Oh yeah, I should give posts titles!

Today's post is part informative/educational/historical, part Disney shout-out, and part multi-subject eulogy; have you guys ever been on Mulholland Madness at Disney's California Adventure?

You know, the crazy, jerky, all-over-the-place-I-almost-flew-out-of-the-car-and-may-or-may-not-have-a-safety-restraint-shaped-bruise-now-ride?

You know, the one that's not there anymore?  That they transformed into Goofy's Sky School (changing little but the paint job and the smoothness of the ride)?

I have two cool things (well, I think they're cool, and if you're reading this, you'll either think they're cool, too, or stop reading) to say about it.  The first one is something that's not actually so cool at all, but it reflects something cool about the Disney brand.

I saw Mulholland Madness die.

I didn't see them literally tear it down, but the last time I went to DCA before they shut it down for good, the ride looked like a ghost.  The paint was extra faded, the ride was the jerkiest it had ever been, and everything looked....well, faded.  Past.  Bleached out.  Not present anymore.  Dead.

Now, while that seems terrible, let me take a second to point out why I noticed this.

If you go to most theme parks, or most places in the world, faded things are just part of life.  If something's that high up in the sky and exposed to California sunshine all the time, it's going to fade over time.  And that time won't be as lengthy as the painters might like.  In fact, all of the rides at DCA and Disneyland (and all over SoCal) are constantly at the mercy of the elements, by which I mean blazing sunlight.

But you never see the other rides faded.  You never see the paint chipping.  You never see gum on the rides.

Disney holds itself to incredibly high standards; I know this both from working for the Stores and from my intense love of the brand that brings me back to the park again and again (regardless of whether I should really be spending that money or not).  Everything is White Glove Standard; nothing is ever out of place or in disrepair.

That's what made it so heartbreaking that Mulholland Madness died.  I've never seen another Disney ride (or any part of the park, for that matter) fall into disrepair.  It was the shadow that threw into sharp contrast the overwhelming brightness of the rest of all things Disney.

The second thing I have to say about Mulholland Madness, and this one really is cool, I promise, is a bit of background information about the name.  So, as many know, the ride is named after that crazy street in Hollywood, full of twists and turns.  What not so many people know is that the street was named after William Mulholland, the first water supplier for Los Angeles County.  Heading what would later become the Department of Water and Power in LA, William Mulholland tackled the problem of how to find enough water in the desert to keep a growing population of people alive.  He immigrated here and was essentially self-taught; he didn't attend college, and he learned about the layout of the city and its waterways and power lines by studying blueprints of the city at night after he got home from work.  He was a brilliant individual, and he was eventually given the job of supplying water to the county.  The problem was, he was far too good at what he did.  He found water for the people, channeling it away from sources so far away people told him it was impossible, and he successfully ended water shortages.  The problem, though, was that the county kept growing.  Despite Mulholland's warnings, the county kept expanding and growing, requiring more and more water (the history of the map of LA and the water shortages is actually really, really interesting, but I won't go into the whole long thing here because I'm getting pretty long-winded as it is).  Eventually, the county overstretched Mulholland's means, and he was temporarily discredited, but he made huge contributions to LA that shaped the city, the county, and much of the surrounding area.  Most of the problems and controversy that surrounded him was due to the pressure put on him by the mayor of the city.  Anyway, this was probably the single coolest thing I learned in my California Cultures class, so I figured I'd share it :)

California is so cool; there is so much to learn about it!  Makes me wonder why I didn't become a history major (oh, yeah, I'm bad with dates.  That's right).

Anyway, I've babbled a lot, but I did manage to post two blogs in a week!  Pretty impressive, right? ;)