EARTHQUAKE! Part 3 – Rockin’ ‘n Rollin’ on the Columbia at Disneyland, 5.4 Earthquake Style on Tues., July 29

In part two of this report, we detailed what we did and saw leading up to the earthquake at Disneyland on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 while we were aboard the Sailing Ship Columbia.

Now as we continue from where we left off at the end of part two, we’ve finished exploring below the deck and are back on the top deck of the ship, continuing our voyage around the Rivers of America — and in this part we’ll report on what happened during the earthquake!

After going up the stairs near the mast which has the crow’s nest, one of the shipmates is firing the cannon!

Michael’s enjoying taking video.

Carol’s having fun and taking some of these photos with her iPhone.

Caution! Rapids on the right of us.

On our left, an Indian brave is fishing with his dog.

Hold your fire! We’re approaching a peaceful Indian village.

We’re approaching a former Guest attraction at Disneyland, now permanently at anchor along the Rivers of America… You can see it to the left of the moose below…

It is the Gullywhumper keelboat, aboard which Guests used to be guided along the river.

It is also one of the two original keelboats used in the filming of “Davy Crockett and the River Pirates.”

I was using my iPhone to take some of these pictures you’re seeing.

Below is one of the mine trains on some of the original track originally used in the Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland attraction.

The Davy Crockett Explorer Canoe is approaching the keelboat.

Below, we’re getting close to the dock at Frontierland. The earthquake hasn’t happened yet… we were allowed to stay on for another sailing after the Columbia docked, let off the other Guests, then other ones boarded.

You can see the skyline of New Orleans Square ahead in the distance.

Don’t shoot at New Orleans!

Coming in to the dock now…

The dock crew is getting ready to let our ship’s passengers disembark.

At this point we’re docked, with passengers disembarking and more passengers coming aboard.

I asked the Cast Member to pose at the ship’s wheel for this picture. Thanks!

There’s another of those Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes coming towards us…

…and alongside us…

…and passing us! That’s because we’re still at the dock.

Hi!

Time for more pictures… Smile, Carol!

We move away from the Frontierland dock as the area along the shore transitions to New Orleans Square on the left.

Tom Sawyer Island is on our right. As always!

And then something went terribly wrong…

Our ship has come to a complete stop in the river after already leaving the dock. The time stamp on this photo and the other ones below put the time at about when the earthquake was reported to have happened. That would explain why we’ve stopped.

The Cast Member did not let on that anything was wrong, and yet we still hadn’t moved.

The CM kept in communication with others ashore, who eventually told him to move along forward slowly.

When the Sailing Ship Columbia would finish going completely around the river, it would not be letting on any more passengers until all the other attractions also reopened.

You can see the number of Guests along the shore increasing, as other attractions are stopped and Guests evacuated for safety, in case of building damage from aftershocks.

In the next part of this trip report, we’ll show how the aftermath of the earthquake affected Disneyland park Guests, including us.

EARTHQUAKE! Part 2 – Rockin’ ‘n Rollin’ on the Columbia at Disneyland, 5.4 Earthquake Style on Tues., July 29

To see the first part of this trip report about the earthquake at Disneyland, click here.

As Carol wrote earlier in this blog’s trip report about our July 2008 Disneyland vacation, “we experienced our first earthquake Tuesday 7/29/08’s earthquake in Orange County CA — kinda…

While Disneyland was rockin’ from a 5.4 scale earthquake, we were rollin’ on the river and hardly felt it!

We rode sailing ship Columbia twice in a row around the Rivers of America and during our second ride was when the earthquake apparently happened. We felt nothing! Rich observed the Cast Members seemed busy with their radios, but we didn’t have any dots to connect about that. We disembarked and people were walking around calmly as they do in theme parks. Maybe the ship (other than being on a track) was in the water and maybe the water kept us from feeling the quake.

It’s so cool! You can go below deck and see where it’s crew lives, and they fire cannon twice off of it while it sails.”

But first, here’s some background. When we visited Disneyland earlier this year during Easter week, one of the things we had wanted to do was ride the Columbia Sailing Ship. When we approached the ship to go on it, however, the last sailing of the day had already taken place. So, this trip we were determined not to miss a chance to experience it, so we made sure to get to the dock in Frontierland early… So early, the Columbia Sailing Ship hadn’t arrived yet: It was running late.

