The Dry Heat Expedition (Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Disneyland)--UPDATE 6/12 (KSC and DTD)

[Captain_Oblivious]

And I’m certain that dad hasn’t been ever so subtly and gently steering him in that direction.
Nope, not at all.

That should be a great experience for him.

Coincidentally I plan to also be passing through the Jax area a couple times this May, but it will be a bit later in the month then the Players is currently scheduled for. Too bad, cause I think I still owe you a beer or two from a couple of TRs back.

That stinks. It would be fun to get together, although I thought I was the one who owed the beers. However, my parents would be with me so it might be hard to step away for a couple hours anyway. I think the Players is traditionally held over Mother's Day weekend every year.

And I’d certainly sign on to read it.

It would be a lot of fun if I had the time. I usually barely finish one year's trip before it's time to start the next one. The New England one would be odd, too, because there are far fewer photos. This is due to us not having a digital camera at the time.

Nicely done!
When someone lobs one so perfectly over the plate like that, you are expected to knock it out of the stadium.

Whoa… I can see what you’re on about then.

Of course we love her, but we like to remind her that you don't have to read every single sign in the museum.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Captain’s Log: Monday, 28 July 2014.

1:08 a.m.—This kid is very, very lucky that we’re all excited and having a hard time sleeping anyway.

4:27 a.m.—Ok, I don’t care how excited we are. This hour is ungodly and should never be experienced consciously.

6:00 a.m.—Rise and shine! The park opens at 8:00 a.m., the ticket window opens at 7:00, and we have a full day of Disney parks ahead of us! Strangely, the kids have no problem getting up, washed and dressed for the day. As opposed to, say, a school day.

Pop Tarts eaten, we’re all ready to go and out the door right around 7:00. Not too shabby at all.

7:13 a.m.—We walk up the block on Harbor Blvd. We have the excitement of visiting a Disney park fueling us, but already I’m noticing how strange things seem compared to what I’m used to experiencing at Disney World in Florida. For example, I don’t have to wait at a bus stop watching multiple buses for the same park go by while the one I want never appears for some reason. Walking a block-and-a-half to the park entrance from my hotel: +1 for Disneyland.

Not much transition from Disney to the outside urban overcrowding, though. It’s a bit jarring, and I like the feeling of being able to disappear from the real world better in Florida. +1 for Disney World.

Also, I notice many Cast Members walking to the entrance with me, or being dropped off by car poolers. Definitely not used to seeing that.

Near the entrance, there are small “Hollywood star” markers set into the sidewalk, celebrating famous Californians. We find one of the most famous of all.

7:15 a.m.—We’ve reached the main entrance/plaza between Disneyland Park and Disney's California Adventure. Bag check goes smoothly and we’re inside. Once again, Disney music surrounds us. We’re inside the bubble.

The first order of business is to pick up our passes. I find the correct window and it goes painlessly. Within a couple of minutes, we are the proud bearers of 1-day Park Hopper passes. Oh, and if I haven’t mentioned this once or twice or 50 times yet, Alison and Fran rock.

So far, everyone seems excited and happy. Even Drew. By the way, look closely here and you might see a Hidden Mickey:

7:22 a.m.—Time to get in line. We can either go here:

Or here:

Decisions, decisions. Having 2 theme parks separated only by a very short walk: +1 for Disneyland.

7:23 a.m.—We get in line at Disney’s California Adventure. I suppose I should let you in on the details of our plan for the day.

We’re starting in California Adventure because we want to ride Radiator Springs Racers. It’s that simple. I’ve read all the horror stories about the crowds on that ride, how FastPasses run out quickly, etc. So, in order to avoid devastation amongst our kids (both young and old), we’re heading there first. Or, more accurately, I’m doing the FP run while Julie takes the kids wherever they want to go.

The plan for the morning is to hang out in DCA until our FP comes due for RSR. Once we’ve experienced Cars Land and that ride, we’ll make the switch and try to spend most of the day at Disneyland, since it’s the original park that started it all (and there are more rides there).

The idea is to try and see as much as we can, mostly concentrating on attractions that either are not available at Disney World or are different in some way from their Florida counterparts. We had a tentative wish list of attractions put together before our trip:

1. Cars Land/Radiator Springs Racers
2. Matterhorn
3. Indiana Jones ride
4. Space Mountain
5. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
6. Pirates of the Caribbean
7. Heimlich's Chew Chew Train*
8. Haunted Mansion
9. World of Color Show
10. California Screamin’? (If I can convince the kids)
11. Twilight Zone Tower of Terror*

*--not really.

Looking back, I’m shocked! Shocked! It’s a Small World didn’t make the list.

