Monday, December 23, 2024

Disneyland 2024- Day 2: May 13

We Begin To Practice The Hippie Art of Manifesting Characters Because The App Is Useless


Our initial plan to start the first full day with an Extra Magic Hour Half Hour in California Adventure hit a jet lag and buffetitis sized snag. Rosa was up with energy levels allowing for working on some stuff for home on the couch. Anabelle was mostly immobile, and I napped for a bit after getting dressed.
 
I donned the trusty, old, Manly Fairy backpack for my first turn with it, and we started our one “late” park morning. We started this “late” morning by returning to the secret entrance near the Grand Californian and entering the rear of the park at just about normal opening time, once again to the tune of the Lone Ranger Theme.
 
I didn’t realize this until we returned home, but the direct path only for our hotel to the “back door” of California Adventure created a Pixar connection. It was kind of like a much cheaper version of the Galactic Starcruiser’s shuttles to Batuu. Also, once more, we didn’t need shuttles because a powerful sneeze from our room could have reached Pixar Pier.
 
We believed it was an oddly cloudy morning in sunny California. We would later learn it was a typically cloudy morning, and the sunny Californianess burns through at, or sometimes well after, noon.
 
We started with Ariel’s ride, which is nearly identical to the Florida one, but we love it, and it rarely had a line in either location. YAY! There was one difference that I knew about ahead of time. Anabelle was the one who spotted Henry Limpet in the back of the “Under Da Sea” room. YAAAAAAY! (The star of one of my favorite childhood films makes a cameo appearance in The Little Mermaid film as well.)
That he was unlit meant my attempts at photographing him were my usual utter, blur filled, failures. Rosa got the only one where he could be distinguished at all.
 
Back over on Pixar Pier, Edna Mode was meeting folks near the Incredicoaster. We posed and chatted with the designer for a bit. Rosa and Anabelle performed excellent mimicry of her glasses holding, condescending look. With that finished it was time to walk next door over to Uncle Jesse’s Ride West.

Like the lines and most everything else where things are Relaxed and Groovy, Mr. Potato head was outside the ride and scared the pants off us as we approached. The sneak entry to the rear of the park, even without the early access, continued to be a boon and it was the shortest wait we ever had for Toy Story Mania.  
As stated, the line (like nearly all lines) was outside (likely because rain is less frequent than earthquakes in Anaheim), therefore, there was no simulation of being under Andy’s bed. Alas.
 

Having both my knowledge of higher point tricks and much younger and faster reflexes, Anabelle easily outscored both of us, netting her highest level (“Cat”) in the game. YAAAY! 
A cool little touch on the way out was passing through a period room with a scale “Actual Size” of the shooting gallery game we’d just ridden.
NEAT!
 
Next door was Jessie’s Critter Carrousel! YEE HAW! The animals were all the cartoony looking ones from the side scrolling section of Toy Story Mania. Anabelle chose to ride on a backwards facing skunk. FUN!
I had a wonderful, and laughter filled, time watching her, because while it was named after Jessie, the announcements and song were all by Stinky Pete himself!
YAAY!
 
We crossed through the weird No Man’s Land that was still traditional amusement park themed, but not Pixar. As should be obvious, I had navigation issues with this park for most of the trip. We took some photos by the postcard posters from various Pixar films on the way.
The Coco one obviously took place after the movie as Mama Coco was clearly visible in skeleton form. Um…yayish?
 
To get to CarsLand we passed San Fransokyo Square. It looked straight out of Big Hero Six and even without any characters and before the restaurants were open, Anabelle described it as “the most awesome place ever!”
This is likely because she hadn’t been to CarsLand yet.
 
It’s a shame we entered CarsLand in the direction we did. While it was impressive seeing the Cadillac Range and the fun RustEeze “Burma Shave” like signs, there was an issue.
Rosa took one look at the banked curve the vehicles speed through during the race part of Radiator Springs Racers and there was no way she was trying the ride. Granted, she likely wouldn’t have liked that part much, but it was over quickly, and the rest of the experience was a great deal of fun she’d have probably enjoyed. [“No.”- Rosa]


Anabelle (in her specifically selected Cruz Ramirez shirt for this occasion) and I jumped on the single rider line and buzzed through looking at the cool stuff along the way with minimal wait.
The one place the Relaxed and Groovy Cast Members were always spot on about wait times was that single rider line. The Spanish announcements done by Ramone were a nice touch. Luck was with us, and we ended up in the same car! YAAAY!
 
We had so much fun, and the line held at minimal. Therefore, we went again. YAAAY!
This time, Anabelle was placed next to a fun kid who yelled in delight the whole way, and I was with a Spanish speaking family having a great time and filming the ride and each other.
Also, YAAAY!


