Disneyland for beginners

[ependydad...Doug 176]

In this video from 5 months ago, there is tractor tipping.

...

 

Interesting comment from the video's uploader too regarding this ride.

 

 

But...in this video, they don't tip.

...

 

Glitch?  Intentional? 

Aww man, I want to watch these but my internet is horrible here. (What's worse is that I paid $50 for 2 weeks of crappy Internet. But no cell phone service so I have no backup options.)

Thanks for finding that. It sounds like it is hit or miss if the 2 videos show different effects.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

In this video from 5 months ago, there is tractor tipping.

...

 

Interesting comment from the video's uploader too regarding this ride.

 

 

But...in this video, they don't tip.

...

 

Glitch?  Intentional? 

Aww man, I want to watch these but my internet is horrible here. (What's worse is that I paid $50 for 2 weeks of crappy Internet. But no cell phone service so I have no backup options.)

Thanks for finding that. It sounds like it is hit or miss if the 2 videos show different effects.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

There are 2 tractors the look startled and possibly moo, then some hedges and then one tractor that is tipped on its back. But there's no actual tipping that we got to see (on either ride). Are you saying that you actually got to see the tipping action? If so, I'm really disappointed! If not, I'm still disappointed that Disney didn't do it. :D

 

Yes, I saw the tractors tip- just like in the video bhall posted below.  As I said, you got gypped.  It's a funny scene.

 

My wife shared this with me. I didn't realize that California Adventure was so terrible.

http://www.themeparktourist.com/features/20151212/31106/california-mis-adventure-how-disneylands-second-gate-crashed-burned-and-was

 

Thanks for posting that link.  I am not a big fan of that site, but that article is excellent. I have heard bits and pieces of what it says, but I haven't read the whole story in one comprehensive article like this one.  Those of us who waited until now to visit Disneyland and California Adventure were apparently spared the massive disappointment guests felt visiting the original version of California Adventure.  It's hard for me to imagine what it would be like without Cars Land, the Carthay Circle Theater building, the trolley cars and the rest. 

 

Also, I found the discussion about the abandoned plans for Westcot fascinating.  It's interesting that Disney wanted to try to make Disneyland a multi-day destination for international visitors like Disney World.  I don't think they quite got there.  They are still very heavily reliant on local visitors.  Much more so than Disney World.

 

In this video from 5 months ago, there is tractor tipping.

 

Interesting comment from the video's uploader too regarding this ride.

 

 

Thanks for posting that.  I was going to look for a ride video to show the tractors tipping.  But, you did it for me.

 

TCD

Well that sucks! As I said - I really expected it and was a bit disappointed that it didn't happen. Oh well, there's always next time. I am looking forward to watching the video.

My wife and I talked about the article and we're both relieved that we missed the ugly stages as I think they really hit a home run with what they have now. The Westcot thing sounded terrible. :) I was also surprised to hear how much Disneyland Paris brought the whole thing down.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

There are 2 tractors the look startled and possibly moo, then some hedges and then one tractor that is tipped on its back. But there's no actual tipping that we got to see (on either ride). Are you saying that you actually got to see the tipping action? If so, I'm really disappointed! If not, I'm still disappointed that Disney didn't do it. :D

 

Yes, I saw the tractors tip- just like in the video bhall posted below.  As I said, you got gypped.  It's a funny scene.

 

My wife shared this with me. I didn't realize that California Adventure was so terrible.

http://www.themeparktourist.com/features/20151212/31106/california-mis-adventure-how-disneylands-second-gate-crashed-burned-and-was

 

Thanks for posting that link.  I am not a big fan of that site, but that article is excellent. I have heard bits and pieces of what it says, but I haven't read the whole story in one comprehensive article like this one.  Those of us who waited until now to visit Disneyland and California Adventure were apparently spared the massive disappointment guests felt visiting the original version of California Adventure.  It's hard for me to imagine what it would be like without Cars Land, the Carthay Circle Theater building, the trolley cars and the rest. 

 

Also, I found the discussion about the abandoned plans for Westcot fascinating.  It's interesting that Disney wanted to try to make Disneyland a multi-day destination for international visitors like Disney World.  I don't think they quite got there.  They are still very heavily reliant on local visitors.  Much more so than Disney World.

 

In this video from 5 months ago, there is tractor tipping.

 

Interesting comment from the video's uploader too regarding this ride.

 

 

Thanks for posting that.  I was going to look for a ride video to show the tractors tipping.  But, you did it for me.

