Just as well anyway, because I went on the Matterhorn toward the end of my Fantasyland excursion, and goodness, what a mess I was! I ended up in the third seat on the Tomorrowland side. When that ride hit the water in the end, the wave of all waves came right at us! That splash was so large, it went over my head! I have never been wet on the Matterhorn before! The front of my hair was wet, my shirt was completely soaked, my pants were wet. I was fortunate that I had my legs covering my bag, so it stayed dry. When I looked into my camera to asses how wet I was, my face was covered with drops of water also! I'm actually amazed that whatever makeup I had on mostly stayed. I think a tiny bit of my mascara washed off, so I probably had a few of my light eyelashes exposed, but I didn't worry about it. I worried about how my hair was, because I didn't know how it would dry, so I ended up spending the rest of the day playing nervously with my hair, hoping it was ok. That gave me an opportunity to relax and reapply sunscreen (not sure if that was enough to wash off what I had on, but decided to do it again, just in case) at a nearby sitting area. It was a nice little quiet area, and I didn't mind sticking around there for a while.
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| Wet clothes, wet hair, wet hat, thanks to the Matterhorn ride. |
I had to visit my favorite little storytelling place in the castle before taking off to Toontown. It was my first chance to ride Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, and the line was super short! It was so fun! I liked it enough that when I had a little extra time in the evening, I went on it again. My crowd issue surfaced a little while I was there, it was a little too busy for me to want to explore it much, and I really wasn't into the other rides offered there. I never saw waiting in line for a long time worth it for a 40 or so second rollercoaster ride, and I was never interested in the Roger Rabbit story, so the ride never became a must-do for me. I'd be willing to try it at some point, but in general, it's not for me.
I know a lot of people like the characters meandering around the park, and I like it too, but sometimes there's a benefit to having a designated place to meet characters, and for the very reason I took advantage of it on this day. Not being able to see a lot of characters around was making the trip feel incomplete. I never knew I would miss not seeing Cruella wandering Main Street, or the random characters doing their circles around Fantasyland. Experiencing the park with so few sightings has made me completely appreciate them that much more. So to appease my desire for some sightings and interaction, I decided if they weren't going to come around me, I'm going to have to go to them, so I jumped in line to meet Mickey at his house. Mickey was very gentlemanly, he approved my t-shirt (it was Mickey holding a flag with the message Radiate Positivity on it), and gave me a heart before I left. One of the CMs complimented me on my (necklace or pants--something I was wearing--I forgot what it was as soon as I left) while I was picking up my camera to leave. I always look terrible in those indoor pictures, but...whatever.
I went to visit Minnie, and goodness, when it got to be my turn, it was only seconds into the visit before Minnie started doing something silly and got me laughing. I think one of my secrets is out. She liked my t-shirt also. The CM with my phone got a little into the act, and started taking pictures. He kept moving the camera closer and closer, and so Minnie nearly pokes her nose into the camera lens! That was super hilarious, and I didn't have to say a word! Just laughed throughout the whole thing.
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| Minnie doing her close up to the camera. |
That was enough to satisfy me, but I always have to go visit the royal hall, just to find out who is there. I ended up meeting Ariel, Elsa (wearing the dress from the first movie), and Jasmine. Ariel has always been the most friendly of the princesses I've met in there. This time, she asked me if I were to become a mermaid, what tail would I want? I said probably purple, because it's my favorite color, and she told me that it would look beautiful with my hair. Elsa talked with me for a minute, asking for my name, it was a brief visit, but in the end, after finishing up with pictures, she told me I had beautiful hair. That there told me I needed to stop worrying about how it might have dried. It was my first time meeting Jasmine, and it was quite brief also. I've visited with these girls enough to know that some of them will be more quick than others, so I'm fine with it if all that comes out of it is a picture. The brief visits spare me from carrying on conversations that I might not feel up to.
It was getting too late to worry about changing parks. It was an Oogie Boogie Bash night, so the other park was to close in a few hours anyway, so I decided to stick around Disneyland for the evening. It was starting to get dark after my second runaway railway ride, so I tried to capture a photo of the fountain before leaving to Tomorrowland. I'm not used to spending a lot of time there. I think I must have some form of trauma associated with that land, because on my absolute first visit, I got lost once and ended up there, and everything just gives me a feeling of being out of place. Fortunately, during that particular visit, I knew all places eventually led back to the castle, so I figured my way out, but even to this day, I get that strange out-of-place feeling whenever I'm in there.
I took a few more awesome pictures looking at the Matterhorn from the Finding Nemo waiting area, because it looked awesome.
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| Looking at the Matterhorn from Tomorrowland. |
I also took pictures at other places, and did the unconventional projections viewing. Instead of standing with the crowd at the castle, or doing the other designated areas, I sat (yes, sat!) where the Matterhorn was, and watched the Matterhorn projections. There were people walking there, but they didn't really block the view, and I had that spot basically all to myself. Everyone else was too busy coming and going. It was awesome!
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| Projections on the Matterhorn. |
After a few additional attempts at photographing things at night, I left, feeling accomplished for the day, and perhaps a little sad that it was my last evening there, but knowing I'll be back makes that a little less depressing.
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| Another night shot of the Castle. |
