A Trip Down Memory Lane – Day 5

I woke up just before 6:00. I got up, had a shower, and got dressed. I had some of the watermelon that Graham had picked for us the previous day and it was absolutely delicious. Then I headed out. After the mess with early entry the day before, I decided to be clever. Instead of going towards Downtown Disney, I headed towards Paradise Pier Hotel and crossed the road towards the Grand Californian Hotel. I was surprised to find a gate with a card reader. Fortunately, my key card from the Disneyland Hotel worked and soon I was in the lobby. There I found two huge lines. Thankfully the line for California Adventure was marginally shorter than the one for Disneyland, but it still stretched about two thirds of the length of the lobby. The line was moving really slowly, too. It was nice to see the characters inside Storytellers Cafe though. The family in front of me asked me at some stage to take a photo of them. That gave me an excuse to ask them if they were speaking Hawaiian. They were impressed that I recognised their language. It is such a beautiful language.

 

I was inside the park at 7:40, which was not too bad. I headed right over to Soarin’ Around the World. The app just stated standby line available, which it normally says if there is no wait. I liked the idea of this a lot. Unfortunately, when I got there, the ride had broken down. I was not happy. The cast member suggested I may wish to check out WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure. I had not had the chance to do this the day before and it was on my to do list for that day anyway. I headed in that direction. There was a Photopass photographer near the entrance to Avenger Campus and I stopped for some photos. Then I headed for WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure. This was a walk on. However, we ended up waiting inside the show building for quite a while. Eventually, the doors to the pre-show opened. The basic premise is that there is an open house at the headquarters for WEB where the world’s youngest engineers work together to build innovative technology for the future. One of the projects, a spider-bot malfunctions and starts replicating. The spider-bots start destroying the building. The visitors get enlisted by Spiderman to deal with the threat. After the pre-show, we headed down a corridor to pick up 3D glasses and then board the WEB Slinger vehicles. This is another trackless ride that passes various scenes that are overrun by spider-bots. It is the visitor’s task to destroy them by slinging webs at them. The ride tracks arm motions, and it looks like the webs are coming out of your fingers. It took me a little while to get the hang of this, but by the end of the ride I had figured it out. I decided to have another go.

By then the park was open. The posted waiting time was 10 minutes, but by the time I entered the pre-show, it had been about twice that. I made good use of the waiting time to make a reservation for Soarin’ Around the World. This time round there were four of us in the vehicle as opposed to just two, which made things easier. I also really had got the hang of this. However, by the end of the ride, my arms were hurting. In the end, I never did this ride again on this trip. However, I have since found out that this can also be found at Walt Disney Studios in Paris as part of their Avengers Campus. I am sure I get to practise in the not-too-distant future.

 

I still had about 20 minutes until my window for Soarin’ Around the World opened and I figured it was time for some breakfast. I stopped at Fiddler, Fifer, and Practical Cafe, which is the Starbucks location at Disney California Adventure. I had a salted caramel cream cold foam cold brew and an apple roll. This was a warm cinnamon roll with a crumble topping, stewed apples, and custard. This was delicious. By the time I had finished, my window for Soarin’ Around the World had opened. The line moved quite quickly and this time there were no unwanted surprises. I enjoyed the ride.

This was a special day for me. It was one year since I had returned to Emirates, which is one of the best things I ever did. I decided to head down to Guest Services to get a celebration button. They had quite an impressive line, but the cast member who did crowd control asked me how he could help me and advised that all the shops had celebration buttons. I headed over to Elias & Co and got my celebration button. I also had a look around the shop. I have  collected Disney Dooney and Bourke bags for years and was excited to get to see a selection of them in the shops. My excitement disappeared pretty quickly. The bags have never been cheap, but they are now crazy expensive. I also was not taken by the designs. The only design I kind of liked was the annual Christmas design, but I could not justify the crazy prices for a bag that I can use during one month of the year. Instead, a couple of the Loungefly backpacks caught my eyes and they are lot more reasonably priced. There was in particular that I liked, which featured the partners statue and fireworks. I did not want to carry it around all day and figured I could always  come back for it later.

