My bad!
[Also goes to show that I don't check out my blog often enough!]
Well, I've never been very good at summarizing, but I'm going to try to do
my best to do so this time around.
[Consider yourself warned......]
What I did on my birthday:
We got in line to buy our tickets.
Instead of getting into a park for free, I chose to get the birthday gift card. [$69.00 of 'free' money to buy souvenirs....woo-hoo!]
On to Disneyland we went!
Took a ride on the Horse-Drawn Streetcar [Trisha had never rode it before.]
Said hello to Mary Poppins! [It was my first time 'meeting' her!]
Took a picture of Sleeping Beauty Castle
Went on It's a Small World....twice! [because the line was super short,
as well as to check out all the cool, new additions!]
Used a fast-pass for one of my absolute favorite attractions:
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.
Looked around in the Emporium and bought a photo autograph book.
[My first time doing the 'autograph thing'.]
Left Disneyland and headed to Disney's California Adventure....
Sat in the back of the mezzanine of the Hyperion Theatre to watch
Aladdin - A Musical Spectacular, another favorite of mine.
[The Genie was hilarious, as always!]
Visited the Beast's Library and Ursula's Grotto at the Sorcerer's Workshop
in the Art of Animation building.
Picture time with 'Bob and Helen'...aka Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl.
Going Down? Went on the Tower of Terror.
[Sigh, I guess I really am getting older, as much as I hate to admit it. Just 5 years ago, we went on it over and over again. This time around I felt like once was enough!]
More 'Photo-Ops': Goofy, Pluto, Wall-E, and one of my favorites, Sulley!
Watched a musical show called 'Drawn to the Magic'.
[Basically as a way to get a photo with Woody and Cinderella and should have with Mickey, as well, but they cut off the line before we had the chance to!]
One of my sister, Trisha's favorite attractions: It's Tough To Be A Bug
[Quite a few 'newbies' this time, which made it even more fun!]
Visited Blue Sky Cellar, which showcases all the changes being made to
Disney's California Adventure over the next few years [Some pretty cool things are happening! I'm most excited about the Little Mermaid Attraction that will be taking over the 'Palace of Fine Arts']
Time to eat!
We left the parks and got some lunch at McDonald's and what would end up being my birthday 'cake' : A cup of Cake Batter ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery. [YUM! One of my absolute faves!]
Back to Disneyland....and back to Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters!!!
After about a half hour wait we went on a Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. The cast member who let us on wished me a happy birthday about a dozen times! [It was my sister's first time on it, and my second time.]
Walked right on to a boat to visit Capt. Jack Sparrow at Pirates of the Caribbean.
Walked right into the Haunted Mansion.
Biggest Score of the day: No line at Splash Mountain!!!!
All we had to do was walk our way through the maze and on to the ride!
And since it's right there.... Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
[Which is also appropriate, since it has a birthday scene in it!]
Watched 'Remember - Dreams Come True' Fireworks Spectacular from a spot near the Rivers of America [And I think was the first time I hadn't watched it somewhere around the castle.]
Long walk, but very short line: Indiana Jones Adventure.
Something new: Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk-through
[Tells the story of Sleeping Beauty].
Went for a spin on Mad Tea Party and for a drive at Autopia.
Longer wait than expected: Space Mountain [still, a short wait, about 15-20 minutes, but it felt long after walking right on all the other attractions!]
Midnight approaches...so we score up some points at Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters...twice! [Making it 4 times for the day!]
I think that was only the second or third time that I was actually at the park until midnight! Usually it's not open that late when we visit, and when it is, Trisha is usually too tired to stay til the end! It's a good thing we stayed until midnight, because the next day, the parks were only open until 6:00pm and 8:00pm!
Day 2:
Started the day at Disney's California Adventure, arriving there 15 minutes or so before the park's 'official' opening.
At the stroke of 10:00am, we quickly made our way, with it felt like pretty much everyone else, to Paradise Pier, and more specifically.... Toy Story Midway Mania!
My new favorite attraction! [Sorry, Buzz!] It is SO much fun! We both liked it so much, we went on it twice. [Would have liked to go a couple more times, but the line kept getting longer.]
Guess who was Player 1?
California Screamin' [What happened to Mickey? Why did they move Mickey and replace him with a giant sun instead?!?]
Maliboomer [Not one of my favorites, but it more than likely won't be around the next time we visit the parks, so we thought we'd blast off one last time....]
Jumpin' Jellyfish [I didn't go...was starting to feel a bit woozy, but Trisha had never been on it before, and was able to get on quickly since she was a single rider.]
Another one of my favorites: Monsters, Inc. [Roz thought Trisha and I were twins! And that wasn't the first time we were told that by someone on this trip! HUH?!?]
Turtle Talk with Crush [You so totally ROCK......Dude!!!]
More fun playing around in the Sorcerer's Workshop!
In the Beast's Library I got almost every Beauty and the Beast Character! [Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth, Gaston and Belle] We also did some more singing and acting in Ursula's Grotto.
Used a FastPass for Soarin' Over California. Was asked to deliver a key to the cast member at the end of the line, which is how they gauge how long of a wait there is. [They need to work on the screen, some marks on it are a bit distracting.]
Said 'So long' to Disney's California Adventure...
Trisha's feeling tired = ride Disneyland Railroad 1 1/2 times around the park
A waste of time: Spending an hour waiting in line for photo-ops at the Disney Princess Fantasy Faire, only to discover that there were only 3 Princesses: Snow White, Cinderella and Mulan!
If I had known that from the beginning, I wouldn't have waited!
[I was hoping for Sleeping Beauty, because a couple girls at my school are currently obsessed with her and acting out the story!]
Took a quick walk around Mickey's ToonTown
Back on the train, where we departed at New Orleans Square, and walked over to Critter Country to visit Winnie the Pooh and friends....
[Photo time with Tigger, Eeyore and Pooh....SO much quicker than the princesses took!]
Walked around Fantasyland, because all the lines for the attractions were still a bit too long, and it was getting close to closing time. :(
Checked out the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk-through one more time.
Did some last-minute shopping at the Emporium.
[Still have some money left on my gift card. Woo-Hoo!]
Ended our day watching the Celebrate! A Street Party parade.
I didn't catch much of it though, because I was trying to make my way over to the bakery to buy a chocolate chocolate chip muffin. [Mmmm...they're SO good!]
From there, we bid a fond farewell to the parks and quickly made our way back to our hotel to grab our bags and then walked back towards the parks to catch the first of many buses that we would take to get us all the way back home.
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