Disneyland in December: Day 5 (posted 2/5)
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lauren-roxy · 12-26-2005, 02:26 PM

I just got all caught up with your trip report and it's fantastic!!! Sounds like the Holiday Time tour is really wonderful!!!! Can't wait to read more about your great trip!!

**DebiDebiDebi** · 12-27-2005, 09:08 AM

I am just getting to this report as I have been on vacation. Wonderful so far, can't wait to read more!

monzmom · 12-28-2005, 08:53 AM

How funny...we were at the same showing of Aladin! Thanks for sharing your trip. I'm enjoying it and it brings back good memories. D

Politzania · 01-02-2006, 10:29 AM

Woke up about 15 min before the wake-up call - got ready & were out to the monorail stop by 7:30. Early entry day for Fantasyland & Toontown – yay! We stepped off the monorail platform in Tomorrowland by 8:05 and walked around to Fantasyland. We were the ONLY people on the Teacups, so of course we took the gold cup! Next, a visit with Peter Pan – already a 10 min wait.. whew! Snow White was a walk on, while Mr. Toad had a very short line. By 8:40 we were on our way to Tomorrowland to visit Buzz – Scott won again! Decided to check out Space Mountain after its long rehab. We walked thru almost all of the LONG queue, only catching up to the line in the loading room… they put a lot of effort into the queue theming. As for the ride itself....
WOW!
This new version is miles above WDW’s Space Mountain! It’s incredibly smooth and dark – with a million stars floating around you, both as projections and (I guess) fiber optics on the framework of the coaster. The music is great, too – reminds me a bit of The Incredibles soundtrack.

We loved the ride so much we got back in line, grabbing our FP’s for a later visit. By this time (9:05) , the line started at the end of the outdoor portion of the queue, or so we thought. Turns out they were stacking the line and after a few minutes, we were able to proceed forward to the loading room. By this time, we realized we’d missed the Toontown Morning Madness ceremony – guess we’ll try to catch it on Saturday. During the short wait to go on Space Mountain again, I noticed how they’re managing boarding for handicapped guests. They slide one of the ride vehicles (normally 2 vehicles travel at once) sideways off the track into a separate loading bay. This allows the regular line to load normally, while the handicapped guests can take their time getting into the vehicle and getting secured. You do still need to transfer from the chair, but this takes the pressure off moving quickly. Once the vehicle is loaded, a second (empty) ride vehicle is pulled in from a bay behind the regular loading area & joins up with the HC, which has been slid back on track. This empty vehicle is transferred back to its bay upon returning to the loading room. It sounds more complicated than it is, I guess… but IMHO an ingenious way of keeping an E-ticket ride’s capacity going while offering the experience to slower-moving guests.

So – by 9:30 we’d been on 6 rides, including 2 trips thru Space Mountain … how sweet is that? Made a slight mistake by following that up with a Star Tours trip; don’t get me wrong, I love Rex and his little detour through the stars, but I was feeling a bit queasy after all that movement… especially since we were seated in the back corner of the starspeeder! I also noticed that my Mickey watch had stopped, so we planned a visit to the Watch store on Main Street for later that day. I sat & let my system calm down a bit while Scott shopped. A friend of ours is a big Star Wars & Disney fan – so we told her we’d look for a Jedi Mickey & other cross-over merchandise. The morning had started out kind of foggy, but was starting to clear by this time – about 10:00.

We headed over to Innoventions, as we were interested in seeing Asimo. We entered thru the Sports section and browsed around a bit before attending the 11:00 Asimo show. The robot is really quite impressive; he’s designed to be an assistant for humans – his 4 foot height puts him at eye-level for most seated adults, yet gives him the reach for most tabletops and lower cabinets. The “show” was based around a test-market family (who conveniently worked for Honda) with the wife being the demonstrator of the robot’s skills. I wish the show could have been more interactive, with audience members requesting different actions/behaviors from Asimo, since the whole show could have been pre-programmed into the robot.

We had lunch reservations at The Blue Bayou, so after the demo, it was time to start heading in that direction, especially since we wanted to try to get riverside seating. We checked in, then while we waited, had our picture taken in the Court of Angels. It came out really well & just might be our Christmas card for next year! We were called in about 11:40 and given the option to sit 1 row away from the river, or wait another 45 min. We were hungry, so decided those seats were fine. You really can’t see as much of the PoTC attraction as we thought you could … oh well! In retrospect, we should have split the Monte Cristo sandwich and ordered soup or salad as a side… those sandwiches are HUGE! I finished one half and part of the other, while Scott got thru one before calling it quits. It was very yummy, IMHO, especially with the blackberry jam, odd as it originally sounded to me. I did get a mint julep as well – not as lemony as I expected it to be & probably not something I’d drink regularly… but I imagine it’s quite refreshing on a hot day!

