Brina78
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2005
- Messages
- 311
We arrived a half an hour after the park opened and stayed till closing. Almost a full day to be exact. It was just my sister, Christine, and myself who went this time. I must first say this was a much better trip than 11/23. Less crowds, less bad smells and less rudeness. One cool thing happened right at the start of the day. When I got my parking ticket, I was handed a paper to fill out to get a free Year of a Million Dreams pin! The choices were Mickey or Donald. What is this? Some sort of contest to see which rivaling character would get chosen the most? That was my guess. Heh. 
The first place we hit in the park was Oscar's, or Carnation Cafe on Main Street, for breakfast. We split the gooey gobs of delicious cinnamon roll French toast. It's way too huge to eat by oneself. Oscar was standing by the exit when we left. Had to stop and say hello with a quick photo. He's so sweet.
Next it was off to see if we needed to get a Fast Pass for Space Mountain. On the way to Tomorrowland, I found what looked like a blue pacifier that was glowing weird lights. I picked it up and realized it was a jelly ring in the shape of Mickey's head with three lights: blue, yellow and red, that lit up and spun around with the press of a button. It was darling; I decided to keep it and turn it on whenever we were on a dark ride. Space Mountain was only a ten minute wait, no need for a Fast Pass. We were on and off in no time.
We then made our way over to Frontierland to go to Westward Ho! Trading Co. to get my free Year of a Million Dreams pin. I picked Mickey, naturally.
The Hillbillies show was starting up at that point, so we slipped through the other way over to Adventureland and on toward Indiana Jones to pick up a Fast Pass to return between 11:45 and 12:45. It was on to Pirates after that, a quick jump on and off, and then on to Haunted Mansion with a line that walked straight up to the steps. Went on Winnie the Pooh next and I got a perfect photo of the Hidden Mickey inside! I'm so proud! 
By then, it was time to return to Indiana Jones. Got on and off that, remembering that the Sleeping Beauty walkthrough was finally open. Wow, it's a huge change from how I remember it. They used to have little dolls for the scenes. Now, they've got some brilliant special effects and animation going on in the little windows. It was hard to get good pictures with a pane of glass bouncing off the flash of the camera. I got lucky with some of the scenes. I think my camera even captured the 'spooky shadow' part. Won't say what I mean to avoid spoilers, you'll see when you go through!
After that, we went on Mr. Toad's, er, twice, and that was my doing. I wanted a photo with the Mr. Toad statue while in line and I looked horrible in the first picture. Not to mention I totally blocked poor Mr. Toad from view! Christine was not pleased having to ride it again. I promised two was the limit, though the second photo was just as displeasing as the first! I'll have to try again another time.
Knowing It's A Small World was finally open, we headed over to sit and enjoy the holiday themes of each land. The boats don't look too different, but I hear there will be a noticeable change to them in January. After that, it was off to hop on the Fantasyland side of the Matterhorn. We got on fairly quickly, too. I love line hopping when they ask for any groups of 'two' and no one answers but us! We bypassed so many and got in the front bobsled. Sweet.
Moving on, we found ourselves back in Tomorrowland and seeing that Space Mountain still had a ten minute wait. Jumped on it for kicks to enjoy another ride through space. We then moved over to Star Tours due to the extremely short wait. By then a slight hunger set in, and Christine wanted to try the Rancho del Zocalo. I figured, why not? We hadn't eaten there in a while and it was something different than our usual food places. I ordered the burrito Sonora and she ordered the two soft tacos. It was tasty I must say, but the chicken was SPICY! Ugh! I kept sucking on my ice cubes, also using the ice to cool my numb lips and Christine kept downing her water. Her tacos were just as hot. That's not an enjoyable spice, not at all.
Where we sat to eat, we noticed a huge, green tarp covering the view of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, also noticed there wasn't any screaming or the sound of the train going by. After eating, we walked over to its entrance and noticed it was closed for refurbishment! Awww, bummer! Good news is it'll reopen on December 5, so that's only a temporary bummer.
It was then off to visit DCA, first taking photos of the C of California with Mickey (for Christine's first letter of her name) and the last A with Goofy (for me because I like the character a lot!). I spent a great deal of time in Off the Page, reading books to the point of boring Christine out to move to the large room of the Animation Building. I finally moved away and started talking to two Cast Members. They were both in charge of the artist's area, or where drawing characters takes place. I first talked to a nice guy name Brian, flipping through the character portfolio and noticing no drawings of Basil. Brian added the name to the list of requests, or more like the number. Basil's name was already in the request book. I was the seventh person who asked for that character that day! Woo-hoo! Go Basil!
