Visiting the Left Coast Mouse

After a long day at CAMEX (9:00 - 5:30), I decided to head over to Disneyland. I figured since the park was less than a mile away, I might as well visit, since I didn't have anything better to do on Sunday night. I bought the $48 one park twilight pass, my only other option was the park hopper for $90 and I wasn't sure if I had the time to do both parks, and the only thing I really wanted to ride in California Adventure was 'California Screamin.'

I got inside Disneyland around 5:40 (ok, I was able to leave the trade show a bit early). I was told to try to go to Space Mountain and get a fastpass, since they run out early. When I got there, the line was 60 minutes, and the fastpasses were gone. I decided to come back later. I then went to the Finding Nemo submarine ride. Once again, the wait said 60 minutes. I figured I might as well wait, considering the park was open until 12:00 and I only had a certain number of rides I wanted to try to get on, I would wait. The wait was actually only 40 minutes.

The Finding Nemo ride was better than the one at EPCOT, in the sense it was in a submarine, where EPCOT has it in clamshells that are much like the cars at Haunted Mansion. The ride lasted about 10 minutes or so. The downfall between this one and the one in EPCOT is at the end of the EPCOT one, you actually see real fish where this was Nemo characters and movie like throughout. I think the kids would have really loved this one, and we would probably have to ride it every time we went.

Next, I went to the Matterhorn. I was standing in line and realized that the line or the ride wasn't moving. Nobody could say when the ride would start going again, so once again it was time to move on.

I then walked towards the Indiana Jones ride and saw that once again it was a 70 minute wait, and had no fastpasses available. I moved on to Pirates of the Caribbean. The Pirates in Anaheim started out in the New Orleans bayou. I'm not sure what that had to do with Pirates, but OK, to the right there was the Blue Bayou restaurant, I wondered how cool it would be to eat there, and figured I would check after the ride since it was about 7:30 now. The ride started by going through some skeletons by treasures and things like that. The ride then went down two flumes, instead of one back home. From there, the ride was very similar to the Pirates in Orlando, including Captain Jack, so nothing necessarily different, the ride then went up the belt drive and around by the entrance before getting out and in the hallway that led out with a shop on the right and the Blue Bayou restaurant on the left.

I went to the restaurant and asked how long the wait would be for a table for one. The hostess said she would see if they could accept a walk up then. I was thinking if they do, great, if not, I can very much find something else. She came back and said they could. She took my name and said to wait in the lobby. Within a minute, they called my name, and I was sitting at a table. Now, for what people probably usually go to that restaurant for, which is to see the Pirates ride, I had the worst seat in the house. I was in the back table next to the door and stairs, but I was just enjoying the ambiance. The restaurant itself was pretty cool. The food was nothing to write home about. I had the Chicken Gumbo and the Beef Short Ribs. Once again, if the kids were with me I probably would have researched and reserved the best table in there, since they weren't, it was ok, nothing great, and nothing terrible, but the scenery was really cool.

After dinner, I continued to realize that Southern California nights got very cold, and I had to buy a sweatshirt. I got a gray hoodie with Grumpy on it, I'm sure I will wear it again. From there, I went back to Indiana Jones. The wait was still 60 minutes, but I asked the girl at the front if they had a single rider line. She gave me a piece of paper and told me to go in through the exit. I got in, and probably within 10 minutes I was on the ride. The ride itself is extremely similar to Dinosaur in Animal Kingdom. The Indiana Jones theme is cool, and that in and of itself, probably makes this ride just a bit better. Also, I think the kids would like this a little more because I believe it is a little less scary than Dinosaur.

I then walked back towards the Matterhorn, and people were starting to line up for the fireworks show. I thought that would be great becuase it might mean the lines will start getting a bit shorter. Once again, the line was only a 5-10 minute wait, so I rode the Matterhorn. The Matterhorn is very much a kiddie roller coaster. This is tamer than Big Thunder Railroad in Disney World (I did not ride BTR here).

After the Matterhorn, I tried to find Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. After looking and looking, I asked and realized it was closed because it was in the "blast zone" for the fireworks, and would reopen in a little bit. I decided to go back to Space Mountain. The line was still listed as 55 minutes and no single rider. I got in line while the fireworks were going on, and I think I actually waited about 45 - 50 minutes. Most of the line was outside. Once you get to the section where Stand-By and Fastpass meet, there is a long switchbacked hallway that looks like a spaceship. Once you finally get to where the cars are, you walk down, over the track, then down the ramp to get in the car. The car is side by side seats instead of single seats. The cars also have speakers behind your head, much like Rockin' roller coaster. The actual ride is better than Orlando, it starts off where you have the perception of going through a spinning tube, then, the tracks are hidden much better because it is darker where it actually looks like you are in the stars, and can't necessarily see where the track is going next. The music helps the whole ride, and since the music is right by your head, it's even better. There are still no major drops or anything, but overall a better ride. I'm really looking forward to the refurb in Orlando when it is complete.

After Space Mountain, I decided to go to Star Tours, just because there was no wait. The ride was exactly the same as Orlando, so, nothing to see here. From there I went back to Mr. Toad. Mr. Toad was pretty cool, although still very much a kid ride. The ride is just a car going through various rooms and scenes, somewhat similar to every other kid ride (Snow White, Pooh, Peter Pan, etc.)

By now it was about 11:00 so I thought I had done everything I really wanted to and it was time to head back to the hotel. On the way out, I decided to walk through the store just to see if there was one last thing to get the kids. I saw the jewlery section and found something that Brenda and I have been looking for forever. I finally found Belle earrings. I bought them and got Shane a Jedi Academy pin. I texted Brenda with my excitement, and if it weren't 2:00 am back home, I would have called. I'm sure Lizzie will absolutely love them.

All in all, I would say that Disneyland is much more compact than Disneyworld. I have to respect the original, but I still think that Disneyworld is better. With four parks, and more to do and see, I like it more. If I had more time, I would have really concentrated more on everything Disneyland had to offer, but in a way I was rushed. If I come out here again, I will try to bring the kids, but I would not make a specific trip for Disneyland. I was also told for coasters I should go to Magic Mountain or Knots Berry Farm.