arieljasmine
<font color=magenta>Who says these things pass you
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2004
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Laur’s, Andy and bump do LA and Vegas, baby – Day 11
Laur’s – 29
Andy – 29
Bump – 14 weeks
Monday 31 March 2008
We were up at 8.30 am - we're going to Disneyland today!! We got ourselves sorted out and went down to McDonalds for breakfast. Andy had an egg mcmuffin (with ham), hash brown and a coffee, and I had a sausage mcmuffin (with egg), hash brown and an orange juice. After we'd eaten I went to the Backstage Deli to get a cup of tea and then we took one of the bags out to the car and moved it closer to the hotel for a quick getaway.
We finished the rest of the packing, did the express checkout and left the Luxor at 11 am.
We stopped for petrol on the strip and then it was off to Disneyland!!
Whilst we were travelling we ate some flaming hot cheetos which we bought in the Luxor shop before we left and drank peach and papaya tropicana. As usual, I was reading and playing on my DS. For interest, the highest point we were at in the desert was 4837ft!
We stopped at 1.30 pm at the same Burger King where we stopped on the journey to Vegas. For lunch Andy had a chicken sandwich and I had a steakhouse burger and we shared a fanta. We set off again at 2 pm.
When I had just about reached the point of exploding with excitement, we arrived at the Disneyland Hotel at 3.45 pm. I had spent the last few minutes of the journey taking photos of everything and saying "I can't believe we're nearly at Disneyland!"
Whilst we were stood in the check in queue I kept asking Andy if he could believe we were at Disneyland - I think he was glad we only had to queue for a few minutes! We were assigned a room in the Dreams building which was ideal as it was the nearest to Downtown Disney, plus I thought it had the loveliest name.
We took our bags up to the room, and finally I felt at home. We had baths whilst I tried (and failed) to contain my excitement and kept trying to hurry Andy up so that we could get to the park.
We eventually (it seemed) were ready for the off and managed to get halfway through Downtown Disney before we realised we didn’t have our Southern California City passes with us - doh! So back we went to the hotel and by this point I really didn't think we were ever going to get to the park! We hurried back through Downtown Disney, taking in the unfamiliar shops and restaurants.
Guest services was closed by this time, so we waited (ages) in the ticket queue so that we could exchange our vouchers for three day park hopper passes. Finally, we had our passes in our hands and were entering the Disneyland Park!
It was so magical seeing it all for the first time. Main Street is very similar to its counterpart in WDW, the smell hits you and you know you are home. We were amazed at the tiny castle - so many people have told us about it, but you really have to see it to appreciate just how small it is. We thought it was really cute.
We headed straight to the Winnie the Pooh ride as Winnie is my most favourite character. The first thing we noticed was the lack of a queue! Because this ride is tucked away in Critter Country rather than in the children trap that is Fantasyland, we walked straight on to it. The ride vehicles are different, they are beehives here and although the story is pretty much the same it is told in a different (and more chronological) order. We also liked how the vehicle swayed all the way round. We thought this ride was better than the one in WDW.
Next up was another big favourite with us, Haunted Mansion. The theming at the beginning and end of the ride experience is excellent and the scene with the bride has her pictured with different husbands who then fade out of view. It had some of the new things that the WDW ride has but not all. I couldn't choose which ride I liked best, they are very similar and both have their own charm.
We decided then to ride the train round the park so we could have a look at it all without wearing out our feet. The train is arranged so that you sit facing the park, sideways on, which we thought was a neat idea. As well as enjoying taking in all the new sights, we saw the Grand Canyon and dinosaur dioramas which are part of the ride.
We were getting hungry and the weather had gotten decidedly chilly so hot food was required. We ate tea in the Village Haus where we shared two pepperoni pizzas, fries and a vegetable salad, and I had a hot chocolate and Andy had a coffee.
Having warmed up inside we headed back to look for more excitement. We almost got more excitement than we had bargained for when instead of queuing for Jungle Cruise like we had thought we were doing, we realised we were actually in the queue for Indiana Jones. I was very upset as this was the only ride that I was bothered about not being able to do. I had dreamed of this ride for years but it's not a ride for bumps so I had been intending on giving it a wide berth so I wouldn't get too upset. Hmm, so that plan didn't work. There were a few tears and then we joined the real queue for Jungle Cruise.
