Disneyland Day One- Part Two!

 Greetings Attic Explorers!

This week we look at the second half of my first day back at Disneyland in over 50 years (thanks to my wonderful daughter, Jess!) When we left off last week, we had just left Walt's apartment! What's next?

Lunch! This came care of New Orleans Square. We had some pretty tasty bread bowls. I had the New England clam chowder and Jess had the veggie stew. At first I wondered why they gave us rolls with our soup...then I realized those are the plugs that were cut out of the bowls! It made much more sense then!

Next we wandered into this strange little room in Adventureland! Wow, a lot of weird stuff happened!

Actually, it was nice to see the original show (or as close as you can get to it!) The Tikki Room is always nostalgic fun!

We stopped in front of the castle and had a photopass photographer take a couple of pictures.

Of course Tink stopped by too...

We went over to "The Island Formally Known as Tom Sawyer" and explored the caves. We actually had a good time wandering around, and while waiting to go back to the mainland, had a passing nod to to the good Captain.

We then headed to It's a Small World. I like the Disneyland version better than Walt Disney World because the facade is SO MUCH better! I also like the boats loading outside. Inside, the scenes seem a little more intricate. By the way, I actually like the Disney characters that were added. I know. You can throw rocks at me later...

Ah, that beautiful facade. Great work by Rollie and Mary!

Next we headed to Galaxy's Edge for the Smuggler's Run. Jess had ridden before, but I hadn't. She suggested that I be "right seat pilot." She was left seat, and some poor family with two small kids filled the other four positions. We did...poorly.

It was a ton of fun, though, with lots of laughter all around!

Ugh! Not so good on that score!

Hey, I don't remember an X-wing flyover!

Hey, that's not a trash can!

On the way back over we saw Tiana. This princess was doing a great job! Hopefully her version of Splash will do the original justice!

When we got to Tomorrowland, we saw signs for a special photo opportunity for Disney Visa holders. Since both Jess and I have those, we checked it out. It turns out it was with a tall, very determined individual. The cast members played Empire officers to a T. Jess was actually pretty intimidated here!

After we assured him we were not rebels, we had our picture made...

An old friend's kid was right outside, so I got a picture. It's a bit smaller than the original, but it's still cool!

Next we took on the mean streets of the Autopia! We are flying down the street, man!  The track seems longer and more interesting than the WDW track.

Then we headed over to the subs! Although they aren't the same as when I was a kid (man, they layed the Nemo stuff on THICK) it was good to show it to Jess. She missed the WDW version by one year as a kid.

Ok, she may have been playing this up a bit...

Next we went to the Sleeping Beauty Castle walkthough. It was very nice and quiet, with great artwork and clever effects.

A very nice castle shot, if I say so myself!

We ate dinner at Carnation. I had chicken fried chicken and Jess had salmon. It was very tasty! And then.....

My phone battery died.

So, you'll just have to imagine the next part, I'm afraid...

We went back to Fantasyland and went on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. It was a ton of fun! I love how the cars cut back and forth and crash through the flats. I didn't like how short the ride was, but that's a classic dark ride for you!

We then took in Pinnochio. I've heard that this "new" dark ride isn't quite as good as the classics, but I enjoyed it quite a bit! The trip through Pleasure Island was actually a little creepy!

After that we walked over to Snow White. It was nice, but it never has been my favorite. It's like the un-scary-ed it a bit too much. It seemed kind of watered down. Maybe the contrast with Pinnochio was a bad thing. Still, it's a classic...

By this time the park was officially "closed," but we decided to head over to Rise of the Resistance just to see if we could get on. Less than 30 minutes later we were on!

I had never ridden it before and all I can say is "wow!" The immersive experience was fantastic! I'll admit, I got griped at by the First Order officers, but not as much as the guy next to me, so I count that as a win. 

This ride is pretty intense. Not in a roller coster way (although there in one small drop) but in a dramatic way. Also, for a lot of it, you're going pretty quickly backwards. 

Jess and I have never been big coaster fans, but this ride was thrilling without being a coaster, so that was also a plus. I highly recommend it!

After the ride, we were exhausted. We had been in the park almost 15 hours! As we walked down the brighly lit Main Street (almost two hours after official park closing) suddenly the lights went out with a boom! Then image mapping went over the buildings on both sides of the street and music blared through the speakers and we were in a full blown dance party! Strobes, lasers, and projections danced all over Main Street and the castle! The perfect ending to the perfect day! 

We walked back to our room and collapsed into our beds, thrilled, happy, and ready to take on California Adventure in the morning!