There are also a couple of experiences that are exactly the same as Disney World, but I’m pretty sure the kids (and possibly the adults) will not want to skip:

1. Soarin’ Over California
2. Star Tours
3. Dole Whips
4. Buzz Lightyear ride
5. Dave will want to ride the monorail.

Our mission, and we chose to accept it, is to try and accomplish as much of that list as we can while fighting summer crowds, and heat, and making use of the old-fashioned paper FastPass system while also using child swaps so we don’t have to leave the baby with random strangers.

Oh, and we’re supposed to meet up with Alison somewhere along the way, too.

Start your engines.

Right in the center of the plaza between the two parks, there is a Mickey-head compass set into the ground. It looks really cool, so Julie tries to get a photo of it while the place is still relatively empty. Naturally, just at that moment, some lady decides, amidst the entire empty plaza, to park her stroller right on top of the compass, thus ruining the shot. Thanks a lot, random stroller lady!

C’mon, random stroller lady! Move! Anyway, Here’s some of the detail:

7:40 a.m.—Alison, if you want to see a visual representation of what you did for my kids, this is a good one:

7:45 a.m.—The turnstiles open and they start letting the riffraff inside Disney’s California Adventure. They let everybody else around us in, too.

Monorail Bridge:

7:47 a.m.—We’re gathered behind the rope near the Carthay Circle Restaurant. I’ve done my research, so I know that the RSR FP machines are on the left side of the path, near the It’s Tough To Be A Bug theater.

For some reason, there aren't any FP machines for It's Tough To Be a Bug.

So I angle myself to the left side of the group, while Julie and the kids move to the right to avoid the FP stampede.

All in all, not a bad spot in line to start the day.

7:53 a.m.—You can see that there are already visitors in the park. DCA offered an Extra Magic Hour in the morning to Disney resort guests, so they’ve actually been in the park since 7 a.m.

Up ahead to the right, beyond the rope holding us back, I can see ANOTHER line forming. It appears the Disney resort guests in the park get their own line for RSR FastPasses. This annoys me greatly—they’ve had their chance, they got a head start!

But mostly I think I’m just jealous because they got to stay in a Disney resort last night while I was in the Castle Inn.

7:55 a.m.—A Cast Member up at the front starts giving instructions. With the crowds growing, and period music blaring over the speakers, he sounds like Charlie Brown’s teacher to me. He could be giving the location of secret front-of-the-line magic Fastpasses, and none of us would have any idea. So I stick to my plan of following the line to the FP machines.

7:58 a.m.—Mater and Lightning McQueen appear down near the bend in the road.

7:59:56 a.m.—The Rope is Dropped (well, moved forward, actually), and we start the FastPass march. For the most part, the people are well-behaved, although we definitely are all trying to fast-walk. There’s a lady in front of me with a stroller, and I’m tempted to use her as my fullback as I dodge through the crowd, but we all make our way towards It’s Tough To Be A Bug and form the next line. It feels crowded but it moves very quickly. I catch a brief glimpse of Julie and the kids in my peripheral vision as they speed past on the right, which means they blow right past these guys:

8:15 a.m.—I am now in possession of five Radiator Springs Racers FastPasses. Our return time is 9:40 a.m. I set off to meet up with the others. They had decided to head all the way to the back of the park to ride Toy Story Mania before the line got ridiculous. Not a bad choice at all.

So, let’s catch up with Julie and the kids.

I’m going to apologize here for the rest of the Trip Report. We normally love to take our time and take lots of photos, trying to get those elusive “Wow!” shots. But our photo-taking skills really suffered throughout the day due to the fact that we were rushing to so many places and juggling so many kids. So we never really got the chance to photograph Disneyland like we would have wanted. We mostly just grabbed shots on the fly as we ran. Honestly, it's a miracle some of them are in focus.

And of course, I say that while showing off one of our best photos of the day:

8:30 a.m.—I’m waiting in the Toy Story Mania dump shop when the rest of the clan finishes the ride. They make their way through Andy’s room upstairs and we all meet in the gift shop. The kids are already bouncing off the walls, and Julie doesn’t appear to have dropped the baby anywhere, so I’m assuming it was a successful ride through the shooting gallery.

We wander past California Screamin'. There's no line! It's a 5-minute wait! And the ride looks like a lot of fun. I ask the kids if anyone wants to try it.

They stand at the pier, listening to the countdown, and then see a coaster get launched into the ride. I think that launch intimidated them a bit. They all pass on the ride.

No California Screamin' for us. Add one to the list for next time.

We have about an hour to kill before riding RSR. So we start wandering towards the front of the park. Along the way, we see that the Little Mermaid ride has no line whatsoever. We haven’t seen the new Fantasyland in WDW yet, so this is new to us! Might as well hop in line.