 

TCD

Well that sucks! As I said - I really expected it and was a bit disappointed that it didn't happen. Oh well, there's always next time. I am looking forward to watching the video.

My wife and I talked about the article and we're both relieved that we missed the ugly stages as I think they really hit a home run with what they have now. The Westcot thing sounded terrible. :) I was also surprised to hear how much Disneyland Paris brought the whole thing down.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

 My wife and I talked about the article and we're both relieved that we missed the ugly stages as I think they really hit a home run with what they have now. The Westcot thing sounded terrible. :) I was also surprised to hear how much Disneyland Paris brought the whole thing down.

 

I agree that California Adventure is a great park.  I really like how they have incorporated the Carthay Circle Theater, and the story of Walt Disney into the park.

 

One thing the surprised me in the article is the level of animosity that Anaheim residents feel toward Disneyland. That's crazy to me. Disneyland was there first.  These folks bought their houses knowing that Disneyland was there.  Now, they complain about fireworks and noise?

 

I knew that EuroDisney was a huge financial drain, but didn't realize that its failure impacted the US parks to the degree that it has.  The original cheapo California Adventure was the result of Disney trying to create a park on the cheap.  I feel like the current state of Hollywood Studios and Epcot can also be traced back to the mistakes the company made in Paris and initially in Anaheim.  Now that they have fixed California Adventure, they will hopefully fix Epcot and DHS.

 

TCD

[keith_h 420]

I agree that California Adventure is a great park.  I really like how they have incorporated the Carthay Circle Theater, and the story of Walt Disney into the park.

 

One thing the surprised me in the article is the level of animosity that Anaheim residents feel toward Disneyland. That's crazy to me. Disneyland was there first.  These folks bought their houses knowing that Disneyland was there.  Now, they complain about fireworks and noise?

 

I knew that EuroDisney was a huge financial drain, but didn't realize that its failure impacted the US parks to the degree that it has.  The original cheapo California Adventure was the result of Disney trying to create a park on the cheap.  I feel like the current state of Hollywood Studios and Epcot can also be traced back to the mistakes the company made in Paris and initially in Anaheim.  Now that they have fixed California Adventure, they will hopefully fix Epcot and DHS.

 

TCD

 

You run into the same thing with airports or folks moving into farm country. They buy their houses because they cost less than in the suburbs or city and know darn well it will be noisy and/or have smells then they  go to court and sue to get rid of what they perceive as the problem. It would be nice to see the courts and politicians have some backbone and tell these folks you made the decision so learn live with it or move.

[The Troll 67]

One thing the surprised me in the article is the level of animosity that Anaheim residents feel toward Disneyland. That's crazy to me. Disneyland was there first.  These folks bought their houses knowing that Disneyland was there.  Now, they complain about fireworks and noise?

 

 

I agree it's crazy. Crazy how people forget their own histories and then bite the hand that feeds them. I work on an Air Force base. People come here, desperate for a good-paying job. They land a job on base, then buy a house nearby so that their commute is short.

Then complain about the jet noise.

 

And sue the Federal government.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

I agree it's crazy. Crazy how people forget their own histories and then bite the hand that feeds them. I work on an Air Force base. People come here, desperate for a good-paying job. They land a job on base, then buy a house nearby so that their commute is short.

Then complain about the jet noise.

 

And sue the Federal government.

Good grief!! In a previous life, I lived about 2 miles from an AFB. It was actually kind of cool hearing jets breaking the sound barrier day after day. Then after a while your mind doesn't even hear it anymore :)

 

Here at home we hear rocket testing all the time. It's never at late hours, and I actually kindof like hearing it, as I know somebody is doing good work for our country :)

[The Troll 67]

Good grief!! In a previous life, I lived about 2 miles from an AFB. It was actually kind of cool hearing jets breaking the sound barrier day after day. Then after a while your mind doesn't even hear it anymore :)

 

Here at home we hear rocket testing all the time. It's never at late hours, and I actually kindof like hearing it, as I know somebody is doing good work for our country :)

 

I know, right? Just so many irrational people in the world.

 

I have to say that I really enjoyed reading the article posted above and that the California Adventure looks like a smash hit, to me. It looks like an awesome theme park. I love the fact that Disney was able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. It re-instills some confidence in me about America in general, somehow. With the right minds and the right vision and sufficient money, just about anything can be done in America.

