Summertime and Disneyland .Oo-De-Lally!!

[thornton0511]

Sorry for the lack of attention to this TR you guys! September has been insane with our trip to WDW and then as soon as we got back (on a Saturday) I started my new job the following Monday and then when you throw in kids with school and ballet an football well......so anyways I am going to try and get back to pumping some TLC into this thing and get it finished so that I can eventually move on to the next one lol. To anyone who is out there and wants to stick with this thank you!!!

You know Jenn, just seeing your photos of the FP's gives me goosebumps.
I agree Rob, they are truly missed at WDW
I can't imagine Summer crowds in Disneyland. Even in the off season I found it crowded due to the smaller pathways. Summer must be insane.
It was something we had never experienced before and hopefully will never have to again
A guy wearing Minnie ears? Love it!
it was epic
What a wonderful day. And what a wonderful day you have coming up as you head to WDW!!! Wishing you a magical trip!

thank you!!

Congrats on your last day at work and your DW trip. We keep changing it up for ours. Now the latest is we are thinking about my mom and I going the first week of Nov in 16 and doing all of DW just us and then having my girls and my dad fly out at the end of the week to do a few days at Universal since they will have a 3 day weekend for vets day. Not fond of going on such a crowded time but that is what it is coming down to as they will be in HS and can't really miss any school.
I think your plans sound like fun and I would not put too much stock in the crowds. I think you guys will have a blast!!!
Aren't those crowds the WORST. It seems like lately more and more when we go it is like that. Granted we had to go on the worst possible times to work around the kids school but OH do I miss those days of being able to go at "dead" times. Although it seems anymore there aren't any. Disney seems to insert something into every possible downtime and then if you do go during a true down time then half the stuff is closed.
I agree with you! I would love to be able to walk around DL with hardly anyone around, especially by ROA area!
I love the DL Fantasmic but I hate that huge bottleneck of people that forms over there. We haven't sat and watched the entire show in forever but you can't even really go over to that side of the park either and I love doing Haunted or Pirates that time of night.

I'm assuming no more updates till you get back from your trip. Will you be doing a DW trip report? Hope so! Have really enjoyed your reports!

Thank you!!

Congrats on the last day of the job!
Enjoy Disney World.
Thank you!!
Luvin all the updates from DL as well.

Great updates and pics.
Thanks
I am keeping notes being we are going next year and it has been 20 years since I have been.
Oh that sounds like fun!! You are going to have a blast
Have a magical time at WDW.

Thanks Scott

Looks like such a fun day & night! Things have been so busy over here with school starting for my son & the preschool I teach at starts tomorrow so I haven't really been DISing or doing trip planning. Well, reading your updates tonight has gotten me excited again!
lol life can get so crazy this time of the year right?!
I hope your current trip to WDW is safe & magical!! I hope you'll be doing a TR for it as well.

thank you I am planning to do a TR for WDW but not sure when

That's so cool that you got to ride the Matterhorn during the fireworks!! What an awesome memory to have!

it was amazing!!

We really enjoyed Mickey's Magical Map as well!!
it was a really good show!
What a fun night you guys had! We rode Matterhorn at night too~fun ride~ but not DURING fireworks!! That must have been awesome!!
it was pretty cool
Congrats on your last day at work and have fun in WDW!! We just returned from a short trip there (adults only for the first time) and had a blast!! I'm having withdrawals!!

lol WDW withdrawals are the worst we are already missing it sooo much and wanting to go back

 

[thornton0511]

Cars Land Rope Drop Pt1

We got up bright and early again to start our last full day. Originally we had planned on using today as our one time early entry day into DL but we just weren't feeling it. Being at a park for a 7am opening just sounded too early, and we are a rope drop family too. Plus we were really wanting another chance to ride RSR and no way of guaranteeing that unless we did a DCA rope drop. So that is what we did.

We decided to take a crack at the wide right technique again since it worked so well for us the other day. We ended up in the same exact spot too lol. We really had some good luck!

We then had a few minutes to regain our composure before part two of this whole thing. Breathe……

Then came the time for them to bring out the old Cars Land Rope.