8:40 a.m.—The ride’s pretty well done. It’s a standard Disney dark ride, so you pretty much know what you’re going to get. I really appreciated the way they make you feel like you’re going underwater at the start of the ride: turning the car backwards, leaning back, and then the lighting changes to blue, bubbles are projected on the wall, and a sudden cool blast of air hits you as though you just dove into the pool. I love subtle Disney Imagineering.

Under the Sea Room:

After that photo, Julie decides she just wants to experience the ride, so she puts the camera away. Good for her, I say.

8:45 a.m.—Still moving towards the front of the park, we wander past the Grizzly River Rapids. I love the theming in this area of the park. Very Wilderness Lodge-y.

8:50 a.m.—I grab Fastpasses from the machines near GRR for the World Of Color show that evening. We are slated to be in the “Blue” viewing area. And the show doesn’t start until 9:45 that evening (this is supposed to be a family-friendly park, right?). The instructions on the FP say to begin lining up about an hour prior to the show. Got it.

8:54 a.m.—We’ve reached the building that houses Soarin’ Over California. Appropriately enough, it’s themed to look like an airplane hangar. Sarah and Scotty will not even entertain the thought of passing it up. And I wouldn’t mind a little hang-glider flight myself. Dave has no desire to ride, and Julie decides to pass on it and keep him company—sometimes the motion messes with her head, anyway. So, Sarah, Scotty and I get in line (it’s posted as a 20-minute wait at this point) while she takes David and Drew to go check out the Monsters, Inc. ride. Speaking of Drew, here’s how he’s doing:

Uh oh. I hope this doesn’t spell trouble later.

9:15 a.m.—Sarah, Scotty and I score the front row for Soarin’! It’s good to see the pixie dust is working this early.

By the way, we like the building and queue for Soarin’ much better here. +1 for Disneyland.

The theming in Condor Flats is pretty cool, too. Actually, I have to say, I’m impressed with the overall theming in California Adventure. I have no idea what it looked like prior to the big refurb they did a couple of years ago, but all that work seems to have paid off.

9:22 a.m.—We find Julie and the other boys out front. They give two thumbs up (and one binky up) to the Monsters, Inc. ride, calling it “cute”. The rest of us won’t get the chance to ride it, but we’re not exactly heartbroken since—did I mention this?—we got the front row on Soarin’!

A couple of shots from Julie’s exploits:

9:30 a.m.—I think it’s time we checked out Cars Land. Don’t you? Let’s head on up that way.

Coming Up Next: Boy, this is a jerk move, ending the chapter here. Isn’t it? Sorry, I ran out of photo slots. But don’t worry. We’ll check out Radiator Springs in the next chapter.

 

[jedijill]

Wow! You guys had an awesomely productive morning at DCA! That's a lot of headline rides in a short time! Love everyone's shirts!

Jill in CO

 

[afwdwfan]

I just have to copy this because it may be the best gif ever. So much awesome in one picture.

Also, I notice many Cast Members walking to the entrance with me, or being dropped off by car poolers. Definitely not used to seeing that.

Things like that really stuck out to me too. Seeing a CM in their costume walking down the sidewalk... not something you normally see in Florida. I had to remind myself in DL a few times too that they don't have the Utilidors like WDW when I'd see something that looked a bit wonky.

The first order of business is to pick up our passes. I find the correct window and it goes painlessly.

Well, that's great news! You never know how that process is going to go.

Decisions, decisions. Having 2 theme parks separated only by a very short walk: +1 for Disneyland.

Being able to pull FP from both at the same time... +2

7. Heimlich's Chew Chew Train*

Seems like it would be right up your alley.

And I don't blame you for the asterisk. I had zero expectation of that ride, but we rode it with the kids anyway. My only thoughts were, I'm glad that's over, and that was short.

Looking back, I’m shocked! Shocked! It’s a Small World didn’t make the list.

Hey, it is definitely different and better than the one at WDW. But we also went while they had the holiday overlay so the soundtrack wasn't as maddening. That probably helped it significantly.

5. Dave will want to ride the monorail.

Not the same! The doors don't close automatically and you have to say the safety spiel yourself.

It appears the Disney resort guests in the park get their own line for RSR FastPasses. This annoys me greatly—they’ve had their chance, they got a head start!

But if it is like the days I went there for EMH, they've been in the park for an hour while RSR was down, so they really only got up an hour early to accomplish nothing and are just hoping to get a FP so they can come back later.

But mostly I think I’m just jealous because they got to stay in a Disney resort last night while I was in the Castle Inn.

Oh. Yeah. Well, there's that too.

And of course, I say that while showing off one of our best photos of the day:

That is definitely a terrific one!

No California Screamin' for us. Add one to the list for next time.

Oh, man! 5 minute wait? You should have just rode it while they waited.

After that photo, Julie decides she just wants to experience the ride, so she puts the camera away. Good for her, I say.

It is far more important to enjoy the moment.

Speaking of Drew, here’s how he’s doing:

Can you blame him? I mean he's been awake all night!

