Here is today's thing to try to not think about while you're at a theme park.

Walt Disney World has installed high-security, anti-terrorist barricades similar to those protecting the White House, U.S. embassies and nuclear-waste depots. The hydraulically powered steel barricades block the service entrances of the giant resort's four theme parks and were apparently designed to stop a 20,000-pound truck bomb traveling 70 miles per hour.

..."Theme parks are more appealing as potential terrorist targets than many large companies that don't have the same large crowds or high public profile," (former FBI terrorism specialist David) Cid said. "Terrorists look to kill lots of people at large public venues. Plus it's a national symbol. An incident there would have an effect on the national economy."

Today's Post Has a FREE TOY INSIDE!



Greetings, Space Cadets! Danny's Land is pleased to offer you our first ever Free Toy. All you'll need is a color printer, some heavy cardstock paper, a sharp knife and some white glue (and maybe the help of a responsible adult if you are a kid). Just click on the diagram below to download an Adobe Acrobat file of the Star of Antares Rocket Ship Ride from Danny's Land.

"Your attention please. This is a computer-rendered version of Disneyland's Adventure Thru Inner Space. An adventurous fan of dark rides who made this journey before you has carefully plotted every pixel of this incredible journey, in which you shrink beyond the smallness of an atom: the smallest building block of matter. We wish you an enlightening experience. For though your body will shrink, your mind will expand.



I feel responsible for some of Steve's problems with finishing his astonishing re-creation, seeing as it was I who slashdotted him a couple months ago, driving his hit count through the ceiling and forcing his server expenses to... expand. Now, as he explains it...

"I was almost finished with this CGI project when yet again I come into yet another snag. I have completely run out of hard drive space to output an AVI (uncompressed) file of this ride so I can properly convert it to mpeg 2 (dvd) and my DVD burner has died and I need new DVD authorizing software."

So now, Steve has to raise money for the new equipment. But there is no cause for alarm. Now, in his display area you will see a modern compact disc, created by assembling the narration, music and unused demo tracks from this thrilling journey. Join the Atommobiles Fan Club for $20, and get the CD for free. THIS... IS STEVE WESSEN.

A related item of interest -- during the month of May, all profits from this t-shirt will go to the Adventure thru Inner Space project.

Remember Adventure thru Inner Space? It was great for smooching or, for the more daring, going all the way and joining the "Angstrom High Club"

You can purchase more CafePress stuff to help the project here. Help out the little guy. Donate today!

Here are some pictures I took quite a while ago at Oaks Amusement Park (my home park) in Portland. Taken with my late, lamented iZone, the Holga of digital cameras.





These are old "Pretzel" dark ride cars:

Blogger just added a new feature that's kind of neat, so I threw it onto the end of posts as lagniappe. If you see a post you like, click on "LinkZum" below, and you'll be taken to a new Danny's Land archive page dedicated to just that one post. Slick! No more scrolling!