Rella Bella
<font color=deeppink>We offer gifts of love becaus
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2005
- Messages
- 4,347
Greetings dear DIS friends,
Well, we are back home after our last minute, 3-day trip to Celebrate Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary and see California Adventure! What fun we had, just hubby and me – and what a difference from keeping up with our active 10 yr old! We had never done Disney without him, and I must admit we both felt – and still feel – a bit guilty about it. (Sssushhh, we haven’t told him we went… I suppose we’ll have to explain someday – but later when he’s old enough to understand.) Well, we were going to LA anyway – and flying in a day & a half early just made sense. Right? After all we had to adjust to the time change??
We arrived at LAX at about 4:00 pm on Friday evening July 28th,, and hit the road in our rental car about 5:30. Yes, it was rush hour traffic! We were SO grateful for Mary Jo’s directions from LAX to DLR!!! An hour later we saw Disneyland!! I know it would have taken much longer with out Mary Jo’s specific instructions on how to use the car pool lane, where to access it and exactly what lane to be in, every minute! Thank you SO much Mary Jo! And in case you missed it, we did wave at your building as we went by! (If anyone else interested in the best directions ever, here's the link to my original question, just scroll down until you get to Mary Jo's post. We just printed them out and followed them step by step. Try it you'll be glad you did!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1169495
I also want to thank HydroGuy for his awesome post “Disneyland for WDW vets”! He really helped us understand the differences that would affect our trip. What great help for planning… next time I’ll read it even more carefully! And thanks also to everyone who recommended rides & restaurants! It was a wonderful trip!
We were glad to have a much slower more relaxed pace. Our goal just to enjoy ourselves & be together… and do everything we can’t do at “The World”; but that shouldn’t be too hard. It took only a few minutes to get acclimated to the difference in layout of DL and MK. Main Street held a strange eerie sense of familiar-yet-unfamiliar. But once you see the Matterhorn, you KNOW you’re in Disneyland! It was fun to compare the differences, while just relishing being there! So we set out to enjoy every difference we could find! And every “Hidden 50” we could find too!
We stayed at the Sheraton Park, which was PERFECT for us! I highly recommend it! The rooms were large & spacious, the King bed was very comfortable, and the view was great (we had the pool side). It was a short 10 to 15 minute walk to DL. When we drove in we thought “this won’t take 15 minutes, it’s only a couple of blocks” but once you ‘arrive’ at street entrance to Disneyland there is another walk – just as long – to get to the entrance gate.
It was around 7 that evening by the time we arrived at the Parks…starving and really wanting a place to sit down & relax. We decided to head to DTD to find somewhere to eat. But of course we had no ADR, but I had my handy list of DIS recommended eating establishments (yeah, DIS). While we were looking around absorbing the energizing atmosphere, we spied “Catal”. Surprisingly there was no wait to eat indoors, fine with us since it was quite hot and humid and we were ready to escape it! What a beautiful restaurant! Fine dining at it’s best! This place was a bit pricey but the food and service made it worth every penny. We had a wonderful dinner… split the prime rib and had some marvelous wine! As we looked out the windows over DTD, I was surprised by the use of color and the retro architecture. I keep feeling like it reminded me of somewhere… then it hit me, the colors & style are similar to Islands of Adventure in Orlando (the part near Spiderman). Of course, why wouldn’t they copy Disney! I’ve only been to Islands of A once, so maybe it’s not really that similar, and DTD was certainly more finished but that was what came to mind. California DTD was so different. It was somewhat surprising to find quite a few regular stores mixed in with the Disney stores. DTD in Orlando wasn’t nearly as mixed as California... at least not on our last visit. It was an interesting change.
After dinner we headed off for our first visit to Disneyland! Well first since the early 70's! We were mere babes! Wow! Main Street was VERY crowded and then we realized it was almost time for the “Remember” fireworks! Before long I realized I hadn’t really paid close enough attention to all my DIS advisors because we ended up going against the crowds all night!
First, we tried to weave through the crowd to get Dole Whips to eat during the fireworks. The street was packed but we eventually got across and when we finally get to the entrance to Adventure Land it was guarded and blocked by CM’s who insisted it was an exit only!! But I just want a Dole Whip and it’s so close I can almost taste it. But we can see it! “Sorry, exit only.” We won’t go in, we promise, we just want to get our Dole Whips! “Sorry, exit only, you have to enter through Frontier Land.” Oh well, I guess we’ll get one later.
After “Remember” which was awesome – especially the Tinkerbelle part –we tried again to enter Adventure Land but Fantasmic had just gotten out! Impossible! Now, “Sorry, exit only” made a lot of sense! There were thousands of people streaming out! We knew we could get in through Frontier Land, so we head over – it’s not far – but wow, were we fighting tight crowds! Then we realized they were heading in for the second showing of Fantasmic. Well, hold on tight, honey! We’re goin’ in! Gotta get those Dole Whips… been on my mind ever since the day we decided to go!
