14 Glorious Hours at Disneyland:A WDW Vet Gets 1 Day at Walt's Park UPDATE x5 (12/15)

[Leshaface]

I just have to interrupt this DL TR to say:

I'm Going to Disney World!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so excited to finally be able to put a ticker back in my signature!!
Finally having a definite upcoming trip has re-energized me to spend more time on this TR!! I just uploaded a bunch of pictures to photobucket and I'm planning to post an update later

YAY!!!!

I'm so happy that you're going to be able to get back to the World. I remember you saying that it would probably be a very long time before you got back there. What's even better is that you don't have to wait 'years' for this trip. Nine months will fly by!

 

[Leshaface]

I absolutely love IASW at DL. The outside is gorgeous! Not sure if they do this at WDW, but every 15 minutes, the clock does a song and little characters come out. I, too, love the characters they incorporated into the ride.

I totally love Roger Rabbit too! When I was on a Disney-movie-every-night kick, I would put RR in all the time. Although Christopher Lloyd always scares me at the part, "When I killed your brother I talked, JUST LIKE THIIIIS!"

 

[heathsf]

Thanks for the update! I had never actually seen the outside of the DL IASW. Looks awesome!

It's totally awesome! I'm glad you liked the update.

YAY!!!!

I'm so happy that you're going to be able to get back to the World. I remember you saying that it would probably be a very long time before you got back there. What's even better is that you don't have to wait 'years' for this trip. Nine months will fly by!

The crazy thing is, that was 2 years ago that I said I would have to wait a long time to go back! (Well, maybe a little less since it took me a year to finish that TR!) By the time we go next August, it will have been 3 years in between trips! That's way too long!!!! But I'm so excited it's only 9 months away now!

I absolutely love IASW at DL. The outside is gorgeous! Not sure if they do this at WDW, but every 15 minutes, the clock does a song and little characters come out. I, too, love the characters they incorporated into the ride.

I totally love Roger Rabbit too! When I was on a Disney-movie-every-night kick, I would put RR in all the time. Although Christopher Lloyd always scares me at the part, "When I killed your brother I talked, JUST LIKE THIIIIS!"

Oh my gosh - did I really not notice the characters coming out?? I'm pretty sure WDW doesn't do that. Oh man, I can't believe I missed it/didn't notice!

That part of the movie always scared me too. Right after his eyeballs pop out!!! But it's a fantastic movie. And I just recently discovered it's on Netflix Streaming - so naturally I watched it immediately. So good!!!

 

[Leshaface]

The crazy thing is, that was 2 years ago that I said I would have to wait a long time to go back! (Well, maybe a little less since it took me a year to finish that TR!) By the time we go next August, it will have been 3 years in between trips! That's way too long!!!! But I'm so excited it's only 9 months away now!

Well, when you put it that way, that is a long time between trips! That's probably why I was thinking it wasn't too long because it took a while for your TR to finish

Oh my gosh - did I really not notice the characters coming out?? I'm pretty sure WDW doesn't do that. Oh man, I can't believe I missed it/didn't notice!

That part of the movie always scared me too. Right after his eyeballs pop out!!! But it's a fantastic movie. And I just recently discovered it's on Netflix Streaming - so naturally I watched it immediately. So good!!!

I could be wrong, maybe it's 30 minutes. And honestly it happens very quickly. The clock does a little song and characters come out and then go back in.

Here just found this...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRIs1p9yZqM

 

[heathsf]

Chapter 11 – Pretty Good, Sure As You’re Born
We left off on the Disneyland Railroad leaving Toon Town Station.

We didn’t stop at the Main Entrance because of the rehab at the station, and by the time we were making our way back to Frontierland, Bobby was a little more awake.

Which was good since he would’ve gotten his wakeup call very soon anyway, because we were about to get a little wet!

Splash Mountain is my favorite Magic Kingdom ride. I somehow never even went on it as a kid! My first time on it I was in college! I blame my parents (Seriously, what kind of parents were they?!?! Taking me to Disney and not making sure I go on Splash Mountain... ) Anyway, I made up for it by riding Splash 13 times during one 6 day trip. It was amazing. I have no idea how many times I’ve ridden it since, but I love it. I know every turn and drop by heart. So I was super excited to ride DL’s version. I noticed that the log moved faster which was fun but the ride definitely felt shorter. It was a great ride, but I liked WDW’s more probably just because it’s so familiar. I also prefer sitting side by side instead of one behind the other. (It’s like the Space and Splash ride vehicles are switched at WDW and DL. I mean just the way you sit next to someone on Splash at WDW and on Space at DL, not that you’re riding a log through space )

Speaking of Space Mountain, there it is off in the distance!

