Having completed breakfast, we stopped by the room to grab our gear for the park and headed out the door. I noticed the pink bus was across the street and suggested we take that instead of the train, since the bus was free.
We boarded the bus and it was pretty empty. We found four seats at the back facing each other and headed off. At the next stop though things got crazy. A ton more people boarded and by the next stop, people were squeezing on and the bus was completely full. Nice to have a seat. Our only issue was the American family at the back of the bus making so much noise that people in the middle were turning around wondering what was going on. They were playing the slap game with their hands, and the kids were screaming and the adults were participating too and making as much noise as the kids. Very annoying. We got off the bus and weren’t sure whether it was worth it to save the 6.40 Euro on the train tickets.
No problem with my tripod going through security again which was nice. Jacob, T and I went to the main entrance with the floral Mickey with a sunburn and tried to get a picture.
Doesn't he look a bit too pink to you?
As we entered Main Street, the Main Street band was finishing up a song, and posed long enough for a picture for me.
Hearing live music is always a treat in the parks.
Just in front of this gazebo is the dedication plaque for the park.
We walked through Frontierland in the direction of Indiana Jones even though it was closed, just in case we could see anything.
The whole pathway to get to ride was blocked off, so we couldn't get back there. We did enjoy the misters though. It was starting to get pretty warm already.
Next we made our way to the caves in front of Pirates. There’s so many different places to go, you really do feel like you could get lost.
There’s some fun things hidden throughout. Ruston hid behind a corner and jumped out to scare Jacob, then Jacob did the same thing to T. Being pregnant, I’m not so sure she needs to be scared right now.
Spooky!
Skull Rock with a pirate ship docked in front of it.
And the inside of Skull Rock.
I wish the pirate ship was open to explore.
After running around the caves for a while, Theresa and Jacob sat on a bench while Ruston and I ran to see if Big Thunder had fastpasses. When we got there, Big Thunder was still broken down, as it had been all morning.
Ruston and I ended up taking a detour through the caves again on the way back. They go all over, including under the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse. There's some great views from the top here.
We also made our way to the suspension bridge and had fun jumping up and down as we crossed that.
Ruston said it’s was kind of fun to walk around a park that you don’t know like the back of your hand. I have to agree! It's neat exploring all these new nooks and crannies.
Meeting back up with the gang, we headed to the Molly Brown. We haven’t done it before, and it’s one of the last few rides on our list. On our way, we notice Big Thunder is letting people in line. It was closed most of yesterday, and all morning every time we’ve looked. It must have just started letting people in because it was closed a few minutes ago when we looked for fastpasses. Ruston, Jacob, and I jump in line and wait for about 15 minutes and then we’re told it had broken again and we’re escorted out of line.
Back to the Molly Brown. It appears to be a very popular ride. They fill up the queue on one side then when it's full, switch to the other.
The ducks seem to know the system too. They duck under the railing into the empty queue where people aren't and get popcorn and bread. Then when those people load onto the boat, they duck under the fence into the empty queue and start getting food from the people filling into the other side.
Everyone seems to be rushing to the second level, so we hang out on the lower level for a while.
The water here is a very greenish hue. Is this supposed to be swampland?
Just like back home, we see different scenes along our trip.
Hi Jacob!
Exploring the rest of the boat.
So Big Thunder Mountain goes along tracks at the center? And we've just completely circled the island? How does the runaway train get out there?
I've heard in the past that these used to be geysers. Nothing is happening now though.
We get a good view of Phantom Manor from the deck of the ship.
Theresa posing by the railing just before we get back to the docks.
Finishing on the boat, we cross the street to the Silver Spur restaurant. It’s closed (of course, like almost all restaurants) even though it’s 1:30pm. Our main purpose here though we can see though the windows. You might remember that back in July of 2012, Ruston, Jacob, Theresa and I stayed overnight in the Disneyland Dream Suite. In the Frontierland bedroom there is a chandelier that one of our Disney hostesses said came from this restaurant all the way from Disneyland Paris.
Compare the chandelier below that is in the Silver Spur to the one in the Frontierland Bedroom in the Disneyland Dream Suite.
They've changed out the dangling pieces from an S to the Disneyland Dream Suite symbol. They've also added Bison to the chandelier.
We wander through Frontierland some more.
We come upon Big Thunder see that it is letting people in line, so we jump in line again. T goes to find a place in the shade to read her kindle, while Ruston, Jacob and I get in line.
It’s about 1:30pm. The sign out front says 15 minutes, but since they just re-opened, we know that’s probably not true.
While waiting, we enjoyed the cowboy tunes playing over the speakers. Old Yeller, Pecos Bill, Pollywallydoodle, On Top of Old Smokey, and more. We lucked out when we picked the left line because while both move the exact same speed (we picked one person in line when we split, and they were on the coaster dispatching right beside us) we enjoyed the nice breeze next to the windows while we waited. The right side was always on the inside and never got a window.
Jacob has antlers.
We ended up waiting about 40 minutes, hoping the whole time it doesn’t break down. Luckily we made it to the front of the line without it breaking! Ruston requested we sit in the back and that’s what we got.
The ride itself was awesome. I was wondering the whole time how we’d make it over to the island where the coaster was, when we were boarding shoreside. Turns out they make the first scene a cavern scene while you go under the river.
I've been on Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland Anaheim, WDW, Tokyo and now Paris, and this one is my favorite!
At the end of the ride, you dive down and go into a super dark tunnel and it feels like you’re still falling until you finally emerge on the other side back at the loading platform.
Two of us look like we're having fun. One of us seems to be trying not to throw up.
There's plenty more left to the day, but we'll continue it in the next post.
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