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Rick and I fly in, so we're at Disneyland early, and spent the day doing a variety of things; Big Thunder (seen here), Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, Grizzly River Run, and the like.
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Tuesday, we all tromped in.
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Beverly's a little glazed over from how very "Disney" Disneyland is.
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Many of the rides in Fantasyland featured one single gold conveyance; one gold car, one gold horse, or, for Storybook Land, one gold boat. We happened to get the gold boat in this case.
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Why, yes, we are having fun!
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Kathy's a maniac on the Roger Rabbit ride.
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Pointing out the kissing scene on King Arthur's Carrousel
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Beverly takes Rick out for a drive on Autopia.
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Something new on the Jungle Cruise: piranahs!
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The piranahs are headed our way....
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They're all around us!
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Aiiiiieeee!
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Survived the piranahs, only to get sprayed by this baby elephant. It has much better aim than its older compatriots earlier in the ride.
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One of the vines in Tarzan's Treehouse is intriguingly bare.
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Another new thing for the 50th anniversary are photo-mosaic collages all over the parks. The Fantasia one is one of the larger ones.
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This is how it looks from about 15 feet away.
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Take a closer look at the firey blast....
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...and you can see how it's made up of thousands of little photos.
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A few more examples.
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We lunched at the Blue Bayou. This was dessert.
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On Tom Sawyer Island.
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The 50th Anniversary logo could also be found all over the park. I thought this version particularly clever.
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Across the river, this wrecked train is infested with critters.
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Our triumphant return from the island.
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The Parade of Dreams. We are treated to a Fairy Pavane, as they dance and swirl in front of us.
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The little next to us on the curb was fearless. She wanted to hug everybody that came near.
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Thursday we hit California Adventure.
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Soarin' over California. Wheee!
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The new Bug's Life themed playground area.
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We decide to go "flying."
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That was fun. Now it's lunchtime.
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We have reservations to dine with princesses.
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Cinderella...
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Snow White...
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Ariel (with feet today)...
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Jasmine (the ladies insisted that we be in at least one picture. Who with? Um, duh)....
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...and Belle.
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Afterward, we did Paradise Pier.
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The afternoon was mostly spent in the Hollywood area. Here, we're waiting to see Muppet*Vision 3D.
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We saw lots of characters, but I was particularly glad to see Mr. and Ms. Incredible.
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Yes, it's safe to say that the new, redesigned Space Mountain....doesn't suck.
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The Mad Hatter's playing charades with various park-goers and the Queen of Hearts, the White Rabbit, and Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
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Jack Skellington's math for a perfect Christmas, as seen on the outside of the Haunted Mansion.
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Sleeping Beauty's castle (her name is Aurora, by the way), got a new paint job for the 50th, and five crowns were added to it, one for each decade of the park. 55-65, lower left, Mickey Mouse. 65-75, middle, Tomorrowland (rocketship is visible). 75-85, top, Electric Light Parade. 85-95, lower right, Indiana Jones and the Forbidden Eye (Eye of Mara looking out of the crown). 95-05, lower center, Tinkerbell.
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Friday afternoon was devoted to shopping.
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And resting. Here, in the bar in the Grand Californian hotel. We skipped the big Friday Night Fireworks show because we were pretty pooped from all the fun, and out feet hurt. Our vacation ended not with a bang, but a whimper.
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