A Fistful of Fastpasses: Disneyland with the DIS and ABD! (Final Day post #205-10/4)

[skier_pete]

You have some great character photos & I think we have absolutely 0.
Mickey Mouse looks so stinkin' cute in that get-up & I am jealous of Ulana's pictures with Mary & Bert. We went looking for them on Sunday but never could find them.
Looking back on this trip, it still amazes me how much we did in such a short period of time. It just is a whirlwind of activity. No wonder we were so exhausted at the end!
Hope you are enjoying your vacation. Hugs to you & Ulana. I miss everyone in our group!

Back from vacation! But I am so swamped I have had no time to post further. Maybe by the weekend. I only have a little ways to go. I so want to finish before the NEXT trip, which is now less than 9 weeks away!

You guys really did pack in a bunch in that morning. One small correction. The entrance is only for guests staying on property, they check your room keys, and a new twist, they actually check the dates on your room keys too!

Well, that may be the case, but we use it as an EXIT last year to get to DTD and the monorail. YOu are probably right you can't enter without staying on property, but they don't check anything when you leave that way.

I know you said that you weren't giving away certain spoilers, but I was working on part of one of my TRs and remembered something that a past ABDer commented on and wondered if you got to see it too. Did they show you the original Snow White figures that are in the singing fountain outside the castle?

I can neither confirm or deny whether we got to see such a thing as well as get our picture taken with them.

 

[Jenna319]

I just spent most of my night reading your trip report and I've thoroughly enjoyed it! We are heading to DL at the end of the month, and your report has gotten me so excited! That train park in LA would have been right up our alley, too bad it is only open on Sundays, and we are leaving Sunday. I do have a Warner Brothers tour booked though! Can't wait to read more!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Just wait until Monday!


You guys really did pack in a bunch in that morning. One small correction. The entrance is only for guests staying on property, they check your room keys, and a new twist, they actually check the dates on your room keys too! I used to keep an old room key in my wallet to waltz through, but last week when I tried it, the CM actually wanted to check my dates! I was lucky and had a "get out of jail free" card to get me though.

I want to see RSR backstage!

I know you said that you weren't giving away certain spoilers, but I was working on part of one of my TRs and remembered something that a past ABDer commented on and wondered if you got to see it too. Did they show you the original Snow White figures that are in the singing fountain outside the castle?

I hope you're having a nice time on vacation! Oh wait, you're probably back. Hope it was fun!

We can only dream.....or maybe go on an ABD tour!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Pete - I'm going to run very behind on your TR. Don't think I'll be checking in here again before I go. I'll catch up when I return. Keep well!

 

[skier_pete]

Yowza - been weeks since I posted an update, but here it goes, the wrap-up of our 6th day on the trip. (I got 54 days until I leave for Disney World to finish this TR!)

This was our last day of the ABD so in the evening we got to meet and show us a slide show of memories of our trip and talk about our favorite moments. It all went by so fast!
Afterwards, we headed over to Carthay Circle for a pretty terrific dinner.



Some of the interesting pictures and memorabilia:









They gave us our own private room for the evening.



We sat with ***** (names removed - but it was a fun group!)

They started with salad but I insisted on the cheddar jalapeno biscuits, which they ended up bringing out to everyone. (I am not sure if this was just because I requested it?)





Then we had the choice of chicken, filet mignon or pork. I had the filet and it was pretty wonderful. Everyone took pictures of everyone else’s food in proper DISboards fashion!







At one point, I got up to let folks know we were planning dinner at Catal the next night for anyone interested. I also said a little thank you to Pete and the podcast crew.They were really the reason we were all there at that time and place, and the fact that we could do this trip with a group of like-minded Disney fans was almost the best part of the whole thing.

All that was left was World of Color, but DW and I wanted to hit Soarin’ one more time with our Fastpasses. (Meaning we used 4 of 5 today!) I didn’t take any pictures or video of WoC, I just wanted to enjoy it! After dinner, a bunch of us decided to meet up over at Trader Sam’s at the Disneyland Hotel. We swung back through our room to drop off our stuff. We found this in our room as a “make-up” for no water in the morning. The carafe was full of milk. We were still pretty full from dinner so decided to wait until later to indulge:



On the way over to Trader Sam’s we stopped at the art store. I loved this painting, but not enough to buy it. Love the overlap of Haunted Mansion and Snow White.



We ordered a drink, DW got a Hippo-pot-a-mai-tai in a souvenir glass for like $15. I explored the restaurant, but I couldn’t be sure what Adventurer’s club stuff was there.





We stayed for a little while, but were planning an early rise the next morning. We managed a total of 9 rides today, which brings out grand total up to – what 18?

The Good
More behind the scenes goodness!
Got us on more rides cutting the lines.
The Lily Belle (YES!)
World of Color is an amazing show.

The Bad
The end of the (ABD guided) trip

The UGLY
No water in the morning. No shower, no toilet! Both bad AND Ugly.

