Last Sunday, we made our way to Disneyland and arrived on a splendid summer evening. Our first stop was DCA. This would be the last day that the entrance, as we know it, will be in operation. Starting the next day, guests to DCA will enter next to Soarin’ Over California. It was nice to give a final goodbye to what was a not so exciting entrance to a theme park. I am very much looking forward to Buena Vista Street and I am happy to see the Greeting’s From California entrance go!
The first attraction we headed to was The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. It was a great ride and everything worked great. The mirror ghost effect worked perfectly. I did notice a small difference in a certain prop in the library, however. In the library on the left, there is an envelope with the name Rod Serling printed on it. This prop is from a Twilight Zone episode entitled “A World of His Own”. I noticed that the printing on the envelope is now thicker and a slightly different font from before. Is it ridiculous that I bother noticing these things? I love these details!
We then went over the The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure. The ride was great, but I did notice that the rubber on Ariel’s floating hair is starting to crack. I hope it’s a quick and easy fix. I still love the new DCA attraction and I don’t see myself getting tired of it anytime soon.
It was then time for Disneyland. After passing through the magical turnstiles, we decided to get a bite to eat at the Plaza Inn. I love the Plaza Inn. It may be my favorite restaurant in the park. The main reason I have love for this restaurant is the wonderful Cobb Salad. I think it’s the best Cobb Salad I have ever had, but then again, I never did get a chance to have one at the original Brown Derby. While sitting outside and enjoying our meals, the fireworks started. We had a nice view of the works and once again I got emotional when Dumbo appeared from beyond the trees.
Before the Fireworks ended, we made our way through Fantasyland between the Castle and the Matterhorn. The fireworks are so close and loud in that area. It was a perspective that I’m not used to, but it was really neat. I really want to watch the entire show from the view point one of these days and have Tinkerbell fly right over our heads. I think it will be really neat.
We then made a quick stop at Casey Jr. Circus Train. Our entire group of seven squeezed into the Wild Animals cage. It was really a funny sight. The ride was excellent. Everyone really enjoyed it. As much fun as it is in the cage, the caboose is still my favorite spot.
We then walked over to New Orleans Square to go on Pirates of the Caribbean. Pirates is closing Sept. 7 – Nov. 23, so this was my last chance to ride my favorite ride for 3 months! I’m going to go crazy without it! The ride was spectacular except a new pirate was missing! The fella with all the hats who has one foot on the dock and one foot on a rocky boat was gone! Perhaps he is buying a new set of hats. The guy waiting to be dunked is still missing too. Even with the absence of those classic pirates, it is still the best ride ever created.
Naturally the Haunted Mansion was up next. They tried sending us into the stretching room when the foyer narration had already finished. I hate when that happens. I want to experience the whole attraction and the foyer is a big part of it to me. So we stayed back and waited for the next group. The ride looked and sounded great. If you remember a few trips ago, I said that an owl was missing in the graveyard and returned with real feathers unlike his plastic counterpart. Well that counterpart is now missing and I’m assuming he’s being tarred and feathered to match. Madame Leota was floating again. She has been floating so much lately, I don’t think I have to mention it in the reports anymore.
When we exited the Mansion, we caught my favorite part of Fantasmic!: The climactic ending with the Dragon. Every time I see it, it is equally as thrilling.
Our group then decided to go on the wildest ride in the wilderness, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Big Thunder is so great at night. I love it. It was kind of scary this time too because we were sitting in the back and we were really pulled through the whole ride. It seemed extra fast. As we all know, the big finale of Big Thunder involves a huge earthquake in the mine. Unfortunately, none of the rocks were moving and shaking this trip. I still loved it, however. It’s my favorite Disney roller coaster.
The last attraction we visited for the night was Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye. We had a jeep to ourselves and it was really thrilling. It all looked wonderful. The projected rat effect wasn’t there but I don’t really mind that as I’m not a huge fan of that scene. My favorite part of Indy is the queue though. I could spend all day in that temple looking at every prop and ancient carving.
Walking down Main Street on our way home, we noticed a few things. We looked at the construction walls for the Jolly Holiday Bakery and noticed that there were Halloween decorations in the windows of the Emporium. It’s a great feeling when Halloween time nears. They also had the Fortuosity Shop decorated with tons of Ravens. It looked like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”. It was really neat!
I hope you all enjoyed the report! Till next time!
By the way, we were also at Disneyland last week during D23. I didn’t have time to make a report, but there were a couple things I wanted to mention. We went on Splash Mountain, which we don’t do very often. I love Splash so much. It’s one of my favorite rides. We got so wet. It was as if someone poured a gallon of water all over our feet. It was very fun. We also went to Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room and our cast member introducing the show was Maynard! He really is the best and does such a great introduction to the show. If you see him out in front of the Tiki Room, be sure to stop by. You won’t be disappointed!
Enjoy the complete Photo Gallery from our trip!
