I should have posted this a week ago, but I've been far too lazy. So, with that being said, I'll need the help of Alan, Michelle, Samantha, Heidi, and Patrick to help me get the facts straight, and again, if you want to add your own portion tot he post, I'll gladly copy and paste it in.
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It was the start of an exciting day. I woke up at around 7 in the morning, getting myself ready for a grand adventure at the "happiest place on Earth." After grabbing a few water bottles, I left home for the meeting spot at Ronald Reagan Park, and surprisingly, I wasn't late like I usually am. Patrick, my love, was the last the arrive. We buckled up and headed for... McDonalds! I hadn't eaten breakfast yet, so I grabbed a Hazelnut Latte and a Sausage McMuffin on the go. (Thanks Ailun)
Truthfully, I was reluctant to go at first because my dad had asked me to help him at his work and if I did, I would be able to save money at the same time, but those friends, lovely friends, persuaded me to go.
We arrived at the front entrance of Disneyland and walked through the ticket machines. We took a picture with the flower bed at the front entrance before heading down Main Street.
With the holidays comes the seasonal decorations. Main Street, a lengthy road with a variety of shops, greeted us with a large (50+ foot), striking, decorated Christmas tree. It wasn't something you'd see everyday, so we took pictures, and... we only ended up being as tall as the tree's lowest ornaments.
As we walked down Main Street, the view of the grand castle revealed it's appealing decorations. A castle, covered in snow and icicles and colored with the mix of a blue and a snowy white, was in front of us and just asking for us to take pictures with it! And, of course, we did :).
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Our first stop was Space Mountain! Too bad it's closed. Now off to Buzz Lightyear! Because our peoples consisted of an uneven amount of individuals, we had difficulty choosing who sits alone or who doesn't get to participate. At first, Alan just chose to be a boob and not engage in some space blasting, but midway through the ride, my lover gave up. At that point before the exchange, my score was above Patrick's, but as soon as Alan takes over (and stops rotating the space shuttle), his score gradually surpasses mine and beyond. Depressing. I even lost to Heidus, the Centaur.
After our little game of shooting targets, we headed back to Space Mountain and it was open! We got our fast passes first, but my love and I were the last ones. Surprise! Austin and his girlfriend were getting their fast passes at that time too and he just rushed over and manhugged us both and chatted for a bit before getting in line. After a 5-10 minute wait, we were on our second ride of the day. Inside space mountain, all you see are "stars" and darkness, but the speed of the coaster is exhilarating and on top of that, the ride lasts quite long, so you get the utils (happiness for receiving something - economics term) for it. We made our "DB" pose for our picture (we've been here too many times), but the camera didn't show my pose :(, so I was the only flaw of our group.
We got off and surprisingly Austin and his girlfriend was on the same ride, so we chose to take a picture all together before going our separate ways.
According to Sam, we ate after Space Mountain. I think it was only around 11 when we ate, but at that time, I wasn't the least bit hungry. Despite that, I bought pasta for my wife and I (since he spotted me money to buy my ticket). I remember Sam making a huge cheesy mess on the table ;) that we all cleaned up and Patrick threw away :).
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From this point on, rather than trying to remember everything in order, I'll write about each ride individually :) and I might organize it if those others help me ;).
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Haunted Mansion: We went on this ride before splash mountain. At this point, Michelle was with her sister, Mary, and not with us. Again, with the holidays comes the seasonal decor. Haunted Mansion was set up just for Christmas, with his large, hanging Christmas list hanging from the top of the mansion, bows decorating every statue, and so on. We walked in and the elevator we took down underground, revealed its interesting new seasonal, haunted pictures, one of which my lover described as a zergling or lurker(?) from Starcraft, well, I wouldn't know. Next comes the individual rides after the elevator down into the Earth (no, it's not that far down). Here are some of the pictures we took :).
Note: I will not be distributing photos that my friends and I are in.
(above)Floating Christmas-themed cards, floating head that speaks, and other magical effects :).
Jack Skellington - it speaks :O
First decoration you see on the ride
The last thing you see when leaving (there's supposed to be a animated picture on the circle...)
