A Fantasy Holiday - our first Disney Cruise, WDW, UOR, New York and DLR - COMPLETED 4/9

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 27 - Part 3 - A suitcase and a dream - Walt's Hollywood

Lunch was at our favorite DCA restaurant - Carthay Circle. I love it's class and historical significance and the food is just plain awesome! Always, no exceptions. For the first time in forever (yes pun intended) we were seated in the main dining room.





Look at those frescos and chandeliers!









Lunch was amazing! Jared had this amazing tempura shrimp that I really wanted and couldn't eat because I am allergic and I had a pork rib that was also very very yummy!

Back outside in Buena Vista street spring was once again in the air.







Mickey dropped in to say hi - along with the Red Car Newsboys - one of whom wanted to make sure Jared took his picture (oops it doesn't look like Jared did!).



The water fountain was not flowing at this point - still look at that beautiful vista! This whole park has become so much more beautiful since 2012.





See no flowing water!









We found Walt with his suitcase and his dream (yes, that song is catchy) along with his pal (and cash cow) Mickey Mouse.



There was another Photopass photographer lurking in the area so of course we had to stop. He was a particularly good one and knew just how to pose us to get some good shots!



This was Jared and I copying Mickey and Walt!



I love love love this photo!



After our third photo shoot of the day we decided to head out of DCA and into Disneyland. We didn't spend as much time at California Adventure this trip as Soarin' was closed and Grizzly River Run was closed and the Paradise Pier area was not as pretty with the fountains raised and no World of Color (of all the things that were closed during our trip that was the most disappointing - I almost cried when I found out it wouldn't be playing in the process of planning the trip!).





Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 27 - Part 4 - The magic of Main Street

After lunch I realised I had once again forgotten my tablet for that evening so Jared, wonderful man he is, very kindly agreed to go get it for me. I told him I would wait for him in Town Square. And while I was there I couldn't resist getting a million photos of how pretty it was - also a few Photopass pictures of just me, just for fun!

Over to Disneyland I went





My favourite sign in the park!





Some Photopass pics of me!









More Main Street....































Trust me, that is a small percentage of the photos I took!

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[BarkerBird]

Great stuff, fantastic trip report, and beautiful photographs! Loving it, thank you so much for sharing.

 

[sayuracodfish]

Yay! I was going through withdrawals for a couple of days there....thanks for continuing Loving the pictures of my home park! Will be there in June!!

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Great stuff, fantastic trip report, and beautiful photographs! Loving it, thank you so much for sharing.

You are welcome! I'm glad you are enjoying the report.

Yay! I was going through withdrawals for a couple of days there....thanks for continuing Loving the pictures of my home park! Will be there in June!!

I know what you mean - I was having withdrawals not writing it because I feel like when I'm done writing it then the holiday is really and truly over! I've been a little busy though because my Mum and Dad leave for Europe for 9.5 weeks on Saturday and I've helped them plan the whole trip so I've been a little distracted with last minute prep for that! I am so jealous you'll be there in June! During the 60th Anniversary celebrations! You'll have to post lots of pictures. I love your home park too! It's my home park (though technically I guess Tokyo Disney is closer) because it's the first one I visited and is the nearest and dearest to my heart!

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 27 - Part 5 - Jared returns to Disneyland

I had one last stroke of photographic genius before Jared returned - and that was to catch Mickey and Minnie dancing off to the side of Town Square! I really like these pictures of the two main mice with no one else around them!













After that Jared had arrived back in the park and we decided we would, yes you guessed it, take more pictures. This time specifically of Main Street, and the castle and the hub and we decided to get some Photopass photos in the hub.













We found another Photopass photographer right where we thought they'd be - near the partners statue.



Pascal came to visit me again!





And then the Photopass photographer suggested we take a picture with the Matterhorn behind us - this is an awful awful photo of me - but nice of Jared so it gets included



We then found another Photopass photographer at the castle and decided to get that shot again.



Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 27 - Part 6 - Of Mice, Men and Castles

We weren't done taking photos yet so we continued towards Walt and Mickey at the partner's statue and the beautiful Sleeping Beauty Castle.

This couple, with their gorgeous Mickey Mouse Club hats, made for a very cute picture - thank you whoever you are!







Just look at those cherry blossoms! Aren't they the perfect backing to this picture!





As you can see we weren't content until we had shot the mouse and man from all angles!









