The Jedi & Toons Tour - May 2007 (Disneyland & Star Wars Celebration IV) - Days 10 & 11 (5/26 & 5/27) *UPDATED 7/6* About This Page:

[Politzania]

Day 4 – Sunday, May 20, 2007
Weather - cloudy & cool (lo-mid 60's) in am - partly suny & warmer (mid 70's) pm

Got up relatively early & were on the road about 7:30. We got to the hotel about 8:20 & checked in; they told us our room should be ready after 1:00, so we left our items in the car (tho the hotel has a locked baggage room) and headed across the street to the parks. Literally across the street: the Tropicana is about a half-a block away from the pedestrian walkway that leads to the bus stops & Esplanade (the area between Disneyland & DCA).

We were at the gates about 8:35 – and going under the archway less than 5 min later. We decided our first stop would be Pirates – since we were planning to see the movie (At World’s End) a week later. It was basically a walk-on all the way up to the loading dock. The updates are essentially the same at DL as at WDW; however the original ride itself is so much better ... sigh.
Next stop was next door at the Haunted Mansion – we were looking forward to seeing the updates here as well – the floating Leota head (very impressive) and the renovations in the attic showing the Bride’s multiple husbands – lots of things to look at, making the Mansion even more of a multiple-visit attraction, IMHO.

We worked our way back to Adventureland to experience our first DL-only attraction: Indiana Jones & the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. We had about a 5-10 min wait – minimal for this ride – I enjoyed it immensely, tho Scott feels it jounces around a bit too much. We cut across the park to Fantasyland/Tomorrowland and made it to the Matterhorn about 9:45 – had about a 10 min wait there. This is a fun rollercoaster – nothing too thrilling, but it does shake you around quite a bit, and you’re sitting down pretty much right on the rollers.
We wandered over to Frontierland thru Big Thunder Ranch & took a snack break about 10:10 – got Frontier Fries & sodas. We also caught a show by the Laughing Stock streetmosphere players in front of the Golden Horseshoe – 2 outlaw robbers & the sheriff. We got in a 5-10 min line for Big Thunder Mountain about 10:30 – the ride seems longer here than at WDW & a bit more scenic, especially when you go thru the town at the end of the ride.
We browsed the stores in Frontierland and caught part of another Laughing Stock show before the 11:15 Billy Hill & The Hillbillies show – the mayor wants to marry off his (ugly) daughter to the sheriff, who pulls 3 men (or 2 men & a boy) out of the audience & has them play The Dating Game. We got seats up on the balcony right center & Scott got a hot fudge sundae for us to share during the show. I really have to recommend this show to anyone spending time at Disneyland – the boys play some fine music & make the audience laugh as well.

Around 11:45, we went over to Tomorrowland and joined a 20-min standby line for Buzz Lightyear – the ride isn’t too different from the WDW version; however, the guns are detatchable (with a couple-foot long cord) and somewhat easier to aim. Scott still beat my score every single time we rode, usually by a factor of 10! About 12:20. we walked over to the Subs lagoon & took some pics, including a countdown sign saying that the ride was “resurfacing in 22 days”  They were running 3 of the subs thru the ride and Scott got some good photos. After this, we went back to Fantasyland and joined the longest line so far – 45 min wait for Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Scott really misses this in WDW & I don’t think he’s convinced that Pooh is a sufficient replacement.

About 1:15 we headed back to the hotel and got our room – 393. It was in the back corner – all the rooms face in & overlook the pool and parking area. The room was somewhere between the value & moderate levels at WDW: 2 queen beds, a desk with a chair & a small table with 2 stuffed chairs, the TV console with 3 drawers and a sink with a large vanity - the toilet & bathtub/shower were in the bathroom. We also had a large dorm-sized refrigerator and a small microwave. We unpacked a bit, then went out to run some errands.
We headed up Harbor Blvd to Orangefair & visited the Disney Character Outlet. I think the Florida ones are a bit better of a deal & have a larger selection – but we still found a few things. We went up to the next street (Orangethorpe?) and found an In & Out Burger for lunch – it’s a pretty basic menu, but those burgers are quite tasty! We got some grocery basics at the Target nearby and headed back to the hotel about 3:30.

