to their own devices.
Jungle Cruise! It's more interesting than you'd think at night. The skippers use the spotlights to good effect. For some reason they were loading every other boat, making the wait longer than it should have been. One of the CMs sang the Rescue Rangers song. I confess that I don't know it, so I didn't sing along. Yes, I know: for shaaaaaaaaaaaaaame!
Star Tours! Only people in the back row get photographed as potential "rebel spies" for the ride. I was sent to the second row, so they failed me. For the last time, I hope. The family that shared row space with me was very confused about their seating arrangements. There was a lot of seat shuffling. I'd already put on the seatbelt, so I was stuck in mine. They teased and frightened "Grandma" about how the ride vehicle works. I ruined their fun by assuring her that it does not roll upside-down. Also, my concerns were confirmed: the combination of a wig cap, mashed-down ears, wig, headband, and the placement of the mouse ears meant that I could not wear the 3D glasses at all. People behind me probably wondered what drugs I was on to compel me to hold up the glasses, backwards, to my face.
If you're curious, my random sequence was Stormtroopers - Hoth - Yoda - Coruscant.
Last stop was Ghost Galaxy, i.e. Space Mountain done up all scary-like. That's the ride that had an 80-minute wait before the party started. Now it was 15-20 minutes. While typing this, I'm playing a video that perfectly captured the music for it. I ride it as much for the music as the ride itself. Love it!
PROOF THAT GADGET WENT GHOSTBUSTING
It was quarter to midnight now, and the crowds were leaving in droves. I passed the talking scarecrow that they pull out for the party. Same guy as last year; he sits up on a pole, speaks with a Southern accent, and harasses passersby. While I walked by, he was "sleeping," so I said "Nighty-Night!" and he was jolted "awake" and yelled, "Ahhh, whah'd you DO that t'me-uh?!" Good times. Earlier that evening he was at a different pole, confusing a small child. I offered to tighten up the bolts on his pole.
Now I wonder if that's a double entendre.
Anyway, the last stop was for a pic in front of the Giant Mickey Head Made of Pumpkins. The first pic I posted of myself, above, was the result. A "Get Out!" song was playing in the background. No, really. The lyrics were about it being the last song, party's over, the villains were taking over, so get out! Mwa ha ha.
As soon as I was out of the gates, I pulled off the ears, wig and cap, then waited and waited for an escape tram. Good times had by all. Except for the blisters on my heels for the shoes, and the agony of my calves.
Notable costumes: Russell from "Up," a chef with Remi ("Ratatouille") on his shoulder, the Black Widow ("The Avengers"), the Incredibles, Jessica Rabbit, another version of Burt and Mary Poppins, "Toy Story" Aliens, a family of Lego minifigures (you read that right), a lot more zombies than I expected, and of all people, Freddie Mercury.
This is in addition to the plethora of Disney Princesses and Princes. I have also yet to work out why there are always so many Waldos, as in "Where's...?" Last year I said, "There you are!" to all the ones I encountered. This year I said, "Found you!" And two years in a row, each one looked at me as though wondering why I was talking to them. Because you are dressed as Waldo and are walking around in a huge crowd, and I have found you. Dorks. People should be aware of how they're dressed. When people recognized me, I smiled and waved and sometimes twirled the wrench around.
PS - today I checked my email again, and found the original ticket. Which Disney had no record of my purchasing. Meaning I was charged twice. I may need to have words with them.