Beginning of the Summer '12

Hey all! How are you doing? As summer is winding down, I just thought I'd talk about some of the fun things I did. One of the early summer activities I did was go to the opening of Cars Land. The Cars Land opening was definitely a unique Disney experience for me. Danielle & I camped out overnight in front of the park. We got to the park around 11:30pm, while the park opened at 9am the next day. Danielle actually ended up sleeping in the car the majority of the time while I had a blanket and slept in front of the park. It wasn't as bad a you might think. Then the time came where they let us into the park. Bob Iger made a speech and really made us believe that Disney California Adventure was now a contender as a real Grade A Theme Park. Well, he's right. Disney California Adventure (or DCA as us regulars, and cast-members call it) really is a great park now that the expansion is complete. When we first got in the park, Buena Vista Street was the first thing we saw. It's reminiscent of Los Angeles in 1923 when Walt Disney Arrived. It's very close to what Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World is like, but I really believe ours is better. But Cars Land is the biggest, and most advertised addition to the park. Walking into Cars Land was a surreal experience to me. It almost made me cry. It's something I'll never forget. When we walked into Cars Land, it really looked just like Radiator Springs from the movie Cars. Seriously, they had every single detail down. But the part I found so neat was the cast members. When we walked in, we were probably within the first 200 people inside of Cars Land. So we saw cast members, rather than attending their regular duties were just waving at us and high fiving us while we walked in. It was so cool! They were all SO proud to be there for the Cars Land opening. It was such a good feeling. You could tell their hearts were invested in the park, just the way I could imagine Walt Disney and the original cast members felt when Disneyland opened. We finished our Cars Land experience in about an hour once we got in. While all the crowds rushed to Radiator Springs Races, the E ticket attraction, we went and got fastpasses for it. Then we walked onto Luigi's Flying Tires and Mater's Junkyard Jamboree (the other two attractions). Literally no lines. But Radiator Springs Racers is where it's at! It's amazing. I don't want to ruin the surprise, but I just have to say there's something special about that ride. There's a whole part that they never show on television and it's just such a great surprise. It really makes you feel like you're part of the movie. I know this is almost an advertisement for Cars Land, but I'd really recommend you go!
      Originally I was going to write a blog about my whole summer, but this one got too long...so get ready for future blogs!
-HBK