While we were waiting for the official opening we noticed a very friendly CM who was chatting it up with guests on the left side of us…….when I say that I mean EVERYONE to the left of us. He was basically telling EVERYONE about how the line is going to merge to a single file line to the right the closer we get to RSR and they will start to merge everyone that direction and so the goal is to get right when we start moving. I know that he was just trying to be a friendly helpy helper but OH MY GOODNESS ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US KILLED?! The lady standing behind us started saying that he needed to stop talking and giving away our secrets. This started a great convo between the two of us since I noticed by her comment that she must be a fellow savvy Disney enthusiast to make such a comment and found out that she is an AP holder and visits quite often. Thus she knows her stuff lol. We decided at this point that we would fight together to battle off all of the lefties who tried to get merge their way into us lol. But seriously this guy would not stop blabbing about the whole wide right thing and I was getting a bit nervous about share time. I mean at this point really what good is it going to do to tell everyone on the left side that they need to end up all the way to the right? Do you want to cause a stampede of pushing and shoving? Geez dude.

Finally it was time to start the walk and this guy found something else to do lol. Unfortunately the damage had already been done and it seemed as everyone was squeezing right from the beginning…..imagine that. Why in the world could this be happening? I am not going to lie it was not a pleasant experience this time around. It was tough standing our ground and not getting pushed out or to the back. I think at one point I grabbed a hold of our new friend and her mom and we banded together to stay as far right as we could. The problem was that all of the people to the left of us were pushing their way right and if you allow them too much they will push you out of the limits and then you get moved back. I had never ever been more happy to be in a queue in my entire life! Unfortunately we somehow got split up from our new friend and she ended up further back than we did.

We finally made it. WOOHOO we survived lol!! Given all of that grief we still somehow managed to stay pretty close to the front and did not have too many people get ahead of us. I was very surprised.

We made our way into our car and were ready for a ride though Radiator Springs!

This part of the ride was so peaceful and it managed to calm my nerves a bit from our little experience.

Can you ever take to many pics? NO! It's just too amazing!

And cue the amazing music with the waterfall lol!

I tried to get a good picture of the "cow tippin" part as it is my favorite.

It was another successful ride and we had a blast! I just need to remember to pull my hair back for the end race lol.
​

 

[thornton0511]

Cars Land Rope Drop Pt2

After we had finished DH ran off to get FP for RSR and we just hung around until he returned. We noticed when we got off that the cars were not running anymore and the ride was officially down. We must have just made it. Talk about timing!

Just look at that poor line. That is incredible!

We decided while we waited to stroll around a bit and do some sightseeing. I found Flo's. I thought it would be neat to eat here but nothing on the menu seemed to jump out at me when researching this trip so it was never in our plans unfortunately. But it looks neat!

Sydney decided she would pump some gas for any cars that might happen to drive in. None did and so we moved on.

Then we noticed Mater taking a stroll through town. This place is so freaking cool.

He apparently was headed here for a meet and greet. Toddler boys everywhere were freaking out. It was too cute.

We had, at this point, made our way to the end of Cars Land and were starting to wonder what was taking DH so long. It was about that time he text to let me know he was almost there.

We decided to meet here and ride some rides that we had missed the other day.

Boys in one

Girls in another

And we were off! I gotta tell ya this ride is really a lot of fun. Between all the swinging and turning and Mater singing a Do-Si-Do we could not stop laughing.

Next we were headed over to see about some tires.

I know of only one place here in Cars Land…

And I hear he's the best!

Before levitating in a large tire one must first get an instructional lesson. Safety first people!

While we were waiting we got to try a stationary one out to see how this was going to go down.

Then it was time for the real deal.

It was going to be a fight to the death!

I'm not sure who ended up winning in the end but it was an awesome experience! I know that this ride gets some mixed reviews but we had no problems moving around and getting off the ground. It was so much fun using the weight of your body to move the tire around….Ha! Good times.
After we had finished with Cars Land we really did not have much of an agenda at this point. So with that being said I only had one thing on my mind……

Pit stop for some coffee!
​

 

[thornton0511]

A Nice Surprise and the Boardwalk Pt1

We went in and I got in line for a latte while the family found a spot to sit to take a load off for a few minutes.

