Arrival time to the Disneyland Resort: 6:00pm
After walking from the Mickey & Friends Parking Structure to the Disneyland Resort Main Entrance, we decided we would visit DCA. While entering Hollywood Pictures Backlot, we noticed that one of the video screens of ElecTRONica had an error screen up. It’s always embarrassing when that happens, but what can you do. Another thing that we noticed (which was awesome) was that the entire ElecTRONica show was being controlled via an iPad! How far technology has come!
Our first stop was at The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. We had a first time rider with us and boy was she nervous. We had to calm her down a few times in the queue, but she ended up enjoying it. The drops felt very good and the mirror scene was working! But the most amazing thing about our journey into the Twilight Zone was the view. We happened to ride the attraction right at sunset and the Disneyland Resort never looked more beautiful. It was the perfect time to ride the Tower.
We then made our way to Disneyland and to what did our wandering eyes appear? The Emporium and Crystal Arcade — they’ve returned to us! We also noticed that the eagle was missing from the banister on the corner.
After a short jaunt down Main Street, U.S.A., we decided to ascend Tarzan’s Treehouse. We don’t go through that attraction often, but it was very fun. The special effects are very exciting, especially the roaring cheetah effect.
After playing around in the Treehouse, we went to Pirates of the Caribbean. It was another great ride. Everything looked great. There didn’t seem to be any changes from last week’s trip on Pirates.
After Pirates, we decided to grab a bite to eat, but unfortunately many places were already closed. We don’t understand why Disneyland closes their restaurants so early. What was still open was the Stage Door Cafe. There we had chicken breast pieces, fish, and corn dogs. It’s a good snack, but not a healthy one…
It was then time for a visit to The Haunted Mansion. We walked right into the foyer and our ghost host welcomed us. Madame Leota was floating this time! The effect really seemed great that night. Sometimes I can see the wires that are holding her crystal ball, but not this time. I believed she was floating around the room! The raven at the entrance to the graveyard is still missing, however.
Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye was up next. The wait was only 5 minutes! The ride was very fun! I love that first Indy animatronic since they updated it. It is so much more realistic than the previous version and it looks a lot more like Harrison Ford. They did a good job.
Then came The Jungle Cruise. When we got on our boat, a couple of ducks were sleeping on the dock right next to us. When our skipper got on his speaker, he woke them up. They got so mad. They started quacking away at him. The ducks eventually gave up and went back to sleep. It was pretty awesome. Our skipper was very good. He used some fresh jokes and some that I hadn’t heard in a while. He didn’t use the “Danger” joke, which I hate, and he mentioned the gorilla reaching for bananas! I always wonder why skippers never mention him. My only problem with the skipper was that he sped through the scenes too quickly. He also didn’t do my (David) least favorite joke about the back-sude of water. I had a friend that was a skipper in the 90s. He recently passed away but his trademark was to never do the back-side of water joke. I’ll make a future post about that soon. This skipper we had this past visit pointed out three ducks in the water and was talking to them and before too long, he threw in, “…Oh, and there’s some water over there.” SO GREAT!
We then visited Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room. It was great. David wrote an excellent article about it. The Tiki Room is really special. I love everything about it, especially the atmosphere and mood of the whole place. The Enchanted Garden is probably my favorite part.
To end our day, we strolled through Tomorrowland to see the new lights on Star Tours. I must say, it looks really neat! We also captured this little gem. We then went to the temporary location of the Star Trader where we noticed a shirt with an Ewok that says “Save the Trees”. A Cast Member then came up to us and said that an Ewok works in the shop. We didn’t quite know what he meant until he brought out another Cast Member who was only 4 feet tall! The lady played an Ewok in “Return of the Jedi”. It was nice to meet her.
As we exited the shop, the familiar announcement that one never wants to hear echoed through the Magic Kingdom… “Ladies and Gentlemen. Boys and Girls. Disneyland has now ended its normal operating day…”