Traveling: California 2016

Friday, 17 June 2016

California 2016 - Part 12

Disneyland Again

Thursday - June 2nd 2016

Like yesterday we got a coffee at Starbucks on our way to Disneyland, and today we needed a coffee badly because of the Magic Morning. That meant we could enter the park early and so instead of 8:00 o'clock, we were inside the park at 7:00am. If I'm not mistaken, we have never been that early inside a themepark, or been awake so early during vacation. Yesterday we started our day at the California Adventure park, but in the hope of lower crowds in the morning we wanted to start at the Disneyland park first. So after security we headed straight into Fantasyland, because there are some attractions Disneyland Paris doesn't feature. Of course we wanted to try them, and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was the first on our list. It was a great dark ride, and although we didn't know the movie the ride was based on, we enjoyed it a lot. Next was Alice in Wonderland and while it was aimed more towards children, it was still a cute little attraction. We skipped the rest of the Fantasyland attractions, because they could all be found in Paris as well. Unfortunately Mickey's Toontown wasn't open yet and so we did Big Thunder Mountain Railroad instead. The ride was as much fun as in Florida or France. In Adventureland the Indiana Jones Adventure was down again and so it was time for another classic Disney attraction, the Haunted Mansion, or Phantom Manor as it is called at Disneyland Paris. After visiting the 999 ghosts, we went to Critter Country. There we finally could experience Splash Mountain. Claudia and I had been to Walt Disney World in Florida twice and both times the attraction was closed. Although we were a bit afraid of getting soaked, it was such a fun ride and we only got wet a little bit. To dry, we joined Winnie the Pooh in a ride into his dreams, and on our way back to Adventureland we rode Pirates of the Caribbean, another classic Disney attraction.

Main Street USA

Sleeping Beauty Castle

Fantasyland

Fantasyland - Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

Fantasyland - Mad Hatter's Tea Cups

Fantasyland - Alice in Wonderland

Fantasyland - It's a Small World

Fantasyland

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

New Orleans Square

Haunted Mansion

Splash Mountain

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Haunted Mansion

Pirates of the Caribbean

Indiana Jones Adventure was still closed and so we gave the Jungle Cruise another try. A few years ago we experienced it in Florida and it was so boring. All I can say, it was also very boring in Anaheim. Now Mickey's Toontown was open and since we don't have that area at Disneyland Paris, we definitely had to check it out. The only ride interesting enough for us was Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin and we were positively surprised. It was indeed a fun dark ride.

Jungle Cruise

Disneyland Marching Band

Mickey's Toontown - Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin

Mickey's Toontown

Main Street USA

Since it was around noon and the park got very crowded, we decided to head over to California Adventure. There we first had lunch at Smokejumpers Grill, and of course Claudia and I both ordered the veggie burger with fries again. After riding California Screamin' and The Little Mermaid, we left the park towards Downtown Disney and enjoyed a Shrunken Zombie Head cocktail at Trader Sam's. That bar was so much fun and entertaining. A few drinks later, we were on our way back to Disneyland to see if the Indiana Jones Adventure was still closed. Luckily it was open, but once we arrived at the boarding area, it broke down again. Fifteen minutes later we finally could join Indy on another amazing adventure inside the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. Afterwards we had dinner at Royal Street Veranda again, and like yesterday we both got the vegetarian gumbo. Since we got up around 6:00am and it was already 7:30pm, we decided to walk back to our hotel. The long day took a toll on us.