So I'm pretty far behind schedule now, and it's the night before spring quarter starts, but here comes the post about Amanda and my trip to Disneyland!
I still have some unpacking to do and some work tonight, so I'm sorry if the post isn't as detailed as you might like. Still, here you go!
Amanda arrived in LA on monday and it was absolutely great to see her. Three months is a really long time to be apart and it was very hard. Just being together again was wonderful. Monday afternoon we went to Hollywood and out to Santa Monica for dinner. It was a lot of fun.
Tuesday morning we got up and drove in the rental car down to Anaheim. Traffic wasn't bad, and we got there in about 45 minutes, just around the park opening at 8. We took the tram over to the park and began our first day at the Happiest Place on Earth.
The park was absolutely packed with the spring break crowd, but luckily we knew what we were doing and we were able to do just about everything we wanted. Here are some of the best pictures from our two days at the Disneyland Resort with some commentary:
We started in Adventureland on the Indiana Jones Adventure, which was awesome. One of the times we crisscrossed the park to Tomorrowland we stopped in the hub to get some pictures. This is one the photographer cast member took of us. How fun we are! And look how small and cute the castle is!
I guess I didn't really take many pictures the first day were were at Disneyland. One of the highlights of the first day was definitely Indiana Jones, and the original Pirates of the Caribbean was awesome as well, especially with the added special effects and amazing Jack Sparrow animatronics. The completely rebuilt Space Mountain was amazing, too, and Michael Giacchino's on-ride soundtrack blasting though the speakers on the train while flying through outer space was awesome. Amanda and I also had fun exploring Pirate's Lair at Tom Sawyer Island. We also had a great lunch at the Blue Bayou, the restaurant in the bayou scene of Pirates of the Caribbean. I got us reservations, which admittedly made it fairly fun to watch the people walking up to the desk asking if there was any space. All in all, we had a wonderful first day at Disneyland, but were worn out before dark and decide to leave and rest up for the next day.
Day two we went over to Disney's California Adventure. First we got fastpasses for the Tower of Terror. The Tower at California Adventure isn't quite as beautiful as the Florida original, of course neither can compare to the amazing new Manhattan-themed Tower of Terror at Tokyo Disney.
The ride itself was very cool, not all that different from the original, but without the moving forward scene. Without that scene though, I had no idea when the drops were coming, and I was definitely surprised and scared.
Other highlights from California Adventure were the great Aladdin musical, that was a whopping 45 minutes long in a huge indoor theater with amazing production values and special effects, and a hilarious guy playing the genie. Soarin' over California was great, too, but getting in the singles line was a must there, as we waited only 10 minutes as opposed to the hour and a half we would've waiting in the stand-by line. I absolutely cannot wait to go back there in the summer once Toy Story Midway Mania opens, which should be pretty mind-bogglingly fun.
Early in the evening we had done everything we wanted to we headed back across the Esplanade back to Disneyland. We got some pictures, including one of me in front of the California adventure gate.
As we went into the park the parade was finishing up, so we ran to the back of the park to try and catch as much of it as we could. Here's Amanda in front of the last float in the parade. She really wanted a picture with Snow White, and since we didn't see her anywhere for meet and greets, this was the best we could do. It's a very cute picture, though!
We did a few rides at night in Disneyland, but the highlight was definitely the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. It was the longest line in the park, but it was definitely worth it. Here's the Nautilus submarine in the lagoon. Let me tell you, pictures don't do these subs justice, and when I got up close to them, I was amazing how big they are. Each one holds 40 people!
The ride is completely immersive and absolutely makes you believe you are riding in a submarine in the ocean. They use an amazing technology to project animated fish into the water and make it appear that they are swimming around realistically. Using Thomas Newman's great score from the movie also struck the perfect chord.
The main reason we wanted to be back in the park at night was so we could see the fireworks and fantasmic. The fireworks were amazing, with fireworks shooting off from the whole perimeter of the park and projections on the Matterhorn. Tinker Bell flying back and forth over the castle was amazing, too.
