D23 Expo Trip Report - Day 5

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Monday started early again (as I woke up before the alarm) with the expectation of the only full day in the parks during this trip. After getting up, showering and the rest I headed to IHOP for another pancake breakfast, at the time i noticed that i didn't have my vitamins but thought they were back at the hotel so as it was still early, i headed back to the room and could not find them, so the last place i saw them was Dennys so after a quick chat with celia via the wonders of Skype, i had to walk away from the parks to get to Dennys, where they had kept my tablets and then headed back as fast as i could walk towards the park entrance.

I only managed to get to the park 15mins before opening and already Main street was full of guests, even cutting through the shops on the right hand side of the street only got me so far before i could go no further and there were queues to get out of the stores.


Disneyland - Crowds at opening by Hayden Pronto-Hussey, on Flickr

Finally 9am came and the park was opened and I headed to tomorrowland, where I grabbed a FASTPASS for Star Tours and headed off to Peter Pan for my first ride, the queue was not to bad but i did have some extended familys deciding that queuing was optional and they could join their friends who were much further forward. After Peter Pan I headed back to Tomorrowland spotting the Seven dwarts grotto just outside the castle.


Dopey by Hayden Pronto-Hussey, on Flickr

As it was still not time for the FASTPASS, I walked onto Buzz Lightyear which is a favourite of mine and Celia's and I got a reasonable score, I prefer this version (like Paris) that has the handheld guns rather than the fixed ones in WDW.

I just had enough time now to grab a new FASTPASS for Space Mountain before riding Star Tours, this time I got the pod racing on Tattoine and ended at GUNGAN? I love this new multiple story line ride and still hope to get the last planet on the next trip whenever that is...

I then headed across the park to Big Thunder Mountain, but as I arrived it was closed, and as I had the space mountain FASTPASS i was unable to get another, so on to the next ride. The touring plan is was following suggested Winnie the Pooh, but as I was passing Splash Mountain the ride was showing a walk on, and the heat was warm enough that i would dry quickly, so I hoped on a log and went for a ride.


Splash Mountain by Hayden Pronto-Hussey, on Flickr

Getting off the ride it was still only just gone 10am, so with 1 hour gone I had done 4 rides and had fast passes for Space Mountain for later. As I got to Pooh it looked a little too quiet and yes it was also broken, so on with the plan, Next was Indiana Jones, and this is one of he great rides at Disneyland, I followed the single rider line as the main queue was starting to get longer than I had expected which did worry me that today was going to get busy even though it was a working day. In the queue to Indi I saw a nice nod to the other lucas production.


Indiana Jones by Hayden Pronto-Hussey, on Flickr

A trip on Pirates and the Haunted Mansion were fun and the heat of the day was starting to get more oppressive, as I headed back to Big Thunder Mountain it had re-opened but with the Fastpass for Space still in my pocket the only option was the standby queue, this took a while and was my first 20+ wait of the day, the sun was beating down, but the ride was worth the wait and as it neared midday I wandered into Toontown to get a quick ride on Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin before a better look round, before I had a time to call Celia at 1pm as that was the time she was due to be back at her hotel in Stockholm. But then in the queue time started to slow down, even though it was only shown as a 15min wait, and that was matched by the numbers shown on lines but in reality the walk through the queue took over 30 mins and by the time the ride was over I had spent almost an hour on 1 ride.


Toontown by Hayden Pronto-Hussey, on Flickr

So now I had no time to tour Toon Town so I headed to the Monorail as Spurs were playing Man Utd so I had decided that lunch would be at the ESPN Zone where I assumed that I could see the match (or at least now the 2nd half). Monorail Blue arrived after a little wait and I was shuttled off to Downtown Disney district, before making my call to Sweden from a US mobile in California (have I mentioned I love Skype). At the ESPN I had a Cheesesteak with side salad and a couple of beers, whilst Spurs capitulated, but I was in Sunny Anaheim, so after the match, i headed back to the Monorail and went back to Disneyland.

