Chapter 64
And It Rained…

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(Originally posted September 17, 2013)

Friday was another rainy day, but it was starting to clear up around dinnertime and we hoped to be able to go to the parks for a while without having to worry about getting drenched. First, we made dinner at home: our very own version of the Safari Skewer (bacon-wrapped asparagus). We had gotten some sausage to make with it, but unfortunately, it smelled a little rancid, so we made some ramen to accompany our skewers instead. It wasn’t the fanciest meal, but it was pretty darn good.

When we got to Disneyland, night had fallen. We walked back to Fantasyland, trying to ride “it’s a small world”—I know, we were obsessed—but it was closed temporarily.

Instead, we went back into Toontown and rode Gadget’s Go Coaster for the first time since getting our passes. Now, the crowds were probably among the lightest I’ve ever seen this evening because the rain had definitely scared people away, but that meant there was literally no line for the coaster. When you don’t have to wait at all, this ride is great! It gives you a LITTLE thrill coming down the first hill, and otherwise it’s just good for a laugh. When we haven’t had to wait at all, we’ve never been disappointed. It’s just when you stand around for 10 minutes to do a 30-second ride that you realize maybe it’s not the best idea.

After riding Gadget, Small World was back open (thank goodness, I know), so we got to ride it.

There was a definite chill in the air at this point (and rain probably not too far away) so we were craving hot chocolate. We decided if we were going to get some, we wanted it to be DECADENT. So where else was there to go but Ghirardelli? We hopped over to DCA and ordered a regular Hot Chocolate. It’s not much too look at from the cup, but it was SO GOOD.

It seriously tasted like liquid Ghirardelli chocolate, so it was rich and wonderful. It also just so happened that right after we got our drink and found a table under the awning outside, it started pouring. It rained harder for a few minutes than I’ve seen before or since in CA, and then it tapered off to a fine mist that lasted almost an hour. We just sat around for a while enjoying the atmosphere—since we weren’t getting soaked, I actually loved seeing this park in the rain—but after we finished our hot chocolate, we decided to get back to touring.

We went over to Radiator Springs Racers and decided to do the single rider line. Tracy was in a winning car and I was in a losing car, but at least we both got the Luigi (and GUIDO!) side of the track, so we were happy.

Walking back through Cars Land, we decided to take a picture with Lightning McQueen (Ka-chow!). You may notice that I have our little keychain Duffy hanging off my jacket on this night. We never want to bring our actual Duffy to the parks, but the keychain seemed like a good compromise.

We walked through Cars Land as the fireworks went off over Disneyland.

As we walked toward the front of DCA, the rain had stopped, leaving everything with a really beautiful sheen to it. I loved passing the fountain.

The fireworks were still going on across the way, and they too were reflected in the wet streets.

Minnie happened to be on Buena Vista Street (not really sure why, since she usually is only at DCA doing Minnie’s Fly Girls), but we decided to stop and take a photo with her.

We hopped over to Disneyland and made a beeline back toward New Orleans Square. As we had expected, the late hour combined with the fact that it had been raining all evening meant that there was almost no one waiting for the second show of Fantasmic! We pulled up a spot on the ground with only about 15 minutes until show time, and we waited.

The time passed slowly, but before too long, the lights were dimming and our favorite Disneyland nighttime spectacular was starting.

Tracy’s favorite part is when Mickey does his “fire fingers.”

The show wasn’t quite perfect. For one thing, the rain must have made it unsafe to do some of the stunts so all the pirates and Peter Pan basically just stood in their spots aboard the Columbia rather than flying/jumping all over. The Mark Twain was also still down for refurbishment, so the characters came out to ribbon dance on Tom Sawyer Island at the end. We thought that part was pretty hilarious.

Of course, despite these shortcomings, the show was still glorious. I can’t think of many (if any) shows that could withstand the test of time the way Fantasmic! has. I just love everything about it, from the technology to the music to the storyline. I can’t imagine ever getting tired of watching this show.

As Fantasmic! ended—and the image of the final green fireworks was burned into our retinas—we walked over to Pirates to get on one last ride before park closing. The ride was pretty empty, and as we came back above ground, Disneyland was actually closed. We started making our way toward the exit.

In spite of (or maybe because of) the rain, this had been one of our favorite nights in the parks to date. I think it was just lovely being there when it was raining—while avoiding getting wet—and the crowds were so incredibly light. We almost wished that it would rain here more often.

Saturday, the weather had cleared up into the California sunshine we had grown so accustomed to. We started off after lunch at DCA and walked back through Hollywood Land. We checked the Animation Academy board out front to see if we could draw the Cheshire Cat today, but his time had passed. Rather than turning around like we usually would, we kept walking to the end of the street and past Tower of Terror. We’ve never actually ridden the Tower here, and I don’t think we had even ever paid it any mind in walking past it before this afternoon, but we had checked out the awesome Disney Channel original movie from Netflix as a blast to the past, so we were in a mood to at least take a gander at the exterior of the building. Maybe someday we’ll ride, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.

We kept walking into “a bug’s land”, which is another part of DCA that we had practically never been in. We thought Flik’s Flyers looked like it might be fun, so we decided to wait.

While I feel like this area of the park is often underappreciated by most people (us included up until now), one thing you must acknowledge is how great the theming is. You really feel like you’re in the bug world.

As we got on board our container—an animal cracker box, of course—we were a little nervous as to whether this ride would be too dizzying.

In the end, it was probably more thrilling than I would have expected going in, but not enough so to make us sick.

It was a fun attraction, though not one we would wait to ride all that often.

Continuing through this land, we discovered Heimlich’s Chew-Chew Train next.

This ride is just hilarious from the outside. You quickly realize that it lasts for about a minute tops, though it has quite the long loading process. We were waiting next to two girls who were probably in their early twenties. One of them was obviously OBSESSED with Heimlich. She knew the whole attraction by heart and kept asking her friend to take pictures of her posing with the ride vehicle.

As we climbed aboard, the ride was basically everything we thought it would be. I did appreciate the use of the Smellitzer technology, however, because the watermelon and animal crackers both smelled pretty tasty. Alas, I don’t think we will ever be as into this ride as the girl in the queue with us, but we still thought it was fun.

Unloading to the sound of Heimlich telling us “I miss you already,” we continued through “a bug’s land” to its exit.

The crowds at DCA were starting to pick up at this point (it WAS the first weekend of the Spring Break season, after all), so we didn’t try to brave any more attractions for the moment. Instead, we decided to walk over and see if we might meet Duffy. When we got to his area, a character attendant and PhotoPass photographer were both waiting there, so we knew it couldn’t bee too long before Duffy would come out. We took a spin on The Little Mermaid while we waited—because that never has a line—and then came out to see the same sight at Duffy’s spot, but still no bear. We inquired with the attendant as to when they expected him to come out, and she thought it would just be a few minutes. After waiting 20 minutes without any Duffy appearance, we had to give up. We exited DCA and hopped over to Disneyland.

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