I'm FINALLY going to DLR!

[CandyMouse]

Just wanted to say I've been enjoying your trip report too!! Thank-you very much! My Family and I are heading to disneyland in just a couple days, so we're getting very excited!

 

[zanzibar138]

Just wanted to say I've been enjoying your trip report too!! Thank-you very much! My Family and I are heading to disneyland in just a couple days, so we're getting very excited!

Yay!

You'll have a great time!

 

[zanzibar138]

Before we left Australia I booked our tickets for Universal Studios. We just went with the ones that included transportation since it was easier.

Another bright and early morning - 8am pick up. We stopped at another couple of hotels, then ended up at the bus depot. We were informed that a couple of the connecting buses were running a little late because of an accident on the freeway, so we had time to check out the little gift shop. It wasn't too long before we were off.

The bus driver was quite good, and pointed out a lot of interesting things on the way. There was some quite nice scenery coming up to Universal, and we also got some glimpses of the Hollywood sign.

The first thing we did when we got to Universal was get a photo of the globe. Good thing too as it was pretty crowded at the end of the day!

Then we decided we were both pretty hungry, so we thought we'd wander through CityWalk and see if we could find something breakfasty.

We were pretty surprised to see 'kangaroo paws' at CityWalk!

We ended up getting a couple of muffins and coffees from one of the little places, and got a cute sign for our front door that says 'Guard Border Collie on Duty'. When we'd finished our muffins we headed in to the park.

There were heaps of characters out just past the entry - I guess they were still there from opening. We didn't bother to get photos or anything though - not the same as Disney characters! I did get a photo of Donkey at his waffle stand as we passed...

I was headed straight for the studio tour, as I knew it would take a while and wanted to get it 'out of the way' so we didn't have to try and fit it in later. I figured the lines might not be too bad yet either.

We had about a 20 minute wait for the tour, which went pretty quickly admiring the view.

Which I enjoyed with my 3D glasses...

Nick, being a solar hot water installer, was distracted by all the solar panels on the hill opposite us.

Here's a few photos from the tour:

Going into the King Kong cave

About to be flooded

Jaws at Amity Island

Wisteria Lane

The set from The Grinch

Bates Motel

The set from War of the Worlds

I got heaps more photos, but can't put them all in this post!

Straight after the studio tour, we made our way to The Simpsons ride. The Simpson family was out for photos in front of the ride, but we didn't bother to stop. We got a kick out of seeing the Kwik-e-Mart and Moe's Tavern! We've all seen the front of the ride, so I thought I'd show what the queue area is like instead.

This was the longest wait we had all day (apart from the studio tour), and it was still only 15 minutes! Just enough time to see all the characters do their little bit in the queue area... Then we were shown to our 'ride vehicle'.

I have to say I was a bit disappointed with this one. I always feel like simulators are a bit of a cop out, and this was no exception. It was made worse by the completely nonsense storyline that kept making me realise it was just a simulator - I didn't really ever 'believe' the ride. And simulators make me feel a little queasy too so that wasn't the best!

Having said that though, you can't really go wrong with a Simpsons ride! It was great fun seeing all the characters, and the story was amusing and had some pretty funny jokes and references in there.

After we had a look in the gift shop, we made our way down to the bottom level. Those escalators sure were a pain! It took so long to get from one level to another! And only having 2 attractions downstairs made it seem like it wasn't really worthwhile. We probably would have ridden those rides more often if they weren't so hard to get to!

I mentioned how quite it was - this was the line for Jurassic Park

And on the ride

The Mummy was a walk on too. There were some shady looking characters hanging around out the front.

I was pretty concerned that guy was going to sneak up behind me and make me scream!

After riding all the rides it was getting to be about lunch time, so we made our way back to CityWalk. We passed this familiar looking car on the way.

Nick had been eyeing off the brewery place in CityWalk, so we headed straight for there.

Nick had fish and chips, with the beer tasting selection. I had calamari, which was pretty plain. It came with a dipping sauce but I'm not big on sauces and I particularly HATE mayo! There were also little tiny full octopus which was a bit of a turn off. In Australia calamari is usually just the rings.