The ride was remarkably smooth, even during the “race” fast part. It used the Test Track car vehicle technology, but since it wasn’t going through the stress based “testing” it was much more comfortable. The starting section was an oversized Dark Ride through Radiator Springs with all the characters from the first film, including Cow Tipping with Mater ending with an appearance by frighteningly full-sized Frank. When preparing for “the race” the ride went one of two ways. One was Luigi’s with him and Guido putting on tires. This one was more fun because the car bumped up and down… plus Luigi. I saw the other option on my second pass through. It was Ramone’s for a paint job (misting water spray) with him and Flo. That was the only place to see Flo, who Anabelle really liked in the movie and the game. However, Anabelle’s role as the Luigi Whisperer played into her encounters.

Because of that role, Anabelle needed to enter Luigi’s Casa Della Tires, which served as the line for his ride. We thought it might be like the Alien Swirling Saucers, but that was the Mater ride. This one had trackless cars of Luigi’s family that did an ethnic Car Square dance to various Italian songs.
The fact that the cars' eyes were only visible from the outside when facing the vehicle, but not when seated in them, was a wild and cool effect. While she was on line, Mater and Lightning drove by.
YAAAAY!
 
Rosa and I were going to take photos, but they parked much further from us then we first thought. It was a good thing we returned. We almost missed “Eh Cumpari.” Luigi did much of the singing, but Guido did the Spanish announcements… in an Italian accent.
Whatever.
 
Anabelle got “Funiculi Funiccula,” and had a hoot filled ride, wheeling around throughout the dance and the final spin. There was always a final spin. The trackless ride should have made it possible to have a mix of different dances, but we were still jet lagged enough to prevent identifying if that really happened.
“Did you watch a single car this time to compare?” 
“No, I forgot.”

The time had come to visit the other Relaxed and Groovy Exclusive area- AvengersLand. (Avengers Campus technically, but really, they’re all “Lands” aren’t they? Also, for legal reasons, it can’t be MarvelLand. Universal is sooooo annoying.)
It was a great music transition from the twangs of CarsLand to impressive and Superhero-ey tunes.
 
We entered to find a crowd gathered to watch a Dora Milaje show. They called on the audience to find their inner warriors and copy their dance like battle moves. T’challa (who is dead) looked down approvingly from the balcony over the store. Rosa caught his attention, by waving, and did “The Wakanda Thing” which he returned. YAAAAY!

The Relaxed and Groovy attitude towards which characters appeared made it impossible to figure out the chronological setting of this area. Anabelle told me to blame the Multiverse. and shut up about it.
Parenthood, the gift that keeps on giving.
 
We tried Uncle Jesse’s other ride, the Spider-Man themed Webshootin’ Arcade Thingy. On line were a bunch of posters introducing the team, all of which were references to characters from the comics (Squirrel Girl and Moon Girl – also a cartoon) or movies (Harley from Iron Man 3)
Peter Parker’s welcome intro that descended into chaos with the Spider-Bots multiplying themselves without stopping was cool. Tom Holland is always hilarious when playing being in an embarrassing, out of control situation.
Peter- “NO! DON’T CALL MR STARK!!!”
A.I.- “OK, I will call Spider-Man.”
*Peter’s phone rings* 
Peter- “Oh… hey, that’s weird.”
 
Instead of two seaters with guns, eight guests sat back-to-back in two sets of four on enclosed benches with a large open space facing out. Our vehicle serial number was a Gwen Stacy reference…
Not a great sign.
 
The ride concept was very cool. Making arm motions simulating web slinging shot webs at the myriad bots all over the place. Pulling your arm back rapidly allowed the “web and yank” move to happen. (I was good at this, having practiced it since the age of about five.) Webs were color coded for each of the four guests in each seat. The action on the screen in each section made it look like the ride was really going under and around AvengersLand.
 
There were an INSANE number of Spider-Bots. Spidey swung around and talked quickly, while the areas “moved” by at high speed on the screen. That coupled with concern over colliding arms with Rosa overwhelmed Anabelle completely. Since I have been shooting webs since my childhood, I had decent accuracy from the get-go. Unfortunately, “butt location” was a large problem for me. Regularly, though I was flailing as fast as everyone else seated with me, my color webs would vanish, and I would have to readjust my seating position. Rosa did the best and was the most comfortable on the ride out of all three of us…
Because we are a superhero family.
YAAAY!

Often the superheroes (and the other Relaxed and Groovy characters we would eventually learn) didn’t have a set meeting spot but would “patrol.” While Anabelle recovered, I went over to see Spider-Man himself patrolling the outside of his ride. (Wearing his first Stark supplied movie costume…and everyone clearly remembered him. MULTIVERSE!)
 
