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I'm a 90's kid. Born and raised in Southern California since 1993, the only time I've gone beyond the LA and Orange County lines is when I go on vacation to another state or region of California (including two Walt Disney World vacations in 1999 and 2002) or on a choir tour. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot to do in So Cal for a 90's kids aside from all the wonderful cartoons shown on Nickelodeon and Disney Channel along with all the AWESOME non-franchise Lego and Fisher Price sets. Back in the day my parents would always take me out to all the relatively close theme parks, ranging from Disneyland to Knott's to Adventure City, creating fun-filled memories of nostalgia and magic. To this day I have rather vivid memories of the Country Bear Playhouse, Knott's Mystery Lodge (which luckily is still around), and for some reason, Trader Sam's mask which has since disappeared. It's funny how details like that have made such an impression on me. It's safe to say that if it wasn't for my parents forcing me to join drama in high school and my constant trips to Disney, I would have never have gotten into the performing arts.
Unfortunately my computer scanner does not work as the designers intended it to and all of our photos of Disneyland and Disney World from the 90's are glued into scrapbooks rather well, refusing to be removed. So I'm only able to post professional and amateur shots taken from that era just as a little trip down memory lane for y'all. All due credit is given to their respective photographers and websites. Along the way I'll be sharing distinct memories and details from 90's-Disneyland that have truly made an impression on me, creatively and magically.
Trader Sam's Mask
There's something about the Jungle Cruise that has always struck a chord with me. Perhaps it's my love of jungle animals or even my childhood obsession with The Lion King and The Jungle Book. Or perhaps it's the fact that it was one of the only rides that I wasn't afraid to ride. Everything about it was so wonderful to me. The gorilla fighting a snapping crocodile, the looming Temple of the Forbidden Eye, the Sacred Bathing Pool of the Indian Elephants, the fearsome lions protecting a sleeping zebra, and even Headhunter Country with its dancing natives and dead lion hung upside down from a thatched-straw roof. But there was one cannibalistic native that stood out above the rest: Trader Sam. The fact that there were indigenous tribes living somewhere out in the exotic jungles of the world consuming human flesh and making shrunken heads was so intriguing to me. Not saying that I'm interested in becoming a cannibal, I'm just interested in their culture and history. Trader Sam for me was a highlight of every Jungle Cruise trip. That grinning mask, the jokes about his Cannibal Cafe, and all those shrunken heads bunched in his outstretched right hand was awesome. Sadly the mask was removed in the 2005 refurbishment for the Happiest Celebration on Earth, now revealing Sam's rather intimidating face and a baby elephant companion, the baby elephant in which has gone from Animal Kingdom to Tarzan's Treehouse to the Jungle Cruise. Poor little girl can't seem to find a home (until now of course). From that point on the Jungle Cruise had lost a little bit of its magic for me. The only explanation can be the loss of Sam's mask. Luckily it was reused in Trader Sam's Exotic Tiki Bar as a decoration which is great. I just wish that (and the dead lion) would have remained. Oh well...maybe some things are best left in the past.
Submarine Voyage Soundtrack
Of all the creepy things in the park, this probably disturbed me the most. I only rode the original Subs once back around the time of its closure. Whenever an attraction was closing in the park my parents would take me there to either experience for the first time or experience it one last time. My one and only trip on the original was terrifying. The only thing I remember? Going down into a dark submarine, looking outside a porthole, and being incredibly disturbed by a somewhat eerie narration. This is an incorrect fact, but I distinctly remember organ music being played under the narration. Thanks to the advent of the internet I have found that there was no organ music. However, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Submarine Voyage over in Florida did have an organ track but had closed long before 1999, the first time I had gone to WDW. There was no way I could have ridden it. Nonetheless this soundtrack disturbed me and haunted my dreams for quite some time. I'll never forget it.
Silly Reindeer
Where do I get started? Most of my major Disneyland trips took place in the month of December as a birthday treat. With the exception of my junior year in high school, I go to Disneyland every year for my birthday, a family tradition (although my family didn't join me this past year). And with every trip came a viewing of "A Christmas Fantasy Parade." There was a time I don't remember where I was singing with the performers and a caroler came up to me and let me sing into their mic, thus echoing my childish singing voice over the entire parade route (my big break! Lol). But there was one part of the parade that stood out to me...the reindeer. Those dopey-faced, tongue-drooping reindeer. How I enjoyed them. There's a nostalgic value to them that really pokes at the inner child in me. It could be their appearance or the fact that I discovered in my teenage years that they have been a part of Disneyland since Walt's time which is why I was heavily disappointed when they were replaced with more realistic-cartoonish reindeer...I'd like to see them come back one day but alas that probably will never happen...once again...oh well.