Then, a little girl decided to grab a fallen blossom and place it in Pinocchio's hand - it was just so adorable Jared had to take a picture. And may I just point out the beautiful spring flowers in the background - the colour was so vibrant!





The beautiful Sleeping Beauty castle - I guess I like it's colour scheme better than Cinderella Castle - also I like that it's easier to photograph up close. Sure it looks a bit sad from the top of Main Street but up close it's so pretty!







But if you have a zoom lens and stand at the top of Main Street it's not so bad...





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[RachelleBeaney]

Day 27 - Part 7 - Mickey can drum!

Anyway, we decided we were done with photos for a while so we put the camera away and headed into Tomorrowland. Our first stop was Star Tours. I should point out that, even at about 2:30pm the wait was only 20 minutes and Fastpasses were only at 3:10 - 4:10pm! Very quiet day! Anyway we rode and got Coruscant and Tatooine which meant we had visited every planet possible on our trip, bar Hoth! We were very happy about that. We grabbed a Fastpass to ride Space Mountain later and then headed over to Big Thunder Mountain where the wait was only 20 minutes! Jared and I played corners on the ride (its so easy to slip around in your seat on that ride!) and then we proceeded to the Rivers of America for a break, and one of these!











When we got back to Tomorrowland to use our Fastpass Space Mountain was down. They told us they'd honor our Fastpasses any time that afternoon so we decided to find a spot to sit and wait for Mickey's Soundsational Parade (this was our plan for after Space Mountain but thanks to it's shut down we got a better spot!)

Before the parade started we had a mini Frozen parade!









And then came the parade! I really enjoyed this parade. Sure it's not as spectacular as Festival of Fantasy but as parades go its fun, has all the good characters and uses the really fun Disney songs! Also Mickey does, and apparently can, drum! It was a fun site to see!





This woman kept sticking her camera out in front of Jared's face - which was annoying and very inconsiderate - but he decide to make the best of it with a cool photo!





Mickey the rock star!





He was really drumming too!



Aladdin was up next - sorry for the slightly blurred Genie!









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[RachelleBeaney]

Day 27 - Part 8 - Soundsational was sensational

And here are the rest of the pictures from Soundsational...











































Continued in Next Post

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 27 - Part 9 - Night falls over DCA

After the parade Space Mountain was up and running again so we took another trip into Space and I got the front row! It was awesome as you really don't get any indication which way you might be turning and that extra wind in your face really makes the ride feel faster.

After we had ridden Space Mountain we had to hustle over to DCA for a 5pm reservation at Wine Country Trattoria. We really enjoyed the food! It was so fresh and delicious. I had the most amazing quattro tomato fettuccine and Jared's lasagna was one of the best I've ever tasted! I also enjoyed a glo-tini (I now have 4 of those glow cubes at home thanks to various drinks at Disneyland and Disney World)





While we were eating the Pixar Play Parade was heading past. Not one of my favourite parades but I won't deny the song is catchy. Who is singing it with me right now (Fun in the sun, everything is free now....5, 4, 3, 2, 1!) ... Ironic because nothing is free at Disney!

Oh I forgot to mention that that morning we had, at 12pm, managed to grab a Fastpass for Radiator Racers from 5:30 - 6:30pm! We were so shocked when we looked that Fastpasses were still available (it was a very quiet day) and we were happy we'd now be able to ride at dusk!







Because of the timing of our Fastpass we missed (once again) the turning on the lights ceremony at Carsland (we've still never seen it and we know we only JUST missed it this time as the cars were still out when we got off the ride!).

Before we started our night shoot we thought we'd get some night Photopass pictures - and figured they wouldn't turn out, like most Photopass night shots, however they were actually pretty good this time around!







We wanted to mainly take night photos at Disneyland that evening but couldn't resist getting a few at DCA before we left.











The ugly fountain controllers were up that evening, but we got pictures without them the next!









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[RachelleBeaney]

Day 27 - Part 10 - When you wish upon a star....Night-time at Disneyland - Part 1

We realized we didn't have a whole heap of time for night shots at Disneyland as the park was closing at 8pm however we really wanted to spend sometime photographing it at it's most beautiful time of day. We started in Frontierland, but soon realized that the people waiting for Fantasmic were going to make Rivers of America shots pretty impossible. So we decided to head into Fantasyland but on our way this caught our eye!

The Columbia was docked around the side of the Rivers of America waiting, I assume, for it's part in Fantasmic. You can just see the Mark Twain docked behind it!