**DebiDebiDebi** · 01-02-2006, 07:43 PM

[ QUOTE ]
In retrospect, we should have split the Monte Cristo sandwich and ordered soup or salad as a side… those sandwiches are HUGE!

[/ QUOTE ]

my DH and I have finally learned to split meals at Disney Parks...the portions are always so big! Great Installment!!!

Politzania · 01-03-2006, 07:32 AM

We finished our meal about 12:30 and headed over to Adventureland, as we hadn’t yet visited the Tiki Birds or gone on a Jungle cruise. By this time the sun was out at full strength, but the temps were probably still in the mid 60’s – I was glad I’d brought a couple of sweatshirts on this trip! The piranhas are an … interesting … addition to the JC.. wonder if they’ll bring them to WDW? I really enjoy the pre-show at The Enchanted Tiki Birds, with the various island gods introducing themselves - IIRC, Leota and Thurl provided voices for (at least) two of them, right? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

On the way over to Frontierland, we got our picture taken with Woody and about 1:35, we joined the line at BTMRR. We were planning on catching the 3:00 Billy Hill show and maybe taking the Mark Twain around the Rivers of America before the 4:30 Parade of Dreams, but things didn’t quite happen that way. We just missed the boat as we returned to the main area of Frontierland, so I found a sunny spot to people watch & call home, while Scott looked around the stores and took some photos.

We caught the 2:15 Mark Twain cruise & went up to the top/Texas deck for a good view… as did most of the other folks on this trip. Returned to shore about 2:30, with plenty of time to get good seats at the Golden Horseshoe - upper level, next to the sound board. Scott got some snacks for us – another rice krispie treat and a big chocolate chip cookie! Yes, we splurge on the sweets when we’re on vacation. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/facelick.gif[/img]

We’d seen Billy Hill & The Hillbillies on our last trip in 2003, so knew basically what to expect. It was an entertaining show with some holiday touches – we clapped & laughed and had a good time! After the show, we went over to Fantasyland and got in line at Casey Jr – the Storybook Boats weren’t running for some reason - as we wanted to see the minature houses decorated for the holidays. This was the longest attraction line we’d been in so far (barring the fireworks) – probably about 20-25 min. By the time we finished our train ride (a little faster than I’d remembered it!) it was about 10 min before the parade, which we decided to skip. I kind of wish we’d managed to see it, but after seeing Block Party Bash and A Christmas Fantasy, I think we were a bit paraded out. Besides, the Electrical Light Parade was running Fri & Sat night and we really wanted to see that!

We visited Mr. Toad again, then headed over to Adventureland for a second Jungle Cruise – this skipper had a better sense of humor and timing than the other skipper did. They’ve switched the script around a bit, but we still groaned at our old favorites and laughed at the new jokes and puns we heard. It was getting on to dusk by this time, and thought we’d get some good skyline pictures if we climbed up Tarzan’s Treehouse (I needed an incentive to climb (and descend) all those stairs!) We continued the stair theme by making a visit to the Disney Gallery - their current exhibit is a retrospective of 50 years of Disneyland – some of the same concept art that was in the Disneyland touring exhibit we saw in Detroit, as well as the only Thomas Kinkade I’ve liked so far… of the Castle and the Hub. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

It was almost dark by this time, so we headed back over to Big Thunder Mountain, as we really enjoy this attraction at night. The lines were so short that we squeezed in two – go-rounds in about 15 min. That second trip became “the chilliest ride in the wilderness”, as the temps had started to cool off after the sun went down! It was almost time for the Christmas parade (6:20) so we caught the train at New Orleans Square and rode around to Tomorrowland to check out that area again. We decided we weren’t quite up to another ride on Space Mountain, so we did our good deed for the day and found 2 teenage girls who were thrilled to be given our Fast Passes- the CM who saw it gave us an Atta-Boy, too! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]

Took another cruise to Endor before winding down for the evening. We headed back to the Tomorrowland train station about 7:15 – deciding we would try to see the fireworks from the other end of Main Street tonight, if it weren’t too crowded. A train finally appeared about 10 min later and we were about the last 2 people to be able to squeeze on, as the post-parade crowd was in full swing.

Once we arrived at the Main Street station, we stayed on the upper level and found a spot just to the left of the reserved seating area… which really wasn’t that good, as the Christmas tree blocked the view of the castle! We could see just a bit of it from where we stood – Scott used a trash can as an impromptu tripod and got some pretty good pictures of the fireworks. We were on the move as soon as the fireworks were done – being from Indiana, we didn’t need to see the snow! We made it out into the Esplanade in just a few minutes – a HUGE improvement over the night before!

