The 321 Trip - Day 2 - Disney Day! (1/11/16)

[pinkstargirl]

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Day 2 - 1/11/16

I woke up once at 2am, used the bathroom and went back to sleep. The next time I woke up it was 5:15. My alarm was due to go off at 5:30 so I just stayed awake. I sent a couple of texts, had a quick look on social media and got myself ready. I checked the weather, it was supposed to be lovely later on but currently it was cold, so I put my hoodie on and headed out at 6:35.

My destination was Paradise Pier Hotel for their Surf's Up breakfast - for someone obsessed with Stitch, it had to be really! I arrived there just after 7am, made a bit of a mess of navigating the car park, which meant I had to go the wrong way down a small stretch of road to the roundabout. Thank god it was early and there was no-one around! The hotel smelt of vanilla which was pleasant, and I found my way to the restaurant and checked in for my reservation which was at 7:20. I was called in a couple of minutes later.

First of all I had my picture taken with Mickey, and then I was shown to my table. The waiter asked what I'd like to drink, and seemed quite confused that I just wanted coffee and no orange juice. After he went off to get the drink, Daisy and then Minnie came to my table. The girl on the table next to me took a picture of me with Daisy, and I took a selfie with Minnie.

I then went to get some food. I had some eggs, a pork sausage, a chicken sausage, bacon, a piece of breakfast flatbread, breakfast potatoes and fruit on my first plate, along with a Mickey waffle. I enjoyed most of this, but wouldn't choose the potatoes, chicken sausage or flatbread again. Just wasn't keen. The apple and melon smoothie they have there is really yummy too! After I'd finished that, my main man arrived! I got a couple of selfies with Stitch then he disappeared.

I grabbed a second plate, this time with sausage, eggs, bacon, a piece of banana french toast, some tomato, another waffle and a croissant. Not overly keen on french toast as it turns out! I also had a third waffle by itself. When Stitch came back, he spent ages with the table next to me (new people) as she had a giant plush Stitch. I took some photos for the couple, then they took some for me - Stitch was reluctant to put his double down, so there are 2 in my photo!

I finished with breakfast at 8:20, and after paying the bill and having my parking validated, I headed out. I had a look in the gift shop at the hotel, and then went to the information desk and grabbed some maps for the parks. I then discovered the flaw in my planning. I'd booked an early breakfast reservation so I could get to the parks for opening. I was a 5 minute drive away from the parks, it was 8:30, and they didn't open until 10am. Doh! I sat in the hotel for a little bit, had a look at the maps and show times. My plan today was to mostly visit California Adventure, check out DTD and then have a walk around DL, and then mainly Disneyland tomorrow as the busy day guide suggested that would be best. I had a quick restroom break and left the hotel at 8:45.

I paid, parked up (made the decision to leave my hoodie in the car) and made my way to the trams. It was sunny but still had a bit of chill in the air. We arrived at DL at 9:15, and I popped into World of Disney for a couple of minutes before deciding to visit later and to get my ticket instead. I picked it up no problem, and was waiting in a queue outside CA at 9:30. They opened the gates quite quickly but not the turnstiles, we waited a few more minutes for those. I wanted to grab a FP for Radiator Springs Racers, so I headed towards the area where they could be picked up - nowhere near the ride itself, incidentally! I still had to wait with everyone else at the fountain in the middle for rope drop which happened dead on 10am.

I got my FP for 10:45 to 11:45, and headed round to Tower of Terror - it's my favourite so I thought I'd better ride it first! The queue was 30 minutes, which seemed high for just after opening, but hey ho. I waited and eventually got there! Love this ride so much. They take the picture just before you drop which is a shame as everyone looked really calm! I then made my way to Cars Land, and at 10:50 I used my FP. Reminded me a little of Test Track at Epcot, except obviously there are 2 cars going round at the same time. The car that I was in won!

I walked round to Paradise Pier to ride California Screaming'. The sun was out properly now and it was very hot. I'd seen on the map that this has a single rider entrance, but I couldn't see it so I joined the main line, which said 20 minutes. It was probably more like 25. I was seated at the back which was fun. Quite an enjoyable ride! I then walked round, saw the wait time for Toy Story was about 30 minutes and decided I didn't want to wait, so I carried on walking. Mickey's Fun Wheel was posted at a 10 minute wait for the moving gondolas, and I joined the queue. It ended up being around 20 minutes and as I got closer they were announcing that smaller parties may be required to share gondolas. I was behind 2 or 3 large parties when I heard the call for 'any 1's or 2's?' and I ended up in a moving gondola with an older couple. The moving gondolas are terrifying. I hated most of it. I seem to be getting slightly wimpier as I get older and I just didn't feel safe.

