Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Los Angeles: Part 2

It's the happiest place on earth!  We had a 45 minute drive from our house to Anaheim and arrived just before parking opened at 7 am.  We got on one of the first trams to the park and were in the park by 7:45.  We grabbed a locker just off Main Street before joining the crowds waiting to get in to the different lands.
Galaxy's edge was our first destination.  Most of the crown ran to the Rise of the Resistance Ride.  We opted to head for Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's run and got the ship almost to ourselves which was pretty cool.  We were on one of the first rides of the day.
There are 6 people in each group, two pilots, two gunners, and two engineers.  We actually did have a little control with what happened on the ride and the payout at the end showed how you did.  Our pilots didn't do great and we had quite a bit of ship damage, but it was fun!
We spotted Chewy!
After our ride, we stopped at Ronto Roaster's for breakfast.  Our morning wrap had scrambled eggs, pork sausage, cheddar, and peppercorn sauce on a pita.  Disney revised their "FastPass" system recently and it's now called "Lightning Lane."  I am not sure how the old one worked, but with this one, you select a 1 hour time frame to enter a faster line instead of waiting in the general lines.  You have a certain number you can select at a time and it tells you what time you are eligible for another selection.  All of this was controlled in the Disneyland app and it was easy and streamlined.  We selected Rise of the Resistance right away while we did other things.
Off to Fantasyland after breakfast.  The Dumbo ride is iconic Disneyland and it had a pretty short line.
Then to the carousel right next door.
Back to Galaxy's Edge for the spotlight ride, Rise of the Resistance.  This was a multi-part experience close to 20 minutes from start to finish with a little waiting in between parts.  The video at the end shows a lot of the ride as well.
Jimmy was ready for a snack at this point.  We came back to the bakery a couple times.  This giant cookie looked and tasted like pineapple!
We took the boat over to Tom Sawyer Island which was full of bridges, caves, and secret lookouts.
We grabbed lunch at Galactic Grill in Tomorrowland.
We planned to hit up a live performance next, but it was cancelled so we hopped on the Disneyland Railroad at the Toontown Depot.
The train is a steam engine.  This is the water tank for filling.  The fire to produce the steam is fueled by recycling fryer oil from the part.
Star Tours: The Adventure Continues was a 3D ride.  It debuted at 1987 as "Star Tours" and was upgraded in 2011.  
We stayed in Tomorrowland for a couple more rides.  Space Mountain was a huge surprise.  We did not know nearly the entire ride was in the dark.
Autopia and Jungle Cruise are two more attractions that are still running today.
The May Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
We headed back to Galaxy's Edge so I could get a blue milk.  It's a fruity flavored frozen blend of rice and coconut milks.  I got it with Mon Cala swirl which had mango jellies and sour mango swirl.
We came across come real life princesses (and villains!)
We took in the Enchanted Tiki Room before catching one last ride.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad coaster!  Folks were already lining up along main street for the parade over an hour away.
Jimmy finally dragged me out of the park at 8pm even though I could have stayed longer. Once we were out, My mind gave up pushing my body to continue on and I was ready to sit for a while.  Of course, Jimmy saw the huge Downtown Disney store and dragged me in for a little more shopping.
13 hours, 24,036 step, 10.1 miles, a top down drive back to the house to stay awake.  What a day at Disney!

No comments:

Post a Comment