PDA

View Full Version : First Timers to Disneyland - Day 3, Part 1



Magic Smiles
09-09-2009, 07:10 PM
Today we were ALL up early as we had reservations for Cruzin' Disney's California Adventure Park which is the Segway Tour. Since we got to the park early I had an opportunity to take some photos. The tour starts @ 7:30 am and ends just before the park opens to the public. Provided are muffins, fruit and coffee if you would like.

On the tour there were the 3 of us and a family of 4 from the San Francisco area. Learning to ride the Segway took a little over an hour. It certainly did not seem that long, but from the times on my photos, that is how long it took. We had 2 guides. The girl was the main guide http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1030911web.jpg and she was great, with a guy who would follow behind us. I guess to make sure that we didn’t get left behind. She really made you feel that you are not a hopeless case when trying to get on the Segway. Yes there is more to that. Apparently there has been the rare individual that had to drop out of the tour. I am pleased to say that I was not one of them! (http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1030913web.jpg)Thank goodness. We toured around the whole park and she had lots of good information about the park. Included in the tour was a complimentary locker for the day, group photo and a special pin. We only had one complaint. That the tour had to end. Would we do it again? Most definitely. It was a blast!

After the tour we had to exit the park and enter with our passes like everyone else. We headed straight over to Toy Story Midway Mania (TSMM) as we had all wanted to experience this attraction, but the line had been too long the previous day, but not before a quick stop at California Screamin’ for fastpasses. http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1030955web.jpg As mentioned in Day 2’s report, I once again received 2 fastpasses with my ticket. A little further up in the line for TSMM was the other family of 4 from the Segway tour. We both obviously had the same idea. The wait was still probably a good 20 minutes or more, but boy, is it FUN! I do not understand why this does not have fastpasses. After TSMM it was time to go use our fastpasses for California Screamin’. http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1030953web.jpg I have to say that I think this is the BEST roller coaster that I have ever been on and I have been on my fair share. I just loved everything about it. The music is amazing! 5,4,3,2,1...Lucky for me DH was not going to go on, so DS and I got to go again. Remember my ticket gave me 2 fastpasses. This time round we waited for the front row. LOVED it! Oh yah, the 'scream shields’ are just that, to baffle the screams as Disneyland has neighbors. We were told this on our Segway Tour. California Screamin’ is now my most favorite attraction in Disney. We purchased our ride photos from the 1st ride as it was the better of the two. By now we were hungry again and so it was Mickey Bar time once again. http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1030968web.jpg Can’t get enough of those Mickey Bars either.

While we had been on California Screamin’ the 1st time DH went over to Grizzly River Run to pick up some fastpasses http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1030969web.jpg, so we headed over there now as it was just about time.http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1030977web.jpg I was a little ticked off with myself as I had forgotten to bring my waterproof camera, so could not video tape the run. http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1030976web.jpg DH and myself did not get too wet, but poor DS – soaked! We had planned for this and headed back to our room at the Grand California, which was really close, to get changed into dry clothes.

Once back at the hotel we thought we would drop by the pool area to see if we could eat lunch there. Sure enough we could and on the recommendation of a few from Intercot we EACH ordered Nachos from White Water Snacks. BIG mistake. They are HUGE. 2 Chicken Nachos and 1 Beef Nachos. http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/Day3LunchFoodweb.jpg Okay they may not look that big in the photos, but they were. They were however yummy, as were the drinks.