Walking along that wonderful path to Fantasyland by the Big Thunder Ranch we got a few shots of Big Thunder Mountain all lit up.






Once in Fantasyland there were some very important photos I wanted to get! Yep - the tea cups in all their gorgeously lit glory at night!




We tried some long exposure shots, as I wanted to get a sense that the tea cups were spinning. Our first exposure was a bit too long but I love the crazy streaks of color.





After some trial and error we got to a place where the cups looked cupish enough while still giving that sense of spinning!





We took some more shots in Fantasyland







The moon was very bright that night above 'London'





We headed out to get shots of the castle...









Fantasy Faire was very quiet that time of night!







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[RachelleBeaney]

Day 27 - Part 10 - When you wish upon a star....Night-time at Disneyland - Part 1

We continued on into Tomorrowland











And then back into the hub! We had planned to stay well past closing both nights we were there, to get pictures of Main Street and the hub empty, but of course, as our luck would have it, there was an annual passholder event until midnight both evenings and so people were coming into the park long after we were allowed to be there! Oh well - they only had Adventureland, Frontierland and New Orleans Square open so we were able to get empty shots of the hub and the castle just not main street. And now for some of my favourite pictures of the whole trip!



No that is not a shooting star in that photo but a plane, but I love that it looks like a shooting star!



The castle shots are my favourite - you've already seen one of these of course.















We were extremely pleased with our first night at Disneyland. I think we left the park at about 9pm.

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[RachelleBeaney]

Day 28 - Part 1 - Our first Disneyland rope drop

In all the times we'd ever visited Disneyland we'd never arrived for rope drop at the park. Today was different. I don't know why, as it was quiet and getting to rope drop probably wasn't essential but we did and we managed to be right at the front of the rope in front of the partners statue as we were heading into Fantasyland that morning to conquer more of the dark rides we'd never experienced. So, if not for any other reason, being at the front of rope drop was AWESOME, because it meant we were able to take pictures of the hub with no one else in it (I think there was a tour group just behind the hub at one point but they soon disappeared.

I mean look at these pictures of a basically empty park (ignore the tour group in the first photo!)





















As we headed towards Fantasyland there were only two other souls in front of us - two gorgeous little kids who were skipping towards the castle! They made this the best photo!





And we were into Fantasyland...



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[RachelleBeaney]

Day 28 - Part 2 - A Fantasy morning

Arriving in Fantasyland we were the first people on Mr Toad's Wild Ride. Then we made our way to Alice in Wonderland and had about a 10 minute wait because they hadn't opened the attraction to the general guests yet as their was a tour group on the ride. I really enjoyed Alice in Wonderland! It was well done, so cute and I love the new additions, I can't wait for the updated version of Peter Pan's Flight too. Mr Toad's Wild Ride was a bit meh, I'm not really sure why so many people love it so much. On a similar level to Pinocchio in my book.

Anyway we didn't take any pictures of Mr Toad but here are our shots of Alice.











After Alice our next logical ride choice was our beloved Tea Cups (we hadn't yet ridden them this trip - which may surprise you as we'd taken lots of pictures of them already).

















After completing those attractions we'd hit every dark ride in Fantasyland bar Snow White, which we decided to do the next day, and we made our way into Adventureland to ride Indiana Jones.





Of course, Indy was closed due to a breakdown (it was down more often than not during our visit) so we instead decided to grab a treat at the Jolly Holiday Bakery.





I do so love those Matterhorn Macaroons! Eating one inspired us to take photos of the actual Matterhorn and Jared set off for some pictures of the beautiful spring day we were experiencing at Disneyland!









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[RachelleBeaney]

Day 28 - Part 3 - On the Bayou

After our short break Indy was up and running again (luckily the breakdowns never lasted too long) so we rode that and even an hour or so after opening the wait was only 10 minutes! Anyway as we were walking off the ride the CM's were out advising people the ride had broken down, AGAIN! We had very good timing getting onto that ride twice just before it broke down!

We had gotten some Space Mountain Fastpasses earlier in the morning while we had a break at Jolly Holiday and they were good to go so we rode that again, and though it doesn't sounds like it would be, after we'd done that it was lunch time at the Blue Bayou! I enjoy the atmosphere at the Blue Bayou A LOT but the food is always a little boring . This time, however, my chicken was really quite good and Jared's steak was nice too. He also got the gumbo which was AMAZING. I think I ate about half of it even though it was spicy and I shouldn't have been eating it! Yum!