So in we go, inch by inch, “Oh there’s the turn to Adventure Land”! But oh, no! Again we must conform to Cast Member crowd control, there is a row of benches blocking our exit… the benches go far, far into Frontier Land, but eventually we got to head back toward the Tiki Room, wove our way across the hoards of exiting masses and got in line. Before we knew it we were enjoying our Dole Whips. Ahhh! Now this is Disney! Tinkerbelle, fireworks, Dole Whips & crowds!
Since we were so close we decided to head to Indiana Jones! Apparently everyone else had the same idea… because a couple hundred of our closest friends were already there! The standby line was over an hour. Oh well, we were having a great time, and we wisely brought our paperback novels in our fanny-packs for just such an occasion. After a couple of chapters we were in! What a great ride! They really should add it to “The World”. For future reference, unless you’re doing Fantasmic, I would recommend totally avoiding that side of the park from the end of the first Fantasmic on – at least during peak season – it was nuts! And as soon as the ride was over, head straight out of that side of the park is what we did!! We decided to check out Tomorrowland – which was another eerie familiar/unfamiliar. In the space of five seconds my brain rattled off a litany “Hey, Astro Orbitor on the ground and Space Mountain isn’t straight back there and Buzz was on the wrong side and Star Wars is at MGM isn’t it??” Oh yeah… it’s okay we’re at Disneyland! After doing Buzz a couple of times and looking around some we realized it was almost closing so we decided to head toward the hotel to get some rest.
We had walked to the park, but just as we were outside the main the wonderful Resort Shuttle showed up! Hey, what a great idea… we need to save our feet for walking tomorrow! We didn’t have a ticket and were planning to pay cash – which they say is an option (still $3.00 pp). But it must be a hassle – or we were very lucky – because the driver just waved us on and said “Buy a ticket tomorrow”. In less than 5 minute drive we are back to the hotel The Resort Shuttle is great!! You can also pick up the shuttle at the hotel going to the park. There is a ticket machine in the waiting area. It is $3 per day, per person R/T. If you plan to use it for the return, be sure to check the front – or at your hotel – to see which letter (A,B,C etc.) shuttle to catch… it runs every 20 minutes.
Saturday morning we got up early and used our “Early Entry”. We thought we’d eat breakfast at the park later after the rides got busy. WOW, early entry was amazing… definitely worth getting up for! We were at the gate right at 7 and walked right on to the Matterhorn, Alice, Mr. Toad, and Buzz before heading over to hit Pirates & the adventures of the other side of the park. “Hey, as fast as everything is going I bet we can do Pirates twice!” Then big disappointment!! When we got to the entrance to Adventure Land, there is a Cast Member and a rope. (I’m starting to think this entrance is jinxed.) We find out that only Fantasy & Tomorrow Lands are open for early entry. Bummer. Major bummer! We sure would have planned differently had we known… again, I guess I wasn’t paying attention! Humm, 25 minutes, what shall we do. We stroll down Main Street toward the Carnation Cafe… but realize that by now there’s not really enough time for breakfast – or to go back to Fantasy or Tomorrow for that matter – before Adventure Land opens. Oh well, we’ll eat right after Pirates.
We go back to Adventure Land to wait… nearly everyone there is ready to race for Pirates. We are almost 15 minutes early, right in front of the rope. The natives are restless… the poor Cast Member is relentlessly teased, and begged. And the poor fellow doesn’t have a watch… and so is totally dependant on our honestly for opening. My, my, my. Someone says “it’s 7:59” and a count down starts 10-9… 3-2-1! It’s 8:00!! Well, maybe it’s 7:59 ½ , but the rope is dropped and the race is on! We all run to Pirates and get in line… we are just a few yards from the entrance! We are thrilled, exhilarated, excited! Then we wait… humm, wonder why the line isn’t moving yet? Doesn’t the whole park open at 8:00? After a bit a very nice Pirate came out and explained they were having technical difficulties but should be opening soon. Oh well, at least we’ll be at the front of the line, how long can it take.
After about another15 minutes the Pirate came back and said they don’t know what is wrong & they don’t know how long it will take to fix it. He says we can wait if we want to but it might be a better idea to come back later. Well, there was lots of murmuring, but everyone stayed put; of course no one moved, the end was already nearly to the Liberty Bell Landing! That’s probably a three hours wait… and it will be like that all day! They have to be able to fix it quicker than that! Maybe breakfast after Pirates wasn’t such a good idea after all. Oh, well, we have our trusty paperbacks to take our mind off our hunger. Well, we wait and wait and wait. The Pirate stationed himself at the end of the line to tell people it was not a good idea to get into the line, but the line is no shorter. After an hour some people were getting pretty restless, but we had the feeling that as soon as we left the line would move, so we stayed put. Thankfully, eventually one large family group near the front finally decided they were tired of waiting and got out of the line. And of course just as we predicted, almost immediately after they left there was a commotion at the gate! They were opening!! YEAH!! Then a really amazing thing happened… the family that left, was still nearby and the people near them said “come back” and let them in line! How very cool was that!
