Laughing Stock Company and the Dating Game with Sally Mae and Blake at Disneyland 2006

     In years past The Laughing Stock Company had a show right outside of the Shoe. This is back when the Hillbillies lived in the Shoe! We loved to go watch Billy Hill and the Hillbillies, it was fun and relaxing. One of the great shows that used to be in the parks.



    One year as we were heading to New Orleans Square and walked by the Shoe there was a show taking place, it was a "dating game" and my oldest son, Blake was called upon. He was only 10 at the time but he did a great job playing along...this was when he met the love of his life, Sally Mae ha ha ha......

     Watch and enjoy....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6MCGhWiv58
   

No Smoking at Disney Resort, How about No Drinking too

     

     This year Disney Resort decided that they would become completely  non-smoking. I thought they would at least  have an area in the center for smoker so that they didn't have to go through baggage check again. But nope, the smoking area the street, Smokers have to completely exit the park and then go through baggage check an all just to get back in.  They will do this but yet allow alcohol, I do not understand.

     I am not a smoker but know people who are. Until they went to the smoking areas in the parks though I had no clue where they were, the smoke never seemed to enter the park area. Once I knew where the areas were I still did not smell the smoke when walking by the smoking area nor did anyone else I know so I do not understand the problem. I think it is in poor judgement on the part of Disney.

     Many people complained that smoke offended them but what about those of us who are offended by alcohol, why do they still allow that? I do not like drunk people, I don't like standing in line smelling a disgusting drunk. So why should I have to, why do they allow that in the parks? Why didn't they ban alcohol too? I think they should. I mean look at the recent brawl in Toon Town, I would guess those people were drunk. If they were not, I have seen other people drunk in the park. Parents who are yelling at their kids in a drunken manner, or couples making out and many people stinking in line. It is offensive to me and should not be allowed in a family park.

    Another issue is the danger people are placed in by those getting drunk at Disney Resort. First of all they can make unsafe choices on rides putting other guests in danger or they leave the parks and drive drunk. I think that is more dangerous than cigarette smoke in a designated area.

 I see posts that Disneyland is losing money money and I wonder if part of it is due to the new smoking ban in the park. Just something I think about....I still go to the resort but I do wish they would ban alcohol because I do find it offensive..

Disney Table Hovering

     Have you ever been to Disney Resort and found that  that there were no tables available at the restaurants? If you go when it is busy I am sure you have. You have had that problem of finding a place to sit and eat. Well if you learn to "hover" then you will always have a place to sit. Those who are seasoned in the parks do it, there is nothing wrong with it and if you know about it then you also watch for others who are hovering...this is the only way you will find a place to sit on a busy Disney day.

    Table hovering is simply just that, hovering over those who are finishing up so that you can take their table. If you go a lot you expect this.

     I walk around the restaurants looking for tables where the people are almost done eating. Then I just kind of hang around waiting. I try to look conspicuous but sometimes I don't. Or other times I will ask if they are almost done. Most people are kind about it. I tell them not to rush and wait for them to get done, then I sit down. Those who go a lot know how it goes...

    When we are almost done I look around for people who might be hovering and tell them we are almost done so that they can have our table when we are done. It seems to just be a common bond that those of us who are experienced Disney visitors
share.

     So next time you are at the parks and see someone hovering around, ask them if they are looking for a table and let them have yours when you leave. It sprinkling a bit of magic on their day!

Disney Resort Solution Suggestion for Crowd Control - No Longer Allow People With Young Kids

     Not to long ago I read a post stating that people who do not have children should stay out of Disneyland because this woman's child had to wait in line and got very upset. Well I have a better idea, how about people with kids stop going to Disney Resorts.

     Disney Resort in Anaheim has gotten extremely crowded over the years. They have been trying many things to control the crowds but nothing seems to be working. The parks just seem to get more and more crowded every year. Well I have solution for the parks: stop allowing people with young children to go or at least don't allow the young children to go to the parks. Only allow people who can maneuver the parks independently visit the them. Many families who have children would have to stop coming to the parks leaving them far less crowded for those without young children to enjoy. The lines would be shorter and problem solved!

    Now before you get angry, I am not serious!! My idea is as ridiculous as the woman complaining about people without kids staying away. I mean come on, really! First of all kids need to learn patients, waiting in line will not hurt them. Life does not have to be instant...teach them how to wait. As they grow up the world will not stop just so they can be in the front of the line....

    Mostly both ideas are absurd because Walt built the parks for families to enjoy together but he also wanted anyone who feels the magic to enjoy the wonderful places he created! Children make the experience extremely magical however there are times adults want to go without their kids or their kids grow up but they still feel the magic.

