Anaheim Favorite Tips by rmlopez74 Top 5 Page for this destination

Help Buzz Save the Galaxy! Disneyland Review

Favorite thing: Okay, so first off, this is supposed to be a “kids ride”. But on any given day, when you get in line for Buzz Lightyrear Astro Blasters , you won’t see that many kids. This ride is addicting. So the whole point of the ride is this, battling Evil Emperor Zurg. Apparently, Zurg has a robot army who are trying to steal the power supplies (read: batteries) of the little green guys. Star Command sends help in the form of you. You area a new recruit into Star Command and your mission is to help Buzz defeat Zurg and his robots. Sounds like a bad straight to video kid movie I know.

But once you get onto your “Omnimover” (the actually ride), the fun begins. Each vehicle seats two, and is equipped with a joystick in the center that either person can operate, and two laser pistols. The joystick enables you to spin your car around in a 360 degree circle. You have a digital readout on the dashboard that shows your current “score”. You score points by shooting targets with your laser pistol. The targets are small square and diamond shapes with a Z in the middle. When you shoot your pistol, you can see a little pinpoint laser where you are hitting. You need to hit a small reflector in the center of each target (about the size of a silver dollar. If you get a hit, the target lights up for a second. Each hit gives you points, the farther away the target, the more points you get.

Some targets will light up with neon for a couple of seconds. If you shoot them while they are lit, you get major bonus points. When you finish, the digital readout will give you your total points and your “rank” in Star Command. I can’t get past L-3, but maybe you can do better…

Fondest memory: The line is awesome (in typical Disney style). The color scheme is the same as Buzz Lightyears suit. The whole thing is scaled down to look like you are toy sized. The highlight is a Animatronic Buzz Lightyear who is giving you a layout of your mission with details being shown on a giant Etch-a-Sketch. The face on Buzz is some sort of projection, and it is amazing.

Tips for getting more points:
1. You can shoot the same target repeatedly. So if you hit one, just keep pulling the trigger.
2. Go for the lit up ones. The bonus points add up really fast.
3. Don’t mess with the joystick too much. It can throw you off on your shooting.

Indiana Jones - Temple of the Forbidden Eye Disneyland Review

Favorite thing: One of the highlights of Adventureland is the ride Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye . The Indiana Jones ride first opened on March 3, 1995, and it is by far the best ride in Adventureland. (or at least it ties Pirates of the Caribbean) The ride does a great job of making you feel like you have been transported right into the movie, or at least a variation of one of the movies.

As people on the ride, you play the part of tourists in India in 1936. You have come to visit the mystical Temple of the Forbidden Eye . The rush to see it comes from the reports of previous visitors who have visited the temple and been bestowed with one of three amazing gifts: youth, wealth, or knowledge of the future. You are transported through the temple in a modified jeep. But you receive warning after warning not to look into the eyes of “Mara” the deity whose temple this is. As the whole “forbidden eye” part lets you know, if you do, bad things happen.

The ride consists of you entering the temple, someone foolishly looks into Mara’s eyes, and then she sends on the “Path of Doom” . You spend the next several minutes whizzing through the temple in your jeep, avoiding things like mummies, rats, fire, booby traps, and one really huge snake. The action is great, and there are a few animatronic Indiana Jones here and there to keep up the feeling of being in the movie.

Fondest memory: The line is almost a half mile long, though you usually breeze through most of it. But along the way, you see some pretty cool stuff. Outside the temple, there is a Mercedes-Benz troop truck parked with a small mining cart next to it. The rumor is both are actual props from the movies, the truck from Raiders of the Lost Ark and the cart from Temple of Doom.

Inside it gets even better . The portion of the temple you walk through for the line is set up like an archeological dig, with warnings about booby traps, and a couple of interactive items along the way. A movie display gives a pseudo news story about the temple’s discovery.