Next up - an EXTRA extra magic morning!

 

[skier_pete]

I just spent most of my night reading your trip report and I've thoroughly enjoyed it! We are heading to DL at the end of the month, and your report has gotten me so excited! That train park in LA would have been right up our alley, too bad it is only open on Sundays, and we are leaving Sunday. I do have a Warner Brothers tour booked though! Can't wait to read more!

Thank you so much for your comments. I really appreciate it when people chime in that they are enjoying the TR. It makes it much easier to find the time to edit (it was written shortly after the trip - but now it's about putting the pictures in place) and get it in. I just posted my first update in almost a month! I am hoping to get back on a roll to wrap things up soon. Just one day (and a little) to go, but we did a LOT that day.

Pete - I'm going to run very behind on your TR. Don't think I'll be checking in here again before I go. I'll catch up when I return. Keep well!

Oh, you are off on your month-long cross America holiday. I think I can forgive you not checking in.

 

[Tinker326]

You are going to finish this one right in time to start another one!!! Then finish that one right in time to start another one. It will be like the year long trip report!

 

[wiigirl]

Great pics!

 

[skier_pete]

You are going to finish this one right in time to start another one!!! Then finish that one right in time to start another one. It will be like the year long trip report!

Well, it'll be almost two years until the next trip after that...so I have to s-t-r-e-t-c-h it out as long as I can!

Great pics!

Muchos Gracias! (I feel like I'm saying Thank you to much, so figured I'd change it up.)

 

[ymxbfalcon]

At one point, I got up to let folks know we were planning dinner at Catal the next night for anyone interested. I also said a little thank you to Pete and the podcast crew.They were really the reason we were all there at that time and place, and the fact that we could do this trip with a group of like-minded Disney fans was almost the best part of the whole thing.

I'll go a step further and leave out the "almost." For me, even with all of the amazing things we did on this trip, the group of people who were along for the journey were the best part.

I can't believe that you're so close to the end of your trip report, Pete. It's been a lot of fun reliving it through your eyes!

 

[khertz]

Dinner at Carthay Circle and WoC sounds like a great way to cap off a great ABD trip! Aside from no water at the hotel, it looks like a really nice last day.

Can't wait to see why the next morning got the double EXTRA! I'm sure it's awesome!

 

[YodasMom]

Great update!

Did they allow you to videotape the slide show?

 

[skier_pete]

I'll go a step further and leave out the "almost." For me, even with all of the amazing things we did on this trip, the group of people who were along for the journey were the best part.

I can't believe that you're so close to the end of your trip report, Pete. It's been a lot of fun reliving it through your eyes!

Well, the people did make the trip special, but some of the things we did were so "once-in-a-lifetime" that the people who were with us didn't even matter. (I already can't tell you who sat at our table at Club 33 - but the sights, sounds, smells and tastes are etched in my brain.)

Dinner at Carthay Circle and WoC sounds like a great way to cap off a great ABD trip! Aside from no water at the hotel, it looks like a really nice last day.

Can't wait to see why the next morning got the double EXTRA! I'm sure it's awesome!

Oh, it was all about RSR! You'll agree with the extra EXTRA when you read it.

Great update!

Did they allow you to videotape the slide show?

I guess we could have, but I didn't. I was expecting them to give us a copy. This is what they had always done in the past - I know this from my sister's ABD travels. They changed the policy so now instead of a slideshow, you get to download ALL the pictures the guides took during the week. You gotta make your own slide show.

 

[skier_pete]

Oh – I missed one thing about yesterday – apparently while we were entering the park to go to Carthay Circle, one of our group spotted Richard Sherman coming OUT of the park. She didn’t say anything until we were at Carthay. What, no chance for us to embarrassingly swarm him for pictures!

On to Day 7: After three days at the Grand Californian, we have finally found the one thing that makes staying there (almost) worth the money – EARLY ENTRY. When staying at a Disney property in Disneyland, you get to do early entry into one park each day. (It mostly alternates, though I think it’s DCA 3 days a week and DL the other 4). Well, we had decided to take advantage of early entry – so again up at 6 AM! (What, not tired yet?) This time we got to shower! We got down to wait in line about 6:45 AM and started being let through the gate very quickly.



They handed out a list of rides that were going to be open, and it showed that Radiator Springs Racers was NOT going to open early. (Long story short – the Grad night parties until 3 AM are delaying being able to open RSR – the nightly maintenance on the vehicles take too long – you learn these things when you take the ABD-BSM tour!)

So, instead of heading right there and being disappointed, we decided to head directly for Toy Story Mania. Well, we were the first ones there on the first set of cars! We rode that and decided to check out Goofy’s Sky School, which was listed as open but was NOT open. (BOO!) So, we made our way over to Carsland. There actually were NOT a lot of people there:









Since we didn’t think RSR was open yet, we hopped on line for Luigi’s Flying Tires – which was just as lame as last year – moreso without the beach balls. But the queue is really fun! (Though it was much MORE fun because we didn’t have to wait in it…we walked on!)