We decided to check out DCA, so about 10 after 4, we stopped by Guest services & picked up a birthday button, then went to Monsters Inc: Mike & Sully to the Rescue, which only had about a 5 min wait. We just missed the opening of this attraction on our last trip (December 2005) and were really looking forward to it. The theming of the queue is pretty cool - it’s a Monstropolis Transit Authority station & you’re riding a cab. The ride itself is fun, but not overwhelming – a good dark ride. The personalized comments from Roz at the end are amusing – I wish they could have done a bit more with the AA’s facial movements.
About 4:45 we were going next door to Muppets 3D – the queue and holding room are a bit different, but from all I could tell, the theater & show are the same as WDW. We just caught the end of the preshow, where Rizzo comes out as Mickey Mouse.
It was about 5 when we wandered over to the Pacific Wharf area & took the Mission Tortilla Factory tour – and the birthday button paid off when we got a bag of about a dozen warm wheat tortillas! They came in handy as snacks during the rest of our trip. We walked around Paradise Pier and decided to try out the Corn Dog Castle for dinner. Scott stood in line, while I scouted out a spot for the Block Party Bash parade. We’d seen it on our last trip & enjoyed it. Good thing I had the camera, as the parade had already come down by us & started the show before Scott got thru the line. The Monsters Inc float stopped in front of where I was – the crowd was pretty scarce, so I got some good pix. Scott brought me the Cheese-on-a-stick – totally unhealthy, but quite yummy! We finished off our meal once the parade passed and followed the crowd out of the park as it closed at 6:00pm.

We went across the way & reentered Disneyland (Park Hoppers are definitely worth the money for this resort!) and saw the crowds preparing for the 6:30 parade. We walked along the right hand side to Tomorrowland – the 55 min wait for Space Mountain was a bit much for us, so we continued on around thru Fantasyland to Toontown. Roger Rabbit Cartoon Spin's line wasn’t much shorter – 50 min posted standby, but at least the queue is a little more interesting. We finished our wild ride thru Toontown about 7:10 and looked around the Gag Factory shop – we noticed that just about every store in DL had a display of Disney Crocs, in both child and adult sizes.

We joined the line for it’s a small world about 10 after seven – just as the sun was starting to set. The morning had started out cloudy & bit cool, but the sun came out about 2 and it warmed up some, but was still windy. The evening cooled off a bit as well. Disneyland was staying open till 11 – but we were pretty sure we wouldn’t stay quite that late. We did want to see the fireworks show, so a little after 8, we started scouting out a spot in the Hub. We found a bench with only a partially-obstructed view of the castle & a good view of the Matterhorn, so I staked it out while Scott walked around & took some evening/night pix of the park.

Scott came back about a half-hour later with 2 hot cocoas and $3 he’d found on the ground. The drinks were a pretty decent deal - $6 for 16 oz of beverage in a commuter mug. An Australian couple joined us & we chatted for a bit – they had just flown in the day before from Sydney & were spending a couple of days in the LA area before flying out to the East coast to visit with family – now that’s a big trip!

There were a couple of announcements that the fireworks might have to be cancelled due to high winds, but they must’ve tapered off just in time, as the show went as scheduled. It’s basically the same show as the 50th celebration show, with updated beginning narration. Each land & major attraction is represented with music & themed fireworks – I think my favorite is the Pirates section, where a skull & crossbones is projected on the Matterhorn & it and the Castle trade volleys of fireworks, though a close second is the Haunted Mansion’s “is this room really stretching?” followed by flare-type shots surrounding the castle area. The Tomorrowland section is also fun, with lasers & John Williams music.

After the fireworks, we let the crowds die down a bit & decided to try for a couple more attractions, starting with a night ride on BTMRR. That was the chilliest ride in the wilderness that night! We stopped by the Jungle Cruise on our way out about 10 after 10. Our skipper was about average – nothing especially stand-out that I can recall. The cruise is basically the same as WDW, with some segments switched around, along with the 50th celebration updates: the gorillas shooting at the boat & the piranhas.
We made a quick stop at City Hall on the way out to clarify how the Toontown Morning Madness worked, as we wanted to attend the next day, then back to the hotel. We left DL at 10:35 and were back in the room about 10 min later… that’s nice!

