A Unique Way to Tour Disneyland

Before going to Disneyland, I checked out several travel guides to Disneyland.

There were travel guides for taking small children, older children, no children,

travel guides for visiting all the southern California attractions,

travel guides with guides to finding the hidden Mickey's,

travel guides for being most efficient and reducing wait time in lines,

guides to eating in Disneyland,

guides to shopping in Disneyland,

but I found a niche that hasn't been covered by any book - that I know of.

What about a guide to Disneyland's bathrooms?

This idea hit me about halfway through our vacation, when I calculated that I had taken (mostly Angela) to the bathroom about twice as many times as we went on actual rides.

This was EXTREMELY annoying - especially because the reason was because she was terrified of the automatic flushing toilets flushing while she was sitting on the potty.

It NEVER happened (the potty flushing while sitting) until the end of our trip, but she was so scared of this happening that she would NOT empty her bladder completely. She would let out about a teaspoon and then either refused or could not physically relax enough to finish.

This meant about 137 trips to the bathroom in four days.

I know, you are thinking of all kinds of things I could have done to avoid this problem.

I tried them ALL.

I tried being very patient and waiting for a long time for her to relax.

I tried reasoning.

I tried bribing.

I tried tickling her tummy on the toilet.

I tried getting really mad and threatening.

I tried making her drink lots and lots.

I tried making her wait so she couldn't 'hold back'.

I tried going into detail about what would happen if the toilet did flush while sitting on it.

I tried letting her see Natalie go and having the toilet flush while she was on it so she could see that Natalie just thought it was funny and did NOT go whirling down the hole with the water.

I tried E V E R Y T H I N G. Heaven knows I had plenty of times to come up with a new angle.

On the last day of our 4 days at Disneyland, she finally went all the way, but it was mostly on the floor. By some MIRACLE it completely missed her clothes.

I am so surprised she didn't get a UTI from holding it in continuously for four days.

It became a huge joke on our trip, but I refused to let it ruin our fun time.

So I decided to make lemons into lemonade. I would use my many hours of time in the bathrooms to photograph and document the many bathrooms for my new book:

"Backstage Pass: The Complete Guide to Skipping to Disneyland's Loo's" (I am naming it after our nickname for Angela (Loo), which is very appropriate nickname after this trip.)

Our tour begins with one of my favorites...

The bathrooms in Sleeping Beauty's castle.

It is next door to the Alice in Wonderland ride, thus the Queen of Hearts motif.

Angela a little impatient as she heads in to try and get an Ace in the hole. HA!

The details in this lavatory are exquisite.

Love the tile. And just in my defense. I was actually not the only one taking pictures in this bathroom. It is a highlight for any bathroom connoisseur.

It's a five star 5*****, which is my highest rating.

I have given each bathroom a star rating on a scale of 1 to 5.

1 star - hold it and find the next nearest bathroom

2 star - if you've got to go bad, it's better than an outhouse.

3 star - nice and clean, nothing exciting

4 star - nice ambiance, clean, worth a visit

5 star - Don't miss, even if you don't have to actually use the "facilities". Go in to powder your nose, you won't regret it!

This lovely bathroom is tucked away near Pinnochio's ride. I love the curves and ironwork on the exterior.

A sign that matches the Pinnochio theme.

3 stars ***

This bathroom is next door to the Toy Story Mania ride.

3 stars ***

This beautiful archway leads into the commode just off of main street.

4 stars ****

Aliens greet you on the bathroom door in Tomorrowland near Star Tours and Space Mountain. I believe the doors inside this bathroom looked like the doors you see in Star Wars on their spaceships, however, this bathroom had a huge line and I was a little self-conscious taking pictures of people in the bathroom.
4 stars ****

These are a little messed up (I hate the way you have to upload pictures on Blogger).

This is a little princess dancing her way to the powder room at Ariel's Grotto.

In Critter Country - the old fashioned bath tissue advertisement was fun.

4 stars ****

A shot of the beautiful interior at the Ariel's Grotto latrine.

5 stars *****

The entrance to a throne room in Fantasyland.

3 stars ***

The Frontierland "johns" were beyond traditional outhouses of the old west.

Beautiful lighting and rustic woodwork. Another favorite of mine.

5 stars *****

If I would have had this inspiration at the beginning of our trip, I believe I would have a pretty complete guide of every single public restroom. I will work on either helping Angela get over this fear of automatic flushing toilets for next time, or I will continue working on a more complete guide to all of Disneyland's commodes.

Until then, I hope you enjoyed this lovely backstage tour of Disneyland's "informal facilities".