We started out Friday morning at 7 AM and arrived at our hotel, The Grand Californian, at Disneyland:
This is a GORGEOUS hotel and being able to stay here was a real treat! It is the best hotel I have ever stayed in. You walk through a set of double sliding stained glass doors into a beautiful craftsman style lobby:
At check in, they asked if we were celebrating anything and I told them it was my birthday and so I got some balloons, an autographed photo of Captain Hook, Peter Pan, and Wendy, as well as a birthday button which I wore everyday we were there. As a gift to myself, I added the extra day in the park so we could go in on Friday afternoon!
We got to our room,
got ourselves settled in,
and headed out to the park!
We took the Disneyland Railroad from Main Street Station over to New Orleans Square. I thought the Lilly Belle was out, but I was mistaken! Darn it! Maybe later?
Once we got there, we decided dinner was in order. And dinner in New Orleans Square means one thing!
The one, the only, Monte Cristo! Yep, that is a turkey, ham, and cheese sandwich that has been batter dipped, fried, dusted in powdered sugar, and served with a berry jam.
So good and so not on my diet! But then again, I already knew that was going out the window!
After that we did the Haunted Mansion. This was the first time the boys has seen the Haunted Mansion as it was originally intended and not as the Nightmare Before Christmas. Marc liked it a lot. Noah? Not so much.
We then went over to Pirates of the Caribbean.This is a family favorite. However, Malia was not to pleased with it this time, as there were three rather large people in the back row of the boat, and they bottomed it out on the first drop and a bunch of water rushed in and soaked her pants. She was cold and uncomfortable for most of the night.
My favorite, The Jungle Cruise, was next. I love this ride, but it takes a good skipper to do it, and tonight was not the night! :-(
Indy, Big Thunder Mountain, and Tiki Room were all walk ons, so we hit those and then went over to Disney California Adventure to ride Toy Story Midway Mania. We figured that the park was not crowded, so the lines wouldn't be that long. We of course, were mistaken, but only waited about 45 minutes. Sadly, the boys guns didn't work so they didn't get to enjoy the ride. Fortunately, the operators saw that and gave us passes to get right back on! Woot!
After our second time, we rushed over to get on Grizzly River Run before the park closed, but we were 2 minutes late! Drat! At this point, Malia had enough and went back to the hotel. The boys and I had 2 more hours, so we went back over to DL and rode the tea cups, which Malia doesn't like anyway!
Day 2 had us in the park at 8 AM. We rode Space Mountain, Matterhorn (twice), Alice, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, and Small World. While we were waiting to disembark from Small World, I looked up and saw the Lilly Belle attached to one of the trains! We got off the ride and headed up to Toontown Station and the DL RR. While waiting for the train, I asked one of the operators if we could ride in the Lilly Belle. He said we would have to ask at Main Street. So, after an agonizing 10 minute ride, we got to Main Street and go the last reservation to ride in the Lilly Belle at 4:30!
We then headed back to the hotel for an afternoon nap. It was a well needed nap, since we had stayed up until 12 AM the night before.
We headed back into the park at about 3:45 so we would be at Main Street Station by 4:15. We (well, I mostly) waited anxiously for the train to arrive!
Eventually we were able to board
and hear the history of this famous car and insider info about the park.
The three coolest things I learned? First, the mural in the first part of the Grand Canyon section of the Railroad is the second largest canvas painting in the world. The second? The children of the artist of the first section did the second section of the mural in the Grand Canyon. The third? That mural is the largest canvas painting in the world!
At the end of the ride we each got a ticket:
At first, I was excited, because it looked like the tickets are individually numbered. As it turned out, all the tickets had the same number. :-( Oh well. It was still another thing off my Disney wish list.
After that, we headed for dinner at Pizza Port where Malia admitted I make the better choices of food at Disneyland! Heh. Of course I do! ;-)
We then saw Captain EO. The movie is very dated and the 3D effect was offset so much that the only way I could watch it was to close my left eye. Best part of that show? The pre-show were we got to see a skinny George Lucas!
We then went in to Innoventions, which is a look at technology of the future. In there, we saw a very cool Honda automobile that runs on hydrogen. It looks awesome! After that we rode on the Autopia, Matterhorn, and Storybook Land.
It was then time for the show on Small World. What they do is take pictures of people at the park throughout the day and then put them into a prearranged show. We got there just in time to see ourselves projected onto the walls! Very cool.
After that, it was down to Main Street for dessert. I got one of the Chocolate covered fudge Easter Eggs:
Eight ounces of pure chocolate goodness! SOOO good!!!
We then rode Buzz Lightyear, Big Thunder, Pirates, and Jungle Cruise again. Sadly the law of averages caught up to us and we had an ok skipper and a really bad skipper, both were women. Once again proving that most women do not get the Jungle Cruise.
We finished the night on Indy and then the walked back to our room.
Gonna stop there. I'll post part 2 tomorrow!
