One More Day Trip Report, Pt. 3

Finally...my first real meal of the day (I'm not counting the mango slices and carrot/celery sticks I ate in Toon Town). Where else but the Blue Bayou could I have lunch on this special 24 Hour Day? Naturally, I filled up my arteries with some lip-smacking Chicken Gumbo and a classic Monte Cristo.

The atmosphere in this restaurant is what makes it so special.







Just on the other side of this door is the exit to Pirates of the Caribbean.





We waddled over to the Haunted Mansion, where the lines were surprisingly short.



A few other shots of my fave attraction:









The ghosts failed to rouse us out of our food coma, so we headed over to The Golden Horseshoe Saloon for some entertainment...



and cherry pie a la mode. Yes...we added to the coma.



Believe it or not, I had never seen this particular show, so it was a real treat for me.





You can say it's corny, you can say it's old-fashioned, but it's still a great show and I loved every minute of it, as did the rest of the packed (and I do mean packed) house.



Stacy did a little shopping before heading back to the hotel.



After being at Disneyland since 5:30 a.m., my comfy bed at the Anabella sure felt good.



Three hours later, Stacy was calling me and rousing me from my nap. It was time to head back. Waiting for her in the lobby in front of the fire, it was difficult to get up again. This hotel is a gem.



With two huge servings of rainbow sherbet, we staked out our viewing area for the special 10 p.m. showing of Soundsational, one of my favorite parades in years. We also ran into some friends from work. With a crowd of 88,000 people, you're bound to know someone.



And then, after sitting and waiting for an hour, our patience was rewarded.



Colorful, festive, and full of great details.















Next up: FANTASMIC! at 1 a.m.! See more vintage & current Disneyland photos on my Disneyland photo website.

One More Day Trip Report, Pt. 1

Interupting the TPE series is multi-part Trip Report of the absolutely INSANE 24-Hour Leap Year Celebration at Disneyland called "One More Day." Yes...one more day of sleep is what I'd love to have right now.

For the first "lucky" 2,000 guests that camped out in the tram area (yes...as in sleeping outside), they received special commemorative Mouse Ears and were allowed to enter the park at 6am sharp. The rest of us saps who decided to get a good night's sleep in our hotel rooms were held hostage outside the baggage check and allowed to enter the esplanade at 6am. The night before, as I was leaving DCA at 8pm, I saw guests already arriving with their blankets, getting ready to reserve their sleeping spot.



By the time I got through the cluster of guests at the turnstiles, it was about 6:30am (see clock below). I can live with the fact that I missed 30 minutes of being at Disneyland because I didn't sleep outside. While waiting in line, I met a couple who had flown in from Canada just for this event. They were admitted Disney fans who enjoyed both parks, but definitely preferred Anaheim over Orlando. No disagreements there.



A photographer was capturing the throngs from "the wrong side of the tracks" at the Main Street Train Station:



Banners commemorated the special occasion:



There was a photo opportunity in Town Square for guests to pose in front of this huge medallion, proving that they were among the throng of 88,000 or so that showed up:



If you think this looks intimidating, you should have seen the crowds at 1am:



I took advantage of the lower early a.m. numbers and got some shots around the park; the best ones were of the special taping of a "Modern Family" episode over in Frontierland.



During the day, different areas were roped off and cast members had the unenviable task of trying to keep gawking guests out of the ranges of the cameras.



Near the Golden Horseshoe, one scene with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, and little Aubrey Anderson-Emmons was rehearsed and filmed over and over again to the delight of passersby. A few fortunate guests got to be in the scene as well.





For the nosy-noozies out there who'd like to know what Eric is looking at here, he is just passing the time by examining his park pass for the day.







Any pin traders want to trade?



It was also cool to see all the different cameras covering each angle as well as the large crew that it takes to make one short scene a reality.







More to come, after I get some much needed shut-eye!

See more Disneyland Leap Year 2012 and "Modern Family" photos on my One More Day web page.