The Disneyland Welte Orchestration IV "One-Machine Band"

The original iPod

We talk fairly frequently here at Days In The Park about just how important the music you hear around Disneyland is to the atmosphere in The Park.  Arguably one of the most important areas of Disneyland where this is so is on Main Street, USA, since music is especially prevalent here and in many forms.  Anyone who spends any amount of time at all on the street is familiar with the music loop that plays here all day, all the time.  You also have The Dapper Dans who wander the street throughout the day singing barber-shop and entertaining the crowds.  Ragtime piano at the end of Main Street at "Coke Corner".  And there's a reason the Disneyland parades end and begin here.  Main Street, USA is much about the music all day, all the time.

With that in mind, for today's article we thought we would look at something a little, well actually a big, unique.  To anyone who has taken the time to check out the Penny Arcade/Main Street Candy Palace on Main Street, you might have noticed a very large machine sitting along the back wall amid all of the other penny games and penny movie machines all over the place.  This big boy is known as an Orchestration Machine, and it plays seemingly every part of an orchestra all by itself; from drums to trumpets, pipes to organs, and even a triangle, this thing is a beast!

We don't want to insult your intelligence too much here, so we'll keep it simple (as though you haven't figured it out already).  You put your money in, pick a song from the options on the touch-screen hooked up to the machine, and step back and listen to one machine belt out each song as though an entire orchestra were playing it.  Pretty keen, huh?

There is a price to paid for such awesomeness, though.  Unlike everything else in the Penny Arcade, this thing will run you a whopping twenty-five cents.  That's right, an entire quarter!  No worries though, as it's totally worth it.  With selections like Polka, Big Band, Ragtime, and More Ragtime, you can't go wrong!

So many choices...

Have you ever listened to Disney music and wished you could share with everyone right then and there?  So you blast the speakers to 11 but no-one is around to hear it!  Trust us, once you turn this big boy on everyone in the arcade within earshot will hear it, and wander over to see just where it's coming from; we've seen it happen many times before; especially if you decide to play 'Mickey Mouse March'.

So how did we find out about this machine?  Well, that's a simple question to answer.  It's right next to the Main Street Candy Palace!  That's right, while enjoying our delicious Peanut Butter Sandwiches (or was it a Peanut Butter Heaven?  Who cares, they're both delicious!) we stumbled, or almost literally walked into the Welte Orchestration IV.  At first glance we just knew we had to play it.  So what song to play for our first ride?  How about a classic like "This Is Halloween"?!  The second it started doing that voodoo that it do so well, everyone started packing in to see what all the noise was about, and we were hooked.  We're still astounded whenever we play it and people come over and tell us they didn't even notice it sitting there.  How could you not see it?  It's a behemoth!

We simply love things like this around The Park, and in this case we've found us a true Disneyland original; something that has been here since the very beginning.  Trust us when we say that the Welte Orchestration IV machine is one fun treasure at the Park that you need to make sure to check out during your next visit, if you haven't already.  And who knows, you may just find us strolling in with a roll of quarters, grinning  from ear to ear as we get ready to put on a concert for all the other patrons of the Penny Arcade.

Days In The Park's Favorite Things: Peanut Butter Sandwich

We realized recently that it has been quite some time since we shared with the blogosphere one of our "Favorite Things" from inside The Parks.  We figured the best way to get back on the wagon was to talk about something that is a "favorite" with almost everyone else on the planet too.  Chocolate!  One of the great things about The Parks is the abundance of chocolate.  It comes in all forms, shapes and sizes and there doesn't seem to be much of a shortage of it anywhere.  One of our favorite iterations of this tasty treat comes in one particular form, though. The aptly named Peanut Butter Sandwich.

What you don't see is what you get with this little beauty.  On the outside it is, of course, a chocolate square a couple of inches thick.  But the real beauty of this little bit of heaven is what resides inside it's chocolate shell: a layer of peanut butter atop a graham cracker.  Simple and yet ridiculously genius!  Whoever came up with the idea of melding chocolate, peanut butter, and a graham cracker belongs in a "food" Hall of Fame somewhere.  We think it's quite possibly the same person who invented the s'more, but we're not sure on that one.

