Previous reports: Pre-trip report, post-pre trip report, day 1

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WARNING: Grap a [img]graemlins/beer.gif[/img] and set some time aside in your life. This is one long report. Sure you don't have to read the entire thing but then you'll miss out on me using the same adjectives over and over and over... [img]graemlins/mike.gif[/img]

Day 2

Rise and shine! I woke up pretty early since Disneyland was open at 8am - earlier than the Florida parks. A visit to the concierge was very convenient and I ended up saving a chunk of money from not having to pay for breakfast every morning. The breakfast in concierge was decent and the staff up there was very attentive. I got my bus pass and was off (in a trolley-bus by myself) like a herd of turtles.

The first thing I wanted to do was soak up the fact that I was finally in California. This trip had been postponed for a year and a half and I was finally in California on the West Coast. It was very exciting for me! I was surprised at how close the two theme parks were together - I thought the esplanade area was larger. Seeing the train station and the CALIFORNIA letters finally made me realize - I'm here! [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

When the park opened I immediately went for Indiana Jones. I could not wait to ride it. I almost ran over to Adventureland I was so anxious. Upon entering Main Street I had to stop for a second. It's one thing to visit a completely different theme park, but it's another to visit one SO SIMILAR to one that you frequent. Seeing Sleeping Beauty's castle in replace of Cinderella's was a bit of a slap in the face. It's so .... small. (I think it needs a new coat of paint.) I absolutely loved Main Street - it was even more authentic than the one in Walt Disney World, it seems. I'm sure they are almost identical, but for some reason...

Ok. I had to get over the whole castle ordeal. I realized the entire day was going to be "I like this better in Florida, but I like this better here" so I just had to get used to it. Adventureland in CA is great! Although it's very cramped, the theming is superb. I LOVED LOVED LOVED the queue for Indiana Jones and

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this ride. [img]graemlins/silly.gif[/img] It was phenomenal! The ultimate ride in theming, excitement, music, special effects, and just all around fun. I wish they could have made Dinosaur this good. Wow. The first time through I was surprised by so many things! The fireball, the snake, and the smoke-wall of rats all took me by complete surprise, and the finale with the rolling ball was just perfect. I'm glad I had never seen a video or any pictures of this ride since I was in awe. I got off and immediately rode it again. How could I not?

Now that I was in ecstasy, I decided to push it even further by hitting my favorite ride from the Florida Magic Kingdom: Space Moutain. I almost ran across the hub into Tomorrowland (the "almost running" thing happened a lot this day ). Tomorrowland is very nicely themed, but I didn't feel like it was as futuristic as WDW's. I liked the whole Mars/Earth/Space feel to the whole land, however.

Sadly enough, I was thoroughly disappointed with Space Mountain. While it was fun, WDW's is FAR superior. The fact that you don't ride alone, you can't see the ride from the queue (a major letdown), and no music playing in the background (not in the headsets, but in the background) was a mistake. [img]graemlins/mixed.gif[/img]