Disneyland - Nightastic and Magical...
Discovery #1: I've been to D-land too many times to enjoy spending 14 hours there.
Discovery #2: They actually do have healthier snack food options now - I found snacks like dried apple slices and peanut butter and apples and trail mix. Unfortunately their main dining options are for the most part just as unhealthy as ever ;-(
Discovery #3: All their "you can't bring food into the park!" hysteria to the contrary, you can bring food into the park, and nobody is going to care. Apparently "snacks" of all kinds are just fine to bring in, and I saw at least one family eating a meal including sandwiches, sitting on a curb. That said, since it is Disneyland, while I could/would bring in snacky type stuff, I'm not going to bring in my lunch....!
I finally got smart and actually made meal reservations, and just whizzed in and sat down at both places - Carnation Cafe for lunch and Cafe Orleans for dinner. I think that's because the park wasn't busy yesterday until about 2 p.m. I just don't have the desire any more to do the Blue Bayou - $40-$50 for a meal and the food and service just isn't worth that. The down side of having made the reservations is I realized I could have eaten other places, on the fly, with fairly healthy food items. But it definitely saved standing/waiting time.
Because the park wasn't busy, I went on Splash Mountain, Pirates and the Haunted Mansion with no waiting at all for the last two and maybe 35 min. wait for Splash. Arrrgh! I ended up in the front seat! You know what happened to me. I looked like I'd taken a shower with my clothes on, and it took me 3 hours to dry out, including my underwear(!), because it wasn't sunny. My hair was literally dripping. I went on the Autopia for the first time since I was in junior high. I'm too tall to sit behind the wheel of course, and that made me totally uncomfortable the whole time. Stupid, me....
Even though I wanted to see the new Fantasmic called Nightastic, I debated going home early because I doubted I'd be able to see much, and Disney employees were doubting there'd be fireworks that night because of the weather. In the end I stayed for both, and was glad about the fireworks, anyway. People were staking out their territory for Fantasmic literally three hours early. By the time it was about to start, I realized that anyone who wants a decent view needs to literally stand for a minimum of two hours. No potty breaks, no food breaks, no place to sit - you just stand there for 2-3 hours waiting for it to start. What I did was get under the rope about half an hour before, but I couldn't see some of it because I wasn't high enough/close enough. Not that it mattered that much. I just wasn't impressed. Oh yeah, it's cool-ish - but once you've seen film clips projected on water mist, it's just film clips projected on water mist - nice but not awe-inspiring. And they use the Columbia as Captain Hook's ship, complete with Peter, Hook and Co. - that was the best part, IMO. As for the dragon - well, those who live in So Cal may have seen in the paper that the mechanical dragon fell apart on Thursday, so it too was just projected on water mist. But honestly, a real mechanical dragon wouldn't have made me love Nightastic. I just thought eh, fine, now let's get back to Main Street for the fireworks.
The new fireworks show is called "Magical", and it's the perfect name. Beautifully synchronized to Disney music, it's gorgeous and kind of lump-in-throat inducing too. They did a lot of things I hadn't seen before with fireworks that were truly beautiful. They also had both Tinkerbell and Dumbo (yes, Dumbo!) flying over the castle. It reminded me of my childhood, and I loved it.
Totally, totally worth the price of admission....which was $99 since I decided to buy the resident's summer deal. I already knew I was going on my b/d, and I wanted to spend the night and buy a one-day park hopper ticket for the following day. The $99 deal costs $6 more than a one day park hopper ticket and it's for three days. Also, since I've already registered for my b/d freebie, if I don't "use" it because I use the summer pass instead, I have the option of getting a 1 day/1 park ticket I can use any time within the next year, a FastPass for the whole day, or Disney dollars equal to the amount of $ for a 1-day ticket. I think I'll take the freebie ticket so I can go between Halloween and Xmas. That's four park-hopper days for $99! Well, three I suspect, because I don't think I'll be using my third 'pass' day after going yesterday and on my b/d, before August 23rd. Disneyland in August? Arrgh! Maybe just to see the fireworks, and to have dinner. I could do that...
Baddest part of day? Standing for 45 minutes waiting to get a tram back to the parking structure, and then arriving home at midnight to discover that a frickin' stupid neighbor had parked his car so it broke our gate closed, and I had no place to park. I had to schlepp my stuff from a block away. Hope my car's still there!
I didn't buy much - little odds and ends - key chains, little fabric wallet-type things, a fun deck of cards with characters from the Haunted Mansion and Mickey heads for pips, and one t-shirt that says "when all else fails, mutiny!" It made me smile, hehe. They just didn't have any sweatshirts or t-shirts I couldn't live without. Another reason I want to be able to go back later in the year, because I'm sure their Fall merchandise will be different.
Oh and! Ever wanted to buy one of the better, more expensive annual passes? You can now make MONTHLY PAYMENTS! That is a brilliant plan on Disney's part. Actually, when I go on my birthday I can upgrade to an annual pass and use the monthly payments if I want to....and I just might!
