Today was our fifth trip to Disneyland...

...since the second week of December.

We left here at 9:30 and got to the parking lot there at about 11:40. For Adrienne and all who were recently here and know the roads, we took 138 out to the 15 East (rather than West, as Adrienne did) and went past Rancho Cucomonga and the Bass Pro Shop. There was snow on the side of the road on 138 just before the 15 at the Mormon Rocks.

 

As we went over the roller-coaster part of 138, where the road rises and dips for about five miles, all we could think of was Rich and Chaley riding with us two weeks ago and listening to the Bob and Tom CD Toast song where he screams "FRENCH TOAST!!"



Richie about filled his Fruit of the Looms laughing at that part. He laughed almost as hard at the Mr. Obvious skit about the critter under the sink. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XZMC1M9o04

ARRARRRARRRARRRRR!

So we got to Disneyland and had to park in a lot we have never been in, which is clear the other side of Downtown Disney. So we walked into Downtown and rode the monorail to Tomorrowland, which is a weird way to enter the Magic Kingdom. You really should enter through the main gate, go through the esplanade and enter Main Street USA where you can see Sleeping Beauty Castle. So teleporting to the center of the park on the monorail is a bit jarring.

We were hoping to see the new Mark VII Monorail, due to appear sometime this month, but were disappointed but the crappy old Mark V train, which seriously does need to go; the windows don't stay closed and it just looks dated and ugly. The new train is really awesome. I can't wait to see it and ride it.



I am so into that design; it looks futuristic while drawing design elements from the original Mark I monorail from the 1950s.

We got to the park and rode the Disneyland Railroad immediately to the front entrance (the esplanade ) to enter the way Walt intended.

The Haunted Mansion was finally open again, but regrettably, it's open without the Nightmare Before Christmas theme (removing it was the reason it was closed). I see how that theme is seasonal, but I still think it would be better to have it all year 'round. It was still really cool, though.



The Haunted Mansion is in the heart of New Orleans Square, an area of the park drawing its themes from New Orleans, so it has rich Southern charm, without having to deal with actual Southerners.

Many people, of course, pick on Disney and the people who are fans of the theme parks for the sanitized versions of real places. One of Kelly's and my favorites is Morocco in EPCOT Center in Disney World, in Florida. Kelly and I have agreed that we're much more likely to visit the actual country of Morocco than we are to go to the actual city of New Orleans. The primary reason is that we have a newfound aversion to humidity. Plus,  North Africa is not below sea level and has no infestation of nutria.



A name like a granola nut bar and a face like a big ass ugly rat. Is it wrong of me to wish and entire species death? I've heard that tens of species go extinct every day, can't nutria be one of them? I blame them for Katrina. No one else has posited this theory, but these ugly mo fos like to bore into embankments and dikes. I think that would weaken them. Just saying.

We ate lunch in Port New Orleans at Cafe Orleans; it was good. We split a Monte Cristo sandwich, a sandwich I had ignored all my life and written off as Aunt Doris-style Bridge Club fare until Kelly discovered it here. It's ham, turkey, and swiss cheese battered, fried, and BAM!, covered in powdered sugar. It's like a ham and swiss donut with blackberry jelly filling as a dipping sauce.  



We got French Onion soup as a starter too.



It was kind of chilly and we were eating outside, so this hit the spot. I like these bowls. I like cheese.

Our resolution going forward is to do at least one new thing every time we go to Disneyland, and this time it was this restaurant, which was much cheaper than eating at the Blue Bayou, which is indoors in the dark at the beginning of Pirates of the Caribbean boat ride; the boats float right past the tables, while lights hang from above. It's nice but pricey.

We also did the Alice in Wonderland ride, which was really cool.







We also drove the Autopia cars, which was different than I thought it would be.



It's a pretty realistic Southern California driving experience.