Our 1st Proper Halloween - Disneyland Leg **COMPLETED** - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Another great day and you achieved a heck of a lot out on your own.
Thank you! Being at a Disney park seems to be the only time I have loads of extra energy! I've got nowhere near that much energy back in the world of reality
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
Another great day! The Halloween party sounds great, although it's too bad that it was too hot to wear your costume .
Quote:
Originally Posted by mushu22
Another great day! The Halloween party sounds great, although it's too bad that it was too hot to wear your costume
Thanks guys Luckily, I was able to wear my costume a couple of nights later at the last Halloween party we went to. Even if the weather hadn't cooled down a bit, I was still determined to wear it, as I had put so much time into organising the costume to begin with, and had remembered being so excited - I didn't want all that to have been for nothing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iwonathomas
Trip sounds great boy did you guys make out on candy at the Halloween party
We doubled that amount of candy () with the last party we went to! We managed to haul it all back to Oz with us, where Nest gave his share to his best bud, and I put most (cough cough ) on the sharing table for people to help themselves to. I've still got a portion squirreled away, but I doubt it would be any good now (especialy with the super hot summer we went though) - it's just my way of holding onto the magic. I'm now beginning to think perhaps I should dispose of it now, before the ants find it!!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Wednesday, 10 October 2012: Disneyland together, and Goofy's Kitchen Dinner
Woke up at my usual time, and tried to be as quiet as possible as I got stuff out of my suitcases so I could get ready for another fun day ahead. The first order of the day, was to remove my black nail polish from Pirate Night, as some of the colour had become badly chipped, despite not having done any hard labour to get it like that. I went out onto the balcony so I wouldn't stink the room out with the nail polish remover, during which time Nest woke up. Next, I was as quick as I could be in the shower, as we were both starving for breakfast.
Nest had a California egg white omelette with baby spinach, basil, and tomato and a side of breakfast potatoes, two slices of toast with strawberry jam, blueberry yoghurt, a glass of milk (not a caraff like yesterday, as that turned out to be a bit too much), and a glass of apple juice.
As much as I super love the Mickey waffles, I felt like something savoury too, so I went all out and got the New York steak with two fried eggs and a massive side of breakfast potatoes (chunks of potato covered in spices.) I also had two slices of toast with Dickinson's Pure Pacific Mountain Strawberry Preserve, and a glass of apple juice. It was sooooooooooooo filling, that it kept me going pretty much until dinner time!! It's awesome when a breakfast does that, as it stops me from constantly snacking throughout the day!
I was delighted when Nest said he'd be joining me in the park during daylight hours today! Before he could get ready though, he had to have a lie down due to eating too much at breakfast! I didn't think his portion size would have that effect on him ... perhaps it had something to do with Judge Joe Brown just having started on the tele I sat out on the balcony working on my journal until he was ready, during which time my hand had begun to cramp up. Next trip, I'm seriously thinking of investing in a small lightweight laptop, as I can type much faster than I can write - surely I'd be able to record my experiences in half the time, that way.
I was so excited when we set off for the day, as I had misread my watch, thinking that it was just a little after 11am and that we had oodles of time ahead of us, but when I checked again while queuing for Splash Mountain, our first ride of the day, it was 2.20pm! I was so shocked! I knew we had been queuing for quite some time due to the popularity of the ride on such a hot day, coupled with the fact that there had been numerous log jams, but it couldn't have been for that long! Nest sat in the third seat, and I sat in the 4th seat. Nest got soaked, but I didn't, as I shrank down behind him as we went down the drop I regret not buying the resulting souvenir photo, even though all you can see are my fingers.
I shouted Nest to a mint julep afterwards, and off we set to conquer the Fantasyland rides for the first time this trip. As we still had some drink left when we got there, we decided to walk through Sleeping Beauty's Castle, but ended up coming straight back out, as there was quite an unpleasant odour in there (it was chock full of people.)
We lined up for Pinocchio's Daring Journey for the first time ever! Can't believe it has taken us so long to get around to it, especially as it's my favourite Disney movie. It was a bit of a wait, but well worth it. The Pleasure Island part was particularly brilliant, what with all that was going on, and the pretty fireworks in the sky. I also loved the Monstro part, as that's where Pinocchio calls out, "Faaaaaaather!" And I loved the Blue Fairy scene - from a certain angle you were able to see her, then from another angle, all you could see was a pile of pixie dust where she had been standing.
