We are only
3 days away till our trip to DL. I am getting excited that we are almost close to our trip. The crazy part of the trip is leaving early Thursday night around midnight so we can get to Anaheim before the park opens at 8am. Chris wants to get to the park first thing on Friday morning to do as much as possible.
But before we enter the park on Friday, we will be eating at Mimi's Cafe on Harbor Blvd before we enter the park that day. We have ate at Mimi's Cafe before during the January trip where my aunt and I have lunch when we got to Anaheim. For a quick pre plan that we have talked about is that we will enter Disney California Adventure on Friday and we will be eating at Ariel's Grotto for dinner.
For my May trip report update, I won't do an update on Sunday May 5th since it is the time where I go around the park and do my usual stuff. So I won't be doing an update for May 5th. But I will try to finish up May 4th before I leave in a few days.
Day 2 May 4, 2013 Part 17
On the last update, I entered
Disneyland after being in DCA for the first part of the day. I wasn't in DL or DCA due to the Walt Disney Studios tour in Burbank that day. I just finished going through Innoventions and seeing the Iron Man Tech display which shows the different suits from the movie Iron Man. Now I am at the Disneyland Monorail station in Tomorrowland to go around the resort.
I boarded Monorail Mark VII Blue in the back car and now going around the resort and taking my usual pictures. There wasn't too many people with me in the back so it was nice to ride it without too many people. But I knew that there will be more people riding the monorail when we get to Downtown Disney.
While riding Monorail Mark VII Blue to the DTD station, I got a few pictures of DCA on the way over. It is so fun to take pictures while riding the monorail especially with DCA where a lot has change ever since the DCA expansion that began a few years ago.
Leaving Tomorrowland
Passing by Mad T Party in Hollywood Land
Buena Vista Street
Condor Flats right by Soarin Over California
Now entering DTD and there was a lot of people watching a live performance right across from the Rainforest Cafe
We got to the DTD station and more guests started to board the monorail, it was time to head on back to DL and back to TL. Passing by the turnstiles at MS over at DL. It wasn't that busy after 6pm when the guests entering DL
Over at TL, I like to get the aerial photos while riding the monorail.
We were now back at the TL Monorail station and we had to exit the monorail since they don't let any guests ride it back to the DTD station. While riding the monorail, you can ride it round trip from the TL station while when riding it at the DTD station, you have to disembark at the TL station and you can't go round trip from the DTD station.
When I left the station, I was back in TL and taking some pictures of the Matterhorn and the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage lagoon while Monorail Mark VII was now in TL.
I like to look at the Matterhorn from the TL side since you can see the heart shape in the mountain where it used to be the former Skyway tunnel. I do miss the Skyway everytime I see the Matterhorn from this side.
Monorail Mark VII passing by over the FNSV lagoon
After looking around TL, I decided it was time to head on over to get my spot for the nighttime show. The nighttime show that I wanted to see that night was Fantasmic!. Since I have watched Magical fireworks on Friday, I wanted to watch F! that night. Mostly when I am at the DLR, I do the fireworks first and watch World of Color the next night. Since my DA and I went to the WDS on Saturday and weren't in the park that morning till later that day, I decided not to get a FP for WoC and watch F! instead. I love F! and love watching the show. But I haven't watched F! a lot over the fireworks or WoC these last few years since I have been focusing on those two shows. It was nice to watch F! that night and it was also windy so I had a hunch that the fireworks won't run that night since the fireworks at DL won't be playing due to high winds.
So I head on over to the Rivers of America but I went through the backside towards Fantasyland and Frontierland. While passing by Fantasyland, it was kind of busy where a lot of the rides had long lines. This was common during this part of the day before it got dark that day.
A look back at Fantasyland until I head towards the backside of Frontierland where Big Thunder Ranch is located
Just when I was about to enter the backside of Frontierland, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was closed for it's about one year refurbishment. It is sad to see BTMRR closed during the trip and hope that it will be fun to ride. Ever since the Matterhorn got the new bobsleds since last year, it hasn't been the same ride experience. We will wait and see what the ride experience will be like for the new BTMRR.
On the otherside of BTMRR was the tunnel for the former Mine Train
I was now in Frontierland and passing by the front entrance of BTMRR where the construction was going on.
Just when I was getting closer to the sitting area right by New Orleans Square, there were few groups with blankets, strollers, etc. waiting for the first show of F! at 9pm. It was almost close to 7pm that night and I had to get my spot for the night.
So I went to NOS to use the restroom right close to the NOS station on the backside before I got dinner that night.
After using the restroom, I head on over to the Royal Street Veranda and have steak gumbo for dinner. I haven't had the steak gumbo at RSV in a long time since I have been trying a lot of different restaurants at the DLR. It was nice to have a steak gumbo just before the first show of F!. It took awhile to get the gumbo since it was close to dinner time and I had to wait about 10 minutes to get the gumbo.
When I got the steak gumbo, I head on over towards the edge of the RoA at the sitting area for the first show of F!. I got my usual spot at the backside where the rope off area is since I take pictures and videos with my tripod where there is no one behind me except for the people in the F! dessert seating area which are a little higher.
I set up my blanket and have my dinner that night which was the steak gumbo. I also brought my Glow with the Show Ears since it interacts with Fantasmic just like the fireworks and WoC. I was excited to see how the ears would respond during F!. I have seen video clips of the Glow with the Show ears that was used during F! and it was neat. It doesn't light up as much as the fireworks or WoC, but it is still neat that it interacts with the show.
While when I got set up, I took a few random pictures of the area at the sitting area and there wasn't too much on the left hand side.
But on the right hand side there were people right at the rope off area with about less than 2 hours until the 9pm show of Fantasmic!.
During the time that passed, I was eating my gumbo and reading on my iPad of what is going on the threads. Later on that day, the Columbia left the dock and is going backwards as it is getting ready for F! that night.
Time passed by and more and more people started to fill the whole area. Just about 30 minutes to go until the show, the whole area in the sitting area right by the RoA was all filled up. There was barely any room left. I was glad that I got my spot in advance so I can see the show from the backside.
While I was waiting for the show, I was planning on using my DSLR camera with the 18-105mm lens to see how the pictures will turn out. I didn't bring my tripod that night since I was planning on taking pictures of F! without it. I also didn't want to carry my tripod for about 2 hours in the parks until I got my spot for F! that night. It has been a long time since I haven't used my tripod for F!. But I can take fine pictures without it.
During the time until it was time for the 9pm show of F!, I took a few random pictures with different setting to see how the pictures turn out when I use it later that night.
A lot of the people are waiting for the show to start at 9pm.
It was getting closer and closer to the start of the 9pm show and I can't wait to see it. I have my Glow with the Show Ears on my head, my DSLR in my hands ready to take pictures. That will be it for this post since I am out of pictures to post. The next update will be later on showing pictures that I have taken during the 9pm show of Fantasmic!.