Friday
Bright and early we all took a vow to get out there earlier than we had the day before. The result... maybe a half an hour earlier. We were all enjoying being somewhere else which was okay. Sue needed some extra time to get ready and eyes open so we headed across the street for some Coco restaurant sustenance.
California Adventure Day
Back to the Crowne, we loaded up and headed out to the park. I am always happy to let Linzi drive the expedition as it takes a little pressure off of me. We had anticipated a bigger crowd at the park. This day was good Friday and some people get to get off early for religious services. We decided to make the day a California Adventure Park day. It was a pretty good move.
Sue loves the gift shops on the avenue of this park. They seem to be an extension of the Downtown Disney venue so lots of plush animals plus everything else.
The little Mermaid attraction was down for some repairs and the line was 40 minutes for Soaring Over California. So we got some fast past times. They pass out little cards that allow you to jump the line for a particular time period if you get their reservation.
Soaring over California has always one of Sue's favorite rides. To describe it to most people it would sound much more risky than it is. The passengers sit in rows and rows of swing set steel seats. The swing set rows are lifted to up into a huge circular screen while your feet dangle freely below your seat. This movement gives you an unobstructed 180 degree vision as you travel in a hang glider by video over various California scenes. Once up into the screen, the swing seats do not move. Sue tells me that she still hangs on for dear life even though she knows it is perfectly safe. It is really a fabulous ride and drags in a huge amount of people at one time to "Soar Over California." In a previous time, we watched as a mentally nervous person tried to board the ride. His first reaction was that he did not want to stand in line. He attacked the attendant with all sorts of nasty comments about how many people were allowed to ride at a time and why was it so slow. The attendant calmly told him that this ride processed more people in and out of it than any ride in Disneyland or California adventure. When it got right down to it he was just too nervous to ride on it anyway and had to take an early exit before everyone was seated. This is really an easy ride to be on and there are no surprises.. it just looks a little scary.
Aladdin the Stage Show
Our next adventure was the Aladdin Stage show. This typifies what I always miss in modern theme parks. There is nothing like the shmaltz of Broadway Musical. This show does not disappoint. The theater is massive and it was filled to the brim as we waited for to me shown inside. Those with power chairs and their connected families sit right down in front as it is easier if they have an issue to exit early.
Aladdin is a great story of a poor boy trying to get noticed by the princess who is trying to find a suitable husband. Disney uses many of the staging that they used with the Lion King in the Aladdin. And this show costs no more than your admission to California Adventure. The show is not as long as the Lion King but there are some memorable songs that came out of the animated movie. My favorite is sung by the Genie.. "You'll Never have a Friend like me." The cast keeps it topical with references to current events. Sue, who admittedly is not a musical fan said after seeing this that she could stay and see that show again.
Throughout the show the cast uses the aisles and the overhead to make the show even more interactive. It really something not to be missed. The thousands that line up for the performances could testify to its value.
We got separated outside of the show we were to meet up at the corn dog palace. Its a great spot on in the Wharf area that specializes in various corn dog delights. It also does cheese corn dogs and hot link corn dogs. It might be in the top 5 of all cheese dog restaurants (reference Sean).
We thought that they were headed to the one on mainstreet by Monsters University. Luckily we were in contact with cell phones and corrected out moves.
At this time Sue was almost out of power and she had found a post that had a power connection that she plugged into to give her powerchair a little more life. When we met up, Sue and Heather headed to the shopping area and Linzi and Pat got a chance to take in a session at the animator's studio. This is a great place to sit right down and learn how to draw one of the characters in the Disneyl ine up with one of the Disney animators. It dose not get better than that. the little theatre had the animator down below with a projector on his board and each seat had a huge drawing board and a pencil to follow along.
We worked on Sulley, the big blue Monster from Monsters Inc and Monster University. It was really fun. There were artists of all abilities and ages that participated in the event. In the end we signed off the drawing and got to keep it.Throughout the day there are different characters drawn as the animators guide each group into the hints and specialties of the character.
When we met up with Sue she was in the same shape as her power chair, happily tired and out of power.
Sue and I headed back to the hotel via and parking shuttle and the sisters had a chance to do some Disney on their own.
Bonus Time with the Sisters!
That evening, I got a message from the sisters that they were up on the top floor of Tortilla Joe's in Downtown Disney. It was about 5:30. They were having top drawer margaritas and enjoying the cool breeze. When I arrived there was a line of significant size waiting to get a table there. We watched as the waiters made big tables out of small tables and stole chairs from one place to another. We asked if we could be seated at a table to get served. This is usually not a problem. Tonight it was a problem as all the folks were waiting for tables outside the restaurant. The sisters were pretty amazed at the lines as we abandoned the perch and headed to Disneyland to have some fried chicken at the Plaza. AS we left we took a look at Tortilla Joes. It looked like good Mexican food but seemed overpriced.
The walk into Disneyland was easy and so was the Plaza fried chicken. It is one of the best deals in the park. We chose two plates and the three of us ate off of it perfectly. It came with mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans.
We headed to Star Tours to avoid the fireworks. This tour started up with Darth Vader and backwards movement. It was one version that I had never been on. We almost missed the fireworks but there were some residuals as we rolled through the gift shop.
The trip would not be complete without a stop at Captain EO's.... Were going in! The show was as good as always and the 3D is something else even now.
At this time we decided that we had had enough and took the shuttle to the parking and headed back to the hotel.
Everyone had given it all they had without getting grumpy so what more could you want?
Happy Easter VACAY Disneyland.
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