The second Cast Member was hard at work, drawing the White Rabbit at the desk behind the rope. I asked if I could take her picture as she drew and Brian said I could. When I asked for their names, Brian introduced himself and then introduced me to the artist, Brianna. I froze and stared at her. I knew this girl, she's got an account at DeviantART and I watch her there, yet I also know her from Comic Con. Christine has met her too. She's an awesome artist, one of the best I have ever seen. I asked about her DeviantART nickname and she said that was her. I had to shake hands right then and there.
We talked a little more until I left to find Christine outside the store. We moved on toward Mike and Sulley to the Rescue ride, first stopping to get a picture of Sorcerer Mickey standing outside the stage area of Drawn to the Magic. Just a picture of him, not with him, Christine wanted one to send to a friend on her camera phone. I took one on my regular camera and I caught him kneeling, almost as if he were praying. It's so adorable! Jumped on the Monsters Inc. ride and then stopped in Greetings from CA for Christine to buy a pair of sweat pants. It was really cold outside!
The time was 5:30 and DCA was closing at 6. We tempted to make our way over to get on Midway Mania in Pardise Pier, never getting on it but opting for California Screamin' instead. Hadn't been on that in a long time and I sure have missed it. DCA closed after we got off. We took the route by Grand Californian to see about getting on the Monorail in DTD back into DL. The Monorail ended up breaking down, causing us to trek all the way back to the main entrance. Oui, we got our exercise for sure!
We didn't do anything in DL except try to get a view of the holiday parade. We failed. It was far too crowded to find a decent spot and we kept getting yelled at whenever we stopped in places were were supposed to keep moving. We ended up sitting on the curb in front of the castle to await 7:45 for the fireworks, missing all of the parade from our view. Oh, well. We caught glimpses of it on 11/23, so it wasn't like we missed it entirely.
The holiday fireworks are gorgeous and very spectacular, however, the choice in music in a few parts kind of dragged it down. I don't think anything can top, "Remember, Dreams Come True" much as they try to. That show will always be the best fireworks ever. As we headed out, we tried to avoid the soap flakes after the fireworks. It was 8 p.m. and everyone had the same idea to leave at the same time. I got very agitated and could not continue. We darted off to the Coca-Cola restaurant and sat down, waiting for the crowds to lessen a little before trying to leave. We left after that and got to the parking structure with less of a wait by the trams. Got out of there, on the road, and back home by 10:30. Very good day, very good indeed!
:
And that's my trip report!
The first place we hit in the park was Oscar's, or Carnation Cafe on Main Street, for breakfast. We split the gooey gobs of delicious cinnamon roll French toast. It's way too huge to eat by oneself. Oscar was standing by the exit when we left. Had to stop and say hello with a quick photo. He's so sweet.
Next it was off to see if we needed to get a Fast Pass for Space Mountain. On the way to Tomorrowland, I found what looked like a blue pacifier that was glowing weird lights. I picked it up and realized it was a jelly ring in the shape of Mickey's head with three lights: blue, yellow and red, that lit up and spun around with the press of a button. It was darling; I decided to keep it and turn it on whenever we were on a dark ride. Space Mountain was only a ten minute wait, no need for a Fast Pass. We were on and off in no time.
We then made our way over to Frontierland to go to Westward Ho! Trading Co. to get my free Year of a Million Dreams pin. I picked Mickey, naturally.
The Hillbillies show was starting up at that point, so we slipped through the other way over to Adventureland and on toward Indiana Jones to pick up a Fast Pass to return between 11:45 and 12:45. It was on to Pirates after that, a quick jump on and off, and then on to Haunted Mansion with a line that walked straight up to the steps. Went on Winnie the Pooh next and I got a perfect photo of the Hidden Mickey inside! I'm so proud! By then, it was time to return to Indiana Jones. Got on and off that, remembering that the Sleeping Beauty walkthrough was finally open. Wow, it's a huge change from how I remember it. They used to have little dolls for the scenes. Now, they've got some brilliant special effects and animation going on in the little windows. It was hard to get good pictures with a pane of glass bouncing off the flash of the camera. I got lucky with some of the scenes. I think my camera even captured the 'spooky shadow' part. Won't say what I mean to avoid spoilers, you'll see when you go through!
After that, we went on Mr. Toad's, er, twice, and that was my doing. I wanted a photo with the Mr. Toad statue while in line and I looked horrible in the first picture. Not to mention I totally blocked poor Mr. Toad from view! Christine was not pleased having to ride it again. I promised two was the limit, though the second photo was just as displeasing as the first! I'll have to try again another time.
