Disneyland or Bust: A Mother-Daughter Coastal Road Trip

[afwdwfan]

Frozen

Kristoff/Sven

 

[RGirl]

Frozen

Kristoff/Sven

Impressive! Two in a row! You know, with a third (), I think we could say you were officially on a roll.....

 

[pkondz]

Frozen... uh.... Kristoff

 

[pkondz]

agh! didn't even look to see if someone posted, just threw it out there....
after I got over my brainfart.... Name... name.... what's that name again???? Kristoff! Right!

sheesh.

 

[afwdwfan]

I've been sitting here watching basketball and trying to catch up on some threads. As soon as I saw you doing replies, I opened your TR in a web browser and just kept refreshing every few minutes. I have no pride. And I'm competitive. I've got to at least get off of the bottom of the board.

 

[RGirl]

The Contest: First person to provide the movie title from which the chapter heading comes gets a point; two points if the character who utters the line is also identified. If the first person doesn’t name the character, the first poster to do so will get a point.

Current Standing:
Courtney (courtneybelle): 17 points
Jill (jedijill): 22 points
pkondz: 12 points
Megan (MonsterWDWmom): 2 points
Shannon (shan23877): 8 points
Lori (STLMickeyMom): 4 points
petals: 1 point
Rob (DisneyKid4Life): 6 points
Dugette: 6 points
Kathy (KatMark): 2 points
Andy (afwdwfan): 4 points

"If it's not baroque, don't fix it."​

Day 12E - Tuesday, 5 August 2014 - Disneyland Resort

When I last left off, we were napping in our comfy hotel. Awwww

Don't worry, we got up and headed out again. First, we showered and put on some clean clothes - we're classy like that.

Anyway, we headed back out at 4:50PM.

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This time, we decided to take the monorail from DTD into Tomorrowland.

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No dancing, Willow!

​

I disobeyed you!

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We arrived in Tomorrowland at about 5:15PM.

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Unfortunately, the wait for Willow's beloved Matterhorn was over an hour, and everything just felt crazy-crowded. The very good thing about this was that Willow actually agreed that it would be a good idea to go over to the Royal Theater and see if we could catch the 5:45 show - this relatively new establishment was in existence for our January 2014 trip, but someone would not stop to check it out. We arrived at about 5:20, and there was a small line waiting to get in to see the Beauty and the Beast show. Willow got in line for the show, and I got in line for a refreshment - a boysenberry apple freeze, which we shared and very much enjoyed.

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As you can see, Willow found a nice spot to SIT while we waited to be let in.

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We did not have to wait long. We were in the open-air theater and seated by 5:32.

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This was a very funny and entertaining version of Beauty and the Beast told by a small group of players - our narrators (and jesters, really) played a variety of roles, mostly Gaston and the Beast. These were our narrators.

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Belle was pretty funny too - correcting the narrators about certain things.

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One narrator became Gaston - nice touch with the skunk on his head!

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There was some concern that his muscles were not big enough, so a villager assisted with that.

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Lumiere was very cool!

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The Beast!

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Willow was pretty enthralled - she usually is; I can’t figure out why it’s so hard to get her to see the shows!

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A fight ensued.

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The Beast did not fare so well.

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But all turned out okay.

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This was a VERY good time! Bravo!

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Up Next: Day 12F

 

[RGirl]

Frozen... uh.... Kristoff

agh! didn't even look to see if someone posted, just threw it out there....
after I got over my brainfart.... Name... name.... what's that name again???? Kristoff! Right!

sheesh.

I've been sitting here watching basketball and trying to catch up on some threads. As soon as I saw you doing replies, I opened your TR in a web browser and just kept refreshing every few minutes. I have no pride. And I'm competitive. I've got to at least get off of the bottom of the board.

I'm tempted to keep posting updates one on top of the other tonight just to keep this rivalry going!

 

[pkondz]

Cogsworth. Beauty and the Beast

 

[afwdwfan]

But when we arrived, we discovered that the wait time was INSANE

Yuck, that's too bad.

It was about 11:30, so we decided to get lunch. We had a lengthy debate here - I was pushing for the Mexican food counter service (which, unfortunately, was back toward Frontierland) and Willow was pushing for the Tomorrowland Terrace again. I'll let you guess who won.

Hey, she saved you a lot of walking. You should be thanking her!

Our meals were hot, fresh, and tasty. We were not unhappy at all.

That's always a good thing. We actually ate there too. Not that they were bad, but Disneyland burgers just didn't seem the same as Disney World burgers. Just me? Probably.