I asked a Cast Member if I would have time to go get FastPasses for Splash Mountain while Carol and Michael waited at the dock, and I was told there’d be time to do that. So, I set off to Critter Country next door where I saw the ship still in Fowler’s Harbor, being prepared for its first voyage of the day.

The FastPasses we would not be able to use…

…because after the earthquake, all attractions including Splash Mountain would be shut down for safety checks, then we started doing other things when attractions were up and running again and didn’t ride Splash Mountain that day after all.

Getting back to the landing, the Mark Twain riverboat was there, but the Sailing Ship Columbia still hadn’t made it out of Fowler’s Harbor. I found Carol and Michael and we walked across the street to see the Sheriff of Frontierland trying to catch some bad guys in front of the saloon.

The sheriff won out in the end, like he always does, so we headed back to the dock. Not long afterwards we saw the Sailing Ship Columbia around the bend in the river, approaching us.

The first thing we did after boarding, besides looking up and wondering how the ship sails without sails, was head below deck to see the museum before the crowds thought of doing that, too.

The Captain’s Quarters:

Amidships:

We headed back up the stairs to the top deck after having explored everything below. And it was when we were up top that the earthquake happened. See more pictures before and after the earthquake in the next blog entry. Click here to see it!

Donald Duck and the Sleeping Guest in Mickey’s Toontown Wednesday afternoon

Donald Duck noticed a Guest who had fallen asleep at a table in Mickey’s Toontown.

Donald quietly approached the Guest then kept tapping him until he woke up.

The Guest didn’t appreciate having his slumber interrupted and put his head back down in the table, so Donald made a hasty exit.

We decided to do some shopping in the Gag Factory.

King Arthur Carrousel in Fantasyland

Carol’s photo posted from my iPhone

Wednesday afternoon after exploring Big Thunder Ranch we walked through Fantasyland on our way to Mickey’s Toontown — when we discovered there was no line at all for the King Arthur Carrousel, so we hopped aboard for a ride!

This used to be a fully-working mechanical drum before the music was recorded for digital playback.

Riding around on the carroussel, you can see Fantasyland attractions…

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride…

…The Sword in the Stone…

…and Pinocchio’s Daring Journey.

Next, we walked over to Mickey’s Toontown.

Frontierland: Big Thunder Mountain and Big Thunder Ranch

Exiting Rancho del Zocalo after a very filling lunch, we found ourselves on the main street of Frontierland, the same western street that Fess “Davy Crockett” Parker rode his horse along on Disneyland’s opening day. In fact, there are horse hoofprints to this day in many places there.

Around the corner from Rancho del Zocalo, we decided to get FastPasses to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad later rather than wait on the attraction’s long line.

Across the way from Big Thunder Mountain’s entrance is this unique mural on the side of a wooden building.

You can see a lot of Disneyland’s Big Thunder Mountain by walking around it, which we did on our way to Big Thunder Ranch in Fromtierland.

With a keen eye you can still see reminders of the Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland attraction which was located where Big Thunder Mountain is today.

Before the path brings you into Fantasyland, Big Thunder Ranch appears on your left.

Avoiding the petable animals in the ranch because of our allergies…

…we moseyed over to the real log cabin to look around inside it.

Exiting the cabin, I found this “Walt wink”… This is a not a pile of leaves, but a huge pile of old horseshoes!

After leaving Big Thunder Ranch, we entered Fantasyland from the Frontierland entrance.

Lunch at Rancho del Zocalo in Disneyland’s Frontierland

Wednesday afternoon we had lunch in Frontierland at Rancho del Zocalo restaurant. I had last eaten there over a decade ago with Carol and our friend Steve. I remember it as being great back then, but many years have passed since then and this restaurant has changed… It is even better now! The place looks beautiful after it was renovated and the food is “muy delicioso” as well as a great value.

Our table was indoors, on the other side of this open window overlooking a colorful flowerbox and the courtyard beyond.

The entrance to this counter service restaurant is at the end of the courtyard through this arched doorway.

While it is not an all-you-can-eat restaurant, you can get yourself unlimited refills on the non-bottled soda drinks. The restroom located to the right of the entrance off the courtyard is very handy!

That corridor connects at its other end with the Plaza Gardens in Disneyland’s Central Plaza (the “Hub”), so it makes a great shortcut.

The other side of the restaurant has this open-air dining plaza separated from the rest of Frontierland by a low wall.