Somebody's Gonna Pee in a Cup, West Coast - Link to new TR 1/21

[eandesmom]

Goodness was I behind. I mean I knew I was but holy cats. I skipped the chatter and a lot of the farming updates (I love reading the farming updates...just didn't actually quote any for replies)!

Ok...here we go.

Instead we crossed the street to take a ride on Luigi’s Flying Tires once more.

Seriously, our kids loved that ride.

And great that they got to do it before it went gonzo!

Remember, I said we were in the FRONT ROW. Our stroller was literally under the rope.


That family that laughed about running to Peter Pan?


Yeah, they made Usain Bolt look like a slug.

Yes. RD at DL is INSANE. You've got three lanes of speedsters. Space, FL and Indy. And boy, get out of the way, you could get trampled!

We walked as fast as we could. I sent DW and the kids to the line while I quickly parked the stroller and caught up with them. But even though we were there, right at the rope when the park opened, we ended up waiting 20 minutes to ride Peter Pan.

I said Rope Drop is crazy at Disneyland, and I stand by that comment. It was ridiculous!!! I realize that it is a different beast at DL, considering that none of the Fantasyland attractions have FP so it is a priority to get there before the lines back up too much. But I couldn’t believe how quickly the lines backed up!

Agreed. We were in for early morning on the bday trip and had been in FL. We planned to hit Indy at RD. We didn't time it quite right and ended up in the stampede which meant we gave up on the FP + walk on plan that was our original agenda. Craziness!

Alice is an interesting dark ride. Disneyland has several dark rides and a few of them can’t be found at WDW. This is one of them. We didn’t try to take any pictures so consider that a gift if you’ve never been. Now it will be a complete surprise! But it is a fun ride. It is a 2 story track that takes you through Alice’s story. A well done ride and I’m glad we finally got to experience it!

After Alice, we decided to go check out the Storybook Land Canal Boats. The posted wait was 20 minutes and it ended up being every bit of that long. Here it was, not yet noon and we had waited in 2 lines of 20 minutes or longer. Aside from Test Track and RnRC, I’m not sure we waited in a single line in excess of 20 minutes during our entire Disney World trip. But then again, with the lack of FP in Fantasyland you’ve got to get on them when you can.

Storyland is SLOW! So is Alice. Slow loading and slower rides but they are worth it.

It has been too long and I don’t remember the song exactly (maybe that’s why I liked it so much), but they blend, I think, Jingle Bells and maybe another Christmas song in with IASW making a new soundtrack for the ride. It is less repetitive and therefore not as ear wormy as IASW typically is. It was quite enjoyable.

I've never seen the overlay and had no idea the music was different.

Oh yeah, and they have Disney characters located in scenes associated with their story or origins. I know this was kind of a point of contention among the die hard Disney fans when they decided to put them in there, but personally, I liked it! Our kids love IASW anyway, but it was fun riding with them and trying to find characters they know hidden amongst the scenes.

I love the characters mixed in personally, kind of like finding hidden mickeys.

It was the carousel. I was bored. I had my phone out and I posted something on Facebook. I don’t remember if I posted the picture or not, but I posted something to the DISdads about how we were half way through 3 days in DL and I just didn’t know how @Captain_Oblivious managed to accomplish as much as he did in just one day.

Um, his kids are both older, and younger, which actually helps.

I picked it up and the screen still lit up. It was just spiderwebbed from the bottom right corner. Unfortunately, the touchscreen was not responsive, so I was out of luck. Stupid touchscreen phones.

Ruh Roh

I knew where we had parked the stroller, so I headed directly for that spot. It was still there. Well, eventually, I knew DW would come back to it so I stood there and waited. My phone rang a few more times… I still couldn’t answer. It wasn’t long before I heard my name. I looked up and they were on the Carousel again.

Thank goodness the stroller was still there!

As I'm sure I've mentioned, I always enjoy working in the fields and I find my time driving a tractor to be therapeutic. Give me a radio and an Air Conditioned cab and I'm happy. Sadly this spring I was only about 25% of the way there. The A/C quit, and the radio worked... kind of. I could only get a handful of stations to come through clearly. I like country and rock. Thankfully I could get 2 of my favorite country stations. But there's a rock station that plays all kinds of rock from the 90's through now that I really like to listen to. They play everything from Nirvana, Oasis, and Goo Goo Dolls to Awolnation, Fallout Boy and Muse. A pretty good mix and probably my number one favorite station to listen to. It is always my go-to that I like to crank up when it is getting late and I'm tired. But sadly I couldn't ever get my radio to pick it up clearly so I was bummed about that.

Sitting in a tractor for hours on end, you tend to hear the top songs in a station's rotation numerous times. And every year, there is one song that it seems like they're playing about twice an hour.

This time, it was a fun song. Brad Paisley, Crushin' It.

I will now think of you in the tractor when I hear that song!

Wow, Genie really makes the show. I don’t remember a lot of specifics to share, but he delivered a lot of one liners that were both funny and relevant. I don’t know if they allow the actor to ad lib, or if they just re-write it every week or so based on current events, but I remember noticing he was using fresh material.