We were both feeling a bit full after lunch, so thought we'd do something other than rides for a while.

As we went back into the park I took the opportunity to get a photo of this statue while it was less crowded.

As we were walking past the Shrek 3D show we saw there was a show just starting so we thought we'd go check it out. It's the same as the one at Movie World in Australia, but Nick hadn't seen it so it was worth doing.

After that we were a bit lost. Neither of us were really that interested in the shows. We decided to go and ride Jurassic Park again since that was fairly tame on the tummy. Then we figured we may as well try to get to the last showing of Waterworld.

By the time we got up all the escalators and back nearly to the front of the park we were pretty late, but they were letting us line up for late entry. They advised us that we would be in the 'soak' zone, and that we could get a bit damp, or completely soaked to the skin. Since we were just going to leave once it was finished, we figured it wouldn't be so bad if we got wet. A couple of people pulled out.

We were shown to our seating after what looked like the first lot of special effects. The seats were COMPLETELY SOAKED! It was like sitting in a puddle. But we figured we'd be getting wet anyway so it didn't really matter. As it was, there were really no more big splashes and that was the wettest we got. I thought afterwards if I'd have put my raincoat down on the seat instead of wearing it I probably would have been better off!

The show was quite good. I think we missed a bit of storyline coming in late, but it was more about the effects and the stunts anyway so it didn't really matter.

By that time the light was fading fast, and I didn't want to disturb people with the flash, so I didn't get a heap of great photos. Got a couple of decent ones though.

After the show we went to board the bus that was waiting for us out the front, and made our way back to Anaheim. On the way back the bus driver didn't do the commentary - just let us relax after a big day. It was a bit of a struggle to stay awake!

There were quite a few hotel drops before us, on the other side of Disneyland to where we were. It was cool to see the Disney owned hotels, and I definitely want to stay at the Disneyland Hotel or Grand Californian one day!

When we got back to our room I organised a bit of a schedule for the next day, just to make sure we did everything I wanted to. There were still a few rides that we hadn't done, and I didn't want to leave anything until Saturday, knowing it would be more crowded.

Then we had some left over pizza for dinner and hit the hay, ready for our next big day!

Next up, our more structured day at Disneyland and DCA!

 

[yanna]

I'm enjoying the trip report so far! All of your pictures are amazing. I'm looking forward to reading somemore

 

[PrincessInOz]

NEXT time, I recommend that you stop and chat with Donkey. He is absolutely hilarious! Love your pictures and I'm looking forward to your next day.

 

[TheColtonsMom]

Enjoying your TR LIked seeing the pics from Universal since I have not been there since I was a child in the late 70s. Looks like you are having a wonderful time.

 

[zanzibar138]

I know it's great technology, but it was just too weird talking to the animatronic characters. Was the same with Mr Potato Head - I just couldn't bring myself to do it!

 

[zanzibar138]

This was the first morning we went into Disneyland with a plan. Having said that though, we didn't get up particularly early or anything, just went when we were ready.

We started with brekky at LaBrea Bakery. I had bacon and eggs with toast and Nick had French toast which looked really yummy.

When we wandered through the gates Nick saw the fire station and had me pose for a couple of pictures.

The next thing we did was go to get a fastpass. We headed straight for BTMR, but fastpasses weren't in use for that one. The wait time was only 15 mins so we thought we'd ride it anyway while we were there. Indy was about the only ride actually using fastpasses during the week while we were there, so we headed there. Once we had that fastpass, we headed to Roger Rabbit to get a fastpass for that.

I got distracted by these couple of details by Alice in Wonderland on the way through. I hadn't really noticed the cute cheshire cat lights before.

When we got to Roger Rabbit, it was only a 15 min wait, so we thought it would be a bit of a waste of a fastpass and joined the queue.

It was a fun ride, especially once Nick found out you could actually spin the ride vehicle by turning the steering wheel!

After that we had a quick look around that side of Toontown.