      I can't even imagine the park without kids in it. I love watching them light up when they see a character or as they skip and dance off to get on rides. Their smiles and excitement is priceless regardless whose kids they are!

     I started taking my kids to Disney Resort in 2003. They were 6 and 8 years old. We have gone every year since and when they were younger it was so special watching them fall in love with the experience. They felt the magic the first time they entered the gates. They grew up at the parks, they grew up with the magic being a part of their lives! It would have been sad if I had stopped taking them when they hit a certain age because the parks are only for people with young kids. And it also would have been sad to not share the magical experiences with them when they were young. They also waited in line, they learned to wait in line and they survived waiting in line.

    As my kids became adults they were not longer able to go to the parks because of jobs etc. But the rest of us continued to go. I am sure glad that we are able to go without kids. My kids do get to go once in a while now and I am glad they can go as adults too.

     As my grandson gets older we will take him to the parks, we will enjoy them together. But there are times we will go without kids too.

     There are many people out there who do not have kids, those who cannot have them ,those who do not want to have them ant those whose children have grown up....I am sure glad that anyone can go and enjoy the magic. When Walt said "to all who come to this happy place, welcome." he meant it to everyone, not just certain groups.

     As for crowd control, I am not sure what the answer is. I know for us, we love the parks and we feel the magic so we will go and enjoy them with others who feel the same magic! And really, those of us who truly feel the magic and are what I call Disnerds are and will always be kids at heart especially when we enter those magical gates!

+Disneyland
+Disney Resort
+crowd control

Disappointing Boysenberry Funnel Cake at Knotts Berry Farm 2018

     Going to Knots Berry Farm for a boysenberry funnel cake has become one of our Disney vacation traditions. We ride the Anaheim Resort Transportation to Knotts, shop a while and then stop and eat the funnel cake.This funnel cake is not your regular size funnel cake. It is very big with a huge amount of boysenberries and a huge swirl of ice cream. In the past we have gotten one each but learned that is way too much so we buy one and share. It is a perfect amount of delightfulness!

    This year was no different. We spent the day at Disneyland, then in the afternoon decided to head over to get our boysenberry funnel cake. We shopped some then went into the little restaurant that sells the funnel cakes. Sadly I cannot remember the name of it. I just know it is after the shops closer to the park enttance

    The wait to get your funnel cake is usually long but it is well worth it. You also get to watch them make your funnel cake.

     As I watched the guy make our funnel cake this year I notice that one of them came out a bit over done. Then the next one was too. I told my mom they looked a bit burnt but she said it was probably ok, it just looked that way. I agreed and did not want to wait anymore so didn't say anything to the guy working. In years past the people cooking them would have thrown those out and started over. This guy did not. I figured it would be ok.

    They put our berries on and our ice cream. We took it over and sat down to eat. The berries were delicious and the ice cream was great too but the funnel cake portion was very crispy. It felt like we were chewing rocks. I kept thinking I should go ask for another one since we paid quite a bit for it but decided I just did not want to wait on them to cook another one.

     We ate our crispy cake and totally enjoyed the boysenberries and ice cream but the funnel cake was not at all good. 

    A couple of days later we got one at Disneyland and it was delicious even though we had strawberries instead of boysenberries.

     We will go back for our funnel cake next time, however we will ask them to give us another one if they burn ours.

+Knotts Berry Farm
+funnel cake
+boysenberry
+ice cream

Pirates Sell Wenches, Not Chickens! What Would Walt Think?

     Well Disney did it, they gave in to the whiners and changed the "Red Head" scene. Now they have a woman there and they are selling chickens, paintings and other non-piraty items. Yes she says "its the rum they want." and instead of shouting "who wants the redhead." The pirates shout "we want the run." but, it took several times for me to catch that. The thing that caught my eye were the chickens, painting and such.

     Pirates are swashbuckling, ransacking, looting and stealing sorts, not so nice sort of folks, they do not sell chickens. That just takes away their roughness.  They also now have the wenches selling items in the auction. No wait, is this really what Walt wanted? Is this what he saw? I do not think it is. This is not his vision.

    When he was introducing his new attraction he even mentions that the pirates have all of the rum but they are most interested in the wench auction. This was Walt's vision, he found it amusing and so do many of those who love what Walt gave to us.  I really do not think he is happy that the pirates no longer sell wenches.

    I really do not even know why Disney did this, I don't know what group they were catering too but Walt wanted his pirates to be tough and fierce. Chickens and paintings are not fierce. Selling the wenches was a part of Walt's vision, his park, his attraction. I do not believe he would be happy that part of his vision is gone.

