California Spring Fling, 2001 - Day 5 About This Page:

[Little Mermaid]

Wednesday, April 11

Cast of Characters: Same as yesterday, only more tired. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

After two days of Non-stop Park touring, we weren't moving quite as quickly this morning. Mark had actually started limping the day before, and I think we all were suffering from very sore feet. Disneyland may be smaller than Disney World, but our feet would have probably begged to differ. We woke up at around 5 a.m., but we took our time getting up and out of the room, and entered Disneyland Park around 8 a.m.

We decided to rent a stroller for Stephanie today, as her feet were already starting to bother her after the walk from the hotel to the park. She had done two very long days of walking park touring, and we decided that a stroller for her would, in the long run, make for a more enjoyable day for all of us. We still use a stroller for Mark at places like Disneyland, because of sensory and safety issues. And, the crowds were becoming noticeably heavier as the week progressed, and I felt much more at ease having her in the stroller as we navigated our way through the maddening throngs of people. My biceps got quite the workout from pushing her!

It was our original plan to head straight to Toontown, but Mark had other ideas. I often read about how younger children are frightened of the Wicked Queen in the Snow White ride, but she doesn't bother Mark in the least…in fact, he seems to like seeing her. There was no one else in line for Snow White when we finished, so the CM let us stay on for a second round (much to Mark's delight). We then moved on to Mr. Toad (another favorite of Mark, Greg and Stephanie) and rode that twice in a row, and finally made our way to Toontown.

Once at Toontown, we rode Gadget's Go Coaster twice in a row, and then we walked through Chip and Dale's Treehouse (snooze). Is it too much to actually expect to SEE Chip and Dale? I think not! We then got in line to meet the Big Guy himself, Mickey Mouse. Once we got the requisite autograph and pictures, we did a quick walk through of his house, and then headed off to see the Missus. The Missus wasn't due home until 10:00 a.m., so we had a snack and rested our aching tootsies while we waited. I don't know WHY our feet were hurting so badly. The tennies were well broken in, and we were doing less walking that at WDW…

Mark was in seventh heaven when we met Minnie (swoon, swoon). After meeting the Missus, Mark decided he wanted to go back to Mickey's house for another look. Stephanie passed on that idea, so we milled around Toontown while they went inside. As luck would have it, Pluto and Goofy came out for meet and greets, and we were able to meet them without too much pushing and shoving from the crowds. I still cannot get over the fact that Disneyland does not provide handlers for the characters. Someone is going to get hurt someday!

We left Toontown, and headed (at Mark's request) to It's a Small World. After IASW, we did the Matterhorn Bobsleds two times in a row (first one side, and then other…the rides are slightly different, both in intensity and length). We then slowed it on down with a ride on the Storybook Canal Boats, with Mark and Stephanie sitting on the bow and serving as Whale Watchers. This is a cute ride, but it could really use a bit of rehabbing. It just looks a bit "dingy". Stephanie loves it, and rates it as one of her favorite DL rides. The Casey Jr. Circus Train was next (I always feel like a prisoner sitting in the cage cars ), and then we decided to break for lunch.

We took the less congested path behind BTMRR and headed to New Orleans Square to check the menus at a few of the restaurants there. My husband is not the culinary adventurous type, so we passed on the counter service restaurants in New Orleans Square, as Cajun type food does not appeal to him. We continued walking to Critter Country, and soon found ourselves at the Hungry Bear restaurant (and we were hungry AS bears by this point). Like most eating establishments at DL, it was overpriced for the quality and portion size (a basket of 6 onion rings was $2.50), but, what are you gonna do?

After lunch, we headed to the Country Bear Playhouse, which was a walk-on (very surprising, because the park was PACKED). After CBP, we got into the Special Assistance line for Splash Mountain. This was the longest line we waited in for the entire trip…30-minutes. That was a loooong time for Mark to wait in line, but considering that the "regular" line was posting a 2-hour wait, we didn't complain. Greg and I switched off standing in line, while the other sat on a nearby bench with the kids. I love this ride! It doesn't seem as long as the one at WDW, but we all enjoyed it.