Then onto IASW. I told Nick he didn't have to come with me, but it was something I wanted to experience at least once! He did decide to come with me in the end, and I think regretted it for the rest of the day while he was singing 'it's a world of laughter a world of tears...'

I thought the ride was kind of fun - kind of like riding through a giant 3D scale model! And it was fun looking for the Disney characters and seeing them done in the small world style. The song did get to me after a while though, and I have to say I was a bit disappointed in the portrayal of Australia! We are NOT in the same category as Hawaii and Fiji...

I enjoyed the opportunity to get some good pictures of the topiaries.

Next stop was the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. This was about half an hour wait, but we had put aside this day to ride everything even if the lines were long. It wasn't too bad a wait, then we were entering our subs. It was a pretty cool ride, and worth the wait.

Next was Alice in Wonderland, which I had been eyeing off for most of the trip.

Again, it wasn't too bad a wait, and the ride was fun.

After Alice in Wonderland, it was time to wait it out for Peter Pan. The wait there was about 40 mins, but we had a nice lady to chat to in the line. She had come to Disneyland for her birthday.

We were both pretty impressed with Peter Pan, and thought the effects were pretty cool!

By the time we were finished there, it was well and truly time for our fastpass return for Indy. So we made our way over there and rode that then, since we had done everything I needed to do at Disneyland, we thought we'd head over to DCA.

We got a bit distracted on the way by ice cream.

Then characters.

I nearly got run over by Ariel!

So then it was time to move along.

Next up, our more structured afternoon at DCA.

 

[zanzibar138]

First stop was the Tower of Terror for fastpasses, so we turned left as we entered the park and went through the Hollywood Backlot area. First we came across this guy, in his beachy finest!

We stood and watched him for a while, as he was interacting with a little kid, getting her to dance and stuff.

As we moved along we came to a photopass photographer, so posed for some more photos.

We eventually did make our way to the Tower of Terror and got our fastpasses!

Next stop was 'It's Tough to be a Bug'. We had great timing, with a session just about to start as we were walking past.

You may or may not be aware that I am terribly arachnophobic! I decided I would still attempt to watch this one though, and I made sure I previewed the show on youtube so I would know when to close my eyes. The big red spider at the start freaked me out a little, and I was pretty pleased to see him go! But I think it was good for me to see a more cartoon style spider who was pretty harmless. I closed my eyes when hopper launched the attack on the audience. Apparently I missed some wasps or something, and I knew when the spiders came out by all the screams lol! Nick told me when it was over. So I managed to get through with very minimal permanent scarring.

Next up was Toy Story Mania. On our way though, we stopped at the Golden Vine to see if they had anything available for dinner that night. Unfortunately they didn't. We also saw another photopass photographer just going onto the Paradise Pier bridge, so stopped for another photo.

Finally we made it to TSM. I snapped these pics while in the line.

The ride was lots of fun, but I did just terribly on all the games!

By the time we were finished on TSM, it was just starting to get dark. We decided it would be a great time to ride Mickey's Fun Wheel, so went to line up. The line was a little longer than it had been last time we rode it, but not too bad. Since we wanted a stationary gondola we had to wait a bit longer. It was good timing though since by the time we got going it was well and truly sunset. In the time we were going around, we got to see the surrounding area as it turned from day to night.

When we got off I got out my big camera and took a few photos of the lights.

We were planning to go on the river rapids again, but decided since it had gotten dark it was a bit chilly for that sort of caper!

We made our way to the Tower of Terror for our fastpass return. I think it was the first time we had used a fastpass in our actual allocated time lol!

We were both a little nervous about the Tower of Terror, as we're not really into rides that just drop. But of course we had to try it! We got through the pre ride video, and they were after a party of 2 to fill an elevator, so we got to go straight on. Probably a good thing since we didn't have too much time then to think about it! We buckled ourselves in and next thing we knew, the door shut and we were going up!