By 1:00, we were arriving back at our hotel

Ok, your picture of Disneyland hotel makes me want to be there. I really wish we had stayed there instead of GCH.

Willow was almost immediately asleep once we entered the room and continued to sleep for two and a half hours! I believe even I slept a little, which would come as a HUGE shock if any of you actually knew me and my sleeping abilities.

I get it! I'm not a napper and I definitely fell victim to the comfort of my bed on our WDW trip.

 

[afwdwfan]

I'm tempted to keep posting updates one on top of the other tonight just to keep this rivalry going!

It's midnight here. I've got to go to work in the morning so I'm going to bed. And I missed out on three in a row by trying to actually read and reply to the last update.

 

[pkondz]

I hear there will be extra princesses around during that time.

Can two of them be Ariel?

Not too bad. Thankfully, she is not usually super-affected by sugar. I, however, felt like I wanted to die.

Willow is a weirdly empathetic person - she just can't let it go with Eeyore. She just desperately wants him to cheer up. She tries every time.

Awww!! That's so adorable!

Willow was (as per usual) requesting that we try to ride the Matterhorn.

Well.... of course.

When you are sitting in the train station waiting for the train, you can hear the tap-tap-tap of the Morse Code coming from that building. According to our guide, those tap-tap-taps are actually tapping out Walt's opening day speech at Disneyland.

That's so cool!

I disobeyed you!

I disobeyed you!

This child is the most disobedient child I've ever seen.
Good thing she's cute as a button, otherwise she'd be in trouble.

But when we arrived, we discovered that the wait time was INSANE, and the single rider line was closed for some unknown reason.

Ugh.
pkondz does not stand in line for rides.

I'll let you guess who won.

Too easy!

Willow went for nuggets and fries once again.

What????? No!!!!
I'm absolutely gobsmacked!

I've probably said this before but,
I love how Willow's always got this big smile going.
Yes, I know, she's a normal kid and has her not so happy moments too.
But man. If that right there doesn't make the price of admission to Disney worthwhile, I don't know what would.

We also had to stop at City Hall for some very important tickets.

Oh? Just gonna drop that in there, huh?

By 1:00, we were arriving back at our hotel

With popcorn still firmly in hand, I see.

Willow was almost immediately asleep once we entered the room and continued to sleep for two and a half hours!

Whoa! That was one tuckered out little girl!

I've been sitting here watching basketball and trying to catch up on some threads. As soon as I saw you doing replies, I opened your TR in a web browser and just kept refreshing every few minutes. I have no pride. And I'm competitive. I've got to at least get off of the bottom of the board. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/B]

Oh, it's on mister!!

First, we showered and put on some clean clothes - we're classy like that.

Cleanliness is next to impossible on vacation.

I disobeyed you!

Again???? Shouldn't you maybe try scolding her once in a while?
(And no. Still not old. Too adorable.)

this relatively new establishment was in existence for our January 2014 trip, but someone would not stop to check it out.

a boysenberry apple freeze, which we shared and very much enjoyed.

That sounds good.

There was some concern that his muscles were not big enough, so a villager assisted with that.

Very helpful.

Lumiere was very cool!

Shouldn't he be classified as "hot"?

I'm tempted to keep posting updates one on top of the other tonight just to keep this rivalry going!

 

[pkondz]

It's midnight here. I've got to go to work in the morning so I'm going to bed. And I missed out on three in a row by trying to actually read and reply to the last update.

Ha! I'm at work (and it's slow) so I've got allllll night.
Post a bunch more, Roni!

 

[RGirl]

Replies to come - I'm really trying to get this thing wrapped up. And I can't resist the opportunity to see if pkondz is really paying attention, so I'm throwing him one more opportunity for points before I close up shop for the night!

The Contest: First person to provide the movie title from which the chapter heading comes gets a point; two points if the character who utters the line is also identified. If the first person doesn’t name the character, the first poster to do so will get a point.

Current Standing:
Courtney (courtneybelle): 17 points
Jill (jedijill): 22 points
pkondz: 14 points
Megan (MonsterWDWmom): 2 points
Shannon (shan23877): 8 points
Lori (STLMickeyMom): 4 points
petals: 1 point
Rob (DisneyKid4Life): 6 points
Dugette: 6 points
Kathy (KatMark): 2 points
Andy (afwdwfan): 4 points

"Food always comes to those who love to cook."​

Day 12F - Tuesday, 5 August 2014 - Disneyland Resort

When I last left you, Willow and I were enjoying the Beauty and the Beast show at the Royal Theater. When that ended, we decided to head over to New Orleans Square, because we needed to be in that area for our exciting nighttime event! It was about 6:20 at this point, and we noticed that there was no wait for the Haunted Mansion, so we decided to do that again, having already determined that the wait times for PotC and Indy were far too long.

