Sunday, June 21, 2009

The Amazing, the Stupendous, the Exalted: DISNEYSEA!!!!


DisneySea is by far the best park I've ever been to! It's the best Disney park because it embodies what is amazing about ALL the parks! There's the cute characters like Magic Kingdom, the Broadway-caliber shows that far surpass anything at Hollywood Studios, the alcohol like Epcot, and the baddest 'Disney caliber' rides from Animal Kingdom!

There's a massive mountain (hey Everest!), an Indiana Jones ride reminiscent of Dinosaur, a crazy Little Mermaid show that mixes the puppetry of Finding Nemo with the acrobatics of Lion King, Tower of Terror, and a roller-coaster with a 360 degree loop!!

But there's MORE!! You can meet more obscure characters here than any other park (including the Three Cabelleros, Marie from the Aristocats, Genie, and more!)!
There's also almost TEN different flavors of flavored popcorn, including: curry, soda, black pepper, chocolate, strawberry, caramel, cappacino, and cheddar!

Did I mention the TWO water shows?? I think no one has ever seen shows like these!! I took videos of both but they will take forever to upload so I recommend youtubing BraviSEAmo and The Legend of Mystica! They've both been taped by people with better equipment than mine, LOL!

I was so very impressed by this park! I can't wait to go back!! The layout is so massive, too! Basically, each place is a different sea port! I don't remember the official names, so we're going with my nicknames for the places. There's :
~Old New England (which looks just like Plymouth and has a Cape Cod Clam Restaurant!);
~Old New York (which features a Broadway caliber jazz show and a replica of a massive Titanic-esque ship!);
~Morocco (with gorgeous mosaics on every roof!)
~Pirate Bay (with a ship, and the Indiana Jones ride!)
~Future Bay (with a cool simulator ride),
~Ariel's Grotto (a huge underground amusement park!)
and
~Italy (complete with gondolas and delicious foods!!)

There's also a castle in the center of the park that's for "explorers" who want to learn about science! VERY fun for geeky me!!

Let's get started, walking back down memory lane, shall we?



This slayed me right off the bat! In the first store: Minnie Mouse as Lady Liberty!
And yes, they also sell these in New York City!


This retro bus is the one that took us to our hotel! Everything was Mickey, of course!

The center of the entrance of the park has an enormous, spinning globe that is also a fountain!
You can't tell, but water is coming out of the very top and gives the globe a very shiny, cool look!


Unlike Disney World in Florida, these Disney parks don't always do year-long celebrations! If you want to see the current celebration, you've only got three months to do it! The theme? SPRING CARNIVAL!!

This mountain is also a dark ride with a big drop at the end! It's called "Journey To The Center
Of the Earth" and has a huge animatronic bug that is as scary as that old Alien ride at Magic Kingdom!


Walking in through Italy. Lots of pretty things to see!!

Minnie and Daisy's flower stalls!!

This store was so cool! There was an English speaking fan who worked HAND-CUTTING silhouette's out of delicate paper! He must have had such a steady hand!!





Did I mention the castle looks like it's from the Renaissance?? And notice the pirate ship!


In the center of the mountain is an alcove with another amazing ride: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea!
I just love the theming, too!!



This restaurant has "lava" in the title and looked very cool, but a little too pricey for us that day.



We're slowing descending a winding ramp "under" water!

This is the contraption that will take us "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea!!"
It was a killer ride with outstanding special effects!! I couldn't resist repeatedly shreaking,
"THIS IS SOOO COOL!!!!!"


Having a meditative moment in front of some ancient ruins by the Indiana Jones ride!


Raging Spirits: This compact coaster had a 360 degree loop that I did twice because there was no real heights involved! It was so fun! Now I feel confident to try Rock'n Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios, too!

Off to Morocco!! This camel made the cutest noises!

This was an amazing two-story carousel! You could ride camels, elephants, gryffins, lions, and GENIE!

The view from the carousel. NOTICE GENIE RUNNING THROUGH THE PICTURE????
When the ride finished Cris and I actually ran after him! We didn't get him, but even better, we got Jasmine and Aladdin!



