The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Places on Earth (223 page)

Pins

Disney Pins
have been around since the 1930’s, but
Disney Pin Trading
was introduced at
Walt Disney World
in 1999, and at
Disneyland
in 2000. 
Disney Pins
are sold online and at most stores throughout the parks, and there are special
Pin Trading
venues in both parks. 
Disney Pins
are collectable metal pins that celebrate specific
Disney
attractions, lands, holidays, films, or characters.  After a certain period of time each design ceases to be manufactured, but there are always imaginative new pins being created, some with moving parts, LEDs, or other special features.  New pins for 2013 include
Disneyland
marathon pins, pins celebrating events like the
Bayou Bash
, holidays like
Mardis Gras
, the Year of the Snake (Lunar New Year in February 2013), and Presidents’ Day,
Tinker Bell
birthstone pins, poster art, the
Disney Cruise Line
, and so much more.  The pins are sold at a range of price points depending on their complexity and collectability.  If you want to wear your pins in the park you wear them on a lanyard or vest, or carry them in a special case; all of these accessories can be purchased online and at stores throughout the parks.  Cast Members also collect pins and wear them on lanyards or vests.  Guests can approach
any
Cast Member who is displaying pins, and engage in some trading.  The Cast Member
must
trade up to two pins with you.  Guests can approach each other to trade pins, but there’s no necessity for either party to agree to trade.  Guests or Cast Members
cannot
sell pins to each other; trading is the
only
way for pins to change hands.  You can buy start-up sets of several pins and a lanyard for about $20.  Like searching for
Hidden Mickeys
,
Disney Pin
collecting and trading is an activity that adds yet another dimension of fun and discovery to your visits.  Trading is for adults as well as children, and both grown-ups and kids can be seen striking good trades throughout the park.  For a wealth of information about
Disney Pin Trading
, visit
http://disneyland.disney.go.com/shopping/disneys-pin-traders/
.

Priority Seating

Want to dine at one of the more popular table-service restaurants in the park, like
Blue Bayou
or
Café Orleans
at
Disneyland
,
Steakhouse 55
at the
Disneyland Hotel
, or the
Carthay Circle Restaurant
or
Wine Country Trattoria
in
DCA
, or
Napa Rose
at the
Grand Californian
?  Call
(714)-781-DINE
up to 60 days in advance to reserve
Priority Seating
or email
[email protected]
.  Please note that
Priority Seating
is not a reservation; you aren’t guaranteed a table at a particular time.  Guest sometimes become irritated when they’ve arranged for
Priority Seating
and still have to wait a bit before being seated. 
Priority Seating
, although not a reservation, does ensure that you and your party will be seated within a brief amount of time–estimate ten to twenty minutes–as opposed to having to wait an hour or more. 
Priority Seating
Guests take precedence over Guests walking in off the street.  During the last couple of years,
Disneyland
has begun referring to (and taking) actual reservations for its fine dining establishments instead of simply booking
Priority Seating
.  When you call, clarify whether you have
Priority Seating
or an actual reservation.  You can also call
Ask Otto
for general dining information at (714) 520-7090.

Railroads

If you’re a rail fan,
Disneyland
will be your new nirvana. 
Walt
loved trains, even working on them as a young man, and the
Disneyland Resort
is chock-full of railroad lines of every size and description.


                     
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
:  Described as “the wildest ride in the wilderness,” this line has runaway mine trains with names like
I.M. Loco
.
Trains thunder around curving tracks among the orange-pink spires of a western landscape, slowing to creep through an earthquake-rattled mine shaft.  “Hang onto your hats and glasses!”  (Must be 40” or 102 cm tall to ride.)  An extensive 2013 refurb means this will be a hot-ticket in 2014.


                     
Casey Jr. Circus Train
:  A sweet little
Fantasyland
attraction, this was originally meant to be a kid’s roller coaster, but early testing showed it would work better as a train ride.  Guests squeeze into circus train cars (the
Monkey Cage
is always popular!) for a zippy journey around and above the waterways and miniatures of the
Storybook Land Canal Boats
’ landscape.  Mainly for toddlers and small-gauge railroad fans.  Ride in the caboose for unobstructed views and snap unobstructed photographs of
Storybook Land
.  Ride the train at night for enchanted vistas.


                     
Disneyland Railroad
: A narrow-gauge railroad with stations at
Main Street
,
New Orleans Square
,
Mickey’s Toontown
, and
Tomorrowland
, this has been the largest train line in the park since
Opening Day
. A delightful way to journey around
Disneyland
.  All aboard!


