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]

7TH ENTRY: UNUSUAL BEGINNINGS

SATURDAY, 8 DECEMBER 2007

I woke up at 9.30am, as our neighbours were making so much noise (children squealing excitedly - it must've been their first day.) It was a cloudy day, so I got up, the unexpected darkness making it seem later than it actually was, which suited my internal clock just fine. I sat out on the balcony writing postcards and waiting for Nest to wake up. I ended up getting so hungry, that I couldn't wait any longer for Nest to wake up, and rang in an order for Mickey waffles and iced water for breakfast for two. Nest got up after they had arrived, and joined me out on the balcony.

We had planned for an extremely relaxing day, so Nest went and layed back down on his bed after breakfast, while I remained out on the balcony and finished writing my postcards. We left the sliding door open so we could talk and get some fresh air circulating within our room. It was during this time that I became aware of the all too familiar smell of cigarette smoke. I'm not a smoker, and I was under the impression we were staying in a smoke-free hotel, so this intrusion bothered me. I refused to budge off the balcony against my will though, hoping the smell would just go away quickly, but it got worse instead, with Nest calling out from inside that he could smell it from in there. I got up straight away, bundling all my stuff inside, and shut the door behind me. The intruding smoke really irritated us both , so I went back out on the balcony to find out exactly who the culprit was. I spotted a hand clutching a cigarette on a very nearby balcony, then came back inside and called Guest Services, double checking that the Grand Californian was indeed a smoke free hotel, then asked if they could do something about the person smoking right near us. I was thanked for my concern, said that a Cast Member would be around shortly, and that a $350 fine would be issued to the guest involved. I was very grateful that action was being taken straight away, but shocked at the fine . All this made us very reluctant to go out on the balcony during the daytime for the remainder of our stay, in case they guessed who reported them.

While Nest got ready for another day in the Disneyland Park, I dashed out to get some very important incidentals done that Nest didn't want to expend any energy on. First stop was the laundry to change all our small bills in the change machine so we would have ample quarters for the pressed penny machines; second stop was the Business Centre to get stamps so I could then post my postcards; and lastly, I went for a power walk through Downtown Disney to reach the ticket booths on the other side. Here, I bought Nest and myself a three day park hopper ticket each due to the cancelled excursion days eating up our original park tickets, so we could continue visiting the parks.

When I got back to our room, I found that not only had Nest got ready, but he had also tidied the place as well! (Our table had slowly, but surely, become a mountain of pressed pennies, packaging, camera/phone recharging cords, and other assorted items.)

At 2.30pm, we entered the Disneyland Park, and stopped at the store waiting invitingly as soon as we emerged from the tunnel, to buy a fresh batch of postcards.

This was the first Saturday we had been in the parks, and it was very, very crowded . Still, we were both determined to make the most of this situation . I got the ball rolling by tacking myself onto the end of the very long queue to the Tiki Juice Bar at the entrance to Adventureland, while Nest browsed in the nearby store. I had read rave reviews for the pineapple dole whips in my constant research of the parks, and was looking forward to trying one. I waited patiently in line, observing people's happiness as they walked by, and confident in what I'd be ordering ... until I got nearer the front of the line and spotted the menu offering me a second choice - what a dilemma! I've never been good at making choices at the best of times! After a lot of craning to hear and see what people in front of me were ordering, and conferring with the girls behind me, I changed my original order to the more elaborate option of a pineapple dole whip float.

Hands full of pineapply goodness, I then went in search of Nest at the nearby Indiana Jones themed store. I spotted him at the fortune telling machine, where the old man inside had asked Nest if he felt as if he were surrounded by soft toys (Nest decided that he had been feeling like that a lot lately.) Once his reading was over, Nest came out and joined me for 'morning tea'. The pineapple dole whip floats were deliciously sweet - they consisted of swirly pineapple soft serve ice cream surrounded by pineapple juice, and topped with a bright red cherry. I learnt the hard way that the cherry served as a garnish only, as it tasted unfortunately feral - no wonder Nest had given me his!

Pineapple dole whip floats in hand, we headed towards the Jungle Cruise, and were surprisingly able to board straight away. I was particularly excited, as not only had we got on straight away, but I hadn't experienced this attraction while at Disney World, and I just love water-themed rides. Having said that, I was quite distracted for the first part of the ride, as I was still savouring my pineapple dole whip float . I finished it in time to get genuinely startled by the sudden appearance of a fast moving crocodile, get sprayed by rouge elephants, and be impressed by the piranhas (impressed as in how they appeared, then disappeared, churning and splashing the water in the process.)