We hadn't done this ride at night before so that really cheered me up, plus our skipper was excellent. He endeared himself to me instantly by quoting Guns N Roses "Welcome to the jungle, we got fun and games" and other funnies such as "Move up, what you call personal space, we call ten more passengers!"
We went back to Main Street after our ride where I bought a Peter Pan chocolate bar (similar to a Dime bar) and we waited for the Wishes fireworks to start. We only got to watch part of the show as it was stopped halfway through due to strong winds at high altitudes. Gutted. Luckily, this was our first night so we knew we would get chance to watch it again. It looked like it was going to be interesting as it started in the same way as WDW Wishes and then had moved on to bits from the park's rides.
As the park was going to be open until 11 pm, we carried on with our touring. We bought a bottle of fanta and then headed over to ride Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. We loved the movable guns (though it didn't make me any better at it than I am in Florida!) and there's a great scene at the end where Buzz is fighting Zurg. We also liked the Buzz in the queuing area who is drawing up his plans on an etch-a-sketch.
It had gone really cold by this time, but of course, we didn't want to go back to the hotel whilst the park was still open, so we went to down to Main Street where I bought a Jack Skellington hoodie and felt much warmer! It is something I have wanted for a while so this seemed a good opportunity to buy one.
Next it was time for our favourite cold weather ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, always guaranteed to warm you up. Wow, Pirates here is amazing! Definitely the best version of this ride that I have experienced. I loved the drops at the beginning, especially the first one, which seems really long, and the bayou beginning to the ride, which is really magical. This was a great time to ride as well as we walked straight on - the queue had been way out the front of the entrance in the afternoon.
This was the last ride of the night as it was 11 pm and the park was closing up so we walked back to the hotel, appreciating the fact that it was so close.
The outdoor bar was open until 1 am (WDW hotels take note!) so we got Andy a beer and a diet coke for me and took them to our room. We looked through the Disney paperwork we had been given and planned our next day before heading to bed at 12.15 am.
Laur's
Laur’s – 29
Andy – 29
Bump – 14 weeks
Monday 31 March 2008
We were up at 8.30 am - we're going to Disneyland today!! We got ourselves sorted out and went down to McDonalds for breakfast. Andy had an egg mcmuffin (with ham), hash brown and a coffee, and I had a sausage mcmuffin (with egg), hash brown and an orange juice. After we'd eaten I went to the Backstage Deli to get a cup of tea and then we took one of the bags out to the car and moved it closer to the hotel for a quick getaway.
We finished the rest of the packing, did the express checkout and left the Luxor at 11 am.
We stopped for petrol on the strip and then it was off to Disneyland!!
Whilst we were travelling we ate some flaming hot cheetos which we bought in the Luxor shop before we left and drank peach and papaya tropicana. As usual, I was reading and playing on my DS. For interest, the highest point we were at in the desert was 4837ft!
We stopped at 1.30 pm at the same Burger King where we stopped on the journey to Vegas. For lunch Andy had a chicken sandwich and I had a steakhouse burger and we shared a fanta. We set off again at 2 pm.
When I had just about reached the point of exploding with excitement, we arrived at the Disneyland Hotel at 3.45 pm. I had spent the last few minutes of the journey taking photos of everything and saying "I can't believe we're nearly at Disneyland!"
Whilst we were stood in the check in queue I kept asking Andy if he could believe we were at Disneyland - I think he was glad we only had to queue for a few minutes! We were assigned a room in the Dreams building which was ideal as it was the nearest to Downtown Disney, plus I thought it had the loveliest name.
We took our bags up to the room, and finally I felt at home. We had baths whilst I tried (and failed) to contain my excitement and kept trying to hurry Andy up so that we could get to the park.
We eventually (it seemed) were ready for the off and managed to get halfway through Downtown Disney before we realised we didn’t have our Southern California City passes with us - doh! So back we went to the hotel and by this point I really didn't think we were ever going to get to the park! We hurried back through Downtown Disney, taking in the unfamiliar shops and restaurants.
