2012 - August 2nd & 3rd - Disney Resort Mini-Staycation

We obtained early morning 7AM passes for The Disney Resort for August 2nd and 3rd ... California Adventures on the 2nd and Disneyland on the 3rd. The main purpose was to see Cars Land as annual passholders without enormous crowds. Being the early morning person that Larry is known for, we stayed in a motel on Harbor Boulevard across from the Disney Resort on the 1st and 2nd which was a mere 5 minute walk from our room to the front gate turnstiles of the parks. It sure did beat battling early morning traffic and rising even earlier to get to the parks! We had a great time.

Cars Land is pretty much the animated movie come to life. The Imagineers did a terrific job of recreating every aspect of Radiator Springs. The first ride we went on was Mater's tow ride. It was fun and brings back some childhood antics.

The Luigi's Floating Tire Ride is controlled by everyone in the tire leaning to made the tire move in the direction you want to go. The tires really do float on air cushions. Again a wonderful time.

The big ride is The Radiator Springs Racers. By being at the right spot at the right time we were the second riders on this day; that sure beat the minimum 2 hour wait line that ensued. The track takes you through a wonderful mountain ride seeing many spectacular sights and ends in a roller-coaster speed race at the end. Just TERRIFIC !!!
   
The Radiator Springs town is just like the movie coming to life from Flo's Cafe, Mater's Tow Shop, The Cozy Cone Motel, Luigi's Tires, and all other familiar shops and stores.

Larry with The Stanley Cup Monument in front of the Radiator Springs Fire Department.
 
Flo's and the lone Radiator Springs traffic light
Radiator Springs:
     
We continued with our California Adventures by visiting the other lands, seeing shows and riding rides. The Red Car Trolley that started LA mass transit prior to the car revolution of California, is of prominence on the Main Street here.

We couldn't miss the live Aladdin show at the Hyperion Theater for a 40 minute break in the afternoon relaxing in comfy chairs and air conditioning. It's always a must see if you can find the time to spare. The jokes are updated daily! We rode the clam shells in the Little Mermaid ride, saw the It's Tough to be a Bug in Bug Land, rode Soarn' Over California, did the Monsters Inc. ride, walked through Adventure Range obstacles, rode many other rides and shopped all of the stores.
Enjoyed the street show of the News Boys bringing Mickey to Hollywood for his big break in 1936.
  





   


We took a few minutes to relax in The Mad Hatter Tea Party set that is an evening night club:

And had a wonderful lunch in the Paradise Pier Restaurant that is gorgeous:
Paradise Pier is always fun ...

After much fun, we took a couple of hours off at the motel to rest up for the evening and grab a quick dinner. We had gotten our fast passes for The World of Color at 9 PM. We wanted to get the bridge location, so arrived early and staked out our spot. It's a fantastic show that pictures cannot do justice.



We wanted to see Cars Land with all of the 60's neon signs after the show and enjoy some more of the park.



The next day we arrived for early morning passes for Disneyland. The park was not crowded with most people wanting to get in early at California Adventures. Main Street was pretty empty which made being in the park early a rewarding experience.
 
We went on all of the rides in Fantasyland that normally are swarmed with little ones anxious to ride Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, The Mad Hatter and such. We went on Star Tours that was refurbished last year and got a completely different version from the one we went on before. Just to walk onto the Yellow Submarines without a line was thrilling. We rode many rides that we hadn't in a long time. It was glorious. We ended our stay and said good-bye to Walt & Mickey for this time.
We then drove down to Dana Point Harbor to eat at our favorite restaurant for seafood, the Dana Point Harbor Grille. It was nice to relax and chill out from our mini staycation. After lunch, we drove the beaches on PCH to Long Beach. Had a wonderful Disney Magical Time!

Check out all of the pictures in Our Albums or by clicking on the Disney Resort link here.