Country Bear Playhouse
Another one of the only attractions I'd feel comfortable experiencing. Both Country Bear shows (the original CBJ disappeared long before I was born I believe. I didn't see the original CBJ until 2002 in Florida) have provided my most vivid and memorable Disney memories from the 90's. Every aspect of both shows I remember. I remember exactly what the animatronics looked like, exactly what the songs were, and exactly what the atmosphere and interior of the playhouse and its lobby felt like. They created such a wonderful mood of being in the great outdoors within some warm and homey wilderness lodge. It's a true shame that it isn't around anymore. My HOPE is that it one day makes a new home in DCA but you know in a way it'd really be an unfortunate step backwards. If only it wasn't. I'm happy to say that I was there on one of its VERY last days of operation.
Original Haunted Mansion Holiday
This will be the only part of my trip report that doesn't take place in the 90's although it takes place in 2001 which is pretty darn close to the 90's. Anyways, let me begin by telling you that The Nightmare Before Christmas was and still is one of my favorite movies of all time. As a kid I'd quote all of the lines and songs gleefully ("I JACK, THE PUN KIN KING") and recite the names shown on Jack's naughty and nice list. When my parents informed me that the Haunted Mansion, a ride in which always frightened me as a child (once I cried when Phineas was in our buggy thinking that he'd eat our supply of cheese crackers in my mom's backpack). I thought that the appearance of Jack and Sally and all the other creepy characters would truly make the experience much better for me. At first it was great. I loved every second of it. I think I was turning eight or was eight at the time (born on December 2, 1993, HMH premiered in October of 2001, I'll do the math later) so it was pretty magical to me...until I got home. For the first hour of being exhausted in my bed I continued looking towards my open doorway, waiting for Scary Teddy to swoop in and attack. I couldn't do it. I COULD NOT DO IT. I ran into my parents' bedroom and requested to sleep on their floor for comfort. I stayed in their for quite some time. No joke, it disturbed me. I was terrified of HMH all because of Scary Teddy and the original 2001 soundtrack. Every time we'd go on my birthday I'd close my eyes for the whole ride. Every time I'd hear "Carol of the Bells" (a creepy organ and choir version played in the Grand Hall in the original) I'd panic and become nervous. And every dang time I saw Scary Teddy I would FLIP. That dang vampire teddy bear/Mickey Mouse parody was my childhood phobia. Nothing else really scared me except for him/her (I don't know its gender). It wasn't until a trip in 2006 that I finally got over my fear and kept my eyes open. Despite this, I still get chills whenever I see it. Those beady little eyes, those giant fangs, and those blood-red lips...ugh...
Pirates of the Caribbean
Last but not least is the fabulous Pirates of the Caribbean. This is one that also scared me. It was the drops. Just the drops. There was something in my childhood mind that really bothered me about going down drops and riding thrill rides. Now POTC is far from a thrill ride but those now-tiny-to-me drops really scared me. I think it's because I really hated the feeling I'd get in my stomach. I didn't like the concept of butterflies fluttering around in my stomach.What an unsettling moment it was getting stuck right in front of the first drop because our boatload was too heavy to proceed. The sound of the rushing water and "Yo Ho" playing in the following cavern worried me. Passing by the old man on his boathouse porch was a sign of my impending doom. Of course following the drops would be the wonderful ride that I was infatuated with. My best memories include asking my uncle how the pirates were arrested when there were no police shown (he told me some kind of inappropriate joke that angered my mom and sparked her to hit him since a four-year-old shouldn't have heard that), believing that Captain Hook and Mr. Smee were dunking the mayor into the well (the interrogator and the flutist really do look like them), the warning sign right outside the perpetually-opened front door giving a little description of the adventure that lies ahead boasting a black and white illustration of two Marc Davis pirates, all the caricatures on the walls, the sounds of the Blue Bayou, the smell of chlorine, and just about every other aspect of it. What a wonderful attraction.
