Tours Departing Daily

Disneyland photography blog

Matt Hansen

The Sweetest Words a Riverman Can Hear

Disneyland, Frontierland

Mark Twain. Two of the sweetest words a riverman can hear. We would submit that that’s not only because of the water’s depth either. Boarding the Mark Twain for an excursion around the Rivers of America is one of the sweetest, most relaxing rides at Disneyland. The whistle and the steady puff of steam are the serene soundtrack for your voyage, unlike that pesky Sailing Ship Columbia and the canon they fire in hopes of making you jump in front of your friends or spill the last bites of your sandwich into the river for the ducks. So if it’s a placid and pleasant journey through the frontier you’re after, “Mark Twain” are the sweetest words you’ll hear… not Columbia.

Fill’er Up

Disneyland, New Orleans Square

There’s something really exciting about the Disneyland Railroad. It’s hard to put a finger on just one thing, however, because there are so many things that make it what it is. You have the friendly wave from the engineers as they drive the train from station to station. The shout of “All aboard!” from the conductors. The grand circle tour of Walt’s original Magic Kingdom. The feeling of adventure as you pass through trees and tunnels. The nostalgia and wonder of being transported by locomotives around a century old. It’s amazing to think that these quiet, steady steel horses were once the cutting edge of getting places. We are working on a special Disneyland Railroad project and have really fallen in love and gained a new appreciation for this attraction and the people who maintain it. Seen in this picture is an engineer filling up the water tank at the New Orleans Square Station.

Halloween Chuckles

Disneyland, Frontierland

Carving gourds with all manner of pointy tools is not the first thing that jumps to my mind when I think of art, but it truly is. Back in the Big Thunder Ranch the Halloween festivities have been in full swing with artists carving classic Disney characters, both old and new, out of pumpkins and gourds of all shapes and sizes. The likenesses are inspiring. I especially liked “Chuckles” from Toy Story 3.

It’s a Jungle Out There

Adventureland, Disneyland

Taming the wild may seem like a chore to some but for us adventurous tour guides, it’s the only way to keep from going insane. Adventureland is one of our favorite lands to photograph. At midday it provides for amazing contrast of light and shadow in the jungle areas and during the night it lights up and illuminates with a soft glow. Maybe we are a little biased but we cannot forget the Jungle Cruise. It is such a great subject to capture during any time of the day. The size of the midway and the narrow aspects that Adventureland has to offer really test the photographer in all of us. It’s a Jungle out there but we like it that way. Like the Jungle Skippers always say, “If it rains in the jungle, who cares? That’s why they call it a rain forest.”

Hazy Halloween Time

Disneyland, Main Street USA

I love those moments when you see something new or something familiar in a new way. Finding the Hollywood Tower Hotel through the trees on Main Street was one of those moments and the Halloween Time decor the icing on the cake. When you think of Disneyland and Main Street, the Tower of Terror is definitely not the next logical step. For me that’s what makes it. This idea isn’t typical and challenges us to see something differently and allows me to share one of my “aha!” moments with you.