Pixie Dust Challenge Accepted: a Tale of a Fairy Odd Duck at Disneyland

I've heard a lot the Matterhorn macaroons. I need to try one.

Now I want some nachos...

Paradise pier looks great at night.
 
Those lobster nachos look super yummy!

Paradise Pier is my favorite Disney land (it's a decent chunk of why California Adventure is my favorite park). It looks so beautiful all lit up in your pictures!
 
Those desserts look delicious! I love the stained glass Mary Poppins stuff too!

Sometimes, it's nice to just relax and call it a night when you need to? I'm sure it made your next day more enjoyable to listen to your body!
 
I've heard a lot the Matterhorn macaroons. I need to try one.

I'm going to have to see if our Publix bakery does a similar dessert - DH and my anniversary is next week, so it might be a nice treat!

Now I want some nachos...
LOL! And oh my gosh, my first half marathon was W&D in 2013 and afterwards I wanted nachos at La Cantina SO very badly but DH thought they might not sit well (he was probably right), so that's all I could think of all night long and then at 7am when I woke up for good. Totally jonesing for those nachos! DH offered to try and go find some, but I think he wouldn't have had much luck at 7am! I finally got them for lunch, though, and that was the best thing ever!

Those lobster nachos were a VERY close second and only by circumstance. :)

Paradise pier looks great at night.
It's so pretty!

Those lobster nachos look super yummy!
Yeah, I may or may not be drooling right now thinking of them... ;)

Paradise Pier is my favorite Disney land (it's a decent chunk of why California Adventure is my favorite park). It looks so beautiful all lit up in your pictures!
Thank you! Paradise Pier wasn't my favorite the first time we went to DCA, only because it reminded me too much of Great America/Six Flags, but it has grown on me and now I love it!

Those desserts look delicious! I love the stained glass Mary Poppins stuff too!
It was so pretty and cool, and I always wonder how many people actually notice those little details? That's my favorite part of Disney, looking at all the special little details!

Sometimes, it's nice to just relax and call it a night when you need to? I'm sure it made your next day more enjoyable to listen to your body!
It definitely turned out to be a good decision because I think I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow!
 
Day 5: May 9 - More Cars But of the Unfast Kind

Today would be our last full day in California. Waaaaaah! Which is kind of funny because I think this was the first day where we felt like we'd actually acclimated to the time zone. We awoke at maybe 6am and set a game plan to head to Downtown Disney once again for breakfast at Jazz Kitchen and then to the parks. We arrived at Jazz Kitchen around 8am and ordered an ala carte selection of beignet "French toast sticks" (their quotes, not mine), bacon (for me), sausage (for DH), and hash browns. Not to mention coffee. I had the regular coffee, but DH was feeling adventurous and went for the chicory.

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Beignet "French toast sticks." These - in no way, shape, or form - did not suck. Highly recommend. [Homer drool]

We split the French toast sticks and the hashbrowns and just relaxed at the table until about 8:30, at which point we headed to the plaza. We made it through security - again getting some side-eye from the security guards because we did not have bags - and went to get in line for Disneyland. And what a line! All of the lines to gain entrance stretched back past the monorail (so maybe 100-150 feet from the turnstiles) and there were just so many people! We got in a line that looked a little more reasonable and set about to waiting. We were behind a mom with two small children who were literally running circles around her while she gazed off in the distance (I'd guess the kids were about 3). Pretty soon, an older couple (I'm assuming her parents or in-laws) showed up with another kid and they got in line, too. At this point, I'm a little annoyed, but whatever, it's only a few more people, so we wait an extra 45 seconds or whatever. Ten minutes or so pass and then her husband shows up, with another couple and their three kids in tow. So this family, originally three people, was now eleven. With three strollers and all the accoutrements associated.

And it would have been fine if the people acknowledged that they were butting in, but nothing was said and they acted SO entitled. I start getting annoyed, because it's just so rude, you know? So I said something to DH about there literally being 8 more people in front of us than when we got there. One of the women just looked at me like, "come at me, [not a nice word]" - worst family ever. Finally after waiting for about 20 minutes or so to get to the turnstiles, we get up there and one of the women directs us to the turnstiles, "You need to go there because this line is for strollers." Ugh. Like we didn't already know that. Just awful people and we were glad to have been rid of them. I shook off my annoyed attitude and we headed into Disneyland to go check out the castle and Main Street, U.S.A. one last time.

