Disneyland Day 3!

Monday was a big day.  On the agenda was the race for Radiator Springs Racers Fastpasses (pun intended), Napa Rose for dinner, and of course, Mom's birthday!

The Parks were opening to the general public at 9am that morning, with Early Entry offered for people staying on-property at a Disney hotel.  I had heard that they would open the gates a half hour early to allow people to line up for Fastpasses.  So we got in line at about 8:15am and sure enough, at 8:30am, they opened the turnstiles.  I knew exactly where I was going, so I booked it down Buena Vista Street and got in line.  I did pretty well:

My spot in line 

I think I'm behind someone in this photo.

While my mission was to get Fastpasses, my Mom headed to Guest Services to get a birthday button.  Of course they were out, so that was a bust.  They offered her a sticker, but my Mom wanted nothing of that.  So she found me in line and then when we were about to start moving, she jumped out and got her picture taken with Walt and Mickey.

Storyteller's Statue

Right at 9 the line merged with the line started by the people with Early Entry.  At 9:16am I was exiting the line with the Fastpasses.  From the research I did, this is exactly what I expected.

The precious.

I met up with my Mom and we headed back to Toy Story Mania on Paradise Pier.  Our goal was to avoid the morning rush in Cars Land.  Unlike WDW, Toy Story Mania does not have Fastpasses at California Adventure.  When we got back there, it was only about a 20 minute posted wait, but it took more like 10 minutes, not too bad at all!

That's MISTER Potato Head to you!

 Next up we did California Screamin', again with a minimal wait.  This is Geoff's favorite roller coaster, which is saying something since he refers to roller coasters as death machines.  My Mom really liked it as well and added it to her repeat list.

After we shook up our stomachs, we headed back over to Cars Land to grab breakfast at Flo's!  I also grabbed a Red's Apple Freeze (essentially frozen apple juice) from the Cones.

Cozy Cones

I really loved the decor in Flo's.  It was really done well.  The lights were all car parts, the seats looked like car seats and there was a giant rearview mirror on the wall.  The view was pretty great too, looking out onto Radiator Springs Racers.