Melting in Disney and Mad Hatter Dancing

Our first morning waking up in Disneyland!

We got up and went down to Tangaroa Terrace for breakfast.

Chris opted for the breakfast platter – Scrambled Eggs with Roasted Potatoes, Island Fruit and Bacon

I went for the Loco Moco – a juicy Hamburger Patty served over Rice and topped with Brown Gravy and a Fried Egg with a side of Island Fruit (I also immediately taunted my friend Cozy with it). I am definitely a “rummage in the fridge for leftovers” breakfast type so this suited me.

We went back up to the room to set up the camera equipment for the day, because we were too exhausted the night before (swap batteries to the charger, empty memory cards onto backups, etc) then headed out to the park.

The tree must have had elves working on it overnight because it’s now nearly done! Chris was amused to see so much added, and yet the star topper was gone…

After spending a few hours hitting the shops, we stop in Tortilla Jo’s for some lunch.

This sign amused me for obvious reasons:

Mexican style roasted corn on the cob known as elote.

Empanadas

I had a combo plate – enchilada, taco, tamale.

Which came with a side of rice and beans.

Chris had the enchilada plate.

All in all this place didn’t wow us. Especially at the price. Super underwhelming, which is such a surprise as the vast majority of restaurants in WDW are quite good.

After lunch we hopped the monorail to the park.

Which quite possibly took longer than walking. They had to limit the people getting on because the cars are not cooled… open windows and movement are all you get. So they only let so many people on at a time.

Chris was not amused by the situation. Honestly Disney, I get AC is expensive, but you can’t figure out maybe fans or something?

Shots from the ride through the park:

The monorail stops inside of Tomorrowland, right at the Nemo Submarine ride, so we decided to hop in line for that.

Not for the claustrophobic…

Here we go!

I know some people say the ride is boring but I found it adorable. It was great seeing all the little details from the movie (like the address on the back of the scuba diver’s mask!).

We went across the park – and got stopped by the parade.

I love the butterflies.

I wanted to make a priority of hitting rides that aren’t available at WDW. So off we went to Snow White’s Scary Adventures!

Just inside the queue is the Queen’s spellbook.

You can see the little jouster from Pinocchio’s Daring Journey from here.

The queue itself is super packed. I would not have thought you could fit this many lines/lanes of people in this space….

The part where the Queen disguises herself was awesome. It’s such a simple trick but very effective while you’re riding.

I was so unprepared for it that this was my shot of her in hag mode:

I got a much better one later:

The crow hanging out at the end as you exit:

We then walked around some – unfortunately I didn’t have a full game plan for this trip as I wasn’t familiar with the park and wanted to just figure it out while we were there. This uncharacteristic lack of planning would definitely cause a damper on the visit in retrospect.

Through the Castle.

Sleeping Beauty statue.

We went into the shop which has this cute diorama of Aurora dancing with her “prince”.

I was surprised how shallow the castle was compared to WDW.

Photo time! How’s this one…

5 photos later – Chris is getting punchy hahaha.

That was it for the daytime. Looking back, I realize I feel a lot better about my Disney trips, a lot more satisfied with what I accomplished, if I have a bit of framework/schedule. It was hot, sooo hot, and I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go next so I couldn’t “push myself” through. There wasn’t shade anywhere. The sun was just constant, and there were few places to even sit. At WDW I can find a bench or something all over the parks to take a short break and recover.

On top of it, I could go back to the room and rest for a bit if I were in Florida, but there’s no transportation here. The monorail dumps into the middle of the park, and starts in the middle of Downtown so it’s not convenient. The shuttles etc are all on the outside area of Downtown of course. So you pretty much have to walk the ENTIRETY through Downtown Disney to get to the Disneyland Hotel and by that point, since you were exhausted to start, you’re just DEAD for the evening.

That was us. We had to leave, and by the time I hit our room I couldn’t fathom going back during daylight hours still.

Oh, I did stop for a Dole Whip Float before realizing that even that wasn’t going to save me from melting.

Love the little tiki guys.

I sent this to my dad to get a laugh.

So lets skip ahead a few “air-conditioned collapsed on the bed” hours later.

We stop and split a skewer at Bengal Barbecue.

I see the line for the Pirates and am super glad we hit that while the party was going on. It is definitely not a walk-on tonight!

We head towards the Haunted Mansion – loving all the details they add all around.

The general area around the mansion, let alone the queue itself, is INSANE. We quickly throw out any idea of going in there tonight. We’ll need FastPasses, clearly.

Since the station is directly across from us, we decide to hop the railroad.

However, the first train that pulls in is apparently tired too, because it leaves without any passengers.

We make it on the next one. There are details scattered around to make it interesting, just like in Florida.
The Mickey water pump.

A billboard with a robot watering the crops.

Station stop.

Then you hit a tunnel – and first see the Grand Canyon diorama.

Then we slip back in time to see the dinosaurs in Primeval World.

Aw, lookit the babies!

Well, that escalated quickly.

Back at the front of the park.

Since the Mansion was out – we decided to see how the other half lives. Off to California Adventure.

Ugh, the puns; Cozy would love this place.

Despite glaring at the sign for the awful wordplay, it sounds like a decent snack to split.

Here, unlike in Florida, Hollywood Studios is just a small section of the park.

I got a shot of the tower, but we never made it on.

Love all the preserved details of the old theatres.

Now I get to make my brother jealous – a Mad Hatter area. The Mad T Party.

After that the park was close to closing. We were still tired, and we had done a lot of walking and getting to know the park that isn’t pictured. We headed out to DD.