Oh the Disney goodies!

I paid for my cinnamon dolce latte with my Starbucks gift card and we headed on our way. As we were walking we discussed what everyone wanted to do at this point. That is when Sydney reminded us that GRR was supposed to open tomorrow and maybe they were doing a soft opening today. I'm not exaggerating you guys my 8 year old talks like this when it comes to Disney……I have trained her well. This is how the Padawan becomes a Jedi lol.

So we headed in that direction. And low and behold she was right.

The rafts were on the trail and they had people in them…..there is only one thing that will cause me to throw a perfectly good unfinished latte in the trash, and this seemed to be it.

Ponchos on people it's time to RIDE!!!

Our raft mates ended up being a lovely family from Australia! I love this accent….makes me happy. Up the hill we went. Eeeekkkkk! So excited.

Sydney was anxious to see who was going to get wet first!

Thankfully, IMO, we got though with hardly a drop on us…..the aussies not so much.

Given that it was still pretty early in the morning, and word had not quite gotten out that this ride was open officially the wait was only 5 minutes. Since we already had our ponchos on it only made sense to go again right?

So we did. And wouldn't you know it we got the same family again in our raft lol! I will say that you can get very wet on this ride and I was thankful that we had ponchos! After we had rearranged our backpacks and squeezed our ponchos back in their baggies we headed in the direction of the boardwalk to explore a bit.

First stop was Goofy's Sky School.

Well that's comforting lol.

Oh this ride. Where do I start….hmmmmm. Well let me first say that I love Primeval Whirl at AK. Also my family LOVED this ride. I thought it was painful. I am only 5'4" and most of that is torso lol. I have very short legs and yet I felt very squished in the back seat of this ride. Very uncomfortably so. And it was so jerky. I felt like I was bouncing up and down in my seat hard several times and it was just not pleasant. With all of that being said I truly believe that laughter is extremely contagious and my family was laughing so hard the entire time that I had to laugh too….almost to tears. Was it from the pain or the laughing? Who knows. It was worth the pain.

After this the fam decided on Jumping Jellyfish. Great. I have an issue with heights and so rides who's main purpose it to take you there I am not a fan of.

Sacrifices must be made however for the good of family. Sigh.

At least someone was feeling a bit fearless today! I did not take any pics on this ride seeing how I had a death grip on the handle bars the entire time. And yes it is a kiddie ride. I don't care….I have no shame.

DH was kind enough to take a picture for me. Good grief just looking at this makes me nervous
​

 

[thornton0511]

A Nice Surprise and the Boardwalk Pt2

So after surviving the jellies we decided to split up a bit. DS and I really wanted to ride the swings but DD was not feeling this one. So DH and her decided to go for a spin on the zephyr while Cory and I went ahead with this. This is where I am kind of weird. I love this type of ride and for some reason the height does not bother me. Go figure. I'm strange.

This ride was so much fun and the music is perfectly wonderful and very fitting. The only issue is my goodness it is slow loading. Plus they ended up kicking a kid off after takeoff because he was doing something he should not have and apparently had been warned.

Meanwhile DD and DH were just about to take a ride on the zephyr again.

She loved this ride…..if that is not apparent.

After we met back up DH decided that he wanted a try at the swings so he and DS went back together while DD and I waited. Then somehow it was decided that another ride on the Zephyr was due with the entire family.

I was outvoted. Great. Because it's not scary enough at night time let's go again in daytime so I can see exactly where I am going to fall to my death. Thanks family!

I hate this ride lol.

After this we found a nice place to regroup and figure out our next plan of action.

Sydney snacked on an apple in the meantime

And we had a chance to see Phineas and Ferb drive by.

We decided that it was getting close to time for lunch in DTD so the kids and I headed to DGC to wait for DH while he went to Soarin to grab a few FP's.

I told you guys any excuse to stop at this amazing Disney resort I was going to take. So we found a nice spot to sit and rock in chairs until DH returned. He met up with us in no time and we headed to DTD for some grub.
​

 

[thornton0511]

An Array of Lunch in DTD

The goal for today's lunch was to grab items from different counter service locations and find a common outdoor area to enjoy lunch. We decided on Jazz Kitchen Express for the kids.