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Horsey!!

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You guys have no idea just how long it took me to get this shot. I thought it would be cool to do a panoramic shot of the castle with Frontierland to the left all the way past the Matterhorn and then Tomorrowland on the right.

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I like how different the entrance to Tomorrowland is at DL versus Magic Kingdom!

And then we got some couple shots (me and DH) in front of the castle that I haven't yet downloaded from PhotoPass. There was no line for the photographer, so we figured why not? And then we headed to Hyperspace Mountain to grab a FastPass and then see what we could fit in. As we exited Hyperspace Mountain, I needed to go to the facilities and DH wanted a smoke break (nasty habit of which I'm trying to break him, hopefully soon), so we parted ways and DH texted me that Autopia had a 5-minute wait.

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I think this may be the one time when the wait was seriously underestimated because I think we ended up waiting 10-15, but whatever, it was still pretty short. Soon enough we were getting into our cars and were on our way. I feel like I should note that I'm not a fan of Tomorrowland Speedway just because of an ex-boyfriend in college who insisted I drive and then made fun of my inability to drive on a track (only because he was mocking me and making me nervous) and also because of the overwhelming heat and gasoline smell there. But Autopia was nice! A nice little jaunt through the park.

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Waiting for our turn.

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DH about to get into his little blue car. The steering wheel is on the British side!

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Jaunt through the park. Nice scenery! Much better than the speedway. Speed limit was 7mph.

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DH was texting and driving. :eek: I'm in the orange car ahead of him.

Autopia was fun, but it's one of those rides I'd only do if there was a short wait, I don't think I'd go out of my way to do it again. But it was totally worth doing and maybe I'll reconsider doing Tomorrowland Speedway at WDW, which I haven't done in many years, sometime.

Then we decided to check out the Matterhorn again. I wanted to ride it once more and also hopefully get a shot of the water landing near the end. I just thought that that would be so cool! So we headed to Matterhorn Bobsleds.

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Next Up: Fish Are Friends, Not Food
 
Day 5: May 9, 2016 - Fish Are Friends, Not Food!

Unfortunately, the Matterhorn was closed again, so we backtracked to the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. When I was a kid, the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea attraction at WDW was one of my very favorites and I was really upset when they dismantled it and replaced it for seemingly forever with a character meet and greet spot. So when we traveled to DL the last time, I was so excited to see a version of it in California! It's a cute ride and there was no wait that early in the morning - we walked right up to our sub and down the spiral staircase.

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View of the submarine lagoon from the monorail station (taken last year).

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Our fair vessel. There were no Harryhausen special effects involved!

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Descending into the submarine.

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Lots of barnacle hidden Mickeys.

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EEK! :scared1: It's Darla! Better play dead just to be safe...

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P. Sherman
42 Wallaby Way
Sydney

I really love this ride even though there are elements much like the Nemo portion of the Living Seas (yes, I still call it that) at Epcot, and I'm really glad that we had another chance to ride it. The lines in the afternoon seem to be significantly longer, so if you're interested, hit it up first thing in the morning.

By this time, our FastPasses for Hyperspace Mountain were coming up so we headed back in that direction.

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So nostalgic for the paper-system FastPass! *sniff*

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DH thinks he's hilarious with the ride cameras.

So much fun again and then we made our way back towards Fantasyland to board the Happiest Cruise That Ever Sailed!

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So pretty!

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Up Next: And A Smile Means Friendship To Everyone
 
Day 5: May 9 - And A Smile Means Friendship To Everyone

I have to admit it: I actually love It's A Small World. I think it's a really nice, optimistic message in a world filled with cynicism and hate, and even though the song is a bit of an earworm, it just has a lovely message. So take that, haters! ;) I also really enjoy Mary Blair's artistic style - she did the original concept art for Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan, as well as my favorite mural in the Contemporary Resort at WDW.

At Disneyland, it's also a bit historical, since the original version was featured at the World's Fair in 1964 (and a key plot device in Tomorrowland, a film I also enjoyed for its optimism. And George Clooney. Always George Clooney), and I really love the outdoor queue and loading area. Much more picturesque than at WDW.

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Outdoor queue!

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Entrance to the attraction.

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Loading area.