Watching little kids meet superheroes can be cooler than seeing them meet other characters. The tiny ones were in AWE of standing next to Spidey. Then he’d get into a cool web slinging pose and tell them to do it too.
And then…
They would completely forget they were standing next to their hero and focus all of their concentration on using one hand to maneuver the other in to the proper “thwipp” formation.
 
I requested a photo telling him I’d been a fan for a VERY long time. He thanked me as we got into position. I had no problem “thwipping” my fingers. Again- years of practice. YAAY!
I was wise enough not to mention to Spidey (or anyone else) that he was on my underwear both days we visited AvengersLand.
 
On the other side of AvengersLand another patrolling hero popped up behind us, startling everyone a great deal.
Freakin’ California.
 
After catching our breath, we chatted with Shang-Chi for a bit. He commented on my Buzz Lightyear shirt and suggested asking Captain Marvel about space. That would have to wait for another day. (Foreshadowing!!!) Shang-Chi was a Venn diagram of characters Anabelle didn’t want to meet to begin with (male face characters she had no connection to) and meeting style (randomly wandering instead of a controlled line, aka “patrolling.”) Therefore, I went alone for the picture. He took a fighting stance and I …
Took a stance.
While stating, “I have no training… in anything.”
Technically, I did take taekwondo for six weeks through the town in grammar school. But it only met once a week, and I was sick and missed one class. 
All I learned was:
Stretching
Standing Side Kick
How to scare the heck out of your classmate pretending to attack you and standing way too close during Standing Side Kick practice.
This is why I stuck with, “no training.”
 
Passing the Terror o’ Guardians Tower we left AvengersLand and entered MGMWestLand, or whatever the “classic era of Hollywood” section was called.
 
We looked around a little, then paused and posed by the Storytellers Statue, showing Mickey with Walt when he first arrived in California. Awwwww.
 
The Carthay Circle restaurant was a pseudo-icon of this park. (As was the Big Mickey Ferris Wheel…the Icons were less obvious with things being Relaxed and Groovy.) I didn’t find out why (it is based on a famous Hollywood Theater) until well after we got home.
 
We were ready for our first in Park table service lunch, in the lounge of that restaurant which every single cast member we talked to told us to eat at. It set the tone for the remainder of our in park Table Service lunches…
In that we cancelled all of them.
 
The description stated the lounge had seating “outside” the restaurant, and we thought we’d be in the still chilly and cloudy air for our meal. However, it just meant “outside the main restaurant, in the bar.” The problem with the limited menus and Freakin’ California stating “ask for allergen free items” when you get to any food service place, was the meal Rosa had planned to have could not be made gluten free. (A side problem was we had passed “Award Wieners” on the way, and it inspired a hot dog craving, making her immune to the waiter asking her to suggest items the kitchen was willing to try to adjust.)
 
Anabelle greatly enjoyed her berry lemonade [“It was delicious.”- Anabelle] and Bao bun appetizer.
My chicken with a suspicious but tasty smear on the plate was enjoyable. The waiter was, as most Awesome Happy Disney People are, helpful and a traveling party. However, overall, the place was far more in the snooty column than we usually go for, whether or not we’re in Disney.
 
Once Anabelle and I finished, Rosa had a quick chat with the “Award Wieners” chef and got a gluten free hot dog and sweet potato fries for her lunch.
Anabelle got a frozen banana, across from where we sat, which was terrifyingly frozen. It thawed enough while Rosa finished her lunch as we rested a bit near the Filmore’s Magic entrance. Another difference from Florida, far from Relaxed and Groovy, was that a group of military helicopters flew over the park.

Rosa wanted a Mickey ice cream bar for dessert, which made me very happy. This is because the part of the sign that said they had Mickey ice cream sandwiches was covered when we got Anabelle her banana.
Mouse shaped ice cream party! YAAAAAAY!
 
We were learning that the small size of the park was conducive to “land crossing” and we finished our snacks while returning to San Fransokyo. Hiro was in his spot with no line at all. We figured the reason for this was he appeared to be a standard Los Angeles resident with slightly more unruly hair. Anabelle went to talk to him and mentioned she had just finished college finals. This led to a great deal of bonding between them about the stress of exams and him wishing his were completed already as well. Anabelle asked him to say hi to her favorite, Honey Lemon, as she left.
 
One more bridge and we were back at Pixar Pier. The Disneyland App stated Buzz was there at this time and then later in the day Woody would be around. Therefore, we were surprised (as it was early in the trip… Freakin’ California) to see Woody with Jessie over by the Toy Story Mania entrance.
 
