critter country

‘ello, lovelies!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend that was filled with delicious mounds of food, great company, and sweet deals! And if you didn’t celebrate it, I hope your weekend was full of delicious mounds of food, great company, and sweet deals anyway, because food is awesome and so are cool people, and everyone did some sort of shopping this weekend, riiight? Plus Cyber Monday is tomorrow. AH!

Like I mentioned in my last couple of posts, my boyfriend and I went to Disneyland for a few days to celebrate our one year anniversary!!! We even got some “Happy Anniversary” buttons and wore them the whole time we were there, and so many people wished us a happy anniversary, or congratulated us — the latter we were kind of thrown off by. I mean, you congratulate a couple when they get engaged or married, right? But surviving a whole year is an accomplishment in and of itself because relationships are HARD WORK — and, not to get too into my relationship, but Tim and I pretty much only get to see each other during the weekend, or every other weekend, so to be able to stick together through long distance and other obstacles is pretty amazing. Therefore, congratulations were well deserved!

Disneyland during the holiday season is quite a spectacular site — everything is way more shinier and sparklier and the whole place is much more magical than usual. What do I mean by “much more magical than usual,” you ask? Isn’t Disneyland ALWAYS magical? Well, yes. Of course it is! But with all the holiday decorations and trees that have ornaments bigger than my head and Sleeping Beauty Castle all decked out in pretty lights and faux snow… all those details make it possible for Disneyland to be WAY MORE MAGICAL than usual. And the Haunted Mansion gets a The Nightmare Before Christmas makeover which is one of the top reasons why I think Disneyland is at its best during this time of year. 🙂

So, the rest of this post shall be a photo spam! I’ll sprinkle in some wordy bits throughout, but I hope you enjoy these photos as much I enjoyed my time spent at the ~~Happiest~~ Merriest Place on Earth!

I took so many pictures of this dude. I think this is probably the best shot of the bunch.

I spy Sparky from Frankenweenie. Do you?

Jukebox made out of old car parts. If you look closely, there are car radios inside!

Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree is the only ride in Cars Land that we got to go on, and despite the annoying soundtrack (I feel so bad for the folks who operate that ride), it was really fun! The line to get fast passes for Radiator Springs was just as long as the line for the actual ride itself. Ridonkulous, right?! I didn’t want to wait 3 hours to get a ticket to go on a ride at a later time and then go back and wait an extra 30-45 minutes to go on the ride. Y’know what I’m sayin’?

I’m not a huge Cars fan, but Cars Land was beautifully executed! We had lunch at Flo’s V8 Cafe and I had an Apple Cheddar Pie that was pretty damn tasty. Next time I go in January I’ll be sure to take more pictures of Cars Land. I was too caught up in the atmosphere to snap some photos.

I wanted to be a Can-Can dancer when I was little because of the ones on It’s a Small World. They’ve always been my favorite.

My sister has been raving about the deep fried pickles at the Carnation Cafe on Main Street. I HATE pickles. However, I discovered that when they’re deep fried they are delicious. So weird. Tim ordered them because he figured I’d never have tried them if he didn’t. And I swear if I lived closer to Disneyland I would go there all the time and have a blog dedicated to their food!

I felt that my blue and green tartan blazer matched well with the decor inside Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. I’d also like to note that this ride is extremely effed up — you end up dying of drunk driving and the ride ends with you going to hell! Seriously. I still enjoy it though.

It literally hurt to take this picture. The sun in our eyes was no bueno.

Tim kicked my ass on the Toy Story Mania ride. 😦 It’s okay though, I always kick his on the Buzzlight Year ride — it evens out.

There were a few costumes from Once Upon a Time displayed in the Hollywood Backlot (California Adventure), but the glare on the window made it impossible to take pictures. I’m kind of questioning if they were the ones actually used on the show anyway because Charming’s costume looked horrifically dinky when Josh Dallas looks all kinds burly. So here’s a picture of the book! Or maybe it’s a replica. I don’t know. o,0

F*ck yes, Lego Prince Phillip!

Tim and I decided to do a special World of Color dining thingy at Wine Country Trattoria — you get to eat a fancy dinner that includes an appetizer, entree, dessert, a complimentary drink, and tickets for the reserved section of World of Color. While making reservations the woman was telling us that adults could get a special alcoholic beverage that has a glowing cube, and since kids like the glowing cube, they have special cups for kids and glowy things — The Little Mermaid for girls and Lightning McQueen for boys. I totally ordered the kid’s drink because I wanted the cup. Our waitress was really thrown off by my ordering it. Haha! Glowy Ariel is kind of creepy though. And I think I left her at the hotel. 😦

The reserved area we were assigned was smack dab in the middle! But then a nice Cast Member (in case you don’t know, that’s what Disneyland employees are called) on the lower deck told Tim and I that he could let us go to the front row for an even better view. He felt that we had an unfair advantage since folks would be coming in and we’d have to look over their heads. And he also noticed our “Happy Anniversary” buttons and said he wanted our anniversary to be special. 😀

I was also freeeeezing because my dumb ass wore a skirt in the evening, so I was really excited about the part of the show with the pyrotechnics. Insta-warmth! Except when all the pyrotechnics went off, there were also tons of misty bits. So… yeah.