We walked through the line quickly, well as quickly as the Pirate leading the line would let us… I think he saved us from a stampede! But once we were inside we got right into a boat! And let me just say the new Pirates of the Caribbean is fantastic! We both vaguely remembered it from childhood, and all the things we remembered were still there. We also had done the WDW version several times in recent years and remembered some from that… but the best part was that the Jack Sparrow and Davey Jones additions were perfectly done. Not over the top, not hidden away, just perfect! We loved it! It was fabulous!
By now it’s almost 9:30, we’ve been up since 6 and are starving so we walk across the street to The Riverbelle Terrace for breakfast. The line took some time, but we enjoyed watching the Mickey Mouse Pancakes being made and once we got it our food was hot and good. We ate out on the Terrace, which was delightful! Watching all that was going on in the plaza and on the harbor.
After breakfast we were off to the Tiki Room. Neither of us had ever seen it, which had to be rectified! It is so much a part of Disney history and was one of Walt’s personal projects, and I couldn’t believe we had managed to never even enter it! We were very glad we went. It was charming! And I couldn’t resist enjoying another Dole Whip, even if I had just finished breakfast… it just seemed like the right thing to do in the Tiki Room.
After this we head down Main Street on our way out of Disneyland. As we reach the flag pole we look up and there’s Pluto! Yeah Pluto… DS’s favorite character! Oh, we really miss DS! Sigh! Hey that’s the first character we’ve seen…
We continue out and cross the great expanse of courtyard to ‘California Adventure”! Now we were in totally virgin territory! Someone on DIS said to hit CA on a DL Early Entry day, boy was I glad I had paid attention to that!! It was not crowded at all compared to DL.
We knew we wanted to do “Sorin’”, so we were off to the Fast Pass line. After we got our Fast Passes we realized the stand by time was only 30 minutes so we decided a great ride like that deserved to have a second go. We had done it once at Epcot, and really wanted to get the front row this time and were prepared to wait, (we had our paperbacks) but it was our lucky day! We just happened to walk right into it! Whoo Hoo!! It was great!! Love those orange blossoms!
After Sorin’ it was nearly time for Aladdin so we headed off to the other side of the park. Got there in plenty of time, and found great third row seats in the Mezzanine. Perfect! That show is simply amazing! The acting was fabulous! Again I am so grateful to DIS, not knowing I might have skipped it… but everyone raved and I am so glad they did! It is definitely a DO NOT MISS! Awesome!
After the show we visited Sully & Mike and then it was back to Sorin, and just by chance we got the front row again! Now I’m thinking Karma is making up for Pirates and The Adventure Land Entrance! After enjoying the orange blossoms we get in line to ride the rapids! What a ride! We were soaked but it was so refreshing! And just as we were leaving our friends Chip & Dale show up! They have quite a line… so we just gave them a wave and headed on. Well, that’s the second time we’ve seen a character… so where’s Mickey??
We had planned to head back to the hotel before this but it wasn’t as hot as we expected and it seemed to grow less and less humid as the day went on. We were hungry so we thought we would grab some lunch – if we could go indoors. On our way we saw the entrance to “The Grand Californian” and decided to stop in for a look. It was huge and grand and very beautiful. It’s as if the Grand Floridian and the Wilderness Lodge were blended together, amazing.
We thought about eating there but then looked at the C/A map and decided to hunt out what sounded like a Mexican place. We are in California after all. When we got there it was outdoor dining, so we decided to keep looking. Hubby says how about “Wine Country Tattoria”? I knew it was table service and thought we wouldn’t get in without an ADR, but we went to ask and they were able to seat us immediately! What a lunch! We each had a wonderful salad and more wonderful California wine! It was quiet, relaxing, cool and delightful! Perfect!
After lunch we looked around for a bit, watched a surfer band for a while (the street entertainment was wonderful) and then headed back to the hotel to rest and change for the evening.
After our rest & swim we went to dinner at the hotel restaurant “Overland Stage Southwestern Grill & BBQ Company.” We just wanted a quick meal before we headed back to the park. The food was good, but nothing like our wonderful lunch or dinner the night before. The place was very busy and our poor waiter was so exhausted he had worked up a sweat… he apologized almost as profusely for keeping us waiting. Fortunately for my appetite he didn’t bring out our food, and it came out much faster than it took for us to place our order! This was just an okay place to eat, I don’t think I’d go back.
The evening was wonderful. It had cooled down and it was very nice, much nicer – drier and cooler – than the night before. We were running a little behind but we thought we had arrived back just in time for the fireworks. Since we had seen them up close the night before we decided to enjoy them from the train depot. So we found a nice bench and sat down to relax and do some people watching until they began. We sat for a while and then noticed that lots of people were leaving the park. It seemed strange that they would leave before the fireworks. We continued to enjoy the park, then I wondered what time it was… 9:45!?? We pulled out our time sheet, fireworks 9:30…humm?? We couldn’t have missed them, so we went to ask a Cast Member. Apparently they were cancelled because of weather… interesting because to us the weather seemed much nicer… but we obviously don’t make the decisions. We must have just missed the announcement! Very strange. We were SO glad we had seen them the night before!!