And there are so many other memories I have from that decade that I'll cover another time. Until then...I've got a performance of The Wiz and am seeing The Producers at the Hollywood Bowl tonight and have about three hours left of free time left, so I'd like to get that in for rest and warm-ups.
Hope y'all enjoyed my "trip report." I hope you all enjoyed this trip down memory line, back to one of the greatest decades of the century. See you real soon and thanks for reading! :blush:
Unfortunately my computer scanner does not work as the designers intended it to and all of our photos of Disneyland and Disney World from the 90's are glued into scrapbooks rather well, refusing to be removed. So I'm only able to post professional and amateur shots taken from that era just as a little trip down memory lane for y'all. All due credit is given to their respective photographers and websites. Along the way I'll be sharing distinct memories and details from 90's-Disneyland that have truly made an impression on me, creatively and magically.
Trader Sam's Mask
There's something about the Jungle Cruise that has always struck a chord with me. Perhaps it's my love of jungle animals or even my childhood obsession with The Lion King and The Jungle Book. Or perhaps it's the fact that it was one of the only rides that I wasn't afraid to ride. Everything about it was so wonderful to me. The gorilla fighting a snapping crocodile, the looming Temple of the Forbidden Eye, the Sacred Bathing Pool of the Indian Elephants, the fearsome lions protecting a sleeping zebra, and even Headhunter Country with its dancing natives and dead lion hung upside down from a thatched-straw roof. But there was one cannibalistic native that stood out above the rest: Trader Sam. The fact that there were indigenous tribes living somewhere out in the exotic jungles of the world consuming human flesh and making shrunken heads was so intriguing to me. Not saying that I'm interested in becoming a cannibal, I'm just interested in their culture and history. Trader Sam for me was a highlight of every Jungle Cruise trip. That grinning mask, the jokes about his Cannibal Cafe, and all those shrunken heads bunched in his outstretched right hand was awesome. Sadly the mask was removed in the 2005 refurbishment for the Happiest Celebration on Earth, now revealing Sam's rather intimidating face and a baby elephant companion, the baby elephant in which has gone from Animal Kingdom to Tarzan's Treehouse to the Jungle Cruise. Poor little girl can't seem to find a home (until now of course). From that point on the Jungle Cruise had lost a little bit of its magic for me. The only explanation can be the loss of Sam's mask. Luckily it was reused in Trader Sam's Exotic Tiki Bar as a decoration which is great. I just wish that (and the dead lion) would have remained. Oh well...maybe some things are best left in the past.
Submarine Voyage Soundtrack
Of all the creepy things in the park, this probably disturbed me the most. I only rode the original Subs once back around the time of its closure. Whenever an attraction was closing in the park my parents would take me there to either experience for the first time or experience it one last time. My one and only trip on the original was terrifying. The only thing I remember? Going down into a dark submarine, looking outside a porthole, and being incredibly disturbed by a somewhat eerie narration. This is an incorrect fact, but I distinctly remember organ music being played under the narration. Thanks to the advent of the internet I have found that there was no organ music. However, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Submarine Voyage over in Florida did have an organ track but had closed long before 1999, the first time I had gone to WDW. There was no way I could have ridden it. Nonetheless this soundtrack disturbed me and haunted my dreams for quite some time. I'll never forget it.
Silly Reindeer
Where do I get started? Most of my major Disneyland trips took place in the month of December as a birthday treat. With the exception of my junior year in high school, I go to Disneyland every year for my birthday, a family tradition (although my family didn't join me this past year). And with every trip came a viewing of "A Christmas Fantasy Parade." There was a time I don't remember where I was singing with the performers and a caroler came up to me and let me sing into their mic, thus echoing my childish singing voice over the entire parade route (my big break! Lol). But there was one part of the parade that stood out to me...the reindeer. Those dopey-faced, tongue-drooping reindeer. How I enjoyed them. There's a nostalgic value to them that really pokes at the inner child in me. It could be their appearance or the fact that I discovered in my teenage years that they have been a part of Disneyland since Walt's time which is why I was heavily disappointed when they were replaced with more realistic-cartoonish reindeer...I'd like to see them come back one day but alas that probably will never happen...once again...oh well.
