I had set a wakeup call of 7:55 since we planned on being at Disneyland for opening. Promptly at 7:55 the phone rang and I got up for my first shower at the hotel. It took absolutely forever to rinse my hair and I had not planned on that. I remembered to put on a lidocaine patch, and once I was dressed I went to buy cokes at the Mickey and Me Outlet. They didn’t have chocolate milk there so we would have to get that at Disneyland.
We got to Disneyland at 9:05, just missing the opening. Andy and Alex did Autopia while I went for Space Mountain fastpasses. Next we all did Snow White followed by Andy and Alex doing the Carousel. I was supposed to be video taping things while they did this but had serious issues. Nothing came out. Turns out I had the lens cap on the whole time!
Afterwards we went to ToonTown because Alex wanted to ride Mickey’s Rollercoaster (actually it is Gadgets Go Coaster, but that was okay). We stopped at the Fantasyland Theater so Alex and I could go potty. We walked in, and there was a man washing his hands. I thought we walked into the men’s room, but he said no, theirs was not working so they were using the ladies room. I got Alex into a stall and was walking into mine when a 2nd man came out of the one next to me! After using the facilities I mentioned what I now call the ‘freaky weird thing’ to him. He immediately checked the men’s room and it was working perfectly. He told me I should not have used the room, but should have reported it. I didn’t even think to do that because I believed the man. It wasn’t until later I realized that there were 2 men in a room frequented by little girls. Later in the trip I overheard a woman telling a security guard about this problem. It must have been a common occurrence!
Once we got to ToonTown we rode Gadgets with a 20 minute wait, and then Andy went to the Fantasy Faire to video tape more storytelling. Alex played in Chip and Dales Tree house, and we got in line to see Mickey until we found the line to be about 1 hour long. We didn’t have that much time, so headed out. Alex played for a while in ToonTown and then we went into the Gag Shop. Here we were lucky to find a pin showing the façade of ‘it’s a small world’. It was also hear that I saw the clock I knew I had to have. It was a desk clock with the fab five surrounding it. There was no way I was leaving Disneyland without that clock. Once Andy met up with us, I showed the clock to him. I didn’t buy it there but would make time to buy it later.
We had lunch at the French Market for the first time. The food was okay, but not great. The clam chowder bread bowl I had anxiously waited to try was not nearly as good as the clam chowder at Rainforest Café. We did enjoy the meal though –the food was not horrible. We were also there when the Bachelors were playing, and they had a woman as a guest singer. It was a nice atmosphere and Alex got to participate in a song with the band. He was given beads and the kazoo he used as a keepsake.
Determined to see Billy Hill this trip, we headed there next. The line for food was out the door and tables were limited. We got up from our table and left so those ordering food could sit down. It was only our second day so we figured we had plenty of time to fit this into our schedule again, when we were ready for food of some sort so we would not feel guilty about taking a table.
After leaving we got Indy fastpasses on our way out of the park.
At California Adventure we grabbed Soarin’ fastpasses and headed toward Mulholland Madness. We passed the Miner 49’ers setting up and decided to stay to watch. Alex played his kazoo along with the music, and at one point even got to play the washboard. We had a great time.
After doing this Alex wanted to do Bugs Land, so the boys went there while I went for Mulholland Madness fastpasses. When we met up we decided to see It’s Tough to be a Bug. It was Alex’s first time. Since my back is bad, I leaned forward before the stinging bee segment. That surprised Alex, but didn’t hurt him. He really enjoyed the show.
We were heading to check out Tower of Terror when we saw that Playhouse Disney was about to start. We hopped in the line, thinking we may not even make it into the theater, but finally we did, and got the last row. Alex absolutely loved this new show. He saw all of his friends. He was also quick to point out that Buster was not there. I was surprised we didn’t end with the Hot Dog Dance, but all in all the show was great.
It was then that we decided to ride Soarin’, followed by Mulholland Madness. I had called earlier in the day for priority seating at Storytellers. That reservation was for 6pm. By the time we finished Mulholland Madness we figured we could watch the Pixar Play Parade and see how wet it was before we taped it. Well we ended up with such a good spot we ended up taping that show! We were at the edge of the rope walkway facing the direction the parade came from. It was like having front row seats. We all liked the parade, and we barely got wet.
After the parade we went into the Grand Californian and checked in for dinner. We all decided against the buffet and ordered off the menu. Alex wanted macaroni and cheese, Andy had a pepperoni pizza, and I had the salmon. We also had beer with our dinner.
Alex loved his dinner and ate over half of his very large serving. Andy’s pizza was huge and he could not finish it. I tried it and agreed with Andy. It was superb. My salmon though was out of this world. It was so tender it practically melted in my mouth. The potatoes were great, and the green beans crisp.
We loved the quiet atmosphere, the table service and just relaxing for a bit.
By the time we were done we knew we had just a short time left before California Adventure closed. We did Mulholland Madness a few times, and then we closed out the park on Soarin’.
Once back at Disneyland we did Indy and again Alex measured tall enough. We followed Indy with Pirates and then headed to Tomorrowland where we all did Buzz and then the boys did Star Tours. Even though I was done for the night, I didn’t want to walk to the hotel alone, so waited for them. Andy called me after they were done riding, saying he needed me in the store. Alex had picked out a toy, but I had all the money. While they were shopping, Disneyland closed. We got back to the hotel by 10:30.
Our first full day of the trip and we tried 4 new things: French Market, It’s Tough to be a Bug, Storytellers and Playhouse Disney. We all loved 3 of the four. The food at French Market was just mediocre, so we probably won’t do that again.
We also found out that High School Musical would not run again until Friday. I was disappointed because I really wanted to see that show.
After being there from opening until closing, Andy had a blister (his first one EVER while at Disneyland), and Alex got a bit grumpy toward the end of the day.
Stay Tuned for Day 3 – Does Alex ride Tower of Terror Does He like Jedi Training? Did we enjoy Breakfast? All will be answered in Day 3!
Day 2 of this report can be seen here.
May All Your Days Be Filled With Magic! And your nights full of Disney Dreams!