Chapter 65
Don’t We Look Darling

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(Originally posted September 22, 2013)

Once in Disneyland, we made our way back to our favorite E-Ticket attraction—Big Thunder Ranch. We were determined to finally get to pet our pal Pancho, but when we got back there, he was nowhere to be seen. Pocahontas was in jail.

Clarabelle the cow was actually in the goat pen (it was the first time I had gotten to see her in real life after reading about her on the Disney Parks Blog) but unfortunately, the cast members weren’t allowing people in at the moment.

We went over to the horse pen to meet the only animal we were allowed to pet this afternoon.

Next, we headed back out onto Big Thunder Trail.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, Max Goof appeared. We had never met him before, so we had to stop and pose.

The crowds were still feeling pretty unbearable this afternoon, so we decided to escape them by riding the train. We walked over to the New Orleans Square Station and a train pulled up before too long. This train had a caboose attached (not the Lily Belle) and we discovered we could ride in it if we wanted.

The seats in the caboose weren’t exactly the most comfortable and it was a little stuffy in there, so we only stayed there for one stop, but it was still fun to check it out.

We got off the train in Tomorrowland (Main Street Station was still under refurb, so we either had to get off here or keep riding around back to New Orleans Square).

At this point, we decided the crowds were a little too oppressive in Disneyland, so we made our way toward the exit.

We hopped back to DCA and rode Toy Story Mania. I got my best score yet (finally getting the kitty prize) and was the best in our vehicle.

We had an ingenious plan for dinner this evening. Having bought some delicious broccoli cheese soup from Costco earlier in the week, we decided to buy a round loaf of the sourdough bread from Pacific Wharf and bring it home to make our own bread bowl! After making our purchase, we exited DCA, passing by the parade as we went out. We always love Slinky!

Getting home, we prepared our poor-man’s feast. Here was our loaf.

And here was our bread bowl.

It’s hard to tell from the picture, but that thing is HUGE!! We both ate until we were stuffed, and we still ended up throwing away a little of the bread (blasphemy, I know).

Tracy topped off the night by making a Wendy hair bow using materials she found at Michaels and a tutorial she found online. She loves all the great Disney bow-makers out there on the Internet, and definitely used them for inspiration. Luckily, this one was easy to emulate on her own.

March 10-15, 2013

If we had any question about whether the Spring Break crowds were really out and about, the sight that greeted us on this Sunday made it quite clear. As we approached Disneyland via our usual Harbor exit off the 5, there was an insane backup all the way back to the off-ramp. We waited in several lines of cars, and in the end it took us over an hour to get from home to the tram stop. Looking at the tram line, we decided (perhaps a little naively) that it seemed like we could walk to the Downtown Disney Monorail Station quicker than it would take to wait for a tram and then get into the park.

The journey took at least as long as the tram probably would have, but at least we got to ride the Monorail right off the bat. Tomorrowland was as jammed as we expected based on the parking crowds, so we grabbed a pair of Fastpasses for Autopia and booked it out of there. We went over to check on “it’s a small world” next, but its line was too long for us as well. For now, therefore, we ditched our plans to ride attractions and decided to do an important piece of shopping. After all, since Tracy was wearing her new Wendy bow, I needed to match as Peter Pan!

We had started seeing these great new Peter Pan hats becoming popular in the parks, and apparently they were getting a little too popular. Our first attempt to find one was at The Mad Hatter in Fantasyland, but they were all sold out there. Instead, we were sent down to The Mad Hatter on Main Street. There, they had one last hat to sell, and we snatched it up!

Not feeling too great, we stopped for a water break at the Refreshment Corner before doing some pin trading at Westward Ho in Frontierland. Finally, of course, we found ourselves back at Big Thunder Ranch.

There weren’t any donkeys to be found, but there was this beautiful white horse.

After our time at the Ranch was complete for the afternoon, we realized it was time for the Fastpasses we had pulled earlier. Walking by the castle, we stopped to pose with our Peter/Wendy headpieces.

Next, we made our way over to Tomorrowland so we could ride Autopia.

Whenever we had always done this attraction or the Speedway in WDW on our usual trips, it was a one-time ride and Tracy always enjoyed doing the driving. Now that we were locals, however, it was time for me to take a turn in the driver’s seat.

Unfortunately, our car was AWFUL! The steering was bad, it was stinkier than any of these cars I’d ever been on (and that’s saying something), and worst of all, it kept stalling. During the five-minute ride, we must have stalled like 10 times.