I’ve been wanting to take a picture with Winnie the Pooh while wearing my Doctor Pooh shirt for nearly a year, and I FINALLY did it on our last day there! I thought Pooh Bear was coming in for a hug because he had his arms spread out, but then he stopped and pointed at my shirt and started clapping. And then he blew me kisses as I was leaving. I love Winnie the Pooh ❤

Eeyore poked our buttons as a means to say “Happy Anniversary!” to us. At least I think that’s what he was doing. You can never tell with that guy on account of him being perpetually gloomy and all.

And that concludes my photo spam! Hope you all enjoyed. 🙂

Cheers,
Nina

star wars darth vader jedi training academy disneyland — Jedi Training Academy @ Disneyland

I was supposed to post this yesterday, but I was out and about and didn’t have a computer handy. Sooo, here it is, part 2!

For our second full day at Disneyland, we headed to Tomorrowland to watch the Jedi Training Academy show. I’ve seen it in bits and pieces from previous visits as I passed by, but it’s actually a lot of fun to watch. Jedi masters pick kids out from the crowd and teach them how to battle with lightsabers. They call the kids up by what they’re wearing — some kid had R2-D2 Mickey ears on and the Jedi said, “You, with the r2 unit on his head.” 🙂

The way he talked reminded me of the Old Spice guy — very charismatic with tons of machismo. I think this is probably the raddest job a person can have at Disneyland — you get paid to be a Jedi and play with lightsabers!

Darth Vader, a couple of Stormtroopers, and Darth Maul (not pictured because I couldn’t get a decent shot of him) came out, and the little padawans got to duke it out with them. My nephew Jacob NEEDS to do this the next time he goes to Disneyland. He would go to town with a lightsaber and kick Darth Vader’s ass. I’m sure of it.

stormtrooper force push jedi training academy disneyland — Force push!

darth vader star wars jedi training academy disneyland — Darth Vader!

star wars stormtroopers darth vader jedi training academy disneyland — Even if you don’t have kids, any Star Wars fan should watch this.

After the Jedi Training Academy, Tim and I picked up Fast Passes for Space Mountain, and then the four of us watched Captain EO. What’s a trip to Disneyland without some Michael Jackson in space?

toy story rex 3d glasses captain eo — “Oh boy, my first 3D movie!”

Since my sister had to go back to work the next day (booo), her and Ryan left after we took pictures with Eeyore, Tigger, and Pooh.

eeyore disneyland critter country — Tim’s favorite!

disneyland tigger critter country — The one and only T-I-DOUBLE-GA-ER!

It didn’t occur to us until afterwards that we could’ve taken a group picture with one of the characters. So here we are by Splash Mountain:

disneyland critter country splash mountain — Basically the one and only decent group shot of us.

After they left, Tim and I headed back to Space Mountain and looked around the gift store near the exit with all the arcade games. In there, I saw a claw machine full of Beanie Babies! Tim was determined to get one, so he got enough tokens for each of us to have a go at it. He went for a little non-Beanie Baby black bear, but missed. For my turn I decided to go for the little black bear as well, since he seemed attainable and was really the only cute thing in there. And I GOT IT! I’ve won a toy from a claw machine once, I was probably 6 when it happened. As I saw the claw scoop it up (this claw machine had a nice scoopy-thing going on, which is way better than the traditional claw because it makes it feel like you have a chance), I tried really hard not to jump up and down out of excitement for fear of possibly shaking the bear out of the claw’s grasp. And when it landed in the slot, I did my little happy dance. “I got it! I got it!” I think I was more excited about this win than the first time I actually won one when I was 6. Tim said there was some girl behind us that said in a somber voice, “She got the one that I wanted.” Is it bad that that made me even more excited? o,0

So where’s the bear? You’ll see him in a bit.

gonzo camilla the muppets 3d california adventure disneyland resort — We watched The Muppets 3D show. It’s nice way to escape the SoCal heat.

gonzo the muppets 3d california adventure disneyland resort — GONZO!