I had thoroughly enjoyed the Jungle Cruise, but alas, this would be the only time we got to experience it. I liked it not only because it was new to me, but because, overall, it was so relaxing in an otherwise fast-paced environment. I really appreciated the calmness of the water, as well as the cosy protection the canopy of trees proffered during some parts of the cruise. And of course, there were the Disney touches, such as a small hidden village, and many animatronic animals. I found the Jungle Cruise a simply beautiful attraction, and rate it not to be missed.

Unfortunately, something I did miss, was the skipper's narration. I'm sure I was listening at the time, but because of all the millions of other things to take in at the same time, something had to slip through I remember Nest and I laughing out loud at something the skipper said as we were docking, but I didn't include it in my notes. I am most disappointed in myself! (I think it had something to do with "... a little bazaar.")

As we disembarked from the Jungle Cruise, Nest and I decided it was time for lunch (it was twenty to four by that stage! ), so we headed for the Bengal BBQ, which was just across the way. We ordered some 'bengal beef' and 'chieftain chicken' kebobs, water, and crisps. That was the easy part. The hard part was finding somewhere to sit. The Bengal BBQ's small seating area was packed, and showed no signs of emptying, so Nest and I carefully navigated through the crowds, and eventually found a vacant spot on a wall in the French Quarter next to the Haunted Mansion. It was a visually exciting area in which to have lunch, which was what must've triggered off our little circus act - I reduced the number of hands I was holding our cardboard food tray with, to one, and watched in disbelief as my beef kebob splattered to the ground. Nest has quick reflexes, and saved the chicken kebob that followed ... with his lap, getting chicken and sauce all over his bone coloured cargo shorts. I can't eat chicken, and Nest isn't overly fond of red meat, so he let me have his bengal beef kabob, while he chewed on his chieftain chicken. I wished we had discovered the bengal BBQ sooner, as that kabob was the most delicious dish I'd ever tasted (as small as it was) - the meat was lovely and tender, and the sauce was absolutely fantastically tasty - my mouth waters just thinking about it!

After lunch, we walked towards Fantasyland's dark rides, seeing as we had yet to experience them. On our way, we stopped to get a hot chocolate for Nest, and a large packet of fries each, from the Harbour Gallery in Critter Country.

We were going to walk and eat at the same time, but at that moment, it started to rain for the one and only time during our holiday, so we took refuge in the Hungry Bear Restaurant. On Nest's request, I went and got him a cheeseburger to supplement his fries, and we sat and ate while watching the rain making continuous circle patterns in the lake outside. We talked about our thoughts of the day so far, our plans for the evening, and agreed that it had turned out for the best that we had cancelled that day's LA and Hollywood Experience bus tour due to the bad weather. We fed our leftover fries to the ducks (when I had bought Nest a cheeseburger, I had also bought a "spare" pack of fries), and then continued on our way (the rain had only lasted for roughly fifteen minutes.)

As we were walking over the little bridge from Critter Country into New Orleans Square, I noticed a teenage girl wearing hotpants. I tutted disapprovingly to myself about the (lack of) length of them, when a little boy around the age of six, noticed the same thing, and voiced his discovery loud enough for the entire park to hear. I'll never forget his young voice crying out, "Ahhhhhh! That's girls' wearing short shorts!!" And just in case you weren't sure exactly which girl he was referring to, his little arm had shot out straight, finger pointing urgently . Everyone had stopped for that split second moment to take heed, before resuming what they had been doing. Nest and I went quite happily on our way to Fantasyland, stopping at every shop we came to along the way for a look around.

It was night by the time we lined up for Snow White's Scary Adventures, our second ride for the day. The line was long, but it gave us a chance to notice things we normally wouldn't have if we were able to run right on. The best thing we noticed, was when the line was outside the door, if you looked up at the turret above the entrance at the right time, you could see the Evil Queen draw the curtains, glare outside for a couple of seconds, before drawing the curtains closed. When visible, the Evil Queen was bathed in a blue and purple light, and coupled with the fact that it was night, really enhanced her evilness. (I've only just realised, that this was one of the important things I forgot to get Nest to capture on film! That, and the California sign spelt out in Christmas letters.)

There were more things inside to keep us occupied as we queued for our own little mining car to take us on a magical journey. To our right, we could see a small dungeon-like room through floor to ceiling bars. Inside the small room, was: a simple table, upon which lay a mug, bowl, candle, and skull; behind the table on a display pedestal, lay a large spell book; and, simply everywhere, were hundreds and hundreds of pennies. People seemed to have been aiming to get the pennies into the mug and bowl on the table, so I rummaged around in my purse, bag and pockets for every last penny we had so Nest and I could try our luck. We didn't have many pennies on us at that stage due to Nest's rapidly expanding pressed penny collection, but Nest still managed to get one in a mug, whilst I was too uncoordinated to do so.

