26 November ‘08 Wednesday
Our day started just as it did yesterday by heading directly into Disneyland and enjoying a couple more rides before California Adventures opened. Our first ride was in Adventure Land. We jumped into the Jeep of Indiana Jones Adventure and traveled a wild and crazy ride through the jungle and tunnels of Adventure Land. Next it was over to Frontier Land and the exciting train ride of Big Thunder Mountain.
Our day started just as it did yesterday by heading directly into Disneyland and enjoying a couple more rides before California Adventures opened. Our first ride was in Adventure Land. We jumped into the Jeep of Indiana Jones Adventure and traveled a wild and crazy ride through the jungle and tunnels of Adventure Land. Next it was over to Frontier Land and the exciting train ride of Big Thunder Mountain.
This is one ride that we all loved the last time we were here and rode it a number of times before we left. We thought about riding Splash Mountain but the additional thought of getting wet just didn’t give us the idea of fun, so we now have a reason to come back some day…when it’s a little warmer. Then it was time to head over to California Adventure. Our first ride there was one that we ended up doing twice. It was Soaring Over California. On this ride it takes you high into the air and you take this “virtual” glider ride over some of the wonderful locations throughout California. It is amazing how real the “virtual” feels…hang on… We followed that with another ride that we did twice. This one is known as Maliboomer.
On this ride, you sit on a seat that is attached to a 180 foot tower. At the end of a 10 count you are blasted straight up to the top of the tower and then “yo-yo’d” back down…WHAT A RUSH! Next door is another incredible ride. California Screamin…
This is one fast and long rollercoaster. First, you are LAUNCHED to an amazing speed and then launched directly upward. After reaching the top (and it doesn’t take much time) you are heading into a nose dive, a twist right and then left, jetted into a complete flip so that you are now upside-down and then some more of the same…AMAZING !!!
A little more timid ride was our next. The Orange Stinger, and then the Mulhalland Madness, and and and… What a day !!! Our last ride for the day was one that I really thought was a very old hotel. Well it turned out that this ride was one for the books. We took this “freight elevator” up 4 floors only to have the door open up in front of us and, showing us just how far up we were, and then the bottom drops out from under us plunging us up and down 2 to 3 floors each way. Of course each time we came to the 2 top floors the door would fly open and we would see the height we had obtained and lost. Quite a ride!!! Like yesterday, we pulled up stakes about 3 and headed back to the coach to re-group. One further location that our bus would take us was one that I’ve always wanted to visit…The Crystal Cathedral. We arrived at the Cathedral just before 7 and were amazed at what we found. First, I was disappointed that they don’t light the exterior of the building and tower, but that disappointment was short lived. They just happened to be having a dress rehearsal for “The Glory of Christmas”
and they just happened to have a couple of free tickets for us….WOW !!! This was a pageant that you just have to see and we were blessed to have had that opportunity. The story, music, dancing, costumes, animals and the set…WONDERFUL, absolutely wonderful. Now it’s time to hurry back to Disneyland. Unfortunately we just missed our bus heading back so we had to wait another hour. By the time the next bus arrived and by the time we hit the gates at Disneyland, we heard the loud blast of the first aerial fireworks going off over the Fantasyland Castle. This is why the rush to get back…the magic fireworks of Disney.
They say that Disney spends over $40,000 each night during this season for the fireworks display, and I believe it…it is beautiful. Just as the last rocket is blasted into its multi-colored spectical high over our heads, the castle covered in sparkling ice
and you find yourself being layered in SNOW… Yep, they even have their own snow fall… pretty good huh? Ok, let’s get for home, it’s been a full day and we’re underway in the morning.