Next off we go to Steve Martin’s 50th Anniversary Movie. The museum in the theater is wonderful… so many memories, and so much history! I won’t spoil it for you but the movie was very Disney. “I loved that didn’t you?” I said to my DH as the lights were coming up. His eyes were still closed… he had fallen asleep as soon as the lights went off! Oh well! We are on vacation after all! After looking through the museum and watching the movie Walt seemed so near, and of course as we exited, the light in the window of the firehouse just across the street was very poignant. Walt was such a part of our childhood. When we had only 2 TV channels, so it was pretty exciting to have Walt & Tinkerbelle show up on Sunday night, bringing their magic along. When Walt died it was almost like we lost Santa Claus.
We rode the train all the way around (it is SO different from WDW), walked around a bit, did a few rides and decided it was time to enjoy a Mickey Ice Cream Bar. We started looking and by the time we found a cart they were closing up. DH did his sad puppy dog thing and before you know it they were opening up just so he could have his ice cream… I was glad because I got one too!
Then we sought out the very best bench in front of Sleeping Beauty’s castle, which also had a wonderful view of the Matterhorn and the Astro Orbitor. The castle was beautiful, and so different from Cinderella’s! I loved all the crowns! The whole square is different, but it also has that vague familiarity. We sat there a long time in silence, enjoying our Mickey’s and taking in the wonderful, picturesque view. I burned it into my mind so I would never forget, it was so beautiful with the castle twinkling in the moonlight, the lights on top of the Matterhorn and the Astro Orbitor spinning. I could have sat there all night but it was almost closing and the crowds had already thinned out quite a bit, so we decided to call it a night.
Sunday was our last day… and one of the things we were sure we wanted to do was to eat before we got stuck in an hour plus line at the park. So we took time to enjoy a wonderful breakfast at the hotel restaurant, Molly's Kitchen, before we headed over. They were busy and the service was a bit slow, but they were very nice, had great food & several unusual breakfast options.
First thing hubby wanted to do at DL was to see the movie he had slept through the night before! He managed to stay awake this time, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time. I do wish they had shown more of “The House of the Future” but even seeing the little they showed was great. Strangely, it was one of my most clear memories of DL as a child.
Then we hopped on the train, headed for New Orleans Square. We wanted to spend some time in the parts of DL that aren’t in MK. Once at the Square we saw Jack Sparrow and a few other pirates walking around, and did a bit of shopping before heading off to sail on the mighty Columbia. She is a grand vessel and we enjoyed our time as pirates. Then back on the train and around to Toon Town, where we caught the lovely production of Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs and then visited the land our son plays in on line. Toon Town was so very different from MK!! It didn't take long before we were both getting sad, missing the youngest member of our family, so we got out of there pretty quickly.
Then, just as we were about to get into the line for Storybookland, the loud speaker said “Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, if you look up to the Matterhorn, you will see Mickey Mouse is about to climb to the top and Minnie and Goofy will be cheering him on.” Finally, Mickey Mouse!! We could see most of it while we were in line, and once he started up we could see from our boat! I was so happy because it just didn’t seem like we were at Disney without seeing Mickey!
I thought it was interesting that at Disneyland there didn’t seem to be nearly as many characters around as there are at WDW. Maybe it was time of day but it just seemed unusual. There weren’t as many little princesses either! And the little princesses you see are almost exclusively Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, with a smattering of Minnie Mouse. At WDW you see lots of Snow & Aurora but also LOTS of Cinderellas, Ariels and Belles! Of course the castle and the shows at DL aren’t about Cindy or Belle, so that probably explains the difference but it just seemed unusual and I missed the variety.
The other thing that really seemed different was the music. At MK it is pervasive and uplifting, at DL although it was all Disney music somehow it didn’t seem as upbeat. Maybe it just wasn’t as loud, but it didn’t seem to lend that excited exhilaration that it does at MK.
Storybookland was wonderful, and now we had done everything that wasn’t at WDW – which was our goal. So we decided to take the Monorail to DTD to get some lunch. After hearing the great recommendations for Wetzel’s Pretzels we headed straight there for some dogs, (we found out later they are a California chain and not unique to DTD), but they were great and we were about to cap them with some Hagen Daz when I looked up and realized I was standing just a few yards from a real live “Sephora”! “Wow! Sephora!!” It was as if it had jumped right off the catalog! Now that is Disney magic!! This was a really exciting sight for a Midwesterner who has used Bare Essentials for years and never ever seen them in a store! Wow… all the colors, and shades and brushes right there in person, just waiting to be looked at!!! My DH knew something was up by the way my jaw had dropped, but he had no idea I was about to disappear for nearly an hour! Oh it was so wonderful to look, and touch and talk to a real consultant and get a make over with my favorite products! As I walked out smiling – and swinging my little black bag – I was sure that would be one of the best parts of our whole trip! And I was so right!
But now it was the end of our Disney day, time to head off to the mountains for next part of our California vacation… so we got our Hagen Daz to go and slowly sauntered out, taking along so many great memories and making a promise to each other to come back soon with DS in tow.
