Wow what a great way to spend a night when i can't sleep to get caught up on my friend's anni trip! You have a great hubby to let you plan a trip of a lifetime. All the things you have written about and shown makes me wanna go! Also made me dig around in my stuff for a journally type book to pop in my stuff so i can write a report that is about 1/4 as good as yours!
thanks Jacqueline. You have your own trip of a lifetime coming up, don't you! Can't wait to read about it.
And now, the next installment.
Sorry I took so long to get back to this. Im a kindergarten teacher, and school started this week, so its been hectic.
Tuesday was Bastille Day, and we expected the parks to be very crowded. It was not too bad though, especially during the day. They certainly were not as crowded as the American parks on a holiday. We tried to make it to the early morning hours, but just couldnt pull it off.
Because we were on the Admirals Floor, we thought that our breakfast was in the restaurant right at the foot of the stairs, but the sternest CM we ran into directed us to the far end of the building to a giant conference room where a breakfast buffet was laid out.
They took our tickets at the door, and a nice lady wearing Mickey mitts waved us over to an available table. We thought the breakfast was pretty good, although it was not nearly as substantial as the ones at the other hotels we stayed at on this trip. There were self-serve dispensers for café au lait, hot chocolate, double espressos (DHs favorite), milk and fruit juice. The buffet table had fruit salad, cereal, cheese, yogurt, croissants, and my new favorite, Nutella.
For a conference room, we thought the breakfast area was pretty fun. They played up the nautical theme by decorating the end of the room so it looked like the bow of a cruise ship, and they had sound effects such as seagulls calling and buoys ringing. Between the sound effects and the many small children, it was pretty noisy, but we expect that when we are staying at Disney. If you want peace and quiet, better pony up for room service.
After breakfast, we walked to
Disneyland. This was our one full day, so we enjoyed many rides. On Its a Small World, I noticed that my camera wasnt working right, and in fixing it, lost, the last three days worth of pictures. Thank goodness I had uploaded the previous three days onto DHs laptop a few times over the course of the trip. Heres a picture that worked once I fixed the camera the U.S. represented on Small World.
Here we are, blessed out by the music of Small World (this is before we were stuck on it in Anaheim, and they would NOT shut off the music).
The entrance.
One of the attractions that was new to us this day was the Nautilus, Capt. Nemos submarine from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. My sister tells me this used to be at Disneyland CA, but it was before my time. To access this attraction, you pass through an underground tunnel. It is a walkthrough, with a display of Captain Nemos things. There is a big shuttered window at one end that looks like a camera lens, and when it opens, you can see a giant quid in the water. The squid seems to attack, then is repelled by an electric charge. This attraction reminded me of the Swiss Family Tree House, and was fun in the same way. Low-key, but enjoyable to those who love the Disney live-action classics.
The Nautilus, as seen from outside.
For lunch, we stopped at Videopolis, which has delicious burgers shaped like Mickey, and a big screen that shows classic Mickey Mouse cartoons. From the Dis, I gather that this is where the Lion King show took place, but it was not happening while we were there, and I dont know if its coming back. Heres my Mickey burger, on a French roll. Yum!
In the mid-afternoon, we went back to the hotel for a break. DH took a nap while I went down to the pool. To get to the pool, you have to go through a unisex locker room and showers, which felt strange to me. Then you go through a little foot-washing pool to get to the indoor pool, which is made to look like the water surrounding a ship. Every few minutes, an icy fountain that looks like an oscillating sprinkler shoots out over the swimmers, and all the kids scream.
The pool was too cold for me, so I decided to try the hot tub. We have a hot tub at home, and we keep it around body temperature, not really hot. The hotel hot tub was even cooler than that. I soaked for a short while, but it wasnt really relieving the aches and pains of all the hiking around I had been doing, so I went upstairs and had a hot shower.
When we got back to the park, we went through the Sleeping Beauty walkthrough in the upper floor of the castle. When you finish, you go down into the dungeon, and there is an amazing dragon. At first, it just looked like a sculpture. Then its tail started twitching. Finally, it lifted its head, roared, and let out a stream of smoke (steam). It was pretty creepy, and there were many small children crying or hiding behind their parents. True Disney magic! Heres a stain-glassed window of Maleficent, Patron saint of slighted would-be fairy godmothers.
Here she is as the sleeping dragon.
We rode Small World again, and were sad to see that the Story Book boats and Casey Jr. train were closed still. We rode Buzz Lightyear again, and noticed that it looked a little shabby. There was a curtain around the animatronic Buzz Lightyear at the beginning, and the curtain was very faded and torn. DH also was unhappy that he was not allowed to transfer out of the wheelchair to ride. I think the CM was trying to be helpful by having DH ride in a special car that could accommodate the wheelchair and another guest, but DH had asked not to, as the wheelchair gets uncomfortable and confining after a while.
Ill come back with more. With luck, Ill get to it today.