We looked around World of Disney for a little while, to get a feel for what we wanted to buy on our big shopping stop later in the trip, and then I picked up gumbo to go from the Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen Express, while Scott continued on & got another burger from Croc’s Bits & Bites. We both got back to the room about the same time - 8:40 – ate dinner and relaxed for a while before getting to bed about 9:45.

Attraction Count: 24 (including shows, monorail & train trips) -- [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/jawdrop.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/jawdrop.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/jawdrop.gif[/img]
Mileage: 2.9 mi/7192 steps

lauren-roxy · 01-03-2006, 11:39 AM

Another great update!! Sounds like you are really having a great time!! Can't wait to read more!!

snoozy · 01-03-2006, 05:55 PM

Glad to hear you were having fun, more please.

**Colexis Mom** · 01-04-2006, 12:35 PM

What a great time you're having [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] More please [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Politzania · 01-06-2006, 11:02 AM

Weather: high 63 pt cloudy – morning & evening – mid/low 50’s.

Woke up just before the 7:30 wakeup call & were heading downstairs by 8:30. We thought we’d spend a bit of time at Disneyland before DCA opened, spend the morning there then rest, going back to DL in the late afternoon, checking out Disney’s Electric Parade at DCA and maybe catching Fantasmic! that evening. Decided to enter the park via Main Street to see the 50 Years of Disneyland show, since we’d only seen the exhibits earlier. On our way in, we saw Mary Poppins, Bert & one of the penguins playing hide & seek with some kids. The characters are allowed/encouraged to be more playful here than at WDW, I think. We then picked up our Court of Angels photo from yesterday and checked the Happiest Faces on Earth kiosk to see where our pictures were located. We’d forgotten to print out the email they sent at the beginning of the celebration.

Walked right into DCA about 9:50, stopped for a quick photo and then on to Soarin’ Over California, where we were pre-boarding by 10:05. We were seated in the 3rd row (bottommost during the presentation), so got back in line (still within the building at this point)& hoped for better seats. Got the first row this time & went way on in the air – whee! Got some FP’s – then took a leisurely walk down the Redwood Trail. Stopped by the Mission factory & got wheat tortillas as our sample this time. Since we’re Disney Visa cardholders, we went to Ariel’s Grotto and got our free photo with Mickey in his captain’s gear and Goofy in his old-fashioned swim suit. We ended up with several professional pictures this trip – usually we only get one or two… tho that’s increased since WDW got the PhotoPass.

About 11:20 we headed over to Paradise Pier & walked by most of the rides – they lines weren’t long, but they just don’t appeal to us much. Last trip Muholland Madness freaked me out (I could have sworn we were going to tip over right off the track!) and the screening around the gondolas at the Sun Wheel, while important for safety, really detracts from the view. Scott took some neat pictures of the area, tho.

Made a stop at P.T. Flea’s Circus about 11:45 to do some shopping, then had lunch at the Taste Pilot’s Grill about noon. I had a good salad and Scott had, yes, another burger. Next stop was the Engineers Toy store to check out new Potatohead pieces. We’ve got a mini-tote full of parts from WDW and 2 different PotatoPeople (not counting Darth Tater and a Spud Trooper), so we’re always on the lookout for new items. The Tinkerbell wig & wings and Ariel wig & tail were new to us, as were the Donald hat & bill. We found enough pieces to fill a box (after several attempts to maximize the volume). Didn’t see any gold Mickey ears or other 50th-specific items, tho. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] The store did have some freebie/discontinued parts - you could pick 4 if you’d bought a box of parts [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]

One of our Happiest Faces on Earth photos was in the Mr. Incredible photomosaic in the main plaza of DCA; unfortunately, it’s mounted about 6 feet up on a pole and is itself at least 4-5 feet high. We found it tho, thanks to Scott’s zoom lens on the camera! One of our photos (Scott in the ToonTown dog pound) was used about 6-7 times… it had a dark background & must have been easier to use than some others. I only ended up in one of the photomosiacs (tho we didn’t have/make time to check the Fantasmic! photo before we left). [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

We used our FP’s for Soarin about 1:00, picked up our photo and headed back to the hotel. Got back about 2:00, after getting our free duffle bag (booked our package thru Walt Disney Travel Co. & put it on the Disney Visa) – it definitely came in handy, considering all the souvenirs we ended up buying! The big shopping trip was next on the schedule - you get 10% off at the World of Disney if you show your Disney Visa (I don’t think you have to use it, just show it). We decided to ship these purchases home, as we wouldn’t have had the room! The few things we didn’t want to ship (a sweatshirt & shortbread cookies) we took back to the hotel & then were on our way back to Disneyland about 3:45.