[keith_h 420]

Good grief!! In a previous life, I lived about 2 miles from an AFB. It was actually kind of cool hearing jets breaking the sound barrier day after day. Then after a while your mind doesn't even hear it anymore :)

 

Here at home we hear rocket testing all the time. It's never at late hours, and I actually kindof like hearing it, as I know somebody is doing good work for our country :)

 

I grew up on Air Force bases. We have lived under the take off path for RDU the two times we've moved to the area. It was for periods under a year while we waited for our houses to be finished but we knew what we were getting into and considered it worth the trade off of much lower rent in nice apartment complexes. As you say after awhile you don't even notice it most of the time. Even after we moved to our houses one of them was under the main path used by Fort Bragg for parachute jump training. Having C-141's and C-17's coming over the house at night at what felt like tree top brought back childhood memories.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Good stuff. People who buy homes near noisy things and then complain about noisy things are idiots. My hometown has an outdoor concert venue and neighbors complain. More times than not- the venue was there first.

BUT, now, moving right along...

I last left off with leaving the park on Thursday night. We had learned on Thursday that there was no chance of my camper being ready on Friday and having it movable would cause more delays. Since it's behind a gated fence with security dogs, we had to extend our hotel stay to Monday. BUT- it also meant that we were out of clean clothes, had no laundry stuff, and were pretty well running out of food/snacks. We decided to head out to the camper to grab some stuff and try and, in person, nail down a better completion date.

Before we left, the kids played in the room:

This honestly grossed me out a good bit until I looked under the beds myself. Not scuzzy at all. I was pretty shocked and happy.

The boy learned the joys of hotels:

Click for video

After finally getting going, some kind of stops, we were finally on our way at 2:30:

This was a first for me- actually being on a metered/controlled entry entrance ramp:

Once we got there, they were keen to show us why the project was suddenly delayed- part of my suspension was rubbing along my hard propane line that runs the length of the camper. The factory made a suspension change in February of this year and I think that is what caused the rubbing to start. As you can see, it wasn't long before I had a leak on my hands:

But, the new shocks looked awfully sweet:

And, here's my old steps:

Different/current campground, but here's what the new ones look like when open:

(Longest story shortest, I'm mostly in love with these.)

After getting our provisions and still not getting a clear "you'll be done by date", we made our way back to the hotel by way of some outlet shopping. We finally ended up at Mimi's Cafe a couple of doors down from the hotel. My daughter had her "It's my birthday" pin on and they brought her a crepe cake:

If you like crepes (eww) and bland icing, this is the cake for you. Otherwise, we barely ate into it.

We got back to the hotel just in time for fireworks. The exterior hallways give a good view of them. Here we went to the top floor of the hotel and watched them from the "front side":

This was also the night that we saw the drone flying in/around/through??? the fireworks:

https://youtu.be/spIZwC0T2uc

And that was it for our day. Real life sucks sometimes. Blown day off of work and nothing fun accomplished.

Saturday's crowd predictor indicated that Disneyland would be more busy on Saturday than Sunday, so we opted for another no-park day. When we were back in our hometown in November, a friend made me swear that I would go to a place named Alberto's and that I should get a "carne asada burrito". We scoped out a couple of these and even tried going to one Friday night, but the parking lot was tiny and there was no indoor seating. We bailed- not wanting to eat greasy Mexican food in the truck. However, another location had a seating area and that was our lunch on Saturday:

Supposedly the green is mild and the red is medium. But the green made me cry and I didn't care for the taste:

My daughter got carnitas:

My son got taquitos:

And I got the carne asada burrito:

Chewed up:

It was not the glorious religious experience that we were promised. It wasn't bad, but mine was a bit greasy and none of my family prefers corn tortillas (give us flour!). And, my daughter apparently vastly prefers my wife's carnitas over these. So, minor let down.

Sadly, in this fulltiming adventure- we spend a lot of time at Walmarts. They're our "go to" grocery store and we tend to hit them for a variety of cheap shopping. I hate it, really. But, we also use them for overnights periodically. So, I noticed this sign specifically disallowing overnight RV parking:

They did, however, have kind of a cool wheelchair shopping cart. You have to ask for it at Customer Service.

And then, the kids went swimming. I had my suit on, but the pool water wasn't warm enough and the sun was just going down, so it meant that a chill was about to fill the air.

We caught the fireworks again from just outside of our door. (All snugly and wrapped in blankets.)

