Disneyland Trip Report: Day 3 - 4

I keep forgetting to post the next part. Ooops. Now you get two days in one post! YAY!

California Adventure

On Tuesday we got up early and went to breakfast at IHOP. There aren't any IHOPs near us, but there are always commercials on TV and the current promotion, Tour de French Toast, looked really good. It is basically all different kinds of French toast. I ordered the banana caramel stuffed French toast. It was good, but the banana cream got to be a bit too much. My sister ordered the Cinnamon swirl French toast. She said it was OK. The only problem with breakfast was that you had to order them as a combination, which included eggs, meat, and hash browns, which neither of us wanted. Overall breakfast was OK.

After we finished breakfast we walked across the street to the park. Most of the people were going to Disneyland. When we were let into the park we found a Photopass photographer and had some pictures taken with the "Greetings from California" sign. After that we headed to Soarin. When we went to WDW last year there was ALWAYS a HUGE wait for Soarin. The one time it was over 90 minutes and there were no fast passes available. Needless to say, we didn't get to ride Soarin at WDW so we made it a priority for this trip. The way they rope off California Adventure is sort of strange. The paths that lead to Hollywood Backlot and Golden State are roped off, but the path that leads to Soarin is open. Everyone seemed to go line up by the rope for the Hollywood Backlot since that is how you get to the Tower of Terror. We decided to head for Soarin. We were surprised to find that they were actually letting people onto Soarin despite the fact that the park wasn't even officially open yet.

We were among the first group to ride it. The queue line is really neat with all the photos of famous Californian aviators and planes. I was kind of nervous because I am afraid of heights, but my sister said it wasn't too bad. We were lucky that we got a nice cast member who put us in the back row, which doesn't go as high as the others. We buckled in and took off. I had to shut my eyes for a couple of parts because you really feel like you are hang gliding. It's cool how they incorporated scents into the ride like the oranges in the orange grove. The best part was when the fighter jets fly by. The one part I didn't like was the ending when you fly into the fireworks. That sort of freaked me out for some reason. That was one of the places I had to shut my eyes. I enjoyed it, though I didn't like being up that high. I was holding on to the handles quite tightly.

After we got off of Soarin the rest of the park was open and we went to ride, Mike and Sulley to the Rescue, since it is unique to Disneyland. I LOVED this ride. It was lots of fun. I managed to get some really good pictures. It followed the movie nicely, which is good because some of the rides don't. I wish they would bring this one to WDW.

Next we walked over to Muppet Vision 3D vision, which we saw at WDW last year. My sister likes the Muppets whereas I really don't. I tolerate it since she goes on some of the rides I like that she doesn't. The waiting room is full of interesting props and there are TVs around the room with an entertaining pre-show. My sister took pictures of all the props while we were waiting for the next show. The show itself is cute. The best part is the guys who sit in the balcony and critique it. The one thing that I don't like is that 3D movies hurt my eyes after a while, but that day it wasn't too bad.

Since there was really nothing else we wanted to do in that part of the park we worked our way to A Bug's Land where we went to see "Its Tough to be Bug" which is another 3D movie. I like the queue for this one at WDW better because it wraps around the Tree of Life and the theater is actually inside the Tree of Life, but the ant hill at CA is cute. The movie posters they have hanging up on the walls are funny. The show was good as usual.

Next I convinced my sister to ride Flik's Flyers with me. They have a ride similar to it at the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo and she liked that one so I figured it wouldn't be too bad. It was totally fun. I enjoyed it immensely while my sister turned a slight shade of green. LOL

After this it was getting closer to time for our lunch reservations at Ariel's Grotto so we decided to head that direction. Since we still had time before our reservation we rode King Triton's carousel. I liked how colorful and vibrant the carrousel is. My sister got to ride on one of the otters. Otters are soooooo cute! I think I had a sea horse. We still had more time so we decided to visit a couple of the stores near there. We purchased some items then headed back towards Ariel's Grotto.

