| March 15th... |
[25 Mar 2013|12:09am] |
Happy Birthday To Me, Happy Birthday To Me, Happy Birthday To Me.........
The alarm was set for 3am. So of course I was awake at midnight.
I laid there in bed trying to nap, but nothing.
Got up at 3 and headed for the shower. Joe and I got ready and headed down stairs to meet our chauffeur, Melanie. She was there waiting for us. :) We hopped into her chariot and headed for the boarder, aka California and Disneyland.
Yes, I was being treated to a birthday celebration in Disneyland. How lucky am I?
I had made some copies of some Disney cds that I have and we were soon playing Disney trivia with them and singing away to lots of old Disney songs. First mistake of the day for me.
After being in Cali for about an hour, we passed through a very empty inspeciton post. Apparently today it's okay to bring in fruits and veggies to California. :p
Eventually we stopped and made a potty break. Melanie got a fresh cup of caffeine. :p
Then it was off into the monster we shall call Southern California Highway System. YIKES, I am glad I don't have to drive that every day. Thanks to Melanie's phone GPS we eventually found Disneyland. We entered a LARGE parking ramp and parked on Mickey 3 some where near Mickey J I think.
It was a cool morning and I was in a tshirt and shorts, my second mistake, but I'm from Minnesota and couldn't say it was chilly. :p
We took the tram over to the secuirty entrance and breezed through there and headed for the ticket booths. Waited briefly in a line there, and got our tickets and headed into the parks.
First stop was City Hall where I was treated to a couple of buttons. One for my birthday, he was nice enough not to ask me my age, and I also got a button for a First Time Visitor to Disneyland. Now that is what I call a birthday. :)
This will be from memory now, as I didn't write anything down as we did it or after we got back to the hotel.
Our tour guide, Melanie, offered up many options, but I kind of put us in her hands and followed along.
We headed up Main Street and swung over to Tomorrowland to get Fast Passes for Star Tours. Then we wondered back over towards Adventureland. Our first stop there was Indiana Jones Adventure. I haven't ridden this ride at WDW because I not a HUGE Indy fan, but it was enjoyable. It's a lot like the Dinosaur ride at Animal Kingdom. From there we stopped at Tarzan's Treehouse It's the remodeled Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. Next stop was Pirates of the Caribbean. It was really fun seeing the sameness or should I say the slight differances between Disneyland and WDW. :) So far there was very little waiting in lines. Which can be good and bad in the Disney Parks. With no lines you don't get to see all the things they have to occupy those waiting to get through to the rides. I actually got quite soaked riding through the Pirates ride. Apparently I was sitting in just the wrong/right spot. lol........ Next we moved on to my favorite ride in the WDW Magic Kingdom, The Haunted Mansion. :) Next it was over to Splash Mountain. Not sure if they were having mechanical issues or if there may have been several handicapped riders getting on and off, but the ride stopped several times. Maybe I was a jinx. I was once stuck on Splash Mountain in WDW for an hour. Thankfully it was nothing like that this time. I think I actually got more wet on Pirates then I did Splash. lol........ And Melanie politely hid behind me as we went down the big drop. Thanks... :p Next we rounded the corner to The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh. The big differance for this ride is location. At WDW it's located in Fantasyland, in Disneyland it's in Critter Corner which is kind of at the back of Adventureland. After we got off the ride Tigger, Eeyore and Pooh were out in a meet and greet area, so I selfishly got in line to get pictures taken with them. I was wearing my Kiss Me It's My Birthday tshirt and when we got over to Eeyore, he read my shirt and kissed me on the forehead. AWW... The first time the tshirt has worked. lol... Next, potty break. Then we wondered back around the Rivers of America, or whatever it is called at Disneyland. We walked passed the walled off Big Thunder Railroad. It's closed for most of the year for some rehab. It's getting a bit of the Pirates treatment. Disney is making a movie based around the ride and so they are adding characters and such from the movie to the ride. Or at least that is what I have read. We came up into Fantasyland from the back side. First I think we road Casey Jr. Circus Train. Wouldn't you know we got put in a caged train car. Then we stopped into Village Haus Restaurant for some lunch. Then it was off to do some of the classics. Here we started to run into some real lines. First up Pinocchio's Daring Journey, followed by Snow White's Scary Adventure. Had to ride that because it no longer exists at WDW. Then we crossed the street to one of the longest lines of the day, Peter Pan's Flight. My theory as to why it's so popular is that you "fly" through the ride instead of simply riding through it. There was a young girl in the line behind us that had a birthday button on too, and so I said Happy Birthday to her. She was either super shy, or she checked her personality at the gate when she came in. lol...... We rounded the corner and rode on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Then we rode King Arthur's Carrousel. Well, Joe and I did, Melanie stood on the side lines and took pictures. While in line for the Carrousel, I got my second kiss of the day. I wasn't really paying attention and I heard this "kissy" noise. I looked around and this lady was acting like she was kissing me. So I leaned over and offered her my cheek and she kissed me. lol... A few people