I had no idea when the first drop was going to happen, so I was really nervous on the first stop. Nothing happened, and I had a bit of a false sense of security at the second stop where the family disappears. Then it dropped I don't think I have ever screamed so loud on a ride! Then we were going up again, then dropping. I just loved the view from the top. Then we were dropping again! I think Nick's leg may have been numb by the end of the ride I nearly couldn't undo my seatbelt since I was shaking so much!

But we both decided it was fun and we'd do it again during the day...

We thought it would be a good time to sit down for a while after that lol! So we made our way to Pacific Wharf. Once we had our breath back, we got some dinner from the Asian place, and Nick got a beer. Nick didn't think much of the food (it was a bit different to the Asian food we get in Australia), but I enjoyed mine.

After dinner it was just about closing time, so we headed off to our hotel and called it a night. We had an early morning the next day for our tour.

Next up, our OC Experience!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Just catching up. Love your character pictures. They are great!

And I was laughing at your descriptions of Bugs and ToT. I love Bugs....but have never quite made it on to ToT (something to do with having dropped 5 floors for real at the Rialto...I've never ever seen the thrill in ToT since).

I know it's great technology, but it was just too weird talking to the animatronic characters. Was the same with Mr Potato Head - I just couldn't bring myself to do it!

Donkey is a little bit different. I don't know how they do it...but the chatter seems to be 'real' interaction. He even made jokes about what we were wearing and could describe our clothes to the minutae detail.

 

[zanzibar138]

So we had planned Thursday as a non-theme park day, but we left it a little late to book our tour, so we ended up doing the theme parks Thursday and having a theme park day Friday. We still had our World of Colour package booked for Friday night though, so we still got a bit of Disney in the day

The day started at 7:30am when the tour bus picked us up at the hotel. We picked up a few others and went to the depot. After all the booking in etc we ended back on the same bus.

Our first stop on the bus was the ferry terminal for Catalina Island in Long Beach. Our driver was very knowledgable about the area and had some interesting things to say. Although I have felt safer in a bus before He didn't really seem to know where he was going that much!

On the way through we passed these islands.

Our driver pointed out that they are actually oil rigs, but were prettied up so that the people paying millions of $$ for beachfront properties had a nice view.

Before too long we were at the ferry terminal and, to our surprise, every single person except us got off the bus! We ended up having a whole big tour bus with driver all to ourselves! Here is a pic of some more gum trees (yes, Nick was slightly obsessed lol!) at the Catalina ferry terminal. Our driver had gone with the others to make sure they got to their check-in desk ok.

Our next stop was Newport Harbour for our cruise. We got a very personlised tour of the area between Long Beach and Newport! Our driver pointed out this hotel as the 'Mermaid Hotel' from The OC.

Before we go too much further I should point out that Nick and I are both big 'OC' fans, which was part of the reason we went on the tour.

Upon arriving at the harbour, our driver walked us to the cruise desk.

We were told to come back in about 15 mins, so we wandered around for a while, and got a bagel for brekky, checked out a few shops (only the windows though since nothing was open yet).

When we got back to the cruise desk they were just starting to board, so we headed to the boat and chose our seats. I wasn't that pleased with the seats we got, but it didn't really matter in the end because the cruise was pretty laid-back and we all stood up to see things of interest anyway.

Cruising out towards the ocean, we passed heaps of big boats and mansions along the riverfront. All the boats had big barriers, upside down chairs etc on them. Our skipper told us it was to try to keep the sea lions off the boats! And lo and behold, we came across these guys lying around on one of them!

Some of the mansions along the waterfront were pretty speccy!

Once we were in the ocean we made our way out to this bhouy, which also had heaps of sea lions on it!

We did a few circles around the bhouy so everyone could see the sea lions, then made our way back into the river. On the way back we saw some more mansions, some more sea lions, and also some dolphins.

When we got back to the dock we still had a bit of time before our bus left. We checked out a little games place just where we got off the boat. We saw a 'Deal or No Deal' game, which Nick was just too curious not to try! He won a few tickets, which we thought would get us a pretty decent prize. Unfortunately all it got us was a pen and some lollies!

