[Fun] Disneyland Trip Report July 27th-29th 2012

[GopherSummerSquash]

Hi everyone. This is my first trip report on Micechat, so cut me some slack if I'm no good. I'm still grappling with my computer's picture conversion system (don't ask) so this one is going to have to be text-only, I'm afraid. So, here we go:

DAY ONE: 27/7/2012


We were staying in the Hotel Menage, Anaheim, which, conveniently, was only about a 5-minute drive from Disneyland, and, even better, the Menage ran a shuttle service, the ART, free of charge. Lucky us. So, we had our breakfast in the hotel restaraunt (best food ever, seriously, try staying here the next time you visit DL) and then hopped on the bus and made our way to Disneyland Park. We'd decided beforehand that we'd devote 2 days to Disneyland and just the one for DCA. We lined up at the gate, got out or snazzy pre-bought-online tickets, and were in the park by 8:04, just 4 minutes after opening. It felt amazing.

As soon as we got in, we were tackled by a Cast Member who was conducting a few interviews for first time park visitors, and wasted three precious minutes of our day answering pointless questions. It was, to say the least, a little bit irritating. After we managed to shake her off, however, we tore through Main Street and made a beeline for Tomorrowland and headed straight to the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, having heard of the awful wait times it gets. And (this is going to sound like a miracle) there was NO LINE at all, we simply walked right on. I was thrilled. The ride wasn't bad, but for my sister, who is a huge fan of the film, the effects were simply mind-blowing. My favourite part would have to be the anglerfish - it's really well done! After exiting our sub, we made a mad dash to Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, where, also, there was no queue. The ride was, as always, excellent - I beat Pete by about 400 points, which for some reason seemed to aggravate him a bit....

Having bought an autograph book from Buzz's gift shop ($7) we headed to the Astro Orbitor, where, again, there was no line. I don't know if we got lucky, or what, but all I knew is that we were making excellent time! I had a rocket to myself, as did everyone else - I don't know what Disney is thinking saying that you can fit two to a rocket - sure, maybe if you're about a millimetre thick or something, but, if you fall into the category that 99.9999% of the world's population does (ie: not 1mm thick) then no dice. Since no-one else was wanting to ride, the Cast Member was kind enough to loop the ride twice for us without having to queue up again - score! After our flight, much to our dismay, both Star Tours and Space Mountain were shut (what is this blasphemy?!) and so we bit the bullet and went for a drive on Autopia. No wait. We got the little red card that the Cast Members use to gauge wait times. I suck at driving the cars. End of story.

After this, I refused point-blank to buy a "Driver's License" and so we headed to Tomorrowland Terrace for a drink. $15 for a regular Coke each. Not bad. Star Tours and SM were still down for the count, so we - dare I say it, *gulp* - went into Innoventions. *Thousands of MiceChatters simultaneously draw their guns on me* OK, OK, it was an accident! *Guns are withdrawn* ...phew. So we arrived there too early to see the Asimo robot show, so we had a go on that ice hockey thingamajig and found a retro video game based on Song of the South to play on in the House of the Future bedroom. We sent a photo of ourselves to our email address on that monitor device at the end of the building. It never arrived. I think that sums up Innoventions quite nicely.

So we somehow managed to make it out of Innoventions alive, and decided, begrudgingly, to give up on our flight to Hoth (or *shudder* Naboo) and made our way out of Tomorrowland and past a huge crowd that had gathered in front of the Castle to see Mickey do a little show of sorts. We thought that this would work to our advantage, but no such luck - after entering Fantasyland, making a detour to take a spin on the King Arthur Carrousel, and meeting with Peter Pan (no, not that one that everyone is always on about whose name escapes me, a different one) our first port of call, Peter Pan's Flight, was already a 55 minute wait. I knew our winning streak wouldn't last forever....

Well, that's all I've got time for now, but I'll be updating soon, never fear (hopefully with pictures...)!

UPDATE: I'VE MOVED THIS TRIP REPORT TO A NEW LOCATION, IT'S NOT DEAD, HERE'S THE LINK:
http://micechat.com/forums/disneylan...post1056843724
THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

[smartlabelprint]

Re: Disneyland Trip Report July 27th-29th 2012

Thanks for sharing! Can't wait to read the rest. I prefer text only anyway. LOL

Can't wait for my trip! 39 days!

[GopherSummerSquash]

Re: Disneyland Trip Report July 27th-29th 2012

DAY ONE 27/7/2012 CONTINUED

Hey, I'm back! I knew I wasn't gone for long, but I managed to set aside some time to do a little bit more of my trip report. And yes, my picture program is still refusing to work, so, again, we're going text only. Without further ado, let's pick up from where we left off:


There was no way we were waiting 55 minutes for Peter Pan, so instead we headed to It's a Small World, which, thankfully, was only a 10 minute wait. I particularly enjoyed seeing the Three Caballeros (Donald, Jose, Panchito) being featured in the ride, as they are one of my favourite Disney groups and I feel that they don't get the credit that they deserve. After our trip round the world (accompanied by the mandatory head-drilling song, natch) Eve insisted that we take a look in the Princess Fantasy Faire across the way. Me wanting to uphold my manly image I let her and Pete go in while I stopped for a short restroom break. I grabbed some orange popcorn from a nearby cart, and got into a rather long discussion with the Cast Member over what was to be the fate for the Plaza Gardens that were currently in rehab - sorry guys, no more details for you there!

After Eve had satisfied her girly instincts, we passed under the bridge and headed into Toontown as I wanted to go on Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin - aside from the Caballeros, Roger Rabbit is perhaps my absolute most favourite Disney character and so I couldn't pass up the chance to go on his ride, despite having ridden it about 7 times before. Although we didn't need to use Fastpass, the standby wait time outside was listed as 10 minutes - and, you'll never guess what - 30 minutes later, we were only just about to get on the ride. What a joke. Still, Roger's awesome ride more than made up for it ("HOLY SMOKES, ROGER! WE'VE BEEN DIIIIPPPED!": Best Line in a Theme Park Ride in the History of Theme Park Rides TM). After our Car Toon Spin, we crossed over into Downtown Toontown and visited Mickey's House (seriously, he needs to do something about his security system, letting thousands of people into his house every day, no wonder he nails all his pens and stuff to the tables) and met the Mouse himself. We got his autograph, took some pictures, all that sort of thing. Oh yeah, no wait to meet Mickey. Lucky us.

After seeing the House of Mouse, I finally gave in to the girly and allowed myself a short tour of Minnie's House - unfortunately, she was not present to receive us (probably been kidnapped or something, leaving her front door open like that) and tossed a penny or two into her wishing well. We then crossed the street and had a poke around in Donald's Boat, tooting the horn which scared the bejeezus out of a couple of kids who were walking by, and taking a few pictures here and there. The best bit by far was the periscope - you never know how fun stalking people round a fictional cartoon town with a huge duckbill - shaped viewing device can be until you try it for yourself! We passed over Goofy's Playhouse, obviously being too old for such shenanigans, had a poke around Chip N' Dale's Treehouse, where the 'munks were actually present for us to meet them - photographs, autographs - and sat down at a table while Pete lined up at Pluto's Dog House and bought us a hot dog each for lunch (I always found that kind of dark, Pluto's place selling hot dogs, what are they made out of?!) and a soda or two. Bellies full, we then popped into the Five and Dime and Gag Factory, loaded up with a couple of souvenirs, and then bid Toontown goodbye, at least for now.

Well, that's it for this update. Next time: Main Street, more character meetings, and the halfway point of Day One! See you then (hopefully with pictures, again....)