Showing posts with label King Arthur Carousel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label King Arthur Carousel. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Disneyland Character Photos Ahoy! - Almost Wordless Wednesday

We love our character photos!  It's been a while since we had any good ones (we've just been focusing on other things lately), but we have a fresh batch today that we took while we were on the 'CHOC Walk in the Park' early last month.  We love doing the charity walks at Disneyland, they're for great causes, and we love the character interaction to boot!  These are just some of our favorites from The Walk last month, and we hope you enjoy them as well!

Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather atop Sleeping Beauty Castle - ALWAYS a great shot!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chip and Dale!

Someone's definitely getting "The Smolder"...

Aurora on King Arthur Carousel

Ariel and Cinderella getting dizzy on King Arthur Carousel

"Up to no good, you are. Hmmmm?"

Does the size of Ferb's head concern anyone besides us?

He waved at me! He waved at me!!!

Yeah... Mark's a character, too...

Focused on the Magic

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

"Almost" Wordless Wednesday: AIDS Walk OC 2011

Last Sunday, Chad had the opportunity to participate in this year's (the 25th) AIDS Walk OC which took place at the Disneyland Resort, with Team Finding Mickey.  We were a small bunch, but we managed to raise $550 for the cause ($50 of Chad's donations somehow wound up in the general donations, really can't explain why).  These are just a few of the almost 200 pictures we took during the course of the day; some of the others will show up when we blog about the event either this weekend or early next week.  It was hard to pick just 10!  In the meantime, thanks for the support of everyone who made donations or encouraged us as we were walking.  Y'all are awesome!

circa 5:30am, May 1, 2011 - Mickey and Friends Parking Structure
Registration begins!
Walking the tram route to the Walk
Note the clock: 6:15am and preparing to walk!
Waiting for Mickey to give us the go ahead and begin the coundown
We love, LOVED having the characters encourage us along. So cool!
One of our favorite moments of the entire day, bar none

Just after crossing the finish line - 5K (or 3.2 miles later)
What Walk would be complete without a rope drop and an 'Oscar's Choice' at the Carnation Cafe after?

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

"Almost" Wordless Wednesday: These Subtitles Are Harder To Come Up With Than One Might Think!

Dunno what it is about these posts, but we love it when Wordless Wednesday comes around. Enough talk, let's get to it!

June is almost here! Stay on target... Stay on target...

Let's hope he can pilot better than Rex!

Not The Park, but we ate there after. That counts, right?!

Mickey Mouse Club Game! And in other news, Donald is cross-eyed!


Horrifying enough when you go in the RIGHT way!

One of our favorite meals in The Park - Chicken Alfredo at the Plaza Inn

Chad got his highest score ever! And Mark STILL shamed him!!

We wanted a picture of Mark after he finally attained 'Galactic Hero' but he was too busy running around the store yelling, "Did you see my score?! Woohoo!!!"

"Ladies and gentleman, we have lost control of the carousel. You are currently traveling at a rate of roughly 600mph..."

Monday, February 28, 2011

The Sound of (Park) Music

Let the music begin
Have you ever entered the Park and just stood in awe at how detailed it is? From the Cast Members' costumes to the buildings surrounding you, everything is planned to fit together.  Even the background music fits in perfectly.  Just one of the many surprises that the Park has in store for you.

Almost every time we head over to the Park, we listen to Disneyland Resort Discography.  It hit me the other day that some of the songs on the CD I wasn't readily familiar with, and there were plenty of songs playing in the Park that weren't on our CDs.  So where did they come from?  Well, we found the solution (it wasn't hard to find, but it still made us feel good about ourselves) while making our way through the famous entrance tunnels into Main Street, U.S.A.  We heard some very familiar sounds from the CD, and it hit us, there's always more to the Park than meets the eye (quite literally sometimes).


We love hearing the song "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" from Hello, Dolly! (and Wall-E, of course) playing in the background throughout Main Street.  Making our way down to the castle and into Fantasyland, the tone of the music changes entirely.  King Arthur Carousel might as well be one giant calliope boom box.  You can hear famous Disney Princess music played, such as "Once Upon A Dream" from Sleeping Beauty (and many others) as it goes around and around.  Even heading towards the Matterhorn you can hear music coming from the Mad Tea Party; Alice In Wonderland tinged, of course.

