Disneyland

The wait to get a membership for Disneyland's exclusive Club 33 is so long that wannabe members joke that the only way to move up the list is for somebody to die. Dale Mattson has been parked on Club 33's waiting list since 2001, and Robert Tickell for about that long. And poor Chris Villaflor -- Walt Disney Co. informed him this month that the list is so bloated, he can't even get on it. But now, there might be hope -- at least a glimmer of it.

Organizers have gathered enough signatures to challenge an Anaheim zoning change that would make way for a housing project near Disneyland, election officials announced Wednesday, forcing the City Council to repeal its decision or to put the matter before voters. A spokesperson for the Save Our Anaheim Resort Area coalition, which gathered more than 21,000 signatures for the Disney-funded ballot referendum, said the success proved city residents understand the importance of the resort area.

After 2 1/2 hours of public testimony, the City Council opted Tuesday to postpone a decision that would have allowed voters to decide whether to permit a large housing project near Disneyland. The council urged Disney and the project's developer to work out a compromise within two weeks.

Amid a circus-like protest outside City Hall, the Anaheim City Council opted again Tuesday to delay the fate of a Disney-funded referendum asking voters to block a large housing project in the resort district. The council postponed voting on the issue two weeks ago so that the housing developer and Disney Co. could settle their differences on the proposed 1,500-unit condominium and low-income apartment complex near Disneyland.

Here's an interesting fact: Only 100 feet divides Adventureland from Frontierland. While one land drips with banyans and bromeliads, the other sizzles with cactus and sage. It's within this great divide that perceptive visitors can find their own garden inspiration -- one of many masterfully conceived mini-landscapes at Disneyland whose design just might work at home. That's right. Now that the summertime crowds are starting to ebb, put on the mouse ears and head to Anaheim.

A full-size carousel horse, a mechanical songbird and paintings of European castles will be among the decorations in a private living suite under construction at Disneyland. Designers and crews are completing the project, which Walt Disney dreamed up in the 1960s and designed with the help of illustrator Dorothea Redmond and Oscar-winning set decorator Emile Kuri. Park visitors will be able to win an overnight stay in the Disneyland Dream Suite starting next year.

A proposed housing project near Disneyland that has fueled a rancorous debate over the future of Anaheim's Resort District and the city's relationship with the entertainment giant may be dead. Details of the deal's possible collapse are contained in a lawsuit that project developer SunCal Cos. filed last week against the owners of the 26-acre parcel where 1,500 condominiums and low-income apartments were to be built.

The annoyingly catchy song at Disneyland's "It's a Small World" attraction reminds riders that "the oceans are wide." Whether they're deep enough is another story. Forty-one years after the whimsical ride debuted at the Anaheim park, Disneyland plans to shutter the attraction in January to give it a much-needed face-lift -- and deal with the delicate problem of bottoming-out boats.

Everyone who rides Disneyland's popular "Pirates of the Caribbean" attraction knows "dead men tell no tales," and its animatronic figures aren't talking either. But, oh, if they could. On Friday, workers at the Anaheim theme park spotted a guest on the ride sprinkling an unidentified substance into the water, prompting them to close the attraction and alert police. "A witness described the substance as a baby powder that quickly dissipated," Disneyland resort spokesman Rob Doughty said.

The Anaheim City Council voted late Tuesday to withdraw its support of a controversial housing project near Disneyland. The 3-2 decision overturned a vote taken seven months ago to approve zoning for a 1,500-unit residential project including 225 low-cost apartments. The issue had pitted Disney and tourist officials against housing advocates and some religious leaders.