DAY THREE - Beverly Hills and More Disney Magic

Well on Friday I tried to escape some of the LA traffic by leaving to go to Beverly Hills at around 10. It was still pretty busy. Took about an hour and 15 minutes for a 30 mile drive. Hmph. So there went that idea.

When I arrived in Beverly Hills I went to Al Gelato and had the Rigatoni and then the Apple Pie with Vanilla Gelato for dessert. I took a picture with my iPhone (because this pie is huge), but I haven't uploaded to my computer yet - so you just can't see it yet! ;)

After eating, I walked S Robertson Blvd. back to my car. There were tons of high-end shops here, including Kitson, Splendid, Chanel, etc. Supposedly the celebrities are more apt to shop in this area than the touristy Rodeo Dr., but I didn't see any. Well, I guess I wouldn't recognize any celebs unless they had the paparazzi following them, though. After that, I drove to Beverly Dr. and ran into Lululemon (again - just to see if this store offered anything different), and went down Rodeo Dr. quickly. I took a picture of the street sign (again on my iPhone) and got back in my car to drive back to Anaheim. I thought the traffic wouldn't be so bad at this time (2:30), but I was wrong, again. I wasn't back at Disney until about 4:15. I ran back up to my room to get my park tickets and such, and then walked to Disneyland so that I could get a good spot for the parade.

The parade didn't start until 6:30, but I needed a good spot for video-recording so I had to get there early. I rode into Disney on the Monorail, which unlike WDW, actually lets you off inside the park in Tomorrowland. I went to the Coke Corner to get another cherry coke and picked up some popcorn off the street cart. Then, I found a good spot for the parade and sat down for about 45 minutes.

While waiting, the kid next to me was sleeping under a jacket in his dad's arms. It wasn't until the parade started that I saw that he was dressed like Michael Jackson (and he danced a little bit like him too, during the parade. I caught some of his dancing on video during the parade, but also managed to snap this picture:

I know it's slightly blurry, but you get the idea. I took video of the parade because pictures would be difficult to take since it was already dark. That's okay, though. I'll be able to capture pictures from the video at a later date when I have more time to do so. But I caught this picture the night before when I was just walking by the parade and not actually viewing:

After watching the parade, I walked down Main Street and looked through the stores. Again, I didn't see anything I really liked (I was looking for a T-Shirt souvenir really). I then went to see "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln." This is a show Walt designed is just about 15 minutes long. I know my mom and sister would enjoy it, though. As a bit of poignance to the whole experience, the day I went (Friday) was actually Lincoln's birthday (his 201st). So that was kind of interesting to see the show on the date of his birth. But, the show was really incredible. It starts off with a little video of the actor Royal Dano reading Lincoln's own speeches/writing through a montage. Then, the curtain goes down over the screen and a animatronic Lincoln comes up. He's real life size (his 6'4 likeness) and was actually pretty incredible. Thinking that they made this Lincoln back about 40-50 years ago with the technology at that time. I would have taken video, but you weren't allowed. I might sneak in later on my trip to get a picture, though.

After that, I just roamed the park a bit. It was really crowded and all the rides had extremely long lines, so I didn't really want to wait for something I had already seen. I took some pictures of the castle at night - but again, it's dark and without using a flash and not having a tripod it's kind of difficult to get a good picture:

I had about an hour before the fireworks started, so I picked up something to eat and found a spot for them. I actually ended up with a really great spot. Just in front of the castle is a round area with a statue of Walt and Mickey in the middle. I was just in front of that statue. So, during the fireworks, the statue of Walt and Mickey was in the foreground, the castle in the background and the fireworks overhead. So, when the light sky lit up just enough with the fireworks you could see all three - they'll make some really great pictures once I break the video down (but, probably not the highest quality).

After the fireworks, it was nearing 10, so I decided to walk Downtown Disney and head back to the hotel room. This time I stopped in a store called Vault 28 - where I found 2 shirts I really liked. I bought both. Luckily, despite not saying they accept my Disney Rewards card (where all the points I have earned from my Disney Credit Card can be used as cash), they were able to. The girls there said they'd try it and it worked. YAY! Not having to spend "money" for the shirts worked out even better. Okay, now I'm done shopping for the trip.... Hopefully I can still fit everything into my carry-on. I really don't want to check bags.

Alright, well I'm watching The Truman Show and I'm going to bed. Night.