See ya real soon, Mickey!
Well, we are back home after our last minute, 3-day trip to Celebrate Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary and see California Adventure! What fun we had, just hubby and me – and what a difference from keeping up with our active 10 yr old! We had never done Disney without him, and I must admit we both felt – and still feel – a bit guilty about it. (Sssushhh, we haven’t told him we went… I suppose we’ll have to explain someday – but later when he’s old enough to understand.) Well, we were going to LA anyway – and flying in a day & a half early just made sense. Right? After all we had to adjust to the time change??
We arrived at LAX at about 4:00 pm on Friday evening July 28th,, and hit the road in our rental car about 5:30. Yes, it was rush hour traffic! We were SO grateful for Mary Jo’s directions from LAX to DLR!!! An hour later we saw Disneyland!! I know it would have taken much longer with out Mary Jo’s specific instructions on how to use the car pool lane, where to access it and exactly what lane to be in, every minute! Thank you SO much Mary Jo! And in case you missed it, we did wave at your building as we went by! (If anyone else interested in the best directions ever, here's the link to my original question, just scroll down until you get to Mary Jo's post. We just printed them out and followed them step by step. Try it you'll be glad you did!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1169495
I also want to thank HydroGuy for his awesome post “Disneyland for WDW vets”! He really helped us understand the differences that would affect our trip. What great help for planning… next time I’ll read it even more carefully! And thanks also to everyone who recommended rides & restaurants! It was a wonderful trip!
We were glad to have a much slower more relaxed pace. Our goal just to enjoy ourselves & be together… and do everything we can’t do at “The World”; but that shouldn’t be too hard. It took only a few minutes to get acclimated to the difference in layout of DL and MK. Main Street held a strange eerie sense of familiar-yet-unfamiliar. But once you see the Matterhorn, you KNOW you’re in Disneyland! It was fun to compare the differences, while just relishing being there! So we set out to enjoy every difference we could find! And every “Hidden 50” we could find too!
We stayed at the Sheraton Park, which was PERFECT for us! I highly recommend it! The rooms were large & spacious, the King bed was very comfortable, and the view was great (we had the pool side). It was a short 10 to 15 minute walk to DL. When we drove in we thought “this won’t take 15 minutes, it’s only a couple of blocks” but once you ‘arrive’ at street entrance to Disneyland there is another walk – just as long – to get to the entrance gate.
It was around 7 that evening by the time we arrived at the Parks…starving and really wanting a place to sit down & relax. We decided to head to DTD to find somewhere to eat. But of course we had no ADR, but I had my handy list of DIS recommended eating establishments (yeah, DIS). While we were looking around absorbing the energizing atmosphere, we spied “Catal”. Surprisingly there was no wait to eat indoors, fine with us since it was quite hot and humid and we were ready to escape it! What a beautiful restaurant! Fine dining at it’s best! This place was a bit pricey but the food and service made it worth every penny. We had a wonderful dinner… split the prime rib and had some marvelous wine! As we looked out the windows over DTD, I was surprised by the use of color and the retro architecture. I keep feeling like it reminded me of somewhere… then it hit me, the colors & style are similar to Islands of Adventure in Orlando (the part near Spiderman). Of course, why wouldn’t they copy Disney! I’ve only been to Islands of A once, so maybe it’s not really that similar, and DTD was certainly more finished but that was what came to mind. California DTD was so different. It was somewhat surprising to find quite a few regular stores mixed in with the Disney stores. DTD in Orlando wasn’t nearly as mixed as California... at least not on our last visit. It was an interesting change.
After dinner we headed off for our first visit to Disneyland! Well first since the early 70's! We were mere babes! Wow! Main Street was VERY crowded and then we realized it was almost time for the “Remember” fireworks! Before long I realized I hadn’t really paid close enough attention to all my DIS advisors because we ended up going against the crowds all night!
First, we tried to weave through the crowd to get Dole Whips to eat during the fireworks. The street was packed but we eventually got across and when we finally get to the entrance to Adventure Land it was guarded and blocked by CM’s who insisted it was an exit only!! But I just want a Dole Whip and it’s so close I can almost taste it. But we can see it! “Sorry, exit only.” We won’t go in, we promise, we just want to get our Dole Whips! “Sorry, exit only, you have to enter through Frontier Land.” Oh well, I guess we’ll get one later.
After “Remember” which was awesome – especially the Tinkerbelle part –we tried again to enter Adventure Land but Fantasmic had just gotten out! Impossible! Now, “Sorry, exit only” made a lot of sense! There were thousands of people streaming out! We knew we could get in through Frontier Land, so we head over – it’s not far – but wow, were we fighting tight crowds! Then we realized they were heading in for the second showing of Fantasmic. Well, hold on tight, honey! We’re goin’ in! Gotta get those Dole Whips… been on my mind ever since the day we decided to go!