We checked in for our lunch and waited with the other people who had reservations for the same seating time. After about 10 minutes we were led down to the restaurant where each family got to pose for a photo with Ariel. We then paid and were led to our table. Lunch at Ariel's Grotto is one set price and you get an appetizer, entree, and dessert and there is a selection for each. For the appetizer I actually decided to try something new: cheesy onion soup. It was okay. The cheese was really good. My sister had chicken noodle soup. I wish they would have a couple other options because after walking around the park for several hours in the head, soup was really the last thing I wanted. For the entree I ordered the cheeseburger since there really wasn't anything else on the menu that appealed to my picky tastes. My sister also had a cheeseburger, but without cheese. The burgers were VERY good, though VERY large. I was full after this and there was still the dessert course. I had the cinnamon-apple desert, which was good, but I was too full to eat much of it. My sister had the yogurt parfait, which she said was the best part of the meal.

During the course of lunch the Princesses came around to sign autographs and take pictures. First to visit our table was Aurora who is my sister's favorite princess. I got a really cute picture of them together. Next was Snow White, then Belle, and last was Cinderella. All of them were really nice and very sweet.

After we finished lunch we left with full tummies and didn't really want to ride anything so we left CA and went to World of Disney in Downtown Disney. Not nearly as large as Orlando, but there was still lots of stuff that caught my eye and wanted to come home with me. We made a few purchases then headed back to the hotel. We rested for a bit then later went to dinner at Denny's since we didn't feel like going back to the park. It was nothing special, but it was OK.

We also wanted to go to bed early since we had a 7:00 am breakfast the next morning, which was my birthday.

Happy Birthday to me!

Wednesday was my birthday and we had reservations at the Storyteller's Cafe at the Grand Californian at 7:00 am. My sister was in charge of making the reservations and she figured that since 7:00 am is 10:00 am back home that it would be around the same time we normally eat breakfast. I was a little worried that it was so early, but we never actually adjusted to Pacific time. We stuck to going to bed at the same time we normally do back East so getting up at 5:30 on my birthday wasn't a problem. For probably the only time in my life I was up, awake, and alert at 5:30 am. Pretty scary. LOL

We arrived at the hotel after only getting slightly lost while trying to find the restaurant. Since they were just opening we didn't have to wait long for a table. The first character to visit our table was Koda. My sister and I *LOVE* the Brother Bear movies so this was very exciting. We tried to get his autograph, but didn't understand what he was trying to say, so eventually Kenai came over and was able to convey that they don't sign autographs because of their paws. We then got pictures with both Kenai and Koda. During the course of breakfast we also met Chip, Meeko, Terk, and Dale. Meeko was really funny when he came into the room, peeking around the corner. The food was good. I had banana French toast, which was good. The fruit that came with it was excellent. My sister had the buffet and enjoyed it. We ate slowly since the park wasn't going to be opened until 10:00 AM, plus we wanted to meet all the characters. Since it was my birthday they brought me this weird chocolate mousse thing and sang to me. I didn't really care for the mousse dish, but managed to eat a bit of it.

After breakfast we walked to Disneyland. We were there early and at the front of the line, but would still have to wait or the rope drop. Unlike everyone else who races through Main Street until they realize that they can only go so far, we took our time. I took a bunch of pictures of Main Street then waited at the rope. Our plan was to go ride Finding Nemo. Once they dropped the rope everyone was heading towards Finding Nemo. We quickly changed course and headed to Fantasyland since the rides there tend to have longer lines later in the day.

The first ride we went on was Peter Pan's flight. Then since Dumbo's line wasn't too long we rode that. By this time Fantasyland was starting to get more crowded so we headed to New Orleans Square. We decided to give Pirates of the Caribbean another chance. This time we asked not to sit in the front of the boat to see if that made a difference. It really didn't. I still didn't like it as much as at WDW. There is just too much time where there isn’t anything to see.

After we got off Pirates we noticed a Photopass photographer. He was one of the photographers that do a special photo where you pretend to fight Captain Hook and they add him in later. This was lots of fun. I kept making my sister laugh while she was fighting Hook so her photos are funny. After we were done, the photographer told us that the one who does the Haunted Mansion ones was up there taking pictures. Excited by this news, we raced over to Haunted Mansion. With these photos they add some hitchhiking ghosts. Since we were standing in front of the Haunted Mansion we decided to ride it. As usual it was fun. I don’t think I could ever get tired of riding it.

Next we decided to take the raft over to Pirate's Lair to find Captain Jack Sparrow. We asked the boat driver where we could find him on the island so we wouldn't have to waste time. We walked to where they said he was and we nearly walked into him. I had expected more people to be there to see him, but there was no one. We got pictures taken with him then decided to go back since there really isn't a whole lot on the island that interested us.