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Tonight was our Fantasmic! night, and I had sprung for the dessert/premium viewing tickets. We had picked those up earlier. This is an interesting thing that DL has going - the early showing of Fantasmic! starts at 9:00. There is no theater for Fantasmic! at Disneyland - the show happens on the River of America, and guests watch from the tiered walk-ways along the river. The tickets (which cost a ridiculous amount) entitle you to an actual chair, a reserved spot with a good view, a box of desserts, and beverages served to you prior to and during the show. Sounds great until you realize that, even with this special package, you are encouraged to line up early so that you can pick the best possible chairs. (Of course, since this trip, DL has completely changed the Fantasmic! viewing with FPs and various FP dining options giving you some kind of "premium" seating, which I'm guessing is much like World of Color, which I described in a previous update.)

Knowing the above, after our spin on a Doom Buggy, we headed over to the check-in area for the premium viewing for Fantasmic! to see if anything was going on. It was a little after 6:30 at this point; remember, the show is at 9. There were already a lot of people camped out in the area right along the river with blankets spread out, eating dinner, etc. We found that there was already one person in line at the premium viewing check-in as well, even though check-in wasn't supposed to happen until 8. We chatted with him for a bit (he had done this many times, so we figured he knew what he was doing), and then another guy showed up and got in line behind us (he also had done this many times). We, of course, were newbies and had gotten in line without getting dinner. GAH! Luckily, the nice gentleman behind us said he would save our spot while we ran to get some dinner. We went to the Hungry Bear counter service and got food and came back. To find that the "line" (i.e., the two guys mentioned above) was gone!!!

Luckily, there was a CM nearby who saw our confused faces, assumed I was the spouse of one of the guys (an assumption I was not about to correct at this point), and showed us through to the check-in podium where they were now lined up. Our friend gave us our spot back in line, even though I offered to let him stay in front of us. There were several other people in line now as well, so we were glad we had gotten in line early! It was about 7:00 now, still an hour prior to the check-in time for picking our chairs. We enjoyed our meal while in line.

Willow chose the kid's Power Pack, which included yogurt, a banana, apples, carrots, goldfish, and a small water bottle.

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I had the Big Al’s Chicken Salad (smoked chicken on top of romaine and iceberg lettuce with watermelon, candied pecans, dried cherries, pickled red onions, and honey-lime vinaigrette), which was very tasty, albeit difficult to eat while standing at a railing.

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Here's what it looked like below our area - you can see tons of people had already settled in for the 9:00 show.

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Right ahead was Tom Sawyer Island (also the stage for some of the show).

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A little before 8:00, a CM came to the podium to check us in, and we chose front-row seats and went on our way. Once you choose your seats, they are yours, so you can go do something else for a little bit.

We used the time to make our way through New Orleans Square and find a bathroom.

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And we took another quick spin on a Doom Buggy, since there was no wait.

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Before I get to the next update in which we will actually see Fantasmic!, I want to kind of answer a question many of you may have at this point: Is it really necessary to line up at 6:30 to claim a chair for which you have already paid an excessive amount of money for a show that doesn't start until 9:00? Answer is I'm not totally sure. We had great seats, but it really didn't seem to me that any of the seats were bad. With a small child though, it's probably advisable to get there early and guarantee yourself a front-row chair. If everyone in our family were tall (okay, if anyone in our family was tall), I would seriously consider just foregoing this weird Wait to Reserve a Seat You Already Paid a Lot to Reserve. But I would still pay to have a real seat, nice desserts and beverages. Of course, again, I don't think this option exists anymore as the Fantasmic! viewing has gone to FP and dining options (like World of Color).

Up Next: Day 12G

 

[pkondz]

Oh, poop. I know the movie... just not who said it.
Ratatouille... although I was thinking Kung Fu Panda at first!

 

[pkondz]

And I can't resist the opportunity to see if pkondz is really paying attention, so I'm throwing him one more opportunity for points before I close up shop for the night!

See above.

 

[pkondz]

there was no wait for the Haunted Mansion, so we decided to do that again,

Yes! Why wouldn't you?
I mean, really.... why wouldn't you???

Tonight was our Fantasmic! night, and I had sprung for the dessert/premium viewing tickets.