So in we go, inch by inch, “Oh there’s the turn to Adventure Land”! But oh, no! Again we must conform to Cast Member crowd control, there is a row of benches blocking our exit… the benches go far, far into Frontier Land, but eventually we got to head back toward the Tiki Room, wove our way across the hoards of exiting masses and got in line. Before we knew it we were enjoying our Dole Whips. Ahhh! Now this is Disney! Tinkerbelle, fireworks, Dole Whips & crowds!
Since we were so close we decided to head to Indiana Jones! Apparently everyone else had the same idea… because a couple hundred of our closest friends were already there! The standby line was over an hour. Oh well, we were having a great time, and we wisely brought our paperback novels in our fanny-packs for just such an occasion. After a couple of chapters we were in! What a great ride! They really should add it to “The World”. For future reference, unless you’re doing Fantasmic, I would recommend totally avoiding that side of the park from the end of the first Fantasmic on – at least during peak season – it was nuts! And as soon as the ride was over, head straight out of that side of the park is what we did!! We decided to check out Tomorrowland – which was another eerie familiar/unfamiliar. In the space of five seconds my brain rattled off a litany “Hey, Astro Orbitor on the ground and Space Mountain isn’t straight back there and Buzz was on the wrong side and Star Wars is at MGM isn’t it??” Oh yeah… it’s okay we’re at Disneyland! After doing Buzz a couple of times and looking around some we realized it was almost closing so we decided to head toward the hotel to get some rest.
We had walked to the park, but just as we were outside the main the wonderful Resort Shuttle showed up! Hey, what a great idea… we need to save our feet for walking tomorrow! We didn’t have a ticket and were planning to pay cash – which they say is an option (still $3.00 pp). But it must be a hassle – or we were very lucky – because the driver just waved us on and said “Buy a ticket tomorrow”. In less than 5 minute drive we are back to the hotel The Resort Shuttle is great!! You can also pick up the shuttle at the hotel going to the park. There is a ticket machine in the waiting area. It is $3 per day, per person R/T. If you plan to use it for the return, be sure to check the front – or at your hotel – to see which letter (A,B,C etc.) shuttle to catch… it runs every 20 minutes.
Saturday morning we got up early and used our “Early Entry”. We thought we’d eat breakfast at the park later after the rides got busy. WOW, early entry was amazing… definitely worth getting up for! We were at the gate right at 7 and walked right on to the Matterhorn, Alice, Mr. Toad, and Buzz before heading over to hit Pirates & the adventures of the other side of the park. “Hey, as fast as everything is going I bet we can do Pirates twice!” Then big disappointment!! When we got to the entrance to Adventure Land, there is a Cast Member and a rope. (I’m starting to think this entrance is jinxed.) We find out that only Fantasy & Tomorrow Lands are open for early entry. Bummer. Major bummer! We sure would have planned differently had we known… again, I guess I wasn’t paying attention! Humm, 25 minutes, what shall we do. We stroll down Main Street toward the Carnation Cafe… but realize that by now there’s not really enough time for breakfast – or to go back to Fantasy or Tomorrow for that matter – before Adventure Land opens. Oh well, we’ll eat right after Pirates.
We go back to Adventure Land to wait… nearly everyone there is ready to race for Pirates. We are almost 15 minutes early, right in front of the rope. The natives are restless… the poor Cast Member is relentlessly teased, and begged. And the poor fellow doesn’t have a watch… and so is totally dependant on our honestly for opening. My, my, my. Someone says “it’s 7:59” and a count down starts 10-9… 3-2-1! It’s 8:00!! Well, maybe it’s 7:59 ½ , but the rope is dropped and the race is on! We all run to Pirates and get in line… we are just a few yards from the entrance! We are thrilled, exhilarated, excited! Then we wait… humm, wonder why the line isn’t moving yet? Doesn’t the whole park open at 8:00? After a bit a very nice Pirate came out and explained they were having technical difficulties but should be opening soon. Oh well, at least we’ll be at the front of the line, how long can it take.
After about another15 minutes the Pirate came back and said they don’t know what is wrong & they don’t know how long it will take to fix it. He says we can wait if we want to but it might be a better idea to come back later. Well, there was lots of murmuring, but everyone stayed put; of course no one moved, the end was already nearly to the Liberty Bell Landing! That’s probably a three hours wait… and it will be like that all day! They have to be able to fix it quicker than that! Maybe breakfast after Pirates wasn’t such a good idea after all. Oh, well, we have our trusty paperbacks to take our mind off our hunger. Well, we wait and wait and wait. The Pirate stationed himself at the end of the line to tell people it was not a good idea to get into the line, but the line is no shorter. After an hour some people were getting pretty restless, but we had the feeling that as soon as we left the line would move, so we stayed put. Thankfully, eventually one large family group near the front finally decided they were tired of waiting and got out of the line. And of course just as we predicted, almost immediately after they left there was a commotion at the gate! They were opening!! YEAH!! Then a really amazing thing happened… the family that left, was still nearby and the people near them said “come back” and let them in line! How very cool was that!