We waited in one line to place our order and then proceeded to the other side to pick it up. I only took a few minutes to prepare the food (togo) and then we headed on our way with food in hand.

Our next stop was Earl of Sandwich for me and the DH. Our kids are not big on sandwiches and I was excited to finally try some of these fantastic sandwiches that I keep hearing about here on the disboards. Plus I had signed both the DH and myself with their birthday club and received a free coupon for a sandwich! One for both of us.

We stood in line and waited our turn to place our order.

We then received a pager and went ahead and found a seat outside while we waited for our food. We went ahead and had the kids start eating while we waited.

Both kids went with a child's order of chicken nuggets with fries. This also included a drink. The portion size was quite large and we realized that they probably could have just split one order lol. The total for the two kid's meals came to $12.61

Within no time the pager went off for our food. Ah the excitement of it all. And the fact that it was 100% free made it even better.

Both DH and myself went with the chipotle chicken avocado and it was amazing!

We had a very nice outdoor lunch. I loved that you could eat outside in CA and it be comfortable. This is all too often not the case for FL unfortunately. We sat directly across from the ESPN store and suddenly noticed that the wall statues on the building were moving. Well their heads were anyways. It was very creepy.

After lunch we decided that a potty break was in order before going back to a park and since we were so close to DLH well…….

It just made sense to stop here right?

Another resort on the bucket list lol.

This was going to be the coolest pit stop ever!!!

I was a little confused on where to go so we opted for the Fantasyland Tower.

After we took care of business we wandered around the lobby of the Fantasyland Tower a bit. I was loving this gigantic wall of the Disneyland map!

We also took a moment to enjoy all of these really great photos displayed on the wall of Walt. Never gets old!

The family was getting a bit antsy at this point and ready to move on so we made our way out of DLH and back towards DTD.

Upon entering we noticed this sign. Huh? I thought this was so insane. Then I did a bit of research and found that CA has these posted pretty much everywhere in the state and it's really not as serious and the sign states it is lol.

We made our way through DTD and back to DGC to use the secret entrance back into DCA. We had some fastpasses to use!!!
​

 

[thornton0511]

An Afternoon of Fastpass and a Delicious Surprise ​

First up was a return to Cars Land. It was getting hot outside and there really is not a whole lot of shade in this area. The themeing was great because it really felt like the desert.

We made our way over to RSR. I could never get used to seeing the SB wait time.

There would be no 2 hour wait for us today!

It was another fantastic ride. This would also be our last time to ride since we were leaving to go home the next day. I was very happy that we were able to ride a total of 4 times on this trip and thought that was really lucky.

As soon as we were off we had to race over to Soarin to try to make our FP before it expired.

We had just made it! Whew!!

We all went with row 2 this time around and now that I have moved up from row 3 to 2 I feel that next time I will be okay with row 1. So proud of me lol!

After our ride I wanted to stop to have a pic with the partner's statue. The kids were pretty pictured out at this point so I went solo. It was definitely time to take a break at this point as I could tell everyone was wearing down fast.

My sweet DH said that there was one more thing that had to be done before we left the park, however, and he disappeared over to a cart. What was he up to?

He then returned with this….a present for me. Believe it or not with all of the trips to Disney I have taken I have never once enjoyed a Mickey Premium Bar….not ever. I always always talk about getting one and then the moment never presents itself. DH had remembered that and wanted to right that wrong right at this very moment. Love him!

And suddenly everything was right with the world. I finally understood the hype with these magic ice cream bars shaped like a mouse. They are wonderful!!! Obviously I had to share a bite or two with DD and she agreed that they must be made with pixie dust. DS opted out since he is no fan of ice cream.

We then made our way back to the CCI and everyone crashed. It was a much needed break. Up next, our last night in Disneyland before heading home.













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[petals]

OMG I missed so many updates! Great pics though.

 

[thornton0511]

OMG I missed so many updates! Great pics though.

Lol don't feel bad. I actually did most of those posts today. I am on a mission to get this TR done so that I can start thinking about the next one. It's like a Disneyland trip report marathon

 

[amandaw]

Sounds like y'all were having a great last day!