The other thing I really like about the DL version is the incorporation of various animated characters in the appropriate countries/regions featured in the attraction. Synergy, people!!

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Alice and White Rabbit in the UK, Mulan in Japan, Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket in Italy, and Aladdin and Jasmine riding a flying carpet over the Taj Mahal.

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Simba and Puumba in Africa, The Three Caballeros in Mexico, Ariel in an undersea portion, and Lilo and Stitch in Hawaii!

There were many others scattered throughout, like Cinderella, Woody and Jessie, and the Peter Pan contingent, to name a few. Really great attraction, both familiar and different from WDW's version. I like it. :)

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Farewell!

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As we were leaving, we noticed some activity at the clock on the outside of the attraction. It was noon. And guess what? I can't speak for other hours of the day, but at noontime, there is a Glockenspiel demonstration!

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Little wooden Small World characters march outside from the doors, on a track.

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Noontime chimes!

Next Up: Going to California With an Aching In My Heart
 
Lol on the texting and driving. I always try to try and take photos and it's so hard to do on the speedway in WDW.

No luck again on Matterhorn!

Hyperspace mountain is something I wish I got to experience. Funny ride photos are always a must.

It's a small world looks so much better in Disneyland than WDW. I like the characters too but I think stitch in its a small world is kind of weird.
 
I hate people who wait in line and then have like 95 people join them. Seriously. I'm okay with one or two, but ... seriously. People are ridiculous.

That panorama picture is amazing. I love it so much!

I've actually never done Autopia. I didn't know that there was nice scenery. Maybe I'll check it out next time I'm there! I just have to make sure to keep my phone in my pocket so that I'm not tempted to text and drive.

I have a confession: I also love it's a small world. I would happily ride it over and over again. And I actually love the California one even more, just because that's the original and I live pretty close to where the World's Fair was.
Although I'm not wild about the Disney characters in the ride. I know it's cute, but I feel like they're messing with the original!
 
Yum that beignet looks divine!

Super annoying that that little family grew into a big crowd-- and was rude about it!! Some people . . .

The Nemo submarine looks pretty cute!

Oh and I LOVE the movie characters in Small World! I didn't know that Disneyland had this! My 5 year old daughter would go crazy seeing the Ariel one-- that would be a super cute doll to have!
 
Lol on the texting and driving. I always try to try and take photos and it's so hard to do on the speedway in WDW.

No luck again on Matterhorn!

Hyperspace mountain is something I wish I got to experience. Funny ride photos are always a must.

It's a small world looks so much better in Disneyland than WDW. I like the characters too but I think stitch in its a small world is kind of weird.

Hyperspace Mountain totally lived up to all the...hype (pun intended)! It was fantastic. At WDW, we always do something silly on RnRcoaster or EE - during Star Wars Dark Side weekend, we rode EE and you seriously can't take us anywhere:

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I especially like the juxtaposition of the screaming people in front of and behind us!

I absolutely adore Small World at DL. It's just wonderful all-around.

I hate people who wait in line and then have like 95 people join them. Seriously. I'm okay with one or two, but ... seriously. People are ridiculous.

Yeah, it wouldn't have been so bad if it had only been 2-4 people, but ELEVEN? And then to not even say, "sorry" or something? Just rude.

That panorama picture is amazing. I love it so much!
Thank you!

I've actually never done Autopia. I didn't know that there was nice scenery. Maybe I'll check it out next time I'm there! I just have to make sure to keep my phone in my pocket so that I'm not tempted to text and drive.
It's much nicer scenery than what I remember of Tomorrowland Speedway, just like driving through the countryside and parks, lots of trees and vegetation. Definitely check it out if there's a short wait, it wasn't something on our radar and we had fun! Haha, yeah, texting and driving is probably not safe even at 7mph! :)

I have a confession: I also love it's a small world. I would happily ride it over and over again. And I actually love the California one even more, just because that's the original and I live pretty close to where the World's Fair was.
Although I'm not wild about the Disney characters in the ride. I know it's cute, but I feel like they're messing with the original!
That's so cool that you live pretty close to the World's Fair site! I like the DL version better myself and the first time I saw it was during the holidays and so the Disney characters kind of stuck out like sore thumbs (agree with messing with the original), but I think they grew on me and look a bit better under normal Small World conditions.

