Mousekingdom Blog

Hi All!

I’m back and i’ve started writing up my trip reports. I’m going to try and post 2 days at a time, that way most entries will have something relevant to Disney in, though I didn’t do Disney every day. There will be some none Disney Stuff in here too, but its all in California so it counts The only exception may be the last 2 days when I was in San Francisco, that’ll be a non-disney blog, but I said i’d put my whole trip up here so you can hold me to that

Anyway, here we go… I hope you enjoy!

Wednesday 24th May 2006

Today is my departure day to the US. I got up at 7am. Having had everything already packed I just needed to get everything downstairs, grab something to drink before I leave and wait for the taxi.

The taxi arrived at 7:45am. I made it to the station in plenty of time, arriving at about 7:55am. I had a 30minute wait for my train which was due at 8:25.

I caught the train at 8:25, and it was an uneventful journey down to Reading. I arrived at reading at approximately 10:40, and needed to get a bus from here to Heathrow. I went outside and there was a bus waiting to depart, I loaded my bags onto the coach, and we left almost as soon as I was on. The bus took about 30minutes to get to Heathrow, I arrived at Terminal 3 at about 11:15.

I checked in as soon as I arrived to get rid of my luggage, there was no-one at check-in at all. I walked straight up to the check in desk and off loaded my bags. I now had a wait which was the best part of 4 hours, again better to be early than late lol.

I looked around the shops pre-security first, deciding if I wanted to get anything to eat here, but there really was nothing that appealed to me, so I went through security to the Airside Lounge. Still nothing really of interest here and a long wait ahead of me, I didn’t want to spend money in Duty-free as that would mean less to spend Stateside!

In the Airside lounge I bought some lunch from Boots (Chemist in the UK for those who don’t know, though they sell a bit of everything). I then waited around a little longer til I could wait no more, and bought myself a Starbucks coffee. Eventually boarding time came around, and I made my way to the gate, which was a long walk in itself, I got searched and then when called I headed onto the plane.

The flight ended up taking off about 25minutes late, the flight itself was pretty uneventful, and we arrived again about 25minutes late into Los Angeles International Airport. It was about 7pm when I landed, went straight through immigration, no queues at all (I hear horror stories about Immigration at LAX, but the first time I queued 10 minutes, and this time walked straight through….)

I did have to wait for my bags, probably about 20minutes, I then had to walk through customs and make my way to the airport exit. I had booked a supershuttle back to the hotel, I went to the pick up point and this all seemed very organised. They have shuttles for the different areas, and there is one for Anaheim. My shuttle arrived at about 8pm. I got on the shuttle and only one other family was there, they were staying in Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, so off we went, they were dropped off first, and then myself at the Holiday Inn.

I arrived at the hotel about 9pm, and then made it into bed after my very long day at about 9:45pm PST.

Thursday 25th May – 1st Disney Day

Today would be my first day at Disney, and I woke up at about 6:30. Not bad really, slept straight through considering the time zone change. I got up and got showered and watched Charmed on tele as it was too early to go to the parks.

At 9am my friend from California, Ryan, met me at the hotel. We headed to McDonalds on Harbor for a quick bite to eat for breakfast and then parked in Downtown Disney Parking in his car. We took the Monorail to the park.

First up was Space Mountain. I missed out on this on my last trip as the attraction was not due to open until July. Personally I believe it was worth the wait. I didn’t go on the attraction before so I can’t make a comparison, but I think it’s a really nice ride. The soundtrack goes really well with the attraction, and the effects at the start are quite cool. Once you’re in the ride area itself it’s a little plain, they could have done more like they did with Mission 2 in Paris, its just stars everywhere constantly moving, very little else. I do like the attraction though, its really nice not having to brace yourself for the head banging that is Space Mountain: Mission 2 when you go through the inversions.

After riding Space Mountain, Ryan said we had to head over to Haunted Mansion as they had re-done the attic room. The new attic looks cool (though I’ll be honest I can’t remember what the old one was like, I keep confusing Haunted Mansion and Phantom Manor… I’m so bad!!) there’s a lot of framed pictures showing the bride and her husbands, and then the pictures change showing them headless. There’s also a image of the bride, I can’t remember exactly what she is saying but its along the lines of ‘Til death us do part’ and when she says that an axe appears in her hands and she does this evil laugh. Its really cool, I do love Haunted Mansion 

Now we headed over to DCA and went on the Monsters Inc. attraction, Mike and Sulley to the Rescue. A nice dark ride, the queue line is well themed once inside the building, and the attraction itself is detailed and has some nice effects.

