A child’s dream is to go to Disneyland, so when we asked our son of 6 years where he wanted to stopover on a trip to Russia from New Zealand the natural choice was America.
We planned to stopover for 5 nights which proved to be a hassle due to emigration at the US Embassy in Auckland. With Elena’s remark to the counter girl that she didn’t want to go to America it was just that it was in between New Zealand and Russia and the plane needed fuel, not really going down well.
What she said must have worked because the hassle from a normal 3 day transit visa was now extended to our request of 5 nights. but imagine the surprise when Elena opened her passport to find a 3 month visa! “Those Americans mush really want to prove that their country has a lot to offer” was the joke of the week.
This was our first journey out of New Zealand in 3 years since Elena’s arrival in 1997. The exchange rate was shocking and soon discovering that a burger in NZD was $12.00 the 5 days here were going to be on a very tight budget.
The plan was 2 theme parks and a couple of days just looking around. Finding a hotel in Anaheim was not so hard, Elena searched the net and found a place that was 2 blocks from the iconic Disneyland Park
The ride out from LAX Los Angles International Airport seemed to take forever and the cost of the meter just kept rising. But with our Russian Taxi driver talking to Elena we kind of felt safe, that was until our return trip on the transfer bus provided by the hotel was half the price. Needles to say, we didn’t keep his card.
The Anaheim Carriage Inn On South Harbour Boulevard is a 3 level complex and when we were there the room rates were $120NZD per night. Breakfast consisted of walking to a small room at the far end of the building and helping yourselves to pastries and coffee. Given the exchange rate we took full advantage of this. I still don’t understand the concept of sweet sticky buns for breakfast, but when combined with the coffee I was supercharged on sugar for the next few hours. Thankfully we were off to The Magic Kingdom for the day and I would be able to walk it all off.
Disneyland is huge and if you think you can do it in one day you better be there at dawn to stand in the ever growing cues at the main gate. With the park opening at 9.00 we decided to walk to the park early. Being at Disneyland in late November we were fortunate enough to catch the park in the first week f the Christmas Holiday Season and all of the shows and parades reflected the festive theme. I have to admit the by the end of the day I was over the “Happy Holiday’s Everyone” that seemed to come from every staff member in the park.
I was a kid again and apart from the lengthy wait at each attraction we had a blast.
What to ride?
Splash Mountain – A log flume-style dark ride based on the characters, stories, and songs from the 1946 Disney film Song of the South. It’s gonna get you a little wet so stow away the camera. on the big drop.
The Hunted Mansion – It kinda scary, but nothing that can’t be handled by the nervous. Walt Disney began developing the concept of a haunted mansion nearly 20 years before it was actually constructed and makes a great addition to the park. It’s situated in New Orleans Square.
Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road – is a speedy rollercoaster-type attraction designed with your entire family in mind. However, some parts of this attraction are bumpy and, in some instances, take place in the dark. Dash in and out of desert caverns and rumble through a haunted mine aboard a speeding train.
Space Mountain – The most surprising thing about the this ride is its aesthetic beauty.The vistas of the solar system,stars,galaxies and comets are very realistic. Because you cannot see the ride’s infrastructure, The ride isn’t a coaster in a dimly lighted building with some Buck Rogers planets and meteors projected on the ceiling. Because you can’t see the track or anticipate where your vehicle will go, your eyes are free to feast on the rich visuals. This is also (sadly) the one ride that elevated Elena’s fear of roller coasters and now she won’t ride them.
Matterhorn Bobsleads – This is one great ride, we rode it twice! The Matterhorn Bobsleds or the Matterhorn is an attraction composed of two intertwining steel roller coasters, which opened in 1959 at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. It is modeled after the Matterhorn, a mountain in the Swiss Alps.
Fantasyland Autopia – Gone but not forgotten We loved this ride and two years after riding it, the ride made way to a new era. In 1999 the Fantasyland Autopia closed. On June 29, 2000, a new Autopia opened, combining the Fantasyland and Tomorrowland tracks into one attraction. Both rides are now boarded at the same station in Tomorrowland.