Stopped at Pinocchio's Village Haus afterwards for some light refreshments. We both had a small cheese pizza each, with Nest having milk, and me having water.
We then lined up for Snow White's Scary Adventure. After waiting for around half an hour, it was announced that the ride was experiencing technical difficulties. Nest wasn't willing to wait any longer, so we back-tracked out the queue along with a few other people.
I suggested we go on It's a Small World, seeing as we hadn't been on it so far this time, but on seeing the line, the prospect was a bit too much for Nest, so we headed for the Matterhorn Bobsleds instead. This line was really long too, but Nest knew how badly I'd been wanting to go on it all holiday, so he stuck it out. It was definitely worth the wait. The bobsleds themselves had been upgraded since we last rode, and the crystals were sparkling all different colours. The four people in front of us were dead quiet the entire ride - I couldn't help but scream at some of the drops and sharp turns - I heard Nest laughing behind me, as sometimes when I screamed, it was in a tunnel, therefore echoed. I couldn't help but think that the Matterhorn's yeti is a kitten compared to Expedition Everest's yeti over in Walt Disney World! We still had loads of fun though
From the Matterhorn Bobsleds queue, I spotted the location of Alice in Wonderland, an attraction we've never experienced, so that's where we headed next. It was a bit of a wait, but I loved looking at the oversized blue and pink flower lights and leaves in the queuing area.
I also loved the caterpillars we were going to be travelling around in. Nest sat in the front, and I sat in the back, and off we set down the darkened rabbit hole, populated only by a candelabra and a portrait of the White Rabbit. The door at the bottom of the rabbit hole had a talking door handle, which greeted us as we came up to it, and opened up to reveal Wonderland, so we could continue on our way.
We travelled through a forest like no other, meeting Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, the White Rabbit (though only fleetingly), Alice herself, a smoking caterpillar, and the grinning Cheshire Cat along the way. If those characters weren't curious enough, we also came across birds who were cages (instead of a bird being in a cage), and bicycle horn creatures. I particularly loved the garden section accentuated with fairy lights, where different coloured flowers were singing a song about a golden afternoon.
Next, we came to the Queen of Hearts' perfectly manicured rose garden, which was patrolled by an army of playing cards. The Queen was playing croquet. We came across her again a little later on, and she had become really cross, as apparently we made her miss the ball (likely story! ) As a result, she was shouting to her army, ''Don't let them get away! Off with their heads!''
We escaped outside, where we zigged and zagged down the track. It was fun seeing from above, people going about their own business outside the ride, and noticing the caterpillar's slippers on top of a big mushroom below. I particularly enjoyed the tooty whistle music that accompanied us during this part of the attraction.
At the bottom of the zig-zag track, we re-entered the inside of the ride, and went down a darkened tunnel with the grinning Cheshire cat at the bottom, wiggling his head (perhaps he wanted a pat? Or a kitty treat snack? ) Nearby, we heard Alice say, ''I hope I don't meet anymore mad people!'', which I found hilarious for some reason. I really loved the mad tea party scene this tunnel lead to.
Shortly after the mad tea party scene, we came across the White Rabbit, who was standing on a box next to a giant ''Merry Unbirthday'' cupcake, trying to blow out the candle before it exploded ... he was unsuccessful, and no doubt got covered in cake.
And with that, we were suddenly deposited out into the bright sunlight, and that was that! I was so glad we had finally been able to experience this attraction, and had really enjoyed it.
We flowed onto the Mad Tea Cups attraction next, and only had to wait two rotations to get on them. We sat in an orange cup, with Nest spinning it as fast as he could for most of the ride (I started it off, but wasn't strong enough to keep it going extra fast.) Nest had been spinning the teacup so fast, that I was very dizzy when it came time to get off. If I were a cartoon character, my eyes would be still zig-zagging back and forth!
It was 6pm by that stage, and Nest thought we should go back to the hotel and get ready for our 7pm dinner reservation at Goofy's Kitchen. 'Getting ready' involved Nest channel surfing, and me almost falling asleep I jumped up when I saw that the time had advanced to 6.40pm.
