Friends Never Say Goodbye

Yes, it’s the last day of the trip, but chin up, we can cover a lot of ground here if we hustle up and get going! We packed up our valises, checked out of the legendary Disneyland Hotel and scooted across Downtown Disney to make it to yet another rope drop. Truthfully, the walk from our previous cheap hotel was much shorter than this “on property” hotel which was nearly three times the price. However, those kind of facts don’t mean nothin’ to a Koolaid drinking Disney fan such as myself.

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Downtown Disney is empteee!

We queued up in plenty of time to be one of the first to boogie down to Carsland for another round on Radiator Springs Racers. Yay us!

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You all will just have to be lining up behind us.

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Woohoo! It’s Lightning McQueen himself here to escort us down to the ride!

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Wait. Why is there no one in line?

Nooooooo!!!! Radiator Springs was broken down, and according to the cast members, it would remain so all day. This was quite disappointing but not devastating due to the fact that we had already enjoyed the ride about a half dozen times already. Others were not so lucky. I heard some grumbling from folks who planned their one and only day here to experience this attraction and they were none too happy.  Breakdowns are not surprising considering the complexity of a ride like this, but coupled with all the scheduled refurbishments which closed major attractions including: Nemo’s Submarines, Grizzly River Run, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, and It’s a Small World there were a lot of missing rides on this trip.

We did enjoy the scenery as we looped around and out of Carsland.

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Route 66

 

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I’ve made enough Butte jokes.

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Strata

We strolled back around to Paradise Pier to take a turn on Toy Story Midway Mania.

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The guts for World of Color were showing.

This version of Toy Story is a direct facsimile of the one in Orlando, so we had skipped it on our last trip. Due to the ahem, circumstances at Carsland we decided to hop in line.

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Midway Mania!

Mr. Potato Head will either delight and amuse you, or make you want to pull out the masher, depending on how long your wait is. This is a very impressive animatronic voiced by Don Rickles. He tells jokes, sings songs and depending on the day, interacts with the audience waiting in the queue.

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One potato, two potato…yada yada yada. We heard a lot of this.

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I stink just as bad at this here as on the East Coast,

This exit scene, however, is unique to California. It’s supposed to represent the idea that we were once shrunk down and playing in this child’s game. It’s something that would easily be missed if you’re not a goober like me.

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Charming Vignette

Soarin’ Over California is another attraction that is exactly the same as Orlando. For the aforementioned reasons we decided to take a turn on this as well. The show building and queue here are so much more on point than in Epcot. This iteration takes place in an airplane hangar. Makes perfect sense as opposed to the long, desolate hallway that comprises the “themeing” in the Florida version.

Soaring Queue Line _3

Florida version. Yawn.

This version’s queue is filled with interesting airplane related bits and bobs and lined with gorgeous photographs of aeronautical legends.

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These, I assume, are artfully arranged airplane parts…or not.

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Amelia Earhart. She looks so young!

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I finally got a good grab of Patrick Warburton. I could skip the ride and just watch his schpeel.

We were at a bit of a loss as to what to do next. We were kinda hungry and it was practically lunch time anyway so we decided to re-visit the Carthay Circle Lounge. Vacation is really about food and drink right?

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Back to the Theatre

 

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A bit more history for ya.

 

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Ticket Window

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Vibrant tile work

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Hey, you guys, we’ll be in here if you need us.

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First ones in the lounge! We don’t need it to be noon.

We sat right up the the bar this time which afforded me the opportunity to peak over and behind without seeming quite as weird.

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Small but masculinely elegant bar.

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A close up look at the ice-sphere maker thingy.

 

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No, these aren’t perfumes, they’re filled with sweet or dry vermouth to add a mere wisp to your cocktail. Cla-ssy!

We had already tried the ice-sphere martinis on our previous visit so we went in another direction. This was by far one of the tastiest cocktail I’ve ever tried.

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The Derby
Bulleit Bourbon, fresh Grapefruit Juice, and Honey, served up

The Lounge menu is limited and pricey, but every bit as delectable as the dinner selections.

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Lounge Menu

We started with a charcuterie plate. It was twenty dollars, but I felt very generous. There was more Parmigiano Reggiano cheese on there than any human needs to consume.

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Butchers Plate
with American Prosciutto, Salamis, Capicola, Seasonal Fruit, and Nuts

I wasn’t sure if this sourdough toast was an accompaniment to the Butcher’s Plate or if it was the standard bread service, but either way it added a lot of value.

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A hearty portion of Toasted Sourdough

While we continued to nibble our meats and cheeses, we forayed into the next round which were sliders of the most naughty variety.

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Duck Confit Sliders
with Apricot Conserve, Watercress, Crisp Onions, and Taleggio Cheese

These were simply marvelous! Duck confit is on my top ten most favorite things to have dining out because who confits at home?  Uh, not me! I can’t recall if the portion was two or three of these babies.

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Panoramic View.

Temperance not being among our strongest virtues, we decided to get one more thing.

