ohmaigawd, STOP stepping on me: a July DL trip

[wingedjojo]

The heat was starting to get to us a little at this point so it was off to Adventureland to introduce Kevin to the wonders of the Dole Whip. Back in 2009, we had wanted to get a Dole Whip but it was December when we had gone and it was too cold for it. As much as we wanted to eat a frozen treat, we didn’t want to become frozen treats ourselves. Now was the moment to redeem ourselves.

Of course, since it was blazing hot out, a million other people had the same idea as us to indulge in frozen goodness.

So…close…

We opted for the Dole Whip Float because neither of us had tried it before. Looks quite festive.

The whip part was good and both Kevin and I enjoyed that. While he also liked the float, I just thought the juice was a little too sour for me. I’ll stick with just the whip part next time.

Toontown hadn’t been visited yet for this trip so there we went next.

I really like Roger Rabbit’s Car-toon Spin so that’s where we headed.

I’ve never noticed these license plates before and besides one of them, I think I’ve correctly deciphered them all.

I got:
- Captain Hook
- Little Mermaid
- 101 Dalmatians
- fantasy
- zip-a-dee-doo-da
- 3 little pigs

I just cannot for the life of me figure out the last one. What the heck is RS2CAT???

A couple of shots as we slowly made our way through the line:

I really like the above picture because of the unique lighting. When I tried printing it out at Costco, the colors were all distorted and gross. Oh well.

We came across the ingredients for Dip. Looking at it, they appear to create some sort of super cleaning liquid which would make sense and could pass as Dip. We understood acetone and turpentine because both are capable of breaking things down and have traditionally been used for cleaning. What we didn’t understand was why benzene was there. Benzene is a circle of carbon atoms and to our knowledge doesn’t equate with a good cleaning solvent. And where does the green color come from? I think our conclusion was whoever was assigned to come up with a fake formula for Dip just pulled random words out of an organic chemistry textbook.

~*~*~*~
[DISCLAIMER: The following is a somewhat off-topic rant. Feel free to skip if you do not wish to read my negative thoughts.]

It was while we were going through this line that I seriously started to question whether or not I ever wanted to come back to Disneyland; more like…if it was worth it to come back. It’s not even the prices that get to me because I understand the concept of business and I applaud Disney for the fact that they can inflate prices and still have consumers continue to buy their things. It’s the people that come to the Disney parks that have gotten under my skin. I understand it’s an amusement park and you’re supposed to have a good time but that doesn’t give anyone the right to forget decent courtesy. I mean, yes, there are people whose job it is to keep the park clean but that does NOT mean you can just treat the place as your personal trash bin. There’s a reason why there are trash cans all over the darn place, so do your part! It’s not even like anyone is forcing you to recycle or to separate your waste but merely to understand that trash belongs in a trash can. And not in the nook and crannies along an attraction’s line.

I saw this phenomenon of trash hiding within the lines of attractions in multiple rides but it was the worse in Roger Rabbit. It was just all over the place and sometimes people don’t even try to hide it. Empty bottles and cups were just out in the open. There was even a half empty can of soda sitting in the middle of the path and people were just stepping OVER it! Not only was it bad that someone had left it there to begin with but people were just ignoring it. So, before someone tripped over it and made a mess or hurt themselves, I was the big man who moved it. God, not so hard.

[END RANT]
~*~*~*~

During the ride, there is a scene where it looks like you’re falling down the side of a skyscraper and if you turn your car so that you’re “falling” backwards, we found it created a somewhat disorienting feeling. It was actually more fun to go backwards than forwards.

Following the ride, a touring of Toontown commenced with plenty of gag pictures.

Kevin fell asleep on Minnie’s couch and upon her return home her entourage promptly kicked us out of home and Toontown.

Still in good spirits, we went back to Tomorrowland and took another whirl on Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters. I lost again.

We also finally went on the newly renovated Star Tours ride with the Fastpasses we had gotten way early in the morning. Can you believe that the passes we had gotten in the morning had a return time of late afternoon? Crazy.

In line, we spotted what we think is a hidden Mickey. This was in the luggage room that has that giant arrivals and departures sign as well as R2D2 and C3PO. It’s a shadow cast by what looked like a robot or a satellite and a random box.

Coming out of the ride, it was about time to head back to California Adventure to see the World of Color for the first time! We took our sweet time because for SOME reason, I thought they didn’t let people into the viewing area until 30 minutes prior to show time. Turns out, it was an hour before and people had started to line up earlier than that. Darn it. That meant we were way late for good spots.