We walked through the line quickly, well as quickly as the Pirate leading the line would let us… I think he saved us from a stampede! But once we were inside we got right into a boat! And let me just say the new Pirates of the Caribbean is fantastic! We both vaguely remembered it from childhood, and all the things we remembered were still there. We also had done the WDW version several times in recent years and remembered some from that… but the best part was that the Jack Sparrow and Davey Jones additions were perfectly done. Not over the top, not hidden away, just perfect! We loved it! It was fabulous!
By now it’s almost 9:30, we’ve been up since 6 and are starving so we walk across the street to The Riverbelle Terrace for breakfast. The line took some time, but we enjoyed watching the Mickey Mouse Pancakes being made and once we got it our food was hot and good. We ate out on the Terrace, which was delightful! Watching all that was going on in the plaza and on the harbor.
After breakfast we were off to the Tiki Room. Neither of us had ever seen it, which had to be rectified! It is so much a part of Disney history and was one of Walt’s personal projects, and I couldn’t believe we had managed to never even enter it! We were very glad we went. It was charming! And I couldn’t resist enjoying another Dole Whip, even if I had just finished breakfast… it just seemed like the right thing to do in the Tiki Room.
After this we head down Main Street on our way out of Disneyland. As we reach the flag pole we look up and there’s Pluto! Yeah Pluto… DS’s favorite character! Oh, we really miss DS! Sigh! Hey that’s the first character we’ve seen…
We continue out and cross the great expanse of courtyard to ‘California Adventure”! Now we were in totally virgin territory! Someone on DIS said to hit CA on a DL Early Entry day, boy was I glad I had paid attention to that!! It was not crowded at all compared to DL.
We knew we wanted to do “Sorin’”, so we were off to the Fast Pass line. After we got our Fast Passes we realized the stand by time was only 30 minutes so we decided a great ride like that deserved to have a second go. We had done it once at Epcot, and really wanted to get the front row this time and were prepared to wait, (we had our paperbacks) but it was our lucky day! We just happened to walk right into it! Whoo Hoo!! It was great!! Love those orange blossoms!
After Sorin’ it was nearly time for Aladdin so we headed off to the other side of the park. Got there in plenty of time, and found great third row seats in the Mezzanine. Perfect! That show is simply amazing! The acting was fabulous! Again I am so grateful to DIS, not knowing I might have skipped it… but everyone raved and I am so glad they did! It is definitely a DO NOT MISS! Awesome!
After the show we visited Sully & Mike and then it was back to Sorin, and just by chance we got the front row again! Now I’m thinking Karma is making up for Pirates and The Adventure Land Entrance! After enjoying the orange blossoms we get in line to ride the rapids! What a ride! We were soaked but it was so refreshing! And just as we were leaving our friends Chip & Dale show up! They have quite a line… so we just gave them a wave and headed on. Well, that’s the second time we’ve seen a character… so where’s Mickey??
We had planned to head back to the hotel before this but it wasn’t as hot as we expected and it seemed to grow less and less humid as the day went on. We were hungry so we thought we would grab some lunch – if we could go indoors. On our way we saw the entrance to “The Grand Californian” and decided to stop in for a look. It was huge and grand and very beautiful. It’s as if the Grand Floridian and the Wilderness Lodge were blended together, amazing.
We thought about eating there but then looked at the C/A map and decided to hunt out what sounded like a Mexican place. We are in California after all. When we got there it was outdoor dining, so we decided to keep looking. Hubby says how about “Wine Country Tattoria”? I knew it was table service and thought we wouldn’t get in without an ADR, but we went to ask and they were able to seat us immediately! What a lunch! We each had a wonderful salad and more wonderful California wine! It was quiet, relaxing, cool and delightful! Perfect!
After lunch we looked around for a bit, watched a surfer band for a while (the street entertainment was wonderful) and then headed back to the hotel to rest and change for the evening.
After our rest & swim we went to dinner at the hotel restaurant “Overland Stage Southwestern Grill & BBQ Company.” We just wanted a quick meal before we headed back to the park. The food was good, but nothing like our wonderful lunch or dinner the night before. The place was very busy and our poor waiter was so exhausted he had worked up a sweat… he apologized almost as profusely for keeping us waiting. Fortunately for my appetite he didn’t bring out our food, and it came out much faster than it took for us to place our order! This was just an okay place to eat, I don’t think I’d go back.
The evening was wonderful. It had cooled down and it was very nice, much nicer – drier and cooler – than the night before. We were running a little behind but we thought we had arrived back just in time for the fireworks. Since we had seen them up close the night before we decided to enjoy them from the train depot. So we found a nice bench and sat down to relax and do some people watching until they began. We sat for a while and then noticed that lots of people were leaving the park. It seemed strange that they would leave before the fireworks. We continued to enjoy the park, then I wondered what time it was… 9:45!?? We pulled out our time sheet, fireworks 9:30…humm?? We couldn’t have missed them, so we went to ask a Cast Member. Apparently they were cancelled because of weather… interesting because to us the weather seemed much nicer… but we obviously don’t make the decisions. We must have just missed the announcement! Very strange. We were SO glad we had seen them the night before!!