On the way there, we stopped where we’d seen Edna Mode to see Frozone, who also wasn’t supposed to be there. (Relaxed and Groovy.) As to be expected, there were a disproportionate number of adult men on line for this character. One reason the kids may have shied away is Frozone was alarmingly tall. Besides being more dramatic due to pulling from a pool of out of work actors instead of college interns, the tall and short characters on the West Coast appeared to have a significantly wider range of heights than their eastern counterparts.
 
By the time we reached the Woody and Jessie line, with me in my Buzz Lightyear shirt, they said we’d be the last people to meet them. Rather than the character meeting style we were used to, where they’d go take a break and come back, other Toy Story Friends would be coming out shortly. In hindsight, this should have helped us understand the Relaxed and Groovy character meeting method where they swap them out constantly after short periods. However, it was still early in the trip, and we were functioning on minimal sleep.
 
Woody and Jessie were clearly in a bit of a hurry, leading to a fun and pose filled, but quick, meeting. Jessie saw my Buzz shirt and blew me a kiss. Awwwwwwww.
 
We returned to the end of the line while Anabelle and I started theorizing the most terrible guesses possible about which Toy Story characters could be coming.
Wheezy!
The Binoculars!
That creepy phone from the day care center!
 
While this intellectual pursuit was going on, Rosa started talking about how she was going to take her anti-glutening pill on the last day to have a real churro. The agony of being denied the gluten free churro the day before led to a short conversation with herself that resulted in her stepping off the line to grab a green sprinkled real churro from the Señor Buzz cart nearby immediately. 
The Disneyland churro lived up to its famousness and Rosa was quite thrilled.
YAAAAAY!!!
 
Anabelle and I were hoping to meet Bo Peep and Buzz Lightyear, respectively. Apparently, we manifested our thoughts as the pair who have no reason to be together, came out together.
Freakin’ California.
 
While they were setting up, the local woman next to us was asking if we agreed on how muggy it was. Being used to solid air in Florida we stared at her in confusion. Finally, I said, “We’re from New Jersey.”
“Oh, I guess not.” It was a weirdly specific call back to a Colorado conversation.
 
A guy ahead of us was Disney Bounding as Wall-E. Buzz used his karate action button to chop the cockroach on the guy's shoulder. Disney Bounding (dressing kinda sorta like a character) is HUGE out there. The Relaxed and Groovy mind set is also FAR more forgiving of the “Bound” being more costume like than Florida allows.
 
Anabelle excitedly went to see Bo Peep and acknowledged Buzz as much as she felt she had to. Bo protected her and suggested poses while Buzz looked on confused. YAAAY!
He was allowed in the picture, however.
 
Buzz was more excited than I had ever seen him about my costume shirt of him. He immediately ran in for a hug, which is not normal Buzz Lightyear behavior. (Freakin’ California)
Buzz, being an action figure, is made of hard somewhat pointy plastic. It was not the most comfortable of hugs.
Before he started suggesting various and exciting Space Ranger poses…
He shooed Bo Peep away completely. She was near me in none of the pictures.
(Nice but not kind, Kind but not nice…)
 
Joy and Sadness were supposed to be nearby… multiple times during when we passed this section of the park. But they never were.
Freakin’ California.
Anger was announced to be joining them a couple weeks after we left, but I’ll bet he wasn’t there either.
 

Before leaving the “old timey amusement park” section, Anabelle wanted to go on the spinning swings. Rosa and I are neither fans of spinning or swinging (or heights) and we remained on the ground to watch our daughter fly high in the air to the Lone Ranger song. (OOOH, that’s where it came from!) YAAAAY!
 
We wanted to try the attractions near the front of the park, and the App indicated Dale was meeting guests up on “Not Main Street And Not Hollywood Boulevard Either But I Doubt I’ll Ever Remember What It Was” Street. Therefore, in what was fast becoming our most common California Adventure Pathway, we walked around Grizzly Peak. One of the times around we thought we saw a couple with a huge age gap dressed as Pinocchio and Geppetto. When we returned home, we found they were well-known father and daughter Disney Bounders on Instagram. (And a tad later, I found when you message someone on Instagram, sometimes the link to what you messaged them vanishes, meaning I still have no idea who we saw.)
 
The Disneyland App was wrong about Dale. (Freakin’ California)
However, we did have a nice meeting with Chip, who made some mime jokes about being stinky. None of us remember why… possible he meant he was leaving to go shower, or possibly my notes were riddled with errors once more. He was then overexcited about Rosa’s Chip and Dale shirt and earrings.
 
Lava
was playing (pretty much constantly) at the fake drive in near the non-running Pixar Party, and the non-runningness meant the area with the “Lou” box was roped off. Alas.
 
