Day 2 continued, part 3-
WARNING:less Villa pics from here on out, more traditional trip reporting so Mods, feel free to let me know if I should move this over to the TR board
So after playing in Redwood Creek/ unofficial VGC playground, we headed off to the pier area. Here is a shot of the sign talking about World of Color that is posted on the boardwalk near Ariel's Grotto. Man, I cannot wait for this show!
The girls wanted to ride Mickey's Fun Wheel of Death (Swinging gondola of course) so I was cursing myself for not staying with the sleeping baby but I bravely got in line. Not a big fan of this cue as it is 1. Ugly, 2. Deceptively slow and 3. Breaks in two at the bottom and much like grocery lines, I ALWAYS pick the slow line
.
For those who have never been to DLR, Mickey's Fun Wheel is the very cool looking GIANT Ferris Wheel you have been seeing in all the Paradise Pier Villa view rooms as seen here below. (Why yes, I DID take this from my balcony
)
Cute right? Wrong! You are loaded into these metal cages called "gondolas" (because imagineers have a sick sense of humor
) that can seat 4-6, with NO seat belts and then take a turn around while your "gondola" swings on its metal track periodically and at death defying heights. If you are really lucky, one of your kids will think it is "cute" to rock the gondola mid swing
. But oh, don't worry, each "gondola" is equpped with plenty of barf bags
!
Here is a pic of my oldest, who squeels with glee every time she rides this thing!
Me and Sophie, hamming it up!
After surviving the "fun" wheel, we met up with Jon and my youngest, fresh from her nap. To reward myself, we promptly headed to the Pacific Wharf area for our mid afternoon, DCA tradition of Mickey Pretzels (for the kids) and Karl Strauss Red Trolley Ales (for us
) Ah, much better. Jon took our oldest to California Screamin' and I killed some time with the little ones in Bugs Land. I really like Bug's Land but I will be happy when Cars Land opens up and there is another place to take little ones.
We met up again and started working our way to the front to catch the last Playhouse Disney show. The front DCA plaza is really the only place where they do Halloween theming which is a little strange, considering this is where the halloween party is but it is really cute. The area is called "Candy Corn Acres" with the idea being it is a farm that grows candy corn, with the prize winning candy corn being the centerpiece of the plaza as seen below:
A shot of the Golden Gate bridge, as it is themed to fit in with "Candy Corn Acres"
Minnie and Goofy, who are dressed to match the theming in the area, were just leaving for a break so my youngest dds hung out here with Jon to await their return while Makenna and I went to take a quick ride on ToT. (I have NO idea why I LOVE ToT but am petrified of the Mickey Wheel
)
Here is Goofy, just returning from break. Jon said he was great and had a lot of fun messing around with our middle dd. I think plying Goofy in the parks would be a lot of fun.
This would be the first of THREE differently themed Minnies that Sophie would meet this trip which she thought was way cool
! Molly, my youngest, was still a little unsure of the characters this trip.
Jon also took the girls on the Monsters Inc ride, which was a walk on. I think this is a great little ride and something that is not in WDW. If you are a fan of the movie, you will enjoy it and the recreation of the multiple door scene at the end of the movie is really cool
Here is a replica of the ride vechile, set up just outside the ride for photo ops.
ToT was also was a walk on and DCA was generally not very crowded and very pleasant. I have always really liked this park and think it gets a bad rap. Here is a picture of ToT as it was viewed from just outside the Monsters Inc ride, where we met up with Jon and the girls.
Time for a little Playhouse Disney! I love that they have updated this show with more relevant characters (no more Jojo's Circus, Bear in the big Blue House or Stanley) The little Einsteins segment was a huge hit with my 2 yr old. You would have thought she was watching the Beatles or something. Great, great show for pre schoolers!
UP NEXT: Blue Sky Cellar, Pixar Play Parade and a nice night in DTD
Yay, I found you. Now it's time to read..............
