December 2-12, 2007 (Grand Californian Hotel) - First Trip to Disneyland for an Early Christmas & Dose of Disney Magic **Updated 10/30** COMPLETE About This Page:

[Big Sister]

5TH ENTRY: A DAY OF FIRSTS

THURSDAY, 6 DECEMBER 2007

Woke up recharged, and on seeing the clock displaying a time of 11.09am, thought we had better get up ... it would have been pure laziness and a waste of precious Disneyland Park moments not to have done.

Breakfast consisted of leftovers from the night before - cold pizza for Nest, and cold New York steak sandwich made more palatable by smothering it in tomato sauce, for myself. We sat out on the balcony, where the country and western band was playing down below as usual, to eat and reflect on our decision to have cancelled that day's excursion to SeaWorld San Diego.

The night before, we had become increasingly worried about the days we had left in the Disneyland parks, what with all the outside Disney excursions we had booked. There was still so much we had not yet experienced in both Disney parks, not to mention the many many many photos we wanted to take. Our remaining full days in the Disney parks at that stage, were down to two, and the number of days taken up by excursions, were four, so we both made a rather big decision in cancelling two of the excursions so we'd have more time at Disneyland. With the wonderfully full day we had in the Disneyland Park on this day (despite having slept half of it away), it turned out to be the right decision.

After an extremely relaxing start to the day, we got going to the Disneyland Park at around 1pm (next time, we both agreed it would be great to be able to experience early opening at both parks, to see how much more fun we could pack into the days.)

On entering the Disneyland Park, we walked all the way up Main Street, and turned right into Tomorrowland for the very first time. We started off that day's ride itinerary with Star Tours, which Nest and I were really excited about, having watched the three original Star Wars movies on the weekends leading up to our holiday. Star Tours is a flight simulator experience loosely based on the Star Wars movies. Unfortunately, Nest wasn't overly impressed with it, and I must admit that the experience seemed way tamer than how I remembered it from Disneyland Paris. On exiting the ride, Nest and I lost our way, as hard as that is to believe. We ended up at a door displaying a sign saying not to open unless in an emergency, and when we turned around to retrace our steps, found that our crew members had followed us - how embarrassing!

Walking in an anti-clockwise direction, the next ride we came to was Space Mountain, one of my most favourite rollercoasters of all time. The high intensity of this ride was just the rush Nest and I were looking for that day. I love this ride so much because the course is in pitch blackness, so you can't see where you're going. Couple this with the fact that you seem to be travelling at the speed of light, makes for an incredibly thrilling ride! The soundtrack is great too.

In the highest of spirits, Nest and I then moved on to the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. I hadn't had time to go on this whilst at Disney World, so it was to be a brand new experience for me as it was for Nest. It must've been because I was so intent on hitting all the targets I could with my laser gun, as I just can't seem to remember anything else about this ride - the queuing area, our space vehicles, the route they took, and if there was any accompanying music - I'm so disappointed in myself! I don't like having gaps in my holiday memories My brief memory of it, was we travelled along in the dark in our two seater space vehicles armed with laser guns, helping Buzz Lightyear zap as many of the brightly coloured aliens in various shapes and sizes, as we could. Each alien had a red light on it somewhere, which is what you aimed your laser at before firing away - sounds rather violent for a Disney attraction, doesn't it?! Depending on the level of difficulty of the aim, depended on how many points you accumulated - small points were awarded for easy to hit aliens, and large points were awarded for hard to hit aliens. Not surprisingly, Nest got a really high score of 125,100, and I did quite poorly in comparison, with a score of 9,300 (I can't remember which titles went with those scores.) Poor Nest was dissatisfied with his result, though it was two levels higher than mine, and I'm sure if we had the time, he would've persisted with this attraction until he obtained the highest level and title possible.

You build up an appetite being a Space Ranger, so we decided to put our tastebuds to work and find out what churros were like. Much to our delight, they were delicious, and they became a staple of our diet for the remainder of our holiday.

For lunch (though it was probably more near dinnertime!), we thought it fitting that we ate at Tomorrowland Terrace. We dined on 1/3lb cheeseburgers, fries, and Fanta. The burgers must've just been taken off the grill, as they were the freshest and yummiest burgers that we've ever tasted! We were most impressed and satisfied afterwards!

