A short day in the parks meant we didn’t see and do a whole lot Disneywise. We knew we wanted to hit the 12:10 showing of Aladdin A Musical Spectacular, and our 1:30 reservation at the Blue Bayou. Anything on top of that was gravy.
We arrived at California Adventure a few minutes after the 10:00 opening and decided to skip Soarin’ Over California as it seemed they were still only operating at 50% capacity. Instead we headed over to Paradise Pier where Marie got back to her winning ways and beat me in Toy Story Midway Mania. After rides on California Screamin’ and Tower of Terror we joined the wait for the Mezzanine section of Aladdin A Musical Spectacular.
For those of you that haven’t seen the show, it has the same production quality of Finding Nemo the Musical over at the Animal Kingdom, but the songs are actually from the movie, and the Genie and Iago are given the ability to improvise a bit. It’s easily the best Disney Stage Show I’ve seen, and I’m quite pleased that they have decided to extend its stay in the Hyperion Theater.
Most of the free reign afforded to the performers is used with a variety of pop culture references. Marie and I made a bet as to whether or not there would be more American Idol references or Lost references. She won, as the only reference to either was a mention of Lee Dewyse by the Genie. The stakes were the window seat on our flight home.
We made our way over to Disneyland and the Blue Bayou after the show, and while they initially got my order wrong, it was fixed very quickly and all was forgiven. After quick rides on Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion we made our way to the exit. Disneyland fans will be glad to hear that Leota was floating around in the Séance room. I was under the impression that this hasn’t happened in quite some time.
Some points of note:
- Disneyland uses barcodes on the backs of their tickets instead of the magnetic strips used in Disney World. This seems to be far more efficient at the gates (where they also don’t have the biometric scan) as well as the Fastpass machines.
- Because Disneyland doesn’t have a strong demand for the Disney Dining Plan, we were able to make a last minute change to our Blue Bayou reservation. I don’t think this would ever be possible in a comparable restaurant in Disney World
- One downside of Disneyland dining is how centralized it is. In Disneyland, all the best restaurants are on top of each other in New Orleans Square. Over in California Adventure, many restaurants are stacked on top of each other in the Pacific Wharf area, with only a tour of the Mission Tortilla factory offered as an attraction/entertainment.
I wrote every paragraph before this one by 3:30. We left the hotel room at 3:43 with the intent of seeing a taping of Craig Ferguson. I recognize that this isn’t exactly breaking news, but L.A. traffic is horrible. We drove all the way to the CBS Parking Lot, and it was full when we passed by it at 5:27. I decided that considering the taping was at 5:00, that we should just go back to the room. We arrived back at the hotel at 7:17. We’re calling it an early night, while I go search for something to punch.
Attractions Visited
Disneyland
Haunted Mansion
Pirates of the Caribbean
California Adventure
Aladdin a Musical Spectacular
California Screamin’
Tower of Terror
Toy Story Midway Mania
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On this week’s episode of the WDW Fan Boys podcast, Tim and Brett discuss Tim’s recent trip to Disneyland. We talk about the issues that come from the homogenization of the parks in all the wrong places, as well as much more positive thoughts on Carsland and Club 33. At the end of the show we share an interview with Ron Bidnez of the WDW Kingdom Cast podcast. Ron shares some of his own thoughts from a recent trip to Disneyland as well.
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