Last I left you we were heading out of DCA and going over to
Disneyland. We had a CM take this photo of us on the way out of DCA:
I got a glimpse of Buena Vista St. but that was it. Guess that's another reason to go back.
We hopped over to Disneyland and on the way we checked out all of the personalized bricks. Does anyone know who to contact to get one of those? Are they still selling them? Does anyone here have one and care to share the process?
Disneyland wasn't as crowded as I though it would be but wasn't as empty as I would have liked. Our first order of business was to grab FPs for Indy but not before we took in the sites and smells of Main St. Main St. is one of my favorite places to be together as a family. I just love it. It was then that Michael first brought up the possibility of getting APs. Our one day passes wouldn't apply towards the cost of an AP so I knew it wasn't something we needed to do that day. I explained to DH the AP process and told him we could buy vouchers and then activate them when we come back for Christmas. He asked: are we coming back for Christmas? I said: if we have APs we sure as heck are.
We grabbed our Indy FPs and while on the way to Riverbelle Terrace, saw that POTC was a walk on. How could we pass that up? For those of you who haven't been to Disneyland, go left in the POTC line. It is always shorter. Always. Last trip we split to see if I was correct and I was. Left baybee, always left.
POTC is one of my favorites. It looks like it went through a refurb recently. The scene after the drop, in the caverns, looked shinier, and the end where the wood is smoldering is different. The woods beams don't appear as if they are going to fall on you now. I'm talking about the part before the pirate shooting on the cannonball before you up the final hill. Can anyone confirm a recent refurb?
Johnny Depp is no dummy I tell you. How cool is he to be able to say he's got multiple animatronics of his charachter inside Disneyland?
On the way out I showed them all the secret buzzer for Club 33 (foreshadowing).....
Joshua wanted to buy the girls each a pin so while DH took him to the bathroom, wink wink, I took the girls into the crystal shop and showed them what I collected as a kid. Everytime my father would take me to Disneyland I'd get 2 things: a balloon and a little crystal trinket. Would I wouldn't have to have those now and to be able to share them with my kids.
I took couple of photos with my iPhone of the more upscale figures:
DS gave the girls their pins, he's such a sweet boy, and it was time for Riverbelle Terrace. We were famished. I didn't eat at the pastry cart. Disney does a lot right but I'm not a fan of their pastries that come from those carts. They're always dry and not worth the calories to me.
Riverbelle wasn't crowded so we grabbed our trays and ordered. For the for 5 of us we ordered the below with juices and decafs:
Mickey Mouse Pancakes - Our original Mickey Mouse shaped Pancakes... for the Child in all of us. $7.49
(2) Mark Twain - Scrambled Eggs, Country Style Potatoes, & Choice of Bacon or Sausage and a biscuit. $7.99
Steamboat - Three Fluffy Pancakes, Scrambled Eggs, Choice of Bacon or Sausage. $7.99
I didn't take a ton of photos this morning but how could we resist taking a photo of Chloe's Minnie Mouse pancake with a side of not great Disney bacon? Can they not do something about the quality of their bacon?
With full bellies, we decided to go on HM before Indy. I love the stretching room in the HM. DH says my favorite scene is the one where the woman has pictures with all of her dead husbands.
After HM we went on Indy standby. The line was minimal. We chatted. Every one was asking where we were going for dinner. I told them maybe Steakhouse 55, and maybe not but they would need to shower and get ready after a rest/swim at the hotel. They were all up for a nice meal. I couldnt be happier.
I was also glad we had a hotel to go. Midday breaks are no longer an option for us, we have to have them.
Some queue pics:
Indy must have had a facelift too because WOW it was in fabulous shape, like brand new. We dug it! We enjoyed it so much we went on again using our FPs. Moving, moving, moving, stop. Indy went teets up. Because I'm a Pollyana and nothing ever
really goes wrong in Disneyland we decided to take advantage of the stop and get a proper photo of the Eyeore parking sign that's still inside Indy from before it was built and the land was a parking lot. DH and I totally amused ourselves and the folks around us. Good times. Even the seemingly bummer moments turn out okay.
We were about 15 minutes into the wait and I saw this:
Pouty, spoiled babies.
The CM didnt have a strong enough flashlight so we turned the flash on the camera on and snapped the photo below. I'm quite proud of this photo. Indy ended up being down for 15 minutes so they had us all leave and gave us FPs for any ride, at anytime, inside Disneyland, for that day. They gave me one and DH one so we had
two any ride FPs for the 5 of us.
Those would come in handy later that night.
When we got out of Indy, I noticed the park starting to pack up. We had received the text that our room was ready and my crew was looking and feeling tired. We decided to head back for some downtime. We had a super neat meet planned with friends and then dinner with the 5 of us. I wanted us all rest and refreshed, or buzzed in DH's case (foreshadowing), for what was going to be an amazing night.
Up next: the Disneyland Hotel.......