My trip report (Aug. 3 - 5)

[Big Disney Fan]

Sorry for the SUPER LOOOOOOOOOONG delay, but here's the next part of the trip (there may be times when it may look a bit rushed, but my memory doesn't always get very accurate later on, so please bear with me)...

We crossed over into DCA and hastened over to Soarin', where we got the Fastpasses for it for later. Then we headed over to Paradise Pier and did some of the stuff over there: CA Screamin', Zephyr, Maliboomer and Mulholland Madness. We also went over and saw the CA history movie with Whoopi Goldberg.

After the movie, about this time, it would soon be time for the return for Soarin', so we went and did that. It's a wonderful attraction, but my only complaint about it is that it's too short. We then went and did lunch at the nearby Taste Pilots' Grill, which I felt was a good change of pace. On most previous trips, we had lunch at the sandwich spot in the Pacific Wharf area. We then got Fastpasses for Grizzly River Run and then took a break from the park action and looked around in the nearby Grand Californian. We just walked around in the hotel for a while and sat in the lobby listening and watching as a pianist played a piano in the lobby. And then we headed back into DCA for more fun...

[Big Disney Fan]

We walked back to DCA and went to the Grizzly River Run and did that. We all got soaked. Then we headed to the TOT and did that (we did that one a total of three times in all). Then we did most of the other stuff in the Hollywood section, including the Muppet show, the Monsters, Inc. ride and even the animation part, including the Animation Academy, where we drew a Disney character in the style of the animators. In this case, we drew Winnie the Pooh, using a plush toy of the character for a model. We also did one of my favorite parts of this area: the Sorcerer's Workshop. I like this area, especially the part where you take the personality test to see what character you're most like.

After this, we had a snack break near the CA Zephyr train, where we had a good view of the Block Party parade. Then my father departed and left me alone in the park, since my sister would be in the area (she was taking an art class somewhere in Thousand Oaks, so she decided to spend some time here). So I spent most of my time re-riding rides by myself in the park. I was not going to leave the park until I saw the Electrical Parade. By then, I had just finished a second ride on the Mulholland Madness coaster, and of course I got pictures of it. As the parade started to end, I hurried to catch more of the parade as it approached the main gate. I was going to follow the parade route down there, but the crowd control people were there and I had to follow an alternate route, so I literally ran as fast as I could to catch the parade one last time at the main gate and then I left the park. As I was heading back to my hotel via the tram, the fireworks at Disneyland started. They played all through my tram trip and after I got off, I walked backwards some of the time to watch. Then I got back to the hotel room at the nearby Ramada. I could actually get there on foot, it wasn't too far. I got back to the room about 12:00 or 1:00 that night and I saw my sister there.