Celebrate You! - Day Two

Hey... that rhymes.

Wake up! Bright and early! We had a great night at the Disneyland Hotel the night before. And now it was time to get down to business! We had a RideMax schedule to conquer!

Chris rocked it and got to the gate early for us. We met up with him about 15 minutes later. First stop -- Nemo! It was the sequel of "The Race to Nemo"... except we didn't run and there was still no line!! 

After our submarine ride, we stopped by the Tomorrow Land Terrace for some food. We were all sad to discover the croissants were replaced by a burrito. BOO!

A quick stop in some shops and we were on our way to Wonderland! =D

All of the sudden we fell! Down, down, down...

A very merry unbirthday tooooo yooou!

A quick stop at the castle for a girls only shot...

... and we were back to Tomorrow Land for Star Tours and Space Mountain. We all fit into one picture!

After a trip around the blustery Hundred Acre Woods on a Windsday...

... it was time to redeem those Indy Fast Passes! Score! Mandy is infamously known as being the single rider, so when she found the single rider pass on the side of the Indy queue, it was just screaming for a photo op! 

And with that, it was lunch time. Monte Cristos all around! Nom, nom, nom.

I also got smacked in the face with some Mardi Gras beads as we we walking to Splash Mountain. Those babies hurt!! 

I recovered and we made it to Splash Mountain safely. I bought ponchos at Target for $1.50 each so we wouldn't get wet undies and be uncomfortable all day... that's right, I said it. Michael sat in the front -- It was his official initiation into the group (and he got seriously soaked!) So did Mandy, but that was her bad! She refused a poncho! As for the rest of us, we stayed dry -- Including Juanita who sat in the back with her head down (see below). 

We were ashamed to wear ponchos despite the fact we stayed dry -- mostly because we always make fun of people who wear ponchos. =( We also make fun of people who wear Crocs... but that's a story for another blog!

SLASH!

This is what happens when you refuse a poncho.

Then it was time to go back to the hotel for some power naps.

After naps, we headed over to DCA. Photo op!

We grabbed Mickey Ice Creams, Frozen Bananas, and Dibs for the wait over at Toy Story Mania.

I bet Bobby & Chris for churros! And I won! I'll be sure to cash in on those churros next trip! =D It was then time to use our Screamin FastPasses. Woop!

When we were leaving DCA, they were announcing the Pixar Parade was going to be coming by soon. So we found a spot and waited. It was so cute! I can't believe I haven't seen it before.

We decided to make a quick stop over at Bug's Land for the Heimlich's Chew Chew Train...

Eff em!

I miss you already!!

Juanita's shoes were destroying her feet so Chris carried her down into It's Tough to be a Bug!

Where bugs attacked us and Mandy had a panic attack when the spiders came down. After the show, we went to another show -- Muppet Vision 3D! 

A salute to all nations...

... but mostly America.

I freakin' love that show! Sadly, Juanita does not share my same passion so she went to go get some Mickey Croc flip flops when we at the show.

Dinner was over in Disneyland at Rancho Del Zocalo. We bailed shortly after we finished eating. And by bailed, I mean speed walked as fast as we could. Why? The table next to us had a huge unattended duffle-like bag that had captured the attention of several security guards and cast members. RUUUUN!

We took off and ended on the bridge over Pirates where we staked out a spot for Fantasmic. 

We hate Fantasmic Cast Members!

Fantasmic was good... as usual. Except for the fact there was no dragon... What the heck?!

After Fantasmic, the boys were feeling sickly so we decided to call it a night. Not before making a soda/parfait stop at McDonalds of course. =)

A helicopter on 280

Driving to work this morning, I freaked out when I discovered my off ramp was closed! Oh noes! I punched in my work address into the navi and was redirected through the traffic filled streets in San Francisco. 

So the day goes on and I forget about my little adventure.

As I'm getting onto the 280 on ramp, I see the not only is the 280 off ramp still closed, but now it is filled with 100+ cars, a tanker truck billowing with smoke and smashed in the middle, and not to forget the helicopter sitting right there on the freeway. Should I stop?! I really don't want this tanker to explode when I pass by.

