The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Places on Earth (218 page)

Gum

Part of
Walt
’s plan to maintain
Disneyland
’s immaculate cleanliness was the banning of chewing gum.  He didn’t want Guests stepping on or touching wads of gum discarded by the careless and the inconsiderate.  You know those little black smears you see on sidewalks in the real world?  Old chewing gum. 
Ew!
 
Walt
refused to let
Disneyland
get “all gummed up”.  To this day, Guests cannot purchase gum at
Disney Theme Parks
.  If you’re a gum chewer, you’ll need to bring your own supplies to the resort.

Hand Sanitizer

Guests are well-advised to b
ring a little bottle of hand sanitizer to the park.  Carry it in your pack and use it frequently.  The resort has an extensive cleaning crew and the attractions, shops, restaurants, and rest rooms are cleaner than most you’ll find anywhere else.  Throughout the day, custodial Cast Members patrol the parks, cleaning and refreshing locations as needed.  When a horse relieves itself on
Main Street
, a white-suited Cast Member is there within 5 minutes—or less--to take care of the situation.  When there are
protein spills
(
Disney
-speak for upchucks) they’re managed with
pixie dust
(special sawdust) and quickly removed.  Rest Rooms are cleaned constantly throughout the day, swept and mopped, and paper towels and toilet paper are constantly replenished.  And when
Disneyland
and
DCA
close for the night, a veritable army of cleaners and maintenance workers swarm through the parks, not only fine-tuning and testing attractions but also sweeping, dusting, trimming, painting, polishing, and steam-cleaning almost every last inch of
Disneyland
and
DCA
.  Still … Even in this oasis of cleanliness, you’re sharing an environment with tens of thousands of other Guests–
tens of thousands!
–touching vehicles, restraint bars, seatbelts, chairs, hangers, counters, rails, sinks, commodes, and more that
tens of thousands
of others have touched or coughed or sneezed on.  So invest in a 99 cent bottle of sanitizer for you and your loved ones.  You’ll have no regrets!

Hand Stamp

When leaving the parks, you have a choice of simply exiting through an un-
staffed turnstile or exiting through a turnstile where a Cast Member will stamp your hand.  These different exits are clearly marked with signs.  If you elect to have your hand stamped, present the back of your left hand, and your left hand only, for stamping.  Recently, plaques showing an image of
Mickey
’s gloved left hand were installed at the turnstiles, making it a no-brainer for exiting Guests to present their left hand for stamping.  If there’s even the slightest chance that you’ll be returning to the park that day (maybe you’re just heading back to your hotel for a nap or swim) get the hand stamp.  You’ll need to present it to a turnstile Cast Member with your park ticket or
Annual Pass
when you return to the park later that day or evening.  The hand stamps are made with ink that is nearly invisible to the human eye and has a faintly lemony scent that some Guests love.  The stamp is always a word or name that relates to
Disney
and its
Theme Parks
, sometimes
Goofy
, sometimes
Buzz
, sometimes
Beach
, etc. 
Disneyland
rotates the words constantly to reduce the chance of anyone counterfeiting a hand stamp.  Why does
Disneyland
do this?  They’ve had challenges in the past with Guests purchasing a ticket, using it to enter the park, leaving the park, then selling the ticket or lending the pass to someone else, who then enters the park with it.  This is illegal.  Cast Members’ insistence on seeing a hand stamp with the ticket or pass ensures that the person using the ticket or pass is the same person who entered the park earlier in the day.  Some Cast Members, particularly if it’s peak season and the resort is a mob scene,
don’t
ask to see hand stamps, but you can’t count on that.  Some Cast Members don’t ask, but many do.  They shine special dark lights at the backs of Guests’ left hands to verify that the stamp is there.  And if the Cast Members don’t think they see a stamp, then they start asking questions.  First-time or newer Guests getting their hands stamped when they exit can be heard anxiously asking the Cast Member if the ink will wash off.  Not to worry.  You can swim, bathe, put on suntan lotion, and wash your hands with abandon, and enough of the ink will still remain to be visible under the special black lights that turnstile Cast Members carry.  You might want to go easy with alcohol-based antibacterial sanitizer, though, at least on the back of your left hand; some Guests report that using a lot of hand sanitizer can degrade the stamp.  Even so, at least remnants of it should show under black light for
up to 3 days
.  Note that your hand stamp will only be checked at the
Main Entry Turnstiles
, when you re-enter the parks.  Once you’re
in
the parks you will never be stopped by Cast Members to have your hand stamp checked.  The author noticed during 2012 and early 2013 that Cast Member no longer asked to see hand stamps for
Annual Passholders
when they re-entered the parks, but in autumn 2013, CMs were exit-stamping
AP
’s again.  Any policy is subject to change at any time—particularly this highly changeable one—so I still get my hand stamped when exiting.  Just in case.  And even if you’re an
AP
, you might want to do the same.