The theming in Condor Flats is pretty cool, too.

Your pictures are as close as I've ever been. They had the entire Condor Flats area walled off while we were there.

Actually, I have to say, I’m impressed with the overall theming in California Adventure. I have no idea what it looked like prior to the big refurb they did a couple of years ago, but all that work seems to have paid off.

It really is a very nice park. They did a great job with it. I want to say it reminds me of DHS, but it is so much more... and a lot of it is really unlike anything they have in Florida.

Coming Up Next: Boy, this is a jerk move, ending the chapter here. Isn’t it? Sorry, I ran out of photo slots. But don’t worry. We’ll check out Radiator Springs in the next chapter.

Well played... leave them wanting more.

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

What? NOOOOOOOOO

You can't leave us hanging like that

I was lucky enough to visit Disneyland back in 2006, as my cousin was getting married, and, wouldn't you know, the hotel they booked was only about half an hour away from Disneyland. This was before all the refurbs and before World of Color came out, so I'm dying to go back. Which is why I'm now trying to talk DBF into going this summer for a few days. We've got JetBlue and Marriott points to burn

Funnily enough, HIS cousin is getting married the same time frame I'm looking at, albeit in Ohio. Not much use when it comes to Disney planning, but we could always go to the knock-off Coney Island!

 

[Flossbolna]

Yes, you are at Disneyland!!! Seems like you had a great start to the day!

By the way, Condor Flats is currently being taken totally apart to be rethemed. This is still DCA 1.0 theming and it is going to be turned into a 1930s National Park airfield theme - to go with the Grizzly River Run theming (which was more contemporary as well before the big refurb).

I find your comments about all the urban landscape directly around DL interesting. When we first went there in 1992 there was still a huge big parking lot where DCA is now and there was even less of a sense of a resort. I love what they did with the new DLR now with Downtown Disney and so on. Even the Anaheim streets are so much nicer now than they were in 1992! All the beautiful palm trees etc were not at all there. So, for me it feels so much less urban around it than on my first visit.

Also, to an extent I kind of like the more urban surroundings. Makes it easy to go and get an In-N-Out-Burger. And on the other hand it makes me feel even more in a bubble once I walk onto Disney property.

 

[franandaj]

That was a great morning. Thanks for the shot of the kid's excitement!

Really what they did in the major refurb was redo Buena Vista Street and create Carsland. The rest (Paradise Pier, Condor Flats, Grizzly Park and Hollywood Blvd) are pretty much as they were when the park opened.

There used to be a big "Sunwheel" where the Carthay restaurant is located.

I'm glad that everyone got to ride most of what they wanted in that part of the park. Looking forward to seeing Carsland through yours, Julie's and the kid's eyes!

 

[KatMark]

Captain’s Log: Monday, 28 July 2014.


1. Cars Land/Radiator Springs Racers
2. Matterhorn
3. Indiana Jones ride
4. Space Mountain
5. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
6. Pirates of the Caribbean
7. Heimlich's Chew Chew Train*
8. Haunted Mansion
9. World of Color Show
10. California Screamin’? (If I can convince the kids)
11. Twilight Zone Tower of Terror*

I literally FELL OFF MY CHAIR when I read this. #11 Twilight Zone Tower of Terror! That's not the Mark I know. Then I saw the asterik! I should have looked more closely...I would have saved myself a fall on my back end.

Absolutely LOVE that Mickey bench.

Lady screwing up the picture...what the heck is the matter with you!

The faces on the boys with their tickets are priceless.

The picture of the big Mickey by Paradise Pier...BEST picture ever. I love it.

Of course Andrew is sleeping...he was up at the crack of dawn again.

You cannot beat the front row of Soarin!.

Great family picture...love it.

 

[Mrs. Knowitall]

We wander past California Screamin'. There's no line! It's a 5-minute wait! And the ride looks like a lot of fun. I ask the kids if anyone wants to try it.

They stand at the pier, listening to the countdown, and then see a coaster get launched into the ride. I think that launch intimidated them a bit. They all pass on the ride.

No California Screamin' for us. Add one to the list for next time.

This is Sarah typing. I would like to point out that my father is lying about our enthusiasm about California Screamin'. You need to get the full picture, he did not give you the full picture on many things in this chapter. The full thing is, we wanted to get on Radiator Springs Racers and he wasn't dying to get on California Screamin', as he leads you to believe in the chapter, so he asked us if we wanted to go and Dave and I said we kind of did but we wanted to ride the racers more. We are not wimps like it says in the chapter. Thank you for your time.

After that photo, Julie decides she just wants to experience the ride, so she puts the camera away. Good for her, I say.

