New Disney dreams come true

By JASON COLLIE

"Can you believe the size of these strawberries?" asked the wide-eyed 10-year-old as he tackled the mountain of freakish, 6cm-wide fruit.

Welcome to Disneyland, where dreams — even those which involve eating mutant strawberries and, wait for it, peanutbutter-and-jelly pizzas for breakfast while Goofy does the macarena — come true.

Walt Disney's original magic kingdom celebrates its 45th birthday in July, but it is not resting on its middle-aged laurels.

Updates on rides still continue, while construction is well under way next door on the $1.4 billion Disney California Adventure park.

That will open next year and is a celebration of California itself, with not a mouse ear or cantankerous duck in sight.

As the global Disney corporation continues onwards and upwards, Disneyland itself is still in the dream fulfilment business, as set down by its creator.

Even old Walt eventually got what he wanted. Peeved that he never grew taller than 180cm in life, his posthumous statue with Mickey Mouse now measures him at 186cm.

That is one of the easier targets for adult cynicism in a world where every little bit of rubbish is scooped up almost before it hits the sidewalk and there are continuous greetings from bright-eyed and bright-toothed "cast members."

They even pump out smells from the popcorn stands and chocolate shop — not to part you with that next greenback but because all of your senses should be catered for, we are assured.

"Calories don't count here in Disney-land," says Carly the tour-guide. Images of people rapidly expanding once they get outside the gate spring to mind but it is hard to fight Disney culture for long. The magic of the place is pervasive and far outweighs the merits of the actual rides.

That may slightly annoy Tony Baxter, the man in charge of "creative aspects" (read, dreaming up the rides) at Disneyland, but there is a sparkle as he talks about the park.

Fellow staff gush about how he is one of those in whom Disney's spirit seems to live on but Baxter does seem genu-inely to hold dear the legacy of the park.

He started his career there on that speedy rubbish pick-up, progressed to ride operator, then "imagineer" and is now three years into overseeing the upgrade of Tomorrowland.

"In southern California people have grown up with Disneyland and you have to be careful that if you take something away that is part of their heritage you have to balance that against the need for the park to be new.

"After Tomorrowland we are going to go back to Frontierland [the Wild West]. The problem there is that everybody is into space and it is really hard for kids to find excitement there. We have to make it relevant to a whole new generation."

His current baby is updating Autopia — one of Disney's original rides which marvelled at the then novel sensation of driving on the motorway.

It will officially re-open as part of the big birthday bash on July 17, and will be a look at the world through the eyes of a car — make that headlights. Bringing Autopia up to speed is part of keeping the park one step ahead of increasing expectations, Baxter says.

But he does not have a blank canvas to work with. Disneyland, including its sprawling carparks, is locked into about 34ha.

"It's a tight area and like a game of chess, to move the pieces around you have to take a piece off the board."

Away from the rides and the peren-nial queues, adults can get the best feel for Disneyland on the Walks in the Park tour, held daily at 10.45 am.

It is $28 on top of your admission but little gems do pop out, including learning that the light is left permanently on in Walt Disney's old apartment to show he is still around, and that the buildings were made progressively shorter and narrower down Main Street to make the rest of the park seem further away and increase expectations.

The sense of magic is heightened at night when wandering around Fantasy-land, Frontierland, Tomorrowland, Adventureland, and New Oreleans Square can be as much fun as the rides themselves.

Queuing is unavoidable in Disney-land and you can guarantee a wait of at least 10 to 15 minutes for every ride, going up to two hours at times for Indiana Jones, the best attraction by far.

But with the recently introduced Fastpass, included in the ticket price and allocating a time slot, the wait should be reduced to between five and 10 minutes. The pass should be available on the six most popular rides by the 45th birthday party.

Disneyland has been celebrating its latest milestone with a special parade, twice a day, with visitors chosen to join in.

It is one of several shows, with an all-new fireworks spectacular marking the anniversary and night-time performances of Fantasmic — very much a West End show for kids.

Prices around the park are not especially cheap, with soft drinks running at $5 and fruit $2.50, but the restaurants — particularly the atmospheric Blue Bayou in New Orleans Square — provide good fare.

Three days is probably needed to take in all of Disneyland, which is located 43km south-east of Los Angeles in Anaheim. Shuttle buses, costing about $28, take around an hour to get there from Los Angeles Airport.

Disneyland runs two of its own hotels, but the convenience of being right on site has to be balanced against room rates of $380 to $4000 when the service at the Disneyland Pacific Hotel, in particular, does not warrant the price.

Both hotels have theme restaurants which will keep the children entertained for breakfast. Hook's Pointe will provide a more peaceful start to the day if you need it and a respite from tackling those giant strawberries.

CASENOTES:

GETTING THERE: As the Pacific gateway to the United States, Los Angeles is well served with daily flights from Auckland.

Air New Zealand's five-night package — including return air fare, accommodation, one-day Disneyland pass and transfers to hotels in Anaheim — costs $2299 until November.

Qantas' package, which includes a three-day Disneyland pass, costs between $2509 and $2809 depending on the time of year, while a straight flight with United costs $2029 plus taxes between the middle of June and end of July.

There are 48,000 hotel rooms in Orange County — 18,000 of which are within walking distance of Disneyland. One, two and three-day passes for the park are available, costing between $82 and $198 for adults and $62 to $150 for children. The local tourist office's Website is www.anaheimoc.org while Disneyland's Website is disney.com/Disneyland/

BEST TIME TO GO: Los Angeles' weather lives up to the popular image, varying between 18 deg C in January and 28 deg C in August.

Disneyland is busy all year round but try to visit during the week as it's packed on weekends.

WHAT TO WEAR: Your Kiwi wardrobe won't be too taxed by LA, particularly around Disneyland. You are unlikely to get turned away from any of the eateries in the park for lack of collar and tie. And if you get caught short by rain, you can always buy one of the yellow plastic rain ponchos with Mickey Mouse on the back which seem so popular.

OPTIONS: There's plenty more to see around Orange County and LA. The easiest way to get around is to hire a car.

• Jason Collie was flown to Los Angeles courtesy of Air New Zealand and stayed in the Disneyland Pacific Hotel courtesy of Disneyland.