Archive for December 21st, 2007

Without getting too ahead of myself (because we’ve only been in the States for 3 days now), today was my favourite day! We had “early entry” to Disneyland, which meant that we could enter an hour before all the regular “common people” (hehehe), and could run around the Park without worrying about all the crowds!

Unfortunately, “Brian” told us the wrong time to enter the Park – and we wound up only getting there 15 minutes before everybody else anyhow! But it did allow us to jump in the “Finding Nemo” line (which involved an underwater submarine adventure) ahead of a lot of other people! Every time we’ve wanted to go on this ride over the past three days, the wait has been at least an hour! It’s outrageous! All the other rides seem to have a 30 minute absolute maximum wait time, but the “Finding Nemo” ride seems to attract everybody… and it has to be said – it is *so* not worth waiting an hour in line for! I want the 30 minutes that I had to wait in line, plus the 10 minutes of the ride, of my life back! If we weren’t at Disneyland, which is of course the “Happiest Place on Earth”, I would have considered borrowing a megaphone and sandwich board to announce that “it’s not worth it!”, and “get out while you still can!” … I can’t believe the hype about the ride! *grimace*

After wasting 40 minutes of my life (which we’ll call the ‘Finding Nemo “attraction”‘, as it is so fondly referred to by others), Nick and I legged it back to the Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel (across the road from our Hotel) to have another ‘Character Dining Experience’, complete with breakfast buffet!

We had our photo’s taken with Chip (or was it Dale? *scratches head*), and a bear.. whose name escapes me right now! *smacks forehead* But the service was fantastic! In fact, all the service that we’ve had in and around Disneyland has been absolutely wonderful! And we snuck out with a couple of apples in our pockets *giggle*

We spent a little over an hour at Disney’s California Adventure Park – and rode the rollercoaster ‘California Screamin”.. I wanted to get the photo that is taken of you on the ride, but the person in front of me had her hair down, so all you can see is her hair in my face! We did however ride the Hollywood Tower of Terror – which was *awesome* – and we got the photo from that ride! I’ll have to wait until I’m back on home soil and near a scanner to show you all that one though!

We’d also wanted to go on the Monster Inc. ride, but it was closed for maintenance! We did however go on the ‘California Soarin” flight simulator which was just.. Wow! You’re strapped into seats, and then suspended in the air in front of a giant screen, which takes you through California scenes (ie forests, beaches, golf courses, housing estates etc), and it’s so realistic! You feel like you can just reach out and touch the trees/beach/golf balls! And wind is blown in your face, and you can smell the trees! It’s amazing! … I also dragged Nick on the ‘King Triton’s Carousel’, but I’ll spare him the embarrassment of posting photo’s, because he really did enjoy himself (although we both agreed that the Carousel at Disneyland was better *wink*)!

And today’s highlight for me? Meeting Pooh and Tigger, of course! I got a big cuddle from both of them, and you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face after that!

We finished off the rest of the rides – yes, we went on EVERY SINGLE ride at Disneyland! – and got ready for the fireworks…

And Kahlee’s waterworks. I couldn’t help but cry. The emotions that it stirred up, watching the fireworks over the Disney castle was like something that I can’t explain. It was so magical. And something I’ve waited more than two decades to experience. It is *so* worth every cent that we’ve paid *nods* I’m hoping that we can make it back again tomorrow night (after SeaWorld) to see the fireworks again. My camera battery died right at the end (we’d been at Disneyland 15 hours by this point, and had taken over 400 photos!!) – and I’d like to get a few more photo’s in – especially of the finale..

And now I think it’s time for bed – it’s after midnight and we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow! We’re off to SeaWorld out at San Diego *grin*

xoxo

Nick and I were both in heaven – him for the buffet breakfast (complete with a chef who made you an omelette on the spot in front of you), and me for the interaction with Stitch – one of my favourite Disney characters! The Mickey Mouse mini waffles, and the Minnie Mouse pancakes with hot maple syrup, and the platters of strawberries and watermelon weren’t so bad either! After stuffing ourselves to the point of overspilling, we were ready to hit the park for the second time!

It was every bit as amazing as it had been the day before – and every bit as overwhelming. We managed to finish off the rest of the rides that were on our “must hit” list, including the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, ‘Star Tours’ (by Disney and George Lucas), ‘Alice in Wonderland’, and the King Arthur Carousel. Nick kicked up a bit of a fuss about riding on the Carousel, and tried to insist that he would watch while I rode on it, but I eventually dragged him on. To the left you will see him pouting about riding the horses (because a grown man doesn’t do such a thing), but if you look right, you’ll see just how much fun he really had! I should probably mention that I also dragged him on the Teacups for a second time (and I’m still plotting for a third!!), and also on ‘Dumbo the Flying Elephant’ *giggles* He really is a trooper – coming along on all the rides with me, posing for endless photographs, and pointing out characters for me to pose with!

I’ve absolutely loved “Fantasyland”, and I think I could go on the rides over and over again…

We also spent a little time at Disney’s California Adventure Park, however the first ride that we went on involved “white water rapids”, and within the first 5 minutes that we were in the park, Nick and I wound up absolutely soaked (in 14 degree weather!)! … and that was while wearing ponchos! So I hate to think how wet we would have gotten without them! We wound up taking a trip back to our Hotel (just across the road, how convenient!), changing into dry, warm clothes… and then relaxing in the hotel for a few hours because we’d made the mistake of sitting down!We did make it back to Disneyland for a little while, but the crowds and the cold eventually beat us – so we headed back to the Hotel (yet again), to relax in the heated spa *thumbs up*

xoxo

Tuesday at Disneyland was amazing!

Walking in, I felt all the emotion that I had felt flying in to LA, and actually shed a few tears. This was the one place that I had always dreamed of visiting, and I had finally arrived. The Park was spectacular, and certainly lived up to it’s name as the “Happiest Place on Earth”. Nick actually told me on the 2nd day (the Wednesday), that he had never seen me smile as much as I had been – and I think he probably had a point. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face… And I haven’t seen Nick looking too miserable either! *wink*

In the three short hours that we spent at Disneyland on Tuesday, I think we covered more than 8 rides! Including the Mad Tea Party (otherwise known as the Teacups – just for you, Nettie!)! *grin* Spinning round and round and round isn’t exactly Nick’s cup of tea (‘scuse the pun), but I loved them… I don’t know if it was the spinning so fast that you felt like you’d lost all control, or if it was that I was riding something that was so iconic to Disneyland, or perhaps it was a little of both! The Matterhorn Bobsleds was our *first ever* ride at Disneyland, and I plan to go on them again at some stage before we leave! They were fantastic!

By about 5pm we were absolutely beat – it had been a long day, and we’d not had much sleep – so we headed back to the Hotel.. The plan was to have a nice long bath (while Nick surfed to his heart’s content), order Room Service and watch a movie – but we barely made it through dinner before falling asleep around 7pm (which actually isn’t at all unusual for me!).. I slept straight through (no jetlag for me!!), but Nick was up at around midnight, and didn’t fall asleep until 4am! Silly boy should have taken my tips for avoiding jetlag *nods* One day he’ll learn that I don’t just say things for the sake of saying things *wink* Although we both seem to be on LA time now!

xoxo