Our mining car's name was Dopey - very apt in our case at times, I thought The ride was short and sweet, yet packed with details. We went through a forest, saw the Seven Dwarves hi-hoing their way to work, and witnessed Snow White being presented with a shiny red apple by the Even Queen in disguise. Then things got dark and scary, and we went through a deep dark forest with a worryingly haunted feel to it. Soon, we came across Snow White laid out on a marble slab, with her Prince Charming standing over her. I absolutely love the closing scene - Snow White being led away on a white horse by her Prince Charming, off into the sunset with a castle on the horizon, and a sparkle of pixie dust bringing the whole scene to life if you're lucky enough to be able to look at it for long enough before your mining car moves on.

Despite the extremely long line, I convinced Nest that the next ride we experience, be Peter Pan's Flight. If Nest hadn't have known before-hand, that Peter Pan's Flight was my all time favourite Fantasyland dark ride, then I don't think I would've stood a chance of getting him on it that night because of the crowds! We had to have been standing in line for at least 1.5 hours, during which time we got to witness Sleeping Beauty's Winter Castle come to life from behind, the Evil Queen checking up on us a couple of hundred time from her window across the way, and have it start to drizzle, causing us to pull on our emergency ponchos. Much to my (selfish) delight, a couple of people ahead of us left the line, but it wasn't enough to make a big enough dent in our waiting time. After about an hour when we got nearer the front of the line (so close, yet still so far away, due to the volume of people and the slow loading rate of the ride), we started to be able to hear Peter Pan saying, "Come on everybody - here we gooooooooooooooo!" We were also afforded glimpses of the beautiful murals in the loading area. Once I learnt the routine of the movements of the flying pirate ships and where people were going to go when, I was able to take photos of the beautiful murals without them being obstructed too much.

I was so excited when it was finally our turn to be boarding our very own pirate ship, and having Peter Pan saying to us, "Come on everybody - here we gooooooooooo!", as we flew through the children’s' bedroom and out the window on our way to Never Land.

I've loved this ride sooooooooooooooo much ever since I first experienced it at Disneyland Resort Paris back in 2001. I love how your flying pirate ship takes you over a very busy London at night, where you can spot Big Ben, and cars driving along the roads with their headlights on at full beam. My most favourite scene though, is when you arrive at Never Land, and look over an island surround by crystal clear blue water and crowned with a beautiful bright rainbow. Another part of the ride I love, is where it's so dark at one stage, that you just cannot get your bearings, tell where you are, or see a thing except for the stars - it's as if you really are flying high in the night sky with nothing else around you!

The ride was over super fast, though Nest and I had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I don't know if it was because we had waited in line for so long before-hand, but the seat in the flying pirate ship had seemed so extra comfortable, that I wished with all my might that we could be run through again without having to get off, but it never happened .

We went on Mr Toad's Wild Ride next, which was housed in a lovely old English mini mansion type building. The inside (queuing area) was equally as nice, with chandeliers handing from the ceiling, a cosy fireplace (I was surprised when it opened up at one stage to let some riding guests through, with sparks from the fireplace shooting out from under their wheels as they turned the corner and disappeared again), a statue of Mr Toad, and shelves of books. This was the first time I had gone on this ride, and the only time Nest and I managed to experience it during our entire stay. Unfortunately, I can't remember anything further about this ride.

After visiting with Mr Toad, Nest and I then went around the corner to visit Alice in Wonderland. Much to our extreme disappointment, it was closed due to the drizzling rain. From memory, I can't remember the rain on this evening being anything more that a light drizzle, but I suppose when safety's concerned, you can never be too careful. We waited around for a few minutes with a handful of other hopeful guests, but the attraction showed no sign of reopening, so Nest and I moved on. Nest and I never got another chance to try this ride, which was a shame, as we had been looking forward to riding around an unfamiliar fantasy attraction in a giant caterpillar. Definitely something to put on our not to be missed list for next time!

Nest and I moved on briefly to Mickey's Toontown, where we went nuts (spinning-wise) on Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, and had another browse around the Gag Factory.

After such a gentle and relaxing day, we both decided that a thrill ride was long overdue, so we headed straight for the Matterhorn Bobsleds. The lines for it were out of this world, so we decided to go to Space Mountain instead, where we were met with the same problem. We both agreed that we had spent enough time that night waiting in lines, so we admitted defeat in our quest for a thrill ride, and opted to end our night in the park with a viewing of Honey, I Shrunk The Audience!

Honey, I Shrunk The Audience! is a short movie you watch wearing 3D glasses (or in my case, you gingerly watch the movie with the 3D glasses on the end of your nose, only looking through them when you know it's safe to do so.) Poor Nest watched the movie as intended, and at one stage jumped so high out of his seat at the shattering glass effect, that I thought he had gone through the ceiling! He was most unimpressed with me for 'cheating'.