After Monsters Inc. we went to watch Turtle Talk with Crush, I quite enjoyed this attraction, its entertaining for Adults and Kids alike. Very cleverly done!

We then rode the Tower of Terror, nothing new here, though I am sure there were different drop patterns last year, this time they were the same every time. Ryan now had to leave, so I headed back to the Parking Lot with him, and then nipped into the ESPN Zone to pick up the MVP Club card that I was due, I didn’t stay to use the points, not really sure why I joined in the end, if I had eaten there you get 25% discount so that’s good I guess 

I headed back to DCA now, and picked up a Tower of Terror Fast pass, and then headed over to Soarin’. Soarin’ is an attraction that never fails to give me goosebumps, I love it so much and pray that some day we get a European equivalent in Paris, that’s one clone I’d love to see, as long as we get our own movie and its Soarin’ over Europe and not Soarin’ over Paris or France.

After Soarin’ I went into White Water Snacks in Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel to get some lunch. I had a Veggie Burger with Fries, and it was really nice, American veggie burgers aren’t always good to eat.

After lunch I went on Grizzly River Run, got a little damp but not too bad, and then I went on California Screamin’ twice. What is with the lack of trains with working sound? The first time I had no sound, the second time I did, but this was one of the few times I did during the trip. I still love the ride, but its so much more fun with the music 

Next up I went on the Sun Wheel, I went in one of the Fixed cabins as I wanted to take some photos. Got some nice pictures, they’re all on my site . After this I bought my first Toll House Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich, I love these, so nice!

I then went and watched the Seasons of the Vine, which is a short show about how wine is made in California, its not a major attraction but has some nice music and tells an interesting story. One to see if you have a few spare minutes (the room is Air Conditioned which is a plus!). I then went and watched its Tough to Be a Bug, I always enjoy this show 

I then went and watched Aladdin. A musical Spectacular, as good as when I saw it the first time last year, really good show, great music and amazing sets! I then used my Tower of Terror Fast pass and had a look around the shops in DCA!

At about 6:15 I crossed back over into Disneyland Park. I looked around the shops in this park too, before heading over to the Tiki Room. What can I say, I love the Tiki Room, I also had my first Dole Whip Float this trip whilst I was watching this show, I love the snack and the show so much  It really is a classic attraction, I love the music and the audio-animatronics! I’m looking forward to seeing the Florida Version when I start work over there in September!

Next up I went down towards It’s a Small World to find a spot to watch the Parade of Dreams. I still am not Wow’d by this parade, I love the music but I’m just not amazed by the parade, not sure why. Today it broke down and took almost 5 minutes to start back up after one of the stops, the Cast looked a bit exhausted from repeating the routine over and over. Also the Lion King float was totally missing from the parade.

I then made use of 2 fast passes myself and Ryan picked up on Space Mountain earlier in the day and rode twice! I then went on Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road, there was no queue and it was dark. Lots of fun  Though I still like Paris’ loads more! I then went on Splash Mountain, it was dark, but not cold, so I figured it didn’t matter if I got wet. I used single rider and didn’t get too wet anyway. Again this is another attraction I love at California, can’t wait to go on it in Florida, many people have said to me that it is better there!

After Splash I went around the shops, and bought some Graduation Merchandise as I graduate from University this year. Was advised to buy it that night as there was a Grad Night the very same evening, and they warned me it was likely to sell out. To be honest I don’t think they were lying, for the next couple days I saw very little Grad stuff, but after a few days it started to re-appear as they re-stocked!

I then returned back to my hotel, goodies in hand. I ordered Domino’s for dinner and then headed to bed for a well earned nights sleep  What a great first day, got lots done!

Photos @ http://photos.tpruk.com/250506

This entry was posted on Friday, June 9th, 2006 at 1:46 pm and is filed under Trip Diaries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.