And this isn’t exactly an example of “fresh” material, but it had me rolling. He was chasing after someone and yelled “Get back here with my umbrella… ella… ella… hey… hey… HEY!!!!”

Love the Genie, he totally makes the show!

We headed back up to our room and quickly got settled and into bed. I think we were all in bed by 9 pm once again. We needed to though, because tomorrow was the first race day of the weekend. I had plans to take another bag or 2 out to our car and see first hand what is going on with traffic at that time of morning while runners are on the course. You know. Since nobody could tell me beforehand.

And apparently, because it was finally a Friday Disneyland had early hours at 7AM!!!!!

I do love that, that's actually early!

I told them where I was parked and asked if I could get out now if I wanted to.

They looked at me and told me they didn’t know. They said they only knew about the traffic closures at the exact spot they were placed and didn’t know about anything else.

Really?

Come on. Is this some kind of a screwed up joke???

I mean, to a point, I can understand a CM in guest services not knowing what is going on with road closures 2 days in advance. But the morning of an event, if you’re set up in a traffic control role and can’t even answer those questions, there’s something seriously wrong.

Anyway, I felt good about it, finally having seen it myself. But I did want to be 100% sure. I never saw a car come or go the whole time I was there, so I approached the guard shack to ask. Unlike the day I rolled into DLH, the guard answered me in no uncertain terms that I would be able to get out that way the following morning.[/QUOTE]

YAY for the guard. I guess it makes sense but really, that's kind of sad. In their defense I believe at those events CM's get assigned to stuff outside of their normal areas and the cluelessness is likely very real and pervasive.

I stopped at the Haagen Dazs store to grab a couple of pastries for breakfast, since DW and I didn’t have anything to eat back in the room. Again, these were much cheaper, and much better than what we got our first morning from the QS place in GCH.

I would never have thought of Haagen Daaz for pastries!

But the one that really made me do a double and then a triple take was a guy dressed as a Starspeeder from Star Tours.

He had what must have been a huge box, shaped and painted like a Starspeeder. There was a hole in the middle for him to basically stand in it and it hung from straps on his shoulders. It stood out to me for a few reasons. One, you just couldn’t miss it. Two, it was unique. And three, I couldn’t believe that they’d let someone run in something so… big and bulky.

The costumes can be insane, especially at a 5K. Or was it the 10 on that day? Anyway, people get crazier, walk more, take more pictures during the shorter races. Those races have a lot more park time and character ops. You'd be amazed what some folks run in.

Then again if you go to a race like we did last weekend, Bay to Breakers, some folks run in NOTHING AT ALL.

No joke.

I didn’t write this detail down. DL vets, feel free to chime in on this… but it seems to me that the RD for the early entry morning was just there at the turnstile? I don’t recall waiting at the rope near the hub like we did on the prior morning.

Yes, and then for the rest it's still at the hub so the EM folks are on the other side of it.

It was a fun ride. I think we all enjoyed it. Personally though, I remember the old 20,000 Leagues subs from MK. And I miss them. Knowing that this attraction was originally themed the same way, it kind of made me nostalgic. The Finding Nemo subs were a fun ride, but I definitely wish it was Captain Nemo instead.

I was so happy to get on it on the bday trip, it's been closed every time I've been there. I do miss the original but was happy to have it at all.

When I exited through the dump shop, I finally saw the shirt I wanted. If you remember, I picked up a shirt on our first evening at DL. It was the shirt with Darth Vader riding Astro Orbiter with a Mickey ice cream bar. I loved it.

But then I saw the epic shirt that I’ve seen pictures of, but had been unable to find, even at World of Disney in the huge display of Star Wars themed merchandise that they had.

It was the shirt with Darth Vader and storm troopers on the carousel with the quote, “This will be a day long remembered.”

I didn’t buy it because I’d already bought a shirt.

And I really didn’t need it.

But I wish I would have just bought it.

so you did get the Vader with the Mickey Bar but not the Carousel one?

Oh my, I may be caught up. For all your comparison of how much Mark got done with his family, you are knocking a lot out!

 

[MEK]

Sorry you had to get up at the crack of dawn to make sure you would be able to get out of the parking lot the next morning. But at least you finally got your answer. I am sure that was a relief!

I bet some of those costumes on the runners were amazing. I am always in awe at some people's creativity. Of course, I know there is NO way I could run in a star speeder. I was actually worried about running with wings on my back, let alone an entire space ship.

Sounds like you really got to knock a bunch of rides out first thing the morning. NICE! I think the 7am opening must be incredible. I would LOVE that. Also glad you got to ride Star Wars. Fun!

 

[afwdwfan]

Great update, Andy. I'm glad you FINALLY got an answer about exiting the parking garage the next day.

Finally. I know I was a little OCD about the whole thing, but being completely unfamiliar with the area and how it all worked, I wanted to be sure that I was going to be able to get out and that I was giving myself plenty of time.