Yum that beignet looks divine!
It was seriously delicious. I'm a bit of a beignet snob - and I don't like doughnuts at all, oddly enough - and my favorite beignets are at Huey's on the River in Savannah and Jazz Kitchen. For real. So good! (disclaimer: I have not yet been to NOLA, so haven't tried Cafe Du Monde yet)

Super annoying that that little family grew into a big crowd-- and was rude about it!! Some people . . .
Exactly! It would be one thing if they'd been polite or apologetic about it, but they SO were not! :furious:

The Nemo submarine looks pretty cute!
It so is!

Oh and I LOVE the movie characters in Small World! I didn't know that Disneyland had this! My 5 year old daughter would go crazy seeing the Ariel one-- that would be a super cute doll to have!
I like the characters there just because they're in the same style as the rest of the attraction and it's kind of like having Easter eggs - "oh, there's Alice!" "there's Jiminy Cricket!" The hardest ones were the Darling children, Peter Pan, and Tink because we didn't see them flying above until after we'd passed them and I was a bit bummed not to get a good photo of Small World Tink during the race weekend. Minor disappointment, to be sure. :)
 
Day 5: May 9 - Going to California With an Aching In My Heart

We were starting to feel a bit peckish by this time (noon Pacific, 3pm Eastern) and so we decided to go and try for lunch somewhere in DCA. So we walked back across the plaza.

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Survey marker - I'm kind of a nerd.

We had no reservations anywhere, so it was going to be interesting to see where we ended up! As we walked back towards Paradise Pier, I suggested the Wine Country Trattoria, and after perusing the menu, DH agreed. So we put in our names at the host stand and the wait was only 30 minutes! Beautiful. But what to do with those 30 minutes? Hmm, well there just happened to be a wine stand (Mendocino Terrace) right there. So I ordered a pinot grigio (settled on the brand after a short discussion with the CM) and DH ordered a hefe weizen beer. And we sat down at a table to people-watch and slowly enjoy our beverages.

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Nice view of Paradise Pier, too. The people-watching was also excellent. Lots of Disneybounders. :thumbsup2

Soon I received the text that our table was ready, so we walked back over to the host stand and waited to be taken to our table.

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View of Wine Country Trattoria from the Mendocino Terrace seating area.

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Wine Country Trattoria - our table was the one just under the archway.

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Wine Country Trattoria menu. There were base pasta sauces and you could order your choice of pasta: campanelle, spaghetti, or fettucine. I ordered the Shrimp Scampi Campanelle (I figured it would be less messy than spaghetti/fettucine!) and DH ordered the Bolognese Campanelle. I also ordered the Tour of Italy wine flight. I like wine flights. :)

The food was fantastic here, a really good choice, and I think it would be an excellent pre-race carb-loading option as well (though the spaghetti at Boardwalk Pizza was an excellent choice and less expensive). I was really surprised by the size of the shrimp (large) and how not-greasy the scampi sauce was - it was more like a creamy sauce but a much lighter version of an alfredo. Kind of in between a buttery sauce and alfredo, if that makes sense. So yummy, and we've really lucked out in California, not a bad meal yet.

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Look how big those shrimps are!

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Bolognese Campanelle.

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And of course, my wine flight. These are 2-oz pours (they look so much bigger in this photo) and all three selections were really great. Very complementary to the food.

We took our time enjoying our lunch and beverages and just taking in the scenery. DH was kind enough to sit in the sun so I would not have to (what a gentleman!), so we did not stay for dessert. Though we were stuffed at this point anyway, I think dessert would have been too much. So now what to do, what to do?

Next Up: Soarin' Over California One Last Time
 
Day 5: May 9 - Soarin' Over California One Last Time

Earlier, on our way to Wine Country Trattoria, we'd picked up FastPasses for Soarin' Over California, one of our favorite attractions in Epcot that had been down since December, so we were excited to try Soarin' Over California in California. The attraction had been shut down for renovations when we were there last January, so this was going to be a first! This post is going to be mostly photos, because I am not up to the task to describe Soarin' adequately, I cannot do it justice. Suffice it to say that it is magnificent and everyone should give it a whirl. I'm excited to see the new Soarin' Around the World that opens June 17 (this Friday, eep!) and we already scored FP+ for it in early July at Epcot (the soonest we can make a WDW day trip, June is crazy-busy). So without further ado, here is the West Coast version of Soarin' Over California, which I think is a lot more immersive than at WDW.

