The Return of the Masked Mouse and His Diabolical Twin - September 16, 2011 - Part 14
To refresh everyone's memories of my Halloween Time DLR day trip on 9/16...
When I left off in Part 13 (which I conveniently copied above this post!^^^), I had split from Liza/funatdisney for several hours and was roaming loose on my own in
Disneyland (something to which I admit I am growing increasingly accustomed!), exploring the Halloween Round-Up and the Main Street window displays, as well as some random merchandise here and there.
Anyone who followed along with my "
Evil Chair and the Peppermint Cone of Death" Trip Report from December of last year knows what damage I can do with my camera when I am by myself for hours on end (and the word "
damage" is probably a more accurate term than I would care to admit, given my near-catastrophic run-in with the trash can/camera/ice cream cone).
I am the sort of person who needs to get in
the zone. Whatever that zone may be, I need to be in it. I need a long, long, uninterrupted block of time to be able to really get in there and take pictures. I can't concentrate on picture-taking when I am with other people. Plus, I also don't want to see what those other people are taking photos of and then be unconsciously influenced in some way.
Call me crazy, but I like the idea of going off and finding things that catch my eye and taking photos of those subjects. I feel like if I see a friend or travel companion snapping photos of something, I am going to automatically be compelled to get the same shots - because I think that's a natural human impulse. We see a friend snapping a picture of something right next to us and we want to get the same picture. I think it's like a reflex, in a way. This used to happen at various parties and gatherings with my friends in past years - one person would hold up a camera to get a picture, and then 5 other friends would see this happening and lift their own cameras to get the same shots. So we would end up with 5 or 6 friends having almost identical sets of photos of the same event, since we all copied each other's ideas. There was nothing original or interesting to see after a while because we all had pictures of the exact same things!
So when I am left to my own devices, running wild in DLR, I like to see what inspires me or what grabs my attention. It could be that I come away with nothing more than some photos of subjects that are pretty commonly seen, or it could be that I find a hidden gem, rarely seen by anyone. All of the photos could be blurry messes of nothingness, or some of them may be good. In any case, good or bad, at least I know these were what struck me in the moment.
I did not make it to each and every window display on Main Street. There was one particular display that I had to skip because the front of the shop was being painted or something, and there was a little barricade up in front of it which prevented me from getting up to the window with my camera. Actually, I think the painters were done with that area a couple of hours later and I probably could have gotten to it, but at that point I was involved in something else on the other side of the street or elsewhere, and I didn't make my way back over.
For me, the best thing to do, if possible, is to get right up against the glass itself (gently) and take the window display photos through the glass. It's better for close-ups, and since I don't have a DSLR I need all the help I can get with close-ups! I need to utilize every trick I can think of!
That against-the-glass method
usually eliminates glare or reflections for me. However, depending on various elements such as the time of day, where the sun is positioned in the sky at that moment or how many thousands of people are behind me, I may end up with glare/reflection/shadows anyway. It happens. It can't always be avoided.
Also, depending on the size of the display or subject I want to get a photo of in the display, I can't always use the 'against-the-glass' method because I won't be able to capture the whole scene in the frame, and part of it will be cut off. Sometimes, the only way to get a window display photo is to just deal with reflection and glare and stand at a distance, to get the whole subject in the frame.
But, for a good window display, I will crouch down, kneel and twist at awkward angles to get the picture I want, and I have been known to slither around random men blocking said windows so I could get those pictures!
More of the same from the window display I already showed you in Part 13...
And then...it kicked in. The pain. You remember it...the pain that plagued me for the first couple of days of my holiday trip last December (which emanates from an old disc injury in my back, and has caused subsequent problems in my hips, legs and feet). It can feel like someone is trying to slice my leg off. It comes and goes. Sometimes it is more intense than other times. Sometimes I need to keep moving to get it to subside even a bit. Sometimes I need to sit down and stay put, not moving at all. It is often triggered by being on my feet for long periods of time.
This time the pain was not as bad as it had been in December, but I knew I had to cut my window display hunting short and sit down somewhere before it got worse. I had a handy stash of Advil with me (ahhh...ibuprofen, my old, faithful friend!) and a bottle of water, and I was prepared to sit in the middle of Disneyland while popping pills if I had to! Lol. (Hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!)
I wanted to sit in the middle of all the action, so I chose Town Square, where I could people watch. I limped over to a convenient and vacant bench facing the flagpole and the Fire Station.
I may be in pain, and I may look like a drug addict as I gulp down a handful of pain relievers, but dag nabbit, I am going to soak in the atmosphere and feel the magic if it kills me!!!
(Is
dag nabbit supposed to be one word or two? I'll have to reference an old Yosemite Sam cartoon or something like that to brush up on dag nabbit...)
I just love Pumpkin Donald! That costume is too cute on him!
Also, I knew I was going to have to meet back up with Liza fairly soon, so I needed to plot out what I was going to do on my own before that time.