So glad y'all went to the DLH & got a few pics. That's where I have us booked for next year so I love seeing any and all pics.

That was so sweet of your DH to get the Mickey ice cream bar for you. They are delicious!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Hahahaha, that poor CM trying to be friendly and helpful.. and screwing up all your perfect plans.

It's funny I was just reading another Radiator Springs recap and thought it was so cool that the cars drive out for their meet and greet. Very cool in fact.

"Padawan becomes a Jedi" Hahaha, I love it!!! And clearly she is now a Jedi. Genius.

Um YES!!!!! Australian Accents!!!!! And yet another ride that was in refurb when I was there.

I have heard Goofy's Ski School is painful for many, so you're not alone.

I love that old Disneyland Hotel sign. Just like the old Disneyland sign. And that Walt on Main Street photo is one of my favs as well.

God, I read that warning sign and was waiting for the joke. I guess that could help keep crowds down a bit.

 

[thornton0511]

Sounds like y'all were having a great last day!

So glad y'all went to the DLH & got a few pics. That's where I have us booked for next year so I love seeing any and all pics.
oh my goodness that sounds sooo exciting!!
That was so sweet of your DH to get the Mickey ice cream bar for you. They are delicious!

yes they are

Hahahaha, that poor CM trying to be friendly and helpful.. and screwing up all your perfect plans.
lol I know! It was all I could do to not tackle him and say shhhhhhhh!
It's funny I was just reading another Radiator Springs recap and thought it was so cool that the cars drive out for their meet and greet. Very cool in fact.
yes I get kept getting that "GAH Disney how do you do it" feeling
"Padawan becomes a Jedi" Hahaha, I love it!!! And clearly she is now a Jedi. Genius.
it seemed to fit was I was trying to say so well lol
Um YES!!!!! Australian Accents!!!!! And yet another ride that was in refurb when I was there.
accents are my favorite
good grief Rob was the park even open when you went lol! That is crazy how many big rides were down....I think you need a redo Disneyland trip
I have heard Goofy's Ski School is painful for many, so you're not alone.
it was but at the same time it was fun too, the laughter made it more memorable than the pain lol
I love that old Disneyland Hotel sign. Just like the old Disneyland sign. And that Walt on Main Street photo is one of my favs as well.
yes that pic of Walt almost made me cry and goodness I would have loved to been alive when he would roam the parks
I have an obsession with Disney park signs, this one included! Mt favorite is the Aloha Isle Dole Whip sign and they have these for sell at Marketplace Co Op but the price is too much for me to justify
God, I read that warning sign and was waiting for the joke. I guess that could help keep crowds down a bit.

ha it was something I had never seen before! BTW I hope you had a blast on your trip and decide to start a TR soon. To be honest I have been on the fence myself about doing one for our Sept trip but if you do one I will

 

[thornton0511]

Dinner at Naples and Good Greif Get a Room!

After naptime we headed back to DTD for dinner. We had an ADR at Naples for 6pm. I was excited to eat here because, even though I know that it's not Via Napoli in Epcot, this place is owned by the same company. And I love love love Italian! Remember how we had the birthday coupon for Tortilla Joe's that we used a few nights prior? Well we had another coupon for this place this evening. Since DH and I both share June birthdays I was able to score a birthday coupon for both of us!

We checked in, and after waiting for a few minutes, we were escorted upstairs where we were given the option to eat inside or outside on the patio.

Since this is obviously not Florida we opted for patio! We had a great view of DTD from our table.

The kids kept busy while we looked the menu over.

The server came by and asked if we would like some complimentary bread and oil. Yes please! We then placed our order. We had decided to split an appetizer and pizza and then have dessert. So for our appetizer we decided on this:
Bruschetta Alla Checca - Toasted ciabatta bread, garlic, fresh tomatoes, basil, shaved Parmesan, extra virgin olive oil. $9
This is what we got….

Lol. You know that free bread that was sitting on out table? Yeah apparently you can pay $9 and they will place some tomato garnish on top with parm and oil. In their defense it technically is what's described. I guess we just assumed for $9 it would be a bit different.

