I am a precision instrument of speed and aerodynamics...A Disneyland Half Marathon Trip Report!

[TakeMeThere81]

I'm pretty sure I'm going to do my town's 5K in October, and then yeah, Goofy in January with Princess C. I also signed up for the WDW 5K, because...why not? Plus, from the training picture they posted on Facebook it looks like the finisher medallion for the 5K will have all the classics on it (Mickey + Minnie, Donald + Daisy, Pluto and Goofy)...so I can't pass that up. When's your next race? How's school going? Princess C (also a nurse, I think I told you) is taking some classes in addition to working full-time, plus another part-time job so I'm concerned that he won't be great with training...but he'll probably still whoop my butt just like last year. He's excited for Goofy though, and so am I!

I had a local 10K race, the Great Columbia Crossing on my books, but I failed to register in time and it was sold out by the time we got back from vacation Otherwise, there is a half marathon Sept 23rd that I have been looking at but I don't know if it will work with our family schedule. I am hoping to jump in on some 5K/10Ks that smaller organizations throw out on the beach from time to time here, but otherwise I will be keeping it simple for school. It helps to have a target race and a training plan though, or I easily slip away from my running routine(especially when the only time I have is 5am...gotta have motivation to get up that early!).

Speaking of school, it's just getting ready to start Sept 24th. I'm really excited!

I saw that the marathon races are pretty much sold out. I'm with you, may as well run the 5K if you are running the Goofy! Why not right?!? I can't wait to hear about it!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Monday, Sept 3: Labor Day!

We got up pretty early this day, refreshed since we had gone to bed fairly early. We ate breakfast every morning in the trailer and kept it simple: cereal and milk, muffins and fruit, etc.

We caught the shuttle around 7:20 and got to the parks wll before opening.

I wore my medal to the parks this day!

My mama and boys.

My hubby had purchased electronic tickets, and had them sent to his e-mail with bar codes. I wasn't sure how it would all work out but it was surprisingly simple! All we had to do was have the lady scan each attachment on his iPhone. I was surprised how high tech it all was. She printed out our paper tickets at the kiosk itself.

It didn't seem too busy, but they had already starting letting people enter the park, just wait at the ropes to each land

Entrance Pic

These pole decorations are identical to the ones that were present on dedication day back on July 17, 1955

We started out at City Hall. DH is always wacky about getting buttons. It was September which means the boys just celebrated their birthdays so we got them buttons for that. September is also our anniversary month so DH and I got buttons for that. And since the CM didn't want to leave Mom out, she gave her an "Honorary Citizen of Disneyland" button.

Decorations on Main Street

Sweet castmember welcoming everyone onto Mainstreet

 

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Looking down mainstreet

Since Indy was going down the next day, that was the first place we headed

(My morning shots turned out weird...and I found out later that my camera was on weird settings)

We ended up looking into the idol's eyes which threw us into a tailspin through the temple, but we made it out ok! It was a really fun ride, but our 7-year-old didn't really like it, it was too scary for him.

So next we moved on over to Pirates close-by. It was a walk on.

I love Disneyland's version of pirates. It has the bayou and caves and extended portions that MK's does not. The kids loved it! I am always impressed at how life-like Jack Sparrow looks.

After the ride, we browsed the shops a bit and DH looked into a reservation to Blue Bayou. I noticed this little sign:

We exited New Orleans Square and headed toward Critter Country since SM was still a walk on(thank you Disney Mobile Magic for that info!).

 

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She was getting a facelift while we were there:

Splash in the pretty morning light

Mom and I had to stop off for a potty break, so Ben took the kids first, and we went after they had gone. Is this not the most hilarious Splash Mountain photo?

Once we'd curbed our laughter from the SM photo, we stopped over at Winnie the Pooh, even though it never has a wait. It was next door and we probably wouldn't be coming back to this edge of the park so we decided to enjoy it.

While we didn't come back to Critter Country this trip, I want to make a point of saying that the Hungry Bear Restaurant is a great place to have lunch. We walked through there and saw the tables out on the deck overlooking the Rivers of America. We almost came back a few times and I remember it being a great place for sandwiches and such.

