Disneyland Pictures post 4: Day 2, pt 2 -- More DCA, and more fireworks

[Rajah]

(Hopefully these will work for everyone. If they don't on the first try, try hitting stop and refresh and that should fix the problem.

I'm posting this same message on the Disneyland board, but I wanted to make sure no one missed it.

I'm working on a full trip report as well, but this will summarize the trip through pictures. All of the pictures were either cropped or resized from images that are 1024x768, so if you want a larger version of any of the pictures, just let me know

Also, I did do retouching on several of them that were too dark or whatever, but I tried to get the colors as true as possible (except in the case of the sky when it was smoggy). For the most part, the main image editing I've done was to sharpen the images since none of the resized pictures were as sharp as the full-size image)

This post shows the second half of our second day (first full one) at the Disneyland Resort.

We left off at Pacific Wharf in DCA...

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Next on the route we took was Paradise Pier. Some people hate it, we loved it. It has a kind of "Boardwalk" feel, for those familiar with WDW. This is the main entrance into the Paradise Pier area. Unfortunately, the sun was behind the charming entrance so the pic didn't turn out very good.

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A view across the lagoon to the Sunwheel, with the Maliboomer, Orange Stinger, Christmas Tree, and part of California Screamin' visible.


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King Triton's Carousel. It was very cute.

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The midway games area. It really adds to the theming of the area, but I wish they didn't actually charge extra to play the games, or at least not as much as your usual midway area since these games are almost always ripoffs. It was very cute, though.

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One of our favorites in Paradise Pier (yes, we're babies ) -- Jumpin' Jellyfish! This is the "kiddy" version of the Maliboomer. That is, this one raises you up, lowers, raises, lowers, and so on so you essentially "jump" up and down, but it's at a nice mild relaxing pace that is just right for a fun ride for those who don't like elevator-drop rides like the Maliboomer.

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Another of the Sunwheel, this time taken from inside one of the Golden Zephyr rockets just prior to take-off.

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Okay, so the Sunwheel is another "Castle" to me -- I can't pass it by without taking pictures


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This was from inside one of the non-swinging gondolas on the Sunwheel as we were near the top. The building I think is the Avalon Cove restaurant. We'll have to try eating there next time -- didn't make it by this trip.


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A view across to Disneyland from inside the gondola at the top of the Sunwheel. Visible in this pic are the Grand Californian, Matterhorn, the Soarin' Over California show building, and Space Mountain. I *think* the building in the foreground is the Golden Dreams show building, but I'm not positive.

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Another shot, slightly farther over. Yep, it's Golden Dreams at the front, with Soarin', Space Mountain, and Grizzly Peak in the back.

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Now on to Flik's Fun Fair, where we found Heimlich partaking of his unusual crop.

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I just thought this water play area was cute. I used to love these "suspended faucets".

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Found the 4-leaf clover!

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Flik's Flyers were the cutest of the rides to look at. We didn't actually *do* anything this visit, just looked.

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Back around to the main entrance, where we caught the monorail going by over the bridge.

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Back around to Grizzly Peak again. Can you figure out which two areas of DCA I liked the best?

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Another of the Griz.

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The old mill you go through on the ride.

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I'm not exactly sure what this is supposed to be -- is this the Bay Area? It had a feel of Main Street, and though there wasn't anything here besides Golden Dreams and restrooms, we really liked the atmosphere.

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There's that Sunwheel again!

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We found Lilo signing autographs over near the Orange Stinger.

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Jumpin' Jellyfish at dusk.

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More Jumpin' Jellyfish.

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Stinger and Sunwheel at dusk from the top of the Jellyfish.

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Avalon Cove from the top of the Jellyfish.

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Again.

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Okay, finally we're out of DCA and back to Disneyland -- No more Sunwheel pics this thread, I promise

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Main Street was beautifully lit! Look at how huge that tree is in comparison to the rest of the buildings!

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A wider angle of Main Street.

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Small though it may be, the Castle sure is captivating, especially at night when framed by the lights of Main Street.

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I love what they did with the trees, though I miss the frost fairies.

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I tried getting a different angle on the Thunder Mountain pic -- one with a bit of a motion blur. But DH pointed out that my wide-angle lens blocks the flash, so my usual trick of using the flash on slow didn't work. But, you can kinda see the "ghost" of the train -- I promise, there's a train there.

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Another ride on Space, another pic of a pic This time, DH knew where the camera was so was prepared.

After riding on Space Mountain, we caught the train to return to Main Street so we could watch the fireworks again. There's actually something to see on the train from Tomorrowland to Main Street at Disneyland, unlike Disneyworld. These are rather dim since I didn't use the flash and had them on fast shutter speed, so I had to up the gamma to get the details to come out, but you get the idea. There are two sections of scenes. One is the Grand Canyon, and the other is Primeval World -- the very one (with maintenance, of course) that Walt did for the '64 World's Fair if I'm not mistaken (it was the '64 World's Fair, wasn't it?). If I remember correctly, Primeval World was the inspiration for Universe of Energy at Epcot. Anyway, enough rambling -- I'll let the pictures tell the story.