I glanced over at Drew who was sitting on Mark's lap. He was so cute...sitting there holding onto the hand rail. I tried to get the settings right to get a picture and then something in me snapped. No. I wasn't going to spend my one day totally behind the lens. I wanted to BE in the moment at Disneyland. Now I did snap away....and got lucky a couple times...but overall, I'm thankful for the decision.

 

[KatMark]

Sarah, that definitely sounds like the truer story.

Julie I think you made a very wise decision.

 

[GoofyFan1515]

Still chugging away, trying to get all caught up!

Zion National Park is another destination high on my list. The Checkerboard Mesa is an amazing feat of nature that is just hard to understand how it happened. Okay, that traffic is . You prepared me before I scrolled down to see the picture, but I still was a little surprised.

$10 for overflow parking??? And what is it with Julie and serving ice cream??? Note to self……….plan trip sometime other than summer.

for another burger place!

Nice looking Hampton in Springdale……….very easy to enjoy a pool when you have THAT view to help you relax.

OMG, the view at the end of that Canyon Overlook Trail! So worth braving the narrow paths, uphill climbs, rickety wooden bridges and partial caves to get there. I’m just glad you were able to shut up long enough for me to enjoy the pictures………………

Such a beautiful part of the country! Even just the pictures of the drive to the Grand Canyon are such amazing views! I had never heard about the Navajo Bridge before, what a great view and perspective to walk out over the Colorado River like that. I agree, the Grand Canyon is a very majestic view and sight to behold!

Crap………puke……………man this TR has EVERYTHING!!!

Julie got some great pictures of the Condor. I agree that when you are standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon, it is an amazing view and just as an amazing a feeling of awe and inspiration.

Everybody should experience a cinnamon role as big as their face at some point in their life. I haven’t had mine yet……I was waiting on my face to get bigger!

 

[afwdwfan]

This is Sarah typing. I would like to point out that my father is lying about our enthusiasm about California Screamin'. You need to get the full picture, he did not give you the full picture on many things in this chapter. The full thing is, we wanted to get on Radiator Springs Racers and he wasn't dying to get on California Screamin', as he leads you to believe in the chapter, so he asked us if we wanted to go and Dave and I said we kind of did but we wanted to ride the racers more. We are not wimps like it says in the chapter. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Sarah. We really don't ever take anything your dad says seriously but I appreciate you clearing that up. California Screamin' is awesome, by the way.

As punishment for his embellishment, I really think you should make your dad ride Tower of Terror 3 or 4 times the next time you make it to Disney World.

 

[KatMark]

As punishment for his embellishment, I really think you should make your dad ride Tower of Terror 3 or 4 times the next time you make it to Disney World.

I agree 100% with afwdwfan, Sarah.

 

[MEK]

Oh WOW! You are finally there! And you got great shots entering the park. As someone who has never been there, I think you really captured the morning anticipation really well!

Yay for the Racer FP's. The Soarin building looks super cute. What? No California Screaming'? Glad you got the WOC FP's.

And I LOVE that group shot of you guys! It's perfect and my actually be my fav group shot of the trip!

Looking forward to more DL!!!!!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

First of all, I would like to point out that my daughter will officially be a teenager in 5 days, in case you couldn't tell.

This is Sarah typing.

Hi Sarah!

And you're quite welcome for taking you to Disneyland.

I would like to point out that my father is lying about our enthusiasm about California Screamin'. You need to get the full picture, he did not give you the full picture on many things in this chapter.

Lying? Wow, that's quite the charge. Anyway, this is my story, so I get to be the hero in it.

The full thing is, we wanted to get on Radiator Springs Racers

But...we couldn't get on it until 9:40...

and he wasn't dying to get on California Screamin', as he leads you to believe in the chapter,

The chapter says, "It's a 5 minute wait! And it looks like fun." I stand by my reporting.

so he asked us if we wanted to go and Dave and I said we kind of did but we wanted to ride the racers more. We are not wimps like it says in the chapter. Thank you for your time.

Looking for the word "wimps"...

Nope, not finding it. I do appreciate the politeness there at the end, though. Must be due to great parenting.

Well, this next 5-6 years should be a lot of fun!

Sarah, that definitely sounds like the truer story.

Hey, I'm not the bad guy here. I'm perfectly happy to have swordfights in the Pirates gift shop.

Thank you, Sarah. We really don't ever take anything your dad says seriously but I appreciate you clearing that up. California Screamin' is awesome, by the way.

I would have hopped right on if anyone wanted to ride...

As punishment for his embellishment, I really think you should make your dad ride Tower of Terror 3 or 4 times the next time you make it to Disney World.

I don't have to buy her a ticket, you know.

I agree 100% with afwdwfan, Sarah.

I vote that you don't get a vote in this!

 

[jedijill]

I'm glad Sarah was able to set the record straight! And happy early birthday!

Jill in CO

 

[franandaj]

I find your comments about all the urban landscape directly around DL interesting. When we first went there in 1992 there was still a huge big parking lot where DCA is now and there was even less of a sense of a resort. I love what they did with the new DLR now with Downtown Disney and so on. Even the Anaheim streets are so much nicer now than they were in 1992! All the beautiful palm trees etc were not at all there. So, for me it feels so much less urban around it than on my first visit.

I completely forgot about this part. Up until the time when DCA was built it was parking lot all the way up to the turnstiles of Disneyland. Some lucky folks were even allowed to park in the spaces right in front of the turnstiles with reserved spaces.

When Disney proposed the whole Disneyland Resort Expansion, they put tons of $$$'s into the "Anaheim Resort" community, in fact they proposed the entire concept. Probably to try and bring it a little closer to the look of WDW. Magdalene is right, there were no palm trees in the median along Harbor Blvd. There was not "Disney landscaping" outside of the park and there were lots of seedy stores, mini markets and other cheesy cheap places all along Katella and Harbor.

With the construction of DCA and the Grand, I think they purchased the Paradise Pier hotel (which was the Pan Pacific prior to that) and they began the entire beautification project. Heck they got the CA depar tment of Transportation involved and rebuilt the Freeway so that the Disneyland Drive could have it's own exit. This was a major cooperation between multiple departments. I'm sure you can appreciate that one Mark!

This is Sarah typing. I would like to point out that my father is lying about our enthusiasm about California Screamin'. You need to get the full picture, he did not give you the full picture on many things in this chapter. The full thing is, we wanted to get on Radiator Springs Racers and he wasn't dying to get on California Screamin', as he leads you to believe in the chapter, so he asked us if we wanted to go and Dave and I said we kind of did but we wanted to ride the racers more. We are not wimps like it says in the chapter. Thank you for your time.

Thanks for chiming in Sarah, good to hear another perspective!

I glanced over at Drew who was sitting on Mark's lap. He was so cute...sitting there holding onto the hand rail. I tried to get the settings right to get a picture and then something in me snapped. No. I wasn't going to spend my one day totally behind the lens. I wanted to BE in the moment at Disneyland. Now I did snap away....and got lucky a couple times...but overall, I'm thankful for the decision.

I'm glad that you were able to spend most of that day in the moment and not get caught up with the camera. I am looking forward though to the reveal of the "moment" with Drew that you fully captured on camera. Especially after we had an entire discussion (while the rest of the family rode Star Tours) about his difficulty moving on with that particular aspect of his life.

 

[dgbg100106]

Captain’s Log: Monday, 28 July 2014.

6:00 a.m.—Rise and shine! The park opens at 8:00 a.m., the ticket window opens at 7:00, and we have a full day of Disney parks ahead of us! Strangely, the kids have no problem getting up, washed and dressed for the day. As opposed to, say, a school day.

Umm because that is school and this is Disney... come on!

Pop Tarts eaten, we’re all ready to go and out the door right around 7:00. Not too shabby at all.

That is good timing. What flavor of pop tarts are we enjoying?

7:13 a.m.—We walk up the block on Harbor Blvd. We have the excitement of visiting a Disney park fueling us, but already I’m noticing how strange things seem compared to what I’m used to experiencing at Disney World in Florida. For example, I don’t have to wait at a bus stop watching multiple buses for the same park go by while the one I want never appears for some reason. Walking a block-and-a-half to the park entrance from my hotel: +1 for Disneyland.

I have stayed at that Embassy Suites right there more times than I can count, for work, and always loved the walk right to Disney.

Not much transition from Disney to the outside urban overcrowding, though. It’s a bit jarring, and I like the feeling of being able to disappear from the real world better in Florida. +1 for Disney World.

Also, I notice many Cast Members walking to the entrance with me, or being dropped off by car poolers. Definitely not used to seeing that.

now that would seem kind of weird. I am used to them just magically appearing.

Near the entrance, there are small “Hollywood star” markers set into the sidewalk, celebrating famous Californians. We find one of the most famous of all.

Seems like it has been walked on too much and starting to fad, they need to fix that.

7:15 a.m.—We’ve reached the main entrance/plaza between Disneyland Park and Disney's California Adventure. Bag check goes smoothly and we’re inside. Once again, Disney music surrounds us. We’re inside the bubble.

The first order of business is to pick up our passes. I find the correct window and it goes painlessly. Within a couple of minutes, we are the proud bearers of 1-day Park Hopper passes. Oh, and if I haven’t mentioned this once or twice or 50 times yet, Alison and Fran rock.

Yes they do Rock! Very special people.

So far, everyone seems excited and happy. Even Drew. By the way, look closely here and you might see a Hidden Mickey:

Wow that is very subtle and hard to see.

7:22 a.m.—Time to get in line.
Decisions, decisions. Having 2 theme parks separated only by a very short walk: +1 for Disneyland.

