Are you tired yet? Because by Day 4, we were tired. Nonetheless, we pressed on to Disneyland.
Digression: We went to Disneyland, not California Adventure. We ran into families at the wedding we went to on Day 5 and I asked the kids, “what was you favorite ride?” and got a lot of “Tower of Terror!” and “World of Color!” and I was like “huh?” Anyway, the point is, it’s really one park, even shares a parking lot, but they give it two names so they can charge you more for access to the whole thing. I’ll remember that next time and get the park hopper pass.
Back to our day of fun. A few days prior, when we got back from the Queen Mary, I checked Facebook and I saw that my friend Ashley had just arrived with her family at Disneyland. Long story short, we ended up talking on the phone and planning to get together.
So we met Ashley, her husband Mason, their girls Ava, Norah, Keira, and Serena, Ashley’s brother Jared, and Jared’s daughter Isabelle in Tomorrowland shortly after we got to the park. Sound like a big group? It was actually two short, because Ashley’s parents were also with them and just hadn’t arrived at the park yet. We got Fast Passes for Star Tours (more on that later) because they run out, well, fast, and rode the Buzz Lightyear ride. It’s funny, Ashley lives two blocks from my parents and I randomly run into her 400 miles from home. It was a great surprise that they were at Disneyland at the same time, and a delightful visit.
Ashley’s family had a few days at the park and we were only there for one, so we went our separate ways. We rode all the usual suspects: Indiana Jones Adventure, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Space Mountain, the Tea Cups, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, and so on.
Our first misadventure occurred on Splash Mountain. We were actually nearing the end of the ride when the boats suddenly started to stack up. We sat motionless for at least 15 minutes, with a loudspeaker periodically reminding us to stay seated and assuring us our experience would continue shortly. It didn’t. Finally, an attendant came out and helped us all out of the boats and led us through the ride to an exit, where we received front of the line passes for the ride of our choice before being released back into the park.
I don’t think I’ve ever been on a ride when it broke down before. It was weird to walk through the ride, behind the animatronic characters, and see all the inner workings, and to see the sort of “back stage” area of the park where only employees go. I took a few pictures, but I’m not going to post them because they really didn’t want us taking pictures and because I think it really does take some of the magic away.
Let’s return to our Star Tours Fast Passes, shall we? Even though we got them at 9am, our return time was not until between 5:30 and 6:30 pm. We spent the day doing other stuff and returned shortly after 5:30, only to find that the ride was closed. Closed! Apparently for the second time that day! Needless to say, we were disappointed. But it was nothing a Dolewhip float (me) and a funnel cake (Steve) couldn’t fix.
We re-visited some of our favorite rides, and eventually decided we were about ready to head out. Steve suggested that we might stop by Star Tours, just in case it was up and running again. I was skeptical, but agreed. And sure enough when we got there they had just opened it! They honored our Fast Passes and we were pretty near the front of the line, which grew very quickly behind us.
And now, here is the one and only picture from Disneyland that turned out:
That is Steve in front of a vehicle at the Indiana Jones ride. He’s pretty convinced it’s one of the actual vehicles used in Raiders of the Lost Ark, pointing out that it has the same license plate and a number of other details are identical. And of course there is no way Disney’s imagineers could possibly have recreated something from the movie, right?
Sorry, Steve. I only poke fun at you because you are cute.