Disneyland Day 1 (Part 4)

Cars is the movie we watched most recently before coming to Disney.  In preparation for our trip and the awesomeness that I hoped Carsland would be, I had borrowed a copy of Cars to watch with the family.  Let me say that having now been to Carsland, it doesn't let me down.  They have captured the unique aspects of each little character and building in Radiator Springs in perfect detail.  When you walk down the street in that town it is just an awesome site!  Amazing work!

The first ride we came to was Mater's Junkyard Jamboree.  Brian and I got in line with the kids but then took the chicken exit further on in the queue, once we realized what the ride entailed... spinning, and lots of it.  Brian and I watched from a side rail and took photos of the kids riding.  They seemed to like it and it did look like a lot of fun.

We decided to trek on down to Radiator Springs Racers, just so see what the wait time was.  It was  a full 75 minutes, which I just wasn't thrilled to wait in.  Brian suggested going single ride.  We asked the attendant, who said the single rider wait was under 10 minutes.  Yep, that's the way we're going!  Carissa and I were lucky enough to get together in a car.  We hit it at just the right time, as dusk was among us and everything was just starting to light up outside in Radiator Springs.  The ride was wonderful.  Not fabulous, but wonderful.  It's similar to Test Track in Epcot, but maybe not as well done, in my opinion.  It was good and is definitely something we'll do together as a family at some point.

On the way out of RSR we came upon this site... so beautiful at dusk!

Since we single ridered Radiator Springs Racers, we had a little time to wait until Brian caught up with us.  He also had the responsibility for getting the ride photos put on our card, so he had to take some time to do that.  While we waited I had the kids take a photo with a photopass photographer near the Stanley statue. 

I also took a minute to photograph Radiator Springs in all it's neon-lit glory.

While we were walking the road to RSR I saw the Luigi's Tire shop.  In my mind I though "gee, is that really just a tire shop for people to walk through?  And so many are going?"  When I said something to the kids about it they pointed out to me that it was actually the Luigi's Flying Tires ride queue.  Doh!  In it we went. 

 

 

 

The line was short but slow moving.  Brian and Tristan rode together, Carissa and I rode together and Chase rode on his own.  Some of us got around ok, some of us not quite so well.  By the time the ride was over I was sort of frustrated at my lack of control of the tire and the general lameness of the ride.   

When we got off the kids pointed out that we had 10 minutes to get to the Oswald animation class.  Eeek!  We double-time it though Bugs Land, only to get stopped by the Pixar Play Parade.  They made us wait for the parade to pass and then we crossed the street, only to walk down a little farther and cross the street again.  It was a hustle but in the end we made it.  Our feet were sore (and for Brian, still wet), so we looked forward to a length of time spent off our feet.  Our Oswald class was excellent and he was a fun character to draw.  I love, love, love the animation classes!  So much fun!

It had been a really long day for us so we proposed that we peruse the stores, get our stuff from the locker and then head out to find dinner.  Grabbed this Photopass photo of the kids by the Oswald shop while Brian was getting the bag.

We walked to Downtown Disney (despite Carissa's grumpy demeanor... apparently she was tired and hungry - not a good combination for her but one that can hopefully be remedied by dinner and a good nights sleep). 

 

We walked the length of DTD looking for somewhere to eat.  The first things that came into my mind when we talked DTD - Rainforest and Earl of Sandwich.  Right away Brian said EOS, as I've been dying to eat there again (I LOVE EOS when we're in WDW).  I got my Hawaiian BBQ Sandwich and it was so good! 

 

Carissa got a kids cheese sandwich (which wasn't enough for her), Tristan got a pizza sandwich, Chase got a chicken and bacon sandwich (which Brian tried and loved) and Brian got a ham and swiss.  We all polished off our entire sandwiches.  I'm not sure if they were just that good or whether we were super hungry.  Maybe it was both.

After eating we headed back through DTD, stopping at a few stores on the way...

 

LEGO store:

 ^ This is one of my faves from the trip!

 

Quiksilver store.  I regret not buying these hats for the boys because they are freaking hilarious!:

 

We spent about half an hour in World of Disney looking at some of the great things they have to buy.  We have our eyes on a few things already...

In the end we decided to hold off on purchases for tonight, as we just got a 20% off coupon with one of our meals and we planned on utilizing that for the best deal. 

We made our way back to the hotel, got our luggage and room keys, spent some time setting up and organizing things, brushed our teeth, read or relaxed a little and then went to bed.  Up next, Disneyland!  It doesn't seem real until we step foot in that park.  Tomorrow will be here soon, so I better head to bed myself.  Can't wait for what tomorrow brings!