The Afternoon started with Space Mountain, and a walk through Innoventions, this was a big disappointment and i really didn't see the point. By now the queue's had got a silly lengths so I headed to Main Street to await the Soundsational Parade, realising that I had the time, I popped into Great Moments with Mr Lincoln, which is a good show, though a bit cheesy for my personal taste, but the really weird moment was leaving the show, where there are photo's of inspirational Americans. And included in the musicians are the Beach Boys, Elvis (the King of Rock), Michael Jackson (the King of Pop) and Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) WHAT YOU CAN NOT BE SERIOUS she is the most inspirational female, what about Madonna. and this got even sillier when on the oposite wall is Rosa Parks? Disney get a grip.


Heroes of Music, Elvis, Beach Boys, Michael Jackson and Miley Cyrus? by Hayden Pronto-Hussey, on Flickr

Leaving the hall and heading back to Main Street only the east side had any space (in fact it was empty) as it was in the full heat of the sun, but I grabbed my first ever Mickey Apple and waited 10mins for the parade.


Mickey Apple by Hayden Pronto-Hussey, on Flickr

Now I love a parade and this is a good one with lots of music and dancing, I do like that Disneyland, due to their lack of space, make the front row sit down on the kerb (even though it was really hot) which does make it easier to see. A mum with her two small children sat next to me, and i can't work out how as they can both walk off she keeps them under control, and at one point i had to look after her stuff as she took them off to get snacks for the parade.


Soundstational Parade by Hayden Pronto-Hussey, on Flickr

Soundstational Parade by Hayden Pronto-Hussey, on Flickr

Soundstational Parade by Hayden Pronto-Hussey, on Flickr

After the parade I decided to head over to California Adventure to hop a ride on Grizzly River Run as I did not want to deal with a water ride during my last morning. As I entered through the chaos of the work on Buena Vista street, i headed round past Soarin' and headed to Grizzly, the queue was 50min wait with FASSPASS'es available for 6:30 so I grabbed one and as about single rider, to be told that this was not an option at the moment, so I headed off to Paradise Pier and go a ride on California Screaming via the Single Rider line, but Toy Story was over an hour and even Goofy's Sky School was 35mins, so I headed back past Grizzly to ask about Single rider (nope still not operational), and I start to think about the sky and what time did the sun go down as I hoped that the 6:30 ride would still be warm enough. I headed off to Soarin' as Lines did show a Single Rider queue time, and yes you can ask for a single rider spot. I did have to wait for a couple of shows but did find a tween boy who was a pin trader so we had a chat about that before heading for our flight over California.

Leaving the Condor flats area and heading back to Grizzly, I finally saw that they were using Single riders so even though my fast pass time had arrived, I grabbed the Single rider pass and headed into that queue for a ride, before immediately re-riding via the FASSPASS. as you can guess I liked the ride, and I do have the feeling that as a large man I can steer the raft at least to try and AVOID being too wet, but not sure that worked out to well, but at least the heat was still going so i did start to dry, even if the shorts said a bit wet for the rest of the evening.

Wandering back into Disneyland at 7pm, the queues for most attractions are still long, but after a quick snack of a Jalapeņo cheese stuffed pretzel at Bengal Barbecue, I wandered past the Rivers of America where the lights for Fantasmic where coming up and I could see how they are hidden during the day under the ground. I headed to Small World, where the ride has the Disney characters included which is a good spotting test to see if you can see them all.


Its a Small World by Hayden Pronto-Hussey, on Flickr

Its a Small World by Hayden Pronto-Hussey, on Flickr

As I got off the ride it was just about time for Music, Magic and you, which was good to see and I was almost forced to the front as that's where the ride exits. The show is a little bit tacky and as i was so close and the night was not that dark the actual building was still visible even without the lighting effects which does spoil the show slightly.

Leaving the area I headed to the hub for the fireworks, but as that was full I headed back down Main Street ending at the Town Square, I did see Walt's Light above the Firehouse.


Walt's Apartment above the fire house by Hayden Pronto-Hussey, on Flickr

Whilst waiting for the fireworks, I was able to get on-line and check-in for the flight home. The Fireworks were spectacular


Magical Fireworks by Hayden Pronto-Hussey, on Flickr

Magical Fireworks by Hayden Pronto-Hussey, on Flickr

As they came to an end I headed back to the hotel for rest and top pack for the last day before flying home.