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Monday, May 30, 2011

Both Disney World Magic Kingdom and Disneyland in one day!

On May 30th I was able to do something I'd always wanted to try; going to two Disney parks in one day.  In this case though, I wanted to do both parks on either side of the USA.  I also wanted to see how many rides I could get in.  My goal was to go on rides that existed in some form at both parks. 

Theresa and I arrived to WDW Magic Kingdom before park opening, riding the monorail from the Ticket and Transportation center.





Here we are at the very front of the rope drop. 

A quick photo in front of Cinderella's castle and the WDW Partners statue and I was off on my mission.

Ride #1 - I started the day with Space Mountain, a thrilling, high-speed, turbulent, roller-coaster type ride in the dark (according to the safety video).

Ride #2 - A quick exit from Space Mountain and I was right by the Astro Orbiter.  I'm flying high over the Magic Kingdom.  Check out the view of Cinderella Castle in the background.

Ride #3 - Heading out to the flight deck and reporting for duty.  Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin.

Ride #4 - Spinning and spinning on the Mad Tea Party

Ride #5 - One of Theresa's favorites, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

I should mention at this point that Theresa is really helping me get all these rides done.  While I'm off having fun riding rides, she's busy grabbing fast passes and food.  We've only got 3 hours total in this park before we have to leave for the airport, so there's not really much time.


Ride #6 - Snow White's Scary Adventures

It's very scary.

Ride #7 - Prince Charming Regal Carrousel.  Hey look, it's Cinderella's Castle in the background!

Ride #8 - The Haunted Mansion

Ride #9 - Over to the Pirates of the Caribbean.  Love the theming in the queue here at WDW.

Ride #10 - The wildest ride in the wilderness, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.


Ride #11 - Peter Pan's Flight.  Why this ride always has a huge line is beyond me.  It's fun, but not 60 minute wait fun.


Ride #12 - The song that gets stuck in your head for the rest of the day.  it's a small world

Ride #13 - And for the last ride of the day at the Magic Kingdom, the Swiss Family Treehouse. 

A quick drive to the airport and an easy 6 hour flight from Orlando to Los Angeles.  Luckily when we connected in Texas, we stayed on the same plane.  It was probably the quickest stop I could have hoped for.

Once we landed in Los Angeles, I dropped Theresa off at home and was on my way to Disneyland.

Made it!  Let's see how many rides I can get in!

It's a little more crowded here at Disneyland.  Here's me in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle and the Disneyland Partners statue.

Ride #14 - Tarzan's Treehouse (it used to be the Swiss Family Treehouse, right?)

Ride #15 - Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland.

Ride #16 - The Haunted Mansion.  It looks quite a bit different than the WDW counterpart.

Ride #17 - Snow White's Scary Adventures

Ride #18 - King Arthur's Carrousel.  Hey look, it's Sleeping Beauty Castle in the background.

Ride #19 - The Mad Tea Party.  I was starting to run out of steam at this point, but I was on a mission!  Lucky for me I had some Cotton Candy from WDW to give me a sugar buzz.

Ride #20 - Soaring over Disneyland now in the Astro Orbitor.  And look, there's Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Ride #21 - There was a short wait and I felt like adding a Disneyland classic to my day.  It just so happened that while I was riding the Matterhorn, the fireworks started up.  What a great way to experience the ride!  Zooming in and out of the mountain and having fireworks going off over your head!

After the Matterhorn and walking through Fantasyland to Frontierland the fireworks were still going off.  It made me laugh to see Dumbo flying over the castle on my left while there were 16 similar flying elephants on the Dumbo ride on my right.

Ride #22 - Just as the fireworks were ending, I hopped on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.


Ride #23 - The front of the park was nuts as people were exiting, so I headed back to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh


Ride #24 - Much better lines now that people have started leaving.  Peter Pan's Flight


Ride #25 - Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters.  I like this one better than the WDW version since you can actually pick up the gun!



Ride #26 - it's a small world, this time with Disney characters scattered throughout.

Ride #27 - The very last ride of the night and the same ride that started the day at Disney World.  Space Mountain.

Mission accomplished!  What an exciting day, though you can probably guess, I was just a little tired.

I figured I'd end the day the same as I started it at WDW, riding the monorail (can I count that as another ride?) out to Downtown Disney and walking to the car.

So what was the final count?  One day, both coasts, two parks and 27 rides completed.

So... what should I do next?

 WDW Magic Kingdom    Disneyland
  1.  Space Mountain
 14.
 Space Mountain
 2.  Astro Orbiter
 15.  Astro Orbitor
 3.  Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
 16.  Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
 4.  Mad Tea Party
 17.  Mad Tea Party
 5.  Winnie the Pooh
 18.  Winnie the Pooh
 6.  Snow White's Scary Adventures
 19.  Snow White's Scary Adventures
 7.  Prince Charming Regal Carrousel  20.  King Arthur Carrousel
 8.  The Haunted Mansion
 21.  The Haunted Mansion
 9.  Pirates of the Caribbean
 22.  Pirates of the Caribbean
 10.  Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
 23.  Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
 11.  Peter Pan's Flight
 24.  Peter Pan's Flight
 12.  it's a small world
 25.  it's a small world
 13.  Swiss Family Treehouse
 26.  Tarzan's Treehouse
       
       Bonus Ride
     27.  Matterhorn



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