We typically choose to indulge in the Peanut Butter Sandwich in one of two ways.  We'll either buy one on our way out of The Park to take home with us and enjoy at a later date, or, and this is our favorite of the two choices, we'll buy one and follow it with a nice white milk chaser inside The Park late at night.  The chocolate is fantastic, you can't beat the peanut butter (especially if you're a huge PB fan like we are and it just always tastes so "fresh"), and the cracker just puts it over the top.  It's hands-down one of our favorite treats in The Park (rivaling even our beloved Dole Whip Floats) and always something we're considering getting for ourselves.



There are several places inside The Parks where you can find this treat for yourself should you be on the prowl.  The most popular choice of course would probably be the Main Street Candy Palace.  You can also find it in Disney California Adventure at the Greetings From California store.  Our favorite place to snack down would have to be Pooh Corner in Critter Country, though.  And unless we're much mistaken, it's also available at Marceline's Confectionery in the Downtown Disney district.  There's nothing quite as relaxing as a nice late night ride on Splash Mountain followed by a Peanut Butter Sandwich.  It's one of our favorite things to do (and eat!) in The Parks and something we do on a very frequent basis.

Just like so many of the other tasty treats inside The Parks, these little treats are made by Cast Members.  There's nothing quite like a handmade treat and it just makes it that much more enjoyable.  If you're interested in the Peanut Butter Sandwich yourself the next time you're out, be sure and check one of the mentioned candy shops at The Resort.  You can purchase the Sandwich yourself for a mere $3.95!  So little to pay for such a large sugar coma.

We'll be back next week with another "Favorite Thing".  What about you?  Any "Favorite Things" of your own you'd like to share?  Anything you'd like for us to check out and write about?  Let us know!  We'd love to hear from you.

Chad (AND Amy's) Favorite Things: Goofy's Sour Balls

Various Goofy's Candy Co. selections on display

After standing idly by while Amy and Mark have been doing their own "Favorite Things" posts, I decided it was high time for me to get into the act!

Unfortunately this created a bit of a power struggle within the organization as once word got out about my choice, Amy claimed to have liked my favorite "much longer than me", so I had to include her in my post.  Darnit!  But, it's all good, and I do mean Goofy's Sour Balls good!  I've recently become addicted to these little balls of wonder (there are currently two bags of them floating around my house and one in my car), and since it was because of Amy that I am, I guess I can include her in this one.

Up until quite recently, I was a taffy kind of guy.  No trip into The Park would be complete without a trip into the Main St. Candy Palace to replenish my stock, but this all changed during "Family Fun Weekends" while we were in line for some Character Meet and Greets.  We had been line for quite a while, so Amy left to go find some snackage for herself.  Care to take a guess what she came back with?  Between the three of us we had killed the entire bag within minutes.  Not the healthiest of things to do, to be sure, but I've been hooked ever since.

I won't bore you with all the details about what makes a sour ball a sour ball (you bite into them and they're sour; seems pretty self-explanatory) but I think what I like about these particular sour balls is that they are in fact quite soft when you bite into them; not quite like a gummy worm but much softer than a "Lemon-Head" or the like.  They come in several flavors:  Lemon, Lime, Orange, Cherry and Grape.  The bags themselves will run you $3.45, which isn't bad at all when you think about it, and you have a couple of choices from which to choose.  You can buy bags that consist of only Cherry-flavored sour balls, or you can go for the assorted bag (which we always do) which have all of the flavors I listed above.  Unfortunately, Cherry is the only flavor special enough to have a bag all on its own, but Amy and I are both dreaming of the day when Grape will be allowed to as well.

So, where you can buy this candy of choice for the Days In The Park team?  The question that might be better posed is, "Where can't you buy Goofy's Sour Balls?"  If it's a store, and it's at The Resort, then very likely they have a candy section and if they do, you're almost assured of finding the entire line-up of Goofy's Candy Co goodies, and that includes the sour balls.  They're everywhere!

If you're a fan of sour candy in general (some aren't we realize) then we think you'll be very pleased with Goofy's Sour Balls.  They're really flavorful, not overbearing (like an "Atomic Warhead" or something that's out to kill you on purpose), and an entire bag will typically last your family for quite a bit (unless you're like us and your addiction is full-blown).  This particular Park sweet comes highly recommended by all of us (even though it is my favorite).

Now, if you'll excuse me, my saliva glands are in full effect and I need to go eat some sour balls.

Amy likes to torture me by texting me random pics of opened bags of MY favorite thing

---