The obscure and eclectic at Disneyland

In My Humble Opinion
1

For reasons that are both essential and ridiculous, I am going to Disneyland in 2 weeks. I’m not really crazy about this trip, but I kinda have to (long story) and since I was there last year with my Mom, I’ve been on just about everything I’d want to fairly recently.

So for fans of the park, what should I do that’s obscure, eclectic, or generally off-the-beaten path? Do you have a favorite store or restaurant? Any good shows I shouldn’t miss or other things only veterans of the park would have on their radar?

There are a few rides I’ll go on–either faves or ones that were under renovation last year. But I can count those on my fingers. So please no ride suggestions. And I won’t be doing any park-hopping, so MK only (no California Adventures). Are there any cool little secrets I should look out for just to bide my time (since I might as well make the most of my stint in the park if I’m paying to get in anyway)?

Thanks for any suggestions. :slight_smile:

2

The Fried Chicken and Lobster Rolls are pretty great if you like that kind of thing. If you’ve never been inside Sleeping Beauty’s castle that’s pretty cool, and they have a little princess shop nearby where they can do makeovers for kids and adults.

If you are well off, you can hire aDisney VIP tour guide. Minimum 6 hour commitment at about $4-500/hour and can serve up to 10 folks. Pretty much no waiting in lines and reservations to whatever you want to do, plus various behind the scenes stuff.

3

Star Tours and Space Mountain have both been updated to add The Force Awakens material - I’d recommend hitting them, especially Space Mountain, even if you went before.

4

When I do Disneyland, I always take a few moments to sit and relax, unstress and decompress…sitting in one of the little benches to the side of the drawbridge into Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. I just sit a little while and stare up at the castle facade. It’s remarkably beautiful, and repays a bit of study.

(I also like to role-play, in my mind, trying to assault the fortifications with a Norman era army. Bwah hah hah!)

5

Not quite Disneyland, but the suites on the top floor of the Disneyland Hotel have themes, and are amazing. The doorbell play an appropriate tune, or sound effect. The Mickey Mouse suite contains a lot of Mickey Mouse memorabilia. I’ve never got to stay in one, but I’ve been to meetings and parties in several.
California Adventure used to have one shop that made some sort of food, but it might have been taken out in the renovation.

6

Keep any eye out for the Evil Queen who looks out of the window from time to time.

7

blondebear: I will be horse-whipped! I had no idea!

I have been out in front of the Merry Go Round when Excalibur gets drawn from the anvil: that’s a fun bit of very silly theater.

8

If you have never been to the blue bayou restaurant its some of the bettter food in the park, and the ambiance is amazing.

9

See if you can find that infamous ‘electric shocker’ arcade game much discussed here way back when*!* Though that might have only been at Disney World in Florida…

10

Hmmm. We go to Disneyland about once a year. We have two school-age kids so we usually go heavy on the rides. But here are a few thoughts:

  1. Look for Hidden Mickeys in the park. You can check out a website beforehand or buy a book. We have this one: http://www.amazon.com/Disneylands-Hidden-Mickeys-Disneyland%C2%AE-Resorts/dp/1937011488/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1463242225&sr=1-2. There may even be an app by now.

  2. Visit the Snow White wishing well by the right entrance to the castle. Periodically Snow White sings “I’m Wishing”. It’s a really nice spot.

  3. Check out the Tiki Room pre-show in the outside waiting area where they go through all the gods and have a Dole Whip. Although sometimes the line for the Dole Whip is really long.

  4. The shop by the Winnie-the-pooh ride in Critter Country has an in-house candy kitchen which makes some fun treats.

  5. The Innoventions exhibit hall in Tomorrowland is now Star Wars- and Avengers-themed, and is fun to wander around.

  6. Seconding Blue Bayou. Reservations are recommended, and lunch is a lot cheaper than dinner (although both are quite pricey).

  7. Toon Town is geared towards little kids but I still think it’s fun to go and find all the things in the square that you can activate.

11

P J O’Rourke wrote an article (I think in Penthouse) about him and his girl friend trying to find a place in Disneyland to have surreptitious sex.

12

Way, way back in the 1970s, there was one in Disneyland (California.) I think it’s long gone; I’ve looked for it and not seen it.

13

I recommend the Blue Bayou as well. I love the atmosphere there.

Other than that my best suggestion is to find a family, follow them around all day, and position yourself so you are in the background of all of their pictures.

14

Check out the shows.

