May 29, 2013 ... Alarm buzzed at 6:30am, and we finally crawled out
of bed around 6:45am. I took a shower the night before so that was a time saver
for me. We had breakfast in the room, and then set off at 7:30am for early
entry hours at DCA. We headed down to the resort entrance, and the line snaked
back all the way to White Water snacks. We wondered if we made a mistake by
using this entrance but soon enough the line was moving and we were waiting to
get through the turnstiles by 7:45am. And they started letting people through
the turnstiles by 7:50am. I can’t believe how fast they moved people through. We
were in line for Soarin’ by 7:55am – second people in line! The theming in the
park area and the queue for Soarin’ in DCA is much, much better than in
Florida. This alone makes this Soarin’ my favorite – although the ride itself
is identical.
We then made our way over to the infamous Cars Land.
And let me be the first to say – it really is all it’s cracked up to be and
more! Definitely watch the movie again (or for the first time) before you go.
And trust me, you will feel like you are in the movie walking down Rte 66 in
Radiator Springs. As Jeff says, “this is what happens when you give Disney
Imagineers free reign and unlimited budget”. The level of detail in EVERYTHING
was awesome. Really awesome. Photos don’t even do it justice because you have to immerse yourself in it. For the experience of walking around Radiator Springs
alone, I would recommend going to DCA.
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| Photo courtesy of Disney's Photopass+ |
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| Photo courtesy of Disney's Photopass+ |
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| Photo courtesy of Disney's Photopass+ |
We hopped in line for Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree, and waited about 20 minutes. Jeff noticed that the top of the fence posts in the queue were real radiator caps. Being a car repair idiot, I still don’t know what I’m looking at!
But the ride was good. It’s a fun whippy little ride – tractor dose-ee-doe around each other, and you’re in the back of the tractor getting whipped around each turn. I tried to capture it on video. Hope you can get some sense of what it’s all about.
Next was Luigi’s Flying Tires. The queue starts
inside Luigi’s shop which was super cool. Again, the level of detail is over
the top! I think we waited about 20 minutes again for this ride. It’s a bumper
car style ride but you’re on huge tires that hover over the ground that it
spitting air out. Luckily we split up because I think if all three of us were
in one “car” we wouldn't have moved very far. You have to lean in the direction
you want to go, and eventually you move. If no one is in your way you can
really fly across the ground. Overall, a thumbs up from all three of us. Here’s
a little video of the ride. I turned the audio down significantly because there's a pretty annoying scratching sound. I'm not sure what that is.
Jeff went to get in line for fast passes for
Radiator Springs. We knew there was going to be a wait but never anticipated it
being 45 minutes! Yikes. But it was worth it. More later.
Sean and I headed over to Paradise Pier, and saw
Donald Duck in his sailor suit greeting guests at the end of the bridge. I
asked Sean if he wanted to meet him, but he said no – he wanted to go on rides!
All righty. Perhaps the little dude is getting tired of the characters. Donald
is his favorite and he passed him up!
We got in line for Toy Story Mania and waited about
30 minutes. This was when I noticed that line jumping was a lot more prevalent
in California than in Florida. It wasn’t people cutting in front of others, but
rather one or two family or friends were already in line and the next thing you
know the rest of the family is squirming their way up the line. Honestly, I
think this happened in at last half of the lines we were in during our 5 days
in the parks. Aggravating. And what’s worse is it was so commonplace, you found
yourself wanting to do it. Ugh. No worries, we didn’t do it.
The queue for Toy Story Mania is rather boring, but
I did really love the theming of Paradise Pier. And I felt Toy Story Mania fit
better there than in Pixar Place at DHS in Florida. But if I had to choose I’d
go with DHS because the theming of the indoor queue is just so cool being
amongst life size toys and games. The ride itself is identical.
From here, Sean and I headed over to ride the Silly
Symphony Swings and we sat together in a tandem seat. It’s a classic carnival
swing ride. So much fun. Sean loved it. When we were exiting, Jeff caught up to
us so he & Sean rode the swings together. See if you can spot them in their Monsters eyeball T-shirts.
Next we headed over to Bug’s Land and jumped in line
for Flik’s Flyers. The posted wait time was 5 minutes and we waited 25 minutes.
Oops. Just a little off there. The outdoor queue was well shaded so no
complaints on the wait. The ride was a kiddie ride – Flik created buckets out
of boxes which are covered up op with leaves. You rise up in the air and go
around and around. Not really worth the 25 minute wait, but oh well. We had
planned on going on Tuck and Roll’s buggies but Sean didn’t want to, so move on
we did!
We made our way over to Hollywood land to ride
Monsters In Mike & Sully to the Rescue, but found it was down. So we hopped
in line for the Disney Visa private meet & greet. We met with Stitch who
was super fun. However, we were disappointed it wasn’t one of the Fab 5 since
this little perk gets us a free 5 x 7 – we usually use that as our framed
family photo at home. Someone in line said you may be able to get a nice cast
member who will let you choose any photo on your Photopass. But alas, the guy
we got played by the rules and we got a picture of Sean with Stitch. It’s a
really cute picture, but I think I’ll print another 5 x 7 of the family for the
frame.
