More on the Fourth

It looks like I’m coming down with a cold. I suppose it was a nice little souvenir I brought back from California. While the weather was absolutely beautiful during the day, the morning and evening hours were rather chilly. Of course, we didn’t bring any sweaters or jackets. We really should have known better by now. Even the locals were surprised how unusually cool it was for this time of year.



In any case, below are more photos from out trip to Los Angeles. We actually stayed at a hotel in Anaheim, right behind the whole hoopla called the Disneyland Resort. Except for Saturday where we needed the car to drive to the beach and into the city, we didn’t need the car at all for the remainder of our stay. Everything was easily accessible with Downtown Disney merely ten minutes away by foot. Besides, parking alone costs $15 nowadays and despite Disney being efficiently organized traffic can still be quite a hassle.



I was worried that the crowds would be out-of-control on Sunday. It is high season after all. And it was a long holiday weekend and special Independence Day celebrations were in full swing. Surprisingly, the crowds were quite manageable and the waiting time for most of the bigger attractions and rides lasted not more than 20 minutes on average. Even Space Mountain didn’t have a huge line. There were times where we just walked right in. That’s unheard of on a big holiday weekend. I suppose the bad economy is still showing its lingering signs.



Here now is the first set of pictures of our day in Disneyland. More to follow soon...



The plaza between the Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure theme parks. Seen here is the main entrance to DCA. The colors on the permanent letters promote this park’s new spectacle, “World of Color,” a new nightly show using water, lights, fire, lasers and pyrotechnics in the middle of their lagoon.


George in Disneyland’s Main Street, U.S.A.



Disneyland’s City Hall and Fire Station.


Along Main Street.


Sleeping Beauty’s castle, seen from Fantasyland.


Riding the sometimes funky “Alice in Wonderland” ride. We think that both the animators of the feature-length animated movie and the designers of this ride were high on something...


The boarding area to the “wildest ride in the wilderness,” Big Thunder Mountain.


After being soaked at Splash Mountain we decided it’s time for lunch. We were also hoping that our wet clothes might also dry while we were eating. We briefly left the park and walked over to Downtown Disney were we had the most scrumptious pizzas at Naples Ristorante e Napolini. The weather was absolutely perfect and we were sitting outside in their lovely patio, where I took this shot above. We finished with a wonderfully prepared Tiramisu and cappuccinos.


Waiting for pizza and my clothes to dry at Naples Ristorante e Napolini in Downtown Disney.


This enormous sculpture hangs above one of many entrances to one of the largest Disney Stores around. The largest store in the world is currently at the Disneyland Resort in Paris, France.


The beautiful and huge atrium of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Resort. The whole resort was built in the American Craftsman architectural style of the early 1900s


Parts of Fantasyland with the Matterhorn peaking out from behind. Built in the late 1950s, the Matterhorn ride inside the mountain was the first tubular steel track roller coaster in the world. Today’s super coasters are still based on this concept.


Another angle of view of the centerpiece of the park, Sleeping Beauty’s castle.


I just loved this little guy. It's one of many Heffalumps, who appear in a Winnie the Pooh movie in which the ‘silly old bear’ sees them in his nightmares. This little critter above sits on the back of every Hunny Pot car that visitors take to go on the dark ride called “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.”


Yes, I love little cute and corny Disney things. More pictures coming soon...