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Housed in an airplane hangar!

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Love all the National Park feel to this section of the park.

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FastPass!

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Once inside, you travel down the ramp in the hangar and there are lots of photos of aviators and pilots throughout the history of flight, sort of a Hall of Fame. Very cool touch!

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You are directed either left or right at this point.

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I always feel like my feet are going to kick the kayakers! Sadly, there was no pine smell.

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I tried to get a shot of Tink since it was Tinker Bell Half weekend, but since I was surreptitiously photographing the attraction, I failed in getting a burst stream and this is what I ended up with. This portion of the movie made me tear up before I'd even been to Disneyland, so it is extra-emotional now. I'm sad to see this version go. :(

The renovation to the screens was indeed worth the wait. DH and I both agreed that it was like watching a Blu-Ray on a HDTV (DCA) versus VHS on a tube TV (Epcot), so if the Epcot screen renovations are consistent with California's, we are in for a treat! Like I said, I'm looking forward to Soarin' Around the World, but I also kind of wish they'd keep the California version, maybe on one screen, so that we'd have the option of one or the other. But I'm sure (I'm hoping) that they'll bring the California version back from time to time. It's all just so iconic: the gorgeous imagery, the sublime Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack, and the immersive smells (salty air, pines, oranges, grapes, etc.).

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Next Up: California Screamin' - The Sequel
 
Day 5: May 9 - California Screamin' - The Sequel

After Soarin', we decided to head back to Paradise Pier and walk around a bit - this actually seems to be our number 1 activity in Disney parks, the walking and taking it all in. Of course, we passed by California Screamin' and there was a 10-minute wait. Done. So before I get too much further into this, the reason I'm calling this post The Sequel is that the last time we were at DL, I hated California Screamin'. I mean, hated it. And I love roller coasters (as long as they're not jerky); however, when we first tried CS in January 2015, it was mere hours after I'd finished my second half marathon ever, I was tired, a bit cranky, and my legs were sore (I'm so happy my recovery time has adapted to almost nothing after training for and running Dopey this past January!), so I was in no mood for such a thing. But DH cajoled me into riding, we did it, I hated it and vowed never to ride it again.

Fast forward to May 2016 and I'm game. I recognized that my previous experience had been colored by my bad mood at the time and I was determined to give it another go. And we did. And I loved it!
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Despite my pained expression, I was having a ball!

When we got off the ride, we walked back past the entrance and the wait was still 10 minutes. Wanna go again? Yes! And we got in line again.

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Better expression this time (what's that? a smile?) because I know where the cameras are now. :)

So much fun! I have the attraction song on my runDisney playlist so I was even familiar with the music, so that was pretty cool.

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Here's where you get launched, much like Rock 'n' Rollercoaster at DHS. So awesome!

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And there they go!

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View of our new favorite hangout (Cove Bar) from Paradise Pier.

After this excitement, we walked back to our hotel for a bit of a break - we tend to do this at WDW, too, to get a break from the sun and crowds mid-afternoon. We relaxed in our hotel room for an hour or so, freshened up a bit, and then walked back. DH had lobster nachos on the brain, and since he'd been such a good sport all weekend with my races and crazy schedules (not to mention that those nachos are DEE-LISH-SHUS!), I was happy to go along for the ride. So we made a beeline for Cove Bar one last time.

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Nom-Nom.

This time, since it was our last night (hold me :sad:), we splurged and had two drinks each. Spread out over about an hour and a half, but still. I once again ordered off the secret menu and tried a Neverland Tea (photo forthcoming :)) while DH stuck with the Fun Wheel. We nursed those drinks for a while, I took some photos, we chatted a bit, and then we ordered our second round (now a Fun Wheel for me, Earthquake for DH) and the lobster nachos. So good. I'm not even mad at having them two nights in a row, which also broke DH's "rule" of not having the same type of meal twice in two days.

By this time, the sun was starting to set, so I tried to get a quick photo of the Fun Wheel of Death at sunset, and then we headed out to see Cars Land at night!