Attraction count: 14 between both parks, counting the parade & fireworks – and that’s with about a 2-hour break when we left to go shopping.
Mileage: 12.2 km & 19,41 steps – whew!

[Colexis Mom]

What a great start to your trip so far More please

[Nicole626Stitch]

Can't wait to hear more!!! I think we were actually at the park on the same day. We also went on Monday the 21st!! Can't wait to hear about the Toontown thing, we are staying at the Grand Californian for our anniversary in a couple of weeks and I was thinking of trying it out. Toontown is my old stomping grounds!! I used to work in Toontown so it will be extra special. I can't wait to hear what it is all about!

[Politzania]

Quickie post to link to the (in progress) Webshots album: (click on the photo to go to Webshots)

[DyanKJ130]

Great start to your TR! the photos! The tar pit looks interesting! Hurry back with more, please.

[kymma]

Glad you made it to the JPL open house! I didn't work Saturday but I did work on Sunday. Sunday was actually more crowded than Saturday so you picked the best day to go.

[iamgrumpy]

More please

[Politzania]

Day 5 – Monday, May 21, 2007
Weather: 58-62 degrees & cloudy in am – warming to mid 70’s & part sunny.

DL opened at 9 am (DCA at 10) & we wanted to attend the Toontown Morning Madness, so we were up by 7:30 & leaving the room about a hour later. We checked out the hospitality lounge on the way. The sweet stuff (muffins & donuts) were complimentary – beverages, cereal & bagels were a dollar each – we were better off with eating breakfast in the room & didn’t go back the rest of our stay.

We were in line by 8:40 – they started letting people in about a quarter til & had rope drop at the end of Main Street just before nine. We cruised right back to Toontown, as we weren’t sure quite when the Morning Madness show started. We had plenty of time – as it was scheduled for 9:20. Scott took pics of the nearly-empty area while we waited; we also got photos with Goofy and Chip & Dale.
Morning Madness starts with a little show – the “Deputy Mayor” comes out & says a few words, then Goofy, Donald, Chip & Dale and finally the First Couple of Toontown, Mickey & Minnie come in. Mickey gives a little speech (after accidentally reading his grocery list first!) and there’s a song & dance. Cute & energetic… they hand out buttons afterwards declaring the attendees as “Honorary Members of Toontown”.

We still had about a half-hour before this part of the park opened to the public, so we rode Roger Rabbit’s Cartoon Spin as a walk-on, played with Pluto over by the dog pound (very cute photo op!), rode Gadget’s Go-Coaster (very similar to WDW’s Toontown coaster) and had one more spin with Roger before 10:00. We left Toontown and joined the line for Storybook boats – had about a 15-min wait and rode the Tinkerbell boat. Monstro was having some work done (draped in tarps), but took some good photos of the rest of the ride.

About 10:30 we had a 20-min posted wait for Alice. I’d love to see this ride at WDW – but I don’t think the outside portion would deal well with the daily afternoon rains in the summer! After Alice, Pinnochio’s Daring Adventure, which was a walk on.
We had lunch reservations at Blue Bayou at 11:30, so we headed over to New Orleans Square – listened to the Royal Street Batchelors for a little while & browsed thru the stores. We also met Queenie, one of the NOS streemosphere characters – dressed in a lovely evening gown & feathered hat, she was passing out mardi gras beads & flirting with the jazz combo.

We checked in at the restaurant about 11:20 and were seated waterside at 11:30 – yay! This was one of our “splurge meals” – Scott got the prime rib (which was melt-in-your-mouth delicious!) and I had a Monte Cristo – I saved half for dinner that night, so we could have the cookie boat dessert! That was just incredible – a thick chunk of chocolate cookie cut in the shape of a boat, 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream drizzled with hot fudge & caramel, and an edible mast & sail. We took several photos before we dug in & brought the sail & mast back as souvenirs. We also got to keep the commemorative Pirates of the Caribbean menus, which were supposedly only available the week before & after the premiere of the third movie. I definitely recommend having at least one meal at the Blue Bayou – it is worth saving up for. The atmosphere is lovely (although quite dark!) and the food is wonderful.

