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Toy Story Mania
My husband and son getting ready to ride. Toy Story Mania is an interactive ride where you get to play different Carnival games on giant screens. Day Two at Disneyland was a struggle to be honest. I am not sure if it was the first full day of walking around or because the small crowds that I was hoping for grew before my eyes. Usually in the middle of May the park is relatively quiet and easy to get around, but this year it was as bad as a day in the middle of June.
I was reminded of one of my own park tips that I broke when planning this trip and it is to make sure not to just visit on the weekend, if you are looking for a lower attendance at the park. You need to have weekdays in there also. The perfect timing would have been all weekdays and friday so that you can get not only the lower crowds, but also the fireworks and Fantasmic in on friday night.
Fantasmic was sadly not showing while we were there because of the refurbishment that they just completed on the Rivers of America. For those that have never seen Fantasmic you are in for a treat once you finally get to see it.
Here is the perfect place for a little
Disneyland tip! People will line up along the Rivers of America at 6pm for a 9 pm showing of Fantasmic. DON'T JOIN THEM! Enjoy the fact that they are going to be sitting there waiting for 3 hours, which means they will not be in line for the rides and you will be. Instead as soon as the 9pm showing is over slip in behind the people that are leaving and grab your spot. You will end up waiting about an hour for the show, but you will get great seats and you have a good spot to watch the fireworks while you are waiting for Fantasmic. (For the fireworks you will miss all of the effects on the castle, but you will be able to see the fireworks themselves just fine).
Okay, now that you got me off on the Fantasmic tangent, lets get back on the tracks.
The first half of the 2nd day was spent in California Adventure. I don't usually frequent this park as I grew up in California and I have seen the real versions of the landmarks shown in this park. But, in recent years I have found myself spending a little
Some of the Hidden Scenery at California Adventure
Husband found a paved back trail that took us into a part of the park we had never seen before. Beautiful Scenery depicting the northern mining part of California. more time each trip over there. The first part of the morning was spent on our new favorite ride "Toy Story Mania", followed up by Soarin' and our first visit to the Test Pilots Grill (don't try the Blue Cheese burger unless you really like Blue Cheese, the onion rings were really good). Two more shows and one more ride later and California Adventure was done for the trip. Looking forward to all of the new rides and shows that they will be adding over the next 3 years in the park. I believe that Disney did the right thing by making drastic changes here to try and get more people to visit.
This blog is getting a little longer then I thought it would, but when you get me off track I just keep talking 😊
The rest of the day can be summed up in a nap at the hotel for me and a visit to the new mini waterpark at the Howard Johnson for my son and husband. The Howard Johnson (HoJo) has become our favorite place to stay, but that is for another blog. Went to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe', which of course
was very crowded and it was hot and I was starting to feel grumpy at this time. I think that it is time to try some of the other places to eat in Downtown Disney on our next trip that we have never been to before.
Into Disneyland for the first time that day at about 8pm for some rides and fireworks and then time for bed, we have another early day tomorrow.
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