After the fireworks we went over to New Orleans Square to see Fantasmic. The show was great, especially the peter pan pirate battle on the Sailing Ship Columbia. Aside from that, though, I did miss the Pocahontas and Lion King scenes in the newer Florida show. Towards the end of the show, I looked over at the base of a light tower at the front of the seating area and saw a duck there, just standing there staring forward transfixed on Fantasmic. The duck did not move or look away the whole time and didn't flinch, even when the river caught fire. Talk about the magic of Disneyland.
After Fantasmic, Amanda and I were again very worn out, and left the park to head home back up in LA. Before we did, I stopped to take a picture of the dedication plaque at the base of the flag pole. Pretty excellent.
So what did I think of Disneyland? Well obviously it was great and a lot of fun. How could I not have a blast there? Of course it was great and very special to share my first visit with my very wonderful girlfriend, as well. And how does it compare to Disney World? Well, everything is more compact and the park doesn't quite have the spectacular views that the Magic Kingdom Park has. Disneyland does have a great charm, especially on Main Street, which might be my favorite part of the park. It was wonderful to visit, and I can't wait to come back in the summer.
Here's the last picture of this post, looking up at Walt Disney's private apartment above the fire station on main street. Can you see the candle lit in the window? That light is always lit and is there to represent Walt's spirit and the fact that he still watches over the park.
So of course with our great trip and adventure at Disneyland, there had to be a downside, and after we got back to LA, I got pretty badly sick. I guess I caught some kind of a bug. Amanda wound up getting very sick, too, and we're both still recovering. It sucks.
Anyway, school starts tomorrow and hopefully Amanda and I are feeling better. I'm really looking forward to the quarter. It should be a lot of fun, especially once it gets warmer.
So much for a short post. Don't worry this isn't the last of the blog. Things might be pretty crazy until the opera's over this weekend, but I still have some posts to write, including an "interesting typography of Hollywood" photo tour, and a post about things I've learned.
Anyway, I hope you all have great days and weeks. I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of people I've missed in the next few days.
Keep it real!
I still have some unpacking to do and some work tonight, so I'm sorry if the post isn't as detailed as you might like. Still, here you go!
Amanda arrived in LA on monday and it was absolutely great to see her. Three months is a really long time to be apart and it was very hard. Just being together again was wonderful. Monday afternoon we went to Hollywood and out to Santa Monica for dinner. It was a lot of fun.
Tuesday morning we got up and drove in the rental car down to Anaheim. Traffic wasn't bad, and we got there in about 45 minutes, just around the park opening at 8. We took the tram over to the park and began our first day at the Happiest Place on Earth.
The park was absolutely packed with the spring break crowd, but luckily we knew what we were doing and we were able to do just about everything we wanted. Here are some of the best pictures from our two days at the Disneyland Resort with some commentary:
We started in Adventureland on the Indiana Jones Adventure, which was awesome. One of the times we crisscrossed the park to Tomorrowland we stopped in the hub to get some pictures. This is one the photographer cast member took of us. How fun we are! And look how small and cute the castle is!
I guess I didn't really take many pictures the first day were were at Disneyland. One of the highlights of the first day was definitely Indiana Jones, and the original Pirates of the Caribbean was awesome as well, especially with the added special effects and amazing Jack Sparrow animatronics. The completely rebuilt Space Mountain was amazing, too, and Michael Giacchino's on-ride soundtrack blasting though the speakers on the train while flying through outer space was awesome. Amanda and I also had fun exploring Pirate's Lair at Tom Sawyer Island. We also had a great lunch at the Blue Bayou, the restaurant in the bayou scene of Pirates of the Caribbean. I got us reservations, which admittedly made it fairly fun to watch the people walking up to the desk asking if there was any space. All in all, we had a wonderful first day at Disneyland, but were worn out before dark and decide to leave and rest up for the next day.
Day two we went over to Disney's California Adventure. First we got fastpasses for the Tower of Terror. The Tower at California Adventure isn't quite as beautiful as the Florida original, of course neither can compare to the amazing new Manhattan-themed Tower of Terror at Tokyo Disney.