We were done with our meal by about 12:40 (the waitstaff don’t rush you at all!) and, since I had leftovers, decided to take a quick trip back to the hotel. This also gave Scott a chance to download pix from & we rested for just a bit, and were back in the park about 1:30. We stopped by City Hall to get anniversary buttons, then browsed a bit thru the Emporium before joining the 20-min line for Star Tours about 1:40. Next up was Space Mountain got FP’s before doing the 25-min posted wait; we were on the ride by about 2:30. Rode in the back row of our rocket - what a blast! I’m glad they’re back to the “regular” soundtrack (I’m pretty sure it was composed by the same person who did The Incredibles) – the clips I heard of Rockit Mountain didn’t impress me that much, despite kind of liking Red Hot Chili Peppers.

About 2:50 we got in line at Autopia – 40 min. We usually skip the WDW equivalent, but the Disneyland version is about twice as long and much more scenic – the signs add a nice touch of humour. We still had about a half-hour before our FP’s for Space Mountain were ready, so we watched most of a Jedi Academy training session. Their Jedi Master was very good with the kids, and Darth Maul was quite menacing! I liked the bits of humor with the stormtroopers – one of the padawans gets to use the “force push” against them, then the Master uses the Jedi Mind trick to have them wish everyone “a nice day”. We took a Mickey pretzel break after the show (about 4:00) , and caught part of the Trash Can Band performers in front of star traders … similar to the Jammitors at Epcot. Our FP’s were ready, so back to Space Mountain for another trip thru space – front row this time! Your position in the vehicle doesn’t make quite as much of a difference on this coaster as it does on BTMRR or even RnRC, but it is kind of fun to be in the very front!

Walked over to the monorail about 4:25 – just missed Red, and had a while to wait for the next trip. We chatted with one of the CM’s (who is also a PassPorter - hi Vern!) and learned that Red was the only monorail running at the moment – Green & Yellow (?? not sure) were being upgraded to Mark VII (?) and Purple “had a boo-boo”… when they were dismantling the construction walls around the Lagoon, they thought they’d gotten them all out of the way of the monorail…. well…. not quite. Put quite a gash in the bottom cowling of Purple, so it’s out for repairs for at least the next month. We also got a pretty good look at the subs from the monorail platform – a couple had their hatches open, so we got a bit of a peek down the spiral staircase. Apparently, the subs themselves still aren’t ADA-compliant, but there is “an equivalent experience” for wheelchair users.

Since we’d just missed the cutoff for the previous monorail trip – we asked the CM if we could ride in the front – yay! It’s the shorter of the two legs, but still kind of neat to see out ahead of the train during your ride. Finally got on the monorail about 5:10 for a ride to DTD. We looked around the Lego store for a bit, and then headed to World of Disney. Scott’s been pining for the Big Fig statue of Jessica Rabbit for quite some time, so as a belated anniversary present, we finally purchased it. The Disney Visa discount helped, and the tax rebate for having it shipped home pretty much cancelled out the shipping cost. Definitely cheaper than the ones he’d been looking at on eBay!

It was a little after 6, and we decided to go ahead & call it a day. We had laundry to do & had been pretty much on the go since… well… since we arrived in California. We’d gotten a lot done in the park and wanted to be well-rested for early entry the next day. We went back to the room – Scott ran over to McDonald’s for his dinner & I reheated my Monte Cristo leftovers – not quite as good as fresh, but still yummy! Got down to the laundry room about 7:15. It was kind of small, with 3 washers & 2 dryers - $1 per washer load and $1 for 60 min dry time… not too expensive. We’d forgotten to get detergent during our grocery run, but the mini-mart at the hotel had single-load packages for $1 – and also made change.