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Citrus Marinated Chicken with Mascarpone, Red Peppers and Petite Mint

All the elements here combined to make one fine flat bread. I really enjoyed that the onion was slightly pickled, taking away the harshness. The citrus marinated chicken was beautifully tender. This was the end of the line for us. We may have even left a piece or two behind. Sniff.

Well, we couldn’t spend the whole rest of the day in the lounge, though we did give it our best effort.  With no Radiator Springs Racers to ride we decided to give Luigi’s Flying Tires a go.

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Luigi’s Flying Tires

Here’s a little background on this attraction, because I know you are just dying to hear about it. This ride is totally based on the Flying Saucer attraction that was housed in Tomorrowland  from around 1961 to 1966. This previous Flying ride was constantly closed  due to malfunctions, however it was a nostalgic favorite to many, including John Lassiter the director of,  you guessed it, Cars. I will wait and give you my review of this iteration in a moment. First the Queue, which is filled with posters from the Pixar hit. Why oh, why doesn’t Disney sell copies of this art in the gift shops in a addition to the rows upon rows of tacky tee-shirts? I would totally buy any of these prints!

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Cars 2 themed posters. I’d even buy these!

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I WILL get to Tokyo someday!

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Notice that “tyre” is spelled the British way.

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Tire brands which can be purchases from Luigi’s!

 

Ok, so on to the ride. There are instructional signs all along the queue which inform you on how to manage your “tire”. This is due to the fact that it’s dang near impossible to get these things moving. It takes the precise dispersion of weight and cooperative leaning to move at all.

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LEAN together!

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But not TOO far!

I knew what we were in for going into this. It simply  takes forever to load the good people on and get them buckled and situated, all the while sitting out in the searing heat. The cast members here a saints.  I knew we wouldn’t be “flying” as advertised so instead we made a game out of trying to bump the obnoxious, “helicopter-type” mom that annoyed us all the way through the line. We succeeded.

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It all went down here.

 

We had done all we wished to do in California Adventure, so we decided to take one last nostalgic loop through Disneyland on the railroad.

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Disneyland Train station

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I would also buy copy of this poster, Disney execs.

 

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This car was named after Edward Payson Ripley, the fourteenth president of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, which was the sponsor of the Disneyland Railroad from 1955 to 1974. Now you know.

The ride on the Disneyland railroad is always quite relaxing. We have yet to make it onto the WDW train.

54Due to the extreme heat we thought another go on Splash Mountain was in order. So did everyone else. We waited more than we should have but it was made more interesting watching an overly dramatic teen freak out over another guest smoking  an E-cigarette near her.  There was a certain amount of yelling and foot stomping ended with  a dramatic exit. Thanks for the show!

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Guess who knows where the camera is?

We spotted this Dixieland band in New Orleans Square so we grabbed a table nearby to enjoy the show. Then they stopped. Moving on…

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3.2.1…and break time!

Instead we got an iced coffee and planted it at the Jolly Holiday Bakery.

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Oh, it’s a jolly holiday with you dear!

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This was just ok.

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Would you look at these quacks?

 

It had occurred to me whilst enjoy my beverage that we hadn’t really spent much time around the castle yet. I won’t make a joke about how it’s easy to miss. That’s just too obvious.

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I’ll use some forced perspective to make it seem more grand.

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The moat.

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A view across towards Tommorowland.

This castle has a working drawbridge.  It’s only been lowered twice. Class, do you know on what occasions this occurred?

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Shield detail on the drawbridge.

That’s right! Disneyland’s opening day, July 17, 1955, and again in 1983 to unveil the newly remodeled Fantasyland. Well done!

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Sleeping Beauty and her prince, what’s his name.

Unlike the Orlando version where a visit to Cinderella’s Royal Table (which will cost you a mortgage payment) is the only way to get into the castle, visitors here are able to enjoy the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk Through.

This is a nice diversion from the hustle and bustle of the parks. It’s cool, dark and you can enjoy it at your own pace.  As you walk through, you’ll find a series of  dioramas painted on glass in the original style of the artist Ervind Earle, who produced the film. It’s difficult to capture in photos, but the 3D nature of the glass, the clever use of mirrors and audio combined together make these vignettes seem quite impressive.

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The lady herself in torpidity.

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THe Evil Queen Maleficent. Not quite as scary looking as Angelina Jolie.

It was time to make our way back to the hotel to be picked up and shuttled to the airport. We took one last stroll down Main Street USA and bid the park adieu.

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Are all you people just getting here?

We had just a little time left to while away before being picked up. We were walking right by Trader Sam’s so…

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One last Shipwreck!

 

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Goodbye classically lettered signage!

As always I’m so very grateful to have had the opportunity to spend time in any of  the Disney Parks. This one has become especially close the the heart because of the delightful circumstances that brought us here. I’ve also since become very nostalgic about history of Walt’s Park so we certainly be back at some point.  Next, we’ll be giving some love to the Florida Project…just not until  2016!

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