Disneyland for New Year's, part 2

The morning of the second day was much more sunny and warm than that first had been. Mike, Liz and I decided to rent a locker for our hoodies and other assorted extra layers, because we knew we'd need them later in the day. This proved to be smart.

My awkward arm cracks me up.

We headed to Disney California Adventure (DCA) first thing to pick up Fast Passes for the World of Color show that night, and then headed back to Disneyland for blueberry muffins for breakfast.

It started to rain again while we were inside the Haunted Mansion. You know how at the end of the Haunted Mansion ride you step out of the doombuggy onto a moving walkway that leads you up to the street level and then outside? Well, when I got to the top of the walkway, I slammed into a huge mass of people. I realized they were trying to stay out of the sudden downpour. I couldn't blame them -- it was MUCH worse than the rain the day before. The problem was, even more people were crashing into me from behind! So I yelled, "You have to keep moving!" They immediately disbursed into the weather, looking for more permanent shelter or get out of the park entirely for the duration of the storm. This is when we realized that Disneyland mostly consists of outdoor activities. Even the restaurants have outdoor seating. It must not rain like that very often in California! Mike volunteered to run to the locker and grab all of our hoodies and anything else we thought we might need. Liz and I found temporary shelter in a shop where we discovered they had sold out of adult-sized ponchos. It seemed we weren't the only fools who wanted to wait the weather out and take advantage of a marginally less-crowded park.

Rain-spattered food still tastes good!

Mike returned with the jackets and we grabbed some food. By that time, the rain had lessened some. I'd like to pretend I was miserable eating my french-dip sandwich in the rain under a leaky tarp, but it's actually an awesome memory. The food was warm for a little bit, I was wearing my fleece, and we knew all it could have been worse! We decided after lunch to ride the train to Fantasyland, and it was cold, and it was Liz's first time ever taking the train -- this is amazing; Liz goes to Disneyland ALL THE TIME!

We mixed up the buttons a little bit. Liz continued to wear the "Happy Birthday", but Mike and I traded so could wear the "1st Visit" button. Every time someone apologized for the weather that day or said "It's usually more fun than this!" I was momentarily confused and then laughed and reassurred them I had enjoyed the previous day and was still having a good time. It's Disneyland! I could not let a little rain get me down!

We did all of the awesome Disneyland attractions that afternoon. By "awesome" I mean the roller-coasters and thrill rides:

• Pirates of the Carribbean
• Thunder Mountain Railroad, where we repeated the phrase "The wildest ride in the wilderness" about 20 times in the cheesiest prospector accents we could muster
• Indiana Jones -- twice!
• The Matterhorn -- I'm telling you, Single Rider is the way to go on a busy day

It was dark by the time we decided to try The Jungle Cruise. This ride is usually only funny if you have a funny "guide." Unfortunately, ours was NOT funny. Her jokes and delivery were totally lame (the jokes are supposed to be lame, but she didn't even sound like she was having fun with them). Fortunately, the ride broke down about 3 minutes in, right after the hippos. Why is this fortunate? Well, they reversed the ride to take us back to the dock (where we saw that the lines had been cleared out -- it was really broken) and then gave us all a Fast Pass that was good for any ride we wanted to do that same day, so we immediately made a beeline for Space Mountain.

Can you believe I didn't go on Space Mountain until the evening of the second day? It's my favorite ride! What was wrong with me?!!

We headed back to DCA and revisited The Tower of Terror, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, The Little Mermaid, and Toy Story Mania (personal best score for me!) before oohing and aahing over World of Color. You overlook the big lake in the middle of the Paradise Pier section of the park, and they project film clips and colored lights on a huge spray of water and play music and have puppets and dancing fountains. It's pretty amazing. I'm glad Liz wanted to see it so much!

We had a few minutes before a dinner reservation, so we did a little shopping. I splurged and bought a set of gorgeous Christmas tree ornaments of six of the princesses: Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, Snow White, Tiana, and Ariel. I am so excited to put them on my tree next year! Wish I could have afforded a few more. I wanted to buy a hoodie or t-shirt, and though there were lots of fun options, I couldn't find anything I loved. Sad. Maybe next time.

These seriously crack me up!

Mike requested dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney. I had never been, but WOW was the food good. We bought a chocolate cake dessert and the waiters sang "Happy Birthday" to Liz. She was a little disappointed they didn't sing this song, though:

She and I did sing it together a couple of times... well, she did most of the singing. I only partially know the words but I did what I could!

Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion -- day 3, New Year's Eve 2012 at Disneyland! -- coming soon!