Ended up with 2 loads in the washer - I hung around to keep an eye on things (just in case – the laundry room wasn’t too far from the street), and to catch up on some reading, while Scott went back to the room to work on the photos. I’m glad we started our laundry when we did, because after 8:00, people stopped by about every 10-15 min, checking to see if the equipment was available. To save money and time, we hung up the shirts in the room & only put socks, undies & jeans in the dryer. The jeans didn’t get all the way dry, so they got hung up as well. Got done about 8:30 and watched some TV before going to bed about 9:30.

As I mentioned above, all the rooms at the Tropicana overlook the parking area & pool – which was kind of busy that night… I think it was the last night for a school group & they were a bit rowdy… but by 10 (the pool closing time), things had quieted down and we were able to get to sleep pretty easily. Other than that, the rooms seemed pretty quiet; however, we were never able to get the room quite cool enough for sleeping under covers, despite it not being all that hot outside. The windows do open & are screened, but I was concerned about extra noise & security, so we didn’t leave them open for long.

Attraction Count: 15 (including performances) – another busy day!
Mileage: 14,415 steps = 9.08km/5.64 miles

[Colexis Mom]

What a great update! Glad you enjoyed Toontown early and had a great meal at BB How cool to ride in the front of the monorail as well!!

More please

[Politzania]

Day 6 – Tuesday, 22 May 2007
Weather: 55 & pt sunny in a.m. – 72 & sunny in p.m.

Early entry to Fantasyland & Tomorrowland this morning – so we were up around 6:30 and leaving the room at 7:30 – by 7:40 we were in line. A chilly morning – so I wore jeans & my Disney denim long-sleeved shirt with a fleece vest over it. The gates opened just after 8am and we were off to Peter Pan, which doesn’t have a FastPass here. The line was only out to the second switchback by the time we arrived for our trip thru NeverNeverLand.

Getting off Peter Pan, I stepped wrong & wrenched my right knee pretty badly. It's been bothering me on & off for a couple of years, but had been doing better since I’d lost about 20 lbs over the past few months -- whatever I did hurt like crazy & I was having trouble putting weight on it. It scared me for a bit – wheelchairs or even crutches would really put a cramp into the rest of our vacation plans. I slowly limped over to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, where there were maybe only a dozen other guests waiting. They were doing CM ride training this morning, so we eavesdropped a bit on the procedures while we were waiting. I also took advantage of the queue railings to work my knee a bit – the pain was subsiding & it was feeling a bit more sturdy.

We started our jaunt, but only made it to the third room before the ride went 101. At first it was just a temporary stop – “please remain seated and the ride will restart momentarily”… but then the soundtrack stopped and the lights came on. An announcement to wait for a cast member for evacuation played, then a few moments later the same CM in training and her trainer came along. He was talking her thru the evac procedures (keep guests on one side of the track, have them follow in a certain order, etc.), so we wondered if it were an intentional takedown of the ride while it wouldn’t be very busy. We were close to the split between evacuating to the beginning of the ride versus the end, so came back thru Toad Hall to the start of the line. The family in front of us started singing “Follow the Leader” The CM’s told us if we wanted to wait about 10 minutes, the attraction should be back up & running. We waited (more time for my knee to recover) only about 5 minutes before starting off again on our Wild Ride – made it thru just fine that time, tho if I recall correctly, it was down again later in the day.

It was about 8:30 – we decided to go on Snow White (a walk on) and then over to Casey Jr’s for about a 10-min wait before riding through Storybookland. We’re a bit too big for the wild animal cage, so rode in one of the sleds instead. A little after 9, we headed over to Big Thunder Mountain, which was basically a walk-on; we rode the second train of the day, I think. Pirates was a walk on about 9:20, then over to Haunted Mansion about 20 min later. You get a much closer look at the Captain Jack Sparrow AA in the treasure room here & IMHO, it loses a bit of the magic. I think the dunking scene AA is the most realistic looking in both versions of the attraction. I’m hoping that since the WDW Haunted Mansion is down for refurbs, that they’ll add some of the special effects from the DL version – I really like the redo of the attic that makes the Bride a better fit (and much more spooky!). I’d just be happy to get the audio working well in all the doombuggies & the scrim in the graveyard repaired!

