A day at Disneyland and a Snow White Musical review. About This Page:

[DisneyDoll]

Snow White Review:


I had an extra day off last week and thought it would be a perfect chance to head north to Disneyland and see the new musical in the Fantasyland Theatre; Snow White: an Enchanting New Musical.


The forecast had called for rain. That was OK with me, less crowds in the park and besides rain in Southern California usually is light and scattered. Oh how wrong I was!


I started out about 8am and got through traffic Ok. The rain at this point was light and as I pulled into the parking tower I was thrilled to see that the place was like a graveyard, hardly anyone in sight. I parked, caught the tram and arrived at Downtown Disney within only a few minuets. No sooner had I stepped off the tram then it started to rain. I mean really, really rain. I pulled up my hood and pushed onto the front gate. Right away I noticed the security check had changed. Once located at each entrance gate, they were now moved to a more centralized location. The step up is similar to how it is arranged at WDW parks. The only thing I did not like is that there was no entrance to pass through if you were not carrying a bag, which I wasn’t. So I had to wait while the guards checked 100 lb. diaper bags and what not.

Now that I’ve made it safely through security and through the entrance gate I passed through the tunnel under the train station and took a moment to pause here along with some other folks because it is really coming down. Finally I just said to myself “screw it.” I’m just going to walk in the bloody rain and not care. I headed down Main St. and stopped to admire the freshly planted spring flowers in the square. It was just beautiful and bursting with color and my favorite flower, tulips.

I passed through the castle and realized that my feet were starting to get soaked through and that this was a very good time to dry off on a ride. The first thing I saw was Snow White’s Scary Adventures so I jumped right on. There was no one waiting. I really love these slow moving dark rides and I know this one in particular catches a lot of flack but I really like it. I must admit I do get a little afraid when the witch spins around!

Hopping off Snow White, I hopped right onto Pinocchio. The problem was that these rides were too short to keep me dry long enough. So with that I decided to go over to Pirates, which would be a nice long, dry ride. I went through Adventureland and this is where the skies completely broke open. I ducked into the Indiana Jones outpost and waited out the downpour browsing in the shops. About 10 or 15 min later, the rain eased up enough to attempt a duck and cover maneuver through the rest of Adventureland and down to Pirates. I happily hopped right on board. I forgot about the rain and my wet feet, which was the one thing that was really bothering me, for the next 15 min. I’m not certain, but I think there is a new, small, scene in the ride. But there is so much to see, perhaps I never noticed it. I have to also say that I love our west coast counter part a lot more than WDW’s. I was surprised at how much is missing from the one in Orlando.


I was able to dry up a bit and when I came out of the ride the rain had stopped and rays of sun were cracking through the clouds. This cheered me up quite a bit and I decided some kind of yummy munchies was in order. I strolled along Royal St in New Orleans Sq. This is a great place to explore when there is no one around. There is so many quaint little nooks and crannies and it’s fun to examine the Mardi gras flavored doors and windows upstairs of the shops. The disappointing thing was that it was 11:00am and the shops were not open yet and neither was the patisserie.

I headed over to the Haunted Mansion next. I was looking forward to this because the last few times I’ve been on has been the Holiday version and I’ve missed the original. I like the Holiday version but I was getting antsy for the old Ghost Host and the REAL Madam Leota. But hang on one darn little moment here. What is that I see and smell coming from a cart parked right in front of the queue to Mansion? Oh baby! My favorite treat! CHURROS! Oh and they were fresh baked and piping hot. I had one and sat by the Rivers of America before going into the HM.

Feeling much better now that I had my ghostly fix (and the churro fix too) I figured since I’m already still wet I might as well take a Splash down Chick-a-Pin Hill. Splash Mountain that is. The wait was still short-10 min. I love this ride so much and had some fun people in the log with me. I had safely made it down the first two hills without getting wet when all of sudden a wave of water just sopped into the log and all over my leg and foot and I yelled out. The folks in front of me were laughing! I put my legs up around my chest and rested my feet on the bench. I was tired of being wet!

I popped into Pooh’s Corner afterward and discovered something I did not know existed inside this shop. CANDY! There is a marvelous, glorious, delectable candy counter here. They have the most wonderful looking candied apples. There were apples covered in chocolate, caramel, M&M’s and marshmallow. And I mean all of that was on ONE apple! I opted for a giant marshmallow on a stick that had been dipped first in caramel and then in chocolate. I could only eat half.