The nearby Showcase building was INSANE. It was an oversized darkened room with Fantasia projections going on every wall. SO COOL!!! There were entries to several attractions there. We had gone in to check the line for Anna and Elsa. It was enormous, but unlabeled. (Freakin’ California) With no way to guess, we instead went near Rosa’s lunching spot and saw Filmore’s Magic. The familiar posters, like all the other lines, were outside. There was an inside waiting area with a big logo. It looked incredibly empty except for TV screens that weren’t used. When we entered, we found out why.
 
The place had clearly housed Muppetvision 3D at some point. The theater was the same color scheme, and the boxes where Statler & Waldorf and Bean appeared were still intact. Very strange.

That meant that the movie couldn’t begin at the size it did in Florida and then expand across the walls. Instead, it began with the illusion of being on a smaller screen further away, then expanding to the full-size screen and finally projected onto individual side panels on the wall. It was fun but lacked a bit of the magic we were used to.
Still, Filmore! Yay!
 
There was a guy in there wearing the same Spider-Man fighting Carnage club shirt I own from long ago. Never saw another one of those in the wild. Cool!
 
We found a good spot on Whatever Street near the Park entrance and waited for the Pixar Parade. Characters were making their way to the backstage area, but the more Relaxed and Groovy atmosphere meant Goofy danced the whole way, paused for various shenanigans, and hugged a little girl before exiting.
 
It was hard to tell what was more fun to watch, the parade itself or the one casually dressed cast member handling sidewalk traffic and doing the dances along with every group and float perfectly.
 
The Dance Remix of the Luxo theme that the parade started with was…
A choice.
 
This parade had much more of the crowd interaction levels we were used to than the one in the Park across the way did.
 
On the Turning Red float Robaire acknowledged Anabelle, a proud moment for our Jordan Fisher fan. Mei Mei (Red Panda form) waved to us as well. Her Dad in his cardboard panda costume was hilarious, and looked like he was having more fun than anyone. “THAT’S MY DAUGHTER!!!!!”
 
Mr. Fredrickson waved to us and made heart hands. He’s the old man from Up… which anyone who has made it this far is clearly aware of.
 
One of the rollerbladers earlier on had a slightly less fit overall shape than the normal Relaxed and Groovy Californians but HE CAME TO SKATE. He was completely into the music and whipping around the street like a house on fire.
 
Miguel pointed at Anabelle, after she stopped Rosa from calling him “Coco” again. YAY!
 
The Soul float, as to be expected, had the most awesome music of the trip.
 

The Luca float was a huge deal for us. Anabelle’s frantic yells and waving got her waves from Alberto and Giulia. I’m pretty sure one of the bike guys riding around the float decided he was Ercole, as he had the whole snooty and superior expression and body language thing going on.
I’m also pretty sure I have steeped myself in special effects technology lore far too much. I kept trying to figure out if it was a digital or lens filter that made Luca and Alberto look like sea monsters under the float’s “water line.” It took far too long for it to occur to me that the “water” was simply a translucent section of float wall…
and they had scaly pants on.

 
Woody tipped his hat to us, for a nice acknowledgment. YAAAAY!!
We noticed the Pizza Planet truck riding in the back of the oversized toy dump truck with him.
This is as good a point as any to indicate we found many little Pizza Planet Trucks all over the place. I figured, given there was a Pixar Themed Park section, they were a normal item. This ignores the fact that we saw them in all lands of California Adventure AND ALSO Disneyland. They were for Pixar Fest, and fifty (or fifty-one depending on which influencer reported it) of them were hidden around the Parks. We found a boatload, but since I didn’t know it was a “Fest” thing, I didn’t keep track or notations of them. Another reason Disney World cannot do short term things like this is the sheer scale of the place. Fifty hidden items would appear too infrequently to make a dent there. Just imagine how many of the little toy vehicles they would need to hide in all the Disney World Parks to make them seem like regular occurrences.
 
Next up we wanted to try the Monsters Inc, dark ride that uses higher tech animatronics and stuff. It had a ten-minute wait.
No wait… it’s a thirty-minute wait.
WOW! Look at that lighting lane mob, its fifty minutes!
Then it broke.
Freakin California.
 
Seriously, why- whenever we are stuck on a line that is WAY longer than it is supposed to be, regardless of Park or coast- are we always in an unshaded concrete area with metal zigzag chains. They don’t even use those lines that often anymore.
 
When they were making the “Not sure when we’re gonna fix this” announcement, the guy ahead of us said, “Everyone in the front please step out of line.”
Excellent plan.
 
The Disney gods smiled on us, and multiple groups ahead of us did leave. It was fixed in about ten minutes.
 
The sun may have gotten to Anabelle. As we moved, she shouted,
“I can almost TASTE Mike Wazowski…
I’m going to lick him.”
 