We walked the length of Downtown Disney (we came out of our secret entrance instead of the lobby entrance half way up) up to the Disneyland Hotel. When the hotel came into sight, it was as if we had never left, it was so familiar due to having spent five non-stop rain-filled days there back in 2010. The only new changes I noticed, was that there was a Fantasy Tower sign featuring Dumbo, outside the main building, the pool area was no longer boarded up, and there seemed to be a really nice dining area with reams of fairy lights on the ceiling, high up in a building to the left of Goofy's Kitchen entrance. I tried taking a pic, but it didn't turn out that well.
Goofy's was really busy. We got there right on time, checked-in, had our photo taken, were given a signed photo of Goofy, then waited in the lobby for our name to be called. It didn't take long, and we were soon seated at our table for two. After placing our drinks order (diet Coke for Nest, and Sprite for me), we went to the buffet.
Nest had Goofironi (ie. macaroni) cheese pizza, spaghetti with turkey meatballs, potato salad, chicken tenders, cheese pizza, roast chicken breast, and chicken stir-fry.
I had spaghetti with turkey meatballs, Goofironi cheese pizza, popcorn coated prawns (my absolute favourite dish of the night - I don't think they were really coated with popcorn, but a normal crumb mixture), vegetable pot stickers with a soy garlic sauce, a load of mashed potato garnished with chopped chives (I should've just taken the entire bowl, I love mashed potato so much), and Alaskan cod with a tomato fennel sauce.
Nest had a second helping of main course while I was making my way through my first (and only) plate, and then we both went to gather dessert. Nest had strawberry yoghurt, worms in dirt, lemon slice, Oreo chocolate mousse, and a red jelly.
I had worms in dirt (the mud was super yummy, like a chocolate custard), a strawberries and cream cupcake, an Oreo chocolate mousse, and two wedges of watermelon ... plus more crumbed prawns - so yummy! So yummy! I wish our bro, KiB, could've been there, as he goes nuts over crumbed prawns also
I was just finishing up, when Nest started hiding lolly snakes in amongst the ice of his finished diet Coke. On seeing that Nest's glass had no more Coke in it, the waiter came over to fill it up, and only just saw the snakes in time and stopped, much to Nest's amusement. To further amuse himself, Nest plonked a crumbed prawn in my Sprite, thinking that I had finished with it. I thought I had finished with it too, but suddenly became really thirsty and had to have a few mouthfuls - there was such a gross aftertaste! Nest didn't think I had realised what he had done, and was laughing so hard.
Character photo-wise, I couldn't relax until I had a picture of Nest and Minnie together, as it has become a tradition each Disneyland holiday, and I would've hated to have broken the tradition. We were seated in-between two big families of children, so I was a bit worried we'd be overlooked, but thankfully that didn't happen. Minnie was really friendly (she gave us both hugs and made kissing noises !), as were all the other characters who came our way.
I pointed out Aladdin way off in the distance to Nest, and he said, "I don't want to meet Aladdin - he talks!" So you can imagine how embarrassed Nest was when Cinderella came around!
My favourite interaction was with Dale. When Nest got up to have his photo taken with him, Dale leant back until he was almost horizontal, to signify how tall he thought Nest was - it was so hilarious! Unfortunately, I was so busy finding it funny, I didn't manage to capture the moment on camera, but I did get a sensible shot - better than nothing!
Our photo with Goofy turned out really nice (for once! I always worry about how I look in pics.) The package was really good too. It came with one big pic, four normal sized pics, a pic of the characters together, three recipe cards exclusive to Goofy's Kitchen, and a lot of funny cartoons throughout. We were also given two Goofy's Kitchen badges, which was unexpected. We planned to wear them the next day.
Walked (or should I say rolled, due to the amount we ate) back through Downtown Disney to our hotel. We stopped for a big look through the Lego Store - loved the Spongebob Lego kits. The giant Lego figures out front were great (giant dragon on roof, blowing fire on a knight on a white horse ; Beauty and the Beast ; Woody and Buzz; and inside the store, were Jasmine and Aladdin on a magic carpet with a monkey and the genie.) Loved the window displays in Something Silver - they featured sparrows and jewellery. Had a look through the Build-A-Bear store also - people were going nuts inside, buying bears and costumes.
Shops we made purchases at, were:
Wonderground Gallery
ˇ A print of Nest's favourite painting based on Steamboat Willie (the original cost way too much even for my purse)
ˇ Four postcards of the print
ˇ A little mechanical moving creature I knew KiB would be interested in
Marceline's Confectionary
ˇ Two ghost pretzels (long thick pretzels dipped in thick gooey caramel, then white stuff, with a face piped on in milk chocolate)
ˇ A box of shortbread for Johnny
ˇ A box of chocolate coated peanuts (Pinocchio's on the box, which says, "Who needs a conscience when you've got chocolate?")
