Finally, the Happiest Place on Earth!
Ok, let's get to our first real park day, after all, there are only two park days to discuss! We woke up at 6:30am
.oh so nice and early when you are on vacation! We decided to not wait around for the CCI to open their breakfast and instead dined on Trader Joe's granola bars and Starbuck's espresso in a can. Classy! I was so excited to get into my Disney gear
.my ears and pin lanyard.
Food in hand, we decided to walk the short distance to the Disney gates. It really is a short walk from the CCI. I just do not get how people could possibly think this is a long walk. I digress. As this was a Tuesday, the parks had there MM day. We did not qualify for it as we only purchased two day passes. Instead we went to a gate that was for us "regulars," and we were first in line.
This was the first time I had ever been to DL at opening. When I was a local, we got to the park at 10am or so because we had to fight through rush hour traffic. It was wonderful to be there when it was so empty.
Also, it was nice to know I was not the only Disney planner out there because the guys in line behind us had their touring plan out and were memorizing it. We compared notes and they were impressed my plan was down to the minutes
courtesy of Ridemax. Before we knew it, 8am was upon us and the mighty gates were being opened. CHARGE!!!!!
We had our tickets scanned and we were in. Before running through the tunnel, I had to get THE famous picture.
I really love these simple words. It truly sets the tone for the day ahead, and the purpose why Walt envisioned and built this beautiful park. That sweet moment lasted about a second as we breezed through the tunnels and onto Main Street. I got to walk by all my old favorites
The Firehouse...
City Hall, Emporium, the Native American statue, Main Street Cinema, oh and the Penny Arcade. Ahead was the glorious castle!
I know people who grew up with WDW think the castle is small etc..etc.. It may be small, but it sure is quaint and beautiful in its own way. Plus, if you grew up with DL, you know the Matterhorn is the place you look for to know where you are in the park!
We took a sharp left and headed into Adventureland. Since we missed early morning, we ran to the other areas of the park that were just starting to open. We did so many rides in such a short period of time with no wait all thanks to Ridemax. We went on Jungle, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, Indy, and Splash with a little time to enjoy the area all by 9:30am! NICE! I noticed some new things while on Jungle since my last ride over 10 years ago
the piranhas. Cute.
It was nice to see the new changes to HM, but they were pretty much the same things that were later added to MK's version last year. It was still nice to see it all spruced up though. I was most happy being back on Pirates. If you have been on the MK version, you know it is much much much shorter. I think DH realized why I get so disappointed when riding it at WDW because it just is not the same. I had a smile on my face during the whole ride. Splash was fun too, but here is one of the rare instances where I like the MK version better.
We also had a bad experience on Splash that morning
remember this
do NOT simply put your digital camera in your pocket and get on the ride. DH did that and let's just say that the camera is pretty much broken ever since. Sigh. The screen was no longer working, so I could not tell if the camera was actually taking pictures or not. I was so sad to think we may have lost our pictures and any picture we were taking from then on out may not come out. So from that point on, I didn't use my camera as much as I intended to. I just did not want to be disappointed if I found the camera was 100% broken. In the end, as evident by the photos I have here, the camera WAS taking pictures. While I am thankful for that, I was planning to take MUCH more. Oh well, live and learn. As Homer Simpson says, "Doh!"
After our speedy morning in Adventureland/Frontierland, we walked back out to visit Walt and Mickey's statue. This statue was added since my last visit to DL, but of course I have seen the same thing at WDW. I think it is such a lovely addition to the park. A chance to recognize the person who started it all. Even though Walt was long gone when I was a child, I grew up with the Disney specials they used to show on the Disney Channel. I sure miss the pre-Hanna Montana days when the Disney Channel showed all the great old programs. Many kids today do not have those shows to watch on TV, so they may not know about him. Therefore, I think it is wonderful there is a statue of him where perhaps parents pause during their time at a Disney park and talk about the man who started it all.
I even used to hang by the "virtual" Partner statue on VMK:
After taking some pics with the PhotoPass photographers, we headed out of the park and hopped to DCA. This would be the park we would spend most of our day! As I have said, this was our first time visiting DCA and I was eager to get in. We took some obligatory PhotoPass pics as we entered:
Afterwards, we busted out our Ridemax itinerary and we were off! The lines were pretty manageable throughout the day, and with the help of our plans and FP, we pretty much went on every ride before dinner and still had time to relax AND even hop back to DL for an hour! Not too shabby!
We headed through these "gates"...
and ran over to the 4 diamond
AAA rated hotel, Hollywood Tower.
This is one of our favorite rides at DHS, so I was excited to see the differences at DCA. While there are some queue differences (minor), the main difference is that the elevator does not move forward and I believe the ride sequence of falls is the same each time. As such, I like the DHS better
BUT
the fact that I still got to free fall was awesome and I was a happy camper! After Tower, we enjoyed Monster's Inc., visiting Animation, and stopping for a few silly PhotoPass pics.
We decided to go the single rider line for Cali Screamin'. For any of the single rider lines at WDW, there are actual designated lines you can get in. I was surprised that when I asked a CM about the single rider line, they gave us little blue cards and we had to enter via the exit. We actually did not have a quick experience with the single ride line on this ride because there was only one coaster running that morning. There were several times the coaster went by and the CM forgot to fill the single seats. The line took quite some time, and we were much better off just getting a FP like we did later in the afternoon for our second ride. Still, we loved Cali. The music, dips, and loop were AWESOME. The start of the ride is very much like Rock'n Roller coaster, but I like Cali more!
Soon after, the stomachs started to churn. The Trader Joe's granola bars would only last so long. We decided to cruise through the tortilla and bread factory. After admiring all the work that goes into making sourdough, we decided it was crucial to have the clam chowder bread bowl. While not as good as the chowder I have enjoyed while living in Boston, the bread was delicious. We shared the soup and also got the shrimp Louis salad in a bread bowl. We actually though that was more outstanding, and would recommend that over the soup bowl.
Reached photo max...new thread just below!
Things are alright, but the next few weeks are going to be quite busy. Needless to say, it might be nice to have this TR to escape to for me! It will be nice to remember our vacation and still live through it. 
I then dragged my hubby around the store, and somehow got him interested in the old attraction prints that are pre-matted. We got 3 nice prints of the PeopleMover, Monorail and Rocket to the Moon attraction posters. 
So we decided to stop for drinks at the Jazz Kitchen. 
We were there before the dinner rush, and the bar area was empty. It looked like a fun place to hang when it is hopping. The bartender was super friendly and made some nice drinks for us...at a nice price...but you kind of expect that! 
He is planning to go to WDW with some other CMs this January, so I was giving him all the ol' Dis tips. He proceeded to tell me how dead it has been there this summer, and that the crowds have been very light especially at DTD. He was wondering if some of it had to do with the opening of the Anaheim Garden Walk, saying perhaps it was taking some of the locals away. 
checking out the bookstore and such. They have some nice Disney related books near the entrance that I recommend taking a look at. We also had fun at the Lego store. Somehow Darth Vader does not look as intimidating in Legos! 
(That is why I was so excited to stay on property at WDW the first time a few years ago!) We wondered around and came across a lovely little historical photo gallery!
As we were deciding our dining adventure for the evening, we were given a delightful bread basked and one of the chefs brought over some mini appetizers. I think this is a perk when sitting at the counter.
Here is the all important food picture that is a must in these trip reports on the Dis:
So nice to have my own bed. I let sleep over take me as I excitedly thought about what was to come tomorrow..................