We started counting- seventeen normal folks to twenty-three FastPass. Then twelve normal to thirty-two FastPass. (We were number seventeen for that one.) But shortly, we went in. YAY!
 
There was a huge guy in front of us, we were worried he was going to pick up Sully.
 
Due to the drink machine from Monsters at Work, I was talking aimlessly about trying to figure out when the ride took place, since there was that later bit, but also earlier stuff, and scream power.
 
Anabelle listened to me blather for a bit and said, “Maybe it’s just the story of the first movie.”
It was.
 
It was also a fantastic ride. The doors room looked like it went on forever. The animatronics were top notch and projections were used as fantastic enhancements, like for Randall changing colors. YAAAAY!

Afterwards, the "Lou" box was accessible! YAAAAAY!
 
We returned to Park Enterin’ Street to see Dale per the App…
He was leaving.
Freakin’ California.
 
We sat on a bench to regroup and honestly, I think all of us nodded off. We were startled by a silly Streetmosphere (Don’t Care) messenger lady, who was poking fun at us about how draining the parks are. We pointed out we’d arrived only yesterday with a three-hour time difference after no sleep. She wished us much luck before pedaling off.
 
We got back to AvengersLand just in time to see Starlord and Gamora leave after their dance off.
Alas.
 
Besides randomly roving heroes, there was a large sliding door by an Avengers logo that characters came out of to do normal people’s meet and greets with lines and a photographer.
 
Well almost normal. The Relaxed and Groovy ways meant we never knew who was coming out or for how long, but the PhotoPass guy said someone was coming soon.
 
Loki passed by while we were waiting, and Anabelle made sure not to go in that direction.
 
The doors opened revealing Shuri in full Black Panther regalia…which didn’t jibe at all with seeing T’challa earlier, but MULTIVERSE! We talked with her, posed, and Rosa asked to do the “Wakanda Thing” which was a hoot as well. [“Not for me” – Anabelle]
YAAY!
 
Anabelle wasn’t prepared to be overwhelmed again on the Spidey ride. She went off to CarsLand for two single rider trips on Radiator Springs Racers. Due to her role as “The Luigi Whisperer” on none of her four trips on that ride did she get to see Flo. Alas. 
[“It was OK, because… Luigi.” -Anabelle]

 
Rosa and I went on the regular line again. Jesse said there was a single rider line, but it wasn’t in operation when we were there.
Or, alternatively, as we would discover later, I am a buffoon.
 
A woman on line yelled “Hi Buzz!” for reasons I did not know.
Because I forgot what shirt I had on, once more.
Because I am a buffoon.
 
We sat with another couple, and Rosa and the wife of that duo (who clearly had no idea what she was doing) creamed her husband and I on the scoreboard. YAAAY! (for them) I don’t know what his issue was. I still had “butt placement” problems.
 
We had been thinking the Spider-Bots themed to various heroes would be cool, low-cost souvenirs at only ten bucks a pop. This is because, yet again, I am a buffoon. The different hero themed ones were flimsy plastic shells and modifier attachments that went on the actual eighty-dollar, remote control Spider-Bots.
Alas.
 
We met Anabelle at Flo’s V8 Café for dinner in CarsLand and our high expectations were rewarded. Rosa and Anabelle were both thrilled with the shakes. The food was excellent as well. They left off the lettuce and tomato of Anabelle and my Impossible Burgers. They were happy to supply it when asked, completing our enforced vegan version of “THE KA-CHEESEBURGER” Bwa ha ha!
 
We discussed future meals, including dropping the other table service lounge in this park and when a return visit to Flo’s would be viable. Anabelle pointed out that whatever we did, I needed to eat regularly, stating, “He says he’ll be fine, and he was all calm and sweet like Smeagol going into the Café, but as soon as there was a minor delay he turned into Gollum.” *Gollum Voice* “WE MUST HAVE FOOD, PRECIOUS!”
 
While eating she pointed out she NEEDED the shake souvenir cup, not because of the Lightning and Mater on one side, but because of the diner’s owner on the other. This is because when she beats me at “Point to Point One” on Cars Race-O-Rama, she could show me the cup, the same way she shows me the meme she made, and say, “You just got Flo’d.”
Parenthood, the gift that keeps on giving.
 
We gathered ourselves together, made some pit stops (Car joke! HA!) and donned our hoodies and jackets as we were now ready for the cool desert night air.
 
The music in CarsLand was always excellent Fifties Rock N Roll. Suddenly however, it was much louder. It took a bit to figure it out. They were playing “Sh-Boom” like in the movie as they lit up all the neon in the amazing recreation of Radiator Springs we were standing in. It was gorgeously awesome. Anabelle took a near infinite number of pictures every time we encountered it. (Which would obviously be more than once after our initial exciting but confused exposure.) This was above and beyond the near infinite number of pictures she took of Radiator Springs in the day time.

