I found out that the weekend of January 30 - January 31 was the Mice Chat 5th Anniversary meet up. Suffice to say, we almost made it to the Disney's California Adventure meetups, but we just ended up doing our own thing. On the morning of January 30th, we arrived in the park at around 11AM. It was a typical sun shiny day in Orange County. Of course, I had to get a shot of Sunshine Plaza before it would fade away into Yesterland once the DCA refurb will take place.

The Blue Sky Cellar had the World of Color presentation available for park guests. It was really cool to see what Disney imagineers were planning to do with this new DCA show and what animated features they were going to include. It was great seeing new concept art for the show. Looks like we have a lot to look forward to for the show's opening. Granted, we will be there when it happens!

We went to one of my favorite places in DCA, what is known as the "Free Tortilla Ride." I wonder if you could request a stack of tortillas even though it's not your birthday. Hm. They seemed to change it up a little. Before, you were required to watch some 5th grader's report on the history of tortillas and then enter the factor. In this visit, we were able to enter the factory as we pleased.

Also at Pacific Wharf was this mariachi band. There was this running joke with my Bay Area friends with mariachi music and the parks no thanks to this routine by Pablo Francisco (nsfw). Yes, they played a mariachi version of "It's a Small World." I could not help but be reminded of that comedy routine!

On the bridge to Paradise Pier, we were able to see the construction of the waterfront that they were working on to accomodate World of Color. If you look closely, you can see an almost finished Silly Symphony Swings.

DCA has tons of shows going on throughout the day. In less than an hour's time, we saw a mariachi band and now, a Toy Story mini show that featured the green army men.

After a not-so-long wait for California Screamin', we went around Pacific Wharf to find the Mice Chat meet up at around 12:30PM. We thought we saw the group, but we were not quite sure if it was them. Maybe a sign would have been helpful? Usually, when I attend fan type gatherings, it's easy to pick out where the party was at. I really could not tell if this was someone's family gathering or the Mice Chat gathering. It would have been nice to meet new people! Oh well, next time around.

I hardly get to enjoy Grizzly River Run only because the only time I get to go on it is during the winter time. The last time I went was on New Year's Eve 2007 at night. At least the sign in the queue is blunt about the consequences about this attraction. No doubt, one way or another, you will get wet. Right before the final drop, the ride operator in the booth decided to be mean and would not let us go on the final drop for about a minute or two. We did not know when she would let us go. The scary part was the element of surprise. At least a geyser did not get us...

Outside Grizzly River Run was a 49-er style band.

We attempted to dry off by Grizzly River Run. I never had a chance to see the area in the day time, and I very much like it. It was really fun to see people being doused by the random geysers.

After spending a good deal of the morning at DCA, we went right across to Disneyland where we took a streetcar to the hub and went around Fantasyland. The lines seemed pretty long for the usual dark rides, so we took a round trip by way of Toontown station around the Magic Kingdom. Jared mentioned that when there's really not much to do at the park, he likes to ride the train.

On the Disneyland Railroad, I was able to see the Rivers of America drained. Looks like they won't be back until May 6.

I also got a look at the Princess Fantasy Faire stage. I never stood in line to get shots with the Disney princesses, but I was morbidly curious what they did to the stage.

Jared never had a walking tour of Toontown. Ironically, the night before, we were watching snippets of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Unfortunately, Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin was closed for most of the day.

I took Jared to Chip and Dale's Treehouse and Mickey's House. Jared thought he was too tall to enjoy the Treehouse. At Mickey's House he was distracted by the chickens.

He saw one of the brooms from The Sorceror's Apprentice and he thought it would be a cool accessory to have for his Xbox avatar.

And then I took Jared to It's a Small World now that the holiday version was on leave until Christmas 2010.

We have not been to Autopia in a while, and since the line was short, we decided to take separate cars around the track. Jared got the blue car. I wanted the blue car!

However, if it's one thing that Autopia shared with conventional California driving, it can get bumper to bumper. What is this? The 405 South during evening rush hour?!