                     
Emporium Toy Train
:  Step into the toy-and-book area of
Main Street
’s
Emporium
to watch this tiny toy train circumnavigate a track above the shop.  It’ll bring back fond childhood memories and dreams of Santa’s Workshop.


                     
Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train
:  At
Flik’s Fun Fair
in
DCA
, a
Heimlich
-shaped choo-choo train carries Guests through a landscape of both healthy and sweet-smelling treats while the cheerful, incorrigible
Heimlich
narrates the journey.


                     
Toy Trolley
:  Not technically a train, this is the newest–and tiniest–addition to the resort’s rail lines.  This miniature trolley follows a track through a model of
Disneyland
’s never-built
Rock Candy Mountain
in one window of
DCA
’s
Trolley Treats
.  (The mountain also hides one of the resort’s best
Hidden Mickeys
.)


                     
Monorail
:  Based on monorail trains
Walt
and the
Imagineers
saw in Germany in the 1950’s, the
Disneyland Monorail
was the first monorail train in the United States that operated daily.  Designed by
Imagineer
Bob Gurr
, it was built in less than a year, in time for
Disneyland
’s big 1959 expansion.  Board in
Downtown Disney
or
Tomorrowland
, the only two stations.  The spiffy new monorail vehicles designed by
Scot Drake
blend retro and futuristic styles and are colored with special
Susan Dain
-designed paints that change color in different lights.

Rest Rooms

A
t the
Disneyland Resort
, there are rest rooms almost everywhere you turn.  Except on peak days, when throngs of busy Guests get ahead of the cleaning Cast Members,
Disneyland
Resort
rest rooms are among the cleanest anywhere, and are always well stocked with soap and paper towels.  Hygienic and capacious, most resort rest rooms offer baby changing facilities.  Rest rooms are imaginatively designed and decorated to match the theme of the area in which they’re located.  To find the nearest rest room, consult your
Guide to Disneyland Park
or
Guide to Disney California Adventure Park
(the colorful park maps and information brochures available free of charge at the
Main Entrance Turnstiles
and at information booths within the parks) or ask a Cast Member.  If you have small children who might need sudden trips to the potty, particularly after downing large beverages, the author recommends that you plan ahead by visiting “The Happiest Potties on Earth,” a terrific website created and maintained by a couple that needed to make frequent pit stops during park visits while pregnant.  This site provides all the
Disneyland
potty info you could possibly want, including the number of toilets and sinks in a particular rest room, its changing facilities, its décor, its general cleanliness, etc.  “The Happiest Potties on Earth” can be visited at
http://www.mouseplanet.com/potties/
.
  How many of the official and off-the-grid facilities can you and your group find?  If you’re pregnant or have small children, this is vital information!

Disneyland Rest Rooms (On the Map)
:

Adventureland
:  (2) East side, between
Adventureland
and
Frontierland
; Companion Rest Room at
Aladdin’s Oasis

Critter Country
: (1)
Hungry Bear Restaurant
(lower level)

Fantasyland
:  (3) Near
Alice in Wonderland
and
Matterhorn Bobsleds
;
Fantasyland Theatre
;
Village Haus Restaurant

Frontierland
: (3)
Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante
;
Tom Sawyer Island
southeast tip;
Tom Sawyer Island
near
Fort Wilderness

Main Street
: (4)
Bank of Main Street
; west
Center Street
;
City Hall
;
Plaza Inn

Mickey’s Toontown
:  (1) Near
Goofy Gas
filling station and food court area

New Orleans Square
:  (1) Near
Disneyland Railroad New Orleans Square Station

Tomorrowland
:  (2) Between
Autopia
and
Innoventions
; near exit area of
Space Mountain

Disneyland Rest Rooms (Off the Grid)
:

Adventureland
:  (1) In the
Enchanted Tiki Room Courtyard

Fantasyland
:  (0) The “secret bathroom” that used to be a nearly hidden, off-the-map companion rest room near
Carnation Café
is gone, baby, gone.

Frontierland
:  (1) In back of
Big Thunder Ranch
, where the
Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue
is hosted.

New Orleans Square
:  (2)
Blue Bayou Restaurant
;
Club 33
, off-limits to general Guests

Disney California Adventure Rest Rooms (On the Map)
:

“a bug’s land”
:  (1) Across from the
Princess Dot Puddle Park

Buena Vista Street
:  (1) Near the Lockers as you enter the park

Cars Land
:  (1) Next to
Flo’s V8 Café