ˇ A box of mint chocolates. The box is in the design of a $100 note with Mickey on the front, and looks really cool
ˇ Three candy in a plastic stick with Mickey or Minnie in a plane. When you press the button, the propeller spins and the centre lights up different colours, for our bros back home
While we didn't make any purchases at, or go into, the Something Silver store, I absolutely loved their window display.
Back at the hotel, we lay on our beds watching tele and eating our ghost pretzels - they were surprisingly yummy! Despite being massively tired by that stage, I forced myself to stop relaxing, wake up, and have a shower in the hope we'd be able to make a quicker getaway tomorrow.
Another great day! I love the way that it was so much later in the day than you thought - I bet your face was a classic when you saw the time while waiting in line at Splash!
Another great day! I love "seeing" Disneyland through a visitor's eyes. Since I'm lucky enough to live nearby, I find that I take a lot of the parks for granted. You and Nest really take the time to enjoy all the little details, something I have to remind myself to do!
I love that you always start your days with great breakfasts. I love breakfast, but I never seem to make the time to have a really good one like you do!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
Another great day! I love the way that it was so much later in the day than you thought - I bet your face was a classic when you saw the time while waiting in line at Splash!
Thanks
My face probably looked something like this once I realised what the time really was:
Another great day! I love "seeing" Disneyland through a visitor's eyes. Since I'm lucky enough to live nearby, I find that I take a lot of the parks for granted. You and Nest really take the time to enjoy all the little details, something I have to remind myself to do!
I love that you always start your days with great breakfasts. I love breakfast, but I never seem to make the time to have a really good one like you do!
I often think it must be so awesome to live near a Disney park! You'd get to experience all the seasonal attractions for starters, which must make those times of the year so much more special. Living approximately half a day away from Disneyland, and a whole day away from WDW, means I can't make it over nearly as much as I'd like to, but the positive side of that is, that the times I do visit, are super special and valuable.
The only time I seem to have a proper breakfast, is when I'm on holiday - things are always too rushed to be able to sit back and relax when I'm working.
Thursday, 11 October 2012: Both parks and the Blue Bayou
Despite having a shower the previous night in the hope it would save time in the morning, we didn't get going until past 3pm!
When I emerged on the balcony to work on my journal while waiting for Nest to get up, I was met with a disappointing heart-falling sight - the sky was a solid grey and the pavement was wet from rain I even saw a park guest go for an unintentional scoot along on his butt from walking too fast on the slippery surface. Hopefully it will clear up, especially for tomorrow, as we're banking on being able to photograph and video our last Mickey's Halloween Party.
Wearing a jumper for the very first time this leg of our holiday, a very magical thing happened to brighten up the grey morning - a gorgeous tiny hummingbird flew right up to me and hovered for a few seconds, before disappearing! (My hoodie has a red rose on the sleeve, accentuated with little red sparkles - I wonder if that had anything to do with it?) It seriously made my day, that I had to go and wake Nest up to tell him about it! Its little body was so tiny, and reminded me of an unshelled peanut. Its little wings were just a blur, and the only colours I noticed, were a dark metallic emerald with bits of black and gold. I so wish Nest could've been there to see it too, as ever since he saw one from afar at the entrance to the pandas at San Diego, one of his photographic goals for this trip has been to photograph one.
Nest appeared shortly afterwards, bleary eyed at the balcony door. Once his eyes had accustomed to the daylight, he demanded to know why the weather was like it was, in a joking manner.
Now that we were both up, I ordered us a late breakfast (it was 11am.) Nest reverted back to his fresh harvest fruit plate with blueberry yoghurt, banana bread, and non-fat milk, while I stuck to my new favourite breakfast of a grand New York steak on toast with fried eggs, breakfast potatoes, a side order of toast, and an apple juice. I gave Nest the stalk of broccolini that came with it. Even though I was starving at the time of ordering, I really battled with my main dish when it arrived - the side order of toast didn't even get a look in - I had so been looking forward to trying the new Marion Blackberry Preserve. Now I totally understand the way Nest felt the previous morning when he ate too much, and had to lay still for a little while.
How cute is the little bottle of Tabasco Sauce?!