We continued around to Critter Country and visited The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. (Splash Mountain was 101 & besides, it was a bit cool to get wet!) I think I like the ride vehicles here (6-person beehives vs 4-person honeypots) a bit better, even if they Country Bears got the boot to put Pooh in their place. At least Max, Buff & Melvin are still there: as you exit the Heffalumps & Woozels room – they’re above the archway behind you. Around ten o’clock, we were ready for a little smackerel – The Honey Spot has lots of yummy treats – I got a rice krispie treat big enough for a family of 4 (I saved half of it for later) and Scott got a cookie, I think.

We headed over to Adventureland and I joined the 15-min standby for Indy while Scott took a cruise thru the jungle next door. We met back up about 10:55, just in time for the 11:00 Tiki Bird Show – we missed most of the tiki god pre-show, tho I really hope they keep this version of the show here in Disneyland - while I don’t mind Iago & Zazu too much, the “Under New Management” version at WDW got dated very quickly, due to using “current” pop music.

We decided to head over to DCA for lunch – got FP’s for Soarin’ and had lunch at the Taste Pilot’s Grill – unfortunately, they took out the cool self-serve order & pay machines – guess the technology wasn’t as efficient as they wanted it to be. It wasn’t very crowded at all – I had a salad and Scott got a burger & we sat outside to enjoy the warming temps & sun. After lunch, we still had about 15 min before our 12:20 FP’s were ready, so we looked around the store a bit, then walked down to the Grizzly River Rapids area – since the temps were still only in the 60’s, the ride only had about a 5 min wait! Headed back to Soarin’, where we sat front row on the left side. I really enjoy this attraction at both parks… tho I wonder if/when they’re going to update the film in Epcot.

After Soarin’ we headed over to the Pacific Wharf area for another tour thru the sourdough & tortilla factories – got corn tortillas this time… I think I like the flour a bit better. Around 1:00, we visited Flik’s Fun Fair, which we’d skipped the last time we visited Disneyland. We rode Heimlich’s Chew Chew (RIP, Joe Ranft), Tuck & Roll Bumper Buggies and Flik’s Flyers. Cute little rides – pretty much the equivalent of Fantasyland rides.

We took another snack break around 1:40 – Mickey bar for Scott & frozen banana for me – and walked back across DCA to Hollywood Boulevard for a no-line tour thru Monstropolis. We then went over to the Animation Pavilion to see when the next Turtle Talk was – we had about a 20 min wait, but thanks to Scott’s sharp eyes, we went in anyways & found a Dream Team CM passing out YoaMD ears! We were both quite thrilled to get a Dream on this trip – we had seen quite a few folks with Dream FastPasses or Dream Ears, but hadn’t seen the Dream Team out very much. Crush gave an excellent presentation as always – when asked if he’d ever seen Jack Sparrow, he replied… “Uhhh… I’ve seen pelicans and seagulls, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sparrow”
After Turtle Talk, we browsed thru the stores again (yes, we do a lot of window shopping!) and decided to return to Disneyland. Got stopped by one of the survey CM’s on the way out & took a fairly extensive survey – glad to help Disney improve the magic! It was a little after 3 when we decided to browse thru Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years and watched the movie… I really like the diorama of the original DL layout. We then went over to Tomorrowland for another spin with Buzz – 10-15 min line. Yet another snack break around 4:00 – Scott got a pretzel and I finished off my krispie treat from earlier. The sun had come out for good about 2:30 and the temps were getting quite comfortable.

We headed over to Fantasyland – I took a turn on the teacups, while Scott went to the Mad Hatter’s to get personalized Mickey ears for our niece & nephews. We then went over to New Orleans Square and browsed the Gallery – I splurged on a really neat print to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. Around five o’clock, we left the park to take our purchases back to the hotel & figure out what we to do about dinner. I wanted to try the Bengal BBQ, as I’d heard rumors that it would be closing soon for a refurb/menu change, so we headed back to Disneyland about quarter after six. There was a fairly long like at the BBQ – so I waited while Scott got himself a snack from somewhere else; he wasn’t very hungry. I got the sweet & sour beef, but the veggie skewers were tastier and IMHO, a better deal. I should have gotten the chicken instead, looking at what others had ordered. Oh well – it was something new!