Throughout lunch, we heard roars followed by screams, coming from the nearby Matterhorn Bobsleds quite regularly, so on full stomachs, we went over to investigate, and were so glad we did! I don't know why it took us a couple of days to reach this fantastic ride for. We joined the line on the Tomorrowland side of the Matterhorn, and took in the Swiss alpine themed queuing area - it was so lovely! After a bit of a wait (giving us time to digest our lunch), Nest and I boarded our bobsled and took off. It was a FANTASTIC ride, and the brief glimpses of the view we snatched from the top of the Matterhorn, were simply wonderful. While whizzing through the mountain, we passed caverns of sparkling ice with pretty pastel tinges, the odd snow-dwelling animal, and of course, the source of the roars, the abominable snowman - tall and bulky, with long shaggy white fur and piercing glowing eyes. The ride was incredibly short and over all too soon, but it was also thoroughly enjoyable and I rate it not to be missed!

Heading diagonally across the park, we then walked across to New Orleans Square, where we called in on the Pirates of the Caribbean for the very first time. Inside, the queuing area had quite a cosy atmosphere to it, the main source of light emanating from lamps dotted along the path. We seemed to reach our boat in no time, and set sail off into the eternal darkness.

Our boat sailed past: galleon pirate ships in battle, their stray cannon balls narrowly missing our little boats, sending water spraying everywhere; a village over-run by pirates out for a good time; a jail cell full of ne'er do gooders attempting to entice a dog, holding a ring of keys in his mouth, over to them; and, the cursed treasure scenes - my most favourite of all.

A memorable part of the ride was when we sailed past the bayou-at-night themed dining area of the Blue Bayou, and I heard a little girl behind me exclaim, "Look at all the pirates, Mummy!", to which the Mum replied, "They're not pirates - they're people eating."

Another memorable part of the ride, was the addition of Captain Jack Sparrow in two of the scenes. The first scene we saw him in, was the village scene - he was hiding behind a stack of barrels, venturing out periodically to check if the coast was clear. As we saw this scene from a distance, Sparrow looked incredibly lifelike, and I was saying to Nest, "Is that Johnny Depp?! Is that Johnny Depp?!", knowing quite well that it couldn't be. Top marks to the Imagineers for making the animatronic appear so human!

Unfortunately, this was the only time we visited the Pirates. I would've liked to have gone on it at least two more times, as I'm sure there were things I missed the first time round - there's just so much to look at and take in!

Armed with yet more churros, Nest and I mosied on down to Frontierland for a cracking good time on Big Thunder Mountain. A lot of other folk seemed to have had the same idea (minus the churros), as the line was incredibly long and slow moving. It wouldn't have surprised me to learn we had waited in line for over an hour, but at least it gave us the chance to take in the elaborate mining town themed queuing area, enjoy the rollicking Western soundtrack, and make a wish in the town's water supply like so many people before us had, if the amount of coins in the water were anything to go by. We also got to learn the timing of the train coming round the mountain, so that we eventually got photographs we were happy with. We would've missed all this if there had been no queue and we could run right on.

Alas, the only thing I remember about the ride itself, was being incredibly excited to be boarding our runaway train before it set off The ride seemed to be over in seconds, and I can recall the train pulling into the platform, and wishing that the train conductors would let us run through again. Because of the constant long lines to this attraction, this was the only time Nest and I experienced Big Thunder Mountain.

Looking at my notes for this day, it appears as if Nest and I were a couple of mountaineers. As you already know, we tackled Space Mountain, the Matterhorn, and Big Thunder Mountain in our first couple of hours in the park. Straight after Big Thunder Mountain, we moved onto Splash Mountain in Critter Country (getting the best souvenir photo yet, as I wasn't hiding behind the person in front to avoid getting wet), followed by a second hike up the Matterhorn from the Tomorrowland side, with Nest decked out in a Splash Mountain beach towel purchased from Professor Barnaby Owl's Photographic Studio, due to a soaking. Luckily, it happened to be a warm night.

It was night time by that stage, and on our way to Mickey's Toontown, Nest and I stopped to appreciate the absolute beauty of "It's a Small World" holiday. The large building that houses the "It's a Small World" cruise, as well as the topiary in the surrounding garden, was decorated with thousands of coloured fairy lights. Seeing the fairy lights twinkling merrily away under the cover of darkness, was an absolutely breathtaking sight.

Toontown at night seemed like a different world (but then, doesn't the whole of Disneyland seem like that?!) The town had it's own 'Hollywood Hills' with big white letters spaced across them, spelling out TOONTOWN, cartoon style buildings, Chip 'n Dale's treehouse, not to forget the cartoon style houses of the town's most famous citizens - Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Mickey and Minnie's houses were decorated for the Christmas season, and I absolutely adored Minnie's pink colour scheme (we observed from the outside, as both Mickey and Minnie's houses had quite a lot of visitors already.)

