you've been PLAGUED: parks. swings. bears. food. and Fantasmic!

[plagued]

i almost never do trip reports.. but i decided to take my camera with me yesterday as i visited the parks for 1.) the return of Fantasmic!, 2.) paradise park (yes, i haven't seen it yet) and 3.) food&wine festival (even though i couldn't do much since i was with an under-21 friend)

This is PART 1. Click Here for Part 2. Click here for Part 3.

i ignored the TURN LEFT HERE sign at Ball and Harbor and took my chances with Mickey&Friends Structure. as far away and hassle-y as it is, i still like parking there.. i feel it's tradition for me to.

got myself parked at about 3:00pm or so.


mickey's having a crazy dance party all by himself...?


i figure this is rarely shot.. it's a nice tidbit of architecture, so might as well


once off the tram.. ITS A RUSH TO THE BAG CHECKS.. to the DEATH!!
...or calmy walk that works too




ENTER CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE
my friend wouldn't be at the park to meet with me in about a half hour, so i decide to go into California Adventure first because i haven't seen Paradise Park yet and thought i should while the sun is still up:


the chef showcase was stationed at sunshine plaza! this is all new to me since i haven't been to the park since the F&W festival started.


*checks my tag under my username* yep. i thought these jackets were cool. but that means there were two more Pixars for all the Pixar in the park haters :P


if asked, "how is the little mermaid construction going?" my answer: "...it's.. going.."



PARADISE PARK


a view of the pier from the park. it was a beautiful day out if you can't tell! BUT i was bummed that the World of Color fountains weren't submerged so i can really take in all the beauty...


a look at the park. it's really quite calm in these areas. extremely relaxing!! if i was still in college, i'd study here.


the middle circle of the park. with a view of the pier.


apparently there's a show coming soon.. anyone heard of it?


special guests! these guys were on a crane-boat-thing. i think they were rescuing a DROWNING FISH!


looks to be a control room.. if you look closely (or click the picture to go to the enlarging page) the paper on the window says "WEEEEE" i thought it was pretty funny.



silly symphony swings are open (as you knew). and people seem to be having a blast!



SILLY SYMPHONY SWINGS
my friend finally arrives. after he takes in the gentle and calming ambiance of paradise park (his first visit as well). i point out to him that silly symphony swings is now open. we decide to head over to ride it.




here's the part where i say WEEEEEeeeeeeeeEEee!!


and then add another part where i still continue to say WEEEEEeeeeeeeeEEee!!

..ok i lied, i was pretty silent on the ride. and taking pictures and focusing on my camera the entire time made me a bit dizzy. the 'kiddy carnival ride' was a little more intense than i was expecting!




THIS CONCLUDES PART ONE!!

why? because i'm incredibly sleepy.. and it seems like the MiceChat forums are going through some visual (but nice!) changes and it's throwing me off.

MORE TO COME! - STAY TUNED for:

• Mickey's Fun Wheel + Carsland Construction
• Lots-O-Huggin Bear
• FOOOOOD festival
• snacks...
• Fireworks
• and the return of FANTASMIC!

[Laura678]

More more more!!!

I like your captions under almost every pic!

[loveforfamily]

Ooooh the swings look fun!!!Looking forward to more....Thanks for posting

[dmtnt55]

The Swings look great!

[Let's Enunciate]

Always love your contributions to the MiceChat community plagued, nice to see a trip report. Just like your photoshop entries this Trip Report continues your good work. Thanks a bunch!

[astrologic]

I love it, Byron! I can't wait for part two.

[Fish_in_water]

LOL, stupid imagineers putting up signs, whats next, "No girls allowed! they have cooties!"?? no wonder why we dont get very much stuff often.

....kidding.

[penguinsoda]

Byron!! Wake up! Its time for more trip report!!!

I love the sign on the window of the WOC control room!! Who said techs have no sense of humor!

[hurricanecolby !]

i've never been on those swings, yet. they look like they'd make you throw up.

[ChessurInWonderland]

I love Pixar, too! =) And great Silly Symphony Swings pictures! I can't wait to go on it, or at least see it in person now that it's open. Can't wait for part 2, especially Lots-O!

[plagued]

thank you all for the kind words so far! as being my second trip report and first multi-part tr, i still consider myself a rookie to the game!

but as promised, here is MOAR.



