Monday, July 06, 2009

Winding down

Our monorail ride is over, and we discuss our next options as we descend the stairs from the station.

My parents and Brandon are going to try Space Mountain again, on the off chance that it is running now, so away they go. Autopia is still not up, so the rest of us head towards Fantasyland.

We walk around the Matterhorn, and the long queue of people waiting to ride on the Tomorrowland side. Bob needs to freshen up, so I consult my map and point him in the right direction. Meanwhile, it’s kind of warm and we’ve gotten thirsty, so we spot a soft drink vendor and a shaded bench. He says he’ll meet us back here.

Becky and her mom share one drink, Benjamin and I another. It’s really very pleasant here in the shade. We are just a short distance from the monorail track, so a sleek train hums by us regularly. I’m able to get what I used to refer to as my “postcard shot,” a great, well-framed picture that could easily be on a postcard, but that seems so dated now. Instead, the picture of Monorail Blue is a great “desktop wallpaper shot”!

Bob takes his time returning – sightseeing a bit along his way – so we are able to finish most of the sodas while we wait. Okay, on to Fantasyland! We spot the Teacups! And we… walk right by them! Spinning rides are not our thing.

As of now we’ve been in the parks for over seven hours. Although I got a lot of needed rest last night and my breathing is better than yesterday, I could be ready to call it a day soon. Plus I think I’m starting to get a blister on my the big toe of my right foot. We’ll see how much longer I last.

Our gang still wants to ride one or more of the classic dark rides here in Fantasyland. Bob’s first choice is Peter Pan’s Flight with its suspended sailing ship ride vehicles, which I agree is an awesome ride. But my first pick is Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, one of Disneyland’s original attractions, and one I've never done before. None of the rest of my group know anything about it, so it’s a hard sell. I try telling them that it’s the only ride that ends up in “Hell,” but somehow this fails to excite them.

As we pass Dumbo, we survey the group of dark rides on either side of King Arthur’s Carousel, in the shadow of the castle. It looks as if Pinocchio’s Daring Journey has the shortest line. That’s also one we’ve never ridden, so that’s where we go first.

The wait is not long, and we board our “wooden” cars and plunge into the world of Pinocchio. We travel from scene to scene, through Gepetto’s home, to Pleasure Island – not the fun Walt Disney World one – have an encounter with Monstro the whale, and then the Blue Fairy shows up to save the day. Simple but fun.

So… what next? We walk across to Mr. Toad – the wait is 40 minutes. That’s a bit much for a ride that only I am enthused about. Peter Pan’s Flight? 40 minutes. Okay, really it’s a bit much of a wait even when we are all enthused about it. We discuss whether to stick around, but like me, all of us think we’ve had a full and satisfying day. We agree to start for the exit, with maybe some shopping along the way.

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