One residency that didn't have any visitors, was Chip and Dale's treehouse. Nest and I climbed to the top for a chipmunk's eye view of Toontown. I found the way up a pretty tight fit, as super clever me didn't take my backpack off before-hand. When I had finally made it to the top, I discovered that Nest had gone back down using the steps on the outside of the treehouse which I hadn't noticed on the way up, and had been waiting for me to appear so he could wave up at me. From the top of the treehouse, you could see a few lights of the town, but the view was mainly obstructed by tree branches.

Having gotten our bearings by this stage, the first attraction Nest and I went on, was Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. Nest and I thought both the queuing area and the ride itself, were lots of fun, but I'm afraid that's as far as my memory stretches in this instance (I'm finding it really annoying how there's so many gaps in my memory for this days' entry ... I'll wonder how I'll cope with my final entry, which I didn't write any notes for at all! :0) I remember the obvious though, with the attraction being an indoor track ride in the dark, where you travel along in little yellow cartoon taxis. Hang on, it's slowly coming back to me now - the reason I can't remember much about this ride, is because Nest and I were so busy spinning our taxi from one side to the other, and laughing. Kids

Our experience on Gadget's Go Coaster was hilarious. We didn't let the fact that this rollercoaster was designed for small children (and their equally small parents), stop us from lining up and having a go. The cars we travelled in were so restrictive for two adults to fit into, that Nest and I had to physically jam ourselves in. In our little sardine tin, we whizzed around the tracks in no time at all, laughing the entire way about the tight squeeze we had gotten ourselves into. It was so difficult for us to get out of the car afterwards - the line of cars were re-loaded and waiting to go by the time we had both wedged ourselves free and gathered our belongings! Hilarious!

The Gag Factory was extremely enticing, and being the great shoppers that we are, there was no way we could go past without calling in. There were so many great things to buy in there, but surprisingly, all I came out with was a set of Mickey Mouse head shaped egg rings. Now that the majority of my letters have rubbed off my keyboard, I now wish that I had bought the keyboard stickers as well.

We left Mickey's Toontown through the tunnel topped with a crazy and every changing population counter, from whence we'd come, and went to the Main Street photo store for Nest to get a new memory card for his camera (I could do with one of those for the memory department of my brain!) I waited outside and ate a stick of fairy floss.

Soon, we found ourselves back in Tomorrowland ...

... and heading towards Innoventions. Innoventions is housed in a big, yet compact, building, and we walked up a long, winding ramp to gain entrance - thank goodness for my sudden intake of spun sugar and red food colouring just moments before, for that instant surge of energy. Inside, we found loads of educational and interactive displays, including, much to my horror, some kind of exercise bike Once we (or maybe I should say "I" ) had caught our breath, we headed straight on back outside to the world of fantasy, where there isn't any exercise equipment whatsoever

Autopia had caught Nest's eye during our escape from the Innoventions building, so we tacked ourselves on to the end of the worrying long queue. Thankfully (due to the poor jokes flashing up constantly on the nearby big screen!), the queue moved along pretty quickly. On entering, Nest and I were handed a driver's license each, and soon found ourselves with transport (only in a fantasy world!) Nest bagsed being driver, which was fine by me (I could just imagine not being able to drive properly, and holding all the people up behind us), and once we got the signal, off we drove into the night. There's just something I love about driving at night, and Autopia was no exception, even at the slow speed we were going at. We had a really pleasant drive, and wondered where each turn was going to take us. We passed a lot of people who had 'broken down' (my fear if I had been driving), and noticed that for once, that the train station platform wasn't crowded with people waiting to get on, though the train was still pretty packed with passengers. Once we had finished our circuit, we went to the photo booth to have our photos taken for our license, but it was so expensive for a whole lot of portraits of yourself, when all you wanted was one, so we decided against this option and moved on.

After the slow ride of Autopia, as pleasant as it was, we yearned speed, so went over to the Indiana Jones Adventure, with the intention of squeezing in a few more rides afterwards (particularly the Jungle Cruise.) Unfortunately, our jeep ran out of petrol towards the end of our adventure, and help didn't arrived until about 15 minutes later, by which time the Jungle Cruise had docked permanently for the night.

We made our way to Main Street, where we hung out in the Candy Palace for a while. I bought a pressed penny album for Nest to sort out and keep his rapidly accumulating collection in, and then we slowly headed back to our hotel.