On our way out of the park, I grabbed a turkey leg, which I ate on the way back to the hotel, waiting outside any shops Nest decided to pop into en route. One of the shops Nest popped into, was one on Main Street that specialised in delicate figurines. A jewelled set of Pooh bear character figures in the window had caught Nest's eye, and he had gone in for a closer look and price check. It turned out you had to ask for the price, which meant they were expensive. I wrote down the name of the set when I got out of the store after getting Nest to hold my turkey leg, in the hope that I'll be able to follow it up one of these days - the characters belonged to the Arribas Jewelry Series.

Back at the hotel, we settled in for the night, and I rang to confirm our outing for the following day. My next call was to Room Service, where I put in an order for spaghetti with meat sauce, a turkey cheeseburger with fries, and an apple juice for Nest (he was extremely hungry), and a much lighter option of a harvest fruit plate and Sprite for myself, seeing as I had just devoured a turkey leg. My meal was served with two extremely delicious polenta cakes, which reminded me of the yummy polenta and buttermilk muffins Mum used to make when I was little. Nest let me try some of his spaghetti with meat sauce, which ended up being my favourite meal for the remainder of our holiday.

We watched our favourite Steven Segal movie, Exit Wounds, while having dinner, and dashed outside during a perfectly timed commercial break to watch the fireworks on our balcony. After Exit Wounds, was a late night comedy show hosted by a comedian with red hair (his name's on the tip of my tongue!) One of the segments of his show, was called comedy for stoners, where a hamster running in his exercise wheel against a fluoro coloured background, filled the entire TV screen, for at least a minute with not much sound or additional commentary. I'm no stoner, but it was the funniest thing I had seen since Nest left my side in a vertical fashion during the screening of Honey, I Shrunk The Audience!

Playing it safe, I set the alarm clock for the following day's early rise, before I went to bed , hoping that our destination wouldn't be as crowded as Disneyland on a Saturday!

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by DyanKJ130

Just catching up!! Sounds like a wonderful experience, Alison! Looking forward to more

What a coincidence! Just as you catch up, I've logged in to post a new entry

[chezp]

You did get a lot done that day - loved the bit about the hotpants!

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update!!! Love the pictures!!

[PrincessSharon]

Sounds like another wonderful day, Alison. It sounds like you managed to fit in a lot, despite the crowds and long queues. How funny about the girl with the hot pants! Can't wait for more!

[Meggera]

How fun! I can't wait to go to Disneyland again. Too bad you missed Alice in Wonderland. We loved that ride. More please!

[DyanKJ130]

Just catching up again! Sounds like you had a fabulous day! You got so much accomplished. So glad you were able to ride the Jungle Cruise - it was being refurbished when we were there. Your meals looked wonderful, especially that fruit plate. Can't wait to hear more

[Big Sister]

Everyone!

Thank you for all your lovely comments in regards to my latest post - I'm glad you've all enjoyed reading it

I've been really hard on a new entry for the last couple of weeks, which I hope to get finished on the weekend and posted during my lunch break on Monday.

Off to read a few trip reports now - should be fun

Big Sister

[Meggera]

Yay! I look forward to your next installment. Hurry back!

[chezp]

Looking forward to the next installment.

[Big Sister]

Yaaaaaay, I got this entry completed way sooner than expected!

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8TH ENTRY: WALLY WORLD

SUNDAY, 9 DECEMBER 2007

Our alarm clock woke us both up at the unpopular time of 6am, giving us roughly two-and-a-half hours to be ready and waiting out the front of our hotel by. We had an unusually healthy breakfast to start the day off with - Nest had the harvest fruit plate with an apple juice, and I had a melon platter with water. I don't recall what else we did that morning (I think we're just really slow movers at that hour of the morning), but we were down at the bus stop by 8.30am.

Where were we heading this bright sunny Californian day? Why, Wally World, of course! I can't remember when I first watched National Lampoon's Vacation starring Chevy Chase, but it became one of my all time favourite movies from that first viewing. On each viewing, I remember wishing that my family, too, could go on such a fantastically humourous holiday, cumulating in an action-packed afternoon at an awesome looking themepark (minus the police interaction, of course!) I cannot believe it took me until mid 2007 to discover that Six Flags Magic Mountain in California, was the themepark in the movie! I was absolutely ecstatic when I made this discovery, and immediately slotted it into our itinerary, referring to the themepark as Wally World ever since.

So, we were down at the bus stop by 8.30am, despite not really needing to be there until 8.45am (better safe than sorry), but the mini van didn't turn up until a bit after 9am. The driver seemed really grumpy (thankfully not towards us), so I assumed things were running later than planned, as he must've had to fill in for the original driver at the last minute.