Got in a fairly short line at the Haunted Mansion around 6:50 – then rode Pirates again before heading over for a cruise thru the jungle around dusk. If I recall correctly, this was the skipper who told us that the Bengal tiger was “guarding the world’s largest animal cracker” . We wanted to ride Matterhorn in the evening as well, so made that our next stop, as the park was closing at 8. We got in line with about 15 min to spare… got some neat views of the park & the dark corners of the ride were a bit easier to see, as well.

We left the park about 8, slowly meandering down a crowded Main Street, then heading over to DTD. World of Disney was VERY busy – I found myself wishing we’d done our big shopping during the day instead! We finally got checked out about 9, then walked back to the hotel. We were both kind of hungry again by this time (it’s all the walking, really!), so ordered a pizza from the hotel snack shop. It took about 15-20 min & was about what you can expect from convenience-store pizza, but it took care of our grumbly tummies & we had enough left over for lunch the next day. We watched part of Pirates 1 while eating & got to bed about 10:30.

Attraction count: 25… I think that’s our record! We made the most of the Early entry, getting 10 attractions done before noon.
Mileage: 17,482 steps = 11.01km/6.84 miles

[Colexis Mom]

Wow, you certainly accomplished a lot today I'm amazed at your stamina (I guess the cooler weather helps)! I hope youre knee is feeling better

[DyanKJ130]

Great update! Your sure managed to get a lot done. to hear about your knee! Waiting for more!

[Politzania]

Scott started a second album with more Disneyland photos: [click photo to go to album]

[Politzania]

Day 7 – Wednesday, 23 May 2007
Weather: 62 & cloudy a.m. – 75 & sunny pm

Regular opening time for Disneyland, so we slept in a bit (7:30) and left the room about an hour later – did a bit of packing up, as this was our last Disney day. We joined the line in the Esplanade just as the gates opened at 8:40 – went to the Blue Ribbon Bakery for a cinnamon roll & browsed Main Street til rope drop.
We joined the mad rush to Space Mountain, grabbing FastPasses on the way. The line was starting to form right where the FP line & Standby lines start, but kept moving at a brisk pace until we reached the main boarding room. This version of Space Mountain loses by a very thin margin to Expedition Everest as my favorite Disney thrill ride.

About 9:15, we checked out Star Tours again with a minimal wait – Scott found a great t-shirt at Star Traders.. the front says “Judge me by my size, will you?” and on the back, you see Yoda, with Mickey ears on & holding a Mickey bar, looking up at one of the height yardsticks… he’s just under the minimum for the ride.
Walked into Buzz around 9:40 – Scott once again winning by a huge margin. We went to use our FastPasses to zoom around thru Space again, but didn’t even need them, as standby was only about 5-10 min at most. We were going to pass them along later in the day but forgot… guess they’ll go in the scrapbook instead!

We headed over to DCA about 10:15 – we wanted to make sure to get our free Disney Visa photo at Ariel’s Grotto, which is only available the first hour after the park opens. Chip and Dale in their sailor suits were waiting to see us – they looked adorable! We had picked up FP’s for Soarin on our way over to the Pacific Wharf, so while we were waiting for our ride window, we wandered back over to the Hollywood Studios area and rode thru Monstropolis again around 10:45. Around 11:00 we stopped for snacks – I got a yummy pineapple spear from a fruit stand. We saw Elastigirl out for a Meet & Greet (didn’t notice if she was doing autographs) and we also listened for a bit to the Delta Daddy-o’s – a doo-wop streetmosphere group. They were very good & encouraged the crowd to come sing & take photos with them. 3 teenagers did an improv dance routine to “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay”!