I debated riding Pooh but decided not too. I’m still not real comfortable going on rides by myself and there were a lot of families going on this and I would’ve felt dumb. Besides, I figure I can drag my step kids up anytime and make them go on with. I decided to stroll back around to Fantasyland because I did want to go on Alice in Wonderland. It is my favorite dark ride. Unfortunately, Alice and the Teacups were closed because of the rain. Part of the Alice track winds its way outside of the ride building. The Matterhorn however was up and running so I did that instead. Another one of my favorites, a trip to Disneyland is not complete without a bobsled ride!

Now it was time for the first showing of Snow White. I thought perhaps they would cancel due to the rain, but it was sunny out now so it was on with the show.

OK….I’m not going to go over the plot; you should all know that by now anyway. And there is really very little change other that the fact that everything is speeded up quite a bit since the show only lasts half an hour. Instead I’ll share my overall opinion of the show. First of all, I thought the sets were great. Very artistic and cleverly done too. The dwarfs’ house spins around to reveal the inside action and part of the queens castle breaks off at the end as she plummets to her death, you don’t see that part though. The special effects here were nicely done. The actors weren’t good or bad, they were just like cardboard. Nothing special. I did not like the “artistic” approach to the dwarfs’ costumes. It lost that whimsical magic that the original Disney concept had. And the forest animals were just weird and creepy. Their costumes were designed ala Broadway-Lion King style. Now this might work on Broadway for The Lion King but it does not work at Disneyland for Snow White. As you should recall the forest animals in the film are these cute little cuddly animals but in the show they are some sort of strange attempt at New York artistic chic and once again all the charm is lost. Oh and one of them (I think it was supposed to be a bird) was wearing what looked like a white bra on the outside of her costume. Just strange. The dialogue was corny too.
Actually what I’ve been wondering is why Disney would choose the oldest film story they’ve got and make a play out of it. Snow White is a great movie and wonderful accomplishment for Walt but let’s face it, the storyline is dated and not just a bit sexist.

Anyways…overall it was OK and if you are going to Disneyland I would certainly be sure to see it. Once. And only once. This is not something I think to many people will repeat. I won’t bother to see it again.

Ok…after that I went shopping along Main Street. I went into one of my favorite shops, Disneyana. There were a couple of things I’ve had my eye on in here and was planning on buying today. While I was looking, a man came in and told the CM he would take one of these and one of those and so on and so on. He bought at least 15 different paintings. You know which ones I mean…the really wonderfully super expensive ones that we would probably die for. I was trailing them around the store and finally up to the counter. I wanted to know how much this stuff was costing him. He bought so much valuable stuff that they had to call a security guard to come down and escort the man out. I couldn’t see the end price but I added it up in my head. He must have dropped around $30,000!!! I heard him say that he and his wife were redecorating their kids’ bedrooms, the girl was getting Alice in Wonderland and the boy was getting Peter Pan. Talk about lucky kids. I was very depressed after that and needed pizza ASAP!

Before the pizza though, I was still annoyed with my wet feet, which were not drying out and were now actually starting to hurt a bit. I went to Disney Clothiers and bought a cute pair of white tennies with Mickey’s on them and quickly changed. While I was changing outside at a small table in the alcove where the flower market used to be I heard some noise coming from one of the second story windows. It was the Dr Bitz Dentist office! The sound recordings of drilling and the patient screaming and the DDS trying to reassure him were floating out the window and just a great touch to the atmosphere. Now I know these sound recordings have been around but I haven’t heard them in ages so I don’t know if it was just because I was all by myself back there or if it recently started up again. If you get a chance, go down this little alleyway (this street has a name, I just can’t recall it) and listen for the sounds of the dentist and there was a piano teacher’s salon also. It’s those little touches that make a Disneyland visit magical.

Now that I had dry feet, I started off towards Tommorowland and pizza. Most of Tommorowland is barricaded up. There is a lot of refurbishment going on and that is a good thing too. I went to eat at Red Rocketts Pizza Port. I had a slice of cheese and a soda. Just a tip…if you are looking for some really good pizza, this is the place. It is sooo good and the slices are huge. There are a lot of other very tempting Italian treats here also.

After eating I thought I would take myself over to DCA and see how the line looked for Soarin’. There was none. So I took a ride on this. There are only two good rides at DCA and this is one on them. The other is the coaster California Screamin’ but I only go on that with my DH because it is “our ride” some people have a special song, we have a special ride. So going on this without him would be akin to cheating.

