I woke early, determined to do both Toon Town and Critter Country today.
Now that is a mouthful because I think I've only made it to the park at the 'recommended hour' a couple of times :) ... I'm on holidays after all.
So I arrived probably the earliest I had done the whole trip and was rewarded by being second in line when the duck himself emerged with a handler ready for happy snaps. So with Donald under my belt ( so as to speak) I decided to try my luck at a castle photo without a thousand people and strollers in it.
Well, I'm not sure what time one has to arrive in front of the castle to get a shot without bodies but I sure wasn't there at that time. I stood there for an age waiting for the ambling stroller driven hoards to clear the shot so I could have half a chance at getting the one I wanted. Alas, I am yet to get that shot, because despite my patience, I still had bodies in every shot.
One of the cast members asked if I wanted a shot of myself there, and while they are not my favourite shots, I relinquished the camera and smiled dutifully for a photo that I knew, even before she pressed the shutter, would be missing feet and a little too far to the right.
Oh well, I'll try again another day.
I did get some nice shots of PIECES of the castle, I'd just like one... just one... without bodies. It doesn't seem to worry the majority of the population that they are taking those happy snaps with another 4 families in the frame. But it irks me.
Anyway, I cut my losses and headed for Toontown, only to discover that it doesn't open when the park does. It only opens at 9am so I leaned against the railing and talked to the other people waiting for those gates to open wide.
I spoke to one family in particular - the little one in the ubiquitous stroller was a bit fractious so I delved into my backpack and pulled out one of the little clip-on koala's that I'd taken to give to cast members and random people that might have shared magic with. That did the trick and after that we chatted for the duration of the wait.
It turned out that the mom had worked for a couple of years on the Disney Cruise line as an officer and she was a wonderland of interesting stories. Insider info is always fascinating. I could have stood there and talked to her for another hour.
But before long, the wait was over and we charged into Toontown and there were only a handful of people there - clearly it takes a while for the bulk of the tourists to filter through that far into the park. I went straight for Roger Rabbits ride and got the first FP of the day, then lined up and walked straight onto the ride. I rode it several times in quick succession so didn't bother coming back to use the FP because I'd had my fill early.
One disappointment was that Donalds Boat was all closed up and covered up and I wondered if it were having some kind of reno that I'd not heard was happening.
I wandered around, taking copious photos, all the bright primary colours of that land standing out starkly against the brilliant blue Californian summer sky. It was picture perfect.... and then the worst thing happened. My camera battery died. Which would not have been an issue if the back up one that I had in my backpack was charged like I'd assumed.
Oh well... I'd taken almost all the photos that i'd intended, only I hadn't been to visit Mickey and there was no way on Gods Green Earth I was doing that without a camera !
So I turned reluctantly for the entrance of Toontown and decided to just ride some random rides for a while and then make up my mind on the next plan.
Only two rides in, I just could take it no more... not having a camera in my hand proving too traumatic, and headed for the exit and onto a bus bound for Target which was only about 4 blocks away.
Sitting at the bus stop seems to be something I do a lot these days.... I'm loving discovering all the places that the buses take me on the one ticket. Unfortunately todays time sitting waiting wasn't so pleasant. I could feel a bug on my toes and wriggled them so it would fly away but it kept coming back. Eventually I thought it had gone away - but I didn't bother to take a look seeing as I couldn't feel it there, I just assumed it had - and only moments later, I could feel something crawling up my leg on the inside of my jeans.
Then it happened.
It stung me. Yep.... I had a bee crawling up the inside of my jeans. .... and I had to move fast to get it out and remove the stinger without pumping more of the venom into my system. I'm allergic to bee stings. But evidently - not terribly so with the kind that stung me.
Oh yes... my leg swelled up monumentally and it hurt like you would imagine a bee sting does but when I didn't experience the expected shortness of breath that generally accompanies bee stings for me, I felt confident that while my leg was throbbing, I could continue on my shopping sojourn.
The things we do...
Wow... Target US style.