After Splash Mountain, we decided it was time for an ice cream break (like there's EVER a bad time for an ice cream break ). Greg and the kids had the requisite Mickey Bars, while I threw caution to the wind and got a Mighty Duck Puck. I soon wished I had NOT thrown caution to the wind, because the Mighty Duck Puck did indeed taste like a puck to me! It looked like a tasty cookie ice cream sandwich, but…well…looks can be deceiving. Hockey anyone?

After ditching the puck, and wiping the few lingering traces of Premium Mickey Bar off the faces of Mark and Stephanie, we rode Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean in a quick one-two punch. We were so thankful to have the Special Assistance Pass. It is the ONLY way we could visit Disneyland during such a busy time. By now, it was approaching mid-afternoon, and the New Orleans Square, Frontierland and Adventureland areas were literally wall-to-wall people. I was SO glad to have both kids in strollers, or I would have been VERY concerned for their safety. If you lost sight of your child in this type of crowd, you may never see them again!

We then proceeded to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Stephanie started to hedge a bit about riding it, but we reminded her that she had enjoyed the Matterhorn Bobsleds, so she bit the bullet and got in line. SHE LOVED IT!!!! In fact, she loved it SO much that she wanted to ride it a second time right away. But, we didn't want to be greedy and go through the line twice in a row with our SAP when it was so incredibly crowed. We opted instead to head for Fantasyland. Once in Fantasyland, we turned into bona-fide Ride Maniacs, and did Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Snow White, Mr. Toad, Casey Jr., and Dumbo in short order.

We were starting to get rumblies in our tumblies, but Mark wanted to ride Space Mountain, so we figured it would be best to do that before he ate. We ended up taking an unscheduled break, because for some unknown reason, Mark decided to have a 20-minute meltdown. Actually, I guess I do know the reason…we had been Non-stop Park touring for three days, and I imagine the poor child was just plain exhausted. I know I was (but as tired as we were, we were having so much FUN!). I worked my mommy magic on him, and he finally calmed down. Greg took him on Space Mountain, while Stephanie and I (ride weenies) went to pick up the package we had sent to Package Express earlier in the day. BUT, it was not to be…unlike WDW, Package Pickup is OUTSIDE the park entrance at DL. What is up with THAT? What really irked me is that the Package Pickup booth shares space with a souvenir stand that is inside the park. You can see all the way down the shop to the package pickup area, but do you think the CM's in the souvenir shop will let you pick up your packages when you are INSIDE the park? Noooooooooo. I didn't feel like hassling with having us exit the park and get the hand stamps, so we decided to wait to pick up the package until we left for the day. We headed back up Main Street, and stopped at Snow White's Grotto (just to the right of Sleeping Beauty's castle). If you listen very closely at the well, you can hear the voice of the original Snow White singing…very cool.

We then met up with Greg and Mark outside Space Mountain, and headed to Red Rocket's Pizza Port for dinner. Mark was VERY tired by this point (heck, we all were), but he ate his spaghetti and meatballs with gusto (don't get between Mark and his meatballs! ). Stephanie had pizza, and I had a yummy Chicken Caesar salad. I can't remember what Greg had…probably pizza, since (as you might remember), he is NOT culinary adventurous!

We had planned to do Autopia and the monorail, but Mark was falling asleep in the stroller, so we decided to call it a night. We walked back down Main Street and we saw a little bit of the evening parade that was just wrapping up. Greg walked back to the hotel with Mark sleeping in the stroller, while Stephanie and I stayed behind to pick up the package from Package Express. We then caught the shuttle back to the hotel, as our feet were ACHING! Mark never even woke up when Greg got him back to the room, and Stephanie went to bed almost immediately after she and I got back. Greg and I prepared for the next day (our last day at Disneyland Park… sniff, sniff ), and called it a night.

Coming Next - Day 6 - Our last day at Disneyland Park (in full commando mode), and the kindness of a stranger at Animazement where we learned it really IS a Small World After All.

[ 12-30-2002, 12:20 AM: Message edited by: Little Mermaid ]

[Bert & Sully]

Ok catching up on the rest of your trip report!!