We arrived shortly after the park opened and headed straight to Tomorrowland for Fast Passes for Star Tours and Space Mountain. We enjoyed both rides, however I'm not sure I need to see Star Tours each time I go. I did like that there are slightly different versions of the film/ride. Space Mountain is a roller coaster in the dark. We also enjoyed this ride, however the first time we rode it we were not adjusted to the darkness and it was pretty scary not being able to see where we were headed. The second time, for whatever reason our eyes had adjusted and we could make out the general direction we were going in (this seemed to make it more enjoyable for us).
Sam is a big Toy Story fan, so we also rode Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. This ride is aimed for the little kiddies, but we had a blast shooting our guns at the targets. A trick for this ride is you can spin your car around in order to get a better angle for shooting your blaster. We didn't realize this until half way through the ride. At the end of the ride, your picture is displayed along with your score. You are then able to email the picture to yourself. At other theme parks you would be forced to buy the picture, you wouldn't get it for free. I thought it was a nice touch to be able to quickly email yourself your picture. We were impressed.
After Tomorrowland we went to Adventureland. We were not eligible to get a Fast Past for Indiana Jones Adventure yet, so we rode the Jungle Cruise. We had a very cheesy captain on the boat (which we enjoyed!). This would be a great ride for the whole family. You cruise around the "river" passing by animals and native people while the captain tells jokes. This is another ride that I would not feel compelled to go on every time I visit the park. We did get a Fast Pass for Indiana Jones Adventure, however when we returned later in the day the ride had closed. We were disappointed we did not get to go on this popular ride and will be making this our first stop on our next trip.
From Adventureland we went from one part of the park to the next and back again. I don't remember the order, so I will break it down based on each section of the park. Unfortunately by the time we made it to Mickey's Toontown it was closed. This will be our second stop on our next visit.
New Orleans Square really did remind me of Beale Street. Except it was better because it's DisneyLand and there wasn't x-rated things making me cringe. Pirates of the Caribbean is located here. This is another ride where you ride along the river and pass by different scenery. The animated characters were so lifelike; the detail was amazing. Sam and I were both impressed with the intricate details we noticed on this ride. The Haunted Mansion is also located here. You can get a Fast Pass for this ride, which I didn't realize until we walked by. This ride can cram a lot of people in at once so it normally goes pretty fast anyway. Since it was just after Christmas, the theme was Jack Skellington's Christmas Town (Nightmare before Christmas). I'm not overly fond of the Halloween Town/Christmas Town movies, but I did enjoy the ride which again had attention to detail throughout. This is another ride that I wouldn't mind not going on every trip to DisneyLand, however I would like to see what it looks like after Christmas. Will it still be Jack themed? There is a little window called Mint Julep that serves beignets also in New Orleans Square. A friend of mine told me they were fantastic, however we didn't get to try them on this trip.
Critter Country is home to Splash Mountain and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Splash Mountain was fun and would be a blast in the warmer months as a nice way to cool off. The animations of this ride do not compare to the others. We were not impressed with the animations or songs, but the story line was cute. I love Winnie the Pooh, so I enjoyed the ride. This is another great ride that small children can enjoy. There were also Winnie the Pooh characters here that you could wait in line to have your picture taken. I will probably be doing this next time. I love Pooh Bear!
The only ride we rode in Frontierland was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This was my favorite coaster in the park. I thought it was the most thrilling and really enjoyed it.
Stepping through Sleeping Beauty's Castle brings you to Fantasyland. Here we did the teacups because let's face it, its a classic. We spun ourselves silly on this ride! Right next to it is the mad hatter hat shop. I loved looking at all the hats and really couldn't narrow it down as to which one to get. I'm hoping that I can pick one next time so I can sport it for future trips (I also want something I can use a running costume for a Halloween or Disney race). Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is also located here and is a must. I loved reading the books when I was younger, so for me this brings me back to childhood. During this ride you "drive" your car through the town and experience a "wild ride." There is a great photo op in a classic car right outside. It's a Small World is also located in Fantasy Land. It was all decorated for Christmas which I enjoyed, however by the end of the ride Sam was sick of the song. I'd like to go on this one again after the Christmas season is over to see the regular version of the ride. I may have to go solo unless Sam has amnesia regarding how much he disliked the song afterwards.
If you think Disney is magical during the day, just wait until you visit it at night! We watched Sleeping Beauty's Castle get covered with "snow" and lights, the fireworks and the Fantasmic light show. We also rode Matterhorn Bobsleds at night which is a really cool way to see the park lit up in the dark.
At some point during the day we started pin trading. This is a huge sub-culture of Disney fans that I am only beginning to learn about. I started off with a lanyard and 4 pins, giving 1 or 2 to Sam to trade (he got a lanyard as well). In the shop that I bought the initial pins and lanyard they had a few pins to trade. One of them was an Eyeore Taurus pin. I couldn't pass this up, so I traded there and decided maybe I'd collect Winnie the Pooh characters. Once the sun went down we were cold, so we went back to the car to get our jackets. On the tram ride to the parking structure, I met a "pin collector." She had a binder FULL of pins. It was amazing. She taught me about "hidden mickey pins." These pins are only released to cast members and can not be purchased, however you can trade with cast members to get them. It seems new ones are leased throughout the year and may vary from DisneyLand and DisneyWorld. It has been fun looking up the pins to see what year and which park they are from.
As far as food goes we ate lunch at a mexican restaurant in Adventureland I believe. The food was okay, not sure I would go back. For dinner we had a corndog from The Little Red Wagon Corndogs. They are fantastic! You know, as long as you don't think about what is actually in a corn dog. These were the best ever! It is located at the end of Main Street on the right (near the Camera Shop).
Speaking of Main Street, there are so many shops to explore there and this is a great place to watch a parade. Town Hall is also located here as well as a movie theatre featuring Disney shorts.
Some general tips: We spoke to a cast member regarding Fast Passes. In DisneyWorld they are enforcing the time frame on these passes, this is not YET true for DisneyLand. Definitely ask about this during the beginning of your trip so you know how to adequately plan your day/s in the park. The idea is you can only get one pass for a certain time period, so get your first pass as soon as you enter the park, then get each subsequent pass as soon as your next time period begins. Then you only use the pass when the wait is long (don't waste your trip to the front of the line on a short line). Parades and other shows are good times to hop in rides because there will be packs of people sitting and watching these events.
Obviously we missed several rides on our first Disney trip despite being there for almost all of the hours of the park. We are looking forward to going back to see the things we missed and do our favorites again.
Oh, did I mention we got annual passes? This means we can go back (during the week) as many times as we want AND we get to check out California Adventure!
No comments:
Post a Comment