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Next we continued our e-ticket attractions and headed for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad! Mom and DH stopped for coffee so the kids and I enjoyed the view/took pictures, etc.

Cool detail I never stopped to notice before:

"But don't believe everything you read"...LOL!!

Big Thunder wasn't busy at all! Aaron decided he was scared at the last minute, even though this was his favorite ride last time we were here. Kids are just like that.

On-ride action

On our way out, I grabbed us all Fastpasses so we could go later. This trip I utilized the tip that you can use your Fastpasses any time after the return window and it worked. I was always under the impression that if you passed your return window you couldn't use your Fastpass. So in the morning we could rack up a little collection of Fastpasses since the return window was within the hour or so.

After surviving the runaway mine train we decided to head toward Fantasyland and see what the waits were.

Ben wanted to take Samuel to Mr. Toad's and Aaron wanted to ride the Carousel. So that's what we did! We found it was a ton of fun to ask the kids what they wanted to do...then go do it! You never knew what they were going to request

 

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I spotted the Rapunzel meet n greet but she wasn't out yet.

The kids took time to try to pull the sword from the stone:

I wanted to check out the castle walk-through, unique to Sleeping Beauty Castle so we headed in that direction:

Aurora was one of my very favorites as a girl. I loved her singing through the woods and how the prince was attracted to her singing.

And I LOVED how the classic animated features would start out with the turning of the royal pages of a book.

 

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We stopped in at the Mad Hatter so that Grandma could buy the kids each a hat for their belated birthday presents. Aaron chose a Goofy hat and Sam chose the new "Glow with the Show" Mickey Ears

Next the boys wanted to ride the Teacups!

DH always tries to spin the cup as humanly possible! You can't help but giggle as you spin!

Here's video of our ride:
Since we were next door, we visited Alice and Wonderland next. I don't remember this, but Mom swears I went on it as a girl

I really wanted to enjoy Alice and I did enjoy the inside portion but the outside portion where you run along a metal track on the roof was kind of lame-o. Disney can do better!

Next we took the kids on the happiest voyage around the world!

Pointing out all of the Disney characters added to IASW was really fun! They looked great too, like they were meant to be there all along.

Video looking around IASW queue, including a peek at the Brave meet n greet and activies:

 

[TakeMeThere81]

After IASW we checked the wait times for Matterhorn and the Nemo subs but they were longer than we wanted to wait. It was getting hot and a long outdoor queue was not looking very appealing. So we headed into Tomorrowland instead. Space Mountain was down so we headed for Buzz instead

DH wiped the floor with all of us. It always takes me forever to find my laser!!

It was getting hot and earlier in the trip DH had lost his sunglasses. So he headed to DtD to buy some new ones while Mom and I took the kids on Autopia

I love Disneyland's version of Autopia! It is longer and very scenic. At one point the monorail passed by us

We also caught a great view of the real-life climbers scaling the Matterhorn

 

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Samuel got to drive and wanted a souvenir license so we stopped at the picture kiosk at the exit

At this point it was in my itinerary to head for the trailer and rest/cool off but everyone swore that they were fine and wanted to stay in the park. We planned to meet DH for lunch at our ADR at Big Thunder Ranch BBQ. I had made the ADR for a later lunch but I would have rather had an early lunch. Everyone was hungry and getting a little cranky from being out in the hot sun (actually just one senior member was getting cranky if we're being real here...)

So we made our way to the train station so we could ride the Disneyland Railroad around to New Orleans Square or Toontown. I kind of prefer the way that the MK Railroad stops are set up a bit better than Disneyland's. Frontierland is smack dab in the middle of the park kind of like the Castle is so there is no direct access from the train. Either you have to get off in New Orleans Square and hoof it around the Rivers of America or get off at the Toontown station and walk through Fantasyland to get there.