Our excitement is overwhelming:



We then walked over to RSR – and what do you know it was already open! I don’t know how LONG it had been open, but the standby line said 20 minutes:






So we asked if single-rider was open. Sure was, and NO wait – we were the only ones in the line. We walked up, and they put us on the next set of cars to come through. So we got off, and the standby line was 45 minutes – and got back in single rider – NO wait AT ALL.

So we got off the ride and checked again. STILL said 45 minutes: (Note the time on the clock versus the picture above - still not 8 AM!)



So we rode a third time! This time there were TWO other people in the single rider line. We were able to both get on the same car this time!



And after FIVE rides, I finally saw the “Ramon’s Body Shop” side of the ride, every previous time I had gone through Luigi’s. (There’s a point in the ride where the track splits, and you get a slightly different experience.) We also got to ride together for the last ride, even though we were in different rows.







DW spotted these primitive cave paintings in the caverns at the end of the ride. They are actually behind you as you are ending the ride, but kind of cute:



Our red-neck ride photo.



All told, we spent 34 minutes at RSR, between waiting in line and riding, and rode it three times. An AWESOME experience to top off the trip. It was now 8 AM – we had ridden FIVE rides already –tying the number for our first full day!

After that, we swung by Tower of Terror. We had heard that previously they were only operating one shaft, and lines had been brutal. Even first thing in the morning, it was a 45 minute wait, so I said forget it. We then swung by Monster’s Inc. ride, but that was closed. So, we decided to make a quick stop to pick up crocs for our friends and Chip and Dale for DD, but first, a quick picture with the DCA statue…and a quick point out that we went through the ENTIRE DCA park that morning – every section, every land – by about 8:30 AM.



We headed to meet the group for one last breakfast.



Big props to our two adventure guides – Matt and Dean. They were fantastic hosts, and I know it was they’re job but they worked tirelessly to give us a good time. Breakfast was decent for a buffet. The characters didn’t really come around (did we miss them) but did wrangle Meeko for a picture:



The group had mostly come in around 8 AM, so a lot were getting ready to leave. (So, for those of you that just went down to breakfast – see what else you could’ve been doing!)We had breakfast and said good-bye to some folks - then went up to our room to pack and put our clothes into storage for our changeover to a lesser hotel.

 

[khertz]

What an amazing morning!!! All those rides on RSR before 8 am are quite a feat. It's kind of crazy to see Cars Land so empty. I miss it there so much! I hope we have a chance to take Paxton back while he is still crazy about Cars/Lightning McQueen.

DW's pic with Meeko is adorable. I love Meeko!

 

[Tinker326]

Good job on getting all those rides in 1.5 hours. That's someting only hard-core DIS fans can acheive. Bravo.

Like DW's shirt with Marie on it. Cute!

 

[tstidm1]

Getting up super early to do Morning hours is something I would do. I hope I get to do that one morning of my trip next year.

 

[franandaj]

Great job on all those rides. As a local we rarely do anything commando. However, this last trip with PIO about killed us! This was our first DL commando trip that I ever remember!

 

[Disneygrl36]

I remember seeing your facebook posts that morning after we drug ourselves out of bed. Amazing accomplishment & nice photos of an almost empty Carsland.

 

[skier_pete]

What an amazing morning!!! All those rides on RSR before 8 am are quite a feat. It's kind of crazy to see Cars Land so empty. I miss it there so much! I hope we have a chance to take Paxton back while he is still crazy about Cars/Lightning McQueen.

DW's pic with Meeko is adorable. I love Meeko!

Meeko is definitely a cool character! I've gotten my picture with him before at AK. The ability to enter Carsland early is maybe enough to get me to stay at a Disney property in the future. I didn't get a picture of it, but as we were getting off the ride the third time - you could see the thousands of people streaming into the park!

Good job on getting all those rides in 1.5 hours. That's someting only hard-core DIS fans can acheive. Bravo.

Like DW's shirt with Marie on it. Cute!

DW loves Marie. Kind of funny that we basically did everything we wanted in DLR before breakfast.

Getting up super early to do Morning hours is something I would do. I hope I get to do that one morning of my trip next year.

It's well worth it. We did something similar last year at DL, and we knocked off like 9 rides (mostly in Fantasyland) before the park opened.

Great job on all those rides. As a local we rarely do anything commando. However, this last trip with PIO about killed us! This was our first DL commando trip that I ever remember!

Being local and AP holders does give you that luxury. I don't consider myself a full-day commando - really we do that for about 2 hours in the morning, even in Florida, and then we mellow out pretty quickly. You'll see the rest of the day we definitely slowed it down!

I remember seeing your facebook posts that morning after we drug ourselves out of bed. Amazing accomplishment & nice photos of an almost empty Carsland.

Ha! Yeah, I did post about that. There's nothing I love more than NOT waiting in lines. Definitely my least favorite thing about our trips to DL. I miss slow season!