After enjoying our Nachos and drinks we headed by to California Adventures, through the secret passage and over to Soarin’ where we picked up some fastpasses. The guide on the Segway tour had told us about a clock inside the store that had been smashed when the pilot http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1030993web.jpg, Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier, so went to search that out. http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1030992web.jpg

We decided to browse around the park http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1040006web.jpg and ended up Blue Sky Cellar. We had to stop while the High School Musical parade passed by http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1040032web.jpg, before we could cross and go into the actual display room. The new entrance to the park reminds me of the entrance to Hollywood Studios in Florida. We continued to wander and ended up at It’s Tough to be a Bug. http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1040071web.jpg We were all tired from an early morning and a BIG lunch so decided to go relax and take in It’s Tough to be a Bug. http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1040088web.jpg I took lots of photos of all the leaves in there. http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1040079web.jpg I got a good chuckle out of them. We didn’t know what to do, we were in denial that we were tired so headed back over http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1040094web.jpg to the Pacific Wharf area and toured The Boudin Bakery and thoroughly enjoyed our tiny piece of sour dough bread. http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1040104web.jpg It was soooo good. I would have loved to have bought a loaf, but it would have been wasted. At this point DH decided he was going to go back to the room and rest up for the night. DS and I spied a blue raspberry slushie. This is one of our favorite from WDW, so we had to have one. http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1040108web.jpg We then toured the Mission Tortilla Factory. It was neat to see them being made. I have actually made corn tortillas with a hand press before, but their mechanical methods are so much easier.

We continued to stroll around and ended up back over by Disney Animation, so we decided to drop in and see Turtle Talk with Crush again. I still enjoyed the show, but Crush used many of the same lines as the previous show we had seen. After Turtle Talk we thought we would try out the Animation Studio. DS was joking and saying that with his luck it would be Mickey that we would be drawing. We have done the Animation Studio many times in WDW. And so it was Mickey. Oh well it is always fun, especially to see my Mickey. You never know what my character will look like. DS’s are always pretty darn good, but we always get a good chuckle from mine. Thought about scanning it in for you all to see, but too embarrassing. The studio in California Adventures is enormous http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1040128web.jpg compared to the one in WDW and in WDW everyone’s drawing is shown up on the screen. We continued through the Sorcerer’s Workshop and then headed back over to enjoy our flight over California. Soarin’ is such an amazing feeling. Tempts you to try the real thing.

We decided to head back to the hotel and have a little rest before heading out for the night. As DS and I continued to the front entrance to pick up our Segway photos from our locker, we came across a cart selling Churros. As we have never had one before we decided to split one. It was okay, but are they suppose to be a little doughie in the middle? http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1040145web.jpg I didn’t like that fact. With the Churros gone, a few more hundred photos taken along with a few or more photopass photos done, we headed back to our hotel room for a well deserved rest. http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac250/Newbie1534/P1040146web.jpg

ozmom
09-10-2009, 10:50 AM
Thanks for the post, it's nice to see reports on California visits. Your pictures are great.

tinkwest
09-10-2009, 11:25 AM
Thanks for another amazing report and picture presentation. :bar:

Magic Smiles
09-10-2009, 04:25 PM
Thanks for the post, it's nice to see reports on California visits. Your pictures are great.

Thank you for the comments. It really is too bad that more people don't do trip reports for DL. It really was a great place. Still have 3 days to write, but it is a slow process.

Magic Smiles
09-10-2009, 04:25 PM
Thanks for another amazing report and picture presentation. :bar:

Thank you. It is great to get some comments back.

Disney4us2
09-11-2009, 01:05 AM
I am loving your reports.... can't wait to read more.:thumbsup:

I just love the steak nachos at White Water.... that is our favorite place to eat when we are at DCA. :mickey:

NotaGeek
09-11-2009, 02:37 AM
I am really enjoying your reports ... and yes, the churros are supposed to be a bit soft in the middle! :mickey:

mouseketeer mom
09-13-2009, 09:23 AM
Strange about the fastpass machines..but again, kind of lucky, right?? You guys are teaching me so much about what to expect next year!

FRANKTASMIC
09-15-2009, 05:54 PM
I have the same weakness you have... Mickey ice cream bars. No matter how many I have, everytime I see the cart I want one. :mickey: I think everyone should try one and see what they are missing. I think I mentioned them in my trip reports too. Great report again...

pdrlkr
09-23-2009, 10:25 PM
Thanks for the Report! :smickey: