So
it's been raining, here in
sunny
Southern California, and we're all a little confused. It kinda makes
me envy those Annual Passholders who are in college or whatever and
can just jet down to the park whenevs, because Disneyland is lovely
in the rain. It's cool, much of the crowd dissipates, and it's
especially nice after dark, with all the lights reflecting in the wet
pavement.
But
if you think about it...every day at Disneyland is a stormy one, at
least if you use your imagination. A surprisingly high number of
attractions use storm imagery to set the mood, drive the plot, and/or
shake things up. Howling winds, torrential rains, thunderbolts—all
these can be found in abundance throughout the park, in the form of
special and practical effects. With a little creative planning, you
could spin a little “meta-story” out of some of them.
And
creativity is, after all, what my Unauthorized
Fun
category is all about!
It
does not need to be literally raining for you to take advantage of
this unofficial tour; in fact, you'll have more control over the
beats of the “story” if there's no real weather to contend with.
On the other hand, a little real rain wont hurt you either. It's just
for fun, after all.
Let's
start the tour!
Get
the Forecast
Before
we fully embark on our tour, we should probably figure out what kind
of weather we'll be facing, shouldn't we? The Jungle Cruise has a
brief weather report in its queue loop, but it can be hard to hear
and if you're not in the queue during that point in the loop, you'll
miss it entirely. Instead, head over to Star
Tours,
where the big screen in the first queue area periodically shows a
Galaxy-wide weather report:
Chuckle
at “Cloud City: Cloudy,” make note of some of the more exotic
potential conditions like “ash storms” and “ion storms,” and
then go on the ride. The weather on the various planets you visit is
the least of your worries, but now you're equipped for the day ahead!
Ominous
Foreshadowing
Head
straight across the Hub to the Enchanted
Tiki Room,
a bright and happy little show that, as we all know, climaxes with a
surprise thunderstorm! We're safe indoors, the moment of fright
doesn't last long, and there's not likely to be any remaining
evidence of the storm once you exit the Tiki Room, but...how does
this occurrence bode for the rest of the day?
Storm's
Moving In...
Mosey
through the jungle to New Orleans Square and hop aboard Pirates
of the Caribbean.
The weather doesn't play a huge part in the events of this classic
ride, but this scene is pretty striking:
 |
| Get it? Striking? Like lighn...never mind. |
This
storm seems to be in the “present,” but its pernicious effects
(or those of a different storm) are long played out—it's a warning
on the horizon, not a clear and present hazard. Our “story” is
still building.
Flash
Flood Warning
Continuing
around the southwest perimeter of the park, head all the way into
Critter Country and ride The
Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh.
A storm arguably forms the bulk of the ride's content, beginning with
the “blustery day” of high winds, moving into the “Rain, Rain,
Rain” scene when our vehicles start pitching and yawing in the
floodwaters, and continuing to the Heffalumps and Woozles which are,
after all, part of Pooh Bear's nightmare as the storm thunders
outside. We're right in the thick of it now!
The
Storm Stirs Up Trouble
Backtrack
to New Orleans Square and ride the Haunted
Mansion.
From the thunderclap that caps off the stretch room sequence to the
driving rain and lightning flashes of the Portrait Corridor to the
gloomy fog of the load area and more, bad weather dominates the mood
of this ride. By the time we reach the Ballroom, it seems to be
blowing over, and we see plenty of stars out in the Graveyard...but
all this darkness and screaming wind and electrostatic discharges
have supercharged the supernatural community. Sure, these
ghosts are friendly, but what if they're not the only things riled up
by the storm?
Bad
to Worse
Walk
or take the Disneyland Railroad to Fantasyland and ride the
Matterhorn
Bobsleds.
It's just as we feared—the clear sky in the Graveyard was just a
break in the weather, the storm is back, and at this elevation it's
snowing,
not raining. We need to get down off this mountain before we freeze,
trigger an avalanche, or get creamed by the Yeti!
Maybe
It's Not Even Natural
Hey,
wasn't it the Tiki gods who called in the bad weather in the first
place? Maybe we need to do something to appease them...like defeat a
nasty Villain! Ride Snow
White's Scary Adventures,
confront the Witch with the Seven Dwarfs, and watch with grim
satisfaction as the storm finds a more deserving target and a bolt of
lightning knocks her off the cliff! “...and they all lived happily
ever after,” says the book, but we deserve a more triumphant
epilogue.
It
Finally Clears Up
Cross
the Fantasyland Courtyard to Peter
Pan's Flight
and enjoy the sensation of flying in a clear sky now that the storm
is properly
over. The island of Neverland is even showing a rainbow!
 |
| Hint: It's directly under the ship |
Extra
Stops
If
the crowds are relatively light, this tour will only take a few hours
to complete as written. You can fill some time by adding rides and
attractions where rain and hard weather appear, but are not a main
feature:
- Jungle Cruise: It takes place in a rain forest, and there are those light misters in the beginning to demonstrate.
- Pinocchio's Daring Journey: A lightning strike highlights Monstro as he rises up.
- “it's a small world”: It doesn't get its own room anymore, but the rain forest scene still exists, in front of the Fijian volcanoes.
- Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage: We don't experience it directly since we're, you know, underwater, but the first mate mentions a storm on the surface, prompting us to dive deeper and avoid it entirely.
- Disneyland Railroad, Tomorrowland-Main Street leg: One of the most dramatic lightning strikes in the entire park, coming down right in front of us and igniting a tree stump. As an added bonus, the Ornithomimus in the Primeval World diorama are set against a backdrop of a sandstorm.
- Rainy Day Cavalcade: If it is a genuinely rainy day in the park, the normal parade is likely to be pre-empted by a much simpler, much safer (for wet pavement) procession called the Rainy Day Cavalcade. A bunch of costumed characters pile into Main Street Vehicles and drive the parade route, waving extra-hard to make up for the lack of spectacle.
In
conclusion, rain is fun, even when it's just pretend. Real rain is
also fun, even if we're not used to it.
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