While on our recent summer vacation, we decided to add an impromptu visit to Disneyland to the end of our trip. It had been several years since we’d been, and wanted to try out some of the new attractions: the revamped submarine ride converted to the Finding Nemo theme, the new Monster’s Inc. ride, and the Aladdin Musical Spectacular. Even though Aladdin is entertaining, a large chunk of the show’s time was eaten up by technical difficulties, allowing attendees a rare chance to bail out of the show before it completed.

As we wandered around, and, more specifically, stood in line for rides, we discussed the idea of what Walt Disney would think of the 2009 version of Disneyland. My opinion is that I’m sure he would have enjoyed the newer attractions, driven by technology that he could only have imagined in the sixties, although I’m not sure he could have gotten on board with the removal of the classic Disneyland features.

One of the most obvious updates to a classic ride was to the Pirates of the Caribbean. It received the “politically correct” update a few years back, but even more recently received the addition of Captain Jack Sparrow to certain areas of the ride. The motion of the new Sparrow animatronics robot (or whatever they’re called) is really good, almost scary. As for a likeness of Johnny Depp, eh, it’s hit and miss.

That said, Walt Disney was nothing if he wasn’t a businessman. Perhaps he would have understood the need for the constant updating to the experience, even at the expense of the features that we grew up with. The marketing tie in to the Disney family of movies is impressive, and in a few years there won’t be anyone around who even remembers the remade versions of the attractions from the ’80’s, much less the originals. So maybe it doesn’t matter.

Then, at the end of the night, in an effort to exit the park before the rest of the attendees, we were hit with a big dose of “Walt would not approve” treatment. Consider that your spoiler alert.

We had discovered earlier in the day that it was grad night, during which local high schools bus their graduating seniors in and after hours they have the park to themselves, locked into Disneyland for the night. As we made our way towards the main street exits, we were told that due to the crowds on Main Street, we needed to exit around the back of the shops.

As we walked down the dirty corridor, which could have been the backside of any strip mall in L.A., employees, on break, or on their cell phones, or smoking, looked at us in shock. It wasn’t just my wife and I in their ne’er-to-be-seen hideaway, but there were hundreds of people pouring in behind us.

To be honest, the feeling was mutual. Not that we, as adults, don’t understand that Disneyland is all props and make-believe, but it really takes the shine off it when you see the backs of the facades, water coolers and employee break rooms. The sight of the candy stripers and the Frontier Land workers out of character, smoking and chatting on the phone drives the point home that this place is a business, just like any place else.

And my gut says that old Walt would have probably had a problem with that.

No, this isn't real. Yet.

Tags: backlot, behind the scenes, Disney