While Nest was letting his breakfast settle (as I should've done), I went to the hotel's Business Centre to get some internet banking done and to rescue our Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters photos from my junkmail folder. I was going to try and organise postage home for our excess baggage, but decided that buying an extra suitcase would be easier and less stressful ... until it came time to moving them ourselves, as we already have four suitcases between us. So from Acorn's Gifts and Goods in our hotel lobby, I bought a big suitcase with coloured Mickey's all over it, a multi square cherry wood photo frame for my desk at work (it fits five photos - my desk is already chockers with photo frames, so I thought this decent-sized one would be perfect), a couple of pins, a couple of postcards, and a really cute matching Disney purse and handbag.
Back at the room, I worked on my journal out on the balcony, while Nest got himself ready. Due to Nest being in the shower, and me being out on the balcony, we unfortunately missed a call from one of our bros back in Oz The phone doesn't ring all that loudly, and the noise from the DCA park when you're out on the balcony, is quite loud. (It's not loud when you're in the room with the balcony door closed though.)
We got going to the DCA park at 3.30pm We headed straight to California Screamin' to get a fast pass, and then went to Pacific Wharf for lunch. After umming and aahing between Mexican and Chinese (on my part), we went with Mexican. Nest had soft chicken tacos, and I had beef fajita ensalada. It was quite spicy, but very yummy. Nest helped me eat it, as it was quite a large serve. The little thin multicoloured corn chips on top were so cute. We both had water to go with our meals (thank goodness!) While we were eating, it began to rain We did our best to stay positive and ignore it, by pulling the hoods up on our hoodies, and continue eating.
After 'lunch', it still wasn't time for California Screamin' (5-6pm), so we hit the pier-side attractions:
ˇ Gone fishin' with Goofy: I was so unco-ordinated with this, and it took me ages to catch a fish! Thank goodness there wasn't a line of people waiting behind me, otherwise I'd be worried they'd get impatient with me. What you had to do was hold a fishing rod with a little magnet on the end of your line, until it connected with the magnet nose of a fish swimming up the stream. I couldn't keep my line steady, and it was swinging all over the place! Nest won a small purple crab, and I (eventually) won a small bubby turtle (you got to choose from a selection.)
ˇ Casey's baseball: Neither of us won It was so hard to throw the balls through the target holes, due to the low height they were at (well that's the excuse I'm sticking to ) Nest got one in, but you needed to get three or more in to win. We so wanted to win the large over-sized sausage dog! (We didn't see anyone walking around the park with one, so thankfully we weren't the only pair of unco-ordinated people there that day - the whole park was full of them!
ˇ Horse race: Nest and I played against each other, as no one else was waiting at the time. I didn't know what to do at first, but it clicked when the ball appeared. You each had your own enclosed upward sloping playing board, with holes all over it labelled with different horse gaits (ie. walk, trot, canter, gallop.) The idea was to try and roll your ball so it would go in the fastest gait, so it would move your horse the fastest along the race track. I could never quite roll it the correct way to get it in those fastest holes, so my horse pretty much walked the entire track! Nest won, his prize being a horse with his position number on it.
ˇ Ladder race: At first it was just Nest and I playing for an extremely cute Timothy Mouse (from Dumbo) seeing as there was just the two of us, which I was really happy about, as it meant Timothy would be coming home with us no matter what. Unfortunately, two extra people joined us at the last minute, therefore increasing the pressure to win, with the prize changing to a massive Dumbo. I was so surprised when my flashing light came to life at the end, signalling that I had won! I had won by the skin of my teeth, as I was the one who had my water hose aimed just right so when the water was turned on, my fireman was the one who started climbing his ladder first. Nest jokingly said that I had won Dumbo, because I was a dumbo
We went fishing with Goofy a few more times, with me winning a small red lobster ...
...and Nest winning two more small purple crabs and a medium fisherman Mickey. We also went horseracing with a full house. We both thought we had been doing crap during the race, but Nest came first, and I came second - we were both completely surprised, and Nest found himself the owner of a medium sized Woody the cowboy from the Toy Story movies.
