Disneyland + corn dog + horse-drawn streetcar = happiness

I spent a delightful afternoon recently at Disneyland chowing down on a corn dog and riding on every antique vehicle along Main Street USA.

I’ve been to Disneyland at least 100 times and I’m always surprised when I come across something at the park I’ve never tried.

So on this day, I decided to skip all the roller coasters and dark rides and stick to Main Street.

I’d often heard that the Corn Dog Wagon next to Carnation Café served a legendary version of the classic county fair food. I’d even read that the L.A. Weekly’s Pulitzer Prize-winning restaurant critic Jonathan Gold had claimed he’d never tasted a better corn dog in his life. The foodies on Chowhound called it “the best corn dog you will ever eat.” (Update: As MiceAge columnist David “Darkbeer” Michael and others pointed out in the comments section, the corn dog wagon is between the Photo Supply Co. and the Plaza Inn.)

Needless to say, I approached the wagon with mixed emotions. On the one hand, I had high expectations. At the same time I wondered, how good could a corn dog possibly be?

I’ve eaten very few corn dogs in my life and will certainly never eat another that compares. The business end bulged like a barnacle. The deep-fried cornmeal tasted of chewy sweetness. The slightly spicy hot dog snapped with juicy goodness. Quite simply, it was heaven on a stick.

After my gastronomical adventure, I set about on the second half of my mission: riding all the “conveyances” on Main Street. As far as I could remember, I’d never hopped on any of them. I was always in too much of a hurry — having just arrived at the park or heading for the exit on my way home.

I climbed aboard the Omnibus and headed to the upper deck. But as I reached the top step I changed my mind and opted instead for a passenger seat down below, next to the driver.

Our driver on this day was a stout woman with a jovial disposition who split her time between the bus and the Jungle Cruise as a skipper. Only on the rarest of occasions, she said, did one spiel spill into the other.

Like all the Main Street vehicles, the Omnibus was an authentic reproduction of turn-of-the-century transportation — in this case a New York City Fifth Avenue bus. The Omnibus, which rarely reached speeds above an idle, featured a pair of decidedly modern conveniences — power steering and power brakes. My favorite part of the ride was the electric klaxon horn.

For my next trip I chose the horseless carriage — a composite design of a gas-powered car built between 1903 and 1906. Thanks to Disney Imagineering, the two-cylinder engine produced all the sounds and shakes of one of the original automobiles.

I sat in the back passenger compartment with a pair of German tourists who pointed with childlike wonder from a park map to the lands encircling the hub in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle.

My favorite ride by far was on the horse-drawn streetcar — which always works with an identical twin along Main Street. As we approached the mid-point of the track where the streetcars pass side-by-side, an off-duty conductor hopped onto the running board and clung to a brass handrail. She immediately launched into a spirited history of Main Street — the flagpole, the storefront displays, the window tributes, the opera house, even the 19th-century streetcar itself.

I ended my twofold round-trip journey on the motorized fire engine. I made the mistake of sitting behind the driver — in a spot favored by a young girl in a golden dress with faux-fur trim. She told me in no uncertain terms to move, much to the embarrassment of her mother. I did so without complaint, sliding to the rear of the passenger compartment next to the big brass bell, which I rang as we motored back down Main Street again.

Find the latest amusement and theme park news at the Los Angeles Times Funland blog: latimes.com/funland.

— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times staff writer

Photo: Disneyland’s Main Street takes shape in early 1955 prior to opening in July of that year. Credit: Disneyland

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 1, 2009 at 10:42 am by Brady MacDonald and is filed under California, Disneyland, Family & Kids, Orange County, Theme Parks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.