I continued round and joined the single rider queue for Goofy's Sky School, which was fun, and then I rode Golden Zephyr which was certainly quite tame! I made my way to Soarin', taking the route past the water ride, which in the sunshine was a beautiful walk, with the theming and waterfalls. Soaring' had a 50 minute queue so I didn't bother, the FP were all for late as well and I wasn't planning on being in the park late. I walked round and need up at the Monsters Inc. ride at 12:45 - again nice and tame!

ToT had a really long queue (I haven't made a note of the time) so I didn't ride again. Instead I waited to the side where the trolley picks up. There was a show on the trolley just coming back, and I got a nice picture of Mickey on the back, and then we had to wait for the trolley to come up to pick us up. The family next to me were talking to a cast member about ToT closing, and he gave a lot of information about what's happening to it. The reason the line was so long was that they had reduced capacity as they were testing the new effects on one of the elevators so they only had 2 operational for guests.

I got the trolley back to the entrance and made my way to DTD. I spotted a few bits in World of Disney that I wanted but I decided to think on them and return the next day. I'm very good at impulse buying stuff that I don't need, so I hoped I could stop myself doing this. I wasn't sure of the food options here, so I just walked through, having a look at what was available. I didn't see a map until I was about 1/3 into DTD, and I spotted my favourite on the map - Earl of Sandwich! I made my way and ordered a Holiday Turkey. I picked up a cookie and asked for a drink, and was informed I could also have some free crisps with the sandwich and drink.

I sat outside in a little patch of sunlight, and ate my food. I went back inside and got a refill on my drink and made my way to the monorail station. I went through the bag check again, and up to the platform. The monorail smells a lot better than the one at WDW but much less efficient - we sat at the station for over 10 minutes before we moved. We arrived at Disneyland just after 3pm, I watched the parade before going to ride the Matterhorn. Again, I'd seen that this had a single rider line, but I couldn't see it. I could see the signs very close to the ride, but no way of getting there without going through the main line. Until I saw a couple of people who were let through the barrier by a CM, so I went up and asked about the single rider and she let me through too. Very jolty and I certainly felt thrown around!

There was a lot closed in DL that I wanted to ride, and longer queues now it was the afternoon, so I decided to head out. Buzz Lightyear had a short queue so I went on that first. I got some pictures of the castle, which already had it's Christmas decorations up (very fast work considering it was only Nov 1st!) and I made my way out, leaving the car park at 4:30.

I was headed for Brea Mall, somewhere I had planned to go yesterday, but hadn't made it. I had a parcel to collect from Hot Topic, and I was sure the usual trip to Bath and Body Works would happen too! I believe I hit a bit of traffic but it wasn't too bad. I arrived and found Hot Topic straight away, gave my name for my parcel and the girl headed to the back. She came back and said she couldn't find it, and got me to write my name down. I was stressing now, as a similar thing happened in Florida earlier this year, I believe either a staff member took my parcel or it got given to someone by accident as it never showed up. Thankfully she then returned with a massive box. I opened it and checked everything was correct, and she bagged it up for me so I wouldn't have to lug the box around. I'd ordered some clothes that my sister wanted, a picture, a new watch and a bag. Guess what my three items had in common? If you guessed a blue alien, you'd be right!

I had a sit down in one of the massage chairs and charged my phone while the chair pummelled me. Then it was off to BBW, where I bought some new sanitisers and a holder, then some lotion and shower gel impulsively at the checkout. I will never learn. I was going to find a Walmart, but I was tired and hungry by this point, so I decided to head to the Denny's down the road from where I was staying and get some dinner before bed. I arrived at 7:30, and was seated quickly. The waitress didn't seem overly bothered with me. I ordered a strawberry lemonade, which was absolutely delicious, and the pot roast - it was okay but not something I'd order again. The waitress came back at one point and asked if I'd like another raspberry iced tea. I said yes please but corrected to strawberry lemonade. She laughed and said 'whatever', and went off to get strawberry lemonade.

When I went to pay, my Caxton card got declined. I had no cash on me, so I tried it again. It declined again. I grabbed my other credit card but I'd deleted the picture I had to remind me of the PIN. I was seriously ticked off at this point. I get very ratty when I'm tired and things don't go my way. I ended up using my debit card to pay, and I literally paid for the food, no tip, as I was so peed off. I did feel a little bad afterwards as it wasn't the waitress' fault my card was declined, but her service wasn't as good as I was used to either.

I headed back to the hotel at 8:20, had a shower and downloaded my photos and notes to my laptop. I had to download my pictures every night as there wasn't enough space on my phone. I also realised that emailing my notes to myself was much easier than downloading them.

Next Day

[emmabanana]

thanks for posting, I hope you got the problem fixed with your Caxton card?

[pinkstargirl]

Originally Posted by emmabanana

thanks for posting, I hope you got the problem fixed with your Caxton card?

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Yes, it had worked perfectly so far, and everywhere else. One other time it declined was a different Denny's. No idea why!

[Jake71]

A really good day, although a bit of an early start! I'm so looking forward to visiting Disneyland for the first time.