Part IX: Coast-to-Coast Disney Trip Report

Haunted Mansion was next on the agenda, but upon consulting our watches (more like “watch app” or whatever the clock on the phone is called), we decided to nix this. The Haunted Mansion is better at Walt Disney World anyway, and we just didn’t have the time for it.

This was probably partially motivated by our desire to eat again as soon as possible (surprisingly, a $6.50 breakfast burrito is not all that filling), so we headed to Hungry Bear. We had spent a lot of time here on this trip thanks to the ambiance, and this was something I really wanted to capture. The shots may not be gorgeous, but they take me right back to those gorgeous days, and put a smile on my face. In that regard, they’re some of my favorite shots from the trip.

Although these shots aren’t necessarily some of my favorites, they do feature those dysfunctional Country Bears, who are some of my favorite original Disney theme park characters. Plus, I like photographing restroom signs. I mean…errr…I like bears. Yes, that’s it.

We both ordered items we had earlier in the trip, so there’s little point revisiting our thoughts on the Hungry Bear cuisine. If you missed our thoughts earlier in the trip report and you’re really curious, just read our review of Hungry Bear Restaurant in Disneyland’s Critter Country.

Sarah had to visit Trixie after lunch, so I wandered around taking more photos. I noticed no trains had passed for a while, so I headed up to the edge the restaurant and waited. And waited. Sarah showed up, and told me to keep waiting, warning me that a train would pass as soon as I left. Finally, almost as if to send me a message, a huge pine-comb fell and hit me on the head!

This was a little discouraging, but we continued to wait. Just as I was about to give up, a train passed, and I snapped a couple of photos of it. One of these will show up on Flickr or DisneyTouristBlog.com as a “Photo of the Day” at some point, but don’t get too excited, as they’re certainly not “wait 5 minutes for this photo” level good. Oh well, I guess.

It was Sarah’s last chance to ride the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and she had obliged me and experienced the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, so I did likewise (luckily my “compromise” only lasted like 4 minutes versus…however much longer the Subs last). From there, we wandered Critter Country a bit. I’ve said it once in this report but I’ll say it again: that land is so tranquil without Splash Mountain operating.

Thanks to another short wait, we were able to visit Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for the first time during the day. We rode behind a humorous, yet a bit over the top young Australian couple. I don’t know if she was putting on a show or if she was truly scared, but the woman was screaming and “informing” the man that she was going home after that ride because it was too intense.

All the while, the man was filming them and the attraction. I guess if you’re going to film an attraction, you might as well film your experience to give the video a unique angle differentiating it from one of the countless other videos you can find on YouTube. (I know, ironic that I say this as someone who takes so many photos, but I’d like to think my photos are unique and not something you could find hundreds of via a Google Image Search.)

We noticed a lot of differences between the two coasts that we hadn’t previously noticed. I really think it’s one of those attractions that’s quite similar, yet quite different at the same time. The queue was dramatically different, as were some (most? all?) of the gags scattered throughout the attraction. While I really enjoy thrills, I honestly don’t go to Disneyland with that goal in mind. I’d much rather Big Thunder Mountain Railroad be a slower ride-through, showcasing the details and storyline of Tumbleweed.

The differences you see all depend upon what level of detail you perceive. I really enjoyed the town at the end of Disneyland’s version, and I could probably take hundreds of rides aboard Big Thunder without picking up all of the details there.

The trip was winding down, a fact that was becoming clearer and clearer with each passing hour. We drudged our way through the hub, into Tomorrowland, as we closed in on the “one hour mark” of our vacation.

We had Space Mountain FastPasses to use, so we headed that way. Of course, it was a great experience. The dinosaur eggs had not yet hatched, something about which we were pretty relieved. I haven’t heard reports of them hatching yet, either, so maybe the California heat has cooked them. I’m no expert in dinosaur eggs, so I won’t speculate as to that.

Naturally, whenever our vacation is over, we try to drag out leaving as long as posssible, first by trying to cram in one last ride (and then one ride turns into two, turns into three, and so on). Normally, this isn’t too “dangerous,” as we finish our days in Florida on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover. However, in California, all of our favorite rides are a little more popular.

We decided to settle for one last ride on Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters. We originally determined we’d leave Disneyland right around the time we queued up for this attraction, but we still have plenty of time, so why not.

Then, the ride took longer than expected. We hurried out, still having 25 minutes before our shuttle was to arrive, and most of our packing done. As we approached the tunnel under the train station, we noticed Aladdin was standing there, all by himself. Naturally, Sarah had to get a photo. After that, we hurried on, still having around 15 minutes when we approached Harbor.

No big deal, Sarah would check out while I packed. However, when we got to the Desert Inn, our shuttle was already there. Aren’t these things “supposed” to run late?!? I told the driver we’d be just a minute, and the mad dash was on. John Williams’ score from the airport scene in Home Alone started playing in my head, as we rushed around, throwing things in our room every which way hoping most of it would land in suitcases. In 3 minutes time we did packing that would normally take 15. We both hoped we had everything, and left the room.

Drenched in sweat, we peered over the edge of the staircase to see (somewhat to our surprise) that the shuttle was still there. Things only got depressing from there as we headed to the airport, and that’s where this portion of the trip report concludes. We wouldn’t be sad for too long, though, as we’d soon be off for Florida!