Theme Parks : Sunday in the Parks With Calendar : Disneyland: All Wet at Splash Mountain

Welcome to Sunday in the Parks with Calendar--the Sequel. And please fasten your seat belts.

For our second annual survey of Southern California’s major theme parks, our intrepid reporters visited the parks on a recent Sunday, unannounced. Accompanied by family or a friend, they bought tickets, stood in lines, sampled the park’s rides and menus and withered in the heat.

Afterward, they put in calls to the various park publicists for assistance in compiling our comparison chart. (Some of those publicists would have preferred that we attend their parks during special “media days”--when the parks operate without a glitch and are especially clean and when we might have been wooed with “cuts” in line, as well as special edibles.)

It’s no surprise that Sundays in the park have changed since the serene turn-of-the-century depiction “Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grande Jatte,” by French artist Georges Seurat, (the inspiration for our illustrations). In fact, Sundays keep on changing, as the parks continue in their mania to always be one step/ride/attraction ahead of the competition. So how do they measure up? Read on:

The folks at Disneyland were hoping to start the summer with a splash, but a little cold water was thrown on their plans.

Splash Mountain, the new, mega-hyped log-flume ride, is waaaaay behind schedule and over budget. Designed to take riders down five waterfalls and through scenes inspired by the film “Song of the South,” the ride drenched, rather than splashed, the riders. It was back to the drawing boards.

(No matter that competing parks have water rides that virtually drench riders. At Disneyland, everything is done with trepidation--so as not to shake up the perfect fantasy-kingdom.)

With the Splash Mountain debut now set for July, Disneyland is without a new star attraction. Not that the granddaddy of theme parks doesn’t have plenty to offer without it.

The still-classic Pirates of the Caribbean is the champion of Disneyland attractions, with its effective blend of technology, atmosphere and fantasy ( Yo, ho! Yo, ho! A pirate’s life for me!) and a couple of waterfalls thrown in for good measure.

On a recent Sunday, Pirates was the only major attraction where the length of the ride matched the length of the line--15 minutes, in contrast to the 3-minute reward at the end of the 36-minute Space Mountain line. (Though the inability to see where the fast-moving cars are going, as they careen through the pitch black of the “mountain,” continues to bring a new dimension to the standard-issue roller-coaster.)

Another old favorite that still holds up: the Haunted Mansion. While short of real heart-stopping scares, the ride’s polished effects are beguiling. And they espouse a wicked sense of humor.

Ever notice the subtle changes incorporated into these rides over the years? For instance, whatever happened to the pirate whose hairy leg dangled from one of the bridges of the Pirates ride? In his place these days is a parrot with an anchor drawn on its breast. And in the Haunted Mansion, how did the audio-animatronic graveyard dog make it from one end of the cemetery to the other? And when did the three ghosts on bicycles show up?

Over at the Country Bear Playhouse in newly redubbed Critter Country (formerly Bear Country) the changes are not so subtle. The long-running Country Bear Jamboree has been reprogrammed into the new Vacation Hoedown. Same audio-animatronic characters, but there are new songs in the stage revue. Meanwhile, over in Tomorrow Land, the similar America Sings has shut down for good to be replaced with a yet-to-be announced attraction.

Star Tours, still the newest major attraction by default, remains more exciting for its promising technology than for its execution. While “space travelers” view film of an exhilarating ride through a “Star Wars”-style galaxy (George Lucas was involved in the design of the ride), hidden mechanisms rock the 40-seat vehicle to give a startlingly real simulation of flight.

This flight goes by too quickly, especially after that long line. But at least planners gave visitors something to look at while waiting to board. The line winds through a factorylike repair area, with talking ‘droids (C3PO is your host) and big-screen “commercials” for trips to Endor and other Star Wars destinations.

To offset the numbing mechanical sameness of Disneyland’s rides and attractions, there are live shows and parades. The current bubble-headed salute to the ‘50s, Blast to the Past (through June 18), is nauseatingly inane. But the park still features some quality bands, like Billy Hill and the Hillbillies, a bluegrass quartet that wanders Critter Country with a corny shtick.

As for the food: it’s plentiful, varied and high-quality by theme-park standards. (Try the new barbecue place near Thunder Mountain; it’s expensive, but pretty darn good.) And as ever, the place is spotless. After a long day at the park, leaving without gum stuck to the bottom of your shoes can be a real bonus.