Next off we go to Steve Martin’s 50th Anniversary Movie. The museum in the theater is wonderful… so many memories, and so much history! I won’t spoil it for you but the movie was very Disney. “I loved that didn’t you?” I said to my DH as the lights were coming up. His eyes were still closed… he had fallen asleep as soon as the lights went off! Oh well! We are on vacation after all! After looking through the museum and watching the movie Walt seemed so near, and of course as we exited, the light in the window of the firehouse just across the street was very poignant. Walt was such a part of our childhood. When we had only 2 TV channels, so it was pretty exciting to have Walt & Tinkerbelle show up on Sunday night, bringing their magic along. When Walt died it was almost like we lost Santa Claus.
We rode the train all the way around (it is SO different from WDW), walked around a bit, did a few rides and decided it was time to enjoy a Mickey Ice Cream Bar. We started looking and by the time we found a cart they were closing up. DH did his sad puppy dog thing and before you know it they were opening up just so he could have his ice cream… I was glad because I got one too!
Then we sought out the very best bench in front of Sleeping Beauty’s castle, which also had a wonderful view of the Matterhorn and the Astro Orbitor. The castle was beautiful, and so different from Cinderella’s! I loved all the crowns! The whole square is different, but it also has that vague familiarity. We sat there a long time in silence, enjoying our Mickey’s and taking in the wonderful, picturesque view. I burned it into my mind so I would never forget, it was so beautiful with the castle twinkling in the moonlight, the lights on top of the Matterhorn and the Astro Orbitor spinning. I could have sat there all night but it was almost closing and the crowds had already thinned out quite a bit, so we decided to call it a night.
Sunday was our last day… and one of the things we were sure we wanted to do was to eat before we got stuck in an hour plus line at the park. So we took time to enjoy a wonderful breakfast at the hotel restaurant, Molly's Kitchen, before we headed over. They were busy and the service was a bit slow, but they were very nice, had great food & several unusual breakfast options.
First thing hubby wanted to do at DL was to see the movie he had slept through the night before! He managed to stay awake this time, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time. I do wish they had shown more of “The House of the Future” but even seeing the little they showed was great. Strangely, it was one of my most clear memories of DL as a child.
Then we hopped on the train, headed for New Orleans Square. We wanted to spend some time in the parts of DL that aren’t in MK. Once at the Square we saw Jack Sparrow and a few other pirates walking around, and did a bit of shopping before heading off to sail on the mighty Columbia. She is a grand vessel and we enjoyed our time as pirates. Then back on the train and around to Toon Town, where we caught the lovely production of Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs and then visited the land our son plays in on line. Toon Town was so very different from MK!! It didn't take long before we were both getting sad, missing the youngest member of our family, so we got out of there pretty quickly.
Then, just as we were about to get into the line for Storybookland, the loud speaker said “Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, if you look up to the Matterhorn, you will see Mickey Mouse is about to climb to the top and Minnie and Goofy will be cheering him on.” Finally, Mickey Mouse!! We could see most of it while we were in line, and once he started up we could see from our boat! I was so happy because it just didn’t seem like we were at Disney without seeing Mickey!
I thought it was interesting that at Disneyland there didn’t seem to be nearly as many characters around as there are at WDW. Maybe it was time of day but it just seemed unusual. There weren’t as many little princesses either! And the little princesses you see are almost exclusively Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, with a smattering of Minnie Mouse. At WDW you see lots of Snow & Aurora but also LOTS of Cinderellas, Ariels and Belles! Of course the castle and the shows at DL aren’t about Cindy or Belle, so that probably explains the difference but it just seemed unusual and I missed the variety.
The other thing that really seemed different was the music. At MK it is pervasive and uplifting, at DL although it was all Disney music somehow it didn’t seem as upbeat. Maybe it just wasn’t as loud, but it didn’t seem to lend that excited exhilaration that it does at MK.
Storybookland was wonderful, and now we had done everything that wasn’t at WDW – which was our goal. So we decided to take the Monorail to DTD to get some lunch. After hearing the great recommendations for Wetzel’s Pretzels we headed straight there for some dogs, (we found out later they are a California chain and not unique to DTD), but they were great and we were about to cap them with some Hagen Daz when I looked up and realized I was standing just a few yards from a real live “Sephora”! “Wow! Sephora!!” It was as if it had jumped right off the catalog! Now that is Disney magic!! This was a really exciting sight for a Midwesterner who has used Bare Essentials for years and never ever seen them in a store! Wow… all the colors, and shades and brushes right there in person, just waiting to be looked at!!! My DH knew something was up by the way my jaw had dropped, but he had no idea I was about to disappear for nearly an hour! Oh it was so wonderful to look, and touch and talk to a real consultant and get a make over with my favorite products! As I walked out smiling – and swinging my little black bag – I was sure that would be one of the best parts of our whole trip! And I was so right!
But now it was the end of our Disney day, time to head off to the mountains for next part of our California vacation… so we got our Hagen Daz to go and slowly sauntered out, taking along so many great memories and making a promise to each other to come back soon with DS in tow.
See ya real soon, Mickey!
's and DISers! 