Clip of Walt on Pirates of the Caribbean

Lost Camera at Disneyland Returned: Faith in Humanity Restored Because of a Facebook Pay it Forward and a Little Pixie Dust

     On July 3, 2018, the first day of our Disneyland vacation I lost my camera. I reported it as soon as I discovered it was gone. I went to lost and found the night it was lost. I called them on a daily basis to see if it had been turned in. It never was. Due to the kind act of a random individual paying it forward my camera was returned.

     On July 3 we entered Disneyland Park for our first day of fun. I had planned to video our trip this year and create a vlog. I started my video recording the Disneyland Railroad. We decided to get off at Fantasyland and watch Mickey's Magical Map. I used my phone and camera both there. Well I think I used my camera. I have several shots so am not sure. Then we went on Alice in Wonderland. We stopped at the restroom and I knew I had it with me as I waited for my mom and aunt outside the restroom near Alice. Then we headed to Pizza Port for lunch. When I put my bags down I realized that my camera was gone. I went back to the area where we ate, asked if it was found in Pizza Port and at all of the carts in the area. I back tracked everywhere we had been. My camera had not been turned in.

     I file a report with Lost and Found. They told me usually expensive items get turned in. So I had high hopes that they would call me.

    We went on to enjoy our day, I took pictures with my phone which were not the quality I was used to but better than nothing.

     At the end of the day my mom and I went to lost and found outside the park and waited for an hour to find out that it had not been turned in. At that point my hopes were dashed. I did not have much hope it would be tuned in. I figured someone found it and decided they made quite the find so they kept it. I was crushed. I had SD cards in there with memories and well, I really love taking pictures and loved my camera.

     I called lost and found every other day only to hear those same words "so sorry but we do not have anything that matches that description." I went back to all of the places I had been that first day to see if somehow someone had turned it in. I went to City Hall, I did not stop looking. I watched everyone in the park to see if they had my camera bag on their shoulder hoping to find me there. But nothing

    We earned enough points to go on a Walt Disney Studios Tour so I called that day too, still no camera. I was sad because this was a once in a lifetime thing and I had to use a phone for my memories. But I made the best of it and had a good time still with hopes that somehow my camera would appear.

     Finally almost two weeks later our trip was over. I called lost and found one last time in hopes my camera was there, it was not. We returned home and I called on the 16th which was two weeks from the say I lost it to see if it was there. Disney told me it was not and that it most likely would never show up since it had been so long. They apologized and I was very mad.

     I was mad at myself for leaving it but also wondered if maybe someone had picked it up while I sat there. I was not sure, I just knew that I lost faith in humanity as a whole. I was upset that someone like myself who would have taken it to lost and found had not found it. I would never in a million years keep something like that if I found it.

     I was still very sad about my camera but decided that it was gone so I needed to forget it. Then on July 23, 2018 I checked my phone to find that I had several messages from my friend Steve. He had posted a screen shot text of a camera and case asking if it was mine. WOW it was!  I could not contact the woman who posted it so he shared the link to my Facebook messages and I was able to contact her. In the mean time he had called her.

    This amazing woman, Noelle,  had been given my camera by her friend who found it on the 3rd but had headed home that same day and was not sure what to do. Noelle had looked at the pictures on my SD cards, found a license plate number and called my mom. She did not have to follow up on the call because my friend Steve and I had contacted her.

      She also put a post on Facebook asking all of her friends to share the post. She wanted to find me, she wanted to pay it forward.  All of her friends shared, their friends shared and somehow my friend saw the post. Then the ball was rolling for my camera to be returned to me.

    My friend Steve said he was on Facebook and the post with the picture of my camera was there in his feed. He saw it and just KNEW it was my camera. He took a screen shot of the post so that it did not disappear because  much of the time messages in a facebook feed will disappear once you leave the page. He has no idea why it was on his feed because he does not know Noelle. After he saw this he  started messaging me.

    I talked to Noelle proving that I was the owner and she placed my it in the mail on July 24, 2018.

    I believe it was a miracle, and maybe a little magic from Walt Disney, that my friend saw the post. I believe that it is a blessing that this amazing woman wanted to pay in forward and find me I also am thankful that her friend who wasn't sure what to do asked her what to do and then Noelle went on to return my camera to me.

    My faith in humanity has been restored because one amazing woman took the time to find me and  wanted to pay it forward and maybe just a little Pixie dust was sprinkled about too so that my friend saw her post.

+Disneyland
+lost camera
+found
+returned
+faith in humanity