We also finally got to play the ladder race ourselves (we deliberately waited until we saw a gap ), guaranteeing one of us coming away with a cute Timothy Mouse. Nest won
We had used up all our gaming credits by that stage, and there was still ten minutes to go till we could ride California Screamin', so we checked out the nearby pier-side shops. I purchased a really cute retro designed cookie jar I didn't know previously that I couldn't live without, a Mickey's Fun Wheel pin, and the last Oswald Rabbit pin. I asked for the cookie jar to be wrapped securely, seeing as I wanted to get it back to Oz in one piece. While the Cast Member was off getting it packed, Nest was up the other end of the store, making a secret purchase for me (which I didn't know at the time.) He looked so guilty when I spotted him, but that was because he didn't want me to see what he was buying (which I didn't.) (He gave the gift to me for Christmas - it was a really cute small plush Donald Duck.)
It was time for California Screamin' after all that - made all the more interesting now that we had a huge bag of soft toys and a cookie jar in addition to a backpack and two camera bags!
We were in the second row (I don't think we've been that close to the front before!) It was a fun ride, and we bought the souvenir photo afterwards, after being regretful about not having purchased the Splash Mountain one from the day before.
Went on Mickey's Fun Wheel next. Lined up in the swinging gondola line, and eventually got into a pink Minnie gondola with a Mum and her two daughters.
I always regret getting in the swinging gondolas once we get going, and this time was no different. I felt particularly terrified this time round, and seriously wished I could get off. As I knew that wasn't possible, I just clung onto the wire windows and kept my eyes shut for most of the time ... and did a bit of screaming too, despite sitting in close proximity across from complete strangers I was relieved when one of the girls opposite was feeling the same way. I was so relieved to get off, as surprisingly was Nest, as he had begun to feel sick.
Got going to the Disneyland park after that, as it was 6.30pm, and we had a 7pm dinner reservation at the Blue Bayou
We made our way directly there, checked in, and waited in the foyer while reading over the menu. I seriously couldn't decide what to have, as there were so many yummy choices Nest went with the Tesoro Island chicken (roasted and finished to perfection in pan au jus and served with Blue Bayou potatoes and seasonal vegetables (which turned out to be just beans.)
I eventually decided on the Cajun-Spiced Salmon stuffed with goat's cheese, oven roasted tomatoes, and artichokes topped with citrus beurre blanc and served with Blue Bayou potatoes and seasonal vegetables (three spears of asparagus), and asked if I could have a crab cake on the side, as the Isla-Cruces crab cakes dish had sounded so nice as well (succulent pan-seared crab cake topped with lobster beurre blanc.)
With our main meals finally decided on, we started off with a Cajun inspired salad consisting of lettuce, candied pecans, craisins, yellow cherry tomatoes, sprinkles of blue cheese, and a copious amount of very nice dressing. The salad really filled me up (I couldn't understand how), that I began regretting asking for a crab cake on the side.
I was so relieved when our mains arrived, and that the portions on my plate were really small. Still, I gave Nest my potatoes, as I knew I wouldn't be able to fit them in, as much as I love them. I did try a bit first though, so I knew what they tasted like. I think they had been layered with béchamel sauce and were topped with cheese.
I seriously didn't have room for dessert, but on hearing that there was a tiny dessert which came presented in a limited edition souvenir Halloween Donald Duck mug, how could I resist? It was a tiny chocolate cake topped with a huge whirl of pumpkin choc mousse. Lets just say it was an interesting flavour combination
Nest had a big slice of the five layered chocolate cake, which looked absolutely delicious.
All throughout the meal, we were kept refreshed with beautiful mint juleps (the ones you buy from the Mint Julep bar are a bit too strong tasting, but the ones served at the Blue Bayou, are perfect.)
Dinner had taken an hour, which meant we now had an hour of park time left. After hunting down a bathroom, we headed for Autopia for a bit of a drive. The line was quite long, but at least the weather had settled down by now, making it pleasant to be outside. This time, I drove out first, with Nest following on behind. While driving, I thought I saw two planes travelling too close together, and came to the conclusion that they must've been choppers.
Surprisingly, yet another hour had rapidly flown by, and it was time for the park to close (I swear I hadn't spent that long in the bathroom after dinner! ) We walked through Tomorrowland, and the scary sounds coming from Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy were so much louder than usual
On our walk back to the hotel, we were hoping that Seinfeld would be on the tele. Well you know what they say at Disney - where your dreams come true! Two episodes were on - the low fat yoghurt episode, and an episode featuring George's nemesis, Lloyd Brawn. Afterwards, I Almost Got Away With It was on. I tried so hard to keep awake and get some more journaling done, but I ended up falling asleep