Once back in our room, we were greeted by the unwelcome sight of our overflowing laundry basket. It's funny - no matter how many days we successfully ignored it for, it just wouldn't magically take care of itself. We begrudgingly admitted to each other that the time had finally come to do the totally un-magical, yet unavoidable, task of doing the laundry Studying the map first so we wouldn't get lost, Nest helped me down to the laundry with our heavy overflowing laundry basket, and kept me company as I battled the ins and outs of the washers and dryers.

Almost two hours later (don't ask! ), Nest and I were finally able to return to the comfort of our hotel room, with a heap of clean (but not totally dry ... we couldn't wait out the entire cycle of the dryer) clothes. It was past 11pm by that stage, so we immediately ordered dinner from Room Service. It arrived in good time - Nest had a turkey cheeseburger with friends, an apple juice, and a brownie for dessert, and I had a turkey club sandwich with fries and a bottle of water.

As we ate dinner in front of the TV, discussion turned to the following day's activities. I informed Nest that we had a 7am breakfast engagement with Chip 'n Dale at the Storyteller's Cafe, followed by a dinner engagement with selected Disney princesses later that night at Ariel's Grotto. Nest almost choked on his dinner, and protested, "What?! I'm not getting up that early!", as well as something about not wanting to have dinner with princesses (does that mean I'm not one after all? ) Nest was really apologetic about me having taken him seriously when he had said, "Whatever!", in response to my any special restaurants request, and said how he didn't mind if I went to these meals myself. Naturally, I didn't want to leave Nest by himself while I dined alone, so I said I'd cancel the reservations the following day, and not to worry - we'd still have lots of fun.

Once I had noticed Nest had fallen asleep, I secretly changed the TV channel over to the Disney princess bedtime story channel, and eventually fell asleep myself.

NOTE: If anyone sees photos of themselves in any of my posts, and wish a particular photo to be removed, please let me know

[chezp]

Another great update - and it sounds like you guys did the right thing, opting to spend the day in Disneyland. Boy, you did do a lot - you certainly hit all the thrill rides. I love your photo of It's a Small World at night, how beautiful and what a stunning night-time shot of Tomorrowland as well.

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by chezp

Another great update - and it sounds like you guys did the right thing, opting to spend the day in Disneyland. Boy, you did do a lot - you certainly hit all the thrill rides. I love your photo of It's a Small World at night, how beautiful and what a stunning night-time shot of Tomorrowland as well.

Thank you

I've never been good with leaving Disney parks for outside excursions, hence why I found it quite easy to cancel two of them during this vacation - the Disney magic has such a strong hold on you! (Nest agreed with the cancellations too.) The only way we went on the other excursions (two of which I've still yet to write about), is because either one or both of us had wanted to go for so many years, and that they had a special place in our heart.

, I was pleased with the amount we got done on this day too, especially as we had slept half of it away. I'm excited at the prospect of what we can get done in a full day next time round!

Nest took the night time Small World and Tomorrowland photos - I'm so proud of him and was really excited at how they turned out! He's been studying photography throughout College, and when he finishes at the end of this year, he's moving on to some kind of Art School to study it full time. Now I know longer have to stress about getting half decent shots myself! I took the less impressive ones in this post, myself (but must admit I'm rather chuffed about how my churro shot came out )

Bye for now

[DyanKJ130]

Great update!! I the photo of IASW at night, as well! It looks so stunning with all of those lights! I'm Nest isn't up for your character meal plans. Can't wait to hear what happens next

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by DyanKJ130

Great update!! I the photo of IASW at night, as well! It looks so stunning with all of those lights! I'm Nest isn't up for your character meal plans. Can't wait to hear what happens next

Nest has been getting all shy and embarrassed when I've been relaying to him how much people have commented favourably on his photos. His night time shot of the entrance to the Hollywood Backlot in DCA was selected by Schmap (an online tourist type guide to places around the world) for inclusion to their guide to California (2nd ed.) - the whole family was elated I haven't posted it online yet, so here it is:

If I continue on any longer, I'll burst with pride , so I'll move on (it's just that I get so excited when things turn out for my brothers after all the effort they've put into things, and previous knock-backs they've experienced.)

IASW certainly is extremely stunning at night during the Christmas season. Imagine how high your Christmas sprit would be with being involved in such elaborate decorating procedures! I often wonder how I'd cope going in the non-holiday season, but then assume that surely the building is still lit up, if only with white fairy lights.

