Magic Happens - Pt 04

The night was getting colder. I started to shiver since I already got soaked from the previous ride, and my soaked shirts weren't dry yet, so Tiffany lent me her comfy, warm sweater. All of a sudden, our boat was halted by a boat ahead of us that also stopped. We thought we were just lining up to plunge down the first waterfall, because of course, only one boat at a time could plunge down the drop. The drop was just one boat away from us, but we waited and waited.
We all kept on saying how bad the boat's position was in front of us, because they were at the tip of the waterfall and the boat sort of tilted.
The gates didn't even open to allow the boat right next to us to plunge down. Then an announcement echoed, remarking that the ride was broken. I heard chorus of groans from my friends as well as people from other boats. The people in the boat before us started singing along to Backstreet Boys, which we followed.

Then, before long, the gate to the plunge opened, sending a boat right in front of us through a short – probably less than 10 feet tall drop. Our boat was slowly pushed by the current, with my seat positioned backwards with my back facing the drop. I instantly freaked out since I'd never been through a drop backwards before. I always hate drops, even if I was facing the drop itself. I could never stand the ticklish, freefall feeling when your body just gave in to the gravity, let alone going down backwards. However, my fidgety feeling of going backwards was then stopped by the gates that held down our boat. Right now, the boat's angle was tilted and it was right sitting on the tip of the drop. The ride was broken again, followed with some groans from my boat and from the other boat. I just wanted to get over all the drops so I wouldn't be worried any longer.

The water current kept pushing our boat against the gate, but the sound of the water running slowly decreased. We stared at the drop in front of us to discover that the water was getting reduced, up to the point we could see the wood of the bottom of the river. Then it came to our realization that the water was drained from the river, leaving the riverbed almost to dry condition. Should we wait until the water was filling up again? But that was going to take a while and we had a show to catch. It was already ten and we would probably miss World of Color forever. We already missed the parade today at Disneyland, missed Disneyland's firework, missed the first show of World of Color, and now the second show. In the end, we would walk out of Disney parks without catching any of its breathtaking shows (and not to mention the amazing special effects).

Shortly after, a cast member approached our boat. “We're going to get you out of here.” Hm, sounds very serious. He disappeared for a second before coming back with a ladder. Then the young cast member led us all out of our boat – in the middle of the ride. Wow, this is the first time ever I was being evacuated from a ride. He also helped the other boat's passengers to leave the boat. After we waited until everyone there got off the boat with the help of the cast member, we followed his steps to the exit of the ride. From the path we were taking, we could see the river bed was completely dry, with just some small puddles of water. This would surely take ages until it was all filled up again, if we were to wait until it was fixed.

Apparently the cast member said that there was nothing serious. The water flow seemed to have conflicts and it might have to do with the excessive use of water in World of Color show (probably Disney was in short of water?). Anyway, he said it was already the third time the ride broke down of the day. Hm, Disney, you should probably do ride check-up more often to prevent this from happening. The cast member asked us if we would return the next day, but sadly, we wouldn't. He said if we returned the next day, we would get fast passes for the ride.

As soon as we got out of the ride, we were already giving up of seeing the full show of World of Color, since Grizzly's cast member told us that when we got out of the ride, we would probably catch up only a little of the show. So we walked helplessly towards World of Color venue, already giving up hope to see the full show. The show takes place in a lake facing the ferris wheel and California Screamin' roller coaster, which were actually the icons of the park. But when we were on our way there, there were no loud sound effects, beautiful projects, or effects thrown out, which was weird because World of Color would be such a big show that everyone could see from the far distance. The lights around us were still lit (up to the point that I could still take a picture of The Little Mermaid ride's building). All of a sudden, the lightings dropped. I thought for a second it was a black out. But then, in the distance, colorful projections and lights we'd all been anticipating were thrown out to all over the place. The World of Color began!!

Once we saw the show was starting, Vinny, Tiffany, Sherin, and I mindlessly ran in pitch black (there was literally no lighting at all, since the only lighting came from the show and it was still in the far off distance). All the seating areas were sadly closed by the rope that stretched from one end to another, but we managed to find an entrance. After all, the fast passes were left useless as we didn't have to show them to any cast member. We quickly found a spot, high and spacious enough (we didn't have to push against other people to get a good view) to see the whole show from the distance. This is so far the best standing view I've ever got in any shows that require me to stand.