So the only reason why I pre-purchased our picnic lunches was to get reserved spots for the World of Color show because neither of us had seen it before and we wanted good views. Granted, we didn’t get the worse spots but ours wasn’t spectacular either. Oh well. We should’ve gotten there earlier.

We ended up standing in a spot where while people still blocked us, it didn’t entirely obscure the view. Not to mention, we met this really nice lady named Carol. She was traveling alone for business and decided to tour the parks on her own. She worked for this scrapbooking company I believe and they were having a conference nearby. She gave us her card but I lost it and I feel kind of bad because now I can’t get in contact with her and I don’t remember the name of the company she worked for. Oh well.

I took a couple of pictures of the pretty lights prior to the show.

 

[wingedjojo]

Finally it started and it was SO GOOD!!! I got goose bumps several times and it was truly spectacular. Surprisingly you got quite wet from all the waterworks. One of the cast members mentioned to us in passing that those that stood in the opposite ends of the viewing area usually come out of the show totally drenched and that what we got was just a light sprinkle. I didn’t want to get my camera too wet so I really only came out with a couple of decent pictures. I just only wish I didn’t have all those heads in front of me blocking half my view. I’m short, you know.

Such a good show. Can’t wait to see it again someday.

With that, we decided to head out en masse and call it a day. We were going to do our Magic Morning tomorrow and that meant getting up early so we needed as much rest as possible.

Before we left entirely though, we decided to stop by the ElecTRONica dance thing that apparently goes on every night in California Adventure. We were curious as to what it was all about.

Oh. Mai. Gawd.

It was so lame.

I feel like they were trying way too hard to get a dance club vibe going and it completely fails for a number of reasons.

1) We’re in a Disney park so it’s not exactly your normal dance club crowd or atmosphere.

2) The people who actually treated it like a dance club (i.e. dressed up in heels and fancy clothes) and came specifically for the club feel were awkward to no end. Clearly the majority of them don’t normally go to dance clubs because if they did, they wouldn’t come to a Disney park to look for one. Granted, I don’t really know the area; maybe this is as close as people can get to a club around here, who knows. Also, (and I kid you not) most of them just stood around as if it was a pre-pubescent middle school dance.

3) While the DJ was good…

…these people, who I presume is trying to hype everyone up to dance, were just weird.

Maybe I just came on a slow night (it was a Monday after all) but…not exactly your most happening scene.

Anyway, we left that area pretty quickly.

While we knew we should get back to the hotel and sleep as early as possible, we were both starving. We pretty much hadn’t eaten anything since lunch and it was way pass time for dinner. It was probably around 10:30pm or so and Rainforest Café closed at 11pm so we sped walked over there for a quick meal.

So hungry…

While Kevin was asking about a table for two, I took this really creepy shot of the elephant podium’s eye.

Why? I have no idea. I was tired and semi-delirious from hunger.

We got seated right away and quickly began perusing the menu.

Because we were on vacation and not because I’m an alcoholic, I ordered a drink that promised good times. I forgot what it was called but I remember the word sangria in the name and it had peach flavoring among others. It was delicious, tasted entirely like soda, and almost wondered if my bartender had made it a virgin.

I want another one now…

I’m not an alcoholic.

My dinner of choice was their nachos appetizer because apparently I was really craving melted cheese. It was delicious.

Kevin got some sort of pasta dish and he liked it enough but it was nowhere near as good as my melted cheese. Mmm…cheese.

And with our bellies full and bodies tired, we eventually made it to bed and knocked out for the day.

 

[JH87]

Once upon a time…Kevin was stupid and he stayed that way.

that really made me laugh a lot.

LOVE that you got to see the UP characters! And the drunk Mr. Potato head was hilarious.

We came across the ingredients for Dip. Looking at it, they appear to create some sort of super cleaning liquid which would make sense and could pass as Dip. We understood acetone and turpentine because both are capable of breaking things down and have traditionally been used for cleaning. What we didn’t understand was why benzene was there. Benzene is a circle of carbon atoms and to our knowledge doesn’t equate with a good cleaning solvent. And where does the green color come from? I think our conclusion was whoever was assigned to come up with a fake formula for Dip just pulled random words out of an organic chemistry textbook.

I love how you got all scientific with the Dip.