So we got absolutely *soaked* about 15 seconds into the ride. We went down a tiny dip and a rogue wave just soaked one whole side of our bodies. It was pretty funny because it was so unexpected. I didn’t even get wet on the final drop...go figure. Bobby did though!

After we got off, we saw Pooh and Tigger greeting but didn’t get in line. I just creepily took pictures from a distance paparazzi style. At least to make it a little less creepy, I do try to make sure there are no kids’ faces in the pictures.

Oops, I didn’t do such a great job in this one. But Tigger is SO cute!

Then I noticed that the WTP ride only had an 8 minute posted wait time!

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a ride post anything other than a multiple of 5 (except for 13 minutes at Tower of Terror in WDW – omg everything about that ride is perfect, but I digress...). So I had sort of promised Bobby that I wouldn’t make him do all the “kiddie” rides like I did on our first trip to WDW, but it was only 8 minutes! I mean, c’mon! How do you pass that up? So he reluctantly agreed (he’s the best ) and we took a ride through the Hundred Acre Woods in our honey pot (which we boarded outside! Cool!) It was very similar but I did miss bouncing along with tigger.

After this it was snacktime. I encouraged Bobby to get the jalapeño cheese pretzel I had read about on the DIS and it certainly did not disappoint. I thought this was something he would enjoy moreso than me, but I seriously regretted not getting my own. It was SO good.

It’s 8:30 in the morning right now as I type this and I want one now.

We ended up back by the castle, where this happened:

UMM… WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY FIANCE??? Wait…it doesn’t matter. I like this imposter better.

 

[heathsf]

Chapter 12 - A Patriotic Update

Next we headed to Tomorrowland to get FP for Star Tours.

We had been talking about watching the Dapper Dans perform, but by now the only showtime left was the flag lowering ceremony at 4:45 and we had a Roger Rabbit FP window that closed at 4:55, so that meant we needed to hit Toon Town first if we wanted to do both. This was a very stressful point in our day Oh, the hardships of being in Disneyland... We booked it back to Roger Rabbit, but I wasnt in *so* much of a hurry that I couldnt take pictures. I probably didn't stop my powerwalk though which would explain why some of them are a little crooked.

I really wanted to come back to Pinocchio since it didnt exist in WDW!

The girl in the above picture looks so unhappy. Smile girly, you're in the happiest place on earth!

Hello again IASW!

To say Toon Town was crowded would have been quite an understatement. It was just a sea of people as we arrived to that area.

Finally we made it, and there was no line for the FP return! Thank goodness. The standby wait was posted as 5 minutes but we didnt have the extra five minutes to spare so good thing we had those fastpasses! :rofl: We walked right on. As I mentioned in a previous post, I LOVE Who Framed Roger Rabit. I loved it as a kid and I still love it as an adult. If you havent seen it, it's on Netflix streaming now. Thats reason enough to get a Netflix subscription if you don't already have one

The ride was a lot of fun but I really would've liked more of the movie to have been incorporated into the ride. That part was a little disappointing for me. But as Bobby pointed out, there were a lot of characters in the movie that were only lent for the film and are owned by other studios. But I mean, it was Disneys movie and Eddie Valient wasnt even in the ride... and that was Bob Hoskins's best role EVER (with Smee from Hook coming in at a close second).

We rushed back to Town Square and made it back just in time. We are awesome.

They are so amazingly talented and the ceremony was very moving.

A few military members and their families were honored. It was awesome.

Then these guys folded up the flag. Wow, what a process. The precision is just unbelievable.

Bobby and I were glad we rushed and made it back in time to experience that.

 

[heathsf]

Chapter 13 - I Go Solo in a Park for the First Time Ever

After that moving experience we went to Jolly Holiday Bakery & Café for a snack.

Its so cute in here. And tempting. It took me a while to make a decision.

Ultimately, I enjoyed a mini broccoli cheddar quiche and Bobby enjoyed an apple raspberry pie.

While eating we discussed our current situation. It was getting later and we were both still quite damp from the ride to our Laughing Place and into the Briar Patch. It was getting noticably cooler and we were running out of sunlight to dry off our wet butts. One of the great things about Disneyland is how close and compact everything is. We decided we both wanted to go back to the hotel to change into dry clothes. At Disney World this wouldve been a huge hassle and wasted a ton of time. At Disneyland: easy peasy! Once we had come to that decision, Bobby then begged me for a 2 hour break. The poor man was exhausted. Talk about amateur hour I granted him his request and we split up. He went right back to the hotel and I went shopping for a sweatshirt because the temperature was really cooling down. This was my plan all along, figuring it would get cold at night and I didnt want to carry a sweatshirt all day. And that would be my Disneyland souvenir. All was going according to plan except I wasnt expecting to need to go back to the hotel to change my pants. Oh well.