Ah! So that's what that was for.

We had picked those up earlier.

It feels like only minutes ago.

The tickets (which cost a ridiculous amount)

What? Expensive tickets at Disney?
Shocked!

entitle you to an actual chair, a reserved spot with a good view, a box of desserts, and beverages served to you prior to and during the show.

Pretty nice!

It was a little after 6:30 at this point; remember, the show is at 9.

Two and a half hours early????

No. Just no.

We, of course, were newbies and had gotten in line without getting dinner. GAH!

Gah indeed. If it was just me (and possibly, just you) I'd suck it up knowing I would just eat later.
But when a little girl is hungry.... yeah. Not gonna happen.

Luckily, the nice gentleman behind us said he would save our spot while we ran to get some dinner.

That's nice of him.

To find that the "line" (i.e., the two guys mentioned above) was gone!!!

What???? And he seemed so nice!

there was a CM nearby who saw our confused faces, assumed I was the spouse of one of the guys (an assumption I was not about to correct at this point),

Hey! Congratulations on your recent nuptuals!
And you kept it so secret!

Willow chose the kid's Power Pack, which included yogurt, a banana, apples, carrots, goldfish, and a small water bottle.

No chicken nuggets there, huh?

Here's what it looked like below our area - you can see tons of people had already settled in for the 9:00 show.

That's insane.

Then again... these are the same people who will stand in line for eight hours to see Frozen princesses.

Once you choose your seats, they are yours, so you can go do something else for a little bit.

Oh, that's not quite so bad then.

And we took another quick spin on a Doom Buggy, since there was no wait.

Woot!

Thanks for all the updates! :

 

[Woodskeeper]

Gusteau from Ratatouille!

Ridiculous long time lurker, had to come out for the game!

 

[pkondz]

Ridiculous long time lurker, had to come out for the game!

Gotta love someone who refers to themselves as "Ridiculous long time lurker".

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Um... <--- Yeah this happened a little bit at just the thought of the Morse Code speech. Walt would LOVE that especially at the train station.

Awww the train. This is officially the very first attraction I did in Disneyland. Of course the fact that my first ever visit was during the Leap day 24 hour even in 2012 and everything else had insane lines definitely contributed to that.
Tomorrowland Terrace... the very first offical Disneyland eating establishment for me as well for much the same reason as above.

Hmm, that Beauty and the Beast show seems interesting. I used to be a hard one to get to shows as well. It wasn't because I didn't like them, though. It was usually a matter of, what else could I be doing right now?? And the "else" always won out. By the time you wait for a show and then watch said show, it's a pretty good time investment. I always was thinking about what I might be missing, lol. Given her love of thrills, I have a feeling Willow is possibly the same way. I've softened a lot on that now though and love watching shows.

This is one thing I don't know that I can get on board for. Getting in line hours before a show is one thing. But to waste all that time in Disneyland just makes me sad. Especially with a "premium" package. GAH! BUT, that's pretty interesting that once you select your seats you're good. So at least you're not waiting the entire time. But I guess it's all moot now, lol. YAY Fantasmic!!

 

[RGirl]

Cogsworth. Beauty and the Beast

TWO POINTS!!!!

Yuck, that's too bad.

There were definitely a lot of long lines that time of year.

Hey, she saved you a lot of walking. You should be thanking her!

Yes, I suppose I should!

That's always a good thing. We actually ate there too. Not that they were bad, but Disneyland burgers just didn't seem the same as Disney World burgers. Just me? Probably.

We've always enjoyed our food at Tomorrowland Terrace. However, we are almost always starving when we stop there, so we're not too picky at that point. I don't think I've had more than one burger at WDW, and that would have been quite a few years ago (the DxDDP means very few burgers I have found), so I cannot compare.

Ok, your picture of Disneyland hotel makes me want to be there. I really wish we had stayed there instead of GCH.

Really??? I would think the GCH would be wonderful. I always feel slightly sad that I can't afford to stay there. Maybe I should stop feeling that way! We do REALLY love the DLH - it's such a great place.

I get it! I'm not a napper and I definitely fell victim to the comfort of my bed on our WDW trip.

I barely sleep at night, so for me to actually fall asleep during the day - I had to have been beyond exhausted!

It's midnight here. I've got to go to work in the morning so I'm going to bed. And I missed out on three in a row by trying to actually read and reply to the last update.

MANY more opportunities coming up - and hopefully soon. I have got to get this thing done and the other one started. I don't want to still be working on the January one when we leave for WDW in July.