Day four – Disneyland again

We had a bit of a sleep in today, we weren’t at the park for opening and we had breakfast in our hotel room! I also used google translate to ask for a three into two prong plug converter so that I can charge my laptop and make these updates, as the fancy ‘all countries’ plug converter I bought isn’t the right voltage to support the laptop.

Today we didn’t Disneybound, but wore our new rainbow duck shirts and Halloween ear hats. They’re very photogenic I feel.

We spent most of the morning in Tomorrowland, where we rode Star Tours and Space Mountain. It was also the morning of character themed food, we ate Mickey chicken  nuggets, and then went to Sweetheart cafe for various themed pastries. It was all ridiculously tasty. The nuggets had a crispness to the batter and the interior tasted like real pieces of tender, juicy chicken rather than the chicken mince I’m used to. The pastries were all perfect, fresh and light.

Apple and Walnut Mickey muffin, dark cherry Danish and grape jelly dessert.

We had fast passes for Buzz Lightyear’s astro blasters, but the system was down when we went to redeem them so we didn’t ride it. We were assured we could ride it later in the day, so that’s tonight’s challenge.

We went on the haunted mansion again, which was still excellent. Alice’s tea cup ride, where I discovered my beloved REALLY LOVES speed. For those who haven’t ridden this iconic ride, you get into a tea cup, which whirls around a giant teapot. It’s quite spinny to start with. But each cup has a steering wheel in the middle, which you can turn to increase the spinning velocity of your particular cup. It goes very, very fast if you make it. The both of us were laughing hysterically, forced into the edge of the cup by the centrifugal force and the world around us was a literal blur. When the cup finally slowed down I could feel how dizzy I was, even though the ride was still going and we were still whirling around.

The park was noticeably busier today, it being Friday and a lot of Japanese people here for the weekend. It was harder to get around and the waits for a lot of rides were longer. Besides that, third day at Disney and we’re more tired and our feet more sore. I had a brilliantly restful sleep last night but Anna didn’t have that luxury, so we took things a little slower and didn’t try to do too much.

The Halloween costumes on the guests continue to be amazing. Lots of excellent couple and group costumes, and some princesses so good we’re not sure if they’re the real deal or guests. You have to look for handlers to be sure.

After the haunted mansion we caught most of the Dreaming Up! parade, which I was glad to see again. It’s a beautiful parade and the costumes are all a bit next level. The weather was also on the verge of packing it in, so I got quite a nice atomospheric shot…

Ever since I read about them being a special anniversary thing, I knew I had to have the duck butt ice cream. Today Anna made it happen for me, and lo, the duck butt was delicious. It’s a nut and chocolate chip vanilla ice cream scoop with a powdering of chocolate underneath and a ‘chocolate crunch’ bar, which seems to be like chocolate covered rice bubbles and was very, very good.

We went back to the hotel for a rest and to avoid the crowds, and checked into the Alice in Wonderland room. It’s another beautiful and fully themed room, this time with a couch instead of a day bed.

Then we both napped, because three days at the theme parks is pretty exhausting.

Quick notes about some of the Disney magic we’ve seen:

• A member of the cleaning staff with some kind of magical sound effect machine in his wheelie bin, making boing and bing and whoosh noises to match up with the mime interactions he did with guests
• Two members of the cleaning staff having an impromptu breakdance party
• Leaves raked into the shape of a Mickey head
• A cast member comforting a lost child, giving them a sticker and letting them play with her ID while on her headset to report the child lost
• Cast members praising people in great costumes and giving them prizes. (We’re not sure but guesses include fast passes, priority seating to shows and day passes to the park.)

Also the return to the park hand stamp is invisible except for under UV light. I’m paranoid I’m going to wash it off, but this morning I saw my one from yesterday while we were on space mountain so they must be very cleverly done.