Country Bear Playhouse
Another one of the only attractions I'd feel comfortable experiencing. Both Country Bear shows (the original CBJ disappeared long before I was born I believe. I didn't see the original CBJ until 2002 in Florida) have provided my most vivid and memorable Disney memories from the 90's. Every aspect of both shows I remember. I remember exactly what the animatronics looked like, exactly what the songs were, and exactly what the atmosphere and interior of the playhouse and its lobby felt like. They created such a wonderful mood of being in the great outdoors within some warm and homey wilderness lodge. It's a true shame that it isn't around anymore. My HOPE is that it one day makes a new home in DCA but you know in a way it'd really be an unfortunate step backwards. If only it wasn't. I'm happy to say that I was there on one of its VERY last days of operation.
Original Haunted Mansion Holiday
This will be the only part of my trip report that doesn't take place in the 90's although it takes place in 2001 which is pretty darn close to the 90's. Anyways, let me begin by telling you that The Nightmare Before Christmas was and still is one of my favorite movies of all time. As a kid I'd quote all of the lines and songs gleefully ("I JACK, THE PUN KIN KING") and recite the names shown on Jack's naughty and nice list. When my parents informed me that the Haunted Mansion, a ride in which always frightened me as a child (once I cried when Phineas was in our buggy thinking that he'd eat our supply of cheese crackers in my mom's backpack). I thought that the appearance of Jack and Sally and all the other creepy characters would truly make the experience much better for me. At first it was great. I loved every second of it. I think I was turning eight or was eight at the time (born on December 2, 1993, HMH premiered in October of 2001, I'll do the math later) so it was pretty magical to me...until I got home. For the first hour of being exhausted in my bed I continued looking towards my open doorway, waiting for Scary Teddy to swoop in and attack. I couldn't do it. I COULD NOT DO IT. I ran into my parents' bedroom and requested to sleep on their floor for comfort. I stayed in their for quite some time. No joke, it disturbed me. I was terrified of HMH all because of Scary Teddy and the original 2001 soundtrack. Every time we'd go on my birthday I'd close my eyes for the whole ride. Every time I'd hear "Carol of the Bells" (a creepy organ and choir version played in the Grand Hall in the original) I'd panic and become nervous. And every dang time I saw Scary Teddy I would FLIP. That dang vampire teddy bear/Mickey Mouse parody was my childhood phobia. Nothing else really scared me except for him/her (I don't know its gender). It wasn't until a trip in 2006 that I finally got over my fear and kept my eyes open. Despite this, I still get chills whenever I see it. Those beady little eyes, those giant fangs, and those blood-red lips...ugh...
Pirates of the Caribbean
Last but not least is the fabulous Pirates of the Caribbean. This is one that also scared me. It was the drops. Just the drops. There was something in my childhood mind that really bothered me about going down drops and riding thrill rides. Now POTC is far from a thrill ride but those now-tiny-to-me drops really scared me. I think it's because I really hated the feeling I'd get in my stomach. I didn't like the concept of butterflies fluttering around in my stomach.What an unsettling moment it was getting stuck right in front of the first drop because our boatload was too heavy to proceed. The sound of the rushing water and "Yo Ho" playing in the following cavern worried me. Passing by the old man on his boathouse porch was a sign of my impending doom. Of course following the drops would be the wonderful ride that I was infatuated with. My best memories include asking my uncle how the pirates were arrested when there were no police shown (he told me some kind of inappropriate joke that angered my mom and sparked her to hit him since a four-year-old shouldn't have heard that), believing that Captain Hook and Mr. Smee were dunking the mayor into the well (the interrogator and the flutist really do look like them), the warning sign right outside the perpetually-opened front door giving a little description of the adventure that lies ahead boasting a black and white illustration of two Marc Davis pirates, all the caricatures on the walls, the sounds of the Blue Bayou, the smell of chlorine, and just about every other aspect of it. What a wonderful attraction.
And there are so many other memories I have from that decade that I'll cover another time. Until then...I've got a performance of The Wiz and am seeing The Producers at the Hollywood Bowl tonight and have about three hours left of free time left, so I'd like to get that in for rest and warm-ups.
Hope y'all enjoyed my "trip report." I hope you all enjoyed this trip down memory line, back to one of the greatest decades of the century. See you real soon and thanks for reading! :blush:
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