Since we're heading towards the Matterhorn, let's keep going into Tomorrowland, where the sounds of space and science fiction movies can be heard.  They love music so much here they even have a stage for it where bands can be seen and heard on any given weekend.  While we're here, let's grab a Rocket Rod (couldn't resist) and shoot on over to the other side of the Park.

Where John Williams and Rock-a-billy collide
"How Do Ya Do?" can be heard over at Critter Country, evoking images of Brer Rabbit and his laughing place (and giving us an insane desire to climb on that blasted Splash Mountain just one more time), along with the many tunes of Winnie the Pooh ("Heffalumps and Woozles," anyone?) coming in every once in a while.  As you make your way down to New Orleans Square, you'll notice some of that 'good ole Jazz' music being played to set the mood while you stroll through the shops; it just makes you want to snap your fingers!

What about one of the wildest portions of the Park, Adventureland?  Music from the infamous Tarzan's Treehouse (infamous to us; let's not get into that tree too much, our legs hurt just thinking about it), Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye, and the "Garden Show" from The Enchanted Tiki Room all vie for space inside your eardrums.

My name is Rongo...
Let's take a detour and say, "Howdy!" to Frontierland.  Classic western music is, of course, the theme here, and every once in a while you may get a real treat and hear the theme song from Blazing Saddles, as well as music from Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and from The Golden Horseshoe Revue.  Had enough?  Head on around the "wildest ride in the wilderness" and you'll find yourself on your way back to Fantasyland; we've already been here so just keep going until you hit Mickey's Toontown, where the many whacky and zany sounds of Disney cartoons like Steamboat Willie and Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin can be heard all around.

"This here's the wildest ride in the wilderness!"
We've said before (this week in fact!) that's it all in the little details, but we love our Park music and sounds.  We can't help but smile when our cell phones go off in the Park (featuring Park ringtones, of course) and we see people looking around to see where the sound is coming from.  We're so infatuated with the sounds of the Park even our phones play Park tunes! 

Sometimes we get so caught up in the visual magic of the Park that we let the audible kind pass us by.  So, the next time you're visiting, take a minute to close your eyes and give a listen.  We didn't list every 'Sound Hot Spot' because we want you to find some of the Park magic for yourself. You never know what you might discover.


Friday, September 24, 2010

DITP Perspective: King Arthur Carousel


Average Wait Time:  5 minutes
Approximate Ride Length:  2 1/2 minutes


Round and Round it goes!  Where it stops?  I know!

This all started three years ago. 

I thought to myself, "Once a year is not enough time to enjoy the many bounties that Disneyland has to offer."  So, I purchased my first annual pass, mostly because of my niece, Christyana (nicknamed Tyana; see what we did there?).  She already had an annual pass, and wanted me to join in on the fun.  Little did I know that fun for a little girl meant trying to meet all of the princesses (each and every visit) and riding every single attraction in Fantasyland (each and every time).  

One of these happens to be Walt Disney's King Arthur Carousel.  This is one of her favorite attractions in the park,  mostly because she thinks the horses are real.

Not a huge fan of carousels to begin with, I had no idea just how much history there was on this carousel.  I now know that each of the horses, including the benches on the attraction, are all hand painted, and have names. My niece's favorite is one known as Champion. This horse is covered in diamonds, gold, and ribbons.  Pretty cool that they're all special like that!  For a while, my personal favorite was one known as Lucifer's Rose. You heard me right, Lucifer's Rose (El diablo!  - Chad).  This particularly menacing carousel horse has a rose on both sides of its head and the face of the devil on its side.  Of particular interest to all of you Mary Poppins fans, they also have one dedicated to the Disney legend Julie Andrews. This horse, named Jingles, is covered in bells, a few diamonds, and even sports Mary Poppins' umbrella. (Jingles also sports multiple "hidden mickeys" and is the "lead horse" on the carousel - Chad).

This ride is known as one of Walt's prized possessions.  We should feel blessed that he had the heart to share this attraction with us; I know I do (even though all the ride does is go around in a circle six times; trust me, I've counted). 

Every time my niece sees this attraction her face lights up,  and in that moment I'm happy that I'm the one riding with her.

You can read more about this attraction here, or speak to a Cast Member working on the attraction for more information about the various horse's names and the ride's history.