Round Midnight
Every now and then, there are rare moments at Disneyland when everything seems to fall into place. Perhaps by design or by fate.
Such was the case on a recent Saturday night. With a bit of occasional mist still falling and temperatures in the upper 40’s, the stage was set. Being on my own in Anaheim, spending a few hours at Disneyland with my camera would make for a nice way to end a very long day. The Park would be open until midnight. After some torrential rains earlier in the day, most of the locals were long gone and the tourists retreated to those hopefully warm and dry hotel rooms.
As the hour grew close to midnight and the Park’s closing, I walked along the Rivers of America. At the Frontier Landing, the Mark Twain and her reflection glittered as the proverbial wedding cake. A few guests lingered for a last voyage on Pirates. The shops and restaurants of New Orleans Square were shuttered for the night. No screams were heard from Splash Mountain.
The view of the Mansion through the trees drew me on. As I came closer, I noted a solitary figure standing on the steps in front of the portico. A glance at my watch showed it to be a few minutes before midnight. Approaching the entry, that figure became clearer. Wearing the full dark green costume for the attraction, it was a single gentleman. On a night like this, his cape provided a proper touch of decorum as well as warmth and comfort.
After an exchange of pleasantries, I entered the foyer of the Mansion. After all these years, that wallpaper still looks wonderful. (Bradbury and Bradbury – perfect for one’s own home or other space.) The chandelier, with candle lights flickering as always. Yet, tonight there was a difference from any previous visit.
Other than the cast members finishing their evenings, I was alone. There were no other guests.
No one repeating the words spoken by our ghost host. No screams from guests, just the spirits. No flash from cameras.
And does it seem colder all of a sudden?
From the foyer to Little Leota, it was just me. And 999 happy haunts…
Priceless.
The Wonder(con) of it all
If you ever wanted to know what it would be like if Comicon left San Diego and came to Anaheim, last weekend pretty well answered the question.
Wondercon, after having been in San Francisco for 24 years, came south to the Anaheim Convention Center. And while it did not fill all of the function space available (it shared space with some other some teenage girls sports events), there were enough folks just trying to get to the place to make it interesting, to say the least. It also was not helped by Mother Nature providing torrential downpours on Saturday as people tried to find parking anywhere close.
This was the last gasp of winter and it wasn’t a holiday weekend. Numbers of guests in Disneyland and California Adventure were not their summer peaks either. Imagine, if you will, what this would have been like if it had been July with the local hotel rooms full of summer tourists and parking lots already straining their capacities for a busy day at the Resort. Add to that mix all of the folks coming to Comicon from all over the world. Can you say “gridlock”? You’ll be lucky to find a room in Irwindale (35 miles away from Anaheim) at a reasonable price.
My last visit to the Anaheim Convention Center for an event may have been in the Stone Age when dinosaurs walked the halls and event spaces. It was so long ago, that the current four levels were not even dreamed of, let alone finished. Okay, so it was in July of 1978 (for Spacecon 7). A few things have changed since then.
Other than the different locations (from San Francisco last year to Anaheim this year), Wondercon was about the same. The big ballroom saw good crowds watching previews of coming films and television shows including Prometheus, Abraham Lincoln – Vampire Slayer, Fringe, Alcatraz and Once Upon A Time. Smaller rooms had panel discussions on all kinds of media and entertainment subjects from Building Your Own R2 to Voices in Animation to Marvel Television’s Animation. Dealers took up one of the lower halls along with artists and publishers of all sizes sharing their wares. Business was good, too. Lots of folks taking home that newly treasured item.
And of course, it wouldn’t be Wondercon with out lots and lots of cosplay. Some really good and some scary. (It goes as usual. Spandex is a privilege, not a right. For both men and women!) Most amusing was watching some fathers of the local girls sports teams taking plenty of photos of the anime girls wandering about. Getting inspiration for costumes for the teams, no doubt.
If there is one thing that San Francisco has above Anaheim it has to be public transit. Travel to Moscone Center in San Francisco can be achieved using convenient multiple modes of transit including bus, light rail and heavy rail. In Anaheim buses are out there, but it seemed that most people drove their cars with the resulting nightmare of parking.
Food? Oh my… What there was inside, had very long lines of folks waiting. Again, San Francisco wins as a quick walk around Moscone and you have all kinds of options at hand. Where in Anaheim, choices are fewer outside close at hand.
I know more than a few folks in the Bay Area who did not make the trip to Anaheim. Did that hurt attendance? Not really. All the folks from the LA basin made up for it in droves. What it may portend is that there exists an opportunity for a Wondercon LA as well as a Wondercon SF. Enough folks in both places can and would support these events – spaced well enough apart from Comicon, no matter where it lands. The interests attracted to both events is certainly not shrinking.
So from this little corner of the blogosphere, Wondercon Anaheim gets an A for effort as it tests the waters. A bit of better scheduling with the entire convention center at hand to meet the needs of everyone involved and I’m sure things will be just for another go.
Comicon? I dunno. Lots of potential issues, but there may be bonus points ready and waiting. Not to be overlooked, there are plenty of good hotel convention venues close at hand that could enhance the Comicon venues. Disney has two – at the Disneyland Hotel and the Grand Californian – that it could use for it’s own events. The Hilton and Marriot also have space that can handle good numbers of folks. but mix all that with a full on summer of Disneyland tourists?
Oh, the pain…
In which we boil water
It’s been a week that was.
A new blog and plenty of great intentions, right?
Until 0700 last Monday, the hot water heater failed here.
And while, we’re at it, rain finally decided to arrive here in Northern California. A lot of rain, actually. Makes for fun for everyone, especially out there on the roads.
Long story short, we have hot water again. Life goes on…
And a story coming tomorrow, worth the wait!
Why so blue?
So, here we are. Day one of the 2012 version of The Blue Parrot.
Thanks to you, loyal readers, for being here.
And if you, by chance, are new to the place, don’t worry. Plenty to see around here. Check out the links for content of the past from 2011, 2010, 2009 and even before when I was piling on content at Jim Hill Media. I go back even further than that, back to the stone age days of America Online and GEnie. But none of that survives on line. A good thing to be sure.
Where do we go from here? Forward!
The bird above is one of the mascots of the place. Seen at Disneyland as boats float past at the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. The blog got it’s name after one too many late night viewings of the Warner Brothers classic “Casablanca“. While I don’t own the white linen suit (as worn by Sidney Greenstreett as Senor Ferrari) I do have a rather nice fez. In fact, I am thinking of wearing it off on my expedition to the wilds of Orange County this coming weekend for Wondercon. And of course, a cocktail or three at Trader Sam’s is always a fine accompaniment to the wearing of such a fine bit of headgear.
Invigorated by the new digs, I find I have a slew of new stories waiting to be told. Maybe more like a gaggle, but I’m looking forward to pounding out a few more tales in the days and weeks ahead. Stayed tuned…