Wandering back to the bus, we were looking out for a nice looking place to have some lunch. The bus driver had suggested a Mexican place, but neither of us felt much like Mexican. We ended up finding an Italian sort of place where we had some fish and chips.

When we got back on the bus, our driver asked what we wanted to do. The itinerary was supposed to be shopping next, at South Coast Plaza. The driver suggested we might enjoy Fashion Island more, then a bit more of a tour around Newport since we were OC fans. We said that sounded good.

When we got to Fashion Island, we felt pretty important going up to the concierge desk with our very own driver. They gave us some little bags with maps and information, and a notebook. Then we were given 2 hours before we had to meet the driver again. Now neither of us are really big into fashion, and I have trouble shopping at the best of times, so we weren't exactly sure how we were going to fill in 2 hours!

We started off wandering around, and were amazed to see fish ponds, fountains, and picnic benches dotted around the centre. Most of the shops were actually in a nice outside area.

We wandered into a couple of shops, and made a quick exit when we saw some of the price tags But then I saw a little shop with a sale sign in the window, and had a little look. I ended up spending the majority of the 2 hours there! I found some great bargains, and ended up with a few jackets, some tops, a pair of jeans, some work pants, and a few other bits and bobs.

Nick had given up on me and gone off on his own. He came back with a jacket and a couple of t-shirts, which he was pleased with.

The bus driver had told us about a flash pet store there, so we checked that out, then bought a couple of drinks and made our way back to the bus.

After that we were taken on a tour of some of the Newport estates. Wow! There's some prime real estate around there! The driver pointed out Caleb's house from The OC, but it was actually pretty well screened. Anyway, it gave us a bit more of a feel for the area, and we were pretty glad we got to do that instead of just spending the whole time shopping.

So that was the end of our tour. We then battled the peak hour traffic back to the hotel on the freeway, ready for our World of Colour package that night!

Next up, the World of Colour package and a very special surprise!

 

[TheColtonsMom]

sounds likem a great relaxed non-disney day to me~

 

[zanzibar138]

After we'd gotten changed and wandered down to Disneyland, we thought we'd start the evening with a stroll through Downtown Disney.

When we headed back towards DCA for our 7:30pm reservation at Ariel's, Nick decided to announce he'd left his ticket back at our hotel! Normally it would be a pain, but we'd just go back and get it. But having our dinner reservation made things a bit tricky, especially because we had the show that fit in straight afterwards. So there we were at the customer service yet again asking after a lost ticket!

Unfortunately it wasn't looking good, and I was getting quite concerned about what might happen! Then the girl we were dealing with went off to find her supervisor or something, and came back a little more optimistic sounding. They ended up giving us the benefit of the doubt as I still had my ticket, and they were able to give us a temporary entry pass. By the end of the night I was able to forgive Nick for being a little absent-minded...

So we RAN to Ariel's as by that stage we were running a little late! Turns out they weren't ready for us yet anyway, so I wandered around the area taking some photos.

There were heaps of people lining up for the first WOC show (we were going to the second one). They were lined up along the bridge all the way to Ariel's, and after seeing the show I wondered if they really got anything out of it seeing it from that angle!

It wasn't too long until we were seated, and were offered a choice of 2 platters for an appetizer. We didn't really like the sound of either of them, but Nick's really not a seafood fan, so we went with the non-seafood one.

It came out almost immediately, and we were asked what drinks we wanted too. Well, we hadn't got through the drinks menu yet! I knew all along I wanted to order one of the glowing cocktails, so made my way to that section and ordered a Glowtini (which was most delicious!). We had also ordered our main course by then as well.

We picked at the platter for a bit, and I took a couple of decor photos of the restaurant.

The mains came out before we knew it! I think I had a chicken dish, but I do remember whatever it was, it was good! Nick wasn't especially hungry, and didn't enjoy his meal all that much. I forgave him for that too at the end of the night...

While we were enjoying our meal, the first WOC show was happening. I allowed myself to enjoy the view we got from the restaurant as a taster of what was to come.

The dessert platter came out almost immediately when our plates were taken away from the mains.

