Day 5
I was wide awake at 4:00 AM. I quietly took my iPad and settled down in the little area by the sink to check my emails and to check in on Facebook and the two forums that I am active on. This is one of those situations where a separate living area would be handy as I could be comfortable, but not disturb Graham. As it was, I soon had pins and needles in my legs and decided to head back to bed.
I must have fallen asleep again as we both woke up shortly before 7:00. We got up and dressed and decided to get some breakfast at Whitewater Snacks, the self-service restaurant at Grand Californian. This was nothing to write home about, but I suppose I am spoiled in that respect by Mara at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and to a lesser extend by the Contempo Cafe at the Contemporary Resort. Still, we managed to get coffee and juice and Graham had a huge Danish and some fruit salad. I was not really hungry and just had a Brownie. However, it was so big that I still did not manage to finish it.
I had forgotten to bring my sunscreen so I had to head back to the room to get it. It was still relatively early, so that was no problem. Graham came with me half way and then found himself a bench to enjoy the nice warm weather. Once I was back, we headed towards the entrance to California Adventure. On the way, I had a look at the Menu for Napa Rose. When I was looking for somewhere to have dinner on the evening after the vow renewal, I was considering Napa Rose and Steakhouse 55. Well, I was glad that I had decided against Napa Rose as I can honestly say that I would not have eaten anything on that menu.
The line for California Adventure was much shorter than the day before and it was moving very quickly. It was just gone 9:15 when we were inside the park. I was welcomed by name again. Most people headed for the Fastpass Machines for World of Colour, but we bypassed them and headed straight for The Little Mermaid - Ariels Undersea Adventure. Graham took some photos of the empty park on the way.
I was a little surprised when there were no people at all around at the ride. It was a walk on the previous day, but there were still some people around. We got an answer to what was going on all too soon. The ride was down with technical difficulties. We were informed that Soarin had opened early to make up for this. So we headed for Soarin. On the way we decided to get a Fastpass for World of Colour as the lines had dispersed. I thought that it was at best doubtful that we would make it as it did not start until 20:15, but we figured we had nothing to lose.
Fastpasses in hand, we headed to the opposite end of the park to do Soarin. The posted wait time was 15 minutes and this was pretty accurate. However, not only did they have only one side of the ride open, but they were also only using one of the three boarding gates on that side. We ended up in row two. When we finished the ride, we went straight back to the entrance to do it again. The posted wait time had not changed, but they now had all three boarding gates on one side open and the line moved much quicker. This time we ended up in row one. This was the first time for Graham. As he had achieved what he had set out to do, we moved on to the next ride.
By now it was just gone 10:00 and I knew that if we wanted any chance to do Toy Story Midway Mania with a decent waiting time, we needed to head there next. With 25 minutes, it was not too bad. Normally Graham's limit is 20 minutes, but I convinced him that this ride is worth waiting a bit longer for. In the end the line moved quite quickly and our actual wait time was just shy of 20 minutes. He thoroughly enjoyed the ride and of course, he managed to beat me.
We decided to have a go at Mickey's Fun Wheel next. This was probably not the brightest idea. Neither of us is particularly good with heights. We opted for one of the stationary capsules. I suffer from motion sickness and I did not think that one of the swinging capsules would work for me. I have been on the London Eye and the Manchester Wheel a few times and not only was I OK with them, but I thoroughly enjoyed them. So it came as a bit of a surprise that Mickey's Fun Wheel totally freaked me out. Still, Graham found Crystal Cathedral in the distance for me and once I focused on this, I was fine. This even worked when we were stopped at the highest point while they unloaded a wheelchair.
I was glad when I had both feet firmly back on the ground. Still, this did not last long. One of Graham's favourite rides is the wave swing. It used to be a giant orange peel and was called Orange Stinger. It has now been re-themed as Silly Symphony Swings. I always used to get out of this as there was an upper weight limit that I was pretty close to. They no longer have a weight limit and in any case, I have lost weight since our last visit. So I decided to be brave and join Graham. Well, this scared me as much as Tower of Terror and Expedition Everest. It is a good job that they do not do ride photos there, as my eyes were firmly squeezed shut for most of the ride.