YAAAAAAAAAAY!
 
We hung around the Cars store for a bit, looking at the tiny model of Radiator Springs which matched the neon lighting up we saw outside. Anabelle got a Cruz Ramirez hoodie, which led to some confusion as both CarsLand (represented by her new outer covering) and AvengersLand (represented by the outer covering she brought) were both in the same park.
 
Rosa wanted to try the Luigi ride, and initially it was going to be a romantic ride for two. Then Anabelle decided instead of going off alone again, because even the single rider Radiator Springs Racers line was too long, she’d join us. Then she also decided they didn’t need me in their vehicle on the ride.
Again- Parenthood the gift that keeps on giving.
 
The line was cute and had a boatload of Easter Eggs. (Including, surprise! A Pizza Planet Truck.) It was also slightly longer than listed because of low throughput and the Relaxed and Groovy attitude towards any information provided. Luigi announcing a “Tire-an-tella” made me laugh out loud, as I will appreciate a terrible pun in any language.
 
By this early junction in the trip, I had already magically managed to pull that one muscle that goes over the rib cage meaning certain movements (which are annoyingly common on amusement park rides) caused it to squeeze all the wind out of me.
 
Therefore, while Anabelle and Rosa sat together and danced in their vehicle to Rosemary Clooney singing “Mambo Italiano,” I had other things on my mind. Alone in the car, I sat in the center and ineffectually tried to lock my arms to hold myself in place and not vacate my body of oxygen.
 
I survived and we walked off to other fun Italian songs. Because “they can tell” a random little girl started dancing with me as we exited. YAAY!
 
We rode Ariel’s ride again because it was there. YAAAY!
It may have been there. It was kind of centrally located, I think. As frequently stated, I never did get the hang of California Adventure’s layout.
 
I do know it was time for another of our all-around Grizzly Peak walks, to try out this version of Soarin.’ The outside lines were the weirdest on rides we were the most familiar with. After going back and forth for a bit we entered the building… and there it was down a small hill. For reasons I cannot fathom the theme to Patton played as we walked down that hill. (Soarin’ was in the “Generic California Wilderness” part of the park rather than the “mini-MGM” part.)
 
Soarin’ is always fun. They had switched back to the “Around the World” version, but there they keep the original “Over California” ending that flies over Disneyland. The woman next to the empty seat beside me talked during the ENTIRE attraction. Fortunately, after a lifetime of large and loud Italian family dinner conversations, I filter very well.
YAAAY!
 
Still reeling from the lack of sleep the day before and having spent close to thirteen hours in the park that was getting ready to shut down we did the sensible thing…
 
We Park Hopped across the tiny “no man’s land” between them and entered Disneyland! YAAAAY!
For us, “sensible” has a highly variable definition when Disney is involved.
 
While Anabelle and Rosa had taught me well to use the ticket on the App, along with having a screen shot saved in favorites for easy access, my “old man mind” to go with my “old man bones” was much happier pulling the paper ticket out of the same pocket I kept my trusty printed Grid in. Well, semi-trusty Grid. Between park hopping, meal cancelling and the general indifference the place had to schedules, its main function was stating which park we should start in.

In the compressed land of Relaxed and Groovy, Tomorrowland was even closer to the entrance than we were accustomed to. Anabelle and Rosa were all excited about going on the Buzz Lightyear ride, but I wasn’t sure why.
Because I forgot what shirt I had on, twice more.
Because I am a buffoon.
[“But we love you anyway, pat pat.” *Pats my head* - Anabelle]
 
The ride visuals were different than Florida but had the same types of things. Anabelle liked this version far better because the lasers were removable, allowing for better aiming. My aim was still pretty terrible, but I had my appropriate shirt on, and everything looked cool, meaning I had fun anyway, because Disney!
YAAAAY!
 
We had to enter our e-mail on screens at the end, marking this as one of the earliest “Photo On the Ride” attractions Disney has. Neat!
Shortly after we left, they updated it to the modern fancy version. Less neat.
 
My nostalgia for the 20,000 Leagues ride led us to their Nemo based submarine adventure. Without that nostalgia, the rest of my family were not fans given that it had the same visuals as the EPCOT Living Seas ride, without the final song.
Also, Rosa’s back did not tolerate the squashed crouch required down in the guts of the submarine, and Anabelle was freaked out sitting next to the feet of the Cast Member driving the boat.
“What if he kicks me?!”
But I had fun. (yay!)
However, while I appreciated the use of red lights to turn the old arctic part into an underwater volcano, (SHARK BAIT, OOH AAH AAH!!!) I did miss the giant squid and sea serpent. (Alas.)
 