We both enjoyed the chocolatey dishes, but not so much the mousses and macarons. Neither of us could bare to eat the chocolate film strip!

The whole dining process took about an hour. It was pretty obvious they just wanted to get people in and out as quickly as possible. Still, the food was nice and we enjoyed the experience. And we wanted to get out fairly quickly too so we could get a good spot for the show!

Trying to get into the right area was a bit of a nightmare! It was pretty chaotic, and we ended up in the line for the blue area instead of the preferred section. But we soon sorted ourselves out and headed for the correct section. I tried to remember what I'd learnt from the DISers, and headed for the edge of one of the higher tiers (as the front was already full). A friendly cast member pointed out a good spot just at the edge of a walkway, behind a garden bed.

I got a few photos of the different lighting on Mickey's Fun Wheel before the show started.

By the time the show was about to begin, the viewing area was quite crowded (but the preferred area still had plenty of room, just not good spots). You may be interested to know that the people standing next to us had come from the yellow section, and just asked the cast member if they could switch places. I thought that was a bit unfair, but didn't let it ruin the show.

Here's some pics I got during the show. The only problem with our spot was that there was a light that was pretty much in the way of all the photos. Fortunately they turned the lights off during the show, but you can still see the silhouette.

The show was just amazing! It's incredible what they can do with some water and lights!

I know there was a lot of debate around here about whether the dining package would be worth it. Well, I can say without a doubt it was worth it for us! We both really enjoyed the dinner (even though it was slightly rushed), and we got some great spots for the show without having to worry about getting fastpasses or lining up early before the show. It was a very relaxed evening except for Nick forgetting his ticket lol!

Anyway after the show there was the Tron encore. Nick and I didn't really 'get' it, but then neither of us has seen Tron and we don't really like sci-fi. Was still pretty spectacular though.

When the show finished they left some lights and fountains going while people filtered out.

We just hung around a bit, as neither of us like to deal with crowds, and we weren't in a hurry. We were probably standing there for 10 minutes, when Nick said to me 'You know I love you, right? And you know I want to spend my life with you...' I turn around to respond and there he is getting a little (suspiciously ring-sized) box out of his pocket!

At this stage I was thinking 'Is this what I think it is???' Nick was trying to be quite discreet about it so I really didn't know! But then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! I shed a few tears and of course said an emphatic 'YES'! He put the ring on, and it fit perfectly!

So we just hung around a bit more, basking in the moment, me staring at my finger in disbelief lol! Then one of the cast members cleaning up asked us to move along... I can't believe Nick managed to propose at Disneyland and not have one single person, even a cast member, notice anything! It's so like him lol!

So then we made our way out of the park, and back into Downtown Disney. We called both our parents to share the happy news. Nick had previously tried to call my parents to give them a heads up, but couldn't get through, so it was a nice surprise for them.

So after we shared the news and basked in our newly engaged state for a little while we headed back to the hotel and called it a night. Before we turned in I took a quick pic of my ring.

Next up, saying goodbye to Disneyland...

 

[PrincessInOz]

OMG!

OMG!

OMG!

A real live Disney engagement! Congratulations!

That is just so MAGICAL! EXCITING!

And some Food for Thought!

I'm always free to attend a wedding at Disney!




ps. Another great update! And I love the ring!

 

[zanzibar138]

Thanks Princess It's pretty exciting!!!

Don't think we'll be going along the Disney lines for the wedding though - looking at a local wildlife park for our venue so will probably go with more of an Australian bush kind of theme. But I'll try to sneak a couple of subtle Disney touches in lol!

 

[Karenann*]

Congratulations!!!! What a wonderful end to your evening. Best wishes for you both.

karen

 

[zanzibar138]

We didn't make ourselves get up early on our last day at Disneyland, even though we wanted to spend as much time there as possible! We woke to beautiful blue skies and warm temperatures. Considering I was expecting the whole week to be raining and cold we didn't do too badly! But this was definitely the nicest day we had.

I got this picture of the distant mountains on our last walk to Disneyland from our hotel. I'd been meaning to get a photo all week, but some days we were in too much of a hurry for me to stop for photos, and the other days weren't clear enough.