They were sooo nice!!


Back to Raging Spirits! Hooray for Fastpass!!



Minnie and Mickey near Morocco and the Sinbad ride! Aren't they adorable??


The "mascots" for Morocco are Genie and Chandu, this adorable baby tiger!
Cris models the hat, giving us her most tigerish face!


The carousel from the outside. Isn't it crazy gorgeous??
Notice all the flowers in front of it? The top of it has a topiary Jasmine!!



Just the entrance to Ariel's underground playland. Outside we saw something that was so amazing. I'll bet none of you have seen it before!!

PRINCE ERIC and MAX!!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???

My camera couldn't get a great shot of the area, but I tried! The theming was adorable and 'under the sea!'
Of course!


The ups and downs of the jelly fish!

I'M HOME!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!

I loved this part soooo much!! It felt like a perfect replica or New England! Way to go, Diz!

There was a random Mexican restuarant near the Indiana Jones ride and the somewhat Mayan temple.
Guess who came out and tapped my arm while I was studying the park map???
MEXICAN DONALD!!! (AKA, one of the three Cabelleros!)


Cabellero #2

And #3!

As Steph already knows, you can also meet Max there!!
I got this picture just for her!! =D

The great ship Columbia!

Along the pier-side of The Columbia they had a super cute show with Minnie and Daisy!
I believe they were doing Madonna's Vogue at this part of the show!
And notice the Stitch that is pinned in this girl's hair in front of the camera?
I got one, too! In fact, it fell off during the tea cup ride at Disneyland the day before and we got to go again!!
Have I told you this story already??

How adorable and obscure! Bernard and Biance from The Rescuers, outside of Tower!


How cute is Marie's nose, all crinkled up?? CHO KAWAII!!!!


Italy at sunset?? Don't mind if I do!!



Meandering near the gondolas, still hanging in Italy ,searching for dinner!


We just missed the Spring Carnival show, but caught everyone parading backstage!

More topiaries!

The Blue Fairy!


The Columbia all lit up at night!!


Playing on the turrets of the Explorer's Castle, Cris and I came upon a Flying Machine!!
It gave her quite a workout, but she never quite lifted off!

Pinnochio, Gepetto, AND JIMINY CRICKET were hanging in Italy earlier in the day!

Cris's favorite picture from The Legend of Mythica show!



There were actually four massive floats portraying different mythical creatures. The others were a dragon and... oh man, I can't remember! Just youtube the video, you won't be sorry!! It's really amazing!! (And don't forget that Disney loves to start slowly and build! So either fast forward or hunker down. Either way, you'll love it!! =D

BraviSEAmo tells a love story of two ancient gods, one of water, and one of fire. The pictures are stunning but don't do this show justice! I spent the entire 15 minutes with mouth agaping, and in absolute AWE!!
She was massive!
***SPOILER ALERT::: Because I can appreciate seeing something so moving for the first time, I recommend that if you're coming to visit me and see this show, please DON'T view the video or read the comments below the picture as they contain spoilers that are just stunning when seen in person!!***



As the God of Fire appears, he sends fire and fireworks out of the top of Journey's Moutain, too!! AMAZING!!

The God of Fire is a dragon that shoots fire from all over his body but he actually RAISES UP from the center of the lake!!! How they do this, I have no idea! You'd think the metal would rust, being in their all day, but somehow it works!! ABSOLUTELY KILLER TO SEE if you don't know it's coming!!


The dragon is shooting fire down from his wings while the god of water is doing a little dance.
Did I mention the music?? It's moving, inspiring, and scintillating!!

After the finale there was a fireworks show, too!! SUGOI!!


The Hotel Miracosta opens into Disneysea! This is a picture of us (and some crowd) heading out after an amazing day!!




Spring Carnival Minnie and Mickey topiaries! Beautiful!!

This was the best day I've ever had at any park! I can't wait to go back and do it again with you!!!! =D

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LOOKING!!! I HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!

No comments: