Day 2 of my 3-Day Disneyland CA Resident Ticket had three observatives; see the Live Action Little Mermaid, eat at Tiana’s Palace, and see the Ahsoka characters! Two out of three isn’t bad. Strangely, this didn’t include any attractions. I guess the other objective was to see the Magic Happens parade. I usually like to start my Disneyland day looking at the window above the Disneyland Fire Dept. This was Walt Disney’s apartment with a lamp that is always lit in honor of Disney. I’ve been there once as a cast member. If I have the chance, I will stop by Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, I like the show, but missed a few of the Disney100 exhibits. New to me was the costume of Madame Leota, played by Jamie Lee Curtis, for the latest Haunted Mansion movie.
Madame Leota costume, worn by Jamie Lee Curtis, from Haunted Mansion, author’s photo.
I also saw a great print of Princess Leia, very formal, “Glimmer of Hope” by Nanako Kanemitsu at the Disney Gallery next to Great Moments. Outside was Clarabelle Cow in her Halloween outfit, a spider-web dress and green spider cowbell! I headed to Rise of Resistance, but it shut down before the Resistance shuttle! The complicated mechanics of the ride does make it prone to shut down and when it was later running, I was too busy to wait again. So I wandered around looking for any of the new Galaxy’s Edge characters, maybe Ahsoka, or maybe Hera and Chopper, but didn’t see anyone. So it was going to the queue for Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run. It was a fair ride, but the experience is always dependent if the pilots can actually fly. I did have a delicious cup of Blue Milk on that hot day.
From that point, I went to the Live-Action Little Mermaid meet and greet that is right before It’s a Small World. The meet and greet has a large, blue tile mosaic of a mermaid tail, Triton’s trident, a cabinet of Prince Eric’s collection, and peeking in is Scuttle! Ariel had her light blue dress and was entirely charming to meet in person. I went from there to get to Tiana’s Palace at New Orlean’s Square. On the way there, next to Matterhorn Mountain was a meet and greet for Aladdin and Genie. This was also kinda cool since the Monorail track is low enough to appear in photos! At the Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse statue, there was filming set up for a Spanish language talk show. Continuing on there was scaffolding and construction going on behind a wall for the new Adventureland Treehouse.Finally, I reached Tiana’s Palace, formerly French Market which is one of my favorite restaurants at Disneyland.
Live-Action Little Mermaid, Ariel, meets with fans!, photo by the author.
There was a short line outside, about a 20 min. wait, and at the end of it was Tiana herself! Also there was Redd, the pirate, I maybe saw her here and there, but great to see in person! So I finally got to the line for food, everything looks good!, of course I started with the House-filled Beignet. This had Lemon Ice Box Pie Filling, a cream that was cold, so perfect for the sunny day! I got the Cajun Spiced Half Chicken with BBQ sauce and baked maaroni and cheese. It was delicious, but really needed cornbread which was next to the beignets! I also picked up the Ray Firefly Glow Cube. Almost every table was filled, but it is not difficult to find an empty table. I did go for my usual mint julep at the Mint Julep Bar, but I think they changed the recipe and it tasted like regular lemonade and I dumped it. Construction was going on for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
I went back to Galaxy’s Edge, there still was no sign of the new characters, but I did see a gathering around the Falcon at around 2 p.m. There was Rey, Chewbacca, and R2-D2, they were joined by Vi Moradi, the Resistance spy. Chewie was working on an access panel beneath the Falcon and pulled apart some cables! I saw the Disneyland Band perform the Main Title from Star Wars outside of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. I love live performances, they are talented, playing instruments and moving in formation. I took a place on Main Street to wait for the parade. The Disneyland Band walked down playing a melody of Disney tunes. The Magic Happens Parade began with multi-colored dancers. Then, Sorcerer Mickey on a metal sorcerer hat float. He was followed by Minnie, Chip n’ Dale, Donald and Goofy all in the blue and purple parade color costumes. Dancers dressed as ocean waves precede the catamaran float with Moana.
Vi Moradi, Rey, Artoo, and Chewie meet beneath the Millennium Falcon!, author’s photo.
There is a barrel where Heihei pokes his head out! Then, Maui on a lava rock float. They were followed by flamenco dancers with Miguel from Coco on an Aztec marigold float. Behind him is the large figure of Pepita. Ballet dancers in white and autumn colors follow them to the tune of “Into the Unknown” from Frozen 2. The float with the watery Nokk, Anna and Elsa, on icy blue formations. In the back of the float is the reindeer Sven and rolling a cart is Kristoff. Another group of characters is next in the parade; Pinocchio, Blue Fairy, Peter Pan, Aladdin in his Prince Ali clothes with Genie. Behind them is a autumn carriage for Cinderella. One of the highlights of the parade for me is a float for Sword and the Stone. Merlin in his blue robe and hat is in the front with his wand. Behind him is Wart, who will become King Arthur, about to pull Excalibur from the stone! Next, Tiana in royal gown, with Prince Naveen on a float with a cypress tree. Lastly, the float with the fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, and then Aurora and Prince Phillip! A fun day of characters, music, and good food!
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