By the time we were done with Stitch, we could see
the Monsters Inc ride was back up and running so we hopped in line. It’s a
traditional dark ride for Disney – animatronics, et al. Nothing to wow you, but
still fun nonetheless because it was new to us.
It was now
about noon, so we decided to head out of the park for lunch. Jeff went to get
fast passes for the World of Color show and Sean and I made our way to Buena
Vista Street and out the front entrance to Downtown Disney. We had lunch at
Taqueria which is attached to Tortilla Jo’s. Jeff and I both ordered the tostado
bowl which was a crispy flour tortilla bowl filled with shredded lettuce and
choice of beans, cheese, chicken and salsa. It was good (definitely better than
Big Al’s chicken salad), but nothing to write home about. We like Chipotle’s
salads and bowls much, much better. Sean ordered the quesadilla kid’s meal
which came with fresh fruit and a dessert. His looked super yummy. After lunch
I stopped to buy beignets from Jazz Kitchen Express. YUM! And that’s all I
have to say about that.
Back at the resort we laid down and rested for about
½ an hour, and then got our swimsuits on to go swimming for the afternoon. As I
said, the pools were nice and we definitely enjoyed them. Sean got a kick out
of the water slide but it wasn’t anything fancy. We dipped in the hot tub for a
short bit and then went swimming a little longer. Bad news was we forgot about
sunscreen, so my shoulders and back go a little toasty. Nothing terrible but
enough that my shoulders bothered me for a few days. Luckily Sean was in the
water most of the time and didn’t get much sun except on his face a little bit.
Alas, I forgot to take pictures of the pools. Bummer.
We headed back over to DCA around 3:30pm. We had
fast passes for Radiator Springs racers and we were looking forward to this
iconic ride. It has easily moved to the #1 spot of our favorite Disney rides
list. It was THAT good. It is the perfect blend of scenery, dark ride
animatronics, and thrill ride. And you feel like you’re in the movie! I could
go on and on but words can’t really describe – fly to California to ride this
alone and you’ll be happy. I promise.
After we got off Radiator Springs Racers we happy-chanced on a street party in the middle of Cars Land. Sean was itching to get in on it.
Hollywood land was calling our name again, so we
headed back there to stop by Animation Academy. While we waited for the next
show we watched the zoetrope…
And here's our attempt at video taping it...
and then
toured the Sorcerer’s Workshop & The Beast's Library which both had such cool theming.
Animation Academy was so much fun! You meet with a
Disney animator, and you get your own drawing lap board, paper and pencil. And
he teaches you how to draw a Disney character. We were lucky enough to get
Steamboat Mickey. Sean did OK for a few minutes but then lost confidence in
himself and gave up. He kept saying “I’m terrible”. Ugh. I tried to encourage
him to just have fun with it, and that he was doing an awesome job for a five
year old. But he still gave up. Jeff and I didn’t do too badly and overall had
a really great time learning how to drawn Mickey Mouse!
Next up was Muppet Vision 3D and then It’s Tough to be a Bug 3D – both movies are super cute and not to be missed. But they are the same exact thing you see at Disney World in Florida so if you’re pressed for time, skip ‘em.
Dinner was back in Cars Land at Flo’s V8 café. So.
Much. Fun. Again, the theming and detail is over the top.
Jeff and I both ordered the Citrus Turkey Salad and it looked promising.
Jeff and I both ordered the Citrus Turkey Salad and it looked promising.
And while it was definitely better than our salads from the night before, it
was still not very yummy. It was kind of bland even with the dressing on it.
And it was a HUGE serving – you could easily split this between two people. I
ended up not eating a good portion of mine. We also shared one of the signature
apple-cheddar pie and it was yum. Yum. Yummy.
Sean still talks about his meal at Flo's ... and really, can you blame him? Looks de-lish!
After dinner we explored a little bit of Cars Land
and took pics. We ran into Lightning McQueen himself on the streets of Radiator Springs. I have to admit it's really cool to see him riding and talking in front of you.
Then headed over to Paradise Pier to ride the carousel. We
soaked up the boardwalk feel of the pier, and walked all the way around to get
in line for World of Color around 8pm. We had talked to a cast member about
where the best place is to view the show and she encouraged us to not be scared
away from the boardwalk which is right on the water. She said you will get wet
but not soaked or anything. Well, she was wrong. More on that in a bit.
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| Our boardwalk view of the Word of Color show |
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| Photo courtesy of Disney's Photopass+ |
We staked our spot along the water and then Sean and
I headed to the bathroom and to grab a snack. He really wanted a corn dog and
we had heard the corn dogs at Disneyland are to die for! So we were off to Corn
Dog Castle (Sean really got a kick out of the name of this place!) to get a
corn dog, apple slices and a drink. Sean gobbled that puppy down! Jeff and I
both had a few bites and thought it was good but nothing to rave about. I
honestly think ours was overcooked and the cornbread crust was on the verge of
being burned. I think I’ll have to try it again before I make my final verdict.
The World of Color show was super. Amazing. Spectacular.
Not to be missed. Like I said, we were right on the water so we ended up
getting more than just wet. More than a few times the water came down on us pretty
hard – like a good, soaking rain. The rest of the time it was a fine mist. But
being practically on top of the fountains was really cool. Talk about an
immersive experience!
A great way to end the night.
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| Photo courtesy of Disney's Photopass+ |
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