Disneyland Day!

Since I've been dealing with a sore knee for a few weeks and have been advised to take a break from running, the husband and I decided to opt for a different kind of workout a few weekends ago...a nice day hike through Disneyland!

I was antsy to ride the new "Luigi's Rollickin Roadsters" ride, so we made a beeline straight to Cars Land, stopping to grab a fastpass for Radiator Spring Racers before hopping in line for Luigi's. Shortly after getting in line, there was an announcement that the ride was down, so many hopped out and we scooted forward. It had been marked a 60 minute wait when we got in line, so we didn't feel bad waiting around while the line was down, and figured we were moving faster with it broken than with it running due to the amount of people leaving. Pretty soon we were only about 75 people from the front, and they began giving out return passes to come back when the ride was back up. We'd take it!

After "dropping" by the Tower of Terror, we moseyed back to Luigi's and, sure enough, the ride was back on. We were directed through the exit and to the next loading area, and in total, spent much less than the originally predicted 60 minutes in line.

I have mixed feeling about the new ride. First of all, I'm biased because I loved the Flying Tires. Yes, they were difficult to fly and a little boring, but I loved the nostalgia in a new version of an original Disneyland ride (the Flying Saucers in Tomorrowland).

However, as sad as I was to see the tires go, I was quite excited about the new Luigi's, since it utilizes technology that no US Disney park had used yet (but we experienced during the Ratatouille ride in Disneyland Paris). The technology uses a system of magnets underneath the surface that the ride vehicles use to allow the vehicles to move freely without tracks, giving them many more movement possibilities.

Waiting to board the ride, we had a great time watching the cars "dance" around each other as the music played. It was exciting to see the cars wheeling around in various formations, like a classic Italian Dance. However, riding it was a different story. The ride did not feel as smooth as Ratatouille. It was a bit jerky and had a lot of sudden twists and turns. Additionally, you can't see and appreciate the formations of the dancing cars while you are in them, which leaves you feeling like you're wheeling around with no purpose.

One of the adorable cars

Ultimately, I think it's fun to watch the ride, and I look forward to seeing it operating during the holidays, as supposedly they will be adding Christmas songs to the dances. For now, though, I'm okay avoiding the hour+ line.

After Luigi's and lunch, we grabbed some ice cream from Ghirardelli and decided to eat it while doing the annual Easter Egg hunt. In the past we've done the Disneyland side egg hunt, but we were already in DCA so we decided to switch it up this year. We bought our map and stickers and set off to find the character eggs. When completed, we brought our map back to Elias and Co. to get our prize, a Cheshire Cat egg!

Of course, no trip to DCA is complete for me without saying hello to my favorite lucky rabbit (especially with Easter so close). I had thought ahead and not only wore my favorite Oswald shirt, but brought my ever-growing lanyard with my Oswald pin collection. He was quite excited by my lanyard and gave me a kiss on the hand!

Oswald loved my lanyard

We decided to head home before we got too exhausted and irritated with the crowds, which had grown quite a bit since we arrived. Overall it was another wonderful Disney Day!