 

I decided to get a photo with the Storyteller’s Statue as there was a Photopass photographer in this area. He was busy and I took the opportunity to snap a quick photo of the Cathay Circle Theatre. The last time I had taken a photo of this, it was all dressed up for the diamond anniversary. When I came back, the Photopass photographer was just finishing up with the couple that he was taking photos of. It was my turn next. I like the photos even though my glasses are tinted in them. I suppose that is one of the drawbacks of having to wear reaction lenses.

I headed towards Carsland. On the way, I saw that Goofy was out. The line was not too long, and I got in. There was even a Photopass photographer present. I got some photos and then I moved on to Carsland. I headed straight for the single rider line at Radiator Springs Racers. This time round, I did not stop until just before the ramp leading up to the loading dock. About 5 minutes later, I was inside the car. This time round, It was back to the body shop side. I really enjoyed the ride again. Unfortunately, I got the wrong photo. I had a quick look at some of the shops and then I headed towards Pixar Pier.

Before the window for my next reservation opened, I still had time to do The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure. I have always loved this ride and the fact that it was a walk on made this even better. I even managed to get some photos. Once I was done, I had a quick look at the shop at the top of Pixar Pier. This shop used to be full of Duffy and friends’ stuff, but it now is a Pixar shop. I was hoping to get some Lotso stuff, but they only had a fleece that I did not like.

I headed down to Toy Story Midway Mania. The line moved quickly. I enjoyed the game and was back on beaver level this time. I am still living in hope that eventually I will progress to the next level. However, for the time being, I was happy with the beaver. Once I had finished my turn, I walked to the other end of Pixar Pier. I decided to check out one of the shops and found a really cute silver 100 years of Disney Loungefly backpack. I was glad that I had not bought the other backpack earlier as I liked this much more. I bought this and then started to head towards the exit. I got there much quicker than I had anticipated. That the park was not as busy as Disneyland was the previous day definitely helped.

I had arranged to meet for lunch with one of my friends. Jenn was our photographer when we renewed our wedding vows in 2011 and has become a dear friend. Since we had last seen each other, she had two children. Meeting up for lunch while her children were in school, worked best. We arranged to meet at Earl of Sandwich. Earl of Sandwich is quite close to the parks, and I arrived there quite a bit ahead of our arranged meeting time. I found a wall to sit on and worked on the trip report on my phone. At some stage, Jenn messaged me that she had parked and was on her way. I got another message that she was lost somewhere in the Grand Californian Hotel. I headed in this general direction. As I got close to the hotel entrance from Downtown Disney, Jenn came the other way. We walked back together and ordered our food. Jenn went to find a table outside. I had the Cuban sandwich, which consisted of tender carnitas, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and Cuban mustard sauce. I had some tomato soup and a soft drink with this. I had a birthday voucher for a cookie, but this was never forthcoming even though the voucher was scanned. The cookies did not look great, and I was not upset about this.

 

As with Ken and Sue, Jenn and I were able to pick up like we had only seen each other a short while ago. We settled into a comfortable companionship and brought each other up to date with what had happened in our lives since we had last seen each other. It is such a wonderful gift to have people in my life where I can truly be myself without being afraid of judgement. There was a lot of joy and relief on this trip that friendships had survived some tough times, but also a good amount of regret that I had allowed difficult circumstances to come between me and my friends for a number of years.

 

At some point, Graham showed up. He had been out and about during the morning, but had returned quite early. He decided to check if he could find us. He joined us, but all too soon, it was time to say goodbye as Jenn had to go to get her children from school. We walked with her for a short stretch, but I wanted to have a quick look at World of Disney. We said goodbye. There was nothing at World of Disney that tempted me, and I came out empty handed.

