Anniversary Day Date

Just as in years past, we spent a day at the Disneyland parks without the kids. Instead of staying at a hotel near by, we stayed at home. The kids were at Grandma McAlister's house for a sleep over (Thank you so much Bonnie!). We got up early and went to breakfast at Denny's (we had a BOGO coupon). It was actually pretty good. Once breakfast was eaten, we made the drive out to the Magic Kingdom(s).

The long part of the drive was normal. Once we got to the parking structure, that's when things got crazy. We were diverted away from the parking structure (which was mostly empty, by the way), and toward the back-lot parking area. I think it used to be Timon and Pumba or Simba parking, but it's all under construction, and we drove right past it and then was directed to cross Harbor Blvd. and then to go to a parking structure for the Anaheim Garden Walk. They were still charging for parking too. From the time that we would have pulled into the regular parking structure, to the time we were parked was about 45 minutes. Lame. They had a shuttle buses to take people to the entrance plaza. It took a little wind out of our sails for the day, but we were still in pretty good spirits.

Anna decided to say something about it all to guest relations, and got us a single use fast pass to use during the day, to make up for the time used by the parking situation. The person at the window said the reason they redirect the traffic the way they do, is so there isn't too many cars blocking and causing traffic on the streets as people are showing up to the parks. They said they get fined by the city if they don't manage the traffic. Whatever.


Here we are as we're about to exit the Toy Story Mania ride/game. I totally spanked Anna's score.

Guess we don't have any other pictures from Ca. Adv. We went on Soaring Over Ca., Toy Story, and Ca. Screamin, before heading over to Disneyland.


Here we are in front of the tree on Main St.

We got in line for Star Tours. They put us in the row they wanted us in, but they miss-counted, so I ended up in the row behind Anna on the end. She thought it would be funny to take a picture of me with the guy I went on the ride with, instead of her. I chose to dramatically enhance my interpretation of our ride experience.

We made plans to eat at Cafe Orleans, so Anna could try the 3-cheese Monte Cristo, to see if she liked it better than the regular Monte Cristo, which I planned to order. So here is our lunch. Two Monte Cristos with a side of Pomme Frites (french fries) with garlic and parmesan cheese topping.

At first Anna liked her sandwich ok. She said it was definitely better than the regular. But as she got about half way done, she was sick of it. Nope, even a 3-cheese Cristo is not that good. I liked mine enough to finish it, but it was a bit of a chore to finish. The service was less than stellar. Long story short, Anna got her sandwich taken off our bill, and they gave us a 10% discount on top of that. Lame service.

Here I am, about to chow down.

Right after that, we headed over to Blue Bayou, where we had reservations. We had to have the cookie boat dessert. It's our favorite thing on the whole menu. We checked in, and asked for a water-front table. The maitre'D said it would be about 45 minutes to an hour, but that they ask that we stay in the lobby the entire time. We said ok, but that we needed to use the restroom. And we did use the restroom, but came back via the Pirate's ride... it exits right next to the Blue Bayou, you know. We were gone about 40 minutes. Anna asked if we had been called yet, and they said they called us about 10 minutes after we checked in- that's why they ask people to stay- just in case. They put our names back in rotation, and we were called in less than 5 minutes. The hostess took us to a table that was not water-side. We said we requested a water-side table, and she took us back to the lobby. They said we might have to wait a while for one of those tables, but that was fine with us. We were pretty full still, and the cookie boat was worth the wait.

In just a few minutes, they called us again, and we got a water-side table, right in the middle. Great table.

They gave us menus and took our drink order (water). When the server came back to take our order, we confidently asked for the cookie boat. We just wanted dessert. And to our shock... they no longer offer the cookie boat!! What?! Turns out, the company they ordered the sugar masts and sails from, for the cookie boat dessert, went out of business. So they took it off the menu. Nooooooooooo! That's the only reason we were there. The server was a really nice guy. We ended up choosing a chocolate mousse cake instead. It was pretty good. He offered us some bread even though we were only having dessert, and that was a big plus for Anna.

We had to just laugh at our luck this day.


We went on a handful of rides. Used our "free" fast pass to go on the Indiana Jones ride. Walked around a bit. Took our picture with the lit castle behind us. Below is one of my attempts to take it myself. Just as this picture was being taken, and guy offered to take it for us... but that one is so boring. This one is much better...

As we made our way down Main St. to exit, we walked through some of the stores. We spent a few cents at the penny arcade too.

All in all, it was a fun, eventful, day.

Next year, for our 15th anniversary, I think we'll try and go on a cruise. We're looking forward to it all ready.