HOLY CRAP! I was pretty sure I needed to turn my eyes away to avoid seeing the most horrific accident ever in life. But really, who could turn away when something like that is going on less than 20 feet away. SO I keep looking as I'm driving by and I see around 20 people sitting in chairs. 'They must have been in the cars! They're OK! Phew!" I then notice a big trailer... hm... maybe they have a trailer for the injured....

I then notice a very sophisticated lighting set up and people walking around with headsets. A FILM SET! TIGHT! I looked close for celebs, but couldn't spot any.

Turns out they are shooting the pilot episode for a new show called "Trauma." 

Excerpt from 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/26/BA3N16NT4L.DTL

"The elevated freeway ramps, which provide a spectacular view of the San Francisco skyline, will be used for filming the pilot episode of "Trauma," in which emergency responders will be dealing with a fiery tanker crash.

The simulated freeway crash, to be filmed over the weekend, will include an explosion with what city officials describe as "a fireball and billowing smoke." A helicopter will be used in the shoot. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

So here's my idea... next time you plan on blowing up a tanker and have a helicopter sitting on the freeway, maybe.. just maybe put up a sign that says "FILMING IN PROGRESS." It wouldn't hurt... 

Celebrate You! - Day One

Our trip in Photos:

We left Thursday at 7:30am and were checked into our hotel by 1:30pm. Alright! The drive seemed short... maybe because Mandy and I keep each other entertained. Chris was our driver and had to put up with our High School Musical singing and even let us hook up the laptop to the car speakers so we could watch HSM3 in surround sound! Yeah! 

In the other car was Bobby, the driver, Juanita, and Michael Houston. Their official name was the "Yogi Bears" and we were the "BooBoos." We stopped for a picnic basket right before the grapevine. 

Somewhere on Highway 152

In case you are wondering, you can watch HSM3 in its entirety from the Wendy's before the Grapevine until you check in at the Best Western across the street from Disneyland.

Here we are waiting for the boys to check into the hotel.

We got settled into the hotel and made our way over to Disneyland.

Just down Main Street, Mandy found some Cast Members with lanyards.

She found Little Genie! Now Little Eric has a friend.

We made our way to Big Thunder Railroad since that's what the shortest line was at the time -- The sign said only 20 minutes but it seemed even shorter than that.

This here is the wildest ride in the wilderness!

We were all churro deprived and made a quick stop at the nearest churro stand. They raised the prices again... BOO! But luckily, Bobby made good on his deal and gave me the three dollars we bet last trip -- Best score on Toy Story Mania gets a churro. 

Nom, nom, nom.

Small World was next on the list. I had not yet seen the new additions to the ride so I was very excited! The new characters made the ride exciting again -- I loved every moment of it!

But I'm not about to ruin the new characters in Small World for anyone. You'll just have to go and see them for yourself! (or google it...)

Off to Toon Town!!

We met Mickey who was dressed up in snazzy outfit. We managed to make it through his house without getting into any kind of fist fights... barely. It's something about Mickey's house that makes people go crazy, forget how to be parents, forget how to stand in a line, and ignore any sense of personal space... 

After the stress of Mickey's house, it was time to redeem our a Astro Blaster fast passes. 

It was me against Michael. It was his first time on the ride.

We then made our way to Adventure Land where we took a ride around the Jungle!

Followed shortly by a wild ride with Mr. Toad!

We went to hell and back, but that didn't stop us from continuing on to the next ride! Unfortunately, Pinocchio broke down while we were waiting in the line and we had to escape!

We escaped only to wind up on a scary adventure. But it was OK! Because afterwards, we caught the monorail to Downtown Disney where we partied it up at ESPN Zone and the Lost Bar. 

"To the Lost Bar!!"

Yeah, the trip wouldn't be complete with out an HSM jump!

So there you have it, our first day full lots of driving, lots of rides, and lots of fun!