Decorations for the Mad T Party are already in place near the Monsters Inc. ride. Unlike elecTRONica, the Mad T Party doesn’t take up most of the Hollywood Backlot, which is nice because I hated how it overpowered the area… not that I don’t like TRON or anything. It just took away from the rest of the place!

mad t party disneyland resort california adventure white rabbit — Don’t worry, White Rabbit. You’re too early.

mickey mouse pretzel disneyland — Mickey Mouse pretzel!!!

mickey mouse pretzel pacific wharf california adventure disneyland resort — Tim’s Mickey ears.

I didn’t know that some changes were made to The Little Mermaid ride recently, but it was a pleasant surprise to spot them. There are two bits of an animated Ariel that were originally CGI, so they looked nothing like the Ariel that we know and love from the movie. Those were changed to look more like the hand drawn animated version of her, so she looks more familiar to riders. And more bubbles were added to the part of the ride that stimulates a decent under water.

The biggest change I noticed was Ariel’s hair during the “Under the Sea” part. Before, her hair looked like a big giant red tornado, or a Treasure Troll. Take a look here. It was just all kinds of awkward. And apparently John Lasseter thought so too, hence why all the changes were made to the ride.

ariel new hair little mermaid ride california adventure — Ariel’s new ‘do. Less Treasure Troll, more mermaid-y.

the little mermaid ride california adventure disneyland resort kiss the girl — Kissy kissy.

After visting Ariel and co. we went to the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail so I could find out what my spirit animal is! I’m kind of obsessed with spirit animals. I keep trying to find places that will tell me what my legit spirit animal is, but I always wind up with funky online quizzes.

redwood creek challenge trail california adventure disneyland resort — Redwood Creek Challenge used to be themed around ‘Brother Bear’

Tim and I didn’t see Kenai’s Spirit Cave the last time we went, so we went exploring and eventually found it. Yeah, we could’ve used the map, but what’s the fun in that?

spirit animal cave brother bear redwood creek challenge trail california adventure disneyland resort — Tim’s spirit animal is a wolf.

I got confuzzled when I went to go see what my spirit animal was. At first a skunk appeared, but then a moose quickly showed up after. Thus, I have decided my spirit animal is both a skunk and a moose. 😛

redwood creek challenge spirit animal california adventure disneyland resort — What, no deer?

black bear redwood creek challenge trail california adventure disneyland resort — Remember that bear I won in the claw machine? Well, here he is! Griswald Spaceman (spa-che-men, like Dr. Spaceman on 30 Rock).

Peter Pan’s Flight was our last ride of the night, but they had some crazy technical difficulties going on about a half hour into our wait period. But we stayed anyway!

peter pan's flight fantasyland disneyland — Best ride in Fantasyland, hands down.

king arthur's carrousel disneyland fantasyland carousel horses — I love carousel horses! They are pretty much one of my favorite things.

jingles king arthur's carrousel disneyland fantasyland carousel horses — Jingles, the lead horse, was dedicated to Julie Andrews in 2005. I love her. I wish she were my grandmother.

The next day we checked out of our hotel and before heading back up north, we decided to go to the park for a bit. On our way to Toy Story Midway Mania, we saw this Doctor Who and Mad Men art! Crystal Webb, the artist of the DW stuff, talked to us for a bit and we basically nerded out about the Doctor and what companions we liked, and some other random stuff. I think we talked to her for a good 15 minutes. Maybe even 30. I don’t know. Always nice to chat with a fellow Whovian though. You can check her out her art here.

doctor who donna 10 david tennant catherine tate don draper calfornia adventure disneyland resort — Doctor Who art by Crystal Webb, Don Draper by Orlando de la Paz

As usual, the line for the Toy Story ride was a 45 minute wait, but it’s pretty much the best ride at California Adventure. I’m usually really good at kicking Tim’s bum on this ride, (and Astroblasters, Wii bowling, and Wii tennis too), but when we went in March, HE TOTALLY SCHOOLED ME. I had to redeem myself. We made a bet that the loser has to buy lunch.

rex toy story mania mr. potato head california adventure disneyland resort — Rex & Potato Head

toy story midway mania rex trixie california adventure disneyland resort — Rex fits right in!

There came a point where we were neck and neck, but Tim won in the end. Hot dogs were on me.

After lunch we learned how to draw Phineas and Ferb. I don’t have our doodles, so I couldn’t take pictures of them to share with you all. Sorry! They didn’t turn out too shabby though. And since you can’t see them, you’ll just have to take my word for it. Or don’t. Whichever. I don’t care.

pocahontas mulan jane tarzan concept art animation building california adventure disney — Concept art from Pocahontas, Mulan, and Tarzan

Before we embarked on our 7 hour drive back home, we hit Disneyland one last time to grab snacks at the Jolly Holiday Cafe. I think that’s my new favorite eating spot at the park. They have soooo many tasty pastries and soup and sammiches. And the decor!