The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Places on Earth (217 page)

Disneyland FastPass Attractions:
 
Adventureland
: 
Indiana Jones Adventure
;
Critter Country
: 
Splash Mountain
;
Frontierland
: 
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
;
Mickey’s Toontown
: 
Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
;
New Orleans Square
: 
Haunted Mansion
(October through New Year’s Day);
Tomorrowland
: 
Autopia
,
Space Mountain
,
Star Tours

Disney California Adventure FastPass Attractions
: 
Cars Land
: 
Radiator Springs Racers
;
Condor Flats
: 
Soarin’ Over California
;
Grizzly Peak
: 
Grizzly River Run;
Hollywood Land
: 
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
;
Paradise Pier
: 
California Screamin’
,
Goofy’s Sky School
,
World of Color

First Aid

Guests are well-advised to
carry a simple First Aid kit in their packs, but if you or someone in your party sustains an illness or injury beyond the healing power of your basic First Aid kit,
Disneyland
and
Disney California Adventure
both have
First Aid
facilities.  Study the park map and be sure you, your kids, and anyone caring for your kids know where the
First Aid
centers are located.  In
Disneyland
,
First Aid
is behind the
Main Street Photo Supply Co.
, near the
Plaza Inn
and the
Little Red Wagon
.  In
Disney California Adventure
, it’s in the
Buena Vista Street
district, near the
Chamber of Commerce
.  It’s a good idea for someone in your party to be conversant with basic First Aid and CPR, especially if there are small children or frail elders in your party.  In the event that someone is seriously injured or ill,
First Aid
won’t suffice; Cast Members will contact 911.

Flumes

A flume attraction is one in which riders travel in watercraft through watery channels and navigate drops and plunges. 
Guests are splashed in the course of these journeys and sometimes thoroughly drenched.  If you’re like a cat when it comes to water, avoid these attractions or be sure to wear a poncho.  If you don’t have a poncho with you, the resort sells them for around $10 each.

Disneyland Flumes:

Pirates of the Caribbean
(
New Orleans Square
).  Minimum rider height:  N/A.  Soak factor:  Mild.  (Not a flume ride, per se, but
Pirates of the Caribbean
includes two flume drops.)

Splash Mountain
(
Critter Country
).  Minimum rider height:  40” / 102 cm.  Soak factor:  Glub-glub!

Disney California Adventure Flume:

Grizzly River Run
(
Golden State
).  Minimum rider height:  42” / 107 cm.  Soak factor:  Heavy.

Give a Day.  Get a Disney Day.

Disney
is known for its philanthropy.  In fall 2009, for example,
Disney
volunteers teamed up with Habitat for Humanity to build ten homes for needy families in Lynwood, California.  That same day,
Disney
previewed their new “Give a Day.  Get a Disney Day” campaign.  Launched by
Disney
in January 2010, the program encouraged people to volunteer in their communities.  When people gave a day of their life to help others, they earned a free day at
Disneyland
or
Walt Disney World
.  The program concluded in April 2010 after
one million
volunteers signed up.  For information about
Disney
’s present community engagement, visit
www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/citizenship/community
.

Go-Away Green

A shade of green paint used to camouflage objects that Guests are meant to overlook, like
backstage
doors and buildings, and railings that are required by safety code but don’t match the area’s theme.  This particular shade of green tends to blend into adjacent greenery, so Guests drawn to the more colorful elements of their surroundings unconsciously overlook
Go-Away Green
-painted objects.

Green

Walt
was always interested in doing things in efficient and environmentally intelligent ways, well before “going green” became a popular and pervasive movement–witness the innovative water, power, and trash collection systems at
Walt Disney World
.  Although
Walt
didn’t live to see
WDW
completed, it was his overall blueprint and his perspective that drove the ecologically and environmentally sound construction carried out by
Roy
and by
Walt
’s other successors at the massive
Orlando
property.  If
Walt
had lived, and his original vision of
EPCOT
had been realized,
EPCOT
would’ve been a prototype for a technologically and environmentally balanced city of the future, carefully harmonizing the industrial and the residential, the urban and the green, and responsibly managing and conserving municipal resources.  Functional necessities would have been hyper-efficient (and concealed below the city).  Public transportation and pedestrian walkways would have supplanted the glut of individual automobiles. 
Walt
’s
EPCOT
vision, which he worked on until the day of his death, never came to fruition as he had pictured it.  However, his parks have continued to embrace efficient, green methods.  In 2009,
Disneyland Resort
received the California Governor’s Environmental and Ecological Leadership Award for its ongoing green efforts.  Among its achievements are its thoughtful water usage when draining and refilling
DCA
’s vast
Paradise Bay
(it was drained for months in preparation for the
World of Color
show). 
Disney
teamed with the local water district; drained water was purified and then routed to the county water reserves.  The bay was refilled by aquifer water.  Other green successes: 
Disneyland
now uses repurposed cooking oil (biodiesel fuel) from its park kitchens to fuel the
Disneyland Railroad
trains and the
Mark Twain Riverboat
, and the
Finding Nemo
submarines are electric.  Since 2009, the resort’s trams have been powered by clean, compressed natural gas (CNG).  The
Disneyland Monorail
trains, like the
Finding Nemo
subs, run on electric power rather than combustion fuels. 
Disney
’s environmental efforts continue; in 2012,
Disney
pledged $6M to California forest protection, and the
Disney Cruise Line
received the 2012 Environmental initiative Award from Seatrade for controlling its environmental impact.  In 2013, the
Disney Cruise Line
was a finalist in “Condé Nast Traveler” magazine’s 2013 World Savers Awards, which recognize outstanding demonstrations of environmental responsibility and conservation.

Group Rates

If you’re planning to visit
Disneyland Resort
with a group of fifteen or more from a non-profit organization, why not investigate the resort’s group rates and see if your organization qualifies?  You might save substantial funds.  Call
Group Sales
at (714) 956-6860.

Guests

Anyone who visits
Downtown Disney
, one of the three
Disneyland Resort Hotels
,
Disneyland Park
, or
Disney California Adventure Park
is a
Disneyland
“Guest”. 
Walt
coined the term because he wanted park visitors treated like treasured Guests, not faceless customers or audience members–that’s part of the
magic
at the
Disneyland Resort
.  Expect top-of-the-line customer service. 
Walt
and the
Disney Company
literally wrote the book (more than one book, as well as courses) regarding superlative customer service and customer satisfaction.  While at the resort, you and your party can expect to be royally treated.  Cast Members provide outstanding service as a matter of course, and find ways to
plus
that excellent service and create truly
magical moments
for you.  To paraphrase the famous
Walt
saying, Cast Members are there to work so Guests can play.  Your only responsibilities as a Guest are to follow all resort rules and instructions.  And most importantly,
to have fun
!

Guided Tours

Interested in learning more about the
Disneyland Resort
and
Walt
himself? 
Disneyland Resort
offers a variety of tours that explore different themes and locations.  The
Guided Tours
program launched in 1958 and has a proud history of informing and entertaining Guests. One of the early tour guides,
Julie Reihm Casaletto
, became
Disneyland
’s first
Disneyland Ambassador
, representing the park and studio at events around the world, and appearing on the
10
th
Anniversary
episode of the
Disneyland
TV show.  You can’t miss the
Disneyland Tour Guides
when you see them in the parks.  They all look friendly, and stand out from the crowd in their special uniforms (usually riding caps, blazers or vests, and plaid skirts for female guides, jaunty plaid vests for the men). 
Tour Guides
must be extremely knowledgeable about
Disneyland
and must master several roles before they can become guides.  Being well-groomed, polite, and cheerful are musts.  Today’s
Guided Tours
cover a range of topics and price points.  Do you want to enjoy a simple
Welcome to the Disneyland Resort
tour ($25, 2.5 hours), take
A Walk in Walt’s Disneyland Footsteps
($109, 3 hours), enjoy the horticulturally focused
Cultivating the Magic
tour ($49, 2 hours), or explore sleuth-favorite
Discover the Magic
($59, 2.5 hours)?  Interested in exploring
Disney’s Happiest Haunts
($64, 3 hours) or
Holiday Time at Disneyland
($64, 2.5 hours)?  The
Walk in Walt’s Disneyland Footsteps
tour is especially
magical
now that Guests are able to visit
Walt
’s apartment above the
Fire Station
, which has been off-limits to Guests for many years.  Many tours include collectible pins; collect enough, and you can place them on a special lanyard, proudly displaying that you’re a
Disneyland tour
veteran!  The
Cultivating the Magic
tour even includes a packet of seeds.  For
DCA
aficionados
, there used to be a
Cruzin’ Disney California Adventure Park
tour via Segway.  This was the priciest of the standard packages (at the time) at $99 per guest and lasted 3 hours.  A light breakfast was included, and you learned Segway basics. This tour has been discontinued.  To book a tour or inquire about the many different choices, visit the
Guided Tour Gardens Kiosk
just north of the
West Entrance Tunnel
in
Disneyland Park
, or call
Guided Tours
at least a month in advance at (714) 781-TOUR.  Guests who require foreign language or sign language interpreters for their tours should make inquiries and arrangements by calling (714) 781-6176. 
Premium
and
Deluxe Passholders
, as well as AAA and
Disney Visa
Members
all save 20 percent on all standard tours. 
VIP Tour Services
can be reached at (714) 300-7710 at least one month in advance to plan customized experiences.