We actually got some really good photos of the restaurant too - and here they are!















Jared got one final birthday surprise on the trip and this was it!





After lunch we spent some time admiring the beautiful Rivers of America and chatting to a lovely Disney security guard called Adam about our trip and his recent trip to the Magic Kingdom and Disney World. It's so nice to be able to talk to Disney people about Disney, because they get it, your love and passion for these wonderful places full of so much wonder and happiness. I know you all get that too and that's why you read these boards so it's a joy to be able to write these reports for you to share the Disney magic!





Anyway, back to the trip - we headed over to Tomorrowland next...



...and used a Star Tours Fastpass we'd gotten earlier. The Star Tours Fastpass is one of the least effective at the park I reckon, as we still ended up waiting for about 20 minutes, but the wait did go quickly as we chatted to a lovely airforce officer who had taken his Dad to Disneyland for they day, and neither of them had ever been on Star Tours, so they wanted our opinion on what it was like! We had a great chat and the time passed really quickly! And we finally got the planet Hoth along with Princess Leia which meant we had experienced every possible combination of the Star Tours ride while on our trip! I was pretty happy about that!

That afternoon we decided to go back to our hotel for a quick break before coming back into the parks that evening. We had also planned to eat dinner early at Hearthstone Lounge so we could have one of the amazing flat breads we'd fallen in love with on our previous trip. So after a quick rest we made our way over to Hearthstone and had the flat breads, which were just as delicious as we remembered! Jared was particularly happy because last time he'd ordered the BBQ flat bread, which was good, but not as good as the tomato one which we both ate this time around. I also ordered another glo-tini and we enjoyed our last evening meal at the resort together!

Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 28 - Part 4 - The last night shoot

This evening was our last chance to enjoy night-time at the parks and there is no better way to take it all in than to photograph it so we headed in to DCA for some more night shots.

We passed World of Disney on the way in!



And we were soon in the park...







A lovely Photopass photographer offered to move her tripod out of the way so Jared could take a central photo of Flo's. He was just trying to set up so he wouldn't be in her way when we told him where the best point to take the photo was and moved out of his way so he could take it!



This photo was a bit of an accident - while setting up to take pictures of the finish line and get a long exposure we could use two cars with their headlights on raced passed, and this was the result!



The area is lit so beautifully at night!







Over in Paradise Pier the World of Colo fountain things were finally hidden and the area was looking very beautiful!







We thought about riding the Little Mermaid ride that we hadn't gotten on yet this trip but of course, it was down, so we resolved to attack that one first thing in the morning (well after more Radiator Racers of course).

We went back into Disneyland where we decided to take a ride on Big Thunder Mountain. It was so much fun to ride at night. It felt faster and better in the dark and it was actually a lot darker than it normally would have been as a lot of the lights were turned off for Fantasmic, which was about half way through while we were riding. We had to wait about 20 minutes to ride it (our longest wait of the day). Next we headed towards Tomorrowland and the Finding Nemo subs for pictures of the subs and the monorail, our last must have pictures for the trip!









We took some final shots of Sleeping Beauty Castle and Main Street on our way out.













And, sadly that was the last time we would spend the evening in a theme park on our trip. It is really the most magical time to be at the parks, when all the lights are sparkling and the colour just bursting from all around! Still we had one more day to spend at Disneyland so we weren't going to feel too sad yet.

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[RachelleBeaney]

Day 29 - Part 1 - We are the Rope Drop Champions!

After our success getting to the front of rope drop at Disneyland the day before I really wanted to be at the front of rope drop for DCA this morning, so we could hopefully get photos of Carsland with no one in it. I love Radiator Springs but when there are a million people filing down it is pretty hard to get a good picture. Of course being at the front of rope drop can kind of be like winning the lottery but we made sure we were waiting in line 1 hour earlier than the expected opening. We picked a line with only 1 family in front of us and were lucky enough that that family was chosen to be family of the day. So their tickets were scanned and they were let into the park about 10 minutes before the rest of us. Our tickets were then scanned before the opening show and so as soon as the park was open for rope drop we could make our way into it! As a result we got a place right on the front of the rope for rope drop! It felt like winning the lottery! Ironically, we wouldn't be one of the first on Radiator Racers as the ride was down when we arrived and we were told it wouldn't be running for another hour! Still being at the front of rope drop that morning was worth it, if only the next lot of photos we took!

