Big Thunder Mountain Ranch and the Disneyland Petting Zoo: Disney Tip Tuesdays

A couple of weeks ago we started a new segment called "Disney Tip Tuesdays" with our good friend Sarah from Magical Days With The Mouse.  For our first segments we gave our readers tips from one of our favorite areas in Disney California Adventure Park, Paradise Pier.  We're back again this week, but we're switching gears, and Parks, to bring you a whole new batch of tips from another one of our favorite "Lands"; this one from Disneyland Park.  The focus of this week's tips?  Frontierland and Big Thunder Ranch!

For our part of this week's articles, we've chosen to focus on something we think is an excellent way to spend time with the kiddies (with some adult fun thrown in for good measure): goats.  Once you've picked yourself up off of the ground and stopped laughing, as funny as it sounds, we're quite serious.

The Ranch is known for many things with guests (great BBQ, anyone?), and is very popular with the kids (and Mark) because they have a petting zoo inside.  It's a great way to spend some time with the kids, because who doesn't like to wander around a petting zoo and look, and pet, some friendly barnyard critters.  The Disneyland Petting Zoo is home to many different goats who spend their days sleeping, playing, eating, and being pawed at by people.  Sounds like the life to us!  And it's especially cool when they switch over The Resort for the holiday season, because the goats leave and the reindeer move in before they make their annual trip carrying around Mr. Claus' sleigh.  You can't pet them, but they're beautiful creatures and we've never failed to see the area around Christmas-time filled with children, and adults, "ooh"ing and "aah"ing over them.

One of the best times to be at the petting zoo, though, is right around closing time.  Big Thunder Ranch closes well before the entire Park does (so the animals can be cared for, fed, and sleep), and if you catch it at just the right time (a Cast Member will be more than happy to tell you just when this is on a daily basis), you may just be in time to witness the "world famous Running of the Goats!"; a Cast Member's words, not ours.  Each and every day, the goats are taken from their pen, and run back to their homes through the middle of Big Thunder Ranch and through the Festival Arena in back of the Ranch.  When we first heard about the Running, we knew we just had to see it for ourselves.  At the time, they allowed Guests to stand on either side of the path that runs through the Ranch, so the goats ran right by you on their way out.  We were lucky enough to catch some pictures the last time we saw them do it this way.  We've shared these before on the blog, but it's been quite some time so we're re-sharing them today.

Unfortunately, we discovered when we went back this past weekend to attempt to get video footage of the Running for this article, that they no longer do it this way to keep both the animals and the Guests safe.  We were a little bit disappointed at first, but after seeing one of the goats get a little bit frisky in the video we did take, we were forced to concede that Disneyland knew exactly what they were doing (again!) when they changed the policy.  We still think it's an awesome place to spend some time during the day, and an awesome sight to see!  The kids loved it, and there were still lots of people standing around at the entrance/exit to see them leave their pen and head home.  It made us want to belt out the theme to "Rawhide" at the top of our lungs, but we opted for a "Forrest Gump" knock-off instead.




So there you have it!  It may not seem like a lot, but the kids were smiling, the adults were smiling because the kids were smiling, and sometimes it's the little things like this that can be the most magical.

But the goats aren't just for the kiddies.  We have a bonus tip this week!  One of our favorite coasters at Disneyland is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  It's an awesome, fast-moving coaster through the old west and a boom-town.  Loads of critters pepper the landscape on this one, including one particular goat responsible for something Disneyland patrons refer to as "The Goat Trick".  We've been asked on more than one occasion what "The Goat Trick" is, so we're sharing that for all the coaster hounds out there today.  People ride roller coasters for lots of reasons, but the main is because of the sense of speed, flying, and the way they tend to warp your perception and the way your body feels as you fly around at high speeds.  Our friend the goat on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad gives you a little added "oomph" in this department.

So here's how it works.  You'll know doubt see friend goat as you climb one of the hills about midway through your ride, especially if you are looking for him.  Lock eyes on him, and don't take your eyes off.  Yes, you will pass him, and rounding the bend you'll eventually lose sight of him, but if you're staring where the goat is, and would be, as you round the curve, it definitely throws a body-bending curve-ball at you.  We're not sure exactly why, human physiology certainly being no specialty of ours, but all we know is if you watch the goat as you fly around those corners, your body will let you know something's up, and it's a good thing!  Amy has been known to laugh hysterically for the entire last portion of the ride because of it.  We've been told by some people they don't like the "new sensation" it causes, but by and large people who know about "The Goat Trick" swear by it and won't ride Big Thunder without doing it.

So there you have it, our Disney Tips for Big Thunder Ranch.  Do you have any of your own that you would like to share?  Let us know because we'd love to hear them, and let us know what you think of ours, too!  When you're done here, head on over to Magical Days With the Mouse for another Disney Tip from Sarah, and let her know we sent ya!  Yee-haw!!