Mickey and the Magical Map.
Fantasy Faire Theatre
Paint the Night Parade
Night-time fireworks show.

Unfortunately, Fantasmic! is closed until April 2017.

See if you can find and win a sweepstakes that lets you spend the night in the Disney Dream Suite.

Since Disney took over the Marvel properties in 2010, I understand that the Tarzan Treehouse (formerly Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse) is being remodeled and changing its name to Groot.*

My favorite sit-down restaurant to eat at is the Carnation Cafe, right next to the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor on Main Street. Reservations are highly recommended.

Speaking of Disney Dining reservations, be aware that if you make one and fail to show up without a 24-hour notice, your card will be charged $10 per party member (if you show up with a smaller party than expected you will not get dinged. Just remember to show up).
*I might have made that up.

15

My Favorite–The Haunted Mansion.
So many cool things to watch for, a book was written on it!

16

I just went to Disneyland, in February. Alas, the Electric Shocker is there, but it’s retrofitted to just vibrate, now. :frowning:

Let’s see, though…off the beaten path?

•It’s down to only a few machines, now, but they’ve still got a few Mutoscopes running in the Penny Arcade. Price: 1¢.
•To be found, and visited in Adventureland: Shrunken Ned, and Raja’s mint.
•The actual walk-through diorama inside Sleeping Beauty’s Castle is open, again, and newly refurbished—some of the effects used, I actually couldn’t figure out how they were accomplished.
•The (virgin) Mint Julep bar in New Orleans Square.
•If you have a smartphone with Shazaam (or a comparable app), you can actually have it identify the sometimes obscure non-Disney ambient music playing in various areas. I found some neat Cajun music that way.
•Go on a self-directed Disneyland Death Tour!
•…or a Disneyland Ghost Tour!
•Spot the skeletons in Pirates of the Caribbean—the remaining real ones!
•The Magic Shop on Main Street is still up and running, and a fun little visit…they’ve got some handcuffs used by Houdini behind a display case.
•Although it’s not running at the moment, you can still walk about the Mark Twain, and a display board near the entrance has some photos of notable historical figures who’ve visited, over the years. Some of which aren’t available online.
•Check out the pet cemetery.
•Visit the Heraldry Shoppe in Fantasyland. Buy framed family Coats of Arms, emblazoned shields, or just some swords, axes, and knives! Actual, metal, bladed ones!

And I know you said you don’t plan on doing any park hopping, but I actually would recommend the California Adventure—I admit, I’d always been skeptical about the whole idea, but upon visiting (especially helped by the remodel they’d done, a few years back), it was really beautifully executed. And I found the atmosphere actually quite relaxing, compared to the exhilarating-but-exhausting Disneyland proper.

But, more to the point, I thought many of the CA shops did a bit of a better job of presenting more unique, theme-specific merchendise—the Off the Page shop, with a lot of animation related books, comics, custom artwork, etc, and Humphrey’s Service and Supplies, which carries more outdoorsy stuff—including actual redwood seedlings. The Tower of Terror shop has some appropriately unnerving merch.

17

Been a while since I’ve been there, but I don’t recall if there’s a good place to sit and go on rich-and-famous watch for anyone entering Club 33.

18

OK – I resisted at first – but the obligatory Robot Chicken link

Walking Blind - YouTube tch?v=1wl2AC3_WLM

(Not totally SFW. If you know Robot Chicken you understand.)

19

I was just there in January before the winter renovations started. I recommend that you seek out some of the bands. The Disneyland Band recently had a makeover and is amazing!

There are bands that play in New Orleans Square; I watched a jazz combo and a pirate band.

The Dapper Dans sing acapella on Main Street. They also tap dance. Yes, at the same time.

You can find their schedules online and the through the official Disneyland smart phone app, which I also recommend. It has wait times for rides and shows, a map that gives you your location and other useful stuff. It also includes Downtown Disney and CA Adventure.

Oh! Downtown Disney! Better food than in the park and BOOZE!

20

She’s in a window above the Snow White ride

Have a corn dog at the corn dog cart in the central hub, They’re awesome.

Get there a bit before opening to make the most of your day. Lines are shortest then. Or stay as late as possible.

Go have a drink at Trader Sam’s in the Disneyland Hotel. Great little tiki bar. With some FX going on.

Ragtime piano at Refreshment Corner.

Live Jazz in New Orleans Square.

All the Marvel stuff has been moved to DCA.

Watching the kids fight Vader at the Jedi Training Academy is fun.