As for the missed character dining events, I consider myself lucky to have gotten away with having dinner at Goofy's Kitchen! I really really want to have dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table next time I go to Disney World (a long long long way off in the future), especially as I was ill when I went last time and could hardly eat a thing without it disagreeing with me, so I think I'll neglect to mention the characters there which will be gracing us with their prescence Surely I'll be forgiven once they realise just what a fantastic experience the whole thing will be.

I've already started work on my next post , but haven't got all that far with it yet. It's another day at Disneyland post. Having said that, it's different from my other days at Disney posts (different in a good way, not a bad way.) There will be two surprises with it Having said that, I hope the whole thing turns out - I'll perservere until it does and/or post a help question in the relevant section.

[chezp]

Wow, I'm not surprised that photo was included - that is awesome!

[Colexis Mom]

More great updates!!

[DyanKJ130]

Originally Posted by Big Sister

so I think I'll neglect to mention the characters there which will be gracing us with their prescence

I think that is a brilliant, yet sinister, idea!! I like it!!!

[Big Sister]

Monday, 7 July: I had been eagerly planning to include two videos with this post, but have been unable to successfully upload them to You Tube due to the format I've currently got them saved as. I've never been good with this technology lark (it took me days to work out how to add pictures to posts !) I'll work on re-saving the videos in correct format tonight - fingers crossed!

Tuesday, 8 July: Nest helped me save the videos in a compatible format last night, but now You Tube is claiming that they're too big. Back to the drawing board again . I've also deleted and re-added the photos to this post, as I was told that they weren't showing. Hopefully they do now .

Wednesday, 9 July: Videos have been re-sized (unfortunately losing a bit of clarity along the way) and successfully uploaded to You Tube . Links added to the relevant sections of this post - hope you all enjoy . PS - For clarity of picture, I've found it's best to view the video in half screen, not full screen .

6TH ENTRY: DAZZLING DISNEYLAND DISPLAYS

FRIDAY, 7 DECEMBER 2007

I woke up briefly at 6.50am to visit the little girl's room, and was surprisingly relieved that we had cancelled our 7am breakfast reservation, as I felt so heavy with tiredness at that point in time, and Nest hadn't stirred at all. It wasn't until four-and-a-half hours later, that we were to officially start the day.

While Nest was busy getting ready for another day in the parks, I took the opportunity to dash downstairs to the Grand Californian's Business Centre to use the internet briefly. I don't usually have time to go online while travelling, but it had suddenly occurred to me the night before, that our Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters souvenir photo would've gone straight into the junk mail folder of my e-mail account and be deleted in seven days if I didn't rescue it before-hand . So make time to rescue it I did - it took all of one minute online!

Despite our decision to save time by skipping breakfast in our room and having it in DCA instead, we still didn't get going any earlier . Well at least we weren't tired . As the lunch rush was still in full swing at that stage, we weren't able to dine at our first port of call, the Taste Pilots' Grill, because it was too crowded. We crawled hungrily onwards, desperately searching for sustenance, and there it suddenly was, guiding us towards it like a shining light in the darkness - THE CHURRO CART! We bought a bottle of orange Fanta and two churros each (told you they became a staple of our holiday diet! ) from the churro cart near Disney's Aladdin - a Musical Spectacular, in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot, and took our spoils and ate them outside the Tower of Terror.

Guess what we did after breakfast? Ride the Tower of Terror three times in a row, followed by California Screamin' down in Paradise Pier! And all without getting sick!

After having given the contents of our stomachs a mighty big shake-up, we decided it was time for lunch. It was around 3.30pm by that stage. Disembarking California Screamin' and walking in-between the Maliboomer and Orange Stinger, we soon found ourselves in front of two restaurants - a giant burger and a Hawaiian surf shack - Burger Invasion and Pizza Oom Mow Mow respectively. Fridays are pizza nights back home, so we decided to keep the tradition alive, and opted to chow down in Pizza Oom Mow Mow.

Maybe because Pizza Oom Mow Mow is tucked away in a corner, was the reason for only one other lot of diners being present when we entered (though I'm well aware it was probably more to do with the time.) I order two slices of BBQ chicken pizza for Nest, a slice of cheese "wipe out" pizza for myself, and large bottles of water for both of us. We chose a table in the very corner of the restaurant, where we had a great view of everything. There was such a great atmosphere inside, fun decor (framed retro surf movie posters, a giant shark hanging from the ceiling, coloured paper lanterns, and racks of surfboards) with a festive touch, and the Cast Members were very friendly and helpful when we asked about the herbs on Nest's pizza.

I remember being so happy while dining here and laughing heartily when Nest showed me a series of candid (though not flattering in the slightest) shots he had been taking of me. They wont be winning any prizes, that's for sure!

