For 211 glorious weeks every in the fall and winter, the NFLTM rules Sundays at tinkelflick manor. Here we are now at the end of January and the NFLTM season has sadly ended for another year (OK, the SuperBowlTM has yet to be played but for dramatic effect this article assumes it is over already). That means Sundays are available for alternative entertainment.
The tinkleflick clan decided to spend NFLTM hype Sunday being entertained at the flagship destination of another of America’s over-hyped brands, DisneyTM. Noah is just old enough to be overstimulated by the massive cross-selling magic of DisneylandTM, so we thought: how better to take our minds off of our lack-of-football induced despair than to spend a crisp, sunny Sunday So Cal morning at DisneylandTM?2 Click here to see the photo album.
We started off our stay at the Magic KingdomTM in a short line at the world’s largest parking garage (the great unwashed have to pay $10 but we have an annual pass with our parking prepaid so we have been desensitized to the sting of the cost of parking). We were courteously directed to what our friend Keith calls the “bad side of the parking garage.” After participating in a mass stroller assembly with the other 50 or so station wagons and SUVs, we made our way to the world’s largest escalator toward the tram station where we waited in another line for the tram.
Next up: the “arrival plaza” where Ralph stood in line to renew his pass. He opted for the DisneyTM Southern California Co-Branding Joint Venture PassTM. This pass allows the tinkleflick family of companies to share in marketing gold (uh, I mean magic) that is DisneyTM. We are authorized to enjoy 277 days of DisneylandTM entertainment and write articles for our website. Noah did his part too by wearing DisneyTM diapers and Wendy wore her DisneyTM hat (all part of the co-branding joint venture).
$150 lighter and almost 45 minutes into the trip we made our way to stand in line for Disney’s California AdventureTM. It was here that we realized the true power of the DisneylandTM experience. The rides? The chacters? The remarkably cheerful teenagers? Nah–the highest density of weird people on the planet all in one place at one time is an absolutely mezmerizing entertainment experience!
California AdventureTM is actually a good choice for those of you in SoCal. It’s much more laid back and far less crowded than its bigger sibling on the other side of the arrival plaza. For the same $50 admission price and far fewer things to do and see, it seems unlikely that California AdventureTM is making any money for His Mouseness but it sure is a good place for all the So Cal people to hang out and enjoy an otherwise sad hype-week Sunday while the crazy people from elsewhere go to DisneylandTM.
We let Noah run free for a while, went to the Brother BearTM play area for a while before heading to, yes, another line for the Jim Henson’sTM Playhouse DisneyTM show featuring live performances of Bear in the Big Blue HouseTM and some other odd characters that this reporter simply did not recognize. Noah was coming unglued in the moments leading up to the show (having been standing in line for the prior 15 minutes watching Playhouse DisneyTM clips on a large TV screen set up for the purpose of creating a whole new generation of DisneyTM consumers) but when the lights went out and the peppy multi-ethnic young adult host, Jamie, came bouncing out to lead a quick but action filled show Noah was captivated. Of course, DisneyTM knows its consumers and ended the show with (what else?) but bubbles falling from the ceiling. On our way out Jamie made sure to let us know that we could see all of these characters on Playhouse DisneyTM and at www.playhousedisney.com.
Anyway, we had lunch and headed back to the arrival plaza to board the tram back to the world’s largest parking garage. On the way back we passed all the kids who showed up AFTER their morning nap as we were on our way to let Noah take his afternoon nap. Life, as we know it, is now much less about football or anything else and much more dominated by nap schedules and that’s a good thing.
We had a really good time at the Magic KingdomTM and we are hoping that the co-branding joint venture passes will bring us 277 days of pure magic.
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117 weeks of regular season, plus four weeks of playoffs (including the SuperBowl). Excludes the hype-week.
2Ralph argued for watching a SuperBowl highlight marathon on ESPN Classic, but his request was denied.