Two long working days after our Carmel trip, Shawnna and I headed down to our next destination - Disneyland! We wanted to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of Disneyland. We left home at about 10:00am on Thursday and were at the hotel by 2:30pm; yes, it only took 4.5 hours in one stretch without stopping. We stayed at the Park Inn Anaheim which is directly across the street from Disneyland. After checking in, we walked around Downtown Disney before driving to Medieval Times for dinner and some entertainment.
We were sitting in the Blue Knight section. That meant we cheered for the blue knight throughout the evening of horseback jousting and various games/battles. By the end of the night, our knight stood victorious, so we went back to the hotel with our heads held high.
Friday morning, we got up and were at Disneyland when it opened. The first ride we rode was Space Mountain, followed by Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters and Indiana Jones Adventure. I must say that I was disappointed by the "new" Space Mountain which had recently been opened after having been renovated for the past 2 years. The only changes I could recognize were that the track was a bit smoother and the corridor leading to the ride was cleaner and newer. The rest of the ride seemed to be the same which makes me wonder what they worked on for 2 years. Anyway, I did enjoy the Astro Blasters which is a new ride where you shoot at targets while riding in Haunted Mansion type cars. Indiana Jones, as usual, is still a great ride.
Next, we headed over to California Adventure when it opened to experience The Twighlight Zone Tower of Terror. All I have to say is WOW! This is another Disney classic. The attention to detail is second to none, the special effects are cool and the different drop sequences keeps the ride exciting because you never know how far you'll drop. Even more surprising was that Shawnna loved it as well.
The rest of the day was spent walking back and forth between the two parks to go on more fun rides: California Screemin', Soarin' Over California, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion, which was a big surprise. The Haunted Mansion was like a whole new ride because it was completely redecorated in the theme of "A Nightmare Before Christmas." Even the elevator with the "stretching" walls was redecorated with Nightmare paintings and the hanging man at the top was replaced with a giant Jack Skellington head wearing a Santa hat. It was fun to see this during the Halloween time.
Saturday was our early entry day which meant we got in the park 1 hour before the general public. In that first hour, we were able to ride the Matterhorn twice, Astro Blasters twice, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Snow White's Scary Adventures, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan's Flight and Pinocchio's Daring Journey. After another day of riding more rides, we got a good spot to watch the "Remember... Dreams Come True" fireworks spectacular. This was one of the longest fireworks shows I have ever seen and it was set to classic Disney soundbytes from rides throughout the park. In a couple instances, fireworks were not only being shot in front of you, but all around you and Tinker Bell flew all around instead of just a straight line like normal. Worth checking out.
Sunday was our last day in the park, so we went on all of our favorite rides one more time (Tower of Terror - rode it 6 times, Astro Blasters - 6 times, Indiana Jones - 5 times, California Screemin' - 3 times, Haunted Mansion - 3 times), watched the Aladdin musical in California Adventure (the Genie was still funny and he had new material since the last time we saw it) and saw Billy Hill and the Hillbillies (hilarious as always). We had a nice dinner at the Blue Bayou and rode our last ride (Star Tours) before leaving the park just before it closed.
On Monday (Shawnna's birthday), we did some shopping at the Disney Store in Downtown Disney as well as the Grand Californian gift shop before checking out of the hotel and heading home. We stopped for lunch at Harris Ranch and made it home in 5.5 hours (including lunch). After unpacking and getting some things done, we had dinner with Leanna and Jeff at the Olive Garden.
Overall, it was a very nice trip. The weather cooperated - low 70s with no rain. The crowds weren't bad - Fast Passes made the lines even shorter. The rides were all operational - the new Tower of Terror made up for the "new" Space Mountain. And, our Disney brick was still in good condition...
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