USA – Day 3 – Disney and friends

We were able to sleep a LITTLE later this morning – till 6.30am! We had a quick breakfast in the room (cereal for Kevin and a bagel for me) and we were out the door at 7.15am. Waited at security till 7.30am, then the main gates till 7.45am and then rope drop till 8am – when the park offically opened. So many people were headed to Star Tours and I love how it was kept orderly – a line had to follow slowly behind a cast member holding a sign. We headed straight to Space Mountain and were second in line. We too had to follow a cast member – I guess it’s to keep people from running madly to get on the rides first.

LOVE Space Mountain. Again so good to be ahead of the queues. We then headed to Indiana Jones to pick up a fast pass but I think the ride might have just opened and it was just a 15min wait so we decided to go right on. Another fun ride. Then it was time for the famous (corny) Jungle Cruise.

I LOVE how the old original rides are still loved today. Time for another ride on Pirates.

One thing Disney does so well is attention to detail.  This is just a shop exit and alleyway.

We headed over to Critter Country.

Again we planned to pick up a fast pass but the wait was 10min so we rode.  I managed to stay quite dry but Kevin got rather wet.

Then Winne to Pooh…

And a break at the River Belle Terrace. Even though it was just 9.30 it seemed a long time since breakfast.

We shared a mickey pancake.

and sat outside on the terrace to enjoy it.

Then it was time to board to raft over to the Pirates Lair. This was still being developed last time we were here.

It’s a great place for kids (big and little) to run around and explore. I remember Amy loving this bridge when she was 1.5).

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And there was lots of babies of the feathered variety.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Columbia out and it was quite a sight.

Another nostalgic attraction – the Enchanted Tiki Room – forever now remembered from our trip when Amy was 18months and stole the show by dancing along to the singing birds.

While waiting I enjoyed my very first Dole Whip Soft Serve – pineapple ice-cream. Yum-o!

Still a cute show – esp. for the kids.

We headed up main street marvelling at the number of people just entering the park. Here we found the first characters of the trip – not that we worried with no kids in tow wanting photographs and autographs. We went to see Great Moments with Mr Lincoln. I particularly enjoyed seeing the Disneyland history display and video. I can still remember we had tickets similar to this on my first trip in 1979 – where you paid for attractions based on how popular they were. E-ticket rides were the best. It’s funny that you still sometimes hear rides referred to as an E-ticket attraction.

It’s a nice little show but only worth doing if you’re very into American history or have some extra time. This time it was a redone version of the very original show – which I thought was pretty cool.

We left around 12.30pm and headed to Downtown Disney. Had a look around a few more shops, including Little Miss Matched which I’ve been wanting to visit for a long time.

You buy 3 odd socks so you don’t need to worry about matching up ever again.  I think it’s a fun idea. I got some for the girls and I.

We so enjoyed yesterdays Mexican that we decided to get it again. But today we had soft tacos – Kevin had meat and I had vegetarian. SOOO YUMMY!!

We ate on our balcony again and then Kevin went off for a snooze. I relaxed for a bit and then got ready to head off to meet my online friends, Annie (whom I’ve meet before when she visited Australia) and JoAnn. I bought them both some goodies – Tim Tams, Clinkers, Caramello Koalas and some Furry Friends for their kids.

Annie was running a little late so JoAnn got a tea/coffee and sat outside the bookshop chatting until she arrived… bearing these wonderful goodies from her favourite bakery. They were all HUGE so we shared some of each (with plenty of leftovers for Kevin).

They also gave them this awesome gift basket as a birthday/Welcome to America present. How sweet was that?

Eventually it got a little hot in the sun so headed to the Grand California lobby where continued to chat in the nice, comfy lounges. We had such a great time I forgot to take photos. Kevin joined us about 6pm and after more chatting we had a photo taken before saying our farewells.

I so wished I lived closer to these wonderful ladies. We chatted non-stop for over 4 hours, and I’m sure we could have kept on going. I’m always amazed at how easy it is to meet with people you know online because you really do know them before meeting in real life. I’ve known Annie for 4 years and JoAnn for almost as long.

We headed back up to the room to drop off our goodies and put on something a little warmer and headed into California Adventure. It was now about 7.30pm

We didn’t have any plans except to ride California Screamin’. There was no fast passes left so we went standby. It said a 20min wait but it was only 10mins. LOVE this ride. Definitely a tie for top spot with Space Mountain. I “might” have bought our ride photo if it wasn’t for the guys in the row behind us!!!! We’ve actually noticed quite a bit of this – which I think is a shame for people who want to buy the ride photos. Not so important for us as we already have lots from other trips – but it could be very annoying for others.

Time to get some dinner.

We got tofu with Mandarin Orange Sauce to share. It was quite nice but not the most amazing Asian meal I’ve ever had.

We then went back over the Screamin’ to ride now that it was dark. But we were too late. The cast member had told it is closed at 8.30pm but it did just register with me how late it was. I was aware of the time, knew we hadn’t said goodbye to Annie and JoAnn till after 7pm, but it just didn’t compute. Oh, well, we need to leave some things for another trip :-).

Kevin was keen to do some more rides but I felt it was time to call it quits. I found it hard to wind down last night so thought it best to head back to the room at a reasonable time. It was 9pm and we’d been up and on the go since 6.30am. I took in another tea to have and played around with photos and video before going to sleep around 10.30pm.