As I was sitting on this nice bench in Town Square, people-watching and silently wallowing in my misery, a 'parade traffic Cast Member' (that's my title for him, not what he called himself) named Steve spotted me and came over to chat. He was preparing the path for the Soundsational Parade and saw me sitting by myself.
Steve the CM greeted me with a chipper, "Are you having as much fun as you should be having?" Or something very close to that. I suppose I looked as miserable as I felt at that moment, but, other than the pain issue, I was having a good time, sitting there and watching all the goings on. I enjoy just sitting and taking it all in, if it's in a good location. Sitting is a very underrated activity! (Okay, maybe that is the pain in my leg & hip talking.) You see a a lot - no, you
notice a lot - when you just stop for a moment and sit down
Steve talked to me and kept me company for a while (and no, I didn't get a photo of him - I should have, just for proper trip reporting purposes, but I didn't feel like pulling the camera back out of the case at that moment). He even dared to ask me if I knew the name of the Walt & Mickey statue at the Hub! (Do I know the name? Is the sky blue?) He was one of those delightful CM's who just really seemed to be happy to work at DL - I enjoy talking to those CM's.
Steve gave me a 'Rollerblading Minnie Mouse' sticker which I tucked into my wallet to keep as a souvenir, and he went back to his parade traffic duties. (Again, no photo of the sticker - once that pain kicks in, I lose all sense of what to take photos of!)
Eventually, when I could walk again, I pried myself from the clutches of the bench and decided to slowly meander back towards Partners to meet Liza, stopping here and there along the way.
I met up with Liza around Partners and we decided to eat something. I hadn't eaten at Plaza Inn in years, so I figured I would revisit their fried chicken! Liza was kind enough to treat me for lunch/dinner, which was really nice of her to do.
No. I didn't get any photos of the fried chicken, either. I know, I was slacking off. With the fried chicken - which was actually much better and tastier than when I had last eaten it (in 2001) - I got a piece of chocolate cake. It wasn't a regular chocolate cake, like what the Mile High cake at the Golden Horseshoe is. It was more of a chocolate mousse type of cake, with layers of milk chocolate, dark chocolate, mousse and whatever else was in there. It was way too decadent and rich for me. I would have been better off with a piece of regular cake. It wasn't that this one was bad - to some folks it would have been delicious. But I like real cake and not 'mousse cake,' if that makes sense. The chicken, however, was delicious! The mashed potatoes? Ehhh...I've had better.
I was worn out and needed to rest, so I suggested we head home. I knew I couldn't do a full day and night. It was already past 5 p.m. at this point. I had been awake since something crazy like midnight or 1:00 a.m. or whatever (can't recall the exact time but it was right around in there!), and I was tired.
See, what I would normally do is - if I were staying at a nearby hotel - go back to the hotel room to rest for a bit in the afternoon, and then come back to the parks in the early evening. But since that was not an option, I wanted to go home.
Heading back down Main Street to the exit, we stopped in a shop or two.
THIS is where the "Diabolical Twin" portion of my TR title comes from. And it's rather anticlimactic, I know.
It's just that I noticed a 'theme' to the Halloween merchandise - and much of it involved an evil version of Mickey...like a Devil Mickey...I said to Liza at one point that the Mickey on one side of her t-shirt seemed to be burning in the flames of hell! It's like Mickey's diabolical alter ego.
While I admit to enjoying Mickey's evil twin appearing on various souvenirs, it is a rather interesting dichotomy, I suppose. On one side of a souvenir kiosk you might see the usual happy, smiling Mickey that we all know and love. His image is synonymous with joy and fun, and all kinds of positive things. On the other side of that same kiosk, we could find this image or a similar one:
Diabolical Mickey. This is Mickey gone bad. Mickey who has gone to the dark side.
Even though
I like both sides of Mickey because I like seeing the different personalities of the World's Most Famous Mouse (I eventually purchased this green and black bag for my treat collecting mission at the Halloween Party on 10/3), I wondered if certain parents might want to keep the Diabolical Mickey merchandise out of the house because it
could send a sort of 'Mickey is evil' message to the very young and impressionable toddlers.
So there you have it.
The Return of the Masked Mouse = the return of the floral, masked Halloween Mickey at the entrance to Disneyland.
And His Diabolical Twin = the "Evil" Mickey that seems to be pervasive in DL during Halloween Time, and is plastered on all kinds of merchandise.
Look closely...Evil Mickey is burning in flames again...
Part 15 of the 9/16/11 Halloween Time trip coming up next!!
I think the Round-Up and the window displays are my favorite parts of the Halloween season at DLR.
As enjoyable as Halloween at DL is (and I'm a fanatic about Halloween) I agree that the variety of Christmas decorations is just wonderful.
It is truly a Christmas treat for me, or whenever I'm wishing Christmas was a little closer.
Im speaking up just to let you know that us lurkers are out here as well, anxiously awaiting your next post. 
, it looks like I am going to reach 'that point' in MY Trip Report before she ever gets to it in hers!
I appreciate your even taking the time to post here because I know you have a lot to deal with and think about.
