A Blustery Day

The wind was already blowing strong by the time we woke up in the morning. It was strong enough that I could feel it through the window when I looked out.  All of the trees were blowing, and there was one really tall palm tree that looked like it was about to take a bow. It was interesting to watch. We were wondering how that would affect our day in the park, but we went along with our normal plans. 

We didn't go straight into the park, because I wanted to show Peeps the decorations at the Grand Californian Hotel. We took a look at the Gingerbread house, and thought it was really fun that they had an animated fireplace inside. They may have had that before, but I didn't remember. We were tempted to enjoy the fireplace, but we had to go get something to eat, so we grabbed some food and found a table in a quiet corner to eat. There was a wall there that cut some of the wind out. There was a little flower used as decoration in one of our items, so I put it in my hair for the fun of it. I thought I'd heard sirens while we were eating and wondered about it a little. I found out later about the lamp post incident at Disneyland, and thought that must have been about that same time I heard the sirens. I hope those who were injured are doing better.

Grand Californian Hotel Fireplace

We wanted to take it easy for a while after eating, so when we went into the park (California Adventure this time) through the hotel's entrance and walked around a little. We meandered in to the Red Creek Challenge Trail to look around and enjoy the area before it got too busy. Chip and Dale were there greeting visitors, and Peeps was up for it, so we went and took some pictures with them before wandering through the rest of the area. I took her all over the place in there. It has so many winding paths that I don't think we went on all of them, but we went on several. Santa was there seeing guests, so we went around that area. Eventually, we ended up right in the same place we started. Chip and Dale were still there, but were leaving, and we met again. I looked at Dale, and he signaled to me with his hands one finger pointing one direct, and the one the other direction. I knew immediately that he meant we seemed to be all over the place, because we left them going one direction, and we were meeting again in the other direction. I just said, "Yeah," and laughed, so Dale laughed too.

Grizzly River Run was shut down, including the water, so we had to go somewhere else. I took Peeps to the Paradise Gardens and Pixar Pier area for our next rides. Peeps wasn't into a lot of rides offered there. Some were closed anyway, because of the wind. I think we only went on two rides there. The first was the Little Mermaid ride. That was fun. We were stalled right in the middle of the Under the Sea segment of the ride, so we were dancing and singing along with that. I hope we entertained whoever watches the security cameras. We also went on the Pixar Pal-A-Round, notably known by many as Mickey's Death Wheel, but I don't find it that terrible, because I avoid the swinging gondolas, and on a day like this, it was a good thing. Whenever we went high, that wind went whistling through that non-swinging gondola and made it rock a little. I figured that type of exhilaration was good enough for me. 

Top of the Wheel Wind Blown Hair.

We chased down some entertainment. I wanted to see three things specifically, but unfortunately, the wind was a factor in cancelling two of them. The one we got to see was a fun little performance by the toy drummers. Peeps enjoyed it. After that, I think we decided to take our break before heading into the Disneyland Park.

Peeps had it stuck in her head to try out some treats people recommended to her, so we had to get back to the park and get some. We wandered around Fantasyland a little, and took advantage of a shorter Peter Pan line. It wasn't quite as short as the last time, but it was clearly shorter than usual. I'd planned on doing Fantasyland the next day, but Peeps was really excited about getting on the ride, and seeing the opportunity, we had to take it then. While we were standing in line, the Evil Queen and Snow White came up to a girl behind us who was wearing a shirt with princesses on it. The queen was amused that Snow White was missing, but as usual, Snow White talked about them being her friends. This particular Evil Queen I hadn't met or seen before, so I wasn't noticed. That little girl was good through the wait, and I thought it was cute how she posed her arms in the princess pose (arms clasped at the front). Peeps made the observation there that she was surprised to see how well-behaved most of the children were while having to wait in line. In the end, Peeps was happy to have been on the ride, and now declares it her favorite.  

We went to Main Street to catch the parade. It's fun when the performers do interactive things with the crowd. I'm not always the most interactive, but I have my own way of interacting. Everything I see and hear is internalized, and so is my reaction. So even though I may not be clapping or smiling physically, know this, that I'm definitely doing those things inside.

We barely missed the projection show on It's a Small World, but arrived in the area as it was ending, and the lights flickered back on in such a manner that it felt like they were announcing our entrance. That made me feel like an honored guest. I noticed while we were there the train moving through the lights, and got this grand idea that some time before the trip was over, I wanted to go through those lights and be surrounded by them. That didn't happen this evening though. 

It's A Small World Holiday Lights.

We went to the front of the castle to watch the lighting ceremony. I was noticing by then that my phone was creating all of those reflection streaks, and took a minute to get that figured out, at least enough to capture some of the ceremony. We were sitting right behind the traffic flow area, which wasn't completely ideal, but fortunately, no one was tall enough to block our view, except when the kid stood up to get a better view, but a kid standing up isn't so much of a problem.

Castle Holiday Decorations.

Most of the people stayed there where we were at, but we decided we wanted to go further back to experience more of the next show with the Main Street effects. That was a long wait, and the fireworks show got cancelled due to the wind, which we were a little confused about, because it felt to us like the wind had died down. Apparently not. They did a short little projections show with their snow effects, and that was fun to experience. I think I enjoyed more of watching people's reactions around us than the actual snow effect. There was a couple nearby who were dancing in it; I thought that was sweet. I captured part of it on video and wish that I could have caught that couple better.

So as disappointing as it was not to see the show, it was still a fun way to end the evening.

Another shot of the castle decorations.