2/18/09 Wednesday
Breakfast – Snacks in the park
Lunch – Blue Bayou Café, Disneyland Park
Dinner – ESPN Zone, Downtown Disney
It wouldn’t be a morning at Disneyland without our breakfast of kettle corn and watching Toy Story. Yep, I think we have settled into a pretty comfortable morning pattern. After we completed the morning formalities it was time to start the day. Today was the first really nice weather day we had since we arrived so we were going to make the best of it. We decided since Disneyland opened at 9:00 we wanted to get into the park to see the park opening, and that we did. Unfortunately there wasn’t much in the way of festivities to open the park, but we were there anyway.
We decided we would start our park visit with a ride on the Autopia which was a go-cart type attraction that had been around since the park opened back in 1955. Emily and Hunter navigated the track together while I was driving in front of them trying desperately to capture their ride on the camcorder. I got a lot of footage of the pavement. Grandma and Poppop took up the rear as we “raced” around the track. Hunter wasn’t sure what to make of it, but we think he had fun.
After our drive we walked around the park taking photos and absorbing the details of the park. Emily had received a Q bear (like Flat Stanley, Bermuda style) from our Niece Taylor so she took this opportunity to think of the wild and crazy places that Q bear could visit at the park. Q Bear got up to some mischief and we think Taylor will be excited to see his adventures. Also, it wouldn’t have been a trip to the park without our daily ride around the park on the train. We boarded the train at the Main Street Station and took it all the way around the park and ended at the Frontiereland Station.
After we had our fill of exploring it was time for our 11:50 reservation at the much anticipated Blue Bayou Café in New Orleans Square. This was a restaurant where Emily and I ate on our Honeymoon and Anniversary trips to DLR, and we were looking forward to sinking our teeth into the original Monte Cristo sandwich. The whole table enjoyed the sandwich as we took in the sights and sounds of the first section of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, where the restaurant resides.
After we stuffed our bellies we decided that we would take a trip to drive up the Pacific Coast Highway and see the ocean as long as we were out this far west. The coast was only about a 20 minute drive from Anaheim which provided a perfect opportunity for our little buddy to get some shut-eye. The quiet was quite nice. It was an interesting drive as the view out the left window, the ocean, was beautiful, but the view out the right side of the car was all about oil drilling and refining equipment which was pretty ugly.
We drove up the coast almost to Long Beach as we looked out the window at the amazing quantity of boats at the harbor. We got a chance to see the Queen Mary out of the window as we turned the car around to head back South. Hunter slept for a good 1.5 hours as we toured. When he awoke we found a good beach to park and stretch our legs. Grandma was so excited to be at the beach that she kicked off her shoes and ran in the frigid water. Being that Grandma and I are Pisces it was a good opportunity for us to get grounded. We took some fun photos and video, got in the car and headed back to the hotel.
We felt a nice informal dinner was in order so we headed to the ESPN Zone to get our fill of buffalo chicken. It was also the perfect place to bring a screaming kid (which Hunter was quickly becoming) because you could barely hear yourself think inside. We had a very enjoyable dinner as we reminisced about the day and our favorite parts of the trip so far. As we licked our fingers clean of the buffalo sauce it was time to call it a night. Hunter and I headed back to the room to get ready for bed as the rest of the party went to the book store and a few more stops throughout Downtown Disney.