Uses of light effects :)
Pop-out presents that annoy you ;).
More presents!
Another note: We weren't supposed to be taking pictures inside because most of the effects require a dark room and with the flashes from cameras, most effects can't be seen, so this is all I can offer for now :). Props to Alan and Michelle's camera and Heidi's camera-taking skills :).----------------------------------------
Materhorn Bobsleds: This ride brings back some past awkward memories that I had to relive this day. The main idea of this ride is bobsledding down an icy mountain, sliding by some dangers and mountain edges. Each "sled" is designed to have 4 people sitting in two seats, so someone might have to sit in between another person's legs. LOL!
When we went earlier during the day, us guys sat alone in each seat, going through the icy tunnels and encountering the abominable snowman or perhaps a yeti, but as the day went by, the line began extending.
We did return later during the day, and due to the extra two people (Michelle and Mary) in our party, we were forced to split our 7 group team into 2/2/2/1. Mary sat with Heidi, Samantha sat with Michelle, I sat with my love, and Alan sat alone. Being university students, it was definitely an awkward feeling sitting they way we had to. I thought, "Perhaps with my semi-long hair, I could fool people into thinking 'this isn't a guy.'" LOL! I don't think that worked, but I'd rather think of my plan's success rather than the thought of people getting the wrong idea :O.
Throughout the ride, I held onto the sled's bar to prevent myself from sliding back and crushing the microscopic... fabric of Patrick's nice jeans. LOL! But that made the ride all the less enjoyable. If it were a few years back, I'd definitely crush his manhood without any hesitation ;). Anyway, I was just glad the ride ended.
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Big Thunder Mountain: There's a problem with me. I always think this ride and Materhorn are alike in countless aspects (almost exactly the same). With that being said, I don't remember much from it.
The theme of this attraction is a rough train ride on a mountain (this is an estimated guess, I'm not sure the exact details). The first time riding was just full of screaming and weird yelling between the five of us, but again, as the day went by, the line got longer and it only forces us to squeeze together. This ride, without individual seats, makes the people who sit in one cart of the train, slide around, squeezing the people who sit on the right or left side. I'm not sure if that made sense.
Samantha sat with Alan, while Heidi, Patrick, and I sat together behind those two. With such a small cart, I'm surprised the three of us fit. It wasn't necessarily at the comfortable level, but our sizes were perfect in having us fit into one cart. With all the sudden turns, we'd definitely end the ride with flat sides, so I tried hanging onto the side of the cart at certain turns, so I wouldn't squish the two with my immense obesity. LOL! No, I'm just joking, my friends tell me I'm too skinny, but I must disagree to some degree ;). Anyway! At the end of the ride, they decided to squish me on the last turn (if there was even a turn left...). My semi-bony sides ached after that ride and I'm sure it wasn't really the ride of their life for the Heidi and Patrick.
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Splash Mountain: A cloudy day at around 60 degrees does not make this attraction the ideal ride, but we rode it anyway. While our little group was in line (without Michelle and Mary), we took several moments deciding who would sit in the front and who would sit second. Samantha and Heidi used their feminine priorities to get themselves out of this mess, so it was between Alan, my lover and me. Rock, Paper, Scissors! Alan loses and is chosen to be in the front of the "boat." LOL! Rock, Paper, Scissors! Patrick loses to me and must sit second and I'm third.
When it was our turn, Alan already had his jacket removed and is sitting there anticipating the drops and how drenched he'd be by the end of the ride.
Splash mountain only has three drops, which are the only "scary" parts. The story that is being told in the caves involves a rabbit being chased by a fox and a (dumb) bear. This rabbit was eventually captured by this devious fox and was nearly eaten, but ultimately, the bunny escaped his clutches turned the tables. The fox and bear fell into a trap, which they couldn't remove themselves from, leaving the rabbit free from any forms of danger.
I love this ride, not only because Alan got completely soaked from head to foot, but because I could mimic the rabbit's annoying laugh and the "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" song would be the most bothersome thing to have stuck in your mind. But I'm nice; I wouldn't want to anger my friends.