7:23 a.m.—We get in line at Disney’s California Adventure. I suppose I should let you in on the details of our plan for the day.

We’re starting in California Adventure because we want to ride Radiator Springs Racers. It’s that simple. I’ve read all the horror stories about the crowds on that ride, how FastPasses run out quickly, etc. So, in order to avoid devastation amongst our kids (both young and old), we’re heading there first. Or, more accurately, I’m doing the FP run while Julie takes the kids wherever they want to go.

The plan for the morning is to hang out in DCA until our FP comes due for RSR. Once we’ve experienced Cars Land and that ride, we’ll make the switch and try to spend most of the day at Disneyland, since it’s the original park that started it all (and there are more rides there).

The idea is to try and see as much as we can, mostly concentrating on attractions that either are not available at Disney World or are different in some way from their Florida counterparts. We had a tentative wish list of attractions put together before our trip:

1. Cars Land/Radiator Springs Racers
2. Matterhorn
3. Indiana Jones ride
4. Space Mountain
5. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
6. Pirates of the Caribbean
7. Heimlich's Chew Chew Train*
8. Haunted Mansion
9. World of Color Show
10. California Screamin’? (If I can convince the kids)
11. Twilight Zone Tower of Terror*

*--not really.

Looking back, I’m shocked! Shocked! It’s a Small World didn’t make the list.

There are also a couple of experiences that are exactly the same as Disney World, but I’m pretty sure the kids (and possibly the adults) will not want to skip:

1. Soarin’ Over California
2. Star Tours
3. Dole Whips
4. Buzz Lightyear ride
5. Dave will want to ride the monorail.

Our mission, and we chose to accept it, is to try and accomplish as much of that list as we can while fighting summer crowds, and heat, and making use of the old-fashioned paper FastPass system while also using child swaps so we don’t have to leave the baby with random strangers.

Oh, and we’re supposed to meet up with Alison somewhere along the way, too.

That is a very adventurous schedule. did you get enough sleep for a day like this?

Start your engines.

I am ready, let's go!

Right in the center of the plaza between the two parks, there is a Mickey-head compass set into the ground. It looks really cool, so Julie tries to get a photo of it while the place is still relatively empty. Naturally, just at that moment, some lady decides, amidst the entire empty plaza, to park her stroller right on top of the compass, thus ruining the shot. Thanks a lot, random stroller lady!

C’mon, random stroller lady! Move! Anyway, Here’s some of the detail:

What is up with people, I mean it is not all about them, don't they know you need that picture. Jeez

7:40 a.m.—Alison, if you want to see a visual representation of what you did for my kids, this is a good one:

7:45 a.m.—The turnstiles open and they start letting the riffraff inside Disney’s California Adventure. They let everybody else around us in, too.

I guess anyone can get into that park huh?

7:47 a.m.—We’re gathered behind the rope near the Carthay Circle Restaurant. I’ve done my research, so I know that the RSR FP machines are on the left side of the path, near the It’s Tough To Be A Bug theater.

For some reason, there aren't any FP machines for It's Tough To Be a Bug.

So I angle myself to the left side of the group, while Julie and the kids move to the right to avoid the FP stampede.

7:53 a.m.—You can see that there are already visitors in the park. DCA offered an Extra Magic Hour in the morning to Disney resort guests, so they’ve actually been in the park since 7 a.m.

Up ahead to the right, beyond the rope holding us back, I can see ANOTHER line forming. It appears the Disney resort guests in the park get their own line for RSR FastPasses. This annoys me greatly—they’ve had their chance, they got a head start!

But mostly I think I’m just jealous because they got to stay in a Disney resort last night while I was in the Castle Inn.

7:55 a.m.—A Cast Member up at the front starts giving instructions. With the crowds growing, and period music blaring over the speakers, he sounds like Charlie Brown’s teacher to me. He could be giving the location of secret front-of-the-line magic Fastpasses, and none of us would have any idea. So I stick to my plan of following the line to the FP machines.

7:58 a.m.—Mater and Lightning McQueen appear down near the bend in the road.

7:59:56 a.m.—The Rope is Dropped (well, moved forward, actually), and we start the FastPass march. For the most part, the people are well-behaved, although we definitely are all trying to fast-walk. There’s a lady in front of me with a stroller, and I’m tempted to use her as my fullback as I dodge through the crowd, but we all make our way towards It’s Tough To Be A Bug and form the next line. It feels crowded but it moves very quickly. I catch a brief glimpse of Julie and the kids in my peripheral vision as they speed past on the right, which means they blow right past these guys:

8:15 a.m.—I am now in possession of five Radiator Springs Racers FastPasses. Our return time is 9:40 a.m. I set off to meet up with the others. They had decided to head all the way to the back of the park to ride Toy Story Mania before the line got ridiculous. Not a bad choice at all.