We headed straight to DCA. It didn't end up being too long after opening. We went straight to the Tower of Terror to get fastpasses. Then we thought we'd check out the line for Grizzly River Run.

The sign said 15 minutes, but I don't think it had been updated! Half an hour later we were on the ride! This time I specifically chose a seat away from the steps hoping that I wouldn't get too soaked! It was much better.

After our rapids ride, we went for brekky/brunch at LaBrea Bakery. I had the French toast and Nick had some sort of big brekky. One of the things I loved about the US was the lemonade! In Australia if you ask for a lemonade you get a Sprite. I don't think I've been anywhere in Australia where they serve old-style non-fizz lemonade.

After brekky we headed back to DCA. We headed into the Hollywood Backlot.

And saw a mini parade of green army men.

Next we went to use our Tower of Terror fastpasses. It would have preferred more time for my brekky to go down! But it was ok. Still scary though

Next we went to line up at the Hyperion Theatre. It was a little warm standing in the sun and I was starting to wish I'd put sunscreen on! I didn't even get the least bit sunburnt though. If I'd been standing in the sun for that long in Australia I would have been red as a beetroot!

I was expecting to be allowed into the theatre in lines, and be shown to seats filling up from the front first. Turned out it was a bit of chaotic free-for-all! So we were quite glad we'd bothered to line up early. We got pretty good seats in the middle, one row behind the dividing wall between the front and back sections.

The show was amazing! We couldn't believe how much effort they put into a regular admission show in the park! We were thrilled when the 'menagerie' came into the theatre through the aisles, and when Aladdin and Jasmine went on their magic carpet ride. And the genie was absolutely hilarious After that we were really looking forward to The Lion King show in Vegas!

When we came out of the theatre there was a Pixar mini parade happening - this time it was The Incredibles.

Next we made our way to The Muppets 3D. We stood and watched Sully for a while who was at Monsters, Inc. But there was a massive line so we didn't line up. Looked like he was wrapping it up too, so we moved along.

Got some photos of a couple of the posters out the front of the theatre. I did a double-take when I saw the poster for The Dogfather, because I thought I was seeing Oliver/Tabitha/Mary-Jane! Lol!

I'm still not really sure what Nick thought of the show! But I'm quite a big muppets fan - especially Kermit the Frog - so I really enjoyed it, and thought it was pretty funny.

After the show it was time to venture back into Disneyland, mainly for some shopping! We picked up some fastpasses for Grizzly River Run first.

I'd seen a few people wandering around with 'Just Engaged' buttons, so thought we'd enquire about them at City Hall. The Dapper Dans were out providing some entertainment.

The guy I spoke to didn't know anything about 'Just Engaged' buttons, and could only offer us 'Happily Ever After' buttons. I thought they would be good souvenirs anyway, so we took a couple. Nick wouldn't put his on!

We made our way to BTMR for some fastpasses. Then checked out the Mark Twain, as that was one ride we hadn't been on that we wanted to. We thought it would be nice to leave until the Saturday because we figured there wouldn't be much of a line - we'd just have to wait until it was going again - and would be a nice way to fill in time in an otherwise crowded park. Unfortunately it was down for the day.

While we were over that way we noticed the Haunted Mansion only had a wait time of 15 minutes. But it wasn't even that! It was literally a walk-on - the quietest we had seen it! We thought we'd better take advantage of that and rode it one last time.

Then we hit the shops. Nick had his eye on a hat at the Pirates of the Caribbean shop. While we were there I bought some Nightmare Before Christmas fingerless gloves for my goth friend. I couldn't decide! I could have bought her anything in that shop and she would have been totally thrilled! I also bought myself a Nightmare Before Christmas dressy t-shirt. Unfortunately Nick couldn't find his hat. The girl who was helping us found out it was our first time at Disneyland and gave us some 'First Visit' buttons. Nick wouldn't put that one on either... She suggested we check out the Indiana Jones shop for the hat, so off we went.