Bellies full of pizza, our fast passes for our second exhilarating on California Screamin' for day, became valid, so out we rolled to the front of the line . Afterwards, sporting a rather windswept look, we strolled out of the Paradise Pier area, through the Golden State, and up Sunshine Plaza to go and collect that night's tickets for Fantasmic! from Guest Services. Strangely, I can't remember what the tickets looked like (I can't think why they're not in my PassPorter for), but I remember thinking that the little enveloke they were popped in, was so nice?! It was little, with a circa 50's pink and navy blue design of Tinkerbell flying over Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Unfortunately, the little enveloke isn't in my PassPorter either . It has got to be in a bag full of stuff somewhere, as there's no way I would throw that kind of memory out.

Show tickets stowed safely in my backpack, we called into the bakery section of Greetings from California. I was ecstatic on entering, to find that they had candy corn presumably leftover from Halloween, and I immediately ladened myself with a couple of bags (I fell in love with it on a previous trip to the States, and was dismayed to find it's not available in Australia once I had exhausted my stock.) We also invested in a large bag of Mickey Mouse shaped pretzels, a choc-dipped Mickey Mouse shaped gingerbread, and a white choc chip cookie.

We decided to dedicate the rest of the night before Fantasmic!, to Nest taking the photos we both wanted, in the Disneyland Park. Walking incredibly slowly (even dawdling, if you like), we headed back to our hotel room to collect Nest's camera and tripod, sharing the gingerbread Mickey and choc chip cookie between us as we took in the sights and festive atmosphere.

It had turned dark when we eventually emerged from the hotel, and once inside the Disneyland Park, we headed straight for Sleeping Beauty's Castle. We found the perfect spot directly in front of the castle, and Nest set himself up while I perched on the railing next to him. I would never have guessed that something was about to happen, the memory of which would remain with me for the rest of my life. It began with the Castle lights being turned off without warning, and a child's voice began talking about dreams and wishes, with Julie Andrew's voice responding. The odd twinkle ran across the darkened Castle throughout the narration, with music gradually being added to the equation. After that introduction, a song immediately followed on, which is when the light show on the Castle began in earnest, and snow began to fall. I can safely say that it was the most beautifully breathtaking sight I've ever seen! So much so, that it moved me to tears

The moment I realised something special was about to happen, I whipped my camera out, put it into video mode, and began filming. Twenty seconds later, I quite loudly proclaimed my dissatisfaion in my camera battery about to die, followed by furious velcro ripping sounds as I madly searched for a replacement battery - you could tell I was highly irritated and stressed out! Watching it back later that night, Nest and I wet ourselves laughing. Now that's one video which wont be seeing the light of day any time soon!

By trial and error, I eventually put the replacement battery in the correct way, and resumed filming before anything major had gotten underway. I've never had the steadiest hands, so the beginning of my video is rather shaky (I think it was mostly from the stress of getting the camera working again), but I'm happy with the overall result - it captures the moment and is better than nothing!

Video link to Sleeping Beauty's Winter Castle event

After that impromptu display, the Castle remained permanently lit up in its extra festive form. When we got back home to Australia and I studied all the maps and handouts I had accrued, more carefully, I found that this event had been called Sleeping Beauty's Winter Castle, and that the times had been advertised in tiny print on the daily Entertainment Times Guide. I have got to learn to slow down a bit so that I notice these things in future. I consider ourselves incredibly lucky that we found ourselves in a prime position at the right time to view such a beautiful spectacle.

Nest and I sat for a while to take in the totally magical sight, and then joined a PhotoPass line for a Cast Member to take our photos with the Castle as the backdrop.

Our next port of call was "It's a Small World" holiday - you can never have too many photos of this gorgeous structure lit up at night in all the colours of the rainbow! Yet again, I couldn't believe our luck when the whole attraction was swamped in darkness, only to be brought to life a few seconds later with fantastically brightly coloured patterns dancing and swirling all over the facade, accompanied by a brilliantly merry classical music score. The dramatic end to the score coincided with the Christmas lights of the attraction blasting back on in all their brightness, which I thought was highly effective and brilliantly clever. Our night seriously couldn't get any better! Nest got a series of wonderful photos, and I captured the event on video (without a hilariously irritated prelude this time!) I panned the length of IASW with my camera directly after the show, and later found out I had done it too fast! There will be no Oscars on the horizon for me in the distant future Still, it's not that fast that the scenes blur, so I'm happy with the playback. I'm excited how my video picked up the Christmas music playing softly in the background, as usually my video doesn't pick up sounds if they're too far way.