Other than staff, there was no one in Carsland! We were slowly walked up the street by the CM's who were keeping the pace and as we did Jared just kept clicking away! Mater was even out to say hi to us all!







I think this is my favourite shot!



Hi Mater!



One of the CM's broke loose from the pack walking us slowly up the street and that made for some fun photos too!



I like this one!



He soon moved and we got another shot down the empty street with the fire truck (what is his name) heading towards us!









Sorry about the million shots but how often would you get to take pictures of Carsland like this!

Finally, just near Flo's, we veered off down the path to Pacific Wharf. We had decided we didn't want to wait an hour for Radiator Racers to open (the CM's were telling everyone it would be about that long before it was up and running) and, assuming it did open while we were gone, we'd just do single rider to get on it later.









Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 29 - Part 2 - Part of Ariel's World

Since we didn't have to do our standard 2 rides on Radiator Racers that morning we had a fairly empty park available to us. We decided to ride Screamin' a few more times - which we did with no wait! We were rabbits in this ride photo!



After Screamin' it was onto the Little Mermaid Ride, and for some reason Jared decided to go nuts taking pictures of it. I do have to say though, since the black light improvements, the ride does look so so much better and in my opinion, it's the best dark ride at Disneyland!



Oh yes, as you can see I finally remembered to bring my ears into the park this day.

I'll sing you a song, a song of the sea....Oh no wait, wrong song (lol do any other Aussies remember those Bird Eye ads!).



Under the Sea we go



In Ariel's Grotto!





Fish! Isn't that surprising! Well it was to me as they never used to be there - but I guess they added a few more in the refurbishment.



Under the Sea....Darling it's better, down where it's wetter, take it from me (try not to sing that with a Caribbean accent - it's really hard!)















Ursula looking menacing as always...





Will he kiss the girl?





I guess the answer to that is, yes!





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[RachelleBeaney]

Day 29 - Part 3 - Trying new things

After we were done with Screamin' and the Little Mermaid we figured maybe Radiator Racers wouldn't be back up - it wasn't so we decided to do something we'd never done before - go on Mater's Junkyard Jamboree! It was fun but geez that thing is like the tea cups on acid! It's crazy and fast and whips you around like crazy! Still we enjoyed our spin, even more because we didn't have to wait!











Our tractor! So cute!



Lol, just realised my ears were on backwards for this photo!



When we were done with Mater's Radiator Racers was finally up and running and since people had been waiting all morning the wait was 30 minutes so we decided to go as single riders and we walked straight on. Of course, once again, neither of our cars won. Technically speaking we only did the ride twice together and twice as single riders so the 6 cars we were in didn't win once when the percentage is supposed to be 50/50! Seriously, it was rigged. Jared only took one shot on the ride that time and this was it.



After Radiator Racers we headed to a ride we hadn't yet accomplished, the Tower of Terror. As much as I love this ride - and I do, the Hollywood Studios version has somewhat ruined the DCA version for me so we usually only ride it once per trip. Also it seriously scares me - like I have to work myself up to riding it because the sensation of falling seriously scares me, so I'm usually only brave enough once these days!





We were in the very front row which was fun!



After Tower of Terror we were done with DCA and so we hopped over to Disneyland and stopped in at the Plaza for lunch. We managed to score the very first table (we were the second people in line I think) and were in the greenhouse/conservatory like room with big glass windows overlooking the outdoor eating area, the castle and tomorrowland, it was really pleasant!

After lunch we had to tackle our final dark ride in Fantasyland, Snow White. I thought this was one of the better dark rides in Fantasyland and I reckon from now on I'd only ride this one, Alice and Peter Pan (all superior than Mr Toad and Pinocchio). We took a few pictures on board but it's so dark, they didn't turn out too well. Here are the few that did (sort of)!











After Snow White we thought we might like to try another attraction we'd never done before, Dumbo. That may seem like sacrilege to many (it is a classic I know) but we just never wanted to wait 30 - 60 minutes for a spinner. And with the wait at 20 minutes at this point of the day we decided to instead hop back on another classic - the Tea Cups!





After the Tea Cups we conceded that we really ought to try Dumbo but we still couldn't stomach the wait so we decided to try again later. We did take some pictures of it on our way to Frontierland.









Continued in Next Post

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 29 - Part 4 - A sad goodbye...