I was about ready to call it a day when I noticed the Tower of Terror was running. I could see the doors at the top open and see the elevator plummeting down. I stood and watched for a moment when it dawned on me what if they were soft opening and allowing some people on? I half ran half sprinted over there. But no such luck. I guess it is to soon for that. The ride opens officially in May. Oh well, it was fun to watch them testing the ride anyways.

I left the park and spent some time in World of Disney. I didn’t buy anything here though. I already bought my Alice painting from Main St earlier so I went back to pick that up and then grabbed the tram back to the parking garage and said goodbye till another day.


My exciting day doesn’t end here though. I was about 10 min from home when it started raining again. It was coming down louder and stronger as I got closer to home. I thought to myself, “that is the loudest rain I’ve ever heard.” That is when I realized it wasn’t rain, but hail. Big ol’ chunks of ice were pelting my car. I’m glad I was just pulling into the garage when this started. It then actually snowed! Just a bit, enough to blanket our lawn in a light white cover for about 30 min. This is really big excited stuff for us. We never get this kind of weather and it was very cool.

So all in all I’m getting better at this solo stuff. I still feel kinda dumb sometimes and feel people looking at me and thinking what the heck is that poor girl doing here all by herself? I hoping this will get easier. I’m going back to WDW for a week later this year and so far I’m the only one going. I really love spending a lot of time shopping and exploring on my own. My toughest thing is getting on the rides alone. Otherwise, even with the rain and all it was a great day and one of the better trips I’ve had as an adult.

[Colexis Mom]

What a great day Bonnie Sounds like you made the best of it with the rainy weather and all Sorry you weren't a fan of the new Snow White musical, but it's nice to get a first hand opinion

Thanks for sharing

[WDW Novice]

Yay! A DL report. Just over a month and I'll be there, so I especially love hearing about the experiences of others. I guess I'll try to make time for Snow White, but if I miss it I don't think I'll be too upset.

Sounds like you had a good time, even with the rain. I am going by myself, which I've done before, and the thing that bugs me most is waiting in line by myself. Lines seem to move much faster when you're chatting with someone. Although, it does open up the opportunity to meet new people (or at least eavesdrop on their conversations).

[DisneyDoll]

Dear WDW Novice,
Thanks for the nice comments. I wondered if you would be interested in a passporter meet? I could come up and meet up with you one day during your visit and we could hit a few rides together. Keep each other company in line
If your interested you can send me a private message.
Either way I know you will have an awesome time.

[loobyoxlip]

Bonnie, thank you so much. We really, really, really needed a DL TR, even if it was just a day one!! I will have to find that candied apple shop. YUM! Don't feel dumb going on rides by yourself. I would do it. I am hoping so hard ToT will be having a soft opening that last week of April. Keeping fingers crossed. Thanks again. Sounds like you had a fun, if wet, day

[infinity&beyond]

Thanks for the review! I'm curious to see "Snow" (just think, you saw two "Snows" on the same day!) and appreciated your review. Sounds like something that I should see, but not make a special trip for.

So, what's the scene on Pirates that you hadn't seen before? Do tell!

I love the Disneyana store, too! Ya know, the cast members said that Nicholas Cage is a regular there...

And the sounds coming from the windows on Main Street outside the locker area are so fun! The dentist's office, and then look for the Private Investigator...I think it says "We never sleep." Listen closely, and you'll hear...

SNORING!


So much fun. Glad you had a good time on your wet, solo day! I think I was in Riverside that day on business. It was really coming down for a while.

It can be a little uncomfortable at times by yourself, but it's not worth missing out on the opportunity. My trick in the lines is to bring along my Magic Memories disney electronic gameboy thing that I bought in WDW.

[DisneyDoll]

I'm trying to remember the Pirates scene correctly...

it's on the left hand side just after you pass the dunking of the mayor but before the bride's auction. It was a pirate, sort of in the background and he was balancing several jugs of wine and one of them was spilling wine out onto the ground. Have you ever seen this before?

Also I think I spotted a Hidden Mickey in POTC. It's a cannon blast shaped liked Mickey on the side of the fort.

I liked the second snow at home a lot better than the first!

[infinity&beyond]

I'm not familiar with it...now I have two new things to look for on POTC next time I go! I have the VR Pirates of the Carribean CD-ROM that they gave to all the participants at the special Pirates of the Carribban event a couple of years ago, but I haven't had the heart to take it out of its sealed package. Supposedly it has 360 degree views of every scene in POTC (standing outside of the boat, too! I should probably just bite the bullet, forget the "collectible" thing and enjoy it.