Video link to "It's a Small World" holiday event

Positively beaming with happiness and utter joy after witnessing two such fantastically wonderful displays bursting at the seams with Christmas spirit, Nest and I then went in search of the big bushy tree recommended to us for night viewing by our Holiday Tour guide a couple of days ago. Much to Nest's horror, we took a wrong turn and ended up at Disney's Princess Fantasy Faire . Luckily for him, there was nothing going on there at the time.

Retracing our steps, we eventually made our way to Big Thunder Ranch, where the tree we yearned to see, stood near the entrance. It was a truly magnificent sight! There must've been thousands upon thousands of little blue, red and green fairy lights adorning the tree's branches, and it looked fantastic! I just adored the richness of the coloured lights chosen, and wondered if we would've seen the tree if we hadn't have been told about it before-hand. That thought's no worth thinking about - it's too scary!

It took a while for Nest to get some shots he was happy with (something to do with lack of light), during which time we noticed a terrible smell lingering around that hadn't been present during the day. Naturally, we couldn't ignore it any longer without discovering what it was, and much to our delight, it turned out to be reindeer! "So that's what that smell was!", I said with an air of discovery and exploration about me, as did many other people who joined us afterwards. Just when we thought things couldn't get any more Christmassy, the reindeer threw some more cheer out way - it was great seeing them!

Bidding farewell to the reindeer, we turned right into Frontierland, and made our way to New Orleans Square for Nest to take photos of the wonderful light displays and French imported Christmas decorations.

As we hadn't had a proper meal since Pizza Oom Mow Mow earlier on in the day, we decided that it was most definitely dinner time. I remember seeing the Hungry Bear Restaurant in nearby Critter Country a day or so ago, which we both liked the sound of when I made the suggestion, so we made a beeline for it, appetites increasing by the second.

It was a lovely warm night, so Nest and I sat in the upper open air deck of the Hungry Bear Restaurant, and against the rail so we had an unobstructed view of Tom Sawyer Island across the water. We feasted on 1/3 cheeseburgers and fries, washed down with large bottles of water. Nest was super hungry that night, so he supplemented his dining choice with a Kid's Chicken Meal consisting of chicken nuggets, apple juice, and yet more fries all done up nicely in a brightly coloured box. Despite both of us starting off dinner absolutely ravenous, there were leftover fries, so we threw them down to the paddling ducks below, who were quite happy to take them off our hands.

After dinner, we decided to drop in on the friendly ghosts of the Haunted Mansion. For the first time ever, I spotted the much talked about resident ghosts in one of the upstairs windows while approaching the Mansion. It appeared as an orange orb which slowly moved diagonally in one of the windows facing New Orleans Square (as opposed to the Rivers of America and Critter Country sides.)

We then called in on Indy, before checking in for our 9.30pm showing of Fantasmic! We were in Tower B, seats 20 and 21. There were three rows of seats in our section, seating four people each - nice and intimate. It was a fantastic feeling having these seats, therefore eliminating the stress of having to find our own spots in the jostling crowds, as well as a place where Nest's camera wouldn't get knocked or obstruct anyone else's view.

On being seated, we were handed a dessert box each, and were told we could have unlimited drinks for the duration - how exciting! Nest had two hot chocolates, I had a bottle of Sprite, and we both went through the bottles of water due to the dessert boxes (it was a surprise we didn't require an interval from all these beverages!) The dessert boxes were fantastic and very generous. They contained two of each of the following: choc dipped strawberries; decorated biscotti; choc-covered Mickey heads made from rice bubble slice; 'short' delicious biscuits with a hint of jam inside, and backed with a layer of purple chocolate decorated with a delicate gold petite star pattern; and, yum coconut roughs with chocolate bottoms (personally speaking, one can never have enough chocolate!) The box itself featured the Fantasmic! dragon.

The show itself was absolutely fantastic! It all took place on the Rivers of America, and there were: dancing water displays; animations projected onto running water fountains; special effects using smoke and lights; the impressive and enormous fire-breathing dragon; Disney characters on stage; Disney characters sailing on boats; and lastly, just as impressive (if not a smidge more-so) than the dragon, was when the huuuuuuuuge three masted Sailing Ship Columbia majestically sailed into sight, bustling with activity featuring a battle between Captain Hook and a very lithe and acrobatic Peter Pan. Sitting so close to the action was thrilling - so much so, that I had totally forgotten about my box of chocolates crying out to be eaten! We took advantage of our proximity to the happenings by taking lots of photos. I'm so glad I had Nest with me to share this wonderful experience with.

