Our Easter Sunday at DisneyLand

Well, I did not get a chance to post a blog yesterday about our day with the girls...so it's time to play a little catch up now.  Yesterday was, obviously, Easter Sunday----and we decided to spend it in DisneyLand proper (NOT California Adventure).  This is the Disney park that most people think of when they think Disney-----the castle, the Dumbo ride, etc.   But people who are only (or mostly) familiar with Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL might be surprised to know that while there are a lot of similarities between the East Coast and West Coast versions of Disney Parks....there are a lot of differences, too....which means that getting to spend a full day in DisneyLand here in CA, while it would be fun for us no matter what, was still a nice experience because it is very different from the Orlando park that we are so used to!

(Note:  I know some people have asked if there was anything extra special done because it was Easter and my answer is, sadly, no----not that we noticed at least.  There was some Easter themed candy and food and our resort had an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids....but there was nothing like a special parade or anything like that....and we didn't even see any characters in special Easter garb, either.....but maybe we missed it!)

So on with our Easter at DisneyLand.....

....our morning, if you read yesterday's blog, started early.  The park opened for resort guests at 7am and we had to start our day at Guest Services to pick up our tickets for the day right around that time.  We didn't already have our tickets because on Easter Night we were eating in Club 33 and part of the package when you have reservations there is that it includes your park admission for the day.

So we got our tickets and headed into the park and went straight back to the Nemo submarine ride.  This ride, a few years back, was put in to replace a classic Disney Attraction----the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea submarine ride---that had been closed for years (and that is entirely gone from the Florida parks).   Jason and I had a chance to ride this back shortly after it opened a few years ago on our only other trip ever to the California parks....and it was crazy popular and often had waits in the hours.  We ran back there expecting it to be similar this time, but were thrilled to find we got to basically walk right on.  This ride is so cute and delightful and definitely a high point of the California parks for us.  We SO wish that the Florida parks could find a way to create this ride on the East Coast, too.  Here are some pictures of our own submarine voyage:

Me waiting in line to board my submarine.

Johanna, Kimberly & me (left to right) sitting in the sub waiting for our voyage to begin.

Out the sub window----Dentist Sherman's fish-killing niece, Darla, snorkeling in the lagoon.

Out the sub window---a scuba diver...possibly the Dentist, P. Sherman, who captures Nemo in the film.

 And then some random underwater scenery from our trip:

After our submarine voyage, we headed over to Autopia----which is like go-karts.  We rarely ride THIS ride in Florida, even though it is there, because the lines are always insane for it.  This morning we were able to walk right on this ride, as well.  Here is a photo of me & Jason in our cars (sorry the ones of Jason are from behind....I had the camera and was behind him in line so it was the best I could do! LOL):

 We then spent the rest of the day hanging out in the park, enjoying the attractions, having lunch, etc.  Here are some pictures on two favorite attractions:  Buzz Lightyear & Space Mountain.

Our Space Mountain Photo---that's me in the lower left blowing a kiss to the camera! LOL

Us battling to save the universe from Emperor Zurg with Buzz!

Another highlight of our day was that we happened to be walking by "Pixie Hollow" (where you have a chance to take pictures with characters from the Disney Fairies series of films) just as it opened...and in our vast collection of Disney photos with Disney characters, we have NONE with any of the fairies-----plus the idea of "Disney Fairies" is always kind of an inside joke for me and Jason (and our friends) since we always say that WE are among the biggest "Disney FAIRIES" (*wink*wink*) there are! LOL   Imagine our delight when we went for our pictures with the fairies and saw that "Terence" (the lead MALE fairy from the series) was out:

Now who says Disney Fairies can't be men---here's three of us all together (even though only one of these fairies has wings! LOL)

A LOW light (said with a hint of sarcasm) of our day, however, was our experience on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad---one of the roller coasters.  It broke down while we were on it and we got stuck  JUST outside the station...but still unable to get off the train and had to sit in the sun trapped for a little bit.  They felt awful about it, clearly, as they brought us free bottles of water and ice cream sandwiches....and when we got off they gave us all special passes giving us permission to ride ANY attraction we wanted in the parks without waiting in line.  This was a nice gesture----but honestly, not entirely necessary but the whole "ordeal" was nothing really more than a minor inconvenience (20 minutes tops)----although to hear some of the other passengers, you'd think that Disney had killed their first born children!! LOL Note:  One of my and Jason's biggest pet peeves in life are people are who complain too easily and too profusely at Disney in the hopes that if they make a big enough stink they can get something for free----greedy, entitled, annoying & unpleasant *frown*----being in the presence of people like that is frequently a buzz-kill....especially when Jason and I are usually on the verge of happy tears just being in Disney at all, that we try very hard to, as my dad always said, "not sweat the small stuff!" LOL  Ok...rant over! *smile*

Our night finished on a very nice high note:  FIREWORKS!  Nobody does a fireworks show like Disney.....over the castle, Tinkerbell flying glowing like a star.....it's such a lovely way to finish a long day:

(Note:  You'll notice this blog did not include any information about our extra special night/dinner at Club 33....look for a dedicated post about that a little later on!)