The ride itself was very cool, not all that different from the original, but without the moving forward scene. Without that scene though, I had no idea when the drops were coming, and I was definitely surprised and scared.
Other highlights from California Adventure were the great Aladdin musical, that was a whopping 45 minutes long in a huge indoor theater with amazing production values and special effects, and a hilarious guy playing the genie. Soarin' over California was great, too, but getting in the singles line was a must there, as we waited only 10 minutes as opposed to the hour and a half we would've waiting in the stand-by line. I absolutely cannot wait to go back there in the summer once Toy Story Midway Mania opens, which should be pretty mind-bogglingly fun.
Early in the evening we had done everything we wanted to we headed back across the Esplanade back to Disneyland. We got some pictures, including one of me in front of the California adventure gate.
As we went into the park the parade was finishing up, so we ran to the back of the park to try and catch as much of it as we could. Here's Amanda in front of the last float in the parade. She really wanted a picture with Snow White, and since we didn't see her anywhere for meet and greets, this was the best we could do. It's a very cute picture, though!
We did a few rides at night in Disneyland, but the highlight was definitely the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. It was the longest line in the park, but it was definitely worth it. Here's the Nautilus submarine in the lagoon. Let me tell you, pictures don't do these subs justice, and when I got up close to them, I was amazing how big they are. Each one holds 40 people!
The ride is completely immersive and absolutely makes you believe you are riding in a submarine in the ocean. They use an amazing technology to project animated fish into the water and make it appear that they are swimming around realistically. Using Thomas Newman's great score from the movie also struck the perfect chord.
The main reason we wanted to be back in the park at night was so we could see the fireworks and fantasmic. The fireworks were amazing, with fireworks shooting off from the whole perimeter of the park and projections on the Matterhorn. Tinker Bell flying back and forth over the castle was amazing, too.
After the fireworks we went over to New Orleans Square to see Fantasmic. The show was great, especially the peter pan pirate battle on the Sailing Ship Columbia. Aside from that, though, I did miss the Pocahontas and Lion King scenes in the newer Florida show. Towards the end of the show, I looked over at the base of a light tower at the front of the seating area and saw a duck there, just standing there staring forward transfixed on Fantasmic. The duck did not move or look away the whole time and didn't flinch, even when the river caught fire. Talk about the magic of Disneyland.
After Fantasmic, Amanda and I were again very worn out, and left the park to head home back up in LA. Before we did, I stopped to take a picture of the dedication plaque at the base of the flag pole. Pretty excellent.
So what did I think of Disneyland? Well obviously it was great and a lot of fun. How could I not have a blast there? Of course it was great and very special to share my first visit with my very wonderful girlfriend, as well. And how does it compare to Disney World? Well, everything is more compact and the park doesn't quite have the spectacular views that the Magic Kingdom Park has. Disneyland does have a great charm, especially on Main Street, which might be my favorite part of the park. It was wonderful to visit, and I can't wait to come back in the summer.
Here's the last picture of this post, looking up at Walt Disney's private apartment above the fire station on main street. Can you see the candle lit in the window? That light is always lit and is there to represent Walt's spirit and the fact that he still watches over the park.
So of course with our great trip and adventure at Disneyland, there had to be a downside, and after we got back to LA, I got pretty badly sick. I guess I caught some kind of a bug. Amanda wound up getting very sick, too, and we're both still recovering. It sucks.
Anyway, school starts tomorrow and hopefully Amanda and I are feeling better. I'm really looking forward to the quarter. It should be a lot of fun, especially once it gets warmer.
So much for a short post. Don't worry this isn't the last of the blog. Things might be pretty crazy until the opera's over this weekend, but I still have some posts to write, including an "interesting typography of Hollywood" photo tour, and a post about things I've learned.
Anyway, I hope you all have great days and weeks. I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of people I've missed in the next few days.
Keep it real!
much love,
Alex
Alex
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