Glad to hear you did not get trampled on the way to fast pass RSR.

So, let’s catch up with Julie and the kids.

I’m going to apologize here for the rest of the Trip Report. We normally love to take our time and take lots of photos, trying to get those elusive “Wow!” shots. But our photo-taking skills really suffered throughout the day due to the fact that we were rushing to so many places and juggling so many kids. So we never really got the chance to photograph Disneyland like we would have wanted. We mostly just grabbed shots on the fly as we ran. Honestly, it's a miracle some of them are in focus.

And of course, I say that while showing off one of our best photos of the day:

Let's just say you were having too much fun and enjoying all the park had to offer to stop and take photos. That is a great photo!

8:30 a.m.—I’m waiting in the Toy Story Mania dump shop when the rest of the clan finishes the ride. They make their way through Andy’s room upstairs and we all meet in the gift shop. The kids are already bouncing off the walls, and Julie doesn’t appear to have dropped the baby anywhere, so I’m assuming it was a successful ride through the shooting gallery.

We wander past California Screamin'. There's no line! It's a 5-minute wait! And the ride looks like a lot of fun. I ask the kids if anyone wants to try it.

They stand at the pier, listening to the countdown, and then see a coaster get launched into the ride. I think that launch intimidated them a bit. They all pass on the ride.

No California Screamin' for us. Add one to the list for next time.

if you make a list you must go back! Just the way it works.

We have about an hour to kill before riding RSR. So we start wandering towards the front of the park. Along the way, we see that the Little Mermaid ride has no line whatsoever. We haven’t seen the new Fantasyland in WDW yet, so this is new to us! Might as well hop in line.

8:40 a.m.—The ride’s pretty well done. It’s a standard Disney dark ride, so you pretty much know what you’re going to get. I really appreciated the way they make you feel like you’re going underwater at the start of the ride: turning the car backwards, leaning back, and then the lighting changes to blue, bubbles are projected on the wall, and a sudden cool blast of air hits you as though you just dove into the pool. I love subtle Disney Imagineering.

Under the Sea Room:

After that photo, Julie decides she just wants to experience the ride, so she puts the camera away. Good for her, I say.

8:45 a.m.—Still moving towards the front of the park, we wander past the Grizzly River Rapids. I love the theming in this area of the park. Very Wilderness Lodge-y.

The Imagineering is amazing all over Disney, I am always excited about how they envision the parks and bring us all into the fold.

8:50 a.m.—I grab Fastpasses from the machines near GRR for the World Of Color show that evening. We are slated to be in the “Blue” viewing area. And the show doesn’t start until 9:45 that evening (this is supposed to be a family-friendly park, right?). The instructions on the FP say to begin lining up about an hour prior to the show. Got it.

8:54 a.m.—We’ve reached the building that houses Soarin’ Over California. Appropriately enough, it’s themed to look like an airplane hangar. Sarah and Scotty will not even entertain the thought of passing it up. And I wouldn’t mind a little hang-glider flight myself. Dave has no desire to ride, and Julie decides to pass on it and keep him company—sometimes the motion messes with her head, anyway. So, Sarah, Scotty and I get in line (it’s posted as a 20-minute wait at this point) while she takes David and Drew to go check out the Monsters, Inc. ride. Speaking of Drew, here’s how he’s doing:

Uh oh. I hope this doesn’t spell trouble later.

I am sure this is not a good sign at all... Time will only tell, at about 3 or 4 am?

9:15 a.m.—Sarah, Scotty and I score the front row for Soarin’! It’s good to see the pixie dust is working this early.

9:22 a.m.—We find Julie and the other boys out front. They give two thumbs up (and one binky up) to the Monsters, Inc. ride, calling it “cute”. The rest of us won’t get the chance to ride it, but we’re not exactly heartbroken since—did I mention this?—we got the front row on Soarin’!

Front row Whoop!!!

A couple of shots from Julie’s exploits:

9:30 a.m.—I think it’s time we checked out Cars Land. Don’t you? Let’s head on up that way.

Coming Up Next: Boy, this is a jerk move, ending the chapter here. Isn’t it? Sorry, I ran out of photo slots. But don’t worry. We’ll check out Radiator Springs in the next chapter.

glad you are finally making your way to cars land!

 

[dgbg100106]

Thank you, Sarah. We really don't ever take anything your dad says seriously but I appreciate you clearing that up. California Screamin' is awesome, by the way.

As punishment for his embellishment, I really think you should make your dad ride Tower of Terror 3 or 4 times the next time you make it to Disney World.

Sarah, I agree with this too. At least 4 times.

 

[glennbo123]

Looks like an ambitious list to try to accomplish, but at the rate you're going I have no doubt you will succeed! Great start to your Disneyland day.