Our 3rd annual Fall trip to Disneyland was another one for the books. This time we opted for the 3-day hopper pass, which was better, and yet the same. The days still went by too fast, my legs were still horribly sore, and I still spent too much money. As usual, we made a point to go on some new (for us) rides, and this time we had some new people in our group. Unfortunately for me, I was still having headaches, so that tainted some of the fun. The first day was a complete blur. I slept in the 2nd day and felt a little better. I think the 3rd day was the best of the three: I was feeling the best, it was less crowded, and it felt like we finally got our timing right. Here is a breakdown of the weekend:
Day 1We of course started the day with Pirates. I was surprised and glad that the changes they'd made were minimal. The inclusion of the Jack Sparrow character didn't take away from the classic story, and the new foggy Davy Jones thing was cool. The only thing we were really disappointed about was the ending - we liked the pirates struggling with their booty, and the drunk Jack Sparrow fell a little flat.
After hitting the mansion and Indiana Jones, several of us were hungry and we made the mistake of standing in line for breakfast. That mistake threw off the timing for the rest of the day. We did eat at a new place (River Belle Terrace), which is always fun, but it just shouldn't have happened. Some moments to remember: dinner sitting on the deck of the Monterey bread bowl place while watching the last of the parade; seeing Wes's face light up during his first time on Soarin' (my favorite part of the day); getting soaked on the Grizzly water ride and having to go back to the motel to change my clothes.
Day 2I slept in and let the group go ahead without me. I walked from the motel, cut through the Grand California Hotel, and arrived at Disney. The place was a mob scene because they were filming a Disney Christmas special (with Ryan Seacrest, Hannah Montana, and Daniel Powter) in front of the castle. I finally arrived at Dumbo around 10:30, just as the group was getting on the ride. There was a woman there who was celebrating her 100th birthday (she had an entourage, photographers, and everything) and she was riding the ride at the same time. Then we took a spin on the Teacups and headed over to Tomorrowland for the Honey I Shrunk the Audience show. On our way back to main street, we were delighted to catch the Garbage Can trio show. Then Marissa and I decided to meet up with my sister in New Orleans Square while the rest of the group headed to Toon Town. But my sister's group was of a different mind - they wanted to
stand in line for Pirates and we didn't. So we headed back to find our group and we ran into Andrew and Vicki on the Frontierland trail. We were all hungry for lunch, the Mexican restaurant was crowded, and on a lucky stroke the line at the Golden Horseshoe was relatively short, plus there was a show starting in a half hour. So we ate there and watched the Bill Hill and the Hillbillies show. Other things to remember: taking an evening break at the Hearthstone bar in the Grand California; finally hanging out with my sister's group for a bit: we did the ropes course, Mulholland Madness (my idea, what was I thinking?), and the Muppets show; Andrew and I on our own while the rest of the group watched the fireworks show (we walked right onto the Jungle Cruise but were disappointed to discover that the Treehouse was closed); serendipitously meeting up with my sister again while in line for the Haunted Mansion.
Day 3We got a late start (didn't arive until a whole hour after opening), and yet I felt like we got the most done (or that things felt more like they were supposed to). We hit 4 rides in the first hour - Mr Toad, Alice in Wonderland, Casey Jones, Roger Rabbit - and then took the train to Tomorrowland. We had lunch at the pizza place in Tomorrowland (another new one for us), then took the train to New Orleans Square where we browsed the gallery. After meeting up with the rest of the group, we rode the Columbia (another first) and were delighted to go belowdecks. Later that day we had another break at the Grand California, where the guys settled in for a cozy game of chess and the rest of us waited for the shuttle to take Marissa to the airport. After yet another spin on Soarin' the group split up again (lots of splitting up on this trip): Sarah and the young'uns went to ride the roller coaster, and the guys and I went back to Disney. Steve went in search of photos to take, and Andrew and I finally had our nice dinner at the Mexican restaurant, sitting outside watching the people in Frontierland. Steve showed up as we were finishing and we talked about the variety of people who come to this place ("To all who come to this happy place: welcome!"). After dilly-dallying at the shooting gallery and taking a quick trip on the rockets, we met up with the others to ride Buzz Lightyear twice in a row. We had one last group excursion on Small World, then packed as much as we could into the last hour: Pirates, Indiana Jones, Peter Pan, Dumbo.... and we were quite proud to be the last riders on Mr Toad. Other things to remember: the incredibly short line for Small World; the first 10 minutes of the Princess show; a nice doubledecker bus ride down main street; Andrew's score on Buzz Lightyear got worse every time.
Footnote: I am 30 years old now. 30. The big 3-0..... Certainly going to Disneyland is a great way to celebrate. But (and there is always a but with me).... I still need to do something really big, really special, to mark this milestone.
