With summer officially here bazillions will be visiting the happiest place on earth. When I was a kid I agreed with this title bestowed on the theme park but now that I’m a grown up with a kiddo of my own I’m not always chipper when I’m paying big bucks for a soda and waiting for an hour to get a picture with Cinderella.

Even with sensory overload, and an empty wallet I still leave happy when I’m able to experience a few of my favorite attractions. Here are 5 of my favorite rides and shows from Disneyland.

Pirates of the Caribbean

This would be at the top of my list, any true Captain Jack follower can’t get enough of this ride. I was a POTC adventurer long before there was talk about making a film. Disney and his amazing team of imagineers, artists, and craftsmen created an altered reality into the pirate realm with musty smells, candlelit caverns, flickering fire, glittering treasure, and of course those sometimes scary, yet always comical pirates. POTC is a feast for the senses. Here’s a great tribute fan site called Tell No Tales. How cool is that?

Haunted Mansion

This ride is silly scary but I didn’t make it all the way through until I was about 8, and that was just waiting in the massive line to get in.

Once I did get into this haunted mansion I didn’t want to leave. Sitting in the turning buggie car, blasting 60’s style eerie music into my ears and being surprised by ghosts popping up from tombstones, I loved that scared silly feeling.

There’s so much history and trivia over this attraction you need to explore doombuggies.com to find out more.

Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room

Thanks to youtube, I’ll let Walt talk about this one:

The Country Bear Jamboree

Oh I miss this show, thank goodness I still have my old record complete with photos from the attraction to help me remember. Nowadays In Disneyland, where this show once was is a tribute to Winnie the Pooh which is a bit blasmephous for a retro Disneyland lover like me. Fortunately we can still see this show at Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland. I’d like to see Bunny, Bubbles and Beulah perform this little number:

“Every time I meet a guy who gets me shook,
all I ever get from him’s a dirty look.
It’s the same way everywhere I’ve found…
all the guys who turn me on turn me down!”

Splash Mountain

If you like getting wet, and you like deep drops into briar patches you’ll love Splash Mountain. This was the ride that brought Magic Mountain visitors back to the park for a second chance. It’s not a colossal roller coaster but it’s got a big splash at the end that everyone wants to experience. Everyone except people who don’t like getting wet and deep drops into briar patches.
If you don’t know what a briar patch is, you might not be aware of the stories and movie behind Splash Mountain. This water ride is based on Disney’s first live action movie, Song of the South, released in 1946. It was magically mixed with animated characters like Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear, and Brer Fox.

The audio-animatronic cast members sing tunes from the movie, along with set up scenes and quick dialogue from the storyline. Many of the animatronic cast was taken from one of my old time favorite Disneyland shows, called America Sings. Anyone else remember that one?

Mark Davis sketch of Counry Bears, and other Disneyland attraction pictures used for informational purpsoses only.