I might add that every bone and muscle in my entire body is screaming at me this morning.
Discovery #2: They actually do have healthier snack food options now - I found snacks like dried apple slices and peanut butter and apples and trail mix. Unfortunately their main dining options are for the most part just as unhealthy as ever ;-(
Discovery #3: All their "you can't bring food into the park!" hysteria to the contrary, you can bring food into the park, and nobody is going to care. Apparently "snacks" of all kinds are just fine to bring in, and I saw at least one family eating a meal including sandwiches, sitting on a curb. That said, since it is Disneyland, while I could/would bring in snacky type stuff, I'm not going to bring in my lunch....!
I finally got smart and actually made meal reservations, and just whizzed in and sat down at both places - Carnation Cafe for lunch and Cafe Orleans for dinner. I think that's because the park wasn't busy yesterday until about 2 p.m. I just don't have the desire any more to do the Blue Bayou - $40-$50 for a meal and the food and service just isn't worth that. The down side of having made the reservations is I realized I could have eaten other places, on the fly, with fairly healthy food items. But it definitely saved standing/waiting time.
Because the park wasn't busy, I went on Splash Mountain, Pirates and the Haunted Mansion with no waiting at all for the last two and maybe 35 min. wait for Splash. Arrrgh! I ended up in the front seat! You know what happened to me. I looked like I'd taken a shower with my clothes on, and it took me 3 hours to dry out, including my underwear(!), because it wasn't sunny. My hair was literally dripping. I went on the Autopia for the first time since I was in junior high. I'm too tall to sit behind the wheel of course, and that made me totally uncomfortable the whole time. Stupid, me....
Even though I wanted to see the new Fantasmic called Nightastic, I debated going home early because I doubted I'd be able to see much, and Disney employees were doubting there'd be fireworks that night because of the weather. In the end I stayed for both, and was glad about the fireworks, anyway. People were staking out their territory for Fantasmic literally three hours early. By the time it was about to start, I realized that anyone who wants a decent view needs to literally stand for a minimum of two hours. No potty breaks, no food breaks, no place to sit - you just stand there for 2-3 hours waiting for it to start. What I did was get under the rope about half an hour before, but I couldn't see some of it because I wasn't high enough/close enough. Not that it mattered that much. I just wasn't impressed. Oh yeah, it's cool-ish - but once you've seen film clips projected on water mist, it's just film clips projected on water mist - nice but not awe-inspiring. And they use the Columbia as Captain Hook's ship, complete with Peter, Hook and Co. - that was the best part, IMO. As for the dragon - well, those who live in So Cal may have seen in the paper that the mechanical dragon fell apart on Thursday, so it too was just projected on water mist. But honestly, a real mechanical dragon wouldn't have made me love Nightastic. I just thought eh, fine, now let's get back to Main Street for the fireworks.
The new fireworks show is called "Magical", and it's the perfect name. Beautifully synchronized to Disney music, it's gorgeous and kind of lump-in-throat inducing too. They did a lot of things I hadn't seen before with fireworks that were truly beautiful. They also had both Tinkerbell and Dumbo (yes, Dumbo!) flying over the castle. It reminded me of my childhood, and I loved it.
Totally, totally worth the price of admission....which was $99 since I decided to buy the resident's summer deal. I already knew I was going on my b/d, and I wanted to spend the night and buy a one-day park hopper ticket for the following day. The $99 deal costs $6 more than a one day park hopper ticket and it's for three days. Also, since I've already registered for my b/d freebie, if I don't "use" it because I use the summer pass instead, I have the option of getting a 1 day/1 park ticket I can use any time within the next year, a FastPass for the whole day, or Disney dollars equal to the amount of $ for a 1-day ticket. I think I'll take the freebie ticket so I can go between Halloween and Xmas. That's four park-hopper days for $99! Well, three I suspect, because I don't think I'll be using my third 'pass' day after going yesterday and on my b/d, before August 23rd. Disneyland in August? Arrgh! Maybe just to see the fireworks, and to have dinner. I could do that...
Baddest part of day? Standing for 45 minutes waiting to get a tram back to the parking structure, and then arriving home at midnight to discover that a frickin' stupid neighbor had parked his car so it broke our gate closed, and I had no place to park. I had to schlepp my stuff from a block away. Hope my car's still there!
I didn't buy much - little odds and ends - key chains, little fabric wallet-type things, a fun deck of cards with characters from the Haunted Mansion and Mickey heads for pips, and one t-shirt that says "when all else fails, mutiny!" It made me smile, hehe. They just didn't have any sweatshirts or t-shirts I couldn't live without. Another reason I want to be able to go back later in the year, because I'm sure their Fall merchandise will be different.
Oh and! Ever wanted to buy one of the better, more expensive annual passes? You can now make MONTHLY PAYMENTS! That is a brilliant plan on Disney's part. Actually, when I go on my birthday I can upgrade to an annual pass and use the monthly payments if I want to....and I just might!
I might add that every bone and muscle in my entire body is screaming at me this morning.