down the line there was this older guy who made a crossed with his fingers and said No Way, laughingly of course. LOL... Next we road Alice in Wonderland and Mad Tea Party. Met a nice couple in the Alice line. It was one of their little kids' birthday today and she asked where I got my button so I told her. As for the Mad Tea Party, 3 adults stuffed into a tea cup is a tight squeeze. I may have helped spin it a little too much. Not sure how much fun my friends were having. :p Next we rode It's a Small World. The big difference between WDW and Disneyland is location again, and the facade in Disneyland is massive, and the ride actually starts outdoors in a canal before moving into the ride. Next it was off to Toon Town. We got Fast Passes for Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. Then we walked over to Minnie and Mickey's houses. The sign in front of Minnie's said the wait was and hour, so we passed on by over to Mickey's. We toured his home and then got in line to take pictures with Mickey. He was dressed up in B&W like his Steamboat Willie cartoon. I convinced Melanie and Joe to join me for a picture. :) Then Melanie pointed me and Joe over to Gadget's Go Coaster and she waited for us. It was a surprisingly long line. I think mostly because it was a small enough ride and they only had one set of cars running on it. Tip for all you potential riders, it's not meant for people of any height advantage. I felt like a sardine. :p We picked up Melanie, and some water, and then headed back for Roger Rabbit's ride. We got in line behind this family that appeared to be of foreign extraction. They acted like they owned the place. Strollers are not allowed into any rides, but they took their stroller right in and up to the boarding gates and made the cast member deal with it. NERVY... The ride is fun. It's kind of combination of a story ride and the Mad Tea Party spinning cups. lol....... Next we got in line for the Matterhorn Bobsleds. Melanie wasn't the least bit surprised that the line wrapped practically around the mountain. She assured us that it moves quickly and it did. :) She ushered us to the Left line because it's the "faster" ride. It is quite a bit like Expedition Everest at WDW. :) I think this was when we stopped and got Fast Passes to Space Mountain which had a return time of the last 45 minutes that the Park was open. :p I think we then stopped back to use the Fast Passes for Star Tours. We got rejected. Disney now has a policy that Fast Passes have to be used within the times of the tickets. So we crossed the street and go in line for Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Then proceeded to get pissed off as this group of kids proceeded to butt their way up through the line. The one kid looked like she was totally stoned. She had that complete glassy look. :o Sadly, I think I had the smallest score of the three of us. :o In my defence, I was trying to shoot with my left hand. :p Then we went over and rode the Jungle Cruise before it got too late/dark. Talk about a line to wait in. WOWZA... After the cruise, that thankfully wasn't a Carnavil ship we just got on board the Disneyland train and rode it back over to Tomorrowland. We rode the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage before hopping on the Disneyland Monorail. By this time the sun was down and it was getting chilly, but I was being the stubborn Minnesotan and trying to ignore it. lol... Then we got in line and road the Storybook Land Canal Boats. Chatted with a guy who's one kid was wearing a Packer's Jacket. He was originally from Wisconsin, but is now in Phoenix. His son asked me if I was 80 years old. lol... I said Not quite, that was a Mickey's head on my birthday button, not an 8. LoL... From there we worked our way up to the Hub to watch the fireworks display. First we grabbed a corn dog. Freshly HOT. Then we got back in place to watch the fireworks. Unfortunately, some fog settled in over the Castle and half the fireworks weren't seen. :(:(:( From there we tried to work our way over to see the Enchanted Tiki Room show. Not that easy when they have the entrance to Adventureland closed, so we had to go through Frontierland and work our way over. Nice to sit down for awhile. Although that meant getting back up when it was done. :p
I think I am either out of order or missing something, but we ended the night standing in another long line waiting to ride Space Mountain. It was a little too early for our Fast Passes so we stood in the regular line. Again, the cars for the ride are not made for taller/bigger people. I still have a bruise on the top of my right thigh from getting in and out of the car. lol... After Space Mountain we strolled back to Main Street and did a little shopping. I got some yummy cupcakes, hey it's my birthday, and these marshmellow/carmel, chocolate Mickey treats. Then I found a couple of tshirts. I am a tshirt hoarder. :o One shirt is one of the 2013 shirts and the other has Grumpy and it says, Don't Make Me Unfriend You. lol..........
We slowly/sadly, at least for me, made our way back out to the tram and a ride back to the parking ramp. :( I threw on my jacket, ahh...
We got out on the street and got a wee bit of misplaced, but were soon back on the right track to Las Vegas. I tried hard to stay awake to help keep Melanie awake driving back, but I failed frequently. SORRY Melanie.
A LONG day of fun at Disneyland, but we still managed to miss several things.
Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes
Dsineyland Story Great Moments With Lincoln
Mainstreet Cinema
Inside Sleeping Beauty's Castle
Fantasmic
Tom Sawyer's Island
Minnie's House
Goofy's Playhouse
Donald's Boat
And a few other things that weren't a priority.....
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