Along the way, there are a number of messages carved into the walls. They are in "Marabic" . Back when the ride first opened, the gave you decoder cards to read them. They don’t anymore, but I have included a picture of the card in case you want to take one along to try your hand at reading the messages. Most of the letters look pretty similar to the English equivalent, (except I looks like an eye – who woulda figured?) so it is easy to do without the card. Enjoy!

For the Star Wars Fans (or not) Disneyland Review

Favorite thing: Don’t let the fact that Star Tours has been around for almost 20 Years (it was opened in 1987), make you think that it is too old to be any good. This ride is still the top of the line when it comes to the now common “Simulator Ride”. In fact, it is one of the best attractions in Tomorrowland.

(Though I must say, I was actually quite saddened when they replaced “Adventure Thru Inner Space”, which is what was here before Star Tours. Adventure Thru Inner Space was this awesome old school ride that simulated being shrunk down, but I digress…)

Back to Star Tours… The ride was originally advertised as "The Ultimate Star Wars Adventure!". It centers around you as a space tourist taking a day trip to the moon of Endor (the place with the Ewoks) on a new “StarSpeeder 3000” . Your robotic pilot is “Captain Rex” , who just happens to be making his maiden voyage as a pilot. Needless to say, the flight doesn’t go all that smoothly. Comets, Tie Fighters and the Death Star are involved. The simulation is great, and there is plenty of humor to go along with it.

Fondest memory: Even waiting in line is worth the time it takes. Everything is patterned to look like an actual space port with you as the tourist waiting for your flight. Throughout the path to the actual StarSpeeder 3000, there are a number of robotic workers that interact with the lines. There is even an animatronic C-3PO and R2-D2 (which are rumored to be actual props from the original movie).

Watch out for Admiral Ackbar up in the control booth...

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah (Splash Mountain) Disneyland Review

Favorite thing: Splash Mountain first opened in Disneyland back in July of 1989 and is by far the greatest ride in Critter Country. It is a definite must, especially on hot days. You don't get soaked on the ride, but it will get you wet enough to cool you down a bit.

Splash Mountain is based on the characters from the movie "Song of the South", released by Disney back in 1946. The original movie was a combination of live action and animation, which was one of the first of it's kind. The movie had an elderly man, Uncle Remus, telling stories to children about Brer Rabbit and his friends. As the stories were told by the live action actors, they would unfold in typical Disney animation. A great movie if you get to see it. The ride is a somewhat disjointed collection of different scenes about Brer Rabbit taken from the movie.

All this culminates in a 52 foot drop at a 45 degree angle. Quite a plunge. And it is here that you will most likely get wet. A great ride for young and old alike.

Fondest memory: The ride has a lot of detail in the various scenes. It is really nicely done.

It really is a small world... Disneyland Review

Favorite thing: Everyone knows the song. It is actually quite simple. It's message clear. Especially for the Vitual Tourist community, the meaning is close to our heart.

The lyrics are this:

It's a world of laughter
A world of tears
It's a world of hopes
And a world of fears
There's so much that we share
That it's time we're aware
It's a small world after all

There is just one moon
And one golden sun
And a smile means
Friendship to ev'ryone
Though the mountains divide
And the oceans are wide
It's a small world after all

It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small, small world

It's a Small World got its start in New York City at the 1964/1965 World's Fair. After the Fair closed, the ride was transferred to Disneyland where it has stayed for the last 40 years. It has been given some repair now and again, but has essentially remained the same since inception. It carries you throughout the various regions of the world, with the animatronic characters singing the song in their native language.

It culminates in them all together singing as one. When you consider the song was written in the wake of the Cuban missle crisis, it's meaning becomes all the more clear.

It's a small world after all...

Fondest memory: The best time to go to It's A Small World has to be during the holiday season when it is covered in multi-colored lights. It's amazing to see.

Huge Topiary sculptures line the waterway in front of the ride.

Additionally, every half hour, the clock does a little number, similar to a giant cuckoo clock. Very Cool!