Since we were in the area we decided to find the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The ride is similar to the one at WDW, but it seems a bit longer. My sister was peeved by the ending since it should be a birthday party for Eeyore, but DL changed it to a birthday party for Pooh. After we got off the ride we were walking through the exit when a young child ran into me. His mother then yelled that I should watch out for her child, never mind that she wasn't watching him or the fact that he ran into me. That annoyed me. I spent the next few minutes venting to my sister while we looked around the Pooh store. Once I had vented we went to go greet Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore. They were going to close the line because the characters were going to take a short break, but since we had met them all previously and just wanted photos, we were allowed to meet them at that time.

By this time we were hungry and the Hungry Bear restaurant was in the area and wasn't very crowded. So it was as good of time as any. My sister had a chicken sandwich and I had a cheeseburger. Both were OK, but nothing special. There was a nice breeze and we had view of the rivers of America. It was a pleasant lunch.

After lunch we rode Haunted Mansion again while we were still on that side of the park. After this we took the train to Toon Town to ride Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. It has been enos since I’ve seen the movie, but the queue line was interesting. The ride was tons of spinning fun. Surprisingly even my sister enjoyed it and she normally doesn't like spinning rides.

Next we went to explore the rest of Toon Town. First up we toured Mickey's house and went out to the movie barn to meet Mickey. It is tradition whenever we go to Disney to meet Mickey at least once. There was a bit of a wait, but it was worth it to meet the mouse. After Mickey's house we went to Minnie's house. We didn't go through Donald's or Goofy's but got pictures of them.

Deciding we had had enough of Toon Town and the herds of small children there, we headed back towards Fantasyland. There wasn't too long of a wait for Alice in Wonderland so we decided to ride it since it is unique to DL. It was fun. I was kind of sad that there was only one part with the "unbirthday" party.

Walking back towards Main Street we noticed there was almost no wait for Mr. Toad's so we decided to ride it again since we were no longer afraid of it. This time I let my sister "drive." It was actually kind of fun the second time. Of course I was having fun making jokes about her "driving."

We then took pictures trying to pull the Sword from the Stone. Darn it, neither of us were able to pull it out. LOL We then walked through the castle and decided to get some photos of Snow White's fountain.

Since we had arrived in CA it had been so hot and ice cream sounded good, but we kept forgetting to stop and get some. So we headed for the Gibson Girl ice cream parlor on Main Street. We got the hot fudge cookie sundae to split between us. It was good. The cookies were probably my least favorite part though. I've had better chocolate chip cookies. But it was a nice treat.

After this we headed back to the hotel to rest and change for dinner. We had reservations at 6:00 at Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel. We vaguely knew how to get there, we didn't really know how far it truly was. Its was quite a hike. We ended up getting there within 1 minute of our reservation time. When we got there we posed for a picture with Pluto. After that we were seated. The first character to come to our total was Brier Fox, then Princess Jasmine, then Alice who was the same Alice we saw on Monday. She actually remembered seeing us. Very weird. Then it was Goofy who put our autograph books on our heads to sign them. He was lots of fun. Then Chip stopped by our table. Finally when our waiter was bringing out my birthday cake Dale stopped by. He was clapping and very cute. My sister got a bunch of cute photos. The food there was good, but there wasn't a lot that appealed to my picky tastebuds. The prime rib was very good though. They had lots of yummy looking desserts, but since we had a cake coming, I didn't try any. I wish I would have tried at least one. My birthday cake was so pretty. It was *VERY* sweet though. It was a white cake with white chocolate mousse and butter cream icing. It was almost too pretty to cut and eat. We each ate only a small slice since it was so sweet. Our waiter boxed it up and we went back to the hotel. Luckily our sugar buzz didn't last too long and we went to bed early since we had another early morning.

Before we went to dinner my sister gave me my presents that I already knew what they were since I had picked them out. LOL She gave me a t-shirt, a Mulan pin, and a stuffed Boo from Monster's Inc. My mom had given me a card before we left with some money in it that I put towards some other pins. Pins are so very addictive. By the time we left I had purchased 8 and I think my sister had 12. I probably would have bought more if I hadn’t stopped myself.

It was a good birthday. The weather was cooler than previous days and there weren't all that many people in the park.

Up next: Breakfast with Lilo and Stitch, California Adventure, and lots of shopping!