The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Places on Earth (28 page)

What does it mean to be a
princess in today’s paradigm?

For
Mia
of
The Princess Diaries
films, it meant earning a college degree in international relations and running an entire country, balancing wealth and privilege with sacrifice for and service to her subjects.

For
Giselle
of
Enchanted
, it meant maintaining her grace and optimism while embracing her flaws and the sometimes harsh realities and pains of real life–and starting her own fashion business.

Disney
’s new-millennium princesses still tend to find true love by the final frame, but they are increasingly strong, flawed girls and women who stand on their own two feet and are willing to risk even their lives to follow their dreams and make the world a better place.

As in
Tangled
, the characters discover that becoming a princess doesn’t mean sacrificing one’s identity, it means
claiming
and
celebrating
it–even fighting for it. 
Brave
’s
Merida
is, literally, a bold warrior–not a damsel in distress.

Much to the relief of their feminist mothers and grandmothers, modern “princesses” can
have their cake and eat it too.

In
Disney
’s 2005 live-action film
Ice Princess
, the heroine finally convinces her vegan feminist mother that it’s possible to be Harvard-smart and Steinem-strong
and
sport sparkly dresses while winning ice skating competitions.  This can be read as an intergenerational message: “It’s OK, mom.  It’s OK for new-millennium feminists to express, rather than repress, their inner princesses.”

While
Disney
’s screen
Princesses
were becoming increasingly powerful, independent, and complex,
Disney
’s
Princess Fantasy Faire
always retained a distinct “ye-olde-school” style and feel.  The
Fantasyland Theatre
complex where it was located until 2012 had hosted
Snow White—An Enchanting Musical
until 2006.  The motif was medieval, with a vast tent (evocative of a medieval tournament) covering the stage and audience areas.

From 2006 to 2012,
Disneyland
leveraged the ongoing princess phenomenon by giving Guests a place to actually meet the princesses.  To create the proper flavor for
Disney’s Princess Fantasy Faire
, the
Fantasyland Theatre
stage retained an impressively massive enchanted forest set, and royal pennants and banners fluttered in the breeze.

There
was a throne where at scheduled times one of the princesses (
Snow White
,
Cinderella
,
Aurora
,
Jasmine
,
Belle
,
Pocahontas
, or
Mulan
) conducted story-time for children and parents sitting, packed like sardines, on the floor between the stage and the seats.

Above the tiers of theater seats there
was a craft area where children made princess-related items, like crowns, and one of the canonical princesses (or a generic, princess-clad Cast Member), drifted by to encourage the children, and perhaps to sign an autograph.  Periodically, the theater came to life for a
Royal Coronation Ceremony
.

For serious
Princess
fans, the highlight of this attraction was the
Disney Princess Royal Walk
(at the new
Fantasy Faire
, princesses greet Guests in a
Royal Hall
).  The line at the old location was usually long and wait times could be anywhere from 20 minutes to several hours.

The payoff wa
s that the queue eventually wound behind castle-like partitions (barriers positioned to block passers-by from glimpsing what others were waiting hours to view) and Guests met a coterie of famous
Disney Princesses
and
Princes
(including one of the newer
Disney
royals,
Princess Tiana
) along the
Royal Walk
.  The princesses and princes signed autographs and posed for photos with their fans.

Now that the princesses have moved to the
Fantasyland
extension near the castle,
Disneyland
has introduced a highly entertaining stage show at this location: 
Mickey and the Magical Map.

But the princess phenomenon lives on to the southeast, at the
new
Fantasy Faire
.  There, you and your own little princesses can immerse yourselves in the world of a
Disney princess
to your heart’s content; you can even buy tiaras and wands.  Go ahead; have your royal cake and eat it too!
Did You Know?
  Before this area was a
Princess Faire
or the
Fantasyland Theatre
, it was
Videopolis
, a 1980’s creation that offered Guests loud dance music, light shows, and a huge dance floor.  (In summer 2009,
Disneylan
d launched the somewhat similar
TLT Dance Club
in
Tomorrowland
, offering Guests of all ages a place to dance among vivid lights while a live band plays on the
Tomorrowland Terrace Stage
.)  In the 1960’s
Imagineer Marc Davis
developed concepts for an elaborate attraction in this area.  Based on Hades, the ancient Greek underworld, if the
Garden of the Gods
had been built it would’ve included statues, gardens, the river Styx, and topiaries that actually were grown and (since the
Garden of the Gods
was never built) were eventually planted around the entrance of
“it’s a small world”
.  Hades seems like an odd subject for a
Disneyland
attraction, but
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
concludes with a miniature underworld designed by
Claude Coats
.  And in 1997
Disney
released
Hercules
, an animated feature based on ancient Greek legends.  In
Hercules
, the god of the Greek underworld (voiced by
James Woods
) is named
Hades
; he’s the villain of the film, constantly placing obstacles in front of
Hercules
so that the young hero can’t realize his birthright.  If
Davis
’
Disneyland
attraction had been green lit in the 1960’s, Guests might be communing with legendary Greek heroes and goddesses now, instead of with
Mickey and the Magical Map
. 
FastPass:
  No.  Crafts were a self-serve, self-timed activity, and the coronations and story-times took place at set intervals.  The
Royal Walk
was a long queue that was first-come, first-serve; no cuts and no
FastPass
. 
Kid’s Eye View:
  [About the original
Disney’s Princess Fantasy Faire
.]  It’s kind of a waste of space, and meeting the
Princesses
takes five hours, so I wouldn’t really recommend it.  [It didn’t really take five hours, but it could take more than an hour; for kids that can feel like half the day.]

