wild ride at midnight

I learned something new today: if you don't want to wait in a long line to go on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland, just wait until it's almost midnight. By that time, the target demographic of Fantasyland has moved on to see Mr. Sandman, and the wait time for Mr. Toad is down to under ten minutes. This was an unplanned discovery, since I had no intention of staying till midnight. But the day just seemed to go on and on and on in the sweltering heat, until suddenly, like Cinderella, we looked up at the clock and it was almost midnight.
As we had gone through our top five list of rides -- Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones' Temple of Doom and Finding Nemo -- I realized that my kids had never ridden most of the rides in Fantasyland when they were "little kids." Sure, they had ridden the carousel, the tea cups, It's a Small World and Dumbo, but that was about it. I was determined to have them ride some of the classic kiddie rides before we left today.
So, just before midnight, we found ourselves zipping through the lines for Mr. Toad, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland and Pinocchio, and I remembered something from my childhood: some of these rides were scary, and I didn't really like them as a child. The Snow White ride used to creep me out, with the wicked witch and all her wickedness. I did not recall the skeletons decorating this ride, and they seemed to be a bit much for the pre-school set. The Pinocchio ride started out with the giant bird cage hanging overhead, threatening to capture me and turn me into a donkey. And who is Mr. Toad, anyway? I did not remember his ride, at all -- especially not the part when wild-driving Mr. Toad plows you into a train, and then you find yourself in a very warm and humid room where everybody has red horns and there are flames all around. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride ends in hell.
Scary, yet symbolic in its own way: yes, folks, step right up with your super-tired toddlers and enjoy the ride -- hell is waiting for you right here in Fantasyland!
Ahh, yes, the happiest place on earth.