Nest and I were the only ones on the bus for a while. Almost immediately, we became aware of a comedic whistle emanating from somewhere in the van, that increased in pitch whenever the driver stepped on the gas, before going down again. The driver seemed crankier and crankier each time he stepped on the accelerator, causing the sound effects to get more and more comedic. It was just like a kazoo you hear in really old comedies. Since Nest and I went from stressed at the bus not turning up on time, to nervous at the bus driver having gotten out of the wrong side of bed, we got the giggles ... big time. We were busting to laugh out loud so much , that we had tears of silent laughter pouring down our cheeks, and were trying not to visibly shake in case the driver happened to glance in his rear-view mirror.

Thankfully, we soon picked up some more people, eventually ending up with a full mini van. We were all then dropped off at VIP Tours of California headquarters - a tiny shopfront where pictures of stars accompanied with brief biographical information, lined the walls. We lined up to get our park admission tickets, before being directed back outside to a larger bus (with a much happier driver), which would be taking us to Wally World.

The drive to Wally World took 55 minutes, which our driver assured us was a very good time. It didn't matter to Nest and myself though, because as hard as we tried not to, we slept virtually all the way . We awoke as we were approaching the park, and the most massive rollercoasters I've ever seen, came into view - we were SO EXCITED! As we drove past this monstrous mangled looking yellow coaster, our driver warned, "Don't go on the yellow one first! You go on the yellow one first, and you'll be sick all day!" That sounded like a definite recommendation to Nest and myself!

Only after passing through metal detectors, then having our bags thoroughly searched, were we granted admission to thrill seekers paradise. It was fantastic being in Wally World after all these years, though at the same time, it just didn't seem real - as if we were just dreaming. Even though we had only recently watched National Lampoon's Vacation, the park hardly looked familiar, so we opened the park map to see if that would help - it just overwhelmed us further, as it was so big. As I was turning the map this way and that to fold it back up, the back of it caught my eye - never have I seen so many rules in relation to a themepark before! Nest and I were totally crestfallen at the photography rules - the list of banned photography equipment listed matched Nest's on every single count! We were so disappointed , as we wanted to have great shots to remember our time at Wally World after it took us so many years to get here. (On hindsight, I'm surprised the security guards didn't say anything about it when they went through his bag.) So it was up to Nest's super simple digital camera he had also brought along, to record our time at Wally World.

It was straight to the locker area from there for us. We ended up renting a large one and just stowing everything in it after reading the lose articles policy on rides as well. Nest still kept his simple camera with him, and slung it across his neck and shoulder under his jumper when it came to rides, so that no one or his camera would get hurt. A large glass room with security staff overlooked the locker area, so we felt safe with leaving our belongings under their watchful eye.

Moneybelts tightly fastened, we headed to the nearest ride - a white rollercoaster going by the name of Revolution. I was later to find out that this ride is as old as me! The ride wasn't crowded, and we were able to "walk right in, sit right down ...", as the Dr Hook song goes. It was a pretty mild rollercoaster, and I remember wishing at the time for something more exciting (I feel so mean for saying that!)

The ride that grabbed our attention on exiting Revolution, was the mighty Tatsu, with its bright orange pylons seemingly exploding from out of the ground. Everyone must've by-passed Revolution and headed straight for Tatsu on entering the park, as that's where we found them - queuing for Tatsu! We almost decided to delay riding Tatsu at this stage because of the lengthy line, but ultimately decided to wait it out because as if the line was going to get any shorter as the day went on and more people arrived! (We made the right decision, as when we were walking past it later that night, it was absolutely packed.)

I remember my heart pounding with excitement as we got closer and closer to the front of the line. The excitement turned to bursting anticipation as we took our seats and were locked in by shoulder, lap and lower leg restraints - there would be no escape from this point onwards! (I heard a guy in the line behind us, say to his friend, "You've got to wonder how safe this ride is to need this many restraints!")

Once our restraints were checked and double-checked, our Tatsu experience began in earnest. First, we went from sitting in an upright position, to an on your tummy position, and were then slowly hoisted up to our sky high starting position. It wasn't until the floor we were travelling over, ran out and we were out in the open in such an in-your-face position, did my busting with anticipation feeling turn into one of complete terror , and I immediately began to rue my wish on Revolution for a more exciting ride! And this feeling was before the real serious part of the ride began (ie. the speeding, jostling, upside-down at times part.)

Tatsu became the first rollercoaster I've ever become afraid of . Its tagline, "Fly at the speed of fear", was definitely spot-on where I was concerned! On the other hand, Nest absolutely loved Tatsu , which I was really pleased about, despite my own personal feelings towards it. We picked our souvenir ride photo up afterwards, and had a good laugh.

