Chapter 58
A New Normal

Previous Post | Next Post
Table of Contents

(Originally posted August 29, 2013)

Now then, where were we? Ah yes, I had just begrudgingly gotten the GAC. Actually, before we went to the front of DCA and got the GAC, we rode Mickey’s Fun Wheel because it had no wait at all for our favorite non-swinging cars. Nevertheless, I think we still had to share a car…

After landing firmly on the ground, we exited the park, stopping by Guest Relations on the way out. GAC in hand, we now hopped over to Disneyland.

This week’s Limited Time Magic was the Dapper Dans singing songs from boy bands. We walked by them, but they were singing one of their usual medleys.

Since part of our goal right now was for me NOT to be standing still, we didn’t stop to watch, assuming we could catch the boy band performance another time. Unfortunately, we never timed it right to actually hear those songs!

Instead, we made our way back to Fantasyland where we could use the GAC to ride an attraction that otherwise would have always had impossible wait times.

At this point in time, it had probably been more than 20 years since either Tracy or I had watched Alice in Wonderland, but we still enjoyed the ride (despite not really understand what was going on).

While in Fantasyland, we also rode Peter Pan’s Flight, and it was heavenly to get to sit down on the wall outside the exit while we waited (this ride always has a very long GAC line just as it has a very long standby line, but the sitting portion of it is quite pleasant).

Realizing that we had already been here for the better part of the morning, we found our stomachs were starting to rumble. We decided to head to the Refreshment Corner. Guy from Touring Plans had recently reviewed the Mac & Cheese Hot Dog from there, and we thought it looked and sounded delicious.

Yes, in case you were wondering, those are bacon bits that top off an already delicious combination. We really enjoyed this hot dog, and it hit the spot perfectly this afternoon. Mary Poppins and Bert were casually interacting with guests seated at the Refreshment Corner (another one of those character opportunities that can only ever happen at Disneyland!).

We followed up lunch by deciding to see where a Star Tours adventure might take us. This time, we were greeted by Darth Vader, sent to see the wookies on Kashyyk, entreated by Leia, and finished off flying through the traffic above Coruscant. It would be a continuation of our new trend—we seemed to ALWAYS get the Wookie Planet.

Back from space, we went out into the hub and saw that the Omnibus was there. We climbed up to the top deck and took a forward-facing seat.

We had never actually ridden the Omnibus before, but it quickly became one of my favorite Main Street Vehicles. From the top row, you have some amazing and unobstructed views down Main Street itself.

Pulling into our stop in Town Square, we were right next to a Horse-Drawn Trolley and were tempted to ride right back up to the hub. We resisted, however, and just stood looking at the horse for a while instead.

Exiting Disneyland and hopping back to DCA, we resumed our day how we had intended to start it. We walked back to Paradise Pier and waited only a few minutes to board Toy Story Mania with the GAC. I was just feeling so much better not having to stand still for those lines! Having not had any experience with Toy Story for the last nine months, Tracy and I both still managed to get beavers for our prize (which we considered pretty good). I really love Toy Story Mania. I think it’s a great ride for locals because your experience is different each time. We were determined to try to improve upon our scores now that we lived here, but this was a decent first outing.

The rest of Paradise Pier was almost empty (this was a random Wednesday in February, after all), so we wandered back through. As we passed by Jumpin’ Jellyfish—a ride that we had laughed at from afar plenty of times but never actually gone on—Tracy decided that she thought it looked fun.

There was no one waiting for the ride, so we decided to try it out.

I will say that as much as we had always made fun of this attraction, there was something fun about it! We don’t really like the extent of the drop on a ride like Tower of Terror, but having a little bit of that “feeling” in your stomach can be enjoyable sometimes. We decided that this little ride wasn’t so pitiful after all, and we’ve actually made a habit of doing it whenever we are in the vicinity and notice that it doesn’t have a line.

Next, since we were still in Paradise Pier, we decided to ride the Golden Zephyr, which had (if possible) even FEWER people waiting for it than Jumpin’ Jellyfish.

We were able to head right up the stairs and board a vehicle.

Now, somewhere in the back of my mind, a little voice was warning me against riding this attraction. I remembered there was something about it that we hadn’t liked on our last trip, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. After we were in motion, I remembered that both Tracy and I had gotten a little nauseated riding the Golden Zephyr, and the reaction repeated itself this time around. I think it’s something about the force at which you spin around in circles. The Zephyr has a little more speed to it than Dumbo or Astro Orbitter, and it didn’t seem to agree with either of us. Making a note to trust my instincts next time, we crossed this attraction off our list of go-to’s.

Finally done with Paradise Pier (for now) we started walking around toward Cars Land.

Radiator Springs was looking beautiful during the day.

And we actually got to go back toward the attraction because it was time for our Fastpasses!

This was our first time walking through the whole queue area when it was still light out, so we picked up on several details we had missed before.

In general, all of the rockwork just looks so beautiful, regardless of the time of day.

Getting to the front of the Fastpass line, we remembered to ask to be in the front of the car this time.

We boarded our blue vehicle, and we were off! In addition to being our first time riding during the day, this was my first time getting to go on the Luigi’s side of the track. I LOVED that part of the ride (especially since Guido is my favorite Cars character). To make matters even better, I think we actually won our race!

There’s not much that’s all that different about riding during the day vs. going at night, but some parts of the ride (like the waterfall) were just exciting to see while the sun was shining. After we crossed the finish line and disembarked, I took a few more pictures of the beautiful Radiator Springs.