October 29, 2011

Our family made the wise choice of using Disneyland's Magic Morning Hours to enter the park an hour before it opened to those with general admission tickets. At dusk we set off with hopes of being able to ride our favorite E-Ticket rides and any dark ride we had missed before.
After riding Star Tours twice, and taking Dallin on Space Mountain, we traveled into Fantasyland. We rode the Matterhorn again, Alice in Wonderland, the Teacups, and at Maddy's request we returned to the Storybookland Canal.
However we were aware time was running short. We rushed onto Big Thunder Mountain, and then made it to Splash Mountain just as the park started to fill up. I learned the power of weight in a Splash Mountain log, when I was chosen to sit up front in a log full of adults. I quickly got wet on even the smallest drops!
After our Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah bath we made our way out to lunch. We found ourselves caught in Adventureland, trying to ride Indiana Jones a few more times and take a tour on The Jungle Cruise. After I humorously acquired several fastpass tickets for Indy (I nearly lost our tickets) we explored the land, increasingly aware of the growing crowds.
After some glasses of Disney's famed virgin mint julep we found ourselves with little left to do. With most of the park explored (except Toontown which we consciously decided to skip) we set of to Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer Island in hope of entertaining the kids and escaping the growing crowds. Dallin and Mike briefly took a trip on the canoes but soon joined us on the island. I soon found my self crouching through 3 feet high tunnels, being guided by Dallin around a wrecked pirate ship. Tom Sawyer Island was not built for those who are 6' 3"!
Once the kids had their fill we returned to the busy mainland. We tried to regroup, but I was momentarily distracted by a highly inconvenient bloody nose. By the time we reassembled Maddy had rode Splash Mountain with my Sister. We ate candy in Critter Country and then began heading out. With the crowds and time a factor we soon boarded the train at New Orleans Square to set of towards Main Street. Not before my dad, sister, and I tried to eat giant turkey legs.
My mom, dad, and I briefly made one last trip into Tomorrowland to acquire t-shirts. However before we leaved the Star Trader we used our camera as a digital mirror to convince mom into buying herself a jacket.
Our time was running out! The rest of the family watched the parade which several of us had seen already while they had rode Dumbo the first day. My Dad and I quickly viewed Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln only to come outside with the realization, time was up! As the last moments of the parade disappeared backstage we sorrowfully said goodbye to our extended family. Then mom, dad, Brianna, and I left the park. As we returned to our hotel we could hear the last strains of an instrumental version of You Got a Friend in Me playing over the speakers. We composed ourselves, packed our luggage one last time, and then rode the Nissan back to Long Beach.

At Long Beach we tried to make the moment last, myself repeating the TSA parody jokes from Star Tours. However we soon accepted the truth, it was over. We watched as other families wearing Mickey Mouse T-Shirts shuffled into the Jet Blue terminal. At least we were not the only ones suffering! We passed through boarding and found ourselves on the loaded plane. After several episodes of Gold Rush Alaska I found ourselves landing in Salt Lake International. With our fellow tourists we shuffled out of the terminal, boarded a shuttle, and then arrived at our Toyota; alone in a lonely parking lot. We made our last vacation expenses in the last hours of the day as we stopped by Albertsons to buy milk. We went to bed, sad our wonderful trip was over.

Then again, I will be back at Disneyland with Cross Country in about a month...

Picture Gallery

October 28, 2011. Welcome to Constructionland.

Early in the morning our family gathered together to eat breakfast in a small restaurant in the Marriott. With our bellies full we set off towards the parks, but with California Adventure not due to open for another two hours, we began our day in Disneyland.
To my delight everybody wanted to see Star Tours again! However our second flight was more memorable with Maddy telling everybody in the Starspeeder to put their 3D glasses on!
After a ride on Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy ruined the hair my mom spent time preparing earlier that day...
...we set of to explore Fantasyland. We used our short time to ride a hand full of dark rides. We then set of across the resort to Disney California Adventure (DCA).


For your information DCA is under major construction all over the place in an attempt to bring it on par with Disneyland's standard. While I was impressed by the work they were doing it meant some things were very different. With the entrance torn to bits we passed under the new gates then took a right, down a former (and future) backstage area surrounded by blue construction walls, and then into the Golden State section of the park!
What did we care, after fastpassing our spot to view World of Color we set of on two soaking adventures on Grizzly River Run, by the end of the day we would have rode this ride a total of three times! We would make our way down towards the new Little Mermaid ride which was about as good as a Disney dark ride can be! We made our way down towards Toy Story Midway Mania.

