Shelby's Life and Whatnot

Please Do Not Get Back Into The Boat

Expanding on our "Let's go to Disneyland--why? Because we can!" We decided to celebrate our 3rd anniversary with dinner at the Blue Bayou Restaurant. The Blue Bayou is one of those childhood "I've always wanted to eat there but was never allowed to" things for both of us. The seating area of the restaurant is actually inside the Pirates of the Carribbean ride so if you sit on the edges you actually get to see the boats go by. Unfortunately we weren't seated on the edge, but the atmosphere is very cute anyway. As for the dining experience, it was as expected--the food was mediocre and the cost high, but it was in Pirates of the Caribbean!

So speaking of the Pirates ride, we arrived a little early and decided to hop on that ride before dinner. The ride takes place in a boat and you cruise along a river (indoors) at a leisurely pace while animatronic pirates and skeletons engage in acting scenes around you. It's really a great ride. Cool attention to detail and you can ride dozens of times and notice something new each time (either that or they're actually PUTTING something new in each time--I'm not so sure). And then there's the hidden Mickey Mouse ears.

So anyway, we're cruising through the river being only slightly annoyed by a group of 4 teenaged girls we referred to as "Jenna and her friends" (Jenna had "JENNA" printed in large letters on the back of her sweatshirt). We were nearly done with the ride and were halfway up a small hill (tilting backwards, not quite comfortably) when the ride stopped. This happens every once in a while, usually when someone needs extra time boarding or exiting the boat. However this time, there was a booming voice over the loudspeaker, saying,

"Do not attempt to get back into the boat! Do not attempt to get back in the boat! A cast member will be with you shortly. Please remain seated."

In other words, somebody jumped. Of course I immediately looked around, but the two boats we could see behind us didn't have a person swimming alongside (swimming is probably not the right word--I believe the depth of the water is only around 3 feet). It was not possible that the person accidentally fell over. The boats are constructed in such a way that to get out, you have to do it willfully.

For some reason, people don't believe you when you say that practically every inch of Disneyland is covered with cameras. I don't know what the Boat Jumper thought he/she was doing but chances are pretty high they were summarily ejected from the park.