We ended up disembarking at Main Street because there were lots of characters out! The kids had yet to get a character autograph and they were really interested in that this trip. So while it was hot, we waited in a few queues to meet some of our favorites

Pluto was so fun! I encouraged the boys to scratch him behind his ears and he got his leg all shakin' for fun. Then when he had autographed their books, to give it back to them, he did a dog trick for each of them

By the time we had met Pluto, we had all of 5 minutes before our ADR in Frontierland so we booked it over there while DH held down our reservation

Glad I stopped briefly to snap this pic

We always enjoy Big Thunder Ranch BBQ. Personally for me it is not my favorite style of cuisine but overall it tends to be a crowd-pleaser. DH loves ribs, and the chicken cole slaw, beans and cornbread are also really great. The atmosphere is really fun and the musical entertainment is well...entertaining! The guy playing guitar will walk around the tables making fun songs up about people who are celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, etc. and we really loved his song "Rindercella"

At the end they also had the kids come up to do a rendition of Davy Crocket: King of the Wild Frontier

 

[TakeMeThere81]

We spent quite a bit of time at lunch, probably 1 1/2 hours. Shade cool drinks, entertainment...we enjoyed our break.

My son Samuel plays the piano, so when 'Sasparilla Sam' came up and started playing, my Sam sat up real close and followed along with his fingers on the picnic table. When he was finished with is set, Sasparilla Sam came down to meet my Sam and was very kind with him, asking him about playing the piano and signing his autograph book

Stage Decor

After lunch we had the baked cookie dessert, which came with hot fudge and ice cream on top! The kids loved it. What am I saying? I loved it too!

Sam and what was left of the dessert

Eventually we figured we had better get up and start moving or we were all going to fall asleep! But first, DH had peeked into the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree Performance area and tipped the kids off to a character sighting.

Clara Cluck with no line!

Next we made our way just around the corner to use our Big Thunder Mt RR Fastpasses

After BTMRR everyone finally agreed that a break would be a good idea. We headed over to Tom Sawyer Island to let the kids run around. I have a love/hate relationship with Tom Sawyer Island. I love that it is open and there are nooks and crannies everywhere for the kids to explore. Pirate's Lair and Fort Langhorn are both cool. But I don't like how easy itis to lose your kids. All they have to do is duck into a tunnel that you don't fit and they are gone. DH didn't seem to be bothered by any of it. His attitude is that there are only so many places they can go and only so far. He's probably right and I just need to chill out!

The crowds weren't too terrible, but they aren't thin either. So we headed back to the trailer for a good 2-hour break from people, walking and heat.

 

[TakeMeThere81]

After a wonderful 2-hour nap, we hopped the shuttle bus back to Disneyland. I guess this was around 7 PM. We saw a few characters in the Town Square that we had missed before and the lines weren't too bad (5-7 deep).

Minnie was the sweetest! She took her time with us, signed the kids books with little wishes

And she was gaga over my medal!

Next we waited to see Mickey.

We got to him and he was not very animated. Then after we took our picture, he gestured to me as if to ask me what the time was so I told him (8:15pm). Many of the characters did not have handlers which I was surprised by, even Mickey was out by himself. So while it was not like he could ask his handler what time it was...it kind of took the magic away from meeting him. I mean, I know we have to remember that there are real people inside those characters, but it was kind of a downer because I felt like he was anxious to go on break...

Main Street

 

[TakeMeThere81]

The waits in Tomorrowland weren't too bad so we headed in that direction.

We started at the revamped Star Tours, highly anticipated by me. I couldn't wait to experience it! I had purposely skipped over and avoided any and all chatter about this ride, only hearing mention of a "rebel spy".

This ride was awesome!! I just laughed the whole time because it was all so unexpected and fun! Our first ride we got the droid inspector, then the Hoth Planet and the Bounty Hunter. And guess who the rebel spy was? MOM!! I laughed so hard when they posted her picture...AKA MUG SHOT! The photos they take are so random that they always capture the 'spy' with a funny expression.

Feast your eyes on a rebel spy!

Next we headed over to Nemo, because Mom had wanted to ride it most. It was a reasonable wait, I think 20 minutes at this point. The ride itself was pretty cool! The inside of the subs was ripe smelling though, not very well ventilated.