I checked out souvenirs for people back home while Nick went to find his hat. He ended up with a different one (which we both thought would be more practical anyway), and I bought some bulk souvenir pencils for work people, and a tea towel for Nick's aunty (who is the only person on earth I would ever buy a tea towel for lol!).

Next we were after some CDs, so went to the Emporium, thinking they had everything! No go. We needed to go to the music shop. We were pretty disappointed with the range available. There was only one CD set of park music. We were hoping to get some of the performers (particularly the ragtime piano player). So we bought our park music CD and a CD with jazzy versions of Disney songs (which turns out is a bit TOO jazzy for my liking).

Then we went back to the Emporium to get something for my mum. I got one of those cute Mickey glove oven mitts. I'd already got her some duty free perfume, so it was just something little from Disneyland. I also got myself a Mickey glove spoon rest.

On our way back to BTMR we stopped off at the Corner Cafe for a couple of hot drinks and a bit of a rest. Mary Poppins and Bert were there, and the pianist was playing ragtime versions of Mary Poppins songs. It was great entertainment while we were drinking our drinks!

As usual we had great fun riding BTMR, and were pretty glad we'd managed to ride it one last time. Then we headed off to our dinner reservation at Naples.

Up next, our last night at Disneyland...

 

[PrincessInOz]

Another fantastic day! I love American lemonade too. I also love American PINK lemonade.

Aren't you glad you got those buttons now?

 

[CandyMouse]

We're back from our trip and had a great time! I'm still enjoying your TR. You got some great pictures! Maybe I'll do a TR?! I'm a little Tech. challenged though and don't know if I can post pictures? Congrats on your engagement!

 

[zanzibar138]

We still had a little time before our dinner, so we went back into DCA to use our fastpasses for the Grizzly River Run. It wasn't as busy since it was getting dark and a little colder. It was fun being a bit dark! Then we went to the Tower of Terror to get a fastpass for after dinner.

After that it was well and truly time to get to dinner. So off we went to Naples and checked in. We didn't have to wait long to be seated and got a table outside. We had a very good waiter who was planning to go for a holiday in Australia, so we had quite a chat. He suggested a really nice wine.

I liked the look of the shrimp pasta, but wasn't that impressed by the sound of the sauce. Our waiter suggested I get it with a different sauce, so we did that. It was quite nice. Nick and I shared a calloni for dessert.

Just as we were finishing off dinner the fireworks started in Disneyland. We could see a bit of the fireworks through the trees, but didn't bother to stay and watch the whole lot.

We thought we'd go and get a caricature done, so we checked out the place in Downtown Disney. She was just drawing someone else when we got there and said to come back in 15 mins. We decided to get Nick's sister's present while we were waiting. Her boyfriend is really into cars, so we got them a remote control car from Ridemakerz. We got a Lightning McQueen cruiser But we didn't put it together because we thought Tim might enjoy doing that himself.

When we got back to the caricature artist she was just finishing up with someone so we just hung around until she was finished. It was a weird experience having the caricature done. People who went past stopped and looked at us and the drawing, and we didn't know what it looked like. It turned out really nice - she made us into Aladdin and Jasmine on a magic carpet. And when she found out we'd just gotten engaged she drew the heart and included some sparkles on my finger!

Unfortunately by the time our caricature was done DCA was closing, so we didn't get to use our Tower of Terror fastpasses. They're a good souvenir though lol!

We went into Disneyland instead to see if we could catch the second show of Fantasmic! Unfortunately the shows had been cancelled that night - not sure why. I sure was glad we'd made an effort to see it the previous week!

We went and rode BTMR one last time though while we were there. Then we just wandered around for a while and decided to call it a night.

It was pretty sad leaving, knowing it would be my last time there for a long time I got a little teary on the way out (but Nick didn't see lol!). I looked long and hard at everything so that I would remember exactly how it looked and felt.

Then it was back to our hotel for our last night before heading up to San Francisco.

Not sure if anyone here is interested in the next non-Disney part of our trip. I'll just put up a quick overview and if anyone wants to read it and look at the pictures they can