Zawadi's Pacific Adventure 14-31 Aug 2014 (27/30 Disneyland)
This a first - a trip report that spans forums! If you're wondering what I'm on about go back to Vacations Outside Florida.
Disneyland photos are here.
So, it's Wednesday 27th at 05:00 in the morning. We were waiting under the HHV's Porte Cochere for the limo to take us back to the airport. Even at that predawn hour it was warm outside. The limo arrived on time and we made good time to the airport.
Inside it was self service check in. However, there was one thing missing. Somebody with the priority bag tags for first class passengers. We waited in the Hawaiian Airlines' lounge until we were told to take the "Wiki Wiki" shuttle to the gate. The shuttle took us to the same gate which we had arrived at 12 days earlier, and had that marathon walk to bag reclaim.
The flight was enjoyable and we were given the breakfast menu. We were surprised that when we tried to order we were informed that we got all of it! Glad we didn't have anything in the terminal. DW and I have a habit of doing a flag fold with empty chip bags. The stewardess came around to tidy up and was amazed with our neat and tidy origami skills. She even showed the others stewardesses back in the galley.
We arrived at LAX to be met by a driver from Golansky, who we'd seen recommended on Intercot, at 16:30. It took just over an hour to get to the Grand Californian. It is 10 years since our last visit and the biggest change was the road layout and multi-story parking lot by the Marriott.
Check in was quick and we found our ground floor room before exploring Downtown Disney. We ate at the Earl of Sandwich before meeting badkitty at 20:30 in Trader Sam's. The time flew by and we called it a night as she was partaking in Stitch run in the morning.
Thursday 28th. Morning EMH in Disneyland, which we only caught the end of. Buzz twice, both walk on. WDW take notice of the hand held guns and the flashing bonus targets. Then walked straight onto Space Mountain. For us this was very non descript. Total darkness but with music which left us cold about the ride. We think the best version is in Paris. We grabbed a drink before hitting the Matterhorn. The left hand station had been closed. After the ride we checked that our fillings were still in place before joining Mr Toad, followed by Pinocchio. We don't recall ever driving with Mr Toad before. WDW's version closed the day before our first visit in 1998.
We then headed for Big Thunder, passing the carousel, to be met by silence. The ride had gone down. So, we continued past Mark Twain to Pirates. This version of Pirates is the best, longer and Jack Sparrow is less prominent. From there we went around the back of New Orleans Square, which is a little treasure trove, before heading to Indiana Jones passing the closed Haunted Mansion. Our guess was that Indi's driver had had to take a bathroom break and as a result the line had been closed. So it was next door to the Jungle Cruise. Again this was similar to WDW but with better, or should that be worse, jokes. For example: For those at the back of the boat, you're sitting on the batteries. Good news in an emergency especially if you're on the positive side!
It was really warm, but not humid. We decided to venture through the Briar Patch. The line was 50 minutes but the FP return time was in 30 minutes. No contest. Grab a FP then have some lunch at the Hungry Bear Restaurant whilst watching the canoes go past. An interesting health and safety issue of guests in canoes with the Mark Twain passing them. It wasn't quite time to go on Splash so we called in on Pooh, Tigger and the rest of the gang.
We walked straight onto Splash. I was in row 1 and DW was in row 2. Smaller people were behind us. That meant the boat was front heavy. You've probably guessed by now, that meant I got excellent slow motion close ups of bow waves heading straight for/over me. We couldn't resist having the ride photo emailed to us for only $0.99! Really. Something in Disney for under a dollar!
We spent the rest of the day in Californian Adventure. Tower of Terror - WDW's version is the best. Mike and Sulley To The Rescue - This is the best version of this type if ride that we've experienced. We even waited for 45 minutes to experience Radiator Springs' Racers. WOW! We much prefer it to Test Track. I think that someone had given us some of Fillmore's organic fuel as we were just going with the flow and trying everything out, including Luigi's floating tires. Unfortunately California Screaming was out of action.
We watched the Pixar parade before heading back to change prior to a hectic dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. As we were eating, Alice, Mad Hatter, Chip, Dale, Pluto and Minnie stopped at our table.
We returned to CA and this place becomes more alive when lit up at night. Radiator Springs with all it's neon and the Boardwalk with its bulbs. Beautiful. We found a spot and watched the best night time show that we'd seen in Disney - World of Color. Don't get us wrong, we like the fireworks, Fantasmic and IllumiNations but World of Color is so different - really magical.
Friday 29th. Our last full day! :(
Morning EMH in CA. We claimed our 4 sets of "anytime" complimentary FPs, which we received as a result of some unpleasant experiences with FP+ at WDW last December. 3 open FPs and one for Radiator Springs' Racers. We went straight to RSR's FP machines and waited 5 mins to get a regular FP! Note these are not near the ride but at the other end of Radiator Springs. This would then guarantee us 2 rides on RSR today, which we assumed would be extra busy, due to the arrival of the race participants. We headed over to California Screaming to find it had just broken down (again). So next door to TSMM to find a 5, yes FIVE, minute line. After the darts, rings et al CS was operational again so on we went. What a great, smooth and almost never ending ride. By far the best 'coaster in any of the Disney locations that we have been lucky enough to visit. Off, then straight back in line twice more. It was almost time time for the RSR FP so we walked along the Boardwalk, past the Big Wheel to RSR. Did I say we love RSR? We were saving our anytime RSR FP for a nighttime race. As part of our package we had a ride photo voucher which we cashed in. We headed over to Soarin'. It was another instance where getting a FP window was quicker than the standby line. After getting the FP, we returned to the room via the Grand Californian's private entrance to drop of the photo. Soarin' was great but with using the FP line there wasn't any time to look at the aviation photographs.
Next over to the Hyperion to watch Aladdin. Absolutely brilliant, especially Prince Ali's entrance on the Elephant and the topical references by Genie. "I'm a bit bluer than normal 'cos I've just done the Ice Bucket Challenge".
We left to watch Mickey and the Magical Map, via Mike and Sulley To The Rescue. The Magical Map is a very clever show with the almost seamless video and live action interaction. However, we were thinking when it's going to be changed to incorporate Frozen.
The rest of the afternoon was taken up with using two of our anytime FPs on BTMRR and Splash. This time were were at the back of the log and remained dry-ish.
Almost time for the parade. We found a kerbside spot on the Tomorrowland side of the hub. A CM came and ordered us to sit down. The pavement was boiling. Half way through the parade we stood up to realise that we both had a burnt butt.
We left to freshen up before Steakhouse 55. The food was excellent but the slow service spoilt the dining experience. Our server vanished to appear 30 minutes later to apologise just before I was about to complain.
We returned to CA to use our FPs for nighttime rides on RSR and CS. What a way to end a holiday! DW wanted to try Mater's Tractors. I went along. 5 seconds into the hoedown I wanted to get off! I can't handle spinning. 'Coasters, drops no problem. A very slow walk over to Soarin' before getting the last ride of the night with Mike and Sulley.
Saturday 30th. Packing and going home! We had breakfast in the Storytellers Cafe. Kenai and Koda were doing the rounds. We checked out just before the 11am deadline and waited for GoLansky to take us back to LAX. At the airport we had to ask the TSA desk where we could get some approved locks from since the TSA had cut ours off between Honolulu and LAX. A small news stand came to the rescue. Bags checked in we and we headed up to the British Airways lounge until we boarded at 15:15. We slept for most of the flight and arrived home at noon (GMT+1) on Sunday.
We've got over 1000 photos and 7 hours of video to go through. Writing this has made us re-live our expedition and hope you've enjoyed my, sometimes dry, ramblings.