By Sunday, we were ready to hit the park! Our plan for the day was to see if we needed to add a 5th day onto our tickets (we had used 2 and this was day 3). We weren't sure if we'd finish out Disneyland or not today. Turns out - we didn't and added another day; better yet- turns out that it was only about a $60 upgrade for the 4 of us.

However, the crowds on the weekend were vastly different than the mid-week crowds. All bag check lines were open and this is what we saw at 9:50am:

About 10-minutes later, and while waiting for my wife to get a wheel chair (inside of the bag check/outside of Disneyland itself), I took this picture of the gate:

Our goal was to explore Fantasyland. One thing that we learned- California Adventure, being a newer park is very handicap accessible. For the most part, we could take the wheelchair in the main queue. A few rides would split you off, but not many. Disneyland, being older, was much different- most rides you went straight to the exit. Many rides were still very tricky to access even that way. Most of Fantasyland, we were admitted right onto the rides (or with a very short wait). Some rides, we would get a return time and come back. All said, and I hate to admit this, the wheelchair saved us a ton of time for rides and waiting in lines.

But anyway, here we are at Dumbo:

If you squint, you can see my wife and daughter:

Next up was Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. It was... hmm, I don't know how to describe it. I rode it and have absolutely no idea what the story line might have been. Outside:

Inside:

The boy enjoyed it, at least:

That's my 30, so I'm breaking here. But, lots more time spent in Fantasyland and mulling about the park.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

We left bewildered and confused from Mr. Toad's ride and got onto the carousel. My daughter got to ride the special Mary Poppins horse. My wife explained it, I don't know.

And then, I tried to see if I could look like a horse.

I think I did.. I'm not sure if that's good.

Leaving there, we checked out Pinnochio.

And then Slow White:

Leaving there, we got a return time for Peter Pan. Which meant, we had a 1/2 hour or so to meander. First, we passed a Dumbo tree:

And then I was the family hero by buying a $3 pickle.

Truth be told, I had to wait until my wife was in the rest room to run and buy it. I'm always amazed she doesn't confiscate my wallet some days.

And then we walked past Big Thunder Ranch. We never did make it in there and never did get to see the goat stampede. I'm a little sad as we won't now (well, the stampede - not the petting zoo; petting zoos SMB). They should call this Character Alley as we saw a bunch. I didn't know who this was (and still don't) nor did most people who walked past. But my wife and daughter named this cat right away. I'll call him Captain Muffingigglepuff the Third. Here the kids are meeting and getting an autograph from Captain Muffingigglepuff the Third.

Everyone gets a big hug, even if the boy doesn't know who it is:

We walked past a water feature with big fish.

We walked past these two. I still don't know who they were dressed as OR if they simply have a unique style:

(Can you imagine those shoes for a day of park walking?!)

And then I became an even bigger hero. The kids were in love that $4 corn on the cob is a snack!

Serious joy:

No joy. I debated asking for a refund + compensation for emotional damage:

(But I didn't and then proceeded to eat all $6 of that snack.)

We went back to the Peter Pan ride and rode. This is so much better than the WDW version. By far. The night sky is pretty awesome. No pictures as it's too dark and moving.

The actual reported wait time was 50 minutes:

My wife says that you can mail USPS mail from mailboxes around Disneyland. We didn't try it, but I took this picture:

We walked around the castle and I took pictures of the wishing well:

It's hard to describe how small the castle really is. But, even teeny-tiny, it is pretty:

We decided to stake claim to a spot for the parade. I think it's where TCD recommended and my wife had also read about it. But basically, you're on one side of the castle and the monorail is on the other side of the walkway. There's only audience on one side, so it's a great spot. And it was nicely in the shade. We sat and busted out our lunches:

I ignored the pleas and death threats for balloons and cotton candy:

Some school bands or something came through:

And then the parade started. First, the ballerina:

Then trumpeting toy soldiers:

Following by real short elves:

Mikey and Minnie:

Donald was there too- presumably keeping an eye on Minnie and her chastity belt. "No ding-ding vithout a vedding ring!" as they say.

The Chippendales sporting very Canadian outfits. Maybe they're the new lumberjacks?!

There's no people like snow people:

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Bonus double-update to move time along...

The kids loved the sleds:

Except for Eeyore. Apparently he wants to make the girl beside me cry because he looks so sad. I didn't check to see if she really was.

I'm pretty certain that this is the Snow Queen from the Narnia movies... or just a Christmas tree. I'm not sure which:

Snow hotties:

The most awesome ice queen and defrosted sister:

Gingerbread cookbook:

Mooby the Cow:

WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?