We still had a couple of must take photos to shoot after being wonderfully entertained, and headed back to Fantasyland with the rest of the crowd. Our first stop was the Mad Tea Party. Ever since I've been going to Disneyland, I've always wanted a night time photo of the teacups, but my attempts have never turned out. Nest took my dream photo for me - I was so over the moon! (He also took a beautiful daytime shot of the teacups on another occasion.)

The last planned photo of the night was of the King Arthur Carrousel. As Nest was fine tuning all the settings on his camera, a Cast Member jokingly posed right in front of the shot Nest was aiming for, and then rushed off laughing. Both Nest and I so wished his camera was ready to shoot right there and then so we could've captured the funny moment on film forever. The shot Nest ended up taking turned out beautifully, with a lovely warm golden glow to it.

Nest and I ended our night in the Park with "Disneyland : the First 50 Magical Years". In the entrance of the building the exhibition was held in, was a portrait of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse. It was so big, it almost filled the entire wall it was hung on! When we went up to the portrait for a closer look, we noticed it was made up of a mosaic of thousands of tiny photos relating to Disneyland, measuring about 1/2 x 1/3 inches each - it was absolutely amazing! We spent quite some time looking at as many of the tiny pictures as we could.

Inside, was an exhibition of miniature scale models, photographs, sketches and wonderful anecdotes. The feature of the exhibition was this huge miniature scale model of the Disneyland Park when it first opened up back in 1955. The amount of detail that had been put into this scale model was absolutely amazing - it was so interesting to look at, and Nest and I slowly walked around and around the glass case, taking everything in.

While we were looking around, rows of hidden doors flipped open to our left, revealing a cinema, and an announcement filled the gallery saying that a documentary would be commencing shortly - what a surprise! We weren't aware of a film before-hand, and immediately ventured into the beautiful cinema. It was so luxurious and richly coloured inside, with a blue velvety curtain gracefully covering the big screen, and plush red seats for our comfort.

The documentary was a brief history of the Disneyland Park, hosted by Steve Martin with Donald Duck trying to out-stage him. The doco went as far back as when Walt was looking at vast expanses of land, and it showed him walking through orange groves which are now the world famous park we know and love today.

Steve Martin was a great host, and I was surprised to learn that he started off his career working in the Magic Store on Main Street, which still happily operates to this very day.

I had thoroughly enjoyed the documentary, as well as the fantastic surroundings we had watched it in, and was disappointed when it all came to an end. On exiting the theatre, Nest and I came across a Christmas/New Year themed nickel press, which we got totally excited over, banishing all disappointing thoughts of the documentary having come to an end. Surprisingly, we had enough correct change on us to allow us both to get a set each, before returning to our hotel room to watch old Disney cartoons on the tele and polish off our Fantasmic! dessert boxes.

[chezp]

What a fantastic day you had - and it sounds like you achieved a lot, despite the late start. The castle sounds absolutely beautiful, but unfortunately none of your photos are showing up at the moment - they're saying they're currently unavailable, which is a great shame.

[Colexis Mom]

What a great update!! I hope the pictures show up soon!!

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by chezp

What a fantastic day you had - and it sounds like you achieved a lot, despite the late start. The castle sounds absolutely beautiful, but unfortunately none of your photos are showing up at the moment - they're saying they're currently unavailable, which is a great shame.

It makes me wonder how much we could achieve in a full day, as I agree we do seem to get loads done in the half days left to us due to sleeping in

I've deleted and re-downloaded the photos - I desperately hope they're showing up now. When I was first informed of this yesterday, they were still showing to me, but I still had a fiddle around ... obviously it didn't work .

Enjoy, and let me know if they're still not showing - thanks

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

What a great update!! I hope the pictures show up soon!!

I've just deleted and re-loaded them - fingers crossed!

Thanks for letting me know!

[DyanKJ130]

Fabulous update!! Your photos are incredible! Pizza Oom Mow Mow sounds yummy! We had hoped to go there in February, but it was closed. (I believe due to all the construction for the new Toy Story ride) The castle looks gorgeous! Your descriptions of everything are wonderful. I can sense your excitement andI feel like I am right there with you. I believe that photo of Walt & Mickey is one that was compiled for GCOE. Guests were invited to send photos in and they were placed into mosaics all over Disneyland. The only one I've seen in person is the Walt & Mickey one, but the photographs of the others are quite stunning! Can't wait to hear more

[chezp]

I can see them now - thanks for doing that. That tree is just amazing!