Oh and I totally agree with your rant. The janitorial CMs at DLR are so amazing, sometimes I just wanna tell them thank you and hug them when I see them scraping up someone's gum they stuck on the floor and stuff. I hate that not everyone has the respect for DLR that it deserves.

Love the hidden Mickey in the ST line!
Great update

 

[Happy 2 B Me]

RS2CAT is Aristrocat
. Patty

 

[skiingfast]

I'm surprised you were up so late. How long did it take for a table at RFC at 11pm? Was it really a quick meal.

Goats are like big dogs.

Is Kevin, your Kevin not Dug's, still stupid like he was once apon a time?

 

[Lil' Grumpy]

he~haw! you're a funny writer but i like your style!

was that bull-winkle near the pooh 's ride?


we really liked our tote bag too.....i also made a fuss over my
daughter's bracelet...mine, mine mine! [ it made her day ].

...we were riding the fun wheel & the operator kept us on
longer. that made us late for getting a place @ woc.
however, we ended up with nobody blocking us.

we did not do the roger rabbit ride. just want to say, you will
go far with your caring attitude. trust me, that is my work
expertise, & the more one put their values into their
life, the more rewards one will reap. "common courtesy" is a
enrichment process for self realization. hint, over the years
we have done our disney vacations, our best memories came
from our park encounters.

just one example~ 2007, @ the studios park. we were in a long
line after the show. there were a father & his 1o y/o son
racing past everyone. everyone just gave him dirty looks. but
really,what are you gaining by cheating the system? not the type
of disney memory we cared for. we finally made it to inside
the "hotel". taking time [ like your picture of the girl's lil' doll],
we caught the attention of one of the manager....who took
us on a special tour & he gave my kids as many rides as they
want! { after 6/7 time-i was close to being sick-].

...& since you also have a "keen" eye for details. the third
"elevator" ..has its inspector card signed by the actor who
played the devil on the original tv series.

anyway, thanks for sharing & including all your observations.
i can't understand those who don't have the insights to
realize every disney trip will be some of their best family
moments...not a typical amuzement park. again the "ways"
one does it , is where the magic comes or go.

 

[rcc1ca]

"Finally it started and it was SO GOOD!!!"


Oh! Isn't it? Makes me cry it's so beautiful!

 

[wingedjojo]

that really made me laugh a lot.

LOVE that you got to see the UP characters! And the drunk Mr. Potato head was hilarious.


I love how you got all scientific with the Dip.

Oh and I totally agree with your rant. The janitorial CMs at DLR are so amazing, sometimes I just wanna tell them thank you and hug them when I see them scraping up someone's gum they stuck on the floor and stuff. I hate that not everyone has the respect for DLR that it deserves.

Love the hidden Mickey in the ST line!
Great update

I have no idea how Mr. Potato Head's eyes even got that way. It was pure dumb luck.

Gum on the floor is the WORSE. It's really not that hard to spit it into a napkin and then throw it away or even spit it directly into a trash can. And it so sucks when you accidentally step in it and then you got stringy gum bits all over the place.

RS2CAT is Aristrocat
. Patty

There was no way I could have gotten that. For some reason I kept thinking RS = rescue so I was like...Rescuer's? But it didn't fit and I gave up.

I'm surprised you were up so late. How long did it take for a table at RFC at 11pm? Was it really a quick meal.

Goats are like big dogs.

Is Kevin, your Kevin not Dug's, still stupid like he was once apon a time?

Well, we got there about 15 or so minutes before 11pm and I guess they just stopped seating people at 11pm; it wasn't like they closed the kitchen yet or anything. We got seated right away and while it wasn't full, there was still a good number of people eating. We weren't even the last people to get seated because after us there were maybe 2 or 3 more parties that came in. We didn't feel rushed or anything at all and took as much time as we wanted but we were tired so we were out of there in half an hour.

Yes, there are moments (a lot of moments) where Kevin is still stupid. You can get smart (thanks to years of schooling) but you can still be stupid. It's like that All Star song by Smash Mouth:

"Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb."

But usually he's just really silly and I just call him stupid.

he~haw! you're a funny writer but i like your style!

was that bull-winkle near the pooh 's ride?


we really liked our tote bag too.....i also made a fuss over my
daughter's bracelet...mine, mine mine! [ it made her day ].

