Saturday morning started bright and early, we had to catch a 9:00am direct Westjet flight to LAX. After we landed we collected our luggage (I finally got to use my fancy dancy new luggage I got from my parents last Christmas that has four wheels and is super easy to push) and made our way to the Disneyland shuttle bus. We booked this trip last minute (booked Tuesday left Saturday) and we didn’t have time to pre-pay for the shuttle bus and save $2 a person. Oh well no big deal. A bus didn’t take long to pull up and we all got on and seated and just as the bus was leaving the stop another little bus cut into the lane we were getting into and smacked our buses mirror. The two bus drivers got out and exchanged information and we had to transfer onto a new bus while everything was sorted out. We made it to our hotel with no other issues where we quickly freshened up and headed straight to the park. When we landed it was overcast but still warm out and as the day progressed it turned to blue sunny skies.
Our first stop was Alexanders favourite ride, Star Tours, that had recently been upgraded. We got Fastpass tickets to ride it later in the day but we also decided to stand in the stand-by entrance which was approx. 40 minutes long. We finally made it onto the ride and the ride didn’t want to work! After about 10 minutes of trying we all had to transfer into a new car. I’m not a big fan of the motion simulator rides because they make me sick but I went on it once just to experience the newness of it. *grin*
After we went on one of my favourite rides – Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. I love it!!!!! Then we shared a burger for lunch at Tomorrowland Terrace.
After we headed over to ride It’s a Small World. The line up was only around 15 minutes and moved quickly. The line we chose we got some good pictures of the outside of the ride. The ride is inside where it is nice and cool and it is nice to get off your feet for a few minutes.
We then crossed over to the other side of the park and went on Big Thunder Mountain. While exiting the ride we saw someone famous! Okay, only I recognized them and if you don’t watch the Disney Channel you would never know who they were either. We saw Aly & AJ Michalka! Hey, it is my first “star” sighting other than wax figurines in a museum. I’ll take what I can get *grin*
After my famous encounter we headed over to another favourite ride of mine, Indiana Jones! We got Fastpasses for later but it turns out we didn’t need to, the whole time we were there the ride line was always 10 minutes long. Sweet! 10 minutes is about how long it takes to walk the the queue to the beginning of the ride (which is reported to be 1/2 mile long!). No matter how many times I ride Indy it is always awesome. A tip for future Disneylanders – when you get to the front of the line and a Disney Cast Member is asking how many people in your party and putting you into lines ask for the front row, you might have to wait for the next car but it is totally worth it! You can ask to ride in a specific seat for any ride you want! I discovered something new and I confirmed it when I got home – Following the queue you come to a room that has a big screen with a “projector” looping a movie (set back in “1935”) giving information on the Temple of Doom we are about to entre and about ride safety etc. Anyways we were behind a guy in the queue and overheard him say if you can get a good viewing angle you can see behind the projector on the ceiling an old parking sign that was left there when building the ride. Good old Wikipedia confirmed this: “Part of the attraction extends into what was once the Eeyore section of Disneyland's parking lot. As a tribute, an Eeyore sign is supported by wooden scaffolding at the very back of the projector room”. I didn’t see it but I know for next time to watch out for it!
For dinner we stopped off at Cafe Orleans for some dinner. Oh. My. Goodness! It was so yummy we actually went back again the night before we left. We started off by sharing some Pommes Frites and some Gumbo (so, so, so, so good!). Then we split a Monte Cristo sandwich – sliced turkey, ham and Swiss cheese fried in a light batter and served with berry puree with powdered sugar. It was a little weird to eat like a doughnut with meat and cheese in the middle and dip it in jam. It was really rich and we couldn’t finish it all. I would totally recommend this restaurant to anyone going to Disneyland!
Alexander eating some Gumbo:
Monte Cristo sandwich:
We watched some fireworks (I really need to know how to take a good night firework shot!) and then Alexander used a Fastpass to ride on Star Tours again while I sat and chilled. Then Alexander used another Fastpass he got earlier on in the day for Space Mountain. By the time he got off the ride it was almost park closing time (midnight) and I was tiered (it had been a super long day!) so we headed back to the hotel room.
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