We were, once again, determined to make the most of our third day at Disneyland Resort.   We headed out early so that we could be there at park entrance.  We wanted to get the famous “Radiator Springs” fast pass.  We were told that if you didn’t get one at opening, you wouldn’t get one, or onto the ride, without a 2 hour + lineup.  We were inside right away but found the line up for the fast passes all the way back to the entrance.  No way we wanted to stand in a lineup that long.  We we let go of the notion of riding it at all. We instead hopped in the line for Mator’s Tractor and Luigi’s Tires, the first one being fun and teacup-esque and the second being seriously overrated.  We took some snapshots of the area and then went to move on to get our World of Colour fast passes.  As we were walking past the lineup to the Radiator Springs fast passes, it was super short and nearing the actual booth.  So we thought we’d give it a shot  and sure enough, managed to snag a fast pass for 5:00PM.  YAY!  We then proceeded as planned and grabbed out World of Colour fast pass and then only the neighbouring Grizzly River Run, for the second time this trip.  We then followed that with the Redwoods outdoor area – as neither of us has been there before.

Even though we had done almost everything at the pier, we went back to check on the line for Toy Story – but it was still 1 hour + and neither of us wanted to wait (and therefore, didn’t ride this at all during the trip – my one disappointment).  Instead we cooled down on another ride in Ariel’s undersea adventure before meeting up with Buzz and Woody on the Pier and one more run through California Screamin’.  By now it was getting hot out, so we decided to catch the first showing of Aladdin – a 45 minute condensed musical of the movie.  SUPER funny.  The guy that played the Genie was excellent, with smart, witty, and current jokes that kept the audience laughing.  By the time the show wrapped it was time for Lunch, at Flo’s Drive In back in Carsland.

After lunch it was time to the hollywood studios backlot – starting with Tower of Terror.  freefall rides are not my favourite – but Sarah had never been so we joined the line, as it was less than 20 minutes.  We get into the ride, strapped into the seat and are waiting for it to start when Sarah makes a comment that leads me to believe she knows nothing about this ride.  So I ask her “do you know what this ride does?”  She looks straight at me “No – I just know it’s really popular.”  I look back at her “It’s going to take up up 13 stories, and then drop you.”  She looks at me, now panicked and wide-eyed, and responds, “WHAT!?!” At that exact moment the door opens to the outside, the floor gives out, and we begin to plummet, Sarah screaming the whole way down.  The humour of this helped calm my own nerves through the series of rises and falls.  Needless to say, once per trip is more than enough.  Following our scare here we headed to the Monsters Inc ride (super cute – and indoors and cold, which is great on a hot day!)  By this point we had seen everything we wanted, due to the quiet park and our power walking the day  before.  So we headed back across the way to Disneyland.  We went straight for Winnie-the-Pooh – one of the last rides on our to do list.  After a 5 minute wait we hopped aboard the honey pot and through the hundred acre woods.  By now  the sun was low on the horizon and the air starting to cool – the perfect time to catch the super short lines for more Princesses, as families had just left the park to take their kids for dinner or were occupied by the parade.  We then braved the last our long lines – Tinkerbell – just to catch a picture for Amelia (45 minutes).  We wandered around and caught one more ride before enjoying some dinner, and then back across, again, to California Adventure to find out seats for World of Colour.

Now, we had fast passes for this, but fast passes only meant you could get into 1 of three lines – Blue, Red or Yellow – that would eventually let you into 1 of three roped off sections.  While we got their early and had blue (the closest), it still meant 30 minutes of standing in line, followed by 1 hour of standing in your section.  We started by sitting on the ground, but as more and more people pushed in, it got more and more crowded and standing was essential.  There was a point that I thought about bailing, given my hatred of crowds and my feet that felt like they were being stabbed with knives due to the excessive walking we had been doing.  But I managed to fight through the pain and get to the show.  AND BOY AM I GLAD I DID.  This BY FAR the best show Disney has ever put on.  Just outstanding.  Everything about it was beautiful, and magical and….colourful.  And I LOVE colour.  My only regrets was that I didn’t have my DSLR, Tripod and a perfect straight on view.  Because all I wanted to do was watch the show on repeat and take the perfect photos. The music was beautiful, and the scenes selected outstanding.  I need to work on the science of obtaining the perfect view for a future visit for this purpose alone.  But in the meanwhile, the beautiful images are burned in my mind, a reminder of disney magic to last a life time.

On our way out, it now being 10:30, we made one last jump back across to Disneyland to find – successfully – “Christmas Mickey.”  That is Mickey Mouse in an “awesome” Christmas sweater.  Perfect way to end the trip.

I am so grateful to have had this time away with my best friend.  Every moment, memory and laugh will stay with me for a life time.  And give my dedication to my work, and desire to be “responsible”, Disneyland was the perfect place for me to let go and embrace my imagination.  To see the world again with eyes of wonder.  To laugh, an to smile and to be happy.  And to be IN the moment – something that I struggle with every day.  To shout out to Walt for this vision, for making this happen, and to all those to work tirelessly to keep the Disney dream alive and well every day.  I’m grateful for all of it.