...we were riding the fun wheel & the operator kept us on
longer. that made us late for getting a place @ woc.
however, we ended up with nobody blocking us.

we did not do the roger rabbit ride. just want to say, you will
go far with your caring attitude. trust me, that is my work
expertise, & the more one put their values into their
life, the more rewards one will reap. "common courtesy" is a
enrichment process for self realization. hint, over the years
we have done our disney vacations, our best memories came
from our park encounters.

just one example~ 2007, @ the studios park. we were in a long
line after the show. there were a father & his 1o y/o son
racing past everyone. everyone just gave him dirty looks. but
really,what are you gaining by cheating the system? not the type
of disney memory we cared for. we finally made it to inside
the "hotel". taking time [ like your picture of the girl's lil' doll],
we caught the attention of one of the manager....who took
us on a special tour & he gave my kids as many rides as they
want! { after 6/7 time-i was close to being sick-].

...& since you also have a "keen" eye for details. the third
"elevator" ..has its inspector card signed by the actor who
played the devil on the original tv series.

anyway, thanks for sharing & including all your observations.
i can't understand those who don't have the insights to
realize every disney trip will be some of their best family
moments...not a typical amuzement park. again the "ways"
one does it , is where the magic comes or go.

If that moose had pants then I would totally say it was Bullwinkle.

How cool would it have been if you were able to watch WoC from the fun wheel? Can you even see the show from there? I wonder if they have to shut the ride down during showtime. That's pretty lucky that you got a good view. I think we just need to get there super early next time and camp out. Or come during off season.

I'm glad other people feel the same way I do concerning etiquette. I just wish EVERYONE can understand that actions have consequences and that the world isn't centered around their selfish needs.

"Finally it started and it was SO GOOD!!!"


Oh! Isn't it? Makes me cry it's so beautiful!

Words really can't describe how awesome that show is.

 

[wingedjojo]

Tuesday, July 12

This was supposed to be an exciting morning because it was our Magic Morning day and we get to go in an hour before the park opens!

But we were SO…TIRED…

It was already bad enough that we went to bed around midnight the night before but since it was Magic Morning, we got up at 6am. It’s kind of crazy how it’s supposed to be vacation and yet we subject ourselves to only 5 hours of sleep. It’s like we never left college.

Looking happy and perky, aren’t ya?

Surprisingly, there were already quite a number of people taking the early tram with us. I guess everyone has Magic Morning on their minds too.

While we weren’t as far back as yesterday in terms of lining up at the gates, there was still quite a number of people.

If it wasn’t already clear why everybody was lining up at an ungodly hour, here’s a sign.

We had a game plan this morning: conquer all Fantasyland rides. If we didn’t do this now, the area would be overrun by little kids and we’ll never get to ride them later on.

As we were sluggishly making our way to Dumbo and the others, we made little pit stops at the statue of Walt and Mickey as well as in front of the castle.

Having gone to Disney World not too long before this trip, you can’t help but make castle comparisons. The one at Disney World is just so much bigger, grander, and cooler looking. Looking at this one is almost disappointing. Almost.

The first ride we wanted to tackle was Peter Pan’s Flight. From past experiences, I feel like this ride is ALWAYS crowded; even in the early morning. The park just opened and the wait time was already 20 minutes. It’s kind of sad that that’s considered a really short wait time for this ride. In all reality, we pretty much walked right onto the ride. I feel like it only says 20 minutes on the wait time because besides early in the morning, it will never be shorter than 20 minutes so they don’t even try to make it any lower. It’s just inconceivable.

Our flight through Neverland left us feeling invincible and ready to tackle anything. We tested ourselves against the sword in the stone; perhaps one of us shall be king.

Kevin first tried using the force.

When that didn’t work, brute force is always a viable option.

Alas, Kevin was not meant to be king. It’s kind of sad that they don’t do the sword in the stone ceremony anymore. It was always really cute to watch when little kids became king/queen. I wonder why they stopped doing the show.

Dumbo was another one of those Fantasyland rides with the forever lines so that was next. While waiting in line for that, we watched as one of the gardeners tended to a Dumbo topiary. It was pretty cute because as he trimmed it to the perfect shape, he would run his hand over the spot he just cut to shake out loose leaves. If somebody was just watching him and didn’t know what he was doing, they would’ve thought he was petting the Dumbo-shaped bush.

We were going on rides and we were in Disneyland but our tiredness kind of made us look like we didn’t want to be there. WAKE UP!!!

