Nighttime at Disneyland

As planned, we returned last night to try and get on some of the more popular rides while most of the crowd watched the parade. We arrived at the Disneyland gates just as California Adventure was closing and many people were leaving there for Disneyland, so we had to wait a little while in line to get in. Since so many people had staked out their spots on the sidewalks along the parade route, we decided to take the train to Frontierland. That was a good choice to avoid navigating through the crowd.

First we went to Indiana Jones to try and get a Fast Pass for later, but, as it had been earlier in the day, the ride was closed, so we went to the Haunted Mansion instead. This is one of our favorite rides at Walt Disney World and I think we like the California one - especially the holiday version - even better.

Next we went over to Big Thunder Mountain to ride the runaway mine train. There was a 20-minute wait that passed quickly while we went through the mostly outdoor queue. I love this ride, especially at night. It's great in both parks, but I think the queue here is much nicer.

We decided to leave the park at this point because it was almost time for the Believe fireworks to start and we wanted to try and beat the crowds out of the park. This worked out well and we had a nice walk back to the hotel with the fireworks going off in the distance.

After a great night's sleep we got up early this morning (we're still functioning on east-coast time) to get ready for Early Entry at Disneyland. Today's plan is to head straight for Indiana Jones to try again to get a Fast Pass. Then we'll cross over to Fantasyland to ride the Nemo subs and the Matterhorn. We hope to be able to get these three rides in before it gets too crowded and then head over to California Adventure to spend the rest of the day there. I'd like to go back to Disneyland at 5:30 to see them light up the castle - they make it look like it's covered with ice - beautiful! - and to see the fireworks one last time, since this will be our last night here.

Tomorrow we'll hit our favorites in both parks one last time before we leave for the airport around noon. The forecast is for pouring rain in the morning, however, so we'll see how that turns out. No new photos from last night, but I will be updating my Disneyland set on Flickr later today.