The evil step mother and step-sisters were very funny (as always). Their loud obnoxious ways remind me of my dear sister. (Who will never read this- either I'm really funny or just mean.)

The Original Snow... White:

Dancers:

Tiana and her dude:

Aurora Borealis:

Cinderella and her temporary prince charming (she'll realize soon enough that we were Simply Meant to Be):

The Beast contemplating sushi for dinner:

Belle politely reminding him that fish are friends, not food:

Special Agent Green on driving detail:

King of the string, himself:

More remarkably short elves:

An elaborate gift making/wrapping machine:

Complete with more short people:

Buzz Lightyear came up next:

And then I must have been recording video when Santa came through as I don't seem to have any pictures. BUT, we did catch this Santa on a little R&R before the big day:

Random Monorail shot:

We made our way to Big Thunder Mountain for our handicap return times. On the way, we walked past the castle. It is a very fine little tiny castle:

And Photopassed:

[keith_h 420]

It's Gideon the Cat from Pinocchio.

 

Seeing the various photos has really got me looking into a West Coast trip. I have no time restraints but we might have to make it a fly in and out trip to accommodate Rene's work schedule.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

It's Gideon the Cat from Pinocchio.

 

Seeing the various photos has really got me looking into a West Coast trip. I have no time restraints but we might have to make it a fly in and out trip to accommodate Rene's work schedule.

The nice part about Disneyland is that you could do it without having to rent a car. Once you're at the hotel, there's a handful of restaurants around in addition to what Disney offers.

Just so long, of course, you don't want to go anywhere else. It was a good time. We are already talking that we definitely want to go back.

[keith_h 420]

The nice part about Disneyland is that you could do it without having to rent a car. Once you're at the hotel, there's a handful of restaurants around in addition to what Disney offers.

Just so long, of course, you don't want to go anywhere else. It was a good time. We are already talking that we definitely want to go back.

 

I have family and friends in the area so a car is a necessity and we would likely crash at one of their places to save the hotel costs. Although I would rather drive with our trailer and have a more relaxing trip. 

[ependydad...Doug 176]

I have family and friends in the area so a car is a necessity and we would likely crash at one of their places to save the hotel costs. Although I would rather drive with our trailer and have a more relaxing trip.

I'm dab smack in the middle of a drive from San Diego to Florida. Relaxing might not fit that description... :D

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

You were on a roll there with your photo captions.  And I bow to your character-naming skills.

 

Keith is right about the cat being Gideon from Pinocchio.  The cow is Clarabelle Cow.  She is an associate of Horace Horsecollar from back in the day.

 

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Wow!  DL's Christmas parade is so different from the one at WDW!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Wow!  DL's Christmas parade is so different from the one at WDW!

 

Yes it is, and it's performed every day from before Thanksgiving and on through the holidays for regular park guest, and not just for people who pay for the hard-ticket Christmas parties at WDW.

 

The DL Christmas parade is long.  It goes from "gate to gate," meaning the first float reaches the end of the parade route as the last float enters.

 

Even though DL's is longer and has more floats and performers, I prefer the WDW Christmas parade by far.

 

TCD

[keith_h 420]

A little factoid about Gideon the Cat. He was fully voiced by Mel Blanc but during production Disney decided to make Gideon a mute except for the hiccups which allowed Mel to still be paid for his performance. 

[ependydad...Doug 176]

You were on a roll there with your photo captions.  And I bow to your character-naming skills.

 

Keith is right about the cat being Gideon from Pinocchio.  The cow is Clarabelle Cow.  She is an associate of Horace Horsecollar from back in the day.

 

TCD

I went back and re-read them (I'd actually written them last week but didn't post them until this one) and they made me laugh. I actually knew about Clarabelle because she's on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and the boy used to watch that a lot (when we had cable OR had someone with cable). I didn't know her history though. But, I'm curious how many people know who Mooby is.

 

 

Wow!  DL's Christmas parade is so different from the one at WDW!

It was and like TCD said- it was LONG! We enjoyed it. I enjoyed most everything about this trip better than my last visits to WDW, but I think it was that "new toy factor".

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

 I enjoyed most everything about this trip better than my last visits to WDW, but I think it was that "new toy factor".

 

That's an interesting observation.  My twins just arrived back in Florida a few days ago, and the first place we went was to WDW.

 

We were just there for the day, and parked in the TTC and took the monorail to the MK.  That mere act began the conversation about how nice WDW actually is.