The first drop was the worst for me as Alan, Patrick, and I got wet from the splash (of course, Alan was heavily soaked). Now a portion of my right calves (jeans) were wet, but the ride continues on. I'd hear Alan complaining about his wet shirt, his wet hair and face, and his wet pants. LOL. The second drop came, but it wasn't that bad for us all. Before the arriving at the third drop where the picture would be taken, we had to decide on a pose. Sam suggested a stoneface train (serious face and having our hands on the shoulders of the person in front). We successfully had our taken and I immediately ducked behind my love to prevent my face from getting splashed upon.
The ride was now over, and all we could do is laugh at our picture and Alan's soaked clothes ;). In the end, he didn't want his jacket back (until he dried off).
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Mad Tea Party: "I want to ride something that'll help me dry off," demands Alan. I'm not sure how we decided on Mad Tea Party (Alice in Wonderland), but it happened. This ride involves spinning teacups that actually won't spin unless the people sitting inside them rotates the wheel located in the middle. It took some time getting there, but when we did, there was a semi-short line. We just waited, while staring at a guy with some huge... plugs? Well anyway, his ears had huge holes and we couldn't take our eyes off the abnormality.
How are we sitting on this ride? We were having fun telling Alan to sit alone because he didn't want to spin and puke at the end (he didn't). In the end, we all sat together in one teacup. LOL. the posture and sitting positions were very awkward and squished. Patrick and Alan had their knees to each other's noodle, almost. LOL! Samantha and Heidus seemed to have enough room for themselves and I had to lean one direction and my legs in the other. Quite weird.
The ride began and we span the wheel at the best we could do (with Alan's attempts to stop us). We ended up reaching a pretty fast spinning speed, but like Alan predicted, some of us got dizzy and felt a little sick of the spinning :).
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Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage: "I've never been on this before," declares Michelle and Alan (not at the same time). Every time they came, the wait for this attraction would always last well over two hours, but on a cloudy and chilly day like this (when high school students still had class), the line was short and only lasted a good 25 minutes.
Like the name says, we're in a yellow submarine that circles a lake in Disneyland. You can't see anything from the top, but when you sit inside the submarine, you can see never-before-seen footages of the movie, "Finding Nemo." I'd say that this attraction is directed towards the children rather than the older members of the audience. It's quite a calming ride and you can sit quite a long time, just like Pirates of the Caribbean.
We didn't take any pictures of the holograms, but you see all the characters forming a somewhat different story. Nemo wasn't captured by scuba divers, but he lost himself (with Squirt) into an underwater volcano. Here his father finds him and such and such. The story is different, but all the characters are in there :).
Heidi fell asleep; good game.
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Autopia: Why did we even go here? Autopia is like a way for kids to enjoy the fun of driving safely, but when you already know how to drive and do drive on the roads, it's doesn't realistically portray that "fun" of driving on real roads. Anyway!
We came and got in our respective cars and drove off. Heidi and Sam sat in one car; Heidi eating her frozen banana. Alan, Patrick, and I drove alone. We all waited up for one another (except for Patrick) and had fun running into each other (because you can't do that on the roads ;D).
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Indiana Jones Adventure: For those of you who have never heard of Indiana Jones, you are missing out! The line to get the ride is a long way into a supposedly dark, wet, and creepy tunnel. On top of that, there is a video that plays over and over again in this one large room, but luckily, the line wasn't long when we went :).
Samantha and Heidi were always afraid of this ride and they didn't want to sit on the sides of the jeep, but we chose to sit 2 and 3. Heidi and Samantha sat in the front with two other people (so Heidi sat on the sides. LOL), while Alan, my love and I sat in the second row. The ride is quite long and quite shaky, but it's thrilling to see some of the realistic and subtle effects that the ride provides. The webs, boulder, roaches, traps, and etc are always fun to see and experience, but too bad I forgot to bring my glasses on this day.
Congratulations to Heidi and Samantha for keeping their eyes open throughout the ride for the first time without me forcing them to have them open :)!
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Pirates of the Caribbean: I like this ride just because you get to sit for quite a long time :). The ride starts out by floating down a river next to one of the restaurants in Disneyland called "Blue Bayou." This restaurant has the Pirates of the Caribbean theme and lies under the same building as the ride with the seemingly white clouds that float by (they're fake clouds, but they look nice in the dark blue lighting of the "sky").