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Next Up: Nocturnal Cars Land

 
Day 5: May 9 - Nocturnal Cars Land

What can I say about Cars Land at night? It's breathtaking, really. And remember that I'm not a fan of the movies. Like at all. I haven't even seen the second one because the first one didn't grab me. But Cars Land is so cool.

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I don't know who this dude is, but he almost ruined my shot! How dare he! ;)

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It was a little difficult on my iPhone to get both the neon sign and the lit attraction in focus, so I just gave up on the neon sign. If you look towards the back, there's Lightning McQueen.

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See? So pretty!

This installment was just to show Cars Land at night, and I really didn't have anything to add that I didn't already say about Cars Land before, but I wanted to share a sampling of my photos. I could see how people would want to bring a really nice DSLR here for some great photos.

Next Up: Last Night at Disneyland

 
Day 5: May 9 - Last Night At Disneyland

It's getting to that point in the evening where I really want to see a nighttime spectacular, but my Eastern Time Zone sensibilities are catching up with me. We decided to take one last longing look at Paradise Pier at night and head over to Disneyland to pick up some 60th Anniversary souvenirs and I also wanted to snag some photos of the teacups at night since the paper lanterns are lit up and so pretty.

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Good-bye, Paradise Pier, I'll miss you!

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However, I neglected to take into account the nighttime spectacular events at Disneyland, and crowds were already nearly impossible to navigate. So after fighting our way upstream to the Castle, we just gave up on getting to the teacups and making a hasty exit. So I snapped photos of the castle and the Matterhorn and we returned to Main Street U.S.A. to complete our purchases and head back. We had an early wake-up call to make our 4am shuttle to the airport.

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I first stopped in to the jewelry store because I wanted to get the 60th Anniversary Alex & Ani bracelet (I love them!). However, there were only two CMs working the shop and we were behind the Two Most Picky Ladies In The World. You know the type. They want to look at each and every thing and multiple versions of each and every thing before selecting maybe one thing to buy (or maybe none at all!). I am not kidding when I say we waited for 15 minutes there and the CMs kept shooting me "I'm sorry" expressions and rolling their eyes a bit at the picky ladies. Finally it was my turn and I just asked for the bracelet I'd been eyeing, made my purchase (yay for Disney Visa discount) and DH and I headed down the line for more souvenirs.

DH was looking around and wasn't really finding anything he liked, so I asked if he'd seen the 60th t-shirt with all the attraction opening dates on the back. He hadn't, so we found a pile and of course they didn't have his size. It was either XS or XXXL. A helpful CM asked him his size (he was going to just give up), and the CM found one behind the counter. Score! Now it was my turn. I decided on the ladies t-shirt that had glittery and rhinestone embellishments, but it was the same story: either XS or XXL. So I asked a CM to see if there were any other sizes. She called to the back and sure enough, there were. However, there must have been some sort of miscommunication because we ended up waiting about 10 minutes or so for her to come back. In the meantime, Paint the Night was starting outside so we could see the floats go by. We ended up chatting with another CM while waiting for my shirt and we talked about runDisney races and the differences between WDW/DL which was interesting, but I was getting tired and I just wanted to GO. Finally, my shirt showed up, we paid, and headed out.

We managed to glimpse part of Paint the Night, though the CMs were quite insistent about keeping moving on the sidewalk. Seriously, borderline rude since other than the parade crowds in the roped-off area, there weren't a lot of people coming and going. So the CM told us to go into the roped-off area, we did, and then he snapped the rope behind us. So rude! It was really crowded here, so we stayed long enough to see King Triton and then we decided to just leave.

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Paint the Night seems really cool and I hope to see it in its entirety some day.

We headed back to our hotel, packed up everything we could and made sure multiple alarms were set so we wouldn't miss our 4am airport shuttle. What a trip!

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Our DL loot: my t-shirt, DH's t-shirt, Alex & Ani bracelet, and FOUR Starbucks You Are Here Collection mugs, as well as the DL 60th mug.

Next Up: Sashay, Shante (SuperMedal)
 
Bonus Post: Sashay, Shante (SuperMedal)

While we went around the parks on Sunday and Monday, I took a lot of photos of my Pixie Dust Challenge medal at various points. So I decided to put them all together in one post. I have to say that the PDC medal - which I did not like at all when runDisney first posted the medal photos - really grew on me and I actually liked it by the end of the trip! It is super-big, but it's also colorful and I didn't have to worry about a spinner Tink getting damaged or falling off.