While we were flying around atop a big-eared elephant, I took a series of pictures in hopes that I could turn it into a GIF. Well, after many trials and rejects, I finally created an acceptable product. BEHOLD! My virtual ride on Dumbo!

Snow White’s Scary Adventures was next. We were SO CLOSE to getting to ride in the Sleepy vehicle. If we had ridden Sleepy that would’ve been so hilarious because you know…we were sleepy and the vehicle said sleepy? It’s like we’re being labeled? Never mind…maybe it’s not as funny as I thought.

Instead, we rode in Dopey. I guess that’s acceptable too.

The Alice in Wonderland ride was next. I found it odd how they made it a rule that we had to sit in the back and wouldn’t let us both sit in the front row. I’m pretty sure we would’ve fit but I guess it’s a weight distribution issue? I dunno.

The last time we were in Disneyland and rode Alice in Wonderland, the March Hare was missing from the scene where he and the Mad Hatter were having a mad tea party near the end of the ride. It was nice to see him back again.

We hopped into tea cups and had our own mad tea party afterwards. Before we knew it, we ran out of tea and had to leave. We tried getting some more from the White Rabbit’s house but he wouldn’t let us in.

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride as well as Pinocchio’s Daring Journey was also visited before we felt that we had done all we wanted to in the area. With that, our morning in Fantasyland comes to its end. We walked away feeling satisfied that we accomplished all we wanted to that morning (and most of it before the main crowd started coming in to boot!)

 

[Lil' Grumpy]

oops, , must work on my english better [ double whammy} ,

...i sort have this habit of writing liked i am talking directly.

we didn't watch from the fun well, but because we were "kept on"
longer , we did not get off in time to arrived early enough to
secured the best location. [ while we rode, we could see the
crowd lining up. however, we made some new friends & ended
up in an excellent "spot".

oh, we did watch from our bed as we were staying @ the disney
hotel. { we're dvc members } . we also went up the top floor-
they have a viewing area.

lil'quriks, i call my disney rules. i am no disney fanatic. i had to
learn thru others & our experiences. yes, there are many with the
idea or goal, to take everything they can get & leave a mess. they
do not realized how much they are missing from being selfish.
the secret of the disney magic are the encounters from those
who are sharing your time in the parks. the includes fellow
guests, not just cm's. some of our special moments came from
cm's--that were off duty and were guests.

" disney set the bar, but it doesn't mean one can't add their lil'touches.
a couple years ago, when you could still wake up tinker bell, my
daughter informed me she was too " big". it made me sad but i
have learned diseny magic cannot be forced. instead i told her
that's ok...,because "daddy laways wanted to do it". so when
she saw me getting ready, she had to joined in. we both got the
lil' certificates - one of my favorite memory.

 

[sasywtch]

Hahaha, this is a photo I have from our drive down in 2009:

I'm 98% sure it's the same water tower! But I think it's in Sacremento? My photo angle shows a few letters on it.

I'm glad you guys made it time for the bachelor party, and how fun for you, being one of the guys

And does Kevin know his thighs are posted on the internet for the world to see?

It's by an exit in South Sacramento by the river on I-5. To the previous poster, there might be one in French Camp (hospital/jail is) also or by the port in Stockton. The one in the photo definitely looks like the one leaving Sacramento. The hospital and jail are two different buildings : ).

 

[JH87]

woooo a gif!!!!

 

[skiingfast]

woooo a gif!!!!

That was a cool way to show the ride on Dumbo!

 

[wingedjojo]

!!!IMPORTANT MESSAGE!!!

So I've been moving and in all the hustle and bustle, internet has not been established at my new place yet. I'll be back on the 19 (hopefully) because that's when we're supposed to get connection.

TTFN!!

 

[jtawesomesauce]

I got:
- Captain Hook
- Little Mermaid
- 101 Dalmatians
- fantasy
- zip-a-dee-doo-da
- 3 little pigs

I just cannot for the life of me figure out the last one. What the heck is RS2CAT???


Aristocats? Are you being sarcastic?

 

[wingedjojo]

I got:
- Captain Hook
- Little Mermaid
- 101 Dalmatians
- fantasy
- zip-a-dee-doo-da
- 3 little pigs

I just cannot for the life of me figure out the last one. What the heck is RS2CAT???


Aristocats? Are you being sarcastic?

Shut up, Jess. I really didn't get it.

