California sure pulled out all the stops! Pt 2

[Mickey'sGirl]

Our Disneyland adventure July 26 to 30, 2008

Day 2 (Sunday)

Cast of characters (and I mean characters!) Me (Jennifer), DH (Brian aka CanadianWDWFan), DS10 (Harry) and DS4 (Euan).

Euan and I were up very early (internal clocks not adjusting as desired!). We got Brian and Harry up, and after eating some snacks in the room, we headed out to hit California Adventure park and to try our luck with Toy Story Mania. We grabbed some FREE COFFEE from the lady in the lobby of our hotel and we were on our way. In our minds the park opened at 9, so we were there at a quarter of. It turns out that it opens at 10, but they start letting people in to queue up for TSM at about 9:30. So we had a little over 40 minutes to kill with frick and frack (who were already requesting ice cream I might add!!). We took many photos on and in and beside the C A L I F O R N I A letters, and Brian got to talking with a CM. Turns out he had been working for Disney forever and had met Walt back in the day. He was a really nice guy, and we saw him having similar conversations with various people while they were waiting. We were finally able to enter the park, and we were corralled around to a nice, shady waiting spot, before we were escorted right around to Paradise Pier, and the Toy Story Mania queue. What a beautiful park, and we sure got to see it in it’s pristine splendour at that time of day! We spent our time winding through the backswitches and catching bits of Potato’s schtick until we were boarded. Harry rode with Brian and I rode with Euan. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this. I knew it would be fun and enjoyable, but this was way beyond that. What a terrific ride for EVERYONE…we made our way through the various scenes shooting at the targets with our very cool 3D cannons. Unfortunately it had to end, and the wait time was prohibitive, so we ventured out to other parts of the park.

We caught many of the rides on Paradise Pier – Mulholland Drive, Jellyfish Jump, Brian and Harry rode the big Orange swingy ride, then the three of them rode the Spaceship. Lots of fun. We swung around and picked up some (Imagine!) and made our way back to the front of the park to get Soarin’ fastpasses. Then we went back to see It’s Tough to be a Bug! (We love it!) and ride the kiddie rides in Bug’s Land. Bug’s Land was fabulous, and something WDW should consider for MGM perhaps. After Bug’s Land, we went over to the Tortilla Factory for a tour and some samples (Yummy! AND they gave Brian a whole bag of Tortilla’s for his Birthday), then across to the Boudin Bakery for another tour and some more samples (even yummier!). I had decided that I would be eating my lunch at the Bakery (Actually called the Pacific Wharf Caf&#233. I ordered the vegetarian Chilli in the Sourdough bowl and a banana…so lunch ended up being for both Euan and I (he ate my “lid” and the banana and I ate the chilli without sharing with anyone!). After our lunch, we swung back around to the Taste Pilot’s Grill, so Brian and Harry could get some burgers. After lunch, it was time for Soarin’. We were seated in Row A of the middle section, and it was really neat to fly over some of the places we would be seeing in our own California Adventure over the next couple of weeks. Very cool.

After lunch, we went up to the “studio” section of the park. We saw Playhouse Disney, and then Muppets and Monster’s Inc (I love Mike – and we really liked this ride!) and then over to the Hollywood Tower Hotel. This was Euan’s favourite ride when he was 2, but wouldn’t have any part of it on our last two trips at ages 3 ½ and 4…so I used the best trick in my Mommy arsenal and said “Euan, I will buy you a if you ride with me” … he said no at first, then he said “I want a ” and we went in! Again, many similarities to the MGM version, but there were little details here that made it stand out a little bit more for me. I loved the little hallway mirrors and tables with flowers on them when we stopped at the different floors during our ascent. I also really loved the exit. It was as if we were actually in the bowels of a hotel, where messages were posted on the walls saying “Keep hallways clear” “Do not park carts here” . Subtle yet effective detail. After ToT, we went over to check out some of the animation exhibits…the Beast’s library was pretty cool, and then across to the courtyard, because one of the CM’s told us that Mickey in his blue hat would be making an appearance there at 4. We set ourselves up on a bench and waited. We weren’t expecting a singing show with Cindy, Mickey and Woody, but that’s what we got (and the boys didn’t mind it too much). There wasn’t an opportunity to meet the guys, but we got some good pictures. After this show, we headed back out to the main drag to find a good location for seeing the Pixar Parade. We found a good spot just before the bridge to Paradise Pier and really enjoyed seeing all the guys. We were particularly impressed with how they “created” the fish from Nemo.

We made our way back to the hotel after the parade. It had been a long day, so we grabbed some eats from Croc’s Bits and Bites. We went back to the room to watch a movie. There was a note and some glow sticks waiting for us on our table, explaining that there was going to be a full test of various power facilities over night, and that we would be without power for a period of time between 1 and 4 am. We called downstairs to arrange a wakeup call for 6, as we wanted to get over to ride Nemo early, and didn’t want to count on the alarm clock if the power was going out. The desk said no problem, and we proceeded to watch our movie…Then suddenly BANG!! BOOM!! We were privileged to catch our own private Disneyland fireworks show from our hotel room window. Just fabulous!

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

Sounds like you're having a great trip! I hope to make it to Disneyland one day too

[NotaGeek]

What a great day! Thanks for sharing.

[Carol]

Bug’s Land was fabulous

I love that area.

I'm so glad you are taking your time to enjoy the details. California Adventure really has some beautiful areas.

Thanks for reporting.

[ChipnDaleGal]

Sounds like you had a really wonderful time at DCA. And what a super way to end the day with those fire works from your room. Excellant report, Jenn!

[Melanie]

What a perfect day, Jen. I'm so anxious to ride Toy Story Mania next month. Glad to see it exceeded your expectations.

[Caroleh]

Sounds like another great day, Jenn!!!

[ElenitaB]

Thanks for sharing the details of the day. I really loved the pics from the parade, reminds me of a combination of the parade at AK, the Nemo show at AK and the Tapestry parades at EPCOT.

[Dsnygirl]

What another great day.... you've got me wanting to make a trip towards DL someday! I'm so glad you guys were having such fun!!

[pogo]

Hhmmmmm...... a for riding HTT ????? I don't think it would work with me. But I'm glad it did with Euan.

Another great day. Going to read Part Three.

[MegaDisney]

Sounds like another great day!

I am glad you enjoyed DCA! It is refreshing to read a report that appreciates the park!

Thanks again!

[offwego]

The fireworks must have been a neat touch. What a good idea to relax in the room with a movie. Glad your enjoying the little things on this trip. (in additon of course to ice cream)

[disneydrmr]

This park is so enjoyable! Glad you guys liked it also and had such a nice time! I'm with you - the ToT has some differences that really do make it stand out!

[2Epcot]

Great trip report. I was at DCA a couple of weeks ago with friends who used to live in CA. We rode Toy Story Mania 3 times ... each wait was about 30 to 40 minutes, but we didn't mind because we all enjoyed the ride so much.

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the report!