After all of this excitement, it was time for pitstop. We used the bathroom and then ended up chatting with the person manning the DVC booth in the area. When I mentioned that I had not been able to find the DVC Preview Centre, she gave us proper directions and even equipped us with a map. We thanked her and said goodbye.
We had a look at Goofy's Sky School, but that had a wait time of 25 minutes and we decided to pass and maybe come back later. I was quietly relieved as I remembered that I did not really enjoy the previous incarnation Mulholland Madness. Instead we headed for the Golden Zephyr, which was essentially just a walk on. The Golden Zephyr is a variation on the wave swing theme in so far that you sit in rockets that are suspended on chains and that swing outwards when it spins making it feel like you are flying. We have done this on previous visits and I always enjoyed it. This time was no different. I suppose it makes a lot of difference that you sit in a multi person rocket with sides instead of a fairly flimsy chair and I also think that it makes a difference that this just spins, but does not tilt.
When we walked towards the Pacific Wharf area, we noticed that The Little Mermaid - Ariels Undersea Adventure had reopened. With a wait time of 10 minutes, we decided to do this next. Graham did not like this at all. I suppose he is not alone. It was kind of telling that the wait time was only 10 minutes in the middle of the day, especially after it was closed first thing in the morning.
After we finished the ride, we continued on to Pacific Wharf. We had planned to just get something to drink and got an ice tea each. However, once we sat down and everybody around us was having lunch,we realised that we were hungry, too. We both had a Santa Rosa Corn Chowder in a Sourdough Bread Bowl. I managed to eat all the soup, but only about half of the bread. It was very tasty though.
After lunch, we did the bakery tour. I passed on the free sample of bread they were giving out. It was interesting to learn how sourdough bread is made and then actually follow the process through the huge windows in the bakery. Unfortunately the tortilla factory is now gone and I am hoping that its replacement, a Ghirardelli chocolate factory will be open by May.
Next up was a visit to the Disney Imagineering Blue Sky Cellar. This is the area where they are showcasing the future changes to California Adventure. They had concept art for both Carsland and Buena Vista Street on display. They also had a film about the making of Buena Vista Street. It was very interesting. It is amazing how much thought and work goes into something that is essentially just a themed entrance area.
We cut through A Bug's Land again to get to Hollywood Backlot. Graham wanted to try Tower of Terror as he had never done this ride before. I had the questionable pleasure at Walt Disney World in 2005 and had no wish to repeat the experience. The posted waiting time was 13 minutes, but that was just for effect. The ride was actually a walk on. They were even telling people holding Fastpasses to save them for later. I could not believe this as this ride pulls huge crowds at Walt Disney World and
Disneyland Paris even when the parks are relatively quiet. Anyway, I sat down on a wall in the shade near the entrance of the ride and let Graham do the ride by himself. I chatted with the cast members near the entrance instead. Graham was glad that he had tried it, but I suspect there won't be a repeat performance from him either.
We wandered around the Hollywood Backlot area for a bit and then decided that we would go and watch Muppetvision 3D. The next show was just about to begin and this was too good to pass up. We have not seen this in years. It is a bit on the cheesy side and I feel the time has come to replace this with something new. After all, the Muppet Show already felt a bit dated when I was a child and I can't remember when this was last shown on TV. Still, we were out of the sun for while, could sit down and one of two of the gags are still pretty funny. Maybe they should look into bringing Mickey's PhilharMagic to California. This would fit in well. Another good option would be the Cinemagique show from Walt Disney Studios in Paris.
I had planned to head to Monsters Inc Mike and Sully To The Rescue next as Graham had not done this before, but it was down due to technical issues. At that stage we had essentially done what we had come for, with just one ride left on our to do list, Grizzly River Run. This is a scenic whitewater raft ride like Kali River Rapids and can get very wet. That is why we left it until last. As it happened, we both got a little wet, but we had had much worse and as it was hot, we dried in no time at all.