**Colexis Mom** · 01-06-2006, 12:20 PM

Another great update [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img]

lauren-roxy · 01-06-2006, 02:18 PM

Great update!!! Glad to hear how handy that Disney Visa is!! Can't wait to read more!!!!!

**chezp** · 01-06-2006, 04:04 PM

Wow - I've just read through your report from start to finish and I've learnt so much that'll come in useful for us when we go to Disneyland in April. Your attention to detail is great and the comparisons between WDW and DL are really helpful.

More please! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]

snoozy · 01-06-2006, 05:00 PM

Sounds like a great time. For future reference you can request a certain seat on a ride. What they will do is put you aside until the next seat or row is available and then they put in your request. We do this all the time especially with Soarin' and Big Thunder Mountain. First row for Soarin', you don't have to look at any dangling feet. Last car for BTMRR it feels faster.

Politzania · 01-20-2006, 07:47 AM

Life's been interfering with my Internet time lately.... [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

We took the monorail & saw part of the Parade of Dreams as we glided over the park. We hustled over to the Matterhorn before the post-parade line got too long. We shook, rattled & rolled our way down the mountain (what a contrast with SM!) and walked out in front of it’s a small world just as the clock struck 4. Snack break! I went to a nearby churro cart & Scott looked for a Mickey bar… I think he was almost done with his before I even got mine! Not only was the line long, but everyone in front of me was buying 3 or 4 of them. Where’s the single buyer’s line for the churro carts? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/jester.gif[/img]

Searched for our photos (well, Scott’s photo!) in the mosaics in the Fantasyland plaza – he was in Beauty & The Beast twice (2 different photos, but still just Scott) and in Snow White – she’s really kissing him instead of Dopey! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Got FP’s for Roger Rabbit’s Cartoon Spin about 4:20 and looked around Toontown for a bit. We tried to go see Minnie, but she had to leave early to get ready for the parade in an hour. It seems the ladies take more time to get “neat and pretty”, since Mickey was still meeting guests in the movie barn. After a visiting Mr. Mouse, we saw Minnie again, out by the fountain. She must’ve gotten ready pretty quickly after all! We got a few pix with her, and also visited with Goofy, Pluto and Chip & Dale, all in their holiday attire. Went for a ride with Benny the Cab, and then caught the train over to New Orleans Square. The Christmas Parade was had just started at 5:15 - and it crosses the train’s path - so we had to wait for a gap before the train could pass.

We’d started to notice the increasing crowds by this time, but thought maybe it was just lots of families hanging out in ToonTown before it closes. Not so – NOS was very busy! We were both getting a little jittery. I thought maybe getting something to eat would help, so I stood in a VERY long line at the Royal Street Veranda to get a bread bowl of gumbo – it was awfully good, tho. We found an empty table under the voodoo lady’s apartment and tried to listen in over the crowd noise… kind of difficult. Despite the crowds, while I was in line, Scott got some lovely pictures of an empty Court of Angels!

We got in line at Haunted Mansion Holiday about 6:15– the line started at the gate – split in 2 and wound around & around past the pet cemetery & over in the patio area to the left of the Mansion – it was closer to a 30 min line than the 20 min posted time – but there’s something about visiting the Mansion at night that makes it worth the wait! Scott still hadn’t gotten anything to eat – we took a look at Casey’s the Refreshment Corner on our way over to DCA but it was packed, so ended up back at Award Weiner’s. Scott stood in line while I grabbed a table. I know DLR is really hurting for employees; food service is where you can really tell how shorthanded the staffing is. I shudder to think of how much worse it got over the high holiday season!

We browsed thru Off the Page before checking out the parade route. About 8:00 we settled in at about the same spot as where we’d see Block Party Bash – just to the side of the entrance to the Winery. I saved our spot while Scott went in search of hot cocoa (huge lines, so he came back emptyhanded). We were glad to have our Santa hats & jackets on by this time! After seeing what the early evening crowds were like in DL, we decided to pass on Fantasmic! for tonight, since we wanted to make Early Entry & Toontown Madness. In retrospect, we should have stuck it out for the second viewing – oh well.

The Disney Electrical Parade got to our spot about 9:30 – it was as lovely as I remembered. So difficult to take good photos of, tho! Definitely a retro feel to the parade – not as sparkly as Spectromagic, but it’s got a little more charm – and the best theme music! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img] After it passed, Scott went over to the plaza in front of the Pacific Wharf, where the DCA tree was located to get some pix of it at night. You can see some of the DL fireworks show from that area, so we watched it for a bit. Stopped by a slightly-less-busy cart for hot cocoa on our way out for the walk back to the room, returning about 10:05. Wound down a bit before getting to sleep.

Attraction count: (13 – includes train, monorail & parade)
Mileage: 2.8 mi/6182 steps