Friday, August 5, 2011

Disneyland Trip September 2008 Day 1 (September 9)

UPDATED February 4, 2022

This is part of a series of trip reports from a 2008 southern California trip. Changes since then are noted with "NOW".

Back from a trip and still a bit tired. Using e-mails of a previous set of trip reports (cleaned up for typos and bits of hindsight etc) to allow myself some breathing room before typing brand new material. This is the first of 11 posts (10 travel days plus final thoughts) adapted from e-mails I sent to friends and family. This was my 3rd trip there, the previous two being in the early 1980s and 1996. My dad came with me this trip. 

I left my apartment just after 7 am and grabbed a bite at the McDonald's on Douglas & View, Victoria, BC. There was only one till open. The cashier did her best but was pretty worn down; to make matters worse someone tried to pay with a $100 bill. At the bus stop at Douglas & Fort, there was a smoker with bad smoking hygiene so I felt a bit ill (another such person later got on the second bus). I passed up a few busses to ensure I got a double-decker (73 I think; if so, that route has since been discontinued); at Royal Oak Exchange I switched to the 83 bus to the airport; I was going to visit Sidney after checking in, but because I arrived so early I was allowed to get an earlier flight, which was a relief because I was originally going to cut it a bit close. 

[NOW: The buses to Victoria International Airport, North Saanich were Victoria Regional Transit.]

Since I was now leaving the airport at 10 am, I visited the cows near the airport [note: visits to the cow field in 2011 have not actually turned up any cows] and then went back and got a magazine before going through security. Going through Customs in Vancouver I fit some profile and had to visit Immigration because someone wanted to talk to me briefly. For once “briefly” was accurate: I was basically asked two of the same questions the first guy asked and was then sent on my way. I got confused re: which departure gate I was supposed to leave but found out in plenty of time, though it meant that I connected with my dad slightly later, after a brief bite at Skyways. 

[NOW: Vancouver International Airport is in Richmond.]

There was a slight delay when one passenger arrived so late her bag was almost removed. We then made decent time getting into town but my dad was worried for a bit because my bag was one of the first to arrive and his was one of the last. We just made it onto the Disneyland Express bus at the last second. Traffic was so heavy the trip was almost double the time it should have been. We had a decent dinner at Mimi's, not to be confused with Millie’s next door; I later tried that as well and liked them both. We then made plans for the first actual day at the park.

 [NOW: Millie's has closed.]

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