Across from Tatsu, was the Roaring Rapids. There was no line for it, so we were able to walk right on. Nest and I rode in this big tyre with two teenage boys I assumed were brothers, as one was noticeably younger than the other. Roaring Rapids has got to be the roughest rapids ride I've ever been on. I seriously believe that if we didn't have lap belts on, we would've been flung over the edge! We were all roughly flung about like rag dolls in a washing machine throughout the ride, which was hilarious to see. Another hilarious spectacle to witness, were the boys opposite us, tense up when they thought they were going to get wet, only for it not to happen. It was absolutely HILARIOUS to see them get doused when they were least expecting it - Nest and I almost wet ourselves with laughter as a result! Our travelling companions did the same when it happened to us. We were all so lucky that it was such a gloriously sunny day, as we dried off in no time afterwards. I definitely rate this ride as not to be missed (for people aged teens and up.) It would be great to have your experience on this ride taped somehow, to enjoy forevermore.

Leaving Roaring Rapids behind, we wandered down this really steep hill and found ourselves at Déjà Vu. It was a pretty popular ride, judging from the length of the line. We tacked ourselves onto the end of the queue, and waited patiently for our turn while watching all the people in front of us have theirs. Now is a good a time as any to mention how the waiting areas for a lot of the rides were covered in shade cloth so that guests had somewhere cool to wait on hot days such as this one, which I thought was a great idea.

Déjà Vu is a boomerang rollercoaster, sending you screaming in one direction, before having you retrace your steps backwards, and then coming to rest. It was all over so quickly, but well worth it. I enjoyed experiencing the course both backwards and forwards, particularly the loops - it had the perfect level of excitement I was looking for.

Jet Stream was our next experience, with the added bonus of not having a queue! I simply loved Jet Stream - it was a fantastic ride, and I rate it not to be missed! You travel in a smallish boat around this water course. Part of the course was a really thin water track that went high over the footpaths - it was an unusual sensation being high up in the air in a boat, and being able to look down on people walking below you. There were a few dips along the course, but the big one was right at the end, which was a total surprise to Nest and myself - we weren't aware this was a flume ride. If the camera (which we weren't aware of either) had gone off at the top of the fall, I'm quite sure it would've caught us with our eyes bulging and our mouths agape in disbelief! When we went to the photo booth afterwards to collect our photo, the staff there were really enthusiastic towards us, and told us how much they loved our photo because it was the most candid one they had seen in ages (everyone else who had been riding, seemed to know where the camera was, and therefore posed for it.) When Nest and I saw our photo, I couldn't help but laugh my head off. Poor Nest cringed and was highly embarrassed, as he had been protecting his digital camera under his jumper, yet the camera strap had escaped and took on a most unfortunate position.

It was 2.30pm by that stage, so we went on the search for food , and found it at the Waterfront Commissary. This turned out to be a regrettable mistake, as service was so painfully slow it was unbelievable. By the time we got our burgers and sat down, they were cold! We made do with our fries and Fanta, and ended up chucking the burgers out. I'm really surprised they didn't make us ill! We couldn't be bothered complaining, and just chalked it up to experience. I kicked myself BIG time when we walked past Mooseburger Lodge later on in the day, as that's where we had wanted to have lunch, but for some silly reason, had forgotten all about it!

Putting our lunch disappointment behind us, we set out to have more fun. The Riddler's Revenge was the next ride we came across, and boy, was the line long and slow moving! (I wasn't aware of the Flash Passes until after we had left the park - LOL!) It took ages to get into the main queuing area. Once in, it reminded me of an absolutely packed nightclub, with the type of music that was playing and lights pulsing.

At the time of riding, Riddler's Revenge was hailed as the world's tallest and fastest stand-up rollercoaster. Did I say stand-up rollercoaster? Yes, I did. I found it difficult to get into, and was probably the last one to get secured in, which was embarrassing when you're surrounded by teens at the height of their fitness! Getting into position involved hoisting yourself onto a hard bicycle seat, is best I can describe it, pulling on your shoulder restraints, buckling that in, then strapping yourself in around the waist. Now for a word of warning: it's best to keep your feet flat on the floor of your row, as the sets you're perched on, are adjusted to your height and locked in position. If they're clicked into a too high position, then you're in for a rather uncomfortable ride. Riding in a standing-up position certainly was a great experience, especially as Nest and I were in the front row so didn't have our view marred by anyone being in front of us. I was certainly grateful for the shoulder restraints, as you came down on them when going upside down and around in the loops. Certainly a one-of-a-kind experience.

Keeping with the Batman theme, we next headed for Batman : The Ride ... front row, of course. This had an incredibly curly track to it, but unfortunately my only other memory of it was being afraid we were going to hit the gravel ground as we flew perilously close over it.