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With my wine flight at Wine Country Trattoria.

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PDC medal and Mickey's Fun Wheel seem to coordinate well together!

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With the Neverland Tea. I liked this drink better than the Fun Wheel, but it was much stronger. Ergo, only one! And you can see that the CMs at Cove Bar don't mess around with their drinks!

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With the Fun Wheel.

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Tinker Bell Half Marathon medal - also much prettier than I'd anticipated!

Next Up: Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig
 
Day 6: May 10 - Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig

Another early wake-up call! We had alarms set for between 3 and 3:30 am in order to ensure we were packed and ready for our 4:20am shuttle to SNA airport. By 4am, we were heading out the door, down to the lobby, checked out of our room, and were waiting curbside for our shuttle. Soon enough, we were picked up, made two more stops at other hotels, and were on our way to SNA. There was already a line at Delta's check-in because apparently they don't staff the counters until 5:30 or 6am? No one was there for what felt like forever and then finally an employee showed up and the line started to move. Glacially slow.

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The line when we arrived at 5am.

Our flight to Atlanta was uneventful, except it was super-long because it was an older aircraft, so not roomy at all (I felt cramped in) and in addition to that, I was seated in the middle and the guy in the aisle seat had taken up residence on the arm rest to the point his elbows were digging into my side. Ugh. I was so happy to get off that plane in ATL. Once in Atlanta, we had about 20 minutes to catch our flight to MCO, which luckily we made without too much hassle. And soon we landed in MCO around 5pm Eastern. It was hot and humid, so different from California, and after collecting DH's suitcase, we headed to the offsite parking shuttles. Where, I observed something most Disney travelers have experienced, but we have not:

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Disney's Magical Express!

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So tired, but ready to go home. MCO airport selfie.

Picking up our Jeep from offsite parking was easy (and much cheaper than the $20/day MCO charges!) and we were able to pick up our Labrador from doggy camp. He was so tired!

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We arrived home and our two cats were so happy to see us. The parrot was like, "it's about time, jerks." Since it'd been a super-long day of travel and Deadpool had just been released on Blu-Ray, we settled in for some NSFW humor from the Merc with a Mouth before calling it a day.

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Penny is unimpressed by Deadpool's Zamboni shenanigans.

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Loki also unimpressed.

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I'd been purchasing the mini-medal pins from the runDisney races I'd run so far this year, and now that I had my Coast to Coast Challenge medal, I pinned them to it: Dopey Challenge, Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon, Pixie Dust Challenge!

And then it was soon back to real life:

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But wait! There's more!! :banana:Bonus WDW day!

Next Up: The Adventure(Land) Continues
 
So many updates!

Your final day really looks like a great time. From the wine place to carsland at night. I'm a fan of the first cars movie so I really want to get out there and see it.

I've heard rumors about paint the night possibly coming to MK in the future.

Great merchandise pick ups! I love the Starbucks mugs, I have the WDW ones.

Looks like overall it was a great trip!
 
So many updates!
Haha, yeah, I just got to the point where I realized that we've been home for over a month, so I'd better start wrapping it up!

Your final day really looks like a great time. From the wine place to carsland at night. I'm a fan of the first cars movie so I really want to get out there and see it.
It was a good day! If you loved the movie, you are going to FREAK OUT at Cars Land. Seriously, I do not care for the film and I was just transfixed by it all. In fact, after we first saw it last year, I finally got around to watching the movie and spent the whole time going, "OMG, they got it exactly!" the whole time.

I've heard rumors about paint the night possibly coming to MK in the future.
Ooh! I would love that! Though MSEP is still my all-time favorite, for nostalgia reasons. I've just reached the point in my life where I'm a morning person (I have to be to be a runner in summertime Florida) and staying up late is no longer in the cards for me - in the Eastern time zone!

Great merchandise pick ups! I love the Starbucks mugs, I have the WDW ones.
I have them all, too! They are my favorite coffee mugs right now, and I do not care for Starbucks coffee (I drink mine black, no frou-frouness).

Looks like overall it was a great trip!
It was! And we are going back in January for Star Wars Light Side again - I'm going for the Kessel Run! And I'm hoping to have this TR wrapped up soon, including final thoughts. Thanks for hanging in there and following along! :)
 

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