Day 2 – Sunday 20 Apr 2008

Weather: 53 & cloudy – hi 69 & sunny

We woke about 4:30 am (still on Eastern time = 7:30a) Took our time getting ready, dressing for the temps – Tracey wore jeans, long sleeved t-shirt, denim shirt & fleece vest and Scott in Jeans at a t-shirt. We were heading out of the room about 6:15 for a 7am Early Entry morning.

First to arrive at security gate about 6:25 – they let us thru about 5 min later. First at gate 15 (middle set of gates, right side) – chatted a bit with the CM’s as they got ready. They let us thru just before 7.

Darla from the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage

We wanted to head right for the Finding Nemo Sub voyage first. When we visited in May of 2006, the ride was only three weeks away from opening. The subs cruised around the lagoon teasing up. So we were dieing to see this attraction. Cast members were directing guest that wanted to ride Nemo to walk all the way around the Matterhorn.

We were stopped right at the beginning of the queue for Nemo and a cast member walked us thru the ENTIRE queue while walking backwards all the way. We ended up getting on the very first sub of the day - front seats on the right side.

This attraction is just amazing – the clouds had cleared, so the sun shone thru the lagoon waters & it was gorgeous! Once Nemo & Friends show up – wow…. the Nemo attraction in Epcot is a pale imitation. We should call the Florida version Nemo Light from now on.

About 7:40, we joined a 5 min line for the Matterhorn – left side of the mountain, which I’m not sure we’d ever ridden before. 7:50 over to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride = walkon, then a quick stop at the Mad Hatter to get a new visor for Tracey, as she’d forgotten hers at home.

We joined a short line for Alice about 5 til 8, then Tracey took a turn on the Teacups around 8:05…. There was barely a line, and a couple of empty teacups! We finally ran into a queue at Peter Pan – 20 minutes. Pinocchio was basically a walk on after that.

Teacup Tracey Twirls	The Cheshire Cat in the Alice in Wonderland attraction
The top of the Peter Pan ride	London in Peter Pan Queue

We left Fantasyland for Frontierland, taking the back way around by Big Thunder Ranch – very quiet back there! BTMRR had about a 5-10 min line, with 1 side running – was a bit chilly this morning! We walked across the hub to Tomorrowland – already an hour line for Nemo, but only a 5 min wait for Buzz at 9:05. We headed back around thru Fantasyland to Toontown – Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin was basically a walk on – surprised this area wasn’t more busy! Tracey took a snack break, picking up a pickle while Scott took photos around the Toontown area.

Big Thunder Mountain Load Area

We just missed the train at the Toontown station at 10 – decided to make the Grand Circle Tour to survey the park & see what looked busy & what didn’t. On our way over to Adventureland, we browsed thru the Frontier Mercantile, then caught the entire Tiki Room preshow – the Hawaii film as well as the tiki god intros – shared a Dole Whip while we waited.

We checked in about 10 min early for our 11:30 Blue Bayou reservation – the lobby was quite full, but we got a waterside seat. Tracey ordered a Monte Cristo (of course!) and Scott got the prime rib. Tracey saved ¾ of her sandwiches for later, as we had a cookie boat for dessert – yum! Definitely a splurge meal for us (both money and calorie-wise) but sooo worth it!

We decided to head back to the room to take a break & put up the leftovers. Because we booked thru the Walt Disney Travel Co (via Dream Come True Vacations) – we had a voucher for a free backpack – so we headed to the far side of DTD to the WDTC offices, then all the way back thru the esplanade & down Harbor Blvd back to the Hojo – it was about a mile and a half walk total – needless to say, we were ready for a nap by that time! It was about 1:20 when we got back. Scott downloaded his pix & surfed the net while Tracey snoozed for about an hour or so.

We wanted to try to get in a couple of DCA attractions before the Pixar Play parade at 5:15 – so headed back out to the parks about 10 til 3. Scott picked up a birthday button for Tracey (only 3 months late….) and we headed over to Mike & Sully to the rescue. This park was BUSY! Must’ve been a lot of people using the SoCal 2Fer ticket – spent yesterday at DL and today at DCA. The queue at Monsters Inc was right around 30 min at 3:20 – tho it kept moving nicely. It had warmed up enough for Tracey to shed the fleece vest & untuck/button her denim shirt… tho the wind was still a bit cool.

Headed over to the wharf area a little after 4 – took the Mission Tortilla tour – apparently they aren’t giving out the tortilla stacks to the birthday folk anymore (at least adults) – but we did get a YoaMD dream – we stopped to chat with the demo chef & she gave both of us a bag of cinnamon crisps – yum! Tracey was getting thirsty & was going to try a TropiCool drink from the margarita stand – but a long line served by only 1 CM wasn’t worth waiting in. We headed over to the Midway area instead and got a soda from one of the stands – Scott looked for a hat.

About 4:30, we staked out a spot for the Pixar Play parade – a bench in the shade across from Jumpin’ Jellyfish. It actually got a bit cool in the shade and Tracey put my fleece vest back on. The parade is pretty neat – Tracey was a little surprised they still did the water effects, since it was a bit cool. They use non-Disney music for this parade as well – a little surprising to hear Queen coming from a Disney float! J

Boo from Monsters, Inc.	Jack Jack from the Incredibles
Crush from Finding Nemo	Mr. Potato Head from Toy Story

We wandered over to Flik’s Fun Fair about 6 – got in a LONG line for Heimlich’s Chew Chew – We’d forgotten how short the ride is. Oh well. We looked around the area for a bit before deciding to try Soarin’ over California’s single rider line about 6:30. It took about 4 cycles for us to get on – the CM must’ve felt sorry for us, because he let us get on a flight together. We like the queue here quite a bit better – tho the interactive video game has spiced up the Epcot version a bit.

Headed back to the room for another rest – we really wanted to see Fantasmic! and figured the second show at 10:30 would be less hectic – planned on getting back in the park just before the fireworks at 9:25. Scott picked up a couple of burgers from McD’s on the way back, and Tracey finished my Monte Cristo leftovers – not to bad cold, but better when fresh & hot!

We each added an extra layer of clothing – a hoodie sweatshirt for Tracey and light jacket for Scott – and headed back to the park about 9, got to the hub over by the Frontierland bridge just in time to hear the firework cancellation announcement – we hustled over to Frontierland, where they were holding the crowds over by the Mark Twain dock while they cleared the Rivers of America area. They let us in about 9:45 and we found a spot riverside pretty much front & center. The ground was a bit chilly, but we had enough room to stretch our legs out & we were sitting down! Having the Columbia and the Mark Twain in the show really gives this version of Fantasmic! the edge over the WDW version. (tho the dedicated seating at Hollywood Studios is nice…) The storyline is a bit different, but Mickey still wins the day!

Mickey battles Maleficent

Sorcerer's Apprentice Directs the Magic

We were on our way out of the park about 10:55 and back to the room about 25 min later, stopping to take photos of Main Street along the way. Scott swore they moved the hotel a couple more blocks away ….

Mileage: 25,513 steps = 9.6 miles. Scott logged 22,753 steps & 8.9 miles.

Attraction Count: 17 (includes parade & Fantasmic)

Click here to see more pictures from Disneyland before the Backstage Magic Tour!

On to Day 3 of our Trip

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