Hats

A
hat that shades your face and brow from So Cal sun or rain is a must for your visit.  If you forget to bring a hat from home, you can purchase a
Disney
-themed hat or visor at many different price points throughout the
Disneyland Resort
.  Naturally,
chapeau
-centric shops like
Mad Hatter
in
Fantasyland
or
The Mad Hatter Shop
on
Main Street
have a dizzying variety of hats to choose from, and so does the
Los Feliz Five & Dime
at
Buena Vista Street
, but don’t count out smaller hat shops like
Briar Patch
in
Critter Country
or
Tomorrowlanding
in
Tomorrowland
.  Kids used to be able to make their own
Ear Hats
, including variations on sheriff hats and
Robin Hood
hats, at the
Gag Factory
/
Toontown Five
&
Dime
in
Mickey’s Toontown
, but that’s not the case now.  Remember, when you purchase an
Ear Hat
at the resort, Cast Members will stitch your name on the back of it for a modest fee of $3+.  In addition to classic
Ear Hats
, you can find gems like giant green
Mad Hatter
-style hats,
Goofy
hats,
Jack Sparrow
tri-corn pirate head-gear, complete with his trademark beaded braids, and Birthday hats designed to look like tall, deliciously gooey, candle-topped cakes that tilt like the leaning tower of Pisa under the weight of their thick white icing and dense deliciousness (though they aren’t actually edible).  The
Pioneer Mercantile
in
Frontierland
has leather cowboy and cowgirl hats to keep your head warm on a chilly So Cal day, as well as airy straw versions that let the breeze cool your scalp during a summer visit.

Height Re
quirements

A number of attractions at the
Disneyland Resort
have height restrictions for the safety of Guests.  Not sure if your child meets the height requirement?  Measuring posts at the beginning of each queue let Cast Members determine if your child is ready for the attraction.  In rare instances, children make it through the queue all the way to the boarding area, where Cast Members realize that the child isn’t tall enough and shouldn’t have been allowed in line.  To assuage the child’s disappointment at not being allowed to ride, Cast Members issue special
FastPasses
to these children for use when they’re tall enough to ride.

Disneyland Attraction with Height Restrictions


                     
Autopia
(
Tomorrowland
):  32” or 81 cm to ride with companion; 54” or 137 cm to ride alone


                     
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
(
Frontierland
):  40” or 102 cm


                     
Gadget’s Go Coaster
(
Mickey’s Toontown
):  35” or 89 cm


                     
Indiana Jones Adventure
(
Adventureland
):  46” or 117 cm


                     
Matterhorn Bobsleds
(
Fantasyland
):  42” or 107 cm


                     
Space Mountain
(
Tomorrowland
):  40” or 102 cm


                     
Splash Mountain
(
Critter Country
):  40” or 102 cm


                     
Star Tours
(
Tomorrowland
):  40” or 102 cm

Disney California Adventure Attractions with Height Restrictions


                     
California Screamin’
(
Paradise Pier
):  48” or 122 cm


                     
Goofy Sky School
(
Paradise Pier
):  42” or 107 cm


                     
Grizzly River Run
(
Grizzly Peak
):  42” or 107 cm


                     
Jumpin’ Jellyfish
(
Paradise Pier
):  40” or 102 cm


                     
Luigi’s Flying Tires
(
Cars Land
):  32” or 81 cm


                     
Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
(
Cars Land
):  32” or 81 cm


                     
Radiator Springs Racers
(
Cars Land
):  40” or 102 cm


                     
Soarin’ Over California
(Condor Flats):  40” or 102 cm


                     
Tuck and Roll’s Drive ‘Em Buggies
(“
a bug’s land”
):  36” or 91 cm


                     
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
(
Hollywood Land
):  40” or 102 cm

Hidden Mickeys

You’ll see
Mickey
’s image, and
Mickey
himself, whenever you stroll through the
Disneyland Resort
.  That’s nothing unexpected.  But you might not know that
Disney Imagineers
and Cast Members often build “hidden”
Mickeys
into the resort landscape.  Keep your eyes open as you navigate the parks, hotels, and
Downtown Disney
.  You never know when you might find a
Hidden Mickey
!  The most common and most basic
Hidden Mickey
design is a large circle with two smaller circles near it, positioned as if they’re ears; this design forms the famous
Mickey
silhouette.  Cast Members and
Imagineers
are a creative bunch, so they place
Hidden Mickeys
everywhere.  It could be two-dimensional, part of a painting, or built in three dimensions with virtually any round objects.  According to
Disney Legend
Marty Sklar
’s wonderful new book,
Dream It!  Do It!
, the practice of concealing
Hidden Mickeys
began when
WDW
’s
EPCOT
was under construction in the 1970’s.  Prohibited from including images of
Mickey
or other
Disney characters
in the new park,
Imagineers
and
Cast Members
cleverly hid the images. 
Voila!
 
Hidden Mickeys
were born!  They soon spread to other
Disney parks
and venues.  The definitive book on
Disneyland
Hidden Mickeys
has to be the appropriately named
Disneyland’s Hidden Mickeys
by author and
Disney
parks expert
Steven M. Barrett
.  You can pick up a copy in most resort stores, or check one out of your local library and study it before your visit.  Looking for
Hidden Mickeys
adds another level of fun to your visit, and when you spot one, it’s a genuine thrill!  Some of the attraction descriptions in this book mention
Hidden Mickeys
.  Since most Guests visit
Pirates of the Caribbean
at some point, here’s one challenge to get you started:  look for two
Hidden Mickeys
during the final shootout scene.  You’ll need sharp eyes for one; it’s tiny.  The other is big.  Both are just sort of “hanging around”.  On
Buena Vista Street
in
DCA
, get started by seeing if you can find any
Hidden Mickeys
in the window display of
Julius Katz & Sons
.