We planned to try the Roger Rabbit ride, however the App (which we were beginning to learn was questionable, or, as Anabelle would say, "useless.") showed a spike in the wait time. The giant, fancy small world was conveniently on the way to Toontown, and off we went.
YAAAAAAAAAY!
 
Honestly, with the reduced scale of the park and Rosa and Anabelle’s delight over this version of her favorite, the small world was often on the way wherever we went.
 
Roger’s ride reduced, and the immersivness of Toon Town increased at night the way the Awesome Happy Disney Lighting works. That ride had one of the earliest of the “fun stuff to do while you wait” lines. We did catch the peeking gorilla at the Ink and Paint Club… much to Anabelle’s horror. I’d forgotten how much “oomph” was taken to get the cab spinning, but Anabelle and I did it and had a wild and fun adventure. Rosa’s was a tad less wild (and spinny) but still fun.
YAAAY!
 
We goofed around with the various props and doors in Toontown. I electrocuted myself, for funsies! Anabelle visited the jail like Dog Pound. She was going to take a picture “rattling the bars.” Sadly, she didn’t realize the extent the Toontown designers spread gags around the Land. The other thing she didn’t realize could spread were the rubber bars and she fell clean through them. 
Alas.

Mickey’s house was next with another fun line through his home. The “pre-Mickey” room showed the new Mickey shorts. Even Relaxed and Groovy Disney displayed they know people movement like no one else. We saw the complete cartoon loop while in that room minus a minute or so. 

 Anabelle joked that we waited all this time and when we went in it would be Chuck E. Cheese.
Because she is hilarious.
 
We were thrilled to meet Mickey, as we always are. He gave us kisses, (GAH!) lessening the thrill a hair. He did like Anabelle’s custom Donald Ears.
 
Next door was Minnie’s house with a much shorter line. She could be seen in the foyer, and exploring her home came after meeting her. As we were working our way up the walkway, due to Rosa being there as no characters were listed as being out and about…
BECAUSE IT WAS ELEVEN PM!
Chip and Dale manifested right next to us.

Rosa ran down to see them, showing off her shirt and earrings with them on it once again.
[“Those earrings are really mine!” – Anabelle]
She got many hugs, poses, and kisses before returning to our line.
YAAAAAAAY!
 
Chip and Dale goofed around outside the house for a while. Dale decided he was going to meet Minnie and eventually he did, cutting the line and having fun with her. Chip wandered off in a completely different direction to play with some guests. Since the two of them were sharing one Character Handler she was going nuts. That Relaxed and Groovy character casting pool is something else. 
Between her running around, the Handler commented on Rosa’s Chip and Dale shirt that she never sees Rescue Rangers themed items and most people wouldn’t recognize that show. Rosa didn’t ruin her night by telling her she’d never seen the show either.
 
Oh yeah, we met Minnie too, she was cute.

YAAY!
 
Mickey’s Runaway Railway had almost no line…
Because the Park had almost no time left open.
Remember kids, short wait times can be found if you’re persistent… or crazy.
 

Anabelle and I ran on for an almost private viewing of the pre-show film, while Rosa stayed outside watching Chip and Dale. The one other person, who did not pass our levels of Disneyness requirements, asked the cast member if she really had to talk to on screen Goofy with only us there and no kids.
“Yes, she does!” we said.
 
The ride is obviously great but left us slightly scarred. When the train recombined, Goofy was always in the middle of some non-sequitur conversation. Ours was, 
“And that’s why I wear pants and Pluto doesn’t.”
Um…yayish?
 
With the Park about ready to hit us in the can on the way out, we went “next door” to the Tomorrowland Monorail station. There was an enormously long line space to hold the usual transportation seeking crowds. There were, however, no people as Midnight approached and we weaved alone over the pungent smells of the far larger than it really needs to be Autopia. 

This was the trip I learned taking notes is a significant phone battery drain as I was at 1% before we got home. Anabelle used her bit of charge left to cancel the Lamplight Lounge the day after the one that had already started because we are insane and refused to leave an open Park if there was a smidgen of sleep in us.
 
We had family input into Anabelle’s upcoming Minnie ear selection plans for the remainder of the trip while washing up and passing out. It was exciting for her to have a chance to take the “Disneyland” sign set she had off the wall at home and wear them in the appropriate Park. She also sadly realized that the handmade Donald ears were on their last round up and would join the Belle ones on her wall in the “Retired” section. 
Alas.
 
22921 steps. 
8.6 miles



Click to continue to The App Is Useless So We Literally Met Geppetto Two Times

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