No worries though. We were soon redeemed in our decision when the pizza arrived. Quattro Formaggi - Fresh mozzarella, fontina, provolone, Parmesan, fresh tomato and basil. Oh yeah! Nom Nom Nom. We went with the large. We did not finish this pizza and were getting full but we had to get dessert. Here is what we went with….

Sydney went with an Italian sundae which was huge! And this was on the kids menu lol.

I went with the familiar Tiramisu which was delicious

DH went with an array of sorbets and gelatos

And Cory went with a cake pop

And a huge chocolate chip cookie. Both of these were on the kids menu as well.
After we over stuffed our bellies with dinner we paid and headed back downstairs

I noticed that they have an open kitchen where they prepare the pizzas kind of like Via Napoli. The total OOP for us including tip after the coupon for this meal was $45.00.

After we left the plan was to take the monorail from DTD to DL but sine we were so close to the Grand we just had to pop in lol. I told you guys that I have an obsession with this place…..clearly.

Sydney and I took a quick bio break and came out to find DH and DS sitting in front of the kids TV area watching Disney cartoons lol.

At this point we overheard something coming from an area of the lobby with a fireplace and sitting area. An older CM was telling a story about when he came to Disneyland when it first opened in 1955 as a boy and the adventures he had. We decided to sit and listen. It was awesome to hear someone tell their story about visiting the park during Walt's era. Fascinating!

We finally broke away and headed to the monorail station for DTD. Like several of you here on the boards I am obsessed with the monorail at WDW. There is no explanation for it…..it just is lol. That being said I did not get the same vibe with the one here at DLR. I don't know why but I just didn't

This particular time the monorail took forever and a day to arrive….bleh. And to top it off we were stuck right by a teenage couple engaging in some very explicated PDA and groping. It was gross and I felt uncomfortable being there. We tried our best to shield our kids from learning about things before they should. When the monorail did finally arrive we were the second in boarding line right behind the R rated teens. Now one cool thing about the monorail in DL is the very front (or back I suppose) of the train is open for seating. This is not the case for WDW and I knew that if the doors opened for the front part that meant we might get to sit in that cabin and that would be awesome! Plus considering our placement in line our odds were favorable. So when the monorail stopped and everyone exited the doors to the front cabin had opened and we saw that it was empty, and I got excited! Until the groping teens headed toward the front. Inside my head I was screaming NNNNOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Obviously we did not follow because as cool as that would be there was no way in the world the four of us were going to expose ourselves to what might or might not go on inside of that enclosed seating area. If that couple had no problem doing what they were doing in line in front of all of those people I can only imagine what they were planning on doing in there. Disgusting. I wish that I had a water hose at this point. Life can be so unfair sometimes. I would have not been upset in the least if anyone ahead of us in line had picked that seating area, EXCEPT for that couple, who has no respect for anyone around them. They did not deserve to get to sit there IMO and inside my head I was having a toddler tantrum lol.

Ah well life goes on and we found a good seat in another area. Hey we are at freaking Disneyland and that was awesome enough!

On our monorail voyage I noticed this track that looked very abandoned. Does anyone know what this is? Another Disneyland mystery lol. Within no time we had arrived at our destination and quickly headed in the direction of Fantasyland. It was time for some night time ride fun!!
​

 

[thornton0511]

A Very Magical Last Night

After we had walked to Fantasyland we realized how late it was getting. Our main purpose for tonight was watching the fireworks from the castle and so we did not have much time for anything else.

We did have just enough time for the kids to do one round of teacups. DH and I both decided to sit this round out. I was still stuffed from dinner and DH had started to not feel too good. He is one that never ever complains about not feeling well ( very mind over matter whereas I cry like a baby when my head hurts lol) so I was really hoping that he was not getting sick.

So after this we headed toward the castle to try and get a decent spot for Magical.

Once we settled in we sat and waited for the magic to start! I knew that with this particular firework show that either Tink will fly overhead or Dumbo. Since I have seen Tink several times at MK and I have a special place in my heart for Dumbo I was REALLY hoping to see Dumbo. Hey I had a 50/50 shot right? No such luck though as Tink flew across and over our heads. Ah well, it's still a pretty awesome thing to see a fairy fly over your head! And then the show started. Since we have seen Wishes several times we were excited to see Magical and how they are different. I give you pictures…..