Guest services was closed by this time, so we waited (ages) in the ticket queue so that we could exchange our vouchers for three day park hopper passes. Finally, we had our passes in our hands and were entering the Disneyland Park!
It was so magical seeing it all for the first time. Main Street is very similar to its counterpart in WDW, the smell hits you and you know you are home. We were amazed at the tiny castle - so many people have told us about it, but you really have to see it to appreciate just how small it is. We thought it was really cute.
We headed straight to the Winnie the Pooh ride as Winnie is my most favourite character. The first thing we noticed was the lack of a queue! Because this ride is tucked away in Critter Country rather than in the children trap that is Fantasyland, we walked straight on to it. The ride vehicles are different, they are beehives here and although the story is pretty much the same it is told in a different (and more chronological) order. We also liked how the vehicle swayed all the way round. We thought this ride was better than the one in WDW.
Next up was another big favourite with us, Haunted Mansion. The theming at the beginning and end of the ride experience is excellent and the scene with the bride has her pictured with different husbands who then fade out of view. It had some of the new things that the WDW ride has but not all. I couldn't choose which ride I liked best, they are very similar and both have their own charm.
We decided then to ride the train round the park so we could have a look at it all without wearing out our feet. The train is arranged so that you sit facing the park, sideways on, which we thought was a neat idea. As well as enjoying taking in all the new sights, we saw the Grand Canyon and dinosaur dioramas which are part of the ride.
We were getting hungry and the weather had gotten decidedly chilly so hot food was required. We ate tea in the Village Haus where we shared two pepperoni pizzas, fries and a vegetable salad, and I had a hot chocolate and Andy had a coffee.
Having warmed up inside we headed back to look for more excitement. We almost got more excitement than we had bargained for when instead of queuing for Jungle Cruise like we had thought we were doing, we realised we were actually in the queue for Indiana Jones. I was very upset as this was the only ride that I was bothered about not being able to do. I had dreamed of this ride for years but it's not a ride for bumps so I had been intending on giving it a wide berth so I wouldn't get too upset. Hmm, so that plan didn't work. There were a few tears and then we joined the real queue for Jungle Cruise.
We hadn't done this ride at night before so that really cheered me up, plus our skipper was excellent. He endeared himself to me instantly by quoting Guns N Roses "Welcome to the jungle, we got fun and games" and other funnies such as "Move up, what you call personal space, we call ten more passengers!"
We went back to Main Street after our ride where I bought a Peter Pan chocolate bar (similar to a Dime bar) and we waited for the Wishes fireworks to start. We only got to watch part of the show as it was stopped halfway through due to strong winds at high altitudes. Gutted. Luckily, this was our first night so we knew we would get chance to watch it again. It looked like it was going to be interesting as it started in the same way as WDW Wishes and then had moved on to bits from the park's rides.
As the park was going to be open until 11 pm, we carried on with our touring. We bought a bottle of fanta and then headed over to ride Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. We loved the movable guns (though it didn't make me any better at it than I am in Florida!) and there's a great scene at the end where Buzz is fighting Zurg. We also liked the Buzz in the queuing area who is drawing up his plans on an etch-a-sketch.
It had gone really cold by this time, but of course, we didn't want to go back to the hotel whilst the park was still open, so we went to down to Main Street where I bought a Jack Skellington hoodie and felt much warmer! It is something I have wanted for a while so this seemed a good opportunity to buy one.
Next it was time for our favourite cold weather ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, always guaranteed to warm you up. Wow, Pirates here is amazing! Definitely the best version of this ride that I have experienced. I loved the drops at the beginning, especially the first one, which seems really long, and the bayou beginning to the ride, which is really magical. This was a great time to ride as well as we walked straight on - the queue had been way out the front of the entrance in the afternoon.
This was the last ride of the night as it was 11 pm and the park was closing up so we walked back to the hotel, appreciating the fact that it was so close.
The outdoor bar was open until 1 am (WDW hotels take note!) so we got Andy a beer and a diet coke for me and took them to our room. We looked through the Disney paperwork we had been given and planned our next day before heading to bed at 12.15 am.
Laur's
I think the castle is cute too 
