We flew in a day before our first entry in the park, which was nice for us to be able to relax and rest up before the first big day. The other person I was with--I'm giving off a warning now, that the other person I went with is extremely private, and wouldn't want me giving off any information on a public forum, so I'm going to be vague concerning identity--had been to Disneyland years ago, but went with friends who, I think, had been there several times, so they only stuck to a few of the popular rides, leaving her missing out on a lot of the park. It was my job to show her around this time.
We went in early the first day, but not at rope drop. I'm not super enthusiastic about rope drop. I don't see the point of trying to be first in line, nor do I like the feeling of being rushed. I usually go just after park opening, or at least try to get there before 9 a.m., because that's when the park is at its nicest. It's not really busy, and rides are easy to get on. But this time around, due to my other human's health issues, we always had to address eating first before doing any activities, but the first thing we did, which is also something I like to do at first, was get on the Disneyland train. She had to express her sadness at seeing Splash Mountain gone and torn apart, but I think she enjoyed it overall.
My plan was to spend at least part of the day in certain areas of the park, and on this day, we stuck to Adventureland and New Orleans. We went on the Jungle Cruise first, then the newly opened Adventureland Treehouse. That was fun to walk through, and I found a great place to take an overlook photo. I don't think we missed a ride in those areas, and I think we were done with all of them by about two o'clock, even with the Indiana Jones and popular Haunted Mansion Holiday rides.
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| Overlook from Adventureland Treehouse |
It wasn't long before I discovered how relaxed I was when having someone familiar with me, which meant a little bit of my silly side was beginning to break out in increments. I think the first episode may have been with the end of the Haunted Mansion ride, when I pumped my arms exuberantly when Oogie Boogie said something about us being winners.
I'm not really a foodie, but I'd always wanted to try the Mint Julep. That had been on my list for a long time, but I always found myself distracted. I guess having someone with me who had to have snacks every once-in-a-while, encouraged me to give it a try, and that became a fast favorite, even so that on a later day, we came back for seconds. I also took her to the Tropical Hideaway to try out a Dole Whip swirl and a bao. The swirls are among my favorite. I love the flavor mixtures, and I have it confirmed by my party, that they are really good. That's all about the food for now.
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| Mint Julep Drink |
I had a brief adventure of nearly losing my hat, after leaving it behind near a restroom, but fortunately, we noticed it was missing rather quickly, and I was able to retrieve it before someone took it, but that left me in the awkward position of skipping a line, which I absolutely hate doing, and I said so to my person, but she was being courteous, and letting people go past while she was waiting for me, so that made it a little less embarrassing. She's pretty good at being mindful of others.
Before leaving that park for the day, I remembered we hadn't gone into the Tiki Room yet, so we waited around until it opened, and while the Tiki's around the area were speaking, we came across one that reminded us so much of my dad, that we couldn't help, but laugh when we heard it. The Tiki Room is always a fun show to visit. It's too tempting to sing along, and even though my reserved self doesn't outwardly do it, my inner self was all dancing up a storm--You see what I did there. LOL.
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| Tiki Room Waiting Area |
I probably would have stuck around longer if I was by myself, but my person wasn't so used to all the physical activity, so I took her back to our hotel to rest for a few hours before going back. I don't nap well, so I basically just sat and relaxed until it was time to return.
We attended California Adventure that evening. We took a few photos on Buena Vista Street, but the main focus areas were the Marvel and Cars Land areas, both of which I wanted to experience at night, so it was perfect. I'm not too much into Marvel, but there are some areas I enjoy. We went to see the orb, and watched it for a few minutes, until a few people came by and brought to our attention the optical illusion area. I knew about it before, but never really entertained myself in the area, since I was always by myself, but since there was someone with me this time, we had a lot of fun with it. While other people came and went, we stuck around and had fun taking photos; I think that's quite apparent in the photos. I took a few snapshots of the ancient sanctum--I really enjoy that area when it's mostly empty, like it was that night--before entering into Cars Land.
We went on both Luigi's and Mater's rides, which was really fun for Peeps (I think I'll call her that from now on). When we went on Radiator Springs Racers, the wait line was probably about an hour, but she was willing to wait, and I had never really seen the queue area, having used mostly Single Rider, so this was a new adventure for me, and I really enjoyed seeing it. I can usually handle waiting in line, as long as it's moving, so this wasn't a problem for me. I was really surprised that Peeps was willing to wait that long, but she did it. I think the speed took her by surprise, and that made her take a while to process whether she liked it or not, but I think she did.
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| Scenery in Radiator Springs Racers Queue |
After all of that, we were ready to leave the park, and decided to relax in the esplanade while the fireworks were going off. It was a bit noisy and busy, which was a little bit distracting, but it was good that we stayed there, because in the long run, that ended up being our only chance of seeing them--stay tuned.
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| Fireworks from Esplanade |