"Yo ho! Yo ho! A pirate's life for me!" The boat takes you down a long journey that consists of countless side stories (not seen or important in the movie). At some point, gunshots and cannonballs splash the waters, shaking the people in the boat. It's quite interesting, but I can't say I understand everything that goes on.
More surprising than those cannonball effects is Heidi, falling asleep through the ride despite all the shouting, music, and other various sound effects. LOL!
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Food (lunch): Nothing special about lunch. We ate pasta at Pizza Port located next to Space Mountain.
Food (dinner/after the Parade): Getting our dinner was like waiting in line for death to kill you. At this point in the day, my back and legs were aching and sore to the point where I could collapse at any second. Standing up straight or even just standing was nearly an impossible task for me. While I was waiting in line with Samantha and Heidi, I spent the time texting Austin, who happened to be right behind us. He asked if I could buy the Gumbo (soup in a bread bowl) for him and I agreed to help him.
It took one hell of a long time to get to the front, but it felt so great after buying our food and sitting down to enjoy our meal. Throughout our mealtime, Mary and Heidi were laughing at Michelle's countless characteristics (especially her height). I just felt relieved to sit down, like anyone feels after they take a huge poop. LOL! Time for fireworks!
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Parade: I don't know how to describe this exciting experience. We waited at the "It's a small world" attraction with it's beautiful Christmas decorations, but it did take some time before the performers and floats reached our location. Yes, our location was a bit far from the starting point of the parade, but just being able to see everything was well grand! Here are some pictures of It's a Small World and the Christmas parade (I'll try putting them all in order).
Note: I apologize for any blurry photos. These moving targets were taken at night with average-quality cameras. Thank you Mary, Michelle, Heidi, and Alan for the pictures and picture-taking!
It's a Small World
A Teddy Bear and a Ballerina
Nutcrackers (real people and so... organized!)
Pluto, Daisy, and Donald
Mrs. Clause
Pooh and Tigger ;)
Snowflakes!
Snowmen (Justin and Stephen's Kids)
Mickey and Minnie
Eeyore
Clarabelle
Bakers and Gingerbread Men ;)
Goofy and Max
Cinderella (stepmother and stepsisters)
The Little Mermaid & Cinderella (other side of float, can't be seen)
Beauty and the Beast
Chip & Dale
Woody :)
Geppetto
Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket
Buzz Lightyear!
7 Dwarves :)
Reindeers!
Santa!
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Fireworks: The fireworks at Disneyland are always launched someplace behind the castle (with the grand winter decorations). We grabbed our spots whiles before the fireworks began, but it's been over twelve hours since we arrived to the "Happiest Place on Earth." Everyone but Michelle and Mary had their heads down, including me and surprisingly, I managed to get some shut eye before the loud music started, waking me and indicating the start of the fireworks program.
I wish I could've seen more, but it's a shame that there was a large tree blocking our groups' view :(. Smile-shaped fireworks, heart-shaped fireworks, and Christmas-colored fireworks and castle lights concluded our day at Disneyland quite nicely (if only we could've seen more).
It played several Christmas songs and the fireworks and castle lights were coordinated with the music, but it feels like the program was shorter than usual. Oh well! It was enjoyable while it lasted.
The fireworks concluded with "snow" falling down on us. A machine that makes mini bubble clumps spat out loads and loads of snow-like pieces :). With everyone walking and moving about, it took some time to get to the front of the castle to take a picture.
Sorry, but those two in the center aren't us :) Some random couple was taking a picture too, I guess.
Again, we were dead tired, so instead of staying any longer, we chose to do a little souvenir shopping before heading back home (on main street). Remember that huge Christmas tree at the front entrance? Well, it's lit up and the shopping district was completely decorated with beautiful reds, greens, and yellows. There's nothing like Christmas is there? :)
-Jeffjeff
&&How long did it take just to finish this? I'd say well over 6 hours, perhaps more.
&&Sorry, I don't remember a lot of the things we said that day, so I've "boringly" narrated the entire day :P.
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