 

[wingedjojo]

So I've pretty much been MIA for a month now (whoops!). Time sure flies. I've just been having a hard time getting used to my new work schedule and with the move and all that. Most days I was just too tired to post anything. But NOT TO FEAR! While I haven't been posting, I have been writing. I've finally finished this trip report on Microsoft Word and I'll soon be slowly posting it all up. Now I just gotta go proofread...

Thanks for hanging in there!

 

[skiingfast]

Sounds great. Glad to see an update.

 

[wingedjojo]

Having finished Fantasyland, it was off to THE LAND OF TOMORRROOOWWWWW~~~

First order of business was to ride Star Tours. We didn’t luck into any more hidden Mickeys this time around. Instead, I bring you a set of pictures I would like to call: “views from the Star Tours line.”

As we get closer to the end of the line, there’s an infrared camera that captures any and all body heat. The first time we went on Star Tours, we weren’t quick enough to get a picture of our heated selves but this time around we were perfectly prepared. It’s kind of hard to tell but trust me, we’re in that picture.

To continue our adventures in space, it only made sense to go on Space Mountain too.

The last time we came to Disneyland, we didn’t have enough time to ride the submarine ride– no, that’s not true; we just didn’t have the willpower to wait that long in line. This time, for posterity sake, we decided to wait in the [once again] long line.

There are tons of submarines and the ride is continuous to an extent but it just sucks up so much time loading and unloading passengers. At least we decided to ride this fairly early and not later on when the line became even longer.

Not soon enough, our submarine arrived.

I took a couple of pictures while on the ride but they all sort of look the same; so here’s just one:

The sky had started to clear up and sunshine was pouring in. Now felt like a good time to go and get our obligatory in-front-of-castle shots. We didn’t want to wait too long and have the blue sky get covered again.

Apparently, I hadn’t gotten the memo that our arms were supposed to be up.

At one point while we were loitering around the castle, we spotted Alice and the Mad Hatter!

They were booking it somewhere because they were walking faster than you can say “White Rabbit wearing a waist coat” and were not stopping for anybody. I wanted my picture with them but I’m just going to have to wait.

Some loitering-around-the-castle shots:

According to my pictures, we made our way back into Tomorrowland just to go to Innoventions. I can’t imagine we found anything there that was too exciting because I have only two pictures.

We created our future:

Thinking about how fat he will one day become, Kevin decided it was the ideal time to start exercising (as if walking all day wasn’t exercise enough).

When we were touring what I assume is the house of the future, there were a couple of things that caught our fancy. I don’t remember actual specifics but I do recall being impressed and wishing I had a house with certain amenities that this future home had.

OH! They had that magic mirror thingy that helped you decide what to wear by superimposing whatever you had in your closet onto your reflection so you could see whether or not things matched or what not. That was pretty awesome; would totally save so much time.

In their entertainment room they had set up what I think was an Xbox Kinect and you got to play ball with this giant cat. At first I was terribly confused as to what the screen was showing me because I thought it was a movie. It was when I realized that the cat was moving with me that it all started making sense; we were soon bonding over a game of catch. It’s actually pretty fun but I was terrible at the game. Kevin was much better at keeping a long volley but that’s probably because he’s a gamer and understands how these things work while I’m just flailing around like a crazy person.

Once we were done with that, we decided to start heading over to California Adventure. Even though I had found him yesterday, I wanted to see Dug again today and perhaps get a better picture with him (as well as dognap him for real).

On our way out, I needed to stop for coffee. We got too little sleep after a long day of play and I needed that caffeinated goodness. So it was into the Blue Ribbon Bakery we go.

I forgot what I got but it was delicious (minus the whipped cream).

Prior to making our way over to go capture Dug, we stopped for some Soarin’ fastpasses. Along with Soarin’, we also got some sort of ticket for a free token at Flynn’s Arcade.

While waiting for Dug, we were scouring the park map for its location and we could not for the life of us find it. It wasn’t until way later that I realized they were talking about Flynn from Tron and not Flynn Rider. Granted it also says ElecTRONica on the ticket so that should’ve been a clue. Oh well, we never got to redeem for our free token. That’s probably for the better since I’m still not sure where this arcade is.

The night before I had made us some sandwiches to pack for today’s lunch so we ate those during our wait. It was getting pretty hot so the cheese had melted and we had a semi-melted cheese and ham sandwich. IT WAS DELICIOUS. It’s the simple things in life, isn’t it? Maybe it was also that we were super hungry but there’s nothing that can quite compare to melted cheese.