Only bummer is that when we got out the fireworks had started. Somehow we had lost track of time and forgotten to get a seat. While we had watched them twice at the RV Resort, I really wanted to put the fireworks with the soundtrack. I was a little disappointed to have missed my last chance this trip. After this day the parks were switching to fall hours and show schedule, meaning fireworks and Fantasmic! only on the weekends.

We headed on over to the Matterhorn instead as the fireworks went off over our heads (pretty cool!).

DH was really looking forward to the Matterhorn.

I found a hidden mickey

It was pretty fun! I probably wouldn't ride it multiple times each trip but it is a Disneyland classic and quite fun.

When we got off the Matterhorn, Mom and Aaron had waited because Aaron had gotten scared. But they had watched the fireworks and seen Tinkerbell AND DUMBO fly over their heads! Dumbo! I had forgotten he does that! Bummer...miss #2! But Mom said it was really cool anyway.

After this, I urged the family over to IASW for the final showing of Disneyland's Magic, Memories and You show. We waited a while then got closer. There was a shocking lack of people considering it was the last show ever.

Video of The Magic, The Memories and You


Once the show got over, DH texted me because he and the boys had not waited with us, they had headed toward the Rivers of America. He had gotten a seat and Fantasmic! was getting ready to start. So Mom and I made our way over as fast as we could and we watched most of the show. It was a nice show, I remember it from years back. But honestly, the sequence with the villians is too long in my opinion. I can only stand sitting there listening to them scream, it gets deafening. But alas, good overcomes evil and Mickey Mouse is the hero once again Aaron tells me it was his favorite show and he will recite, "This is MY dream!"

After Fantasmic, we turned around and rode Pirates for the second time. The air conditioning was freezing in there!

Next we headed back toward Fantasyland because the kids wanted to ride the teacups again.

Sam and his ears

Samuel asked to ride by himself a lot this trip! He's growing up!

After the Mad Tea Party, we headed back to Tomorrowland because the kids wanted to ride Buzz again and DH checked on Space Mountain (still down). After Buzz, we hopped in one last line, to ride the Astro Orbiters. DH and I let Sam ride alone and he and I tried to ride together! Two adults don't fit very well, in fact it was somewhat unsafe! I felt like I could fly out at any moment! I guess it does add some excitement to the ride though, right?!?

After our ride on Astro Orbiters, the announcer told us that Disneyland was now closed. We'd opened and closed the park(with one break)! That was a cool feeling! I thought for sure I was going to be really tired this day, having run the half marathon the day before, but I was energized! I could have stayed a few hours more. My family was pretty tired though. I kept telling them that they could go back whenever they felt like it but they all soldiered on...

 

[Californian Elitist]

Great photos! It was such a nice day when you guys went!

Regarding Mickey, cast members have to take breaks and lunches at specific times, and if they don't it can mess up the rotation and cause problems within the company, believe it or not. Still, the CM should have stayed in character as much as possible.

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Since the park was now officially closed, we headed for the gates, caught our shuttle bus and went home. It had been a great first day at the parks! We saw an amazing amount of attractions, even though the crowds were about a 7 in my opinion. My love for Disneyland is surely growing. From 2005-2009 we had visited Disneyworld exclusively since we lived close by. Disneyland is the first Disney park I originally experienced way back in 1988, and it is really growing on me again.

Ok, so Day 4 coming up!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Great photos! It was such a nice day when you guys went!

Regarding Mickey, cast member have to take breaks and lunches at specific times, and if they don't it can mess up the rotation and cause problems within the company, believe it or not. Still, the CM should have stayed in character as much as possible.

Yes, I totally understand! I assume it makes it tough too when there is no handler to "speak" for the character. Perhaps Mickey should just wear a watch!

 

[Nicole220]

Loving your report! Congrats on completing the Half Marathon! I ran it last year, it's such a great experience. And it's fun showing off your medal in the parks

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Loving your report! Congrats on completing the Half Marathon! I ran it last year, it's such a great experience. And it's fun showing off your medal in the parks

Thanks so much! You are right, it's fun wearing the medal in the parks! I never got to do that when DH and I ran the Princess Half because it was the very end of our trip and we drove home after the race.

