Part 3: A Park So Nice, We Went There Twice!
On August 29, it was back to Disneyland Park for Heather and me. We had a Magic Morning ticket (1 hour early entrance) and we planned to use that extra hour to hit up as many Fantasyland rides as possible. After that, we wanted to ride anything we had missed out on during our previous visit. Two other objectives included dining at the Blue Bayou restaurant and seeing Fantasmic that evening.
As soon as we entered the park that morning, we noticed there'd been a change...
Even though "Halloween season" at D-land wouldn't officially begin until September 6th, sometime between August 27th and 29th, they had begun to decorate...
After admiring the autumnal beauty, we headed toward Fantasyland...
So the guidebooks all say to hit up Peter Pan's Flight first. But when we got there, there was already an enormous line for that, so we went in the opposite direction. We rode Snow White, Pinocchio, Alice In Wonderland, and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Then, just before the park officially opened, we doubled back to Peter Pan, where there was now virtually no line.
Somewhere in there, we rode the teacups, too. There were only a handful of people in line, and we were able to each get our own teacup without taking one away from anyone else.
Next we headed to the Red Rose Taverne, a Beauty and the Beast quick-service restaurant.
Heather wanted to try the Grey Stuff, and you know what? It was delicious!
We chilled out in the Enchanted Tiki Room..
We had gotten fast passes for Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, so we headed to Toontown...
I also popped into Mickey Mouse's house and said hello.
Next we boarded the Disneyland Railroad, completing the circuit (we had ridden just a portion of it 2 days before.)
The Railroad is one of those rides that I don't think people fully appreciate. You get to go through Splash Mountain, behind It's A Small World, and there's even a tunnel full of dinosaurs. And it's one of the only rides in the park where you get to sit down for 20 minutes and NOT be exposed to obnoxious tunes.
We hopped off the train at New Orleans Square...
And we rode Pirates Of The Caribbean again...
We rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad...
We checked out some of the posher shops...
At last, it was time to head to the Blue Bayou for lunch...
I ordered a Mint Julep...
Yum!
I also got the vegetable pasta...
It was good, but not worth the $30 price. I know, you're paying for the dining experience...
After lunch, I headed back to the hotel, while Heather stayed at the park. I've learned from previous trips to Disneyland that if I try to pull an all-dayer, I'm going to regret it.
I did take a quick stroll through Downtown Disney before heading back, though...
I rested for several hours, returning to the park around dusk...
Heather and I had obtained FastPasses for the first showing of Fantasmic...
I don't know why, and maybe it's just me, but when this 19th-century boat filled with characters from all eras sloooowly floats by, it's kind of eerie. Like it's a ghost ship. IS IT A GHOST SHIP?
I had read that if you go to the first Fantasmic showing, you can remain in place there to watch the fireworks show without being shooed away. You can't see all the fireworks from that location, but it's still a decent viewpoint.
After the shows, Heather and I split up again, this time to do some last-minute things. I believe she went on Splash Mountain. I rode the Winnie The Pooh ride again.
I also did some last-minute shopping.
The Haunted Mansion was closed during our visit, but they had begun to decorate the exterior for Halloween...
Heather and I met up again on Main Street, where I got a Caprese on Focaccia Bread from the Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe. It was delicious.
It had been a great day, but eventually it had to come to an end...
1 comment:
I know it's been a few years but it looks like we were at Disneyland right around the same time! I was there in August 2019 as well, though my park days were August 25 (so we were able to ride Haunted Mansion, one of our favorites) and 28 (we also went to the D23 Expo and an America's Got Talent taping in LA). Didn't realize Red Rose Tavern was a Beauty & the Beast restaurant and that they had the grey stuff there; I've had it before at Be Our Guest in Disney World though!
Also I agree with you on your first Disney post about Splash Mountain's lack of seatbelts being bothersome. It's not an issue for me on the Florida version but I didn't enjoy the seat set-up of the Disneyland one. Hopefully when they renovate the theming of the ride, they can also improve the vehicles!
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