Oh right, I forgot that just after lunch we got some Photopass pictures in front of the castle with me and my ears! Anyway - here they are now!









Back in chronological order we headed into Frontierland and went for a ride on Big Thunder Mountain. The wait was only 15 minutes which was nice and we really enjoyed our last ride on what was one of our favorite attraction on this trip.

On our way to Pirates I ran into the Mayor of Frontierland. He was so tall!





After Big Thunder it was time for one last trip to the Caribbean!







And then we headed over to Star Tours for one final ride! Afterwards we grabbed a Fastpass for Space Mountain.

Afterwards we wanted one final Disney treat and after um-ing and ah-ing (I was really disappointed to not have my tigger tail) we grabbed this Frozen rice crispy treat - it was so so good!





We walked back over to Dumbo and the wait was still 20 minutes, but we decided we'd just wait it because we really did want to try this classic attraction. The wait was actually more like 10, which was pleasantly surprising and we hopped aboard for a flight over Fantasyland in the famous pachyderm.



What great views you get from a top the little flying elephants!







While we were in line for Dumbo we noticed Ariel hiding behind the Dumbo control tower meeting guests. When we got off the ride she was all alone looking lonely so I went over to meet her. In fact I believe what I said was 'you look lonely Ariel' and then I gave her a hug! We talked about how I swam all the way from Australia to see her and that we'd be doing a business swim back that night. We also talked about our trip and how amazing it had been and Ariel dropped out of character a little to ask how I liked New York (how does Ariel know where New York was). It was great though and my favorite character meet and greet of the trip. We got some photos together of course!





And then Ariel suggested we try one doing fish face! This may be my favorite photo of me taken during the whole trip!



We headed back towards tomorrowland to hop on Space Mountain one last time. Jared finally consented to taking some photos inside the boarding area.













We were able to photobomb an adorable couple who were pointed at what I assume was her new engagement ring. Sadly I've misplaced the picture.

We had time for one more ride before we had to head back to the Camelott to await our car back to the airport so we decided to have a go on Buzz. We hadn't gone on him at all at Disneyland and even though I am super awful at laser shooting dark rides I decided to give it a go.

Low and behold the ride kept breaking down and unlike Toy Story, where when the ride stops you can't earn points, you could continue to hit targets and increase your score why parked in front of said targets. And as a shocking and awesome end to our trip (well for me) I actually beat Jared! My score was 80000 to his 76000. Though it wasn't as high as when I somehow hit Zurg on the Magic Kingdom Buzz I was pretty happy with that score and ecstatic to finally beat Jared and one of these games!





We were so happy about our wonderful last day of holidays. We'd managed to do 13 attractions at Disneyland, all before 4pm (and in only 6 hours) and felt that was a real accomplishment.

As we were saying our goodbyes I began to get a little sad as, with our big Asian Disney holiday planned for the end of next year, we don't know how long it might be before we head back to our favorite Disney park. On our last trip we knew we would be revisiting in 15 months and it made parting so much easier. This time though, as I looked back towards the Main Street Train station from the ticketing area, I realized I don't know when I will be back and I almost wanted to cry! Disneyland has been such a wonderful and happy place full of amazing memories for Jared and I and with my 30th looming and the possibility of kids this felt like a kind of goodbye for a while!

We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare and slept through most of our flights home. We had no delays with our flight from LA to Sydney (thank goodness) but a little trouble connecting to our Perth flight with only 1.5 hours between landing and taking off. Because we had issues with the automatic customs machines and had things to declare in customs we had to run to our flight (or we were told we had to) only to discover we had plenty of time when we arrived! I even strained my ankle running and the flight staff had to ask if I was ok to fly because I asked for ice. By the time we got home we were tired but extremely happy at how amazing our trip had been.

Looking back, I think this might have been our best trip ever - we met some wonderful new friends, got to experience the amazing and wonderful Disney Fantasy not to mention to wonders of cruising and see snow in New York! Our theme park time was so much fun too - and we got to experience so many new things (like Diagon Alley, the Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Disneyland in Spring, eating at amazing restaurants at Disney World - especially Victoria and Alberts).

I also want to thank you all for reading along with this report. I've really enjoyed sharing our travels with you all and am greatful to all those who've commented and reported how much they've enjoyed the photos (Jared's pictures really were amazing)! Hopefully you can all join me at the end of next year when we visit Tokyo Disney, Shanghai Disney, Hong Kong Disney and Universal Studios Japan and Singapore!