What a fantastic place that is.
I had a full basket within a short time and with no concern for how i was going to get it all home, I gleefully headed for the checkout about an hour or two later.
One of the things I bought was a cell phone. One that the attendant assured me would be able to make calls outside the US ( NOPE.... it didn't :( ) And I bought the dear one on the shelf... $14.95 ... seriously... when they told me that they were sold out of the $9.99 one I was flabbergasted that there even was such a marvel... I had to check that I hadn't inadvertently wandered into the toy aisle. Still, I used it a surprising amount for the duration of the trip and can do so if I return in the future as its a prepaid and I just have to buy a recharge card to reactivate it.
Evenatually, I braved the really hot day outside again and walked in the direction of Disneyland, knowing there were the ART bus stops not all that far along.
IT was then that I discovered the shoe warehouse. No... relax.... not girly shoes... sports shoes.
This place was fantastic too, and I was delighted to find it considering I'd been told by NO.1 son not to come home without Nikes.
The problem was, there wasn't a pair of Nikes that came within cooee of what I thought the boy would like.
After just wandering around in this store for another 3/4 hour, I finally settled on a pair of Air Jordans ( also Nikes he later informed me) that I thought would pass muster for the 17 year old. I was very very tempted to also get the tiny baby converses' for my baby nephew butt resisted - knowing the lack of room I was suffering from in the suitcase department.
Outside, the sun was so nice, that I made the decision to walk back to Disneyland ( it didn't seem as far as it actually was when I had travelled there on the bus) and arrived exhausted and ... shall we say.... sun kissed ( if the sun had pink lipstick on at the time) and really keen to be back in my hotel and cool.
I spent the afternoon, at the hotel, in the pool, checking emails, updating the blog and generally taking it easy. By this time the camera battery was charged again and it was time to head back to Disneyland for the evening.
I wandered around, taking night shots which without a tripod was proving frustrating. But persevere I did and ended up with a few really good ones. I finally got a photo or two of the castle that I half liked and some of Main Street with all the lights sparkling away.
I'd opted for the late showing of Fantasmic and found myself a spot where I had an unobstructed view and more importantly - a rail to support the camera so I had half a chance of getting a few clear shots of the show.
Fantasmic is just amazing. Part of the show is projected onto hight pressure water 'curtains' that shoot into the sky, and the effect is spectacular. Everything from Pink elephants from the Dumbo movie to various villains to Mickey in scenes from Fantasia.
Along with elaborately lit floats carrying various princesses and their beaus, the Columbia sailed around with a blazing battle between Peter Pan and Captain Hook taking place in the rigging of the tall ship.
The finale began with fireworks off the side of the Mark Twain that sailed past with Steamboat Mickey at the helm and dozens of other Disney personalities waving from many vantage points.
The first time I saw this show, I had such a bad spot and could see so little that i wasn't all that sure it was worth staying at the park that late for but on seeing it for the second time, and with an unobstructed view, I loved it.
From there I ambled back along Main St. Its become a habit that on the way out of the park I check the shops and wander to my hearts content, almost always buying yet more pins and by now, starting to finalise gifts for friends and family.
On my way to the exit, I stood in fromt of the Mickey garden wanting to get a shot of Tink all lit up.
This compulsion soon became the need to get all the shots...
Tink lighting up.
Tink throwing her pixie dust light oer the Mickey head garden.
And then the mickey Head bursting into sparkling lights all lit with pixie dust.
That process took me almost an hour to get ones I was half happy with thanks to blurry shots and bodies littering the frame. Eventually, I was satisfied with my efforts and wandered over to try my luck at the California Letters lit up.
Even at midnight there were lits of bodies to contend with and I had to wait for a loooong time for the people to clear out of sitting on, in, and around the individual letters. And because I was standing there waiting, I ended up taking lots of photos for other people who wanted themselves in the shot with the lit up letters.
But the last shot of the night was my reward.
A clear shot of all the letters sans bodies.
Happy girl. :)
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