Life is a Journey

We got a true sleep in this morning – we did even set the alarm. I still woke up at 7am though. I lay in bed for a bit then got up and typed up yesterdays blog post. Eventually Kevin woke up and we got ready for the day. We enjoyed some the leftover cakes that Annie bought yesterday for breakfast – not  the healthiest, but certainly the yummiest :-). Just after 9am we headed to Downtown Disney – but no shop were yet open – so we headed back to California Adventure – which opens to hotel guests at 9.30am. We decided to head over to ride California Screamin’ when the park opens at 10am, so we were with the crowds racing to Toy Story Mania (which we never rode as we weren’t prepared to wait over an hour).

Unfortunately Screamin’ was closed (and no fast passes being given out) so we headed to Mickey’s Fun Wheel.

Since there was no-one there yet we opted for the swinging gondola – which was fun, but a bit freaky.

You get a great view from the top – check out the line for Aerial’s Under the Sea adventure about 10mis after park opening. It was around a 90min wait!!! CRAZY!!!

Screamin’ was still closed so we decided to head for Grizzly river rapids (but the fast pass machines were only working for World of Colour). We did however score a treat – Ice cream bits for me and choc banana for Kevin.

We got our fast passes (25min wait) and I made Kevin go on Heimlick’s Chew chew train which was one of Christy’s fav. rides on our last trip. It’s cute but definitely aimed at little kids.

Next up was the 4D It’s Tough to be a bug.

We loved the movie posters :-).

Time for Tower of Terror again – such a cool ride.

We then rode Monsters Inc…

Muppet Vision 3D…

and then went to see the musical Aladin. So glad we had VIP tickets with our package as we got great seats.

One fantastic show – definitely not to be missed. The Genie is just the best.

It was about 1.30pm and we were getting peakish so we got a corn cob for our lunch. It was delicious.

Finally out last ride of the day – Grizzly River Rapids. The wait was 45min so we were greatful to have our last fastpass (given with package) to use.

The sign says you will get wet, you may get soaked…

I was one of those you go soaked. So much so I had change all my clothes, right down to my underwear! Luckily we had planned for this to be our last ride before going back to our room:-). It worked out to be great timing to do another facetime with the girls as it’s 7.30am in Australia.

I’m not big on phoning home when I’m away but being able to see everyone as we talk is wonderful. Christy has taken to pulling this face whenever we use facetime. Not sure why but it sure does crack us up :-).

I then headed down to Downtown Disney to visit Sephora – a makeup shop we don’t have in Australia.

I’d heard it was good but I had no idea they carried such a huge range. With things being so much cheaper than in Australia and the Aussie dollar being so good I stocked up on a few things and picked up some new things to try.

And I love how it was all packaged up – even though I just have to throw it all in the bin :-(.

I then went over to Wetzel’s Pretzels – which both Kevin and I had been keen to try.

Kevin got a cinnamon and I got a plain salted. And, oh boy, were they good.

I did a bit of packing as we have an early departure in the morning and had a bit of feet-up time while writing up this post. Shortly we’re headed back to Disneyland to see the new parade, do a few last rides and see the fireworks. Can’t believe the first part of the trip is almost over.

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.

We had a nice break back in our room and my feet recovered considerably before we headed back out around 4pm. First stop was Downtown Disney. Kevin has decided to ship a box back to Australia with what we’ve bought so far – he’s bought some things for work customers – to save us carting it with us, so we wanted to try and do most of shopping sooner rather than later.

I was getting desperate for a tea, only having one had one small cup in the last 48 hours!!! And I think that might have been the cause of todays headache. Unfortunately it wasn’t the best cup of tea – but it was better than nothing. We were going to sit and enjoy it but the girls next to us were VERY loud so we decide to drink (Kevin had a coffee) while walking to California Adventure.

We came in via the main entrance this time but it’s under construction as you can see.

We went to get a fast pass but the wait was just 13mins so we hopped in line.

The attention to detailing in Disney parks never fails to amaze me.

We had wanted to go on Monsters Inc but it was closed so we just headed over to get our World of Colour picnic.

This was a great deal. You got your meal plus drink and fast pass tickets to the World of Colour show. Best was I could book online and not have to worry about getting tickets this morning. And the meals was REALLY good. Kevin had the All American and I had the Mediteranean Vegetarian (my wrap was great and the cous cous salad to die for).

We had quite a while till the show and it was getting cool so we decided to go back our room to pick up jackets. Lucky we did as we really needed them. Then it was time to wait. We were far too early but were quite happy just to sit and wait and people watch. We actually ended up being first in line and people couldn’t understand why we headed towards the back. But I had read online that it was a good place to stand – we were here an hour before showtime but probably could have gotten here just 15mins before as no-one seemed to want to join us.

It was nice watching the place get darker and the lights coming on.

Then finally it was show time and boy what a show it was. Absolutely fantastic. Very worth the time to see it. The photos don’t do it justice so I’ll try to post some video sometime.

And our spot was just perfect. We had a great view and DIDN”T get wet, besides a slight bit of spray. I’m guessing those down the front would have gotten drenched (and cold). It’s definitely not a case of the closer the better.  We stopped to get another tea for me on the way back to our room. Kevin opted for Mickey sandwich bar. He’d wanted me to get a photo but forgot in his haste to eat it :-).

Back in our room we discovered we’d had a turn down service – which was very nice.

I loved the little card they left for us.

It’s definitely been a magical night. And now that I’ve warmed up with my cup of tea and written up this post, I’m off to get that peaceful sleep.