Just as we were finishing up eating and planning, we had a celebrity sighting! Can you see him? Hes half hiding behind the tree on the left side of the frame.

Heres a shot from the back as he walked away from us. Its always just so cool seeing him in person. What a stud.

At 5:15 we went our separate ways. I spent 20 minutes looking for the perfect sweatshirt (a very important decision you know), a postcard for my collection, and a shot glass for Bobbys collection. Then I walked back to the hotel which took me 10 minutes exactly. Bobby was resting in bed like a loser. I mean, what was he thinking? We had ONE disney day, just fourteen short hours, and he was just wasting two of them. Ugh, disgusting. I changed quickly into my new sweatshirt and some dry pants and hustled back to the park. I arrived at the turnstiles, which had a very long line, at 6:16. Not bad at all. And impossible to do in Disney World. This really is a huge perk at DL. I fully appreciated it and so did Bobby. Speaking of Bobby, we agreed we would talk at 6:30 and take it from there.

Meanwhile, I was solo for my first time ever

I love that its vintage Mickey in the grass.

Main Street was packed as the parade was about to to be starting at 6:30. I decided to check out Indiana Jones. It was actually up and running again! The standby wait was 50 minutes but I was reeeeeeeeally excited to take advantage of a great perk of being solo: Single Rider Line! But my hopes and dreams were squashed as I was informed that they were not utilizing the single rider line that day. BOO!!!!! Oh well& I just hoped it would still be up and running later when Bobby got back for us to use our FP from the morning (when it was broken down).

Instead I headed over to the castle to do the walkthrough. It was pretty and I enjoyed it, and it was definitely something Bobby would not have enjoyed so it worked out that I got to do it alone.

At this point it was 6:35 so I called Bobby to see how he was feeling. He was getting ready to come back and said he would call me when he got there. Then I joined Pinocchio on a Daring Journey! This was something else Bobby didnt care to do. I was really loving just doing what I wanted and not worrying about keeping anyone else happy. Im not sure Id want to spend a whole week by myself, because there are lots of things that are more fun with someone (for example riding Tower of Terror is definitely better with company, I had to ride it alone on my trip with my mom). But for the moment, I was really into the whole solo thing.

I waited maybe 3 or 4 minutes and then had this whole vehicle to myself! VIP right here.

It was super cute and Im glad I got to do it.

Afterwards I caught about 2 minutes of the Soundsational Parade (dont worry, Id listened to it probably 50 times on you tube already) and then checked the wait for Mr. Toads Wild Ride and Alice in Wonderland. Both were too long for me to do right then, so instead I walked over to Tomorrowland.

I checked out Innoventions and it was...uh...pretty boring. But from up there I saw this:

And this:

And then this:

So that made it worth it. Bobby was waiting on line to get back into the park and I told him to meet me in Tomorrowland. A band was performing at the Tomorrowland Terrace and it was a.w.e.s.o.m.e. Oh my gosh they were SO good. I sat down to listen and watch. I really wanted to get up and dance but only little kids were dancing and I was alone and it just felt like it wouldve been too creepy. But I definitely danced a little in my seat and was just 100% into it and feeling so so so happy to be there. I just love Tomorrowland at night more than I can say. Its definitely my favorite land at night. WDW has the dance parties too and its just awesome. WDWs advantage is the People Mover though& taking a relaxing ride over Tomorrowland all lit up with the music and the dance party is just&ugh&too magical and perfect. Oh man am I longing for that right now. I just cant wait until August to be back at WDW. Sigh...

Then Bobby texted me and told me he was in the park and heading to Star Tours and to meet him by the FP return.

 

[heathsf]

Chapter 14  Reunited!

It was 7:10 and we had just a short wait at the Star Tours FP return, maybe ten minutes. This was just like WDWs new version, so it was great.

We crossed back through the hub and headed into Adventureland. Would Indiana Jones finally happen???

It seemed to be running, so anticipating that we would want another ride, we got more FP first.

We showed our FP from the morning to the CM who was working at the return, and I explained how the ride had been down during our window but the CM who had been there assured us that we would be able to come back anytime later to use them without a problem. The CM who was there now listened to my story and said, He doesnt work here. I was a little confused, because of COURSE he did, I know a cast member when I see one. So I right away said, Yes he does. The CM then laughed and said I was the first person to say that. Apparently he had been trying to joke around with all the guests who tried to use a FP from when the ride was down. Sorry sir, denying me my Disney-given right to use a FP is no joking matter. Not to mention, you cant fool me. Im a professional. But anyway, hooray! We were finally getting to ride! But first, we had to walk approximately 18 miles through the queue to get to the actual ride. Holy moly. It just kept going on and on and on and on and on! There wasnt anyone in front of us, so we just kept walking through, stopping occassionally to take in all the cool details. Wow, what a queue. But finally we made it and the ride was awesome! Hoorah!