 

Walking down Main Street and seeing the completed new Hub area for the first time confirmed that Disneyland is nice, but it is not better than WDW. The guys who designed WDW corrected a lot of the shortcomings that plague the California parks.  Our parks are so much more spacious and beautiful.

 

I'm not saying Disneyland is bad.  I think it's fantastic.  But, if you compare it to WDW, we win.

 

By a lot.

 

TCD

[ependydad...Doug 176]

That's an interesting observation.  My twins just arrived back in Florida a few days ago, and the first place we went was to WDW.

 

We were just there for the day, and parked in the TTC and took the monorail to the MK.  That mere act began the conversation about how nice WDW actually is.

 

Walking down Main Street and seeing the completed new Hub area for the first time confirmed that Disneyland is nice, but it is not better than WDW. The guys who designed WDW corrected a lot of the shortcomings that plague the California parks.  Our parks are so much more spacious and beautiful.

 

I'm not saying Disneyland is bad.  I think it's fantastic.  But, if you compare it to WDW, we win.

 

By a lot.

 

TCD

Good thoughts and I can see how you'd think that. We'll see how I feel being back in WDW in Feb. I'm curious now.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

We were on our way to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I'm not really a fan of this at Disney World as I feel like it's fairly rough and not very fun unless you're in one of the last cars. The front cars are terrible - so slow while you wait for the end of the train to crest the hills.

I thought their height checker was cute:

I feel like I enjoyed it more than the WDW one. But my memory is a little fuzzy now.

Before we headed on, we stopped by the Jingle Cruise to get a handicap return time. TCD says the Tiki Room at DL is better. I say that their seats are soo much comfier:

I will say that it somehow felt cleaner. I don't know if that's my imagination or what.

But, like usual - I caught a quick nap while we were in there. The biggest travesty was that their Dole Whip machine/stand outside wasn't working. An angry mob formed and laid the place to waste. Ok, only part of that is true.

As we headed to the Jingle Cruise, I learned that their line is a double-decker experience. I thought it was a neat use of space.

But, we didn't do that. We headed to the handicap entrance where we had our fateful meeting with a TCD Twin! Here's she's explaining the single-return-time at a time to some folks:

I took way too many photos here, click one to look at others.

Probably my most favorite scene of all of Disney. THEY ARE EATING THE REINDEER!

I want to sincerely thank TCD for what came next. I learned of this based on one of his trip reports. If I recall, his family thought he was stupid for wanting to do it. My wife told me it was dumb. My daughter played along because I made her. My son was very excited. Can you guess what it is?

By the end of it, my wife said it actually looked fun (she didn't ride- she was concerned about the seating and paddling hurting her back) and my daughter actually asked if we could do it again.

(hashtag) Paddling a freaking canoe for the Disney win.

At this point, we had a handicap return for Indiana Jones. My wife opted out of this one (same aforementioned back and neck issues) and my son was too little. Not being able to go set him into a melt down that turned into a nap. My wife has the magic touch with kids.

The themeing in here is pretty fun and well done. It's just a bloodly long walk and then they mix the handicap queue with the single-rider queue (and then break them out again later) and the whole process took a good 45 minutes from entry to exit. Plus, cell service is very spotty so we had to- yuck, actually interact with each other.

As TCD reported, they're the same ride vehicles as Dinosaur in Animal Kingdom. Only better. That ride was fun, but I was good for one and done. This one was a lot of fun and I would have happily ridden it again (if I didn't lose a full year of life to it).

There's a bit at the end with the big giant stone ball rolling at you. Truly took me by surprise how they handled it. I really enjoyed it.

And, here's my little napper:

We sort of just hung out and relaxed while my son slept. That gave us a chance to hit up some food.

Partners:

We made our way into Adventureland:

Wasted time in a store and tried on some merchandise:

Walked past Club 33 where we got to see as much as I'll ever see:

And made our way to the New Orleands restaurant with the obnoxiously large monte cristo sandwiches. I appear to have gotten some soup:

And we ordered some special fries (they weren't that special):

My wife got french onion soup. She said it was good (very, maybe):

We told the waiter that we would be splitting it. As a fairly nice touch, they brought it out on 2 plates and we each got a bit of sides.

I really wanted the Mickey Beignets, but after the mass of fried goodness that was the sandwich, we were fried-out. Sadly, never did get back for them.

We made our way back into the Haunted Mansion for another ride. But, I'm at 28 photos, so I'll break here.