And while we will always have a special place in our hearts for Wishes I would say that Magical was just as special. Plus because it has Sleeping Beauty's castle it kind of gave it that classic Disney feel, ya know! It was amazing. And a perfect way to end our last night at Disneyland too!

After the fireworks we started making our way toward Main Street USA with about a million other people. I knew that it would be a bottleneck so we escaped into the Penny Arcade to let the crowds thin out a bit….for sanity's sake.

There were some really cool things in here. This organ played when you put coins in

The kids found one that allowed them to control a Pinocchio puppet

This ended up being the perfect way to kill time will waiting for the crowds to die down

Eventually the kids had used all of the change that we had on hand and we figured that now would be as good a time as any to make our way back to the motel. It had been a very memorable last full day at Disneyland.
​

 

[thornton0511]

A New Way to Stroll Down Mainstreet USA

Today would be a bittersweet day for our trip. We were going home today. At even though it is always sad when your vacation is over and you have to say goodbye to Disney, we were getting a bit homesick and ready to get back to familiar things. We got up and finished our packing and had breakfast before checking out of the Candy Cane Inn. I was not too sad about that lol.

Upon checking out we noticed for the first time ever the CCI bus that provides free transportation to and from DLR. We had seen this bus on several occasions traveling down Harbor Blvd but this was the first time ever to see it parked. So we thought we would give riding a bus to the park a whirl. After all this was our last day and why not…..right?

That lasted about 5 minutes of sitting on an old bus, and not going anywhere, before we said forget this! We walked our usual 10 minutes to the park instead.

Once we entered Disneyland we noticed this double decker. DH had mentioned earlier in the week how cool it would be to ride down Main Street in one of these.

We decided on an up top view and waited for our magical ride down mainstreet.

Sydney pondered over whatever it is that 8 year olds ponder while we waited. Within no time at all we were chugging along towards the castle.

Then Sydney noticed something

CHIPMUNKS!!!!

Obviously this is by no means the fast way to get down Mainstreet USA but the view was nice and it was something we had not done before. We enjoyed it! The bus dropped us off right in front of the castle which was exactly where we wanted to be. Since this was our last time at the parks we had some bucket list things to accomplish!
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[thornton0511]

Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthough

Bucket List item #1 today was Sleeping Beauty's Castle Walkthrough

But then I got distracted by Snow White's Wishing Well so we detoured to the side for a minute

The kids wanted to make a wish so with coins in hand they closed their eyes real tight and made their wish

Here's to wishes coming true!

Okay now to get back on track. We found the entrance to the castle walkthough. I thought this was so neat!

First they have the storybook opened to the appropriate page

Then as you make your way through they have different scenes from the movie and special effects to that make it look as if you are actually there. So cool!

There are even areas where shadows of guards and Maleficent herself can be seen!

I was glad that we found time to do this and it was really well done. I would definitely recommend this to anyone that can find time during their trip!

Once we were out of the castle I took a moment to take a few more Fantasyland pictures. I could not get over the wonderful nostalgia here!


Cory decided to pose with a suit of armor while we decided what to do next……it did not take too long to decide that a ride was in order.
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[thornton0511]

Saying Goodbye to Disneyland Park

Yup. We decided that we could not possibly go back home to Texas without one last ride on the Matterhorn!

The line was a bit longer than we had encountered throughout the week but no worries! A little wait time was not going to keep us from riding a new family favorite.

We finally made our way around the side of the mountain where we could see the bobsleds…YAY!!! Soon enough it was our turn and we had a blast on our last official Matterhorn ride. Thumbs up to Walt on this ride….it's AWESOME!!!!

We then made our way over to another mountain and had a wild time on BTMRR!

Then it was off to Pirates!

Maybe this is creepy but we noticed a group of guys in front of us and one of them had the most awesome tattoo I have ever seen in my life! EPCOT…..and the monorail!!!! So I spent the entire queue time trying to sneak a good pic of this guy's leg lol. Don't judge me.