Knowing It's A Small World was finally open, we headed over to sit and enjoy the holiday themes of each land. The boats don't look too different, but I hear there will be a noticeable change to them in January. After that, it was off to hop on the Fantasyland side of the Matterhorn. We got on fairly quickly, too. I love line hopping when they ask for any groups of 'two' and no one answers but us! We bypassed so many and got in the front bobsled. Sweet.
Moving on, we found ourselves back in Tomorrowland and seeing that Space Mountain still had a ten minute wait. Jumped on it for kicks to enjoy another ride through space. We then moved over to Star Tours due to the extremely short wait. By then a slight hunger set in, and Christine wanted to try the Rancho del Zocalo. I figured, why not? We hadn't eaten there in a while and it was something different than our usual food places. I ordered the burrito Sonora and she ordered the two soft tacos. It was tasty I must say, but the chicken was SPICY! Ugh! I kept sucking on my ice cubes, also using the ice to cool my numb lips and Christine kept downing her water. Her tacos were just as hot. That's not an enjoyable spice, not at all.
Where we sat to eat, we noticed a huge, green tarp covering the view of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, also noticed there wasn't any screaming or the sound of the train going by. After eating, we walked over to its entrance and noticed it was closed for refurbishment! Awww, bummer! Good news is it'll reopen on December 5, so that's only a temporary bummer.
It was then off to visit DCA, first taking photos of the C of California with Mickey (for Christine's first letter of her name) and the last A with Goofy (for me because I like the character a lot!). I spent a great deal of time in Off the Page, reading books to the point of boring Christine out to move to the large room of the Animation Building. I finally moved away and started talking to two Cast Members. They were both in charge of the artist's area, or where drawing characters takes place. I first talked to a nice guy name Brian, flipping through the character portfolio and noticing no drawings of Basil. Brian added the name to the list of requests, or more like the number. Basil's name was already in the request book. I was the seventh person who asked for that character that day! Woo-hoo! Go Basil!
The second Cast Member was hard at work, drawing the White Rabbit at the desk behind the rope. I asked if I could take her picture as she drew and Brian said I could. When I asked for their names, Brian introduced himself and then introduced me to the artist, Brianna. I froze and stared at her. I knew this girl, she's got an account at DeviantART and I watch her there, yet I also know her from Comic Con. Christine has met her too. She's an awesome artist, one of the best I have ever seen. I asked about her DeviantART nickname and she said that was her. I had to shake hands right then and there.
We talked a little more until I left to find Christine outside the store. We moved on toward Mike and Sulley to the Rescue ride, first stopping to get a picture of Sorcerer Mickey standing outside the stage area of Drawn to the Magic. Just a picture of him, not with him, Christine wanted one to send to a friend on her camera phone. I took one on my regular camera and I caught him kneeling, almost as if he were praying. It's so adorable! Jumped on the Monsters Inc. ride and then stopped in Greetings from CA for Christine to buy a pair of sweat pants. It was really cold outside!
The time was 5:30 and DCA was closing at 6. We tempted to make our way over to get on Midway Mania in Pardise Pier, never getting on it but opting for California Screamin' instead. Hadn't been on that in a long time and I sure have missed it. DCA closed after we got off. We took the route by Grand Californian to see about getting on the Monorail in DTD back into DL. The Monorail ended up breaking down, causing us to trek all the way back to the main entrance. Oui, we got our exercise for sure!
We didn't do anything in DL except try to get a view of the holiday parade. We failed. It was far too crowded to find a decent spot and we kept getting yelled at whenever we stopped in places were were supposed to keep moving. We ended up sitting on the curb in front of the castle to await 7:45 for the fireworks, missing all of the parade from our view. Oh, well. We caught glimpses of it on 11/23, so it wasn't like we missed it entirely.
The holiday fireworks are gorgeous and very spectacular, however, the choice in music in a few parts kind of dragged it down. I don't think anything can top, "Remember, Dreams Come True" much as they try to. That show will always be the best fireworks ever. As we headed out, we tried to avoid the soap flakes after the fireworks. It was 8 p.m. and everyone had the same idea to leave at the same time. I got very agitated and could not continue. We darted off to the Coca-Cola restaurant and sat down, waiting for the crowds to lessen a little before trying to leave. We left after that and got to the parking structure with less of a wait by the trams. Got out of there, on the road, and back home by 10:30. Very good day, very good indeed!
:And that's my trip report!