 

Graham had not had lunch yet. There is a restaurant at Downtown Disney that specialises in burgers and milkshakes, but they had a huge line. Instead, we went back to the hotel, and he had a Wagyu Hawaiian cheeseburger with French fries at Tangaroa Terrace. He said this was very tasty. He had a coffee, and I got a soda cup for the Coca Cola Freestyle machines. Once he had finished his lunch, we headed outside. There is a window there and the bar behind it not only sells the same cocktails as Trader Sam’s, but they also sold Dole Whip and Dole Whip floats. They also offered the option to add a shot of coconut rum or dark rum. We both had a Dole Whip float with a shot of coconut rum. This was delicious.

 

We had planned to have a swim, but we were both stuffed. We figured that if we were going for a swim straightaway, we would sink. Instead, we went back to the room to relax for a while. I read and Graham just chilled. Once we had digested our food, we put our swim gear on and headed to the pool. The Villas at Disneyland Hotel have their own pool area consisting of a Steamboat Willie splash area, a good size pool and a big hot tub. People staying there can also use the hotel pools, but only people staying at the Villas at Disneyland Hotel can use the pool area there. They checked our details, and we were given a wristband. I checked the temperature of the pool and decided that this was too cold for my liking. I headed straight for the hot tub. Graham had a swim first and then joined me. The pool area was surprisingly busy for mid-afternoon. Once we had been boiled long enough, we got our, dried off as much as we could and then headed back to the room. We had a quick shower each and then we decided to have a nap.

 

I was awake just before the alarm went off. Graham woke up shortly after me. We got up and got ourselves organized. Then we headed over to the Grand Californian for dinner. Both of us have always liked the Hearthstone Lounge, which is just off the lobby. It is a cosy space and they always have had quite a nice food selection. In the past we had enjoyed their artisan pizzas as well as their small plates. This time round, we were in the market for their Chorizo Poutine, which consisted of seasoned steak fries, chorizo gravy, white cheddar cheese curds, sweet and hot peppers. I loved it, but Graham who had authentic poutine in Quebec was not convinced. Neither of us managed to finish our portion. It did not look particularly big by American standards, but was very filling. We had a bottle of Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling from Washington State with our dinner. We had developed a taste for this on one of our Alaska cruises in 2022. There was no divided opinion on this, and we both enjoyed it.

After dinner, I left Graham to head back to the hotel and I headed towards the entrance to Disney California Adventure. This time round, there was no line. I headed straight to Soarin’ Around the World. I managed to do this twice without too much wait. It turned out that this was my last time this trip that I was doing this ride. Then I headed over towards Pixar Pier to watch World of Color – ONE. I had made a virtual queue reservation earlier in the day. It was still nearly 30 minutes until show time, but this gets very busy. Indeed, there was already a huge crowd when I got there. I did get a nice spot just outside the splash zone and right behind a baby buggy, which meant that I had a nice unobstructed view. I used the downtime to take some photos.

This was the fourth version of World of Color that I had seen. Every time they roll out a new version, I have a certain sense of dread. I absolutely love the original version, and this is still my favourite. However, I was decidedly less than impressed with their holiday version World of Color: Winter Dreams that I saw in 2014. I loved the idea of behind this, but the execution was lacking. I liked the version they were showing in 2015, World of Color: Celebrate! The Wonderful World of Walt Disney, a lot better, but still not as much as the original show. World of Color – ONE is kind of a cross between the original version and World of Color: Celebrate! The Wonderful World of Walt Disney. It tries to celebrate the legacy of Disney to coincide with the 100 Years of Disney celebration and some parts are very moving. However, although I did enjoy it, I felt at times that they are trying too hard with this show and were trying to put too much in. It is still a nice show though and I am glad that I got to experience it.

One thing spoiled the show a little for me. In the end, I spent about an hour in one spot with no space to move even a little. Initially, I felt that my right thigh was feeling a little numb and then I developed a sharp pain, which was not a lot of fun. I was glad when I was able to move again. Initially the pain felt worse when I was walking, but by the time I was past The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, it started to ease off. When I got to the Grand Californian, I decided to sit down in the lobby for 10 minutes and after this, I felt as good as new. I headed back to the hotel. Graham was already fast asleep. I got ready for bed and soon I was asleep as well.