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(Those are pterodactyls / ptranadons, or at least something similar -- the pic is hard to make out, so I'm identifying )

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Okay, having survived our ride back in time, we emerged on Main Street to find the parade about half-way through. Turns out, this was the only time we actually *watched* any of the parade.

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Simba, waving to the guests

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Tarzan on Tantor

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Some of the guests performing. I considered trying out for the parade again this time, but never got around to it.

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The Whales.

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And the big 5 themselves.

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After the parade had passed, we worked our way to the other end of Main Street for the fireworks. Oh -- and those people who were complaining about it being impossible to get down Main Street when everyone's leaving (that's what we overheard, anyway)... y'all haven't tried the same feat at Disneyworld's Magic Kingdom! LOL! Anyway -- another castle shot.

And, once more, pictures of Believe In Holiday Magic. Not much to say for these besides that they're fireworks, so I'll shut up until they're over.

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And this time, we end with the magic that ends the fireworks: snow on Main Street. This picture is sharpened about a dozen times over so that it's over-done, but that's the only way I could get the snow to show up.

I hope y'all enjoyed these pictures!

If you missed one of my previous Disneyland Picture threads, you can find them at the following links:
Day 1 part 1:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=294887
Day 1 part 2:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=295330
Day 2 part 1:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=296688

 

[Rajah]

I guess 3 am isn't a good time to post a picture thread, huh? Bumping so people will see it.

 

[Jeff in BigD]

Wow, the fireworks pictures look great!

Keep 'em comin'!

 

[WDWfanatic288]

great pics!

AHHH! I wanna go back to DL SOOOOOOOOOO bad!!!!

 

[DonnaRy]

Wow, you take outstanding photos! I even dragged my husband into the computer room to take a look at them. You really got a great play by play of your trip. I like your photos of the hotel and the shots at Goofy's Kitchen.

Now, I'm really looking forward to my trip in April!

 

[lynetteSC]

WOW! Having never been to DL or DCA, I am really WOWWED by these fab pictures! Thanks so much for sharing!!!

 

[Grog]

Great pics, Rajah. Thanks for sharing. Waiting for the next set of pics feels like waiting for the sequel to a good movie. I really liked the pics taken from the Sunwheel. I didn't ride it last time, but might get up the nerve on my next trip

 

[iluvorlando]

Great pics, Rajah! I wish we had gone when we were in CA years ago. Instead we went to some other six flags theme park. Now, I wonder how I can convince dh we need to go back..........

 

[Serena]

Oooooo, aaaaaahhhhhhhh

 

[Rajah]

Grog -- I did the Sunwheel once. That's enough for me! LOL! And that was even on one of the non-swinging gondolas!

iluv -- You probly went to Magic Mountain? We used to go there when I was a kid on Disney trips, but I haven't been back in several years. Now, the only ones I'm interested in are Disneyland/DCA and Knott's Berry Farm. We still haven't gotten back by Knott's, either.

 

[mrsapalm]

Thanks for another installment of your DLR trip! I love the pics. That Sun Wheel can be a doozy, right?
-MrsAPalm

 

[helenabear]

Great pictures Tammi!!! You really make me want to go back there (it's been way too long!)

 

[newmousecateer]

Great pictures Tammi! Thanks much.

 

[Jeafl]

Great pictures!

I was at DL/DCA one month ago today, but since it was pouring rain, I didn't take any pictures at all

I must have missed your other pic threads, so I will take a look at your links. Did you take any pictures of the trees at night in Downtown Disney? The ones with the light-wrapped trunks and the large lit balls at the top? i was trying to explain them to my kids, but they didn't get it. I know they'd love to see pictures of them.

 

[Rajah]

Originally posted by Jeafl
Did you take any pictures of the trees at night in Downtown Disney? The ones with the light-wrapped trunks and the large lit balls at the top? i was trying to explain them to my kids, but they didn't get it. I know they'd love to see pictures of them.

I have one captured in this picture:

I can go into the original (which is larger) and capture just the tree if you'd like a larger picture. That's the only one I got of the trees with the balls, though.

 

[Dodie]

Sob...

I wanna go back to DisneyLAND and DCA!!!!

 

[shep]

Great pics!!
Thanks for sharing..

 

[Rajah]

Jeafl -- here's the zoom on that tree

DH really liked the trees, too. Another thing I wish I'd taken more pictures of.

 

[Jeafl]

Thanks Rajah! I pm'd you.

The trees were really striking when you saw the whole of Downtown Disney at once. I've never seen the trunks wrapped like that before. One of these days I'll have to try it at home.

 

[olena]

Those are EXCELLENT pics! Thanks for sharing....