Ahhhh! Whose idea was it to let me hold the baby?!
Once our stomach's had settled after riding Screamin' we made our way down to the wharf area for lunch. Afterwords we traveled to a baby care station and while the girl's went inside I got my first good look at Cars Land.
One problem, Cars Land will not be open until next summer!
After Maddy talked to Crush the Turtle we made our way into the Tower of Terror. At the same time Mike, Grandma Sue, and the little kids made their way into a bug's land.
We got together to watch the It's Tough to Be a Bug 3D movie and then made our way over towards Soarin'. With most of the park explored we moved out into the Downtown Disney shopping district.
Dallin had finally made it to LEGO mecca! After a lot of drooling, on both his and mine parts we left. At my parent's expense Dallin left with this set.
As dusk fell we ate at a delicious place which prided itself in various usages of bread. We filled up as a nearby band played instrumental versions of Eagles and Kansas songs. I did however confuse Dust in The Wind as being a Led Zeppelin song until my dad set me straight, leading me to phrase: if it is not Zeppelin it must be Kansas!
Maddy wondering why we were not inside asked my mom why we could not be inside. Mom declared their were "mean people inside," leading Maddy to declare, "Satan is in there serving coffee."
We set of back into the park in hopes of riding Monster's Inc. before seeing World of Color. I was excited hoping to be immersed in Tron nerdy while passing by elecrTRONica. At first it seemed cool with the lights and the movie's songs playing at the entrance, but soon we came across a very obnoxiously loud dance party, right next to Monster's Inc. With our ears bleeding we rushed inside, rode the ride, then quickly fled out towards Paradise Pier. I should have known a Disney version of a Tron rave would not be cool; but just loud, even if it lacked the evils normally associated with raves. With our L.D.S. Family focused sensibilities at alert we soon found redemption for the night at the World of Color.
WOW!!! I never got any pictures of the show, mainly because I was focused on watching it. However it is needless to say it would take many big adjectives to describe how awesome the show was! Although everybody enjoyed it we soon found sleep taking over the littlest members of our group...
We made our way out of the park, with anybody under the age of 10 fast asleep. Our group separated ways at the Marriott for the night, with the foreboding knowledge tomorrow would be our last day.

Coming Soon: Crowds, Pirate Islands, Why Jet Blue is nothing like Star Tours, and the saddest farewell in our Disneyland history.

October 27, 2011; Destination-Disneyland

There are few things which can make person get up at 2:45 a.m. M.S.T. Unless there is a plane departing for Long Beach early in the morning...
After a short flight my family found ourselves in a small Nissan driving towards Anaheim a few miles away, in a few moments we were at a Marriott on Harbor Boulevard across the road from Disneyland. We had barely walked into the lobby when we ran into our family, grandpa Wayne, grandma Sue, uncle Mike, aunt Beth, and my cousins, Dallin, Maddy, and Jonathan.
Here you can see my photo of the grandparents taking our picture at the entrance of Disneyland:

We had made it!

We soon set of exploring the park,riding such rides as Splash Mountain and the Haunted Mansion.

We even discovered that Dallin is not a good driver of jeeps in ancient lost temples in the Indian delta! My mom teased him the whole trip.

We made our way out of Adventureland and into Tomorrowland in hopes of fastpassing the new Star Tours.

After a few attempts to ride the Matterhorn and a painfully long ride on Autopia (with a few minutes stopped on the ride as new cars were put on the track) we soon found ourselves speeding through the fastpass line for Star Tours. While I knew I would probably enjoy the ride the best part was hearing Brianna; who disliked the original ride, screaming and laughing through our first (and most of the later rides) on Star Tours.

We headed into Fantasyland where my Mom and Sister transformed Maddy into princess Rapunzel, it would not be until the middle of the last day when Maddy finally separated from her dress after a very splashy ride on Splash Mountain.

Even Dallin would join in on the make believe fun by creating a lightsaber later in the day, however he seemed more excited about the promise of a future visit to the Lego store...

By dinner we had seen much of the park. We ate in New Orleans square, listening to jazz music, dusk slowly approaching.

We began wrapping up with by riding the few coasters we had not hit earlier in the day, we even finally made it on the Matterhorn.

Before park closing we got in line for the Submarine Voyage, taking our last ride for the first day...
With the park closed we sadly walked out onto Main Street, after a brief browse at the Disney Gallery, we left the park.
Soon we were in our hotel room. After some humorous problems over the room's heater, we all fell into a deep sleep, with the promise of another day in the parks still in our minds.

Next Up: Glasses, Grizzlies, and Water.