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Day 4: California Adventure...lots of new experiences!

California Adventure was opening at 10am this morning so everyone got showered and were all fresh and ready to go by around 9am. DH left with Aaron earlier than us ladies and ended up getting into early admission! I don't know how he did that, but when we arrived CM were letting AP holders in, as well as resort guests. I have to admit, I started to get kind of ed about this, mostly at myself for not knowing this was going to happen! It was such a bummer to be one in the crowd who were going to be let in 'late'. We were let in around 9:30, everyone lining up at the ropes. DH was texting me about how they had ridden TSMM, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, met Mater, etc. I have to admit, I texted him to stop telling me what they were doing because it was adding to my frustration! I am happy for him though.

Anyway, the park opened at 10am and I kept sitting on the bench where I was. What was the point rushing to different places when the park already seemed packed? Nope. Instead I just sat there and enjoyed the ambiance for a bit in Carthay Circle. Mom took Sam and got coffee and a cookie.

Five and dime motored by singing jazz which was fun

We saw the Red Car drive down and I thought it would be fun to hop onto this new attraction

The line to get a Fastpass for Radiator Springs Racers was way back to the Animation Building

Riding the red car was pretty fun! It is a slow-moving cable car that takes you down Buena Vista St as far as the Tower of Terror.

Signage at the end of the line

When we got there, being that Tower of Terror is my favorite attraction of all time, I decided to go! After all it was only a 13 minute wait

This was probably one of my all-time best rides on Tower of Terror. I don't know if it has just been a while since I have ridden or if in fact it was just an epic drop sequence. Either way, I got off all smiles! It was sweet!

Mom and Sam had passed on Tower of Terror so I had suggested they head next door to A Bug's Land. I love that CA has added this little walkway here. Before, if you wanted to get to Tower of Terror, and you were on the other side of the park there was no shortcut, you had to walk all the way around.

When I got off the Tower of Terror I met them at A Bug's Land. Everything in me wanted to run for the e-ticket attractions in order to avoid long waits, but I held back and instead we just enjoyed being in a place with little crowds. I think when you don't have to fight a ton of people it makes the experience so much more enjoyable. So a milder ride with no crowds can sometimes be more appealing than an e-ticket ride fighting crowds. Make sense? Well that was what our morning was all about.

A Bug's Land

 

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After we had boogied with Francis, we just continued to explore the little land

Dot's Puddle Park

All refreshed!

We headed toward Heimlich's Chew Chew Train but it was not up and running yet. But who did we stumble onto? Flik!

Sam and Mom had already ridden Flik's Flyers but they rode again for my sake

Samuel HAD to ride in the Chinese take-out box!

On our shuttle bus later that evening, I overheard a Dad asking his daughter what her favorite part of the day was. She said riding 'round and 'round in a Juicebox. I could only assume she was referring to Flik's Flyers. It's neat to hear about how kids love all of these little details that Disney goes to great lengths to help them experience!

Next I thought Samuel would like heading toward Mike and Sulley to the Rescue, and The Muppet's 3D show so we headed back toward Hollywoodland.

I got a quick picture first in front of my fave. Sammy photo-bombed me! My kids have been all about the photo-bomb lately

 

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On our way we spotted Mr. and Mrs. Incredible! Ahhhh! I was hoping they would be coming back, that would be an awesome character sighting! But alas, they were headed to fight crime and would not be back for a while :-(

We decided to stay close because I knew another great character would be coming out soon.

Sam knocking on the door

I LOVE this next character interaction! We saw Sulley headed down the street towards us so I told Sam to hurry and hop back into line. Sulley got to us and lined up at the back of our line to see him! It was so hilarious, he kept gesturing as to "Who are we waiting for?"

He took his time and had fun with us. Unfortunately Monstropolis Elementary never taught Sulley how to write his name so he could not give us his autograph!

Samuel getting a great big friendly monster hug