This thread is an attempt at starting an ongoing discussion of Disney Vacations. Whether you want to share your memories; discuss upcoming plans; ask questions of people who have been to the parks or just chat generally, the idea is to post in this thread. Who know, it could get its own forum one day!
To All Who Come to This Posting Place....WELCOME!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, for my part the journey begins in Sydney, Australia. For those of you unfamilar with the place, it is one of those countries down the bottom somewhere. We look like you, we speak the same language, we just talk funny.
After a 3 hour flight to New Zealand for a transit stop, and an additional THIRTEEN HOURS in a plane to the USA, my girlfriend and I arrived at LAX looking a little worse for wear and slightly dazed. This was when they decided to take a photo of me. I can only imagine the shot that is currently sitting in the archives of the US government.
At any rate, a long drive out to Anaheim later, we arrive at the Howard Johnson (a wonderful hotel across the road from Disneyland Resort, CA) dead on our feet but too exciting to sit still. We decide to take a walk and see just what there is to see beyond our hotel walls. It turns out that we are less than 5 minutes walk from the Maingate, and after all these long years, I finally get my first (well, second if you count 1987) view of Disneyland.
We wander into Downtown Disney and we get some quick food at the La Brea Bakery. After being mind-blown by the size of the Disney Store and becoming increasingly red from the sunburn, we decide to go and flop until dinner. It would be a big Day 1 in Disneyland.
Day 1 - Tuesday, 6 September 2005
Tickets in hand, we turn up at the gates half an hour before opening and are ushered through the gates. As I spot the big 50th flower display in front of Main Street Station, any cynicism that may have been lingering in my evil little brain disappeared completely.
As we walk down Main Street and spy the pink towers of the castle, I realize that I'm 8 years old again. Like everyone else, I can't wait until the park opens and I'm snapping my camera left, right and centre. As soon as the park officially opens and "Welcome" begins playing (a tune we would become very familiar with over the coming weeks).
We bank left and head straight for Adventureland, which is just as well because everyone else is headed for Tomorrowland and the newly re-opened Space Mountain. Indiana Jones isn't opened yet, so naturally we do what any self-respecting Disney fan would do and head into the Jungle Cruise. Not much seems to have changed since 1987, but it was still lots of fun. Yes, I actually jumped when the piranhas popped out, but I did manage to get this one photo during the excursion:
Indiana Jones was still closed, so we decided to move on with our lives. We wandered through New Orleans Square and down to the Rivers of America, took a whole load of photos and hopped on to Pirates of the Caribbean and had our first real chlorine smelling thrill ride of the day. The next logical choice was The Haunted Mansion, which was quite lucky. When we came back the following week, it was closed for Halloween redecoration. Talk about your lucky timing!
From there we moved on towards Critter County, skipping Splash Mountain for the moment. So a young Loomis and his girlfriend are in Critter County with time on their hands. What are they going to do? You better believe they are going to ride the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. That ride is a trip, isn't it? I mean, if you dropped a whole lot of acid before you went on it, you'd just freak right out. I did have an overwhelming desire to eat honey when I came out, before being confronted by six foot versions of Pooh, Tigger and Eyeore. Man, that stuff must've been strong!
Now if memory serves we wandered through Frontierland, looked at the petting zoo, and went on to Fantasyland. There we naturally rode the Teacups, before wandering up to the Small World building. I kid you not, this was the only time we had to line up all day. In fact, we got half-way through the line and they broke it in half putting us at the front of a brand new line. The fates were with us that day, my friends. It's A Small World will be stuck in your head forever more after this ride, and it was interesting to see that Australia was represented by a giant pink Kangaroo. So that's what America thinks of us, after all...
A trip to Toon Town, and a spin on Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin, a quick midday snack and cold beverage and a ride on the Mark Twain Riverboat later, we returned to Adventureland to see that Indiana Jones was open and there was no line to speak of. I told you the fates were with us. I don't want to proclaim BEST RIDE EVER, but it was pretty damned exciting at the time (we rode it again the next day). Very much in the spirit of Indiana Jones, and one of the few rides that keeps the atmosphere going the whole time you are on it.
Somewhere in there we went to Tomorrowland and did Honey, I Shrunk the Audience and Star Tours... I just can't remember when...
By this stage, our little legs were getting tired so we decided to take a little rest in the New Orleans Square area. We also took a monorail trip at some stage, which was a nice way to spend part of the afternoon. After that, we went and plonk our behinds down on Main Street to get a good view of the Parade of Dreams (which we did) and left the park just before closing.
That was Day 1...
Day 2 - California Adventure - Wednesday, 7 September 2005
Somehow I had convinced my girlfriend that riding the Tower of Terror was just something that we had to do. So as soon as CA was open, we went straight there, fighting our way through a crowd of 2 other people (ok, there were a few dozen, but hardly any when you think about it). I absolutely LOVE the design of this ride, as the whole Twilight Zone angle really draws you in. Right about this time my girlfriend what starting to look pale, and I have to admit that I was feeling a little apprehensive too. You expect that drop, but damn if it isn't a wonderfully frightening rush. People screaming around me, I burst into nervous laughter and it is all over. I tell my girlfriend that the Florida one is meant to be even better. She promises me that if we ever get there, I'll be going it alone.
We then went Soarin' Over California, through the Vineyard, along the Pier before going back to the backlot and seeing the Muppets 3D and that amazing live version of Aladdin.
If memory serves, a wander through A Bug's Land and the rapid area capped off our day in CA, before we returned to Disneyland Park, and rode both Star Tours and Indiana Jones again.
The rest of our first week in California was spent going to Knott's Berry Farm and a Hollywood Wax museum, before taking it easy in Downtown Disney and heading off to LAS VEGAS for the weekend!
We returned to Anaheim a week later and spent 2 more days in Disneyland Resort. A full report on that is coming, but I can't be bothered typing any more right now.
A sneak peek at coming attractions:
(If any of those images weren't loading, try this link:
http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse. ... id=1488664
