September '09 Trip Day 4.4

So lets see here, where we last left off I was gazing at delicious and yummy treats that would instantly send me into a sugar coma for I don't even want to think about how long. Since the eternal question seems to be what next, I'll continue with our little story!

I don't know how much you (yes you, the reader) knows about the FastPass system at Disneyland which can be a pretty handy dandy little time saver, but let me tell you that in the case of Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye I am so over them! I discovered the wonder that is their Single Rider Line (or SRL) where you actually enter through the exit, bypass just about everyone, take a little elevator ride, and then wait for space to fill you in one by one. It was wondrous. As opposed to the 45+ minute stand by line and the 20 minute FP line, I will take 8 minutes of walk times and ride time combined any day or night!




Afterward it was time for another daily-must for me, and something I have never had to wait for more than say ... 8 minutes ... as well. The Jungle Cruise. It was a lot later in the day than I am used to riding it, seeing as it's usually the first thing that I do in the morning. Even so it was only about 4:30 in the afternoon. One of these days I'm going to get on at night. As a matter of fact, it has officially made my to-do list for this late birthday/early Halloween September trip!


Speaking of that seemingly never-ending Disneyland to-do list (because it always seems to get longer with each trip and I'm not sure how that works) that I have permanently stickied to my brain, there is something that I finally managed to cross off after a few attempts: the Mark Twain Riverboat! That's not to say that I have never been on it, because I have, and the same goes for the Columbia. It's just been a lot longer since I've stepped on board the MT. I almost can't remember ... almost. I had perfect timing in the end and made it to the dock just before boarding for the final departure of the day which would give me just enough time to grab some food and meet Andrea on the Rivers of America so we could camp out for Fantasmic!












Here's something that I wish they were still allowing while I was there, and I also wish I knew exactly when and for how long they stopped allowing it: riding in the Pilot House with the Captain. I know I have read about people doing it in the past and unfortunately they had to stop allowing this fun privilege some time around when I was there because I suppose someone got injured. Not that I'm sure how they managed to do that, but it's what I was told when I asked. It's a shame really, because it was probably something really idiotic that happened no less. That's what usually happens, right? The idiocy of some ruins the fun for all. They said it will probably be something they will start doing again when they figure out safety concerns, but it didn't really help me on that particular day now, did it? I've heard they've been doing it again so I'll just have to try again on my next trip!

After my tour of the Rivers of America on board the Mark Twain I had to give Andrea a call to see where exactly we would meet up again. Some people were already starting to claim there spots for the evening's entertainment and I wanted to make sure I could get a good spot for my picture taking endeavor. I had been under the impression that she'd already be there by 6 with our blankets and whatnot ready to go and I would just have to find her, but this was just not the case. She was still back at the hotel which meant probably an hour or so before I would see her. So it looked like I would be saving our spots with no soft blanket to sit on. What a lovely prospect that was. But first I ahd to grab some food from the French Market before I did anything else.
And after that I did go an try to find us a good place to sit and hopefully a prime spot for me to get some great photos. I had really, really, really looking forward to this one! I wasn't exactly able to get any space right along the railing which was going to make things interesting for me and sitting right on the ground wasn't very fun at all. But I did what I had to.

By the time she actually showed up with the blanket I kind of had to get away for a little while or risk getting testy with her so I left her on her own for a little while. Petty of me, maybe, but if it's better than getting into our age old argument, all the better. I had to go get my stuff from the locker anyways, so it had to happen either way. But I did sneak a run or two through on Indiana Jones courtesy of the SRL. So I didn't feel so bad. She was relaxing and listening to her iPod by the time I got back so I ended up just playing around with my camera and tripod as it got darker hoping I could get some fun shots and have everything ready once the show started. I even managed to talk my way in between a couple of families right along the railing since I take up very little space. I just needed enough room to put my tripod really. I was really excited to get some photos without anything blocking my view. By the time the Jambalaya Band came out on the raft to give us a little pre-show entertainment I didn't think I could handle waiting any longer. But we did meet an awesome family from Australia who we chatted with for the better part of an hour.