Dumbo the Flying Elephant
 
(
Opening Day
Attraction)

[
FastView:
 
A must-ride for toddlers and
Dumbo
fans.  Ride early to miss the long, long lines.
]

I found this hard to believe when I first read it, but I encountered it in multiple sources, and witnessed it for myself during many visits to the park:  One of the top attractions for toddlers is
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
.

Toddlers feel a real affection for this sweet, mute, plucky pachyderm
who took the world by storm in
Disney
’s popular 1941 animated feature. 
Zagat Disneyland Resort Insider’s Guide
(2010) confirms it; the
Dumbo
attraction ranks in the top 5 for child appeal at
Disneyland Park
.

But surveys aside, y
ou can see it unmistakably in the children’s big smiles and sparkling eyes as they wait in line to ride
Dumbo
.  You can hear it in their “Oh, boy!” as they see it for the first time and race over to the queue, dragging their parents by the hand.  You can hear it in their joyful shouts and cheers as they spin high above the fountain, around the bright balloon on which
Timothy Mouse
perches.

One of the original 1955 attractions, although it’s been refurbished
and moved over the years, on an obvious level
Dumbo
is no more than one of those flying rides (“spinners”) that you will find at any county fair or carnival, but instead of a little plane on the end of the hydraulic arm, there’s a craft shaped like
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
.

But toddlers aren’t critically studying the technical design of the attraction.
  They’re gazing lovingly at the fountain, at
Timothy Mouse
, and most of all at
Dumbo
himself.  Children tend to identify with
Dumbo
, and have a primal fascination with the idea of flying high into the sky, like little
Dumbo
does.

Because
it’s on the north side of
Fantasyland
,
Dumbo
usually remains open during the nightly
Magical Fireworks
.  However, by the evening lines are usually
very
long. 
Walt Disney World
’s
New Fantasyland
, unveiled in 2012, now boasts two
Dumbo
attractions
and
a
Dumbo
-themed fun house where Guests wait to board. 
Disneyland
has no such recourse.  So if you have little ones, make this your first stop when the park opens; you’ll make them very happy, and you’ll beat the long lines that form for most of the day and night.

If someone in your party not riding can snap a photo of you and your toddlers spinning through the air, it will probably end up being an iconic picture that you and your kids will treasure forever.
 
Did You Know?
One of the fun touches of this experience: Cast Members lend each child a carved wooden “feather” to hold while they ride.  The idea is that by holding the feather and believing in it, the kids are helping
Dumbo
to fly.  (Remember to return the feather to Cast Members when exiting.)  The controller in each
Dumbo
vehicle lets you and your child determine how low to dip or how high to soar. 
Did You Also Know?
In 1955, this location hosted
Captain Hook’s Pirate Ship
, a restaurant specializing in tuna dishes and modeled after
Hook
’s ship in
Disney
’s 1953 animated feature
Peter Pan
.  In 1960, the
Pirate Ship
was joined by
Skull Rock
, a multi-level rendering of
Peter Pan
’s infamous
Skull Rock
, featuring a glowering stone skull, walkways, dining areas, and cascading waterfalls.  Both the ship and rock complex were removed in 1982 when
Fantasyland
was substantially overhauled.  When the site was unveiled in 1983, gentle pachyderm
Dumbo
had supplanted the pirates!
Did You Also Know?
  As part of
Disneyland
’s 2013
Limited Time Magic
program,
Annual Passholders
were treated to a special showing of
Dumbo
on April 4, 2013 at the
Main Street
Opera House
.
FastPass:
  No.  Even though this is one of the most popular attractions in the park, and lines can reach 60 minutes on holidays and summer days, the layout and design of
Dumbo
, like other
Fantasyland
attractions, doesn’t lend itself to the
FastPass
system.  If you are going to be in a long queue on a hot day, be sure you and your children stay hydrated and wear hats or visors and plenty of sunblock.
Fantasyland
at
Walt Disney World
reduced
Dumbo
queue traffic jams by unveiling twin
Dumbo
rides in 2012–but, alas, presently
Disneyland
doesn’t have the space to install an additional
Dumbo
attraction.
Kid’s Eye View:
It’s fun, and it’s not like one of those rides that you find at a carnival, one of those flying airplane things.  It’s cool, and you feel like you’re flying.  It’s awesome.