About 11:20 we went Soarin’ again … love this ride! The temps were finally warming up enough to make a Grizzy River Rapids ride worthwhile – so we got a freebie locker about 11:55 and ended up going on the ride twice, as there was hardly any line. I was thankful I had my Disney Crocs on (tho less thankful to be wearing jeans!) Between both trips – we got pretty wet, so we squished our way back to the hotel to change clothes & finish off the pizza from the night before. It was warm enough for me to change into shorts, finally!

We got back to DCA just a bit after 1:00 – wanted to make sure to catch the 1:50 showing of Aladdin, so we headed that way pretty quickly. We decided to use our Preferred Seating coupon from the Disney Travel Company – which put us at the orchestra level, at the back of the front section of seats I think I prefer the show from the balcony, as you get a much better view of the flying carpet scene; however, on the floor, you get a good look at the elephant from the “Prince Ali” number. This is a really good show – Broadway tour quality with regular updates to Genie’s schtick based on current pop culture.
It was about 2:45 when we left the Hyperion theater; I was hungry for some lunch, so we returned to Disneyland and headed for New Orleans Square. I picked up a bowl of steak gumbo from the Royal Street Veranda and we sat under the stairs to the Disney Gallery, right next to the Pirates line. Scott had eaten more of the pizza than I did earlier, so was content with a Mickey bar. We rested & people-watched for a bit, then were back on our way about half past three, joining the Pirates line for another visit with the scurvy swabs.

We cut thru New Orleans Square on our way over to the Mansion – and Scott found a $10 bill on the ground! To alleviate our conscience a bit, we checked in at the nearest storefront to see if anyone had reported losing any money.. noone had. Bonus! Haunted Mansion had about a 10-min wait – the “cold running chills” felt good after being out in the sun!
We walked around the Rivers of America after leaving our ghostly pals, and boarded the Columbia. She wouldn’t be sailing again until Pirates’ Lair at Tom Sawyer Island reopened (the next weekend), but guests were welcome to look around above and below the deck.

About 4:30 we joined a 20-min line for Big Thunder Mountain – whee! We were getting a bit hungry again, so we stopped at the Village Haus in Fantasyland about 5:00. Scott got a pepperoni pizza; I was still fairly full from the gumbo & bread bowl, so I just got a churro from a cart across the way. About a quarter after five, we wandered over to Toontown and checked out Minnie & Mickey’s homes, then went to meet Mickey. I enjoy the “screening room” area, where you watch clips from various MM shorts, interspersed with commentary from Goofy & Donald.
We left Toontown about 5:45 – I wanted to go for a round-trip ride on the monorail, since we’d only gone one-way to DTD the previous trip. Again, since only one train was running, it was a fairly long wait. We got to check out the subs again from the monorail platform; a couple of the subs in dock had their hatches open & we could see the narrow, twisty set of stairs descending into the vehicle. We finally got on the monorail about 6:20 – didn’t ask to ride up front this time – and rode to DTD and back in about 25 min.

Scott wanted to help Buzz defeat Zurg one more time, then we crossed Main Street just before the parade started so we would be on the Adventureland/Frontierland side. We did a bit of shopping in the Emporium for our nephew’s birthday, then watched a bit of the parade from the seating area outside the Refreshment Corner.
We beat the post-parade rush to Jungle Cruise about 7:35, then decided to squeeze in another visit to the Enchanted Tiki Room before the park closed. I had time to order a Dole Whip (you can take food & drink into this version of the attraction!) before the show started. We missed about half of the pre-show… which I like much better than the WDW version (sorry, Phil & Don!).

We meandered down Main Street with the crowds, and headed over to DTD to Build a Bear – our office had a silent auction a month before our trip and I bid on a $20 gift certificate for this store. It was pretty crowded, but after about 40 min, we were the proud “best friends” of Elias – a puppy dog decked out in a Disneyland t-shirt, Mickey ears and white gloves! :
We got back to our room about 9:15 – packed up most of the rest of our stuff before heading off to dreamland.

Attraction Count: 18 (includes meet & greet and Aladdin show) between both parks
Mileage: 19,844 steps = 12.50 km/7.76 miles

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you had another great day! More please