MICKEY'S FUN WHEEL

normally i'd prefer the swinging gondola's on Mickey's Terror Wheel.. but i wanted to focus more on the Carsland construction and share pictures with you guys! so we took the non-swinging gondola:


carsland construction! I SAY THEY LEAVE IT as it is.. and open Carsland with it like this.. isn't that what they did with Mulholland's Madness??


the other side of construction. because construction is multi-faceted. just like your radiant manageable hair when you use Pantene Pro-V.


is that a testing prototype car?? lightning mcqueen anyone??


paradise park from above and afar! it's looking quite nice if i say so myself!


and just my luck! the World of Color fountains were submerged!!

we got off the wheel of death and upon exiting, i saw this duck and her ducklings!:


but sadly..

they were eaten by this mini-whirlpool. RIP ducks.



PIXAR PLAY PARADE

ok.. so maybe it's not really the whole parade as all i was interested in was seeing Lots-O-Huggin Bear in all his glory!

but first:

say hello to Slinky Dawwg!


LOTS-O-HUGGIN Bear appears! he looks so happy! and who wouldn't want to run up and hug him?


he waves hello!


they should release strawberry scents while he passes..


and here's a totally random picture of Jessie.. i'm honestly not the biggest fan of hers..

and call me a gigantic n00blet. but i just now noticed she has the Toy Story Midway Mania gun shooter in front of her!



FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL
minus the wine...

on our way to the Food Festival Showcase at Studio12, i stopped to smell the flowers:



the menu for the food showcase.. a lot of them looked so good! but not wanting to blow my entire wallet i limited myself to two plates:


the MarketPlace Slider: the bread, spicy mayo, and braised beef worked VERY well together. but when a piece of beef fell out and i ate it by itself, it tasted a bit on the low-quality/cheap side.. but as i said, altogether, it was quite good.


the Mucho Gusto Quesadilla: i would agree with its name. i enjoyed this dish a lot. the very thick quesadilla was filled with chicken, cheese, and arugula. very nice mix of flavors and very tasty.


this was a painting in the Food Showcase next to the small F&W shoppe. i think it was being painted by.. a PAINTER!



MAGIC MUSIC DAYS

i had no idea this was here. even though i'm a fan of Drawn to the Magic, this was a nice change of pace. and having been a former band geek, count me in as one of the appreciat0rz.


i give this school mad props. not just for playing at DCA. but for coming all the way from Washington and going to a school that their parents probably couldn't pronounce at first look.


they played all the MAD PARTY HITS! while my short time there, i heard an excerpt cue from Pirates of the Caribbean, "Somewhere Out There" from An American Tail, and the theme of Pink Panther.


for being so young, the string orchestra had a very mature sound. i call shenanigans! the L.A. Phil was probably under the stage at gunpoint demanded to play while they acted like it up top!


and what is an orchestra without the director? answer: an orchestra without a director.


on our way out of the backlot area, i stop by some balloons! check out those $12 overpriced beauties. actually nevermind. pretty boring in the daytime without the sparkly light to distract you when you're trying to watch Fantasmic..



SNACK SHOPPE

we stop by the snack shoppe so my friends can buy some goodies for their assigned lil' brothers and lil' sisters in their youth dance teams:


oatmeal raisin anyone? im not a fan of raisins.. so i like to pretend they're chocolate chips when i'm looking at it..


sodium chloride on a stick. covered by high fructose chocolate. covered by more mini high fructose chocolates in sugar shells. aka...... diabetes on a stick!


congrats grad! welcome to the recession where it's impossible to use your degree in finding a job! im not bitter..... -__-


the reason why children can last a whole day at Disneyland.. while parents are dying by the early afternoon.


i have nothing witty to say. these looked simply too good NOT to photograph.


on our way to Tower of Terror, i take a shot of the newly paved Red Trolley track!


CONCLUSION OF PART TWO!

STILL TO COME - The Finale!:

• 'Magical' Fireworks
• the return of Fantasmic! (and Murphy!)

[Alice in Wonderland]

Great TR! Can't wait for more!

[loveforfamily]

More Please!!!Can't wait for the grand finale...your pictures are awesome so clear and colorful...loved them..especially the yummy food ones

[ladollhouse]

Great Trip Report! I love all your commentary Can't wait for the rest!

[brand42]

Byron, thank you so much for the great report!

I am trapped here at work on a Saturday so the photos are definitely a welcome sight!

Without going into spoilers, I don't want to give Lotso a hug, though.