And now it was dinner time! I really wanted to go to the Hungry Bear for a fried green tomato sandwich (thanks to the Disboards) so that was what we did. Yum! Heres Bobbys friend chicken sandwich with onion rings:

And my far superior fried green tomato sandwich with sweet potato fries! Mmmmmmm it was so good. I love it.

From there we walked back through Frontierland and the fireworks started. I wouldve been okay with not stopping to watch and continuing on to do something else but Bobby actually wanted to. And I just couldnt argue with that. So we stopped at a spot overlooking the water where Tom Sawyers Island is which was a great view because there was NO crowds there at all. That is&its a great view if you dont mind not seeing the castle at all. But we didnt so we were very happy watching it there away from the hordes of people. It was pretty chilly at this point so we just stood there watching the fireworks holding each other and it was an amazingly magical moment.

We wanted to go to Fantasyland from here but it was blocked off from the fireworks even after they ended. We waited and waited and waited and a pretty big crowd had gathered at the rope. I was getting a little frustrated because I felt like we had so little time left and we were wasting it standing around. Eventually they let us through (we probably werent waiting as long as I felt like we were) and we went right to Mr. Toads Wild Ride. If I ever did this in WDW as a kid, I didnt remember it and I really wanted to do it. The line was a little long but it moved quickly and we waited probably about 10 minutes.

It was fun, albeit a little weird, but we both laughed and enjoyed it.

Fantastyland at night is so pretty. My pictures cant do it justice. Oh Disney, how I love you.

My camera battery then died so I had to take the rest of the pictures on my phone.

We both really wanted to ride Space Mountain one more time but the wait was 50 minutes and neither of us was willing to wait that right now. I was really sad about it

Instead we headed back to Jolly Holiday for some late night snacks. I got a chocolate cheesecake bar. It wasnt as good as I had hoped and it was just way too heavy and filling. I didnt eat much of it. Poor decision making on my part.

We sat down and enjoyed the pretty view and the magical atmosphere.

Then something really sad happened. We decided we were both done for the day. Maybe its something about Jolly Holiday since last time we were there we also ended up leaving the park. Looking back, I totally regret this decision lol. But in that moment, we were both really tired and I was really cold, even in my sweatshirt. If Space Mountain had been a shorter wait I think we would have done it because it was our favorite ride of the day. We had our IJ FP to use but it just felt WAY too far away, especially with the 18 mile queue. I I was so torn because the park was open until midnight and it felt like such a waste, but I physically couldnt do it. So we agreed it was time to call it a night

 

[heathsf]

Chapter 15  The End

I still needed to take some more pictures and absorb every last drop of magic while I still could.

We checked out the adorable window displays. But my pictures didnt come out so great. Ill just post this one:

We also went into the candy store but I dont think either of us bought anything. Another late-night terrible decision.

Eventually, we made our way to the exit.

We contemplated going to the Tiki Bar at the Disneyland Hotel but again let our tiredness get the best of us. Instead we walked to Downtown Disney to the World of Disney store.

Bobby tried on a hat right when we entered the store.

And then we realized we just couldnt do it any more. So we turned right around and left the store. We dragged ourselves back to the hotel.

Goodbye Disneyland, thank you for a fabulous and magical day. I hope to see ya real soon!

 

[DisneyFreak06]

Thanks for sharing! You're totally making me want to go back! It's funny because I'm not even finished my own TR from my last trip, yet I want to go back because of reading yours. One day!

 

[Leshaface]

Yay for updates!!

I totally agree with you about Splash. I enjoy sitting next to DH than in front or behind him.

Do you remember where you got the jalapeno cheese pretzel from? Was it near Winnie the Pooh?

Aw, Bobby looks so sweet embracing goofy like that!

I completely agree about Bob Hoskins roles! Love both of those movies so much and can quote the entire Hook movie. DH gets annoyed and amazed at the same time

Chapter 13 - I Go Solo in a Park for the First Time Ever

I really wanted to get up and dance but only little kids were dancing and I was alone and it just felt like it wouldve been too creepy.

Omgosh! I pictured this in my head and tried to hold back my laugh at work and it came out sounding like a choking/sneeze/cough laugh

We were finally getting to ride! But first, we had to walk approximately 18 miles through the queue to get to the actual ride. Holy moly.

That sounds about right!

Aw you had such a magical day! I'm so glad that you were able to go and spend so much time there! I'm also glad that Bobby was good about spending the entire day there for you without complaining (aside from his 2 hour rest at the hotel - trust me, i'm with you when you say, "Disgusting" )