The second Nest and I set eyes on Colossus, we immediately recognised it as the massive white rollercoaster from the Wally World movie, and charged towards it with excitement. Surprisingly, there was no wait to get on, so we were able to take a seat straight away. It was a super dooper fantastic ride, and everything we had cracked it up to be in our imaginations. It certainly didn't disappoint, and I rate it not to be missed. I remember being at the highest point of the ride for a split second, and dedicating that moment to National Lampoon's Vacation as thanks to all the years of happiness it had brought me. I can't think why we didn't ride it again straight away (it's not as if we had to wait), except that we had so many other rides still to experience.

On from Colossus, we moved on to Scream. As the name suggests, I screamed a lot on this one, as did the boy to my right (Nest was on my left.) And we had good reason to: we sat in chairs with our feet dangling, and went upside down on the outside of so many loops really fast. As mentioned before, I screamed so much, that the wind ended up really freezing my teeth, so I had to learn to keep my screams to myself and my mouth closed - LOL!

Goliath. A name so big, that we couldn't fit it in the one photograph!

(Photoshopped to fit in the one photograph)

I was standing at the grand entrance while waiting for Nest to come out of the nearby bathroom, and thinking to myself how exciting the drop looked. It was a totally different story when I was sitting next to Nest in the very front car, and facing the steep 250 foot drop from a rider's perspective. I have never been so terrified on a ride in my entire life (give me Tatsu any day!), and risked automatic ejection from the park by breaking the no profane language rule on our rapid descent. I was shocked how the tunnel we shot through at the bottom of the drop, was so small height-wise. At one stage during the ride, the cars we were travelling in, stopped right up high and on their side. I kid you not, but I seriously started to slip out! If I thought I had been hanging on for dear life before, then I was introduced to a new level of hanging on this time round! As I felt my safety was in jeopardy, I got really cross inside at this part of the ride, and firmly believe that Goliath needs shoulder restraints in addition to the seatbelts and lap bars. I was so relieved when the ride had come to a stop and I thought the time had come to get off ... so you can imagine the shock and dread I felt when we still had a ways to go - noooooooo! I really should've realised this, as the familiar loading area was nowhere in sight.

I absolutely hated this monster coaster, and wouldn't recommend it to anyone (apologies to the people who do like this ride. I've been thinking that perhaps I could handle this ride better if I rode it at night and couldn't see where I was going.) On the other hand, Nest absolutely loved it and had a ball! He wasn't even hanging on for most of the time (a 'rule' we had agreed on, which I was to break many times over.) When we went to the photo kiosk to purchase our souvenir ride photo afterwards, Nest said that I was shaking so badly, that I took ages to get the correct change together (well at least I didn't wet myself!) One of the souvenir photos being displayed up on the preview screens, showed a group of teenage boys bare-chested and holding their shirts up in the air, looking quite pleased with themselves. How anyone can think of doing that while being faced with a 250 foot drop, is beyond me!

Despite the traumas of Goliath, Nest and I then headed towards Superman : The Escape. It took us a while to find the entrance, and while we were standing under its take-off track trying to make sense of the map, a car-load of people shot overhead. The noise was absolutely deafening - it was as if there was a low-flying jet overhead! We eventually found the correct way to go, and waited in a dark glowing crystal cave for our turn to ride. I don't think this ride lasted for more than ten seconds - you shoot forwards up this curved track to meet Superman, before plummeting back down to the crystal cave backwards. I kept my eyes shut the entire time, and was really disappointed in myself afterwards, as it felt as if I hadn't gone on it at all. Nest kept his eyes open the whole time, and said that I should've too, as you couldn't see how high up we were because of the way we were facing the entire time. Nest also told me that the people in front of us threw pennies up in the air at the highest point of the ride, and when we shot back down a split second later, the pennies were still up there!

Time was getting on by this stage, and we still had so much to do! We knew we weren't going to achieve everything the park had to offer, more's the pity, so we made a beeline for the two gnarled looking monster coasters we were warned off on arrival - X and Viper. It took us so long to find the entrance to these rides, despite being able to see their massive structures looming high above us. We had to have walked the same way at least five times, ending up at the Panda Express Chinese counter service restaurant each time (were our brains subconsciously trying to tell us to have dinner?), during which time night had well and truly fallen. By the time we discovered the secret passage to the rides, we found that it was guarded by two staff members, who informed us that X and Viper were closed for maintenance, and would reopen in the Spring. Nooooooo - we were so disappointed! (I know that sounds strange coming from me after the fuss I made of Goliath, but I still find the thought of massive rollercoasters exciting - it's just sometimes my actual experience of them differ from the initial happy thoughts, if that makes sense.)