All in all, where Fantasmic that Friday night was concerned, I think I took 300+ photos, but I hated the way most of them came out. We were going to try again on Saturday regardless, and they did come out much better so I didn't end up editing every single one from this night. But here are some that did come out. I absolutely adore Fantasmic, which is funny because the first time I saw it I was a nervous wreck of anxiety and could not enjoy it for the life of me. But now I really do just get lost in it.












It's really hard for me to admit it, but this means the end of day 4, and only one more Park day to go!

Trip Report Part V

I can sing like the birdies sing
If there is one thing I have finally realized about this trip to Disneyland, it's that I tend to stick to one area at a time. Maybe it's a morning in this Adventureland and a night in Tomorrowland. Maybe it's one day in New Orleans Square, and another day in Fantasyland. Usually my tradition is to just bounce back and forth on a whim once I decide I want to do something and then choose to do something entirely different, not to mention that I usually stick to Disneyland for full days and give one full day to dedicate to California Adventure. But that's really how the majority of Tuesday went. We pretty much hung around the entire left-hand side of Disneyland with Adventureland, New Orleans Square, and Critter Country. How is it that we did not even set foot inside Sleeping Beauty's Castle and Fantasyland?

But it isn't all that we did on our first day. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. So let's take a couple of steps backwards.

We had just hung out with Winnie the Pooh, correct? Alright, good. After another leisurely stroll through New Orleans Square we decided to take another relaxing cruise through the jungle where, lo and behold, we were greeted by Skipper Sarah once more! What a silly little coink-e-dink, no?






Afterward, with the entrance to Indiana Jones right next door we decided why not just go ahead and use our Fast Passes that we had snatched up earlier? There was absolutely no reason not too. Sure, the stand by line was only about 35 minutes, but that was 35 minutes I didn't feel like wasting. Just to be clear though, Fast Passes don't mean that you get it right away. You just skip a huge portion of the stand by line which is quite substantial for a ride like Indiana Jones. From my photographers perspective I wish that we had gone through the stand by line at least once over the course of the week. The detail that goes into every area be it a bathroom, a stage, or a ride queue is just amazing and I have nothing to show of it. So sad, right? Our wait ended up being about 25 minutes, but that's still at least 10 minutes time we had to do something else. But it was a fast 25 minutes. We passed the time pulling on the ropes they warn you not to pull on (which still didn't make the ceiling start to drop) and what not.




Have I mentioned how much I absolutely love this ride? Especially when you're seated in the last row. For some reason you're just thrown around so much more back there that it makes it that much more exciting.

On our walk out of Adventureland, back towards Main Street, we got a little side tracked by a couple of things:

The first being The Enchanted Tiki Room. Even if you don't particularly like being serenaded by a bunch of audio-animatronic birds, you have to admit that the air conditioned attraction is a must-see during the middle of summer (or the tail end of it). It was only minutes to go until the next show so we wandered our selves into the Tiki Garden as the stories of the Hawaiian Gods came to a close. When the show finally began, wouln't you know I was right there singing along with the Glee club and all.




That second distraction (at least for me) was the appearance of Aladdin and Princess Jasmine right in front of the Oasis Theater where they used to have a little story time show that I actually enjoyed watching when I saw it back in 2007. They had a PhotoPass Photographer with them and I was all for jumping in that line for my first character photo of September 2009. This marks the first time I have ever seen Aladdin anywhere in the parks that wasn't up on stage, and Jasmine somewhere that wasn't the Princess Fantasy Faire over in Fantasyland. There was no way I could pass that opportunity up.


If by any chance you are thinking to yourself, "Where is Andrea?" right about now, I'm curious to know the answer myself. I had to go search for her, which led me to the drawbridge of Sleeping Beauty's Castle where I had no luck finding her. Maybe you can help? I searched high and low, you know you have to check in those pesky little cracks because we wouldn't want her to get lost in the compass rose, and she was nowhere to be found. Go figure.