Kevin’s a messy eater.

That’s right, wipe your mouth.

I forgot what I was talking about when Kevin was taking these shots but here you go:

I’m pretty sure I’m doing the “caw caw rawww” hand motions; not to be mistaken for anything inappropriate.

Here I’m either wiping my face like a cat or pretending to punch myself.

Before too long, Dug came out to play! I just noticed that I’m also wearing food on my shirt this day but I guess Dug liked cupcakes more because he didn’t make any indication he wanted an apple.

First we looked for some squirrels.

Then we got our picture taken. Once again, it’s not very good. I think it’s partly because the shade that we’re under makes it harder to take a picture and also that Kevin is not a very good photographer.

 

[wingedjojo]

So while we did ride the new Little Mermaid ride yesterday, I just wanted to enjoy it the first time around and the camera was put away. I didn’t take any actual ride pictures so today was the day to rectify that. So sit back and enjoy the couple of decent pictures I got.

Upon exiting, we wandered into the Bug’s Life area. I love watermelon and would kill if only I could eat one that was THAT big.

I really love how it’s like we’ve shrunk down in this area. Those little clovers that they have throughout the place are so cute. It reminds me of this giant leaf thing that I always see at Ikea that they sell for children’s bunkbeds.

As much as I don’t like bugs, I still found this lamp super adorable.

And OMG…number two pencil lamp posts. Totally would want this in front of my future house.

Actually…are those lamp posts? I think they’re actually speakers because I don’t see how it could provide adequate lighting. Whatever they are, they’re cute and I want them in front of my future house.

Since Kevin liked it so much, we decided to go do the Animation Academy again. I forgot what we drew this time and I’m too lazy to go look for our drawings because having just moved recently, I have no idea which box it’s buried in. My apologies.

Since we were already there, we decided to explore the other areas in that building. I think we went through the Character Close-Up and the Sorcerer’s Workshop but not Turtle Talk with Crush (for some reason or another).

We spent quite a while inside the Sorcerer’s Workshop. There’s this area where you get to learn how to draw an animation on this REALLLLLY long piece of paper. The idea is to draw an animation frame by frame along the long piece of paper and then make it into a circle. You then put it inside this weird machine that spins with a strobe light. The resulting effect is that it seems as if your drawing was actually animated and moving. It’s pretty cool. We didn’t actually make one ourselves. It was WAY too time intensive and neither Kevin nor I cared enough to want to do it; we were content just looking at the already made ones.

Also within the Sorcerer’s Workshop is the Beast’s Library where you can discover your inner character. All the computers were being used when we got there so we just waited and looked around. The room was very pretty and I would not mind having a library like that in my future house.

Personally, I think the prince from Beauty and the Beast looked better as the Beast. I do not endorse bestiality.

So when it was our turn to take the quiz, I went first.

Apparently, I’m most like Mulan…

Hmm.

I forgot to mention that prior to taking the quiz they take a picture of your face. For the 2 seconds that you actually see your picture (just on your personal screen, mind you), Kevin felt it was absolutely necessary to fix his hair.

So vain.

There he goes taking the quiz. I must add that the computer set up they have going on there is pretty awesome. I would totally have a chair like that in my future mansion. I’ll have to add arm rests to it though to maximize comfort.

Kevin anxiously awaiting his quiz results…

…and he gets:

We were not surprised at all that he got a bad guy.

Prior to leaving the area, we checked out the fireplace. Sadly, it doesn’t emit any sort of heat. Would’ve been cool (or…warm…?) had there been a heater blasting out hot hair to make it seem like there was a real fire there.

It was time to head back to Disneyland because we wanted to catch the afternoon parade (a.k.a. an excuse to take a nap in the park while we wait for it to start). Along the way out of California Adventure, we happened upon these delicious (but oh-so-expensive) candy apples.

I took this close-up shot of the Jack Skellington apple because my sister loves that character/series.

Once back at Disneyland, according to my pictures, we rode the train.

Proof that Kevin really is a bad guy: disobeying rules and sticking his foot outside the moving vehicle. It’s only a little bit but it still counts. Shame on you!

Somehow we wound up at the Coke Corner for musical chairs with Alice and the Mad Hatter. We came late and couldn’t see very well so after taking this one, lone photo…

…we left and went to go stake out a seat for the parade.