Dec DL Adventure - Day 2

[Lacy]

Cast: Me - 25 (Disney-nut)
DH - 27 (not a Disney-nut and first trip to DL)

Day 2: We had breakfast at Baker's Square before heading to California Adventure for most of the day. I was surprised at how many of these breakfast/pie places there are within 3 blocks of DL. But it is nice to have a cheap, filling option for breakfast and since the parks don't open until 10 at this time of year it was a good option.

Our top priority was the Aladdin show since it does not show Mon & Tues. We had some time before we needed to get in line for the first show, so we watched Muppets 3-D, one of DH's favorite Disney attractions. The Aladdin show was great! It lived up to all of the great reviews, especially the carpet and genie! We had very good seats on the side of the Mezzaine and were only in line about 15 min before the show time.

The ToT was next. I was very impressed with the DCA version....the two loading levels is interesting and the boiler room in general seemed to have more theming details. We then took our time looking around the park on our way to California Screamin'. We spent some time looking around Paradise Pier but didn't feel the need to ride any of the other rides. I really enjoy the atmosphere of DCA but think it is great they are spending the money to make it even better.

Next we did the bread and tortilla "factories". The mission video is so cute! We were quite disappointed that they were out of sourdough samples.....watched the lengthy Rosie video for nothing! Luckily, we've been to the real Boudin bakery in SF so we know how good the bread is.

Then we headed to Soarin'. We got to the final loading area but the orientation video didn't start and the next thing we know they are giving everyone passes to return later in the day. One of the theaters went down and stayed down for most of the day. Luckily, we had FPs so didn't spend too much time in line and were able to ride later on.

We then spent quite a bit of time in the Animation building....I was very impressed with all of the different areas, especially the Animation Academy. We learned how to draw Jack Skellington as Sandy Claws!

We had some time before Block Party Bash and were hungry so we ate at the Taste Pilot's Grill. It wasn't bad for park burgers and we enjoyed looking at all of the airplane memorabilia. Sad to admit, I wasn't that impressed with BPB. Many people headed out right after BPB so we took another ride on the ToT and looked around the shops before heading to Disneyland for the rest of the evening.

We headed to Tomorrowland first to do some of the rides we missed yesterday: Astro Blaster, Monorail, Autopia, and DH rode Star Tours. I enjoy the monorail as a ride but wished they didn't have the windows open on a chilly Dec evening (brrr!).

My favorite DL attraction as a kid was next: Storybook Land. I wish I would have gone during the daylight but I couldn't pass up the short line during the parade and Fantasmic! We stuck with the DL exclusive attractions and went to Walt Disney's Tiki Room! Rode Pirates and Jungle Cruise without any line before watching the late show of Fantasmic! We were able to get a good spot right behind the premium seating about 10 min before the show.

We decided to stick around until mid-night and get in a few more rides with short lines. We were hoping the Nemo lines would be shorter but it was still about an hour long right after Fantasmic! So we went to ride the Matterhorn and Small World. DH was excited about the Matterhorn since I've bragged to him many times that it was the first steel coaster.

Unfortunately, the ride on Small World didn't pan out. We were in line about 5 min and we noticed they were sending empty boats....we eventually gave up and asked a CM what was going on. Evidently someone got out of their boat and was somewhere in the ride....they had to empty all of the boats and then go search for the person. I'm not sure why anyone would get try to stay in the ride but at least it was the holiday version so they would hear three different songs instead of just the one

Finally, we got in line for Nemo at 11:40 and waited about 20 min. I had memories of the subs from my first trip to DL as a kid and it was just about as I remembered. I'm not a fan as it is very tight and dark but I'm glad we rode it. The Nemo stuff was cute but nothing spectacular....certainly glad I didn't wait 90 minutes!

[Melanie]

What a nice day at DCA and evening at DL. Thanks for reporting! How was hubby feeling about all things Disney after the second day?

[Disney-lovin' Dutchman]

Wow! sounds like you had a good time!
I hope your husband has been "converted" to Disney

[ChipnDaleGal]

Your report makes me so happy. As I read along I feel like I am seeing all those things that I love so much. So glad to hear that you had such a good day. How strange that someone was trying to hide out in Small World.