Bathroom Break

Cleverly themed bathroom signs are nothing new with Disney, but here are three of my favorites from the west coast.

Aliens are people too in Tomorrowland.


Condor Flats (home to Soarin' Over California) gets pilot-themed signs.

These signs can be found in the Pacific Wharf area of Disney's California Adventure.

Where's Nemo?

In the spirit of the new Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, the Imagineers cleverly hid Nemo's likeness in the surrounding area.

Trick or Treat

Even though Halloween is almost over, I thought I would do some last minute celebrating with some fun details at the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney/MGM Studios.

The Tower Gallery gift shop display window has a Halloween theme featuring exotic gifts from around the world.

This menu outside the Sunset Room displays the last meal that hotel patrons would have enjoyed before the lightning struck. Anyone up for some Calf's Liver and Bacon?

One of my absolute favorite details is this little Permit to Operate that can be found in each elevator shaft (you need to be sitting in Row 1 against the wall to be able to see it well). Although the signature is hard to make out, the date of last inspection is unmistakeably clear: October 31, 1939.

Drop In For Halloween

In honor of tomorrow, I thought there would be no better ride to highlight than The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Of course, the fateful event that closed the hotel down occurred on October 31, 1939 so it is wonderful to see that California Adventure chooses to decorate their version for the holiday.

A special archway comprised of black bats (complete with red glowing eyes) graces the entrance.

Stained glass spiderwebs with the "HTH" logo adorn the light posts.

Even the gift shop area receives special Halloween decorations.

An Initial Memory

Above the Pirate's of the Caribbean entrance sits Walt and Roy's unfinished apartment in New Orleans Square. Although the wonderful Disney Gallery that used to occupy the space is no more, and Imagineers are presently hard at work to transform the place into a Year of Million Dreams suite, it is nice to see that the original wrought-iron railings bearing Walt and Roy's initials can still be seen.

In the Nick of Time

So I'm going to take a slight detour from my usual Disney World details to focus on some fun things I found while in Disneyland. I'll start with one from Engine-Ears Toys, a great little toy shop located in the entrance area of Disney's California Adventure. It has this wonderful train schedule with a clock full of puns such as "El Noonyo" to "Time Out." I personally enjoy the destination for the 19:65 train.

Back from The Happiest Place on Earth

So my blog absence was due in part to my long weekend trip to Disneyland. It was only my second time visiting the west coast parks, so it was quite off-putting having the need to learn my way around! But the two parks are as wonderful as I had remembered them, and despite being smoked out on our last night there (as a result of those horrible wildfires) I found it difficult to leave.

One of the very first things we did upon entering Disneyland was take the fire truck on a one-way trip up Main Street USA. Before we departed, the driver informed us that Walt himself would personally drive the truck around Main Street before the park opened for the day to check on things. It is little things like this that make you realize that Walt's spirit is still there, alive and well. You really feel his presence as you wander through each land.

Of course, being the detail nut that I am, I had to document the west coast's trash can collection. For this, I need to thank my friends Melissa, Trish, and Jenny, for putting up with my constant stopping!


So now that I have returned to the east coast and am unpacking my things, I guess the only thing left to do is ask, "When can I go back?"