I was thoroughly mindblown by the effects and technology used in the show. The show mainly used water elements that appeared in the form of dancing fountains, with Disney scenes projected on to it. I've seen a technology like this in Song of the Sea, a similar water show in Sentosa Island, Singapore. But compared to Disney, hands down. World of Color definitely wins. I'm amazed how the show imagineers managed to combine the main water effects with additional effects such as pyrotechnic (especially in Pirates of the Caribbean part), and made use of environment to enhance the show (such as projecting the Toy Story aliens to fit onto the huge circle spot within California Screamin' coaster loop.

The show was long enough, but Tiffany was disappointed because her favorite Disney movie, Mulan, wasn't featured. Among a few movies that were featured were The Little Mermaid, Fantasia, Up, Brave, and Lion King.

Right after the show finished, we were planning to walk back into Disneyland. California Adventure was closing right after World of Color finished. So everyone else either left the parks or moved to Disneyland, since Disneyland's closing hours were still over an hour left. Once we got into Disneyland, we thought of getting onto more relaxing rides, probably Peter Pan's Flight again (Tiffany got addicted to it, and so did I). However, before we even got to enter the Mainstreet, Vinny looked tired. We had to call it the night (it was already 11 pm anyway). Tiffany quickly called her boyfriend to pick us up. While waiting, we ventured to the shops right next to us. Mickey and Minnie were spotted and they were still taking pictures with visitors. The line was so short that I could even get a chance to take pictures with them, but looks like they were signing off as soon as I came by.

We went into the closest souvenir shop and had fun trying out the hats!

It didn't take long for Tiffany's boyfriend to get here. The four of us quickly found our ways out of Disneyland to the bus stop where he dropped us off this morning (oh the heartbreaking moment when I walked out of the park, without not knowing for sure when I'm going to go back). We hopped on to the car and drove back to Tiffany's boyfriend's apartment. We were all so crashed that night. Despite assuring myself that I could actually stay in the park until 12 (when the park was closing), I was physically tired and almost fell asleep in the car.

When we got back to the apartment, I went to my car, said goodbye and thank my friends for the wonderful day, before driving off all the way to Pasadena. I thought the drive would be short since there would be no traffic at night, but I ended up getting stuck in a 1 mile long traffic jam. It turns out the freeway was closed so the other cars and I were directed towards the nearest exit. I had to find a detour. In the end, I had to detour all the way to Downtown LA before making my way back to the quiet Pasadena.

Phew, I know it may sound so cheesy, but I just couldn't believe that everything that I've wanted to happen, finally happened today. After a lot of my friends turned down my offer to go to Disneyland for so many reasons, after I was on the verge of going to Disneyland but I wasn't actually going in, it was all coming to reality that very day. I had to thank Tiffany for the wonderful offer, her two generous friends and her friend's family for contributing to my happiness, Vinny and Sherin for sharing this “Dreams Come True” moment, and Tiffany's boyfriend for driving us to the happiest place on Earth.

I'm not sure when my next visit was going to be, but last time I had a conversation with Aymee and she said she was coming over to California for a short vacation, and that she wanted to go to Disneyland and California Adventure. But that was still being discussed.

In terms of having Annual Pass, no matter how I really love Disneyland, no matter how really tempting it is, and after my visit, I decided not to get it. Disneyland is and will always be the most sacred place for me and I wouldn't ruin its sacredness by going there a billion times. It's like having a $3K Chanel jacket that you really love and cherish, but the more you wear it the more worn out it will be, up until the point it loses its worth (The Chanel jacket is indeed my personal wish, ahem). Besides, art life is tough and Pasadena was 45 minutes away from the Happiest Place on Earth. Given those reasons, it's just not worth it to spend $669 for a year full of Disneyland visits. I'm just going to make it that simple.

Okay, back to real life. Thank you for reading guys and hope you have a magical pleasant day

UPDATE: Aymee cancelled her trip to LA, but lately I just found a friend who loves Disneyland too. She's planning for us to go there some time this year, hopefully before the end of the year. I mean, come on, let's not be greedy :)

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