April 24, 2011 is a special day for us. We arrived to the Disneyland Resort with our girls to experience our first visit to Club 33!
But to start off our trip, we headed over to Disney California Adventure. The entrance and Carthay Circle theater are really taking shape and before you know it, they will be complete!
We went to our favorite attraction at DCA, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. The wait was only 13 minutes and it was an excellent ride. The mirror scene is still not working properly though. Once again the ghost effect turned into a blue blob instead of our individual ghost counterparts.
After TOT, we decided to go to Disneyland, but first stopped at Off the Page where David bought an incredible set of Mouse Ears. They are reminiscent of an old television set complete with color bars, antenas, and static. What makes them even better is that they are not supposed to be on sale yet! The Cast Member sold us the display without knowing! So cool!
We then walked through the gates of the Magic Kingdom of Disneyland and our first stop was The Disneyland Railroad. Because of the Splash Mountain refurbishment, we did not see the Splash finale through the Railroad window. It was all blacked out. We then arrived at our destination: Mickey’s Toontown.
Since we were all dressed up, we thought it would be neat to get a group shot with Mickey. So we went to Mickey’s House in Toontown and waited in the queue. It is an excellent queue that culminates in Mickey’s home theatre. While in line, we were discussing how fun it would be to take a picture with Steamboat Willie Mickey, but we had never seen him except for in the finale of Fantastmic! We then entered a “hot set” and who was there, but Steamboat Willie himself! It was incredible! It felt like meeting a real celebrity! There is something really special about meeting the Mouse.
King Arthur’s Carousel was up next. There was no line so we thought we would take a quick trip on the Merry-Go-Round. A fun time was had.
Then we went to Pirates of the Caribbean. Everything was looking great and guess who’s back? The parrot next to the guy with the hairy leg! It’s good to see him. In the area between the jail scene and arsenal scene, a bunch of teenagers jumped out of their boat onto the walkway. They ran around for a while and got back in their boat. We were so upset. We were wondering why they didn’t stop the ride and get these guys. But alas, justice was served. As we exited Pirates, we saw those teens surrounded by security and having their ID’s confiscated. Hopefully they’ll have fun in Disneyland jail!
After our cruise with the Pirates, it was time for Club 33! We will do a more thorough post about our trip to the Club, but let’s just say it was amazing. Everything was perfect from the decor, the service, the food, the art… It was an experience we will never forget.
We rode Pirates for a second time after dinner and then visited the 999 happy haunts in The Haunted Mansion. It was a great ride, but Madame Leota was not floating again. Also, the raven on the branch near the entrance to the graveyard was missing. Why do these birds keep flying away?!?!
Since Splash Mountain is closed, no one is visiting The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. We felt bad for it, so we made our way over there. It really is a great dark ride. A lot of people put it down, but we enjoy it. It may not be as great as Walt Disney World’s version, but it still is a welcomed addition to the Disneyland Resort.
We then made our way over to Frontierland to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We sat in the back again (the best seat). It was fast and scary. The back is the best because you are literally “pulled” through the ride. If you ride in the front, it feels as though the train slows down, waiting for the rear to catch up.
Before we said our goodbyes to the Magic Kingdom, we thought we would take a quick trip through Pixie Hollow. When we got to the area where Tinkerbell meets and greets, we noticed that the door was open to the backstage area and there was no one around. I think someone forgot to lock the door, but it was lucky for us.
After that, it was time to head home. It was one of the most magical, memorable, and special visits we have ever had to Disneyland.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
Once again, we saw a bird fly over Disneyland with a fish in its talons!