Viper - photo taken on entering the park

We left shopping till last due to storage issues and so as to optimise the time we could spend on rides. We were really pressed for time by this stage, so we quickly dashed through the Loony Tunes Super Store first, buying nothing, before spending up big in Flags, the largest store in the park. Our haul included goodies such as t-shirts, magnets, and the mandatory themed pens. I was disappointed they didn't devote at least a little corner of the store to Wally World merchandise, and I was disappointed AND surprised that they didn't sell postcards of any description!! I even asked just to make sure I didn't miss them. Postcards are my main holiday souvenir!

Besides breakfast and lunch, Nest and I hadn't had time to eat throughout the day - not even snacks! - so I bought a king-sized Twix bar, a medium-sized packet of M&M's, and a small packet of peanut M&M's. Nest and I stuffed ourselves full of chocolaty goodness while waiting out the front of Wally World for our bus back to our hotel.

It was so hard waiting out the front for our 6pm bus, knowing that the park was still open for a couple more hours, and that there were rides we missed out on. If only the bus left at closing time, Nest and I could've tried our best to get a few more rides done. I'm particularly disappointed we missed out on two water rides (Log Jammer and Tidal Wave), and Ninja, one of the park's first rides (for nostalgic reasons.) It also would've been great to have had time to go up in the sky tower, check out the cute animals at Bugs Bunny World, and ride our favourite attractions twice. Wally World is such a big park, and it's impossible to get it all covered in a day (though I suppose you'd be in with a chance if you didn't have to wait in lines at any of the attractions.) Another regrettable issue, is the photographic side of things. Wally World took on a different feel at night, when the Christmas lights came on and sent out a beautiful warm glow. Nest and I didn't get a chance to capture any of this on film, as we were rushing around crazy trying to experience as many rides as possible (besides, it was specified on the rules that no tripods or special lenses were to be used, which Nest needs for perfect night shots.) Overall though, Nest and I absolutely loved our time at Wally World . It was the first themepark we've ever been to, that features seriously extreme rollercoasters - there's absolutely nothing like it in Australia . I also noticed and appreciated how each coaster was painted in different bold bright colours, which looked great against the blue sky, and how there was lots of lovely big green trees and bushes growing around the park.

Our happy bus driver picked us up, and told us that he'd be driving us to Universal Studios, where we'd be transferring to a larger bus, which would then take us to our hotel. It was exciting seeing Universal again, even though we knew we wouldn't be actually going into the park or exploring the city walk. There were quite a few people on the Universal bus already, and I was concerned that Nest and I may not have been able to sit together, but that worry was for nothing. Then I saw the grumpy bus driver from the morning run, but was relieved for a second time that journey, when he appeared to be much happier . Once everyone had boarded and had taken their seats, we then set off. Nest and I continued to stuff our faces with chocolate, while trying to ignore the driver's CRAZY driving . I can't describe how crazy the driving was - it was most certainly an experience! Despite the craziness, I ended up nodding off, as the heater was up so HIGH, and woke up in time to catch a glimpse of Knott's Berry Farm, where Nest and I would be going the following day.

Once settled in our cosy room back at the Grand Californian Hotel, I rang in Room Service for dinner. Nest had chicken quesadillas, followed by a turkey cheeseburger with chips, and washed down with a hot chocolate. I had my favourite meal - Spaghetti with meat sauce, accompanied by a Sprite. Our framed souvenir Tatsu photo was placed proudly on our bedside table for the remainder of our holiday, where it served to remind us of the magnificent time we had had at Wally World - we would've done the Griswold's proud!

[Meggera]

First of all, I am shocked that Australia doesn't have great coaster-laden theme parks. I had no idea. There are too many in the States to even begin mentioning, and we all of them. I am so glad you got to experience a Six Flags park. I grew up going to Six Flags over Georgia in Atlanta. I plan on going to the two Six Flags parks that are in Texas since I have just moved here.

Second, I am so glad you enjoyed those coasters. I love riding new ones and always get so excited to go to a new park. It is rare that I ride one that I never have to ride again. We rode a brand new one at Kings Dominion in Doswell, VA, and I thought it would never end. Maybe I struggled with it because I was getting a headache? I don't know. But, I was happy to get off. I have ridden the standing coaster at Kings Dominion. I always made sure I was in the front row. If I wasn't, I tended to hit my head on the shoulder harness, and it hurt like crazy.

Third, I can't wait to hear about your time at Knott's Berry Farm. Hurry back soon!

[chezp]

Wow, those are some serious coasters! I don't think I've ever read a trip report that included a visit to that park before, so it's been fascinating to see it for the first time.

[Colexis Mom]

What a great day!!

[Two4Disney]

Just popped in to catch up. Wonderful, wonderful pics! They really add to the report. And I haven't been to "Wally World" in YEARS! Only rode Colossus once - and that was enough for me.

Kathy