Monday, April 1, 2013

Meet me on Main Street!

"To all who come to this happy place; welcome!"

With those words, Walt Disney invited the world to come play in a land of make believe come to life. How cool was that? My first time at Disneyland was when I was 22 years old. I was an east coaster, so never went as a kid. I'm making up for it now! Since then, I have fallen in love with this place. From the first step in the gates, I feel like I am home. Disneyland is my place. When we go, I get to be the guide. I am the tour director. I love it!

Today, we are going to look at Main Street and Tomorrowland.

Main Street is the ideal of what small town America was like when Walt was growing up. There's the train station, the bank, city hall, a firestation, and shopping galore! Everything a kid could want could be found on Main Street.

Disney's Main Street is mostly about shopping these days, though there are some cool events and things to see on Main Street.

While on Main Street, you might see the Horse Drawn Carriage, the Omnibus, or one of the trains. A must do if you can is schedule a ride on the Lilly Belle.

Interior of the Lilly Belle

This was the train car Walt would use to show guests around the park. It's named after his wife. Nowadays, it runs every once in a while, and you are able to ride it for free if you make reservations the day it's out. While on the ride around the park, you get to hear the history of the park and the car itself. It's a great story and one of the hidden gems of the park.

Also on Main Street you will find Great Moments in History starring Abraham Lincoln. This is a great Audioanimatronic presentation with a very lifelike Abe Lincoln talking about America. Very cool.

Main Street is a great place to watch the Fireworks at the end of a long day or catch a parade during the afternoon. During the Christmas season, you might even find snow drifting down on you! Pretty cool experience.

Shopping galore here as well. Sadly, most of the shops in Disneyland sell the exact same items, so if you don't want to go all over the park looking for something, you can usually find it on Main Street. A great service they offer to park guests is holding your shopping items for you until you are ready to pick them up. If you are a hotel guest, they will even deliver them to your hotel by the next morning. Pretty nice service. And it's free!

There are a few good places to eat along Main Street. Gibson Girl Ice Cream has some great ice cream! Refreshment Corner offers Coke and Fries, I believe. The big winner for me is the Corn Dog Cart! Love their hand dipped Corn Dogs! The Jolly Holiday Bakery opened last year and there you will find lots of yummy baked good! Their Matterhorn Macaroons are awesome!


Such a good cookie!

The Hub has a really cool Walt and Mickey Statue that is worth stopping and getting a picture with.


Great statue!

Once you leave the Hub, a trip to the right side of the park takes you to Tomorrowland. I know that when Disneyland first opened Tomorrowland was really tomorrow land. Now? It's more Sci-Fi Land with a couple of other things thrown in.

The first ride you get to is the Astro Orbiter. It's a pretty straightforward ride. Hope aboard your rocket ship, and once the ride starts, you control how high off the ground your ship goes within a limited range. Fun for little ones I guess. Loses it's appeal after the first couple times. If you want one of these rides, wait to ride Dumbo. It's more iconic.

Next up is Star Tours, The Adventure Continues. Last year they did a major refurbishment on this ride and it now offers dozens of combinations of ride possibilities. You could go to Tattooine and Coruscant one time, and the next time go to Kashyyk and the Death Star. Not to mention the scenes in between! Worth a ride. Or two. Or three. It's a 3-D Motion ride, so keep that in mind!


Captain EO is around the corner. It's a bit dated and the 3D is a bit off. The last time I saw it, I had to take the glasses off and close my eyes. I guess if you really want to see it you can, but...eh.

Next up is the ride you must hit. We usually do this first thing in the morning. Space Mountain. It's probably the best ride in Disneyland. Not my favorite, but the best. I'll cover my favorite later in the week.


The Space Mountain Loading Area

Fast, indoor, dark roller coaster. Very cool! Can't wait to ride this first thing Tuesday morning.

Innoventions is next. Skip it, unless there is a cool exhibit there. We will be there a few days before they unveil the Iron Man armor exhibit. Bummed about that!

The Autopia is great, if you don't drive normally. Otherwise, it's a bit boring. We usually do it once, so the kids can drive a car. 

Heading back to the front you pass the Monorail Station, which I'll talk about later and the Finding Nemo Subs. The subs are pretty cool. The Nemo ride is okay. Not a must do, but kind of fun, and a good way to get out of the heat and sun!

Past the Jedi Training Show and the Tomorrowland Terrace restaurant is the Buzz Lightyear ride. Another must in Tomorrowland. Fun, interactive dark ride. Worth the time in line!


Tomorrow we'll go deeper into the park!

Weight was up today to 227.6 lbs. I don't even know anymore. I'm tempted to stop weighing myself everyday. I think I'll skip that next week! Heh.

Today was a relatively good day, though stress levels increased after work. Crazy children at home! Counting the days until Disneyland!

Food Diary for Monday the 1st of April:

Breakfast: 2 eggs, over easy, fried in butter
                 3.5 pieces of Beef Bacon (More like beef jerky than bacon)
                10 oz of Coffee w/ KAL Stevia Sweetener

AM Snack: Nothing
                 
Lunch:  Lamb and Cauliflower from last night
           Big container of Romaine Lettuce with Balsamic and Olive Oil

PM Snack: 5 Macadamias
                  1 piece of Beef Bacon
                  4 oz of Lamb
                 1/2 a slice of Carrot Cake

Dinner:  Shrimp Taco Salad
             Big Ol' Salad
             2 pieces of Carrot Cake 

Water: About 70 oz

Sleep: about 8 hours of sleep

Exercise: Walking
               Abs Diet Monday Original Circuit

Take care!




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