After I stopped being a creeper I then pondered over what would happen if I hopped over the rope and forced my way into this door that leads to the Disney suite…….

Finally we made our way to the boats and we were off on a pirate's adventure…..AARGH!!!!

This would conclude our time at Disneyland and I took one last moment to appreciate this wonderful park as I gazed out over the Rivers of America.

We made our way to the front of the park and paid our respects one last time to Walt and his firehouse apartment.

As we were leaving the band started playing and I thought it made for a perfect end to our adventures at Disneyland Park.

I turned as we made our way through the tunnel to say one last silent thank you to Walt for dreaming so big and making such a wonderful place for people like me to come and get away from it all! I felt so fortunate to have been able to make this trip and see where it all began…..

Now hold on to your horsey hitching post guys because this adventure is not quite over yet!
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[BellaBaby]

You guys sound like you had a wonderful trip!! Nice job on getting to ride the Matterhorn once last time!!

I just love the feel of DL park, the nostalgia is awesome!!

Sorry this TR is almost over, but I hope you write one about your Sept trip! I really enjoy your commentary and photos. The ones you got of the fireworks over SB castle were excellent! Plus we were just at WDW right before you and I'm interested to hear your take on the crowds at this time of year. We had low crowds until the weekend came. For example we were the only people on our Living with the Land boat (and that's 2 boats connected together!) I loved the low crowds and then Labor Day wknd came and it picked up some ( I think free dining started also) But I heard it was low crowds again after that wknd. We would love to come at that time in the future but my oldest DD starts high school next year, so I don't think it will work.

Anyway, we are hopefully going to do a May/June trip so that'll come sooner!!

 

[thornton0511]

You guys sound like you had a wonderful trip!! Nice job on getting to ride the Matterhorn once last time!!
yes always a plus!
I just love the feel of DL park, the nostalgia is awesome!!
oh my goodness yes it is!!!
Sorry this TR is almost over, but I hope you write one about your Sept trip! I really enjoy your commentary and photos. The ones you got of the fireworks over SB castle were excellent! Plus we were just at WDW right before you and I'm interested to hear your take on the crowds at this time of year. We had low crowds until the weekend came. For example we were the only people on our Living with the Land boat (and that's 2 boats connected together!) I loved the low crowds and then Labor Day wknd came and it picked up some ( I think free dining started also) But I heard it was low crowds again after that wknd. We would love to come at that time in the future but my oldest DD starts high school next year, so I don't think it will work.
Aww, thank you so much! I have really enjoyed writing this and having you guys follow along!! I am planning on starting a TR for our Sept as soon as I get this one wrapped up! Yes the crowds were very light for our time there too. That is so crazy that you guys were the only ones in the boat lol. That would be a bit eerie. We arrived on Saturday morning Labor Day Weekend and the crowds seemed more moderate (like you were saying) and then by Tuesday poof it was very slow. This was our first time to go in Sept (we have been once in mid May, once end of May and early June) and once in December) and we enjoyed it....except for the heat the crowds were great though. We went ahead and booked a bounce back for next Sept for free dining lol. I hear ya with the kids and school though and I can imagine that being hard with a high school kid next year. My oldest will be in 8th grade next year and I am afraid that our days of trips during school are coming to a close. Yay for May/June though! That really is a great time to go too with crowds and weather. Honestly the only draw for Sept for us was the crowds and free dining. May is our fav
Anyway, we are hopefully going to do a May/June trip so that'll come sooner!!

yes you are right about that

 

[thornton0511]

Aladdin's Musical Spectacular

Even though we had said our goodbyes to Disneyland Park we still had a few adventures left before going home. We walked across to DCA and headed in this direction toward……

The Aladdin Musical. I was not about to get on an airplane unless I saw this spectacular show!

I could not for the life of me remember what area was the best viewing area and so we just got in a line lol. It ended up not being a bad choice, IMO, as we were front and center.

We took our seats and waited for the show to start!

It was fantastic!!! We all agreed that the Genie made the show too! Oh my goodness he was a riot and we could not stop laughing as he found a way to incorporate current events in his joking that at this particular time included cracks about Kanye and Kim and references to Frozen. Hilarious. This show is definitely not to be missed!!
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