The funny thing about going to the Disneyland Resort was that we had intended to meet up with Mice Chatters, but we ran into our business buddy, Masoud. We ran into his girlfriend, Athena, earlier in the day. Of all places, we ran into each other on the Matherhorn just as we were about to decide whether to take the fast or wet route.

We chilled with Masoud and Athena and talked about his business venture in San Diego. It was really cool to run into friends at the park. It's no surprise that most of our Orange County friends are premium holders, but running to people when you do not expect it happen is half the fun.

For most of the day, I was jonesing for ice cream. Clarabell's no longer served ice cream in Toon Town. I was informed the only place to get real ice cream was at the Gibson Girl over in Main Street.

All day, I was craving for some chocolate ice cream and sprinkles. We finally picked up a double scoop of chocolate ice cream and relaxed at the Gibson Girl before heading to the Adventureland side of the park.

Jared says we need to take more pictures with Disney face characters. I agree with that statement. At least meeting Aladdin and Jasmine is not as insane as meeting characters from Winnie the Pooh or at Princess Fantasy Faire. At least Princess Jasmine likes the cat ears.

From Tarzan's Treehouse, you can also catch a glimpse of the dry banks of the Rivers of America. Jared remembers when the Tarzan Treehouse used to be owned by the Swiss Family Robinson. Hm...how many people in today's young generation remember that movie?

For dinner, we went to Redd Rocket's Pizza Place in Tomorrowland. The tomato basil pasta was rather filling. At least you get one free refill with drinks. After dinner, we went on Buzz Lightyear's Astroblasters. Jared thinks he'll dress up like Buzz Lightyear for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party.

And once again, Jared was pwnned by his significant other on Buzz Lightyear's Astroblasters. Since there was hardly a way for Star Tours, we decided to go for it. Lucky for us, our ride operator was really into his job. He informed us that Star Tours' new sponsorship was Wookie Cookies (they're chewey!). I suppose Disney had to get something to replace M&M's and Energizer. He also played on inside jokes from the Star Wars universe. As a Star Wars fan, having the nerds take care of business on Star Tours makes the experience better.

To wind down the day, we went on Space Mountain followed by Indiana Jones. We thought about visiting the lobby at the Grand Californian Hotel to meet up with other Micechatters, but the vibe seemed to be gone. We got there about half an hour late for the trivia contest. I originally thought it started at 8PM, but it turns out it happened at 7:30PM. Oh well, better luck next time. It would have been nice to meet people from the forums, but Jared and I still had a good day nonetheless. We left the park while Remember Dreams Come True was lighting up the sky.

Our next trip to Disneyland will take place on February 14 just in time for Captain Eo, Lunar New Year (Year of the Tigger and Rajah!), and another day that involves red and hearts...oh, St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

Quotes & Inside Jokes

"Star Tours is brought to you by Wookie Cookies. They're chewey!"

"Star Tours is not responsible for Imperial activity that may occur on your voyage to Endor."

"You're not counting the Mayor Goldie Wilson parade, are you?"

"Did they just say 'serious business?'"

"But trespassing is illegal!"
"We're Imperials. We're not trespassing, we're investigating rebel activity."

"I use a CZ-75 to kill zombies."

"Stay behind at the base...smart move..."

Final Attraction Count List

1. Blue Sky Cellar
2. Free Tortilla Ride
3. Mariachi Band
4. Toy Story Soldiers
5. California Screamin'
6. Brother Bear camp
7. Grizzly River Run
8. Miners
9. High School Musical parade
10. Double Decker Bus
11. Main Street Band
12. Disneyland Railroad
13. Mickey's House
14. Chip and Dale's Tree
15. Jedi Training Academy
16. Autopia
17. Matterhorn
18. Sleeping Beauty's Castlee
19. Snow White's Wishing Well
20. Flag Retreat
21. Tarzan's Tree House
22. Pirates of the Caribbean
23. Haunted Mansion
24. Celebrate Parade
25. Buzz Light Year's Astroblasters
26. Star Tours
27. Space Mountain
28. Indiana Jones
29. Remember Dreams Come True

Links to Mice Chat and other Disney related sites go here. Will look for banners...

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