You guys got a few of those slow loading rides in...good for you. I miss the 20000 Leagues Under the Sea too.

I was glad to be able to get them knocked out and out of the way. And it was definitely a nostalgic, yet bittersweet, experience to ride the subs.

That's too bad you didn't get the t-shirt (Mark has it and wears it all of the time).

I know. I think that is where I first saw that one.

I sure hope that your regular park opening at DCA is kinder to you.

It can't be any worse.

No! Knowing the next morning was race day and your travel day, this does not seem like a good omen!!

Gotta keep everybody guessing...

 

[afwdwfan]

Goodness was I behind. I mean I knew I was but holy cats. I skipped the chatter and a lot of the farming updates (I love reading the farming updates...just didn't actually quote any for replies)!

Ok...here we go.

Holy cats??? I don't think I've ever heard that one before!

And great that they got to do it before it went gonzo!

I'm glad we were there when we were. We thought it was a fun ride and it was a beautiful area behind the tire shop. I know I was kind of sad to see it go.

Yes. RD at DL is INSANE. You've got three lanes of speedsters. Space, FL and Indy. And boy, get out of the way, you could get trampled!

I knew there was no FP in FL so I kind of expected some craziness, but it was beyond my expectations.

Agreed. We were in for early morning on the bday trip and had been in FL. We planned to hit Indy at RD. We didn't time it quite right and ended up in the stampede which meant we gave up on the FP + walk on plan that was our original agenda. Craziness!

I just couldn't believe how quickly it escalated though. Almost beyond belief.

Storyland is SLOW! So is Alice. Slow loading and slower rides but they are worth it.

They definitely are. I'm not sure Storybookland would be one I'd do every trip if I were able to go often, but I'm glad we rode it and it was definitely worth the wait.

I've never seen the overlay and had no idea the music was different.

It really was a nice change. I enjoyed it!

I love the characters mixed in personally, kind of like finding hidden mickeys.

Absolutely! We were having fun looking for the characters in all the different scenes.

Um, his kids are both older, and younger, which actually helps.

Excellent point.

Ruh Roh

Thank goodness the stroller was still there!

I will now think of you in the tractor when I hear that song!

I swear. It seemed like they were playing it almost hourly. At least it was a fun, upbeat, goofy song. I always enjoy those.

Love the Genie, he totally makes the show!

Definitely!

I do love that, that's actually early!

And much better than 9 am.

YAY for the guard. I guess it makes sense but really, that's kind of sad. In their defense I believe at those events CM's get assigned to stuff outside of their normal areas and the cluelessness is likely very real and pervasive.

I'm sure you're right. But I still had a hard time believing that a CM would be put into a traffic control kind of role and still not know anything about traffic flow. Kind of irritating.

I would never have thought of Haagen Daaz for pastries!

I wouldn't have either, but they had a sing up about being open obscenely early for the races, so I figured they must have something for breakfast and I decided to investigate. Totally glad I did too, because it was very good.

The costumes can be insane, especially at a 5K. Or was it the 10 on that day? Anyway, people get crazier, walk more, take more pictures during the shorter races. Those races have a lot more park time and character ops. You'd be amazed what some folks run in.

Then again if you go to a race like we did last weekend, Bay to Breakers, some folks run in NOTHING AT ALL.

No joke.

That was the 5K, so I guess when you put it like that, it does make sense.

But running in nothing at all?????

Yes, and then for the rest it's still at the hub so the EM folks are on the other side of it.

I did notice that on our way out. Will they let you get around the rope if you arrive like 10 minutes before the park opens and you stay on property? I kind of wondered about that when I saw it.

was so happy to get on it on the bday trip, it's been closed every time I've been there. I do miss the original but was happy to have it at all.

It was nice to ride the sub. Even with the new theming, it was fun to relive that ride.

so you did get the Vader with the Mickey Bar but not the Carousel one?

Right.

Oh my, I may be caught up. For all your comparison of how much Mark got done with his family, you are knocking a lot out!

We did. But we also had 3 full park days that were weekdays in January. I'm still pretty impressed by all they accomplished in one day during the summer.

Sorry you had to get up at the crack of dawn to make sure you would be able to get out of the parking lot the next morning. But at least you finally got your answer. I am sure that was a relief!

Hey, I was going to be up anyway. Might as well be productive with my time.

I bet some of those costumes on the runners were amazing. I am always in awe at some people's creativity. Of course, I know there is NO way I could run in a star speeder. I was actually worried about running with wings on my back, let alone an entire space ship.

The costumes were great. Obviously, there were a lot of Star Wars characters wearing race bibs. But the Starspeeder was the one that just really stuck out to me.

Sounds like you really got to knock a bunch of rides out first thing the morning. NICE! I think the 7am opening must be incredible. I would LOVE that. Also glad you got to ride Star Wars. Fun!

It was great to get in there so early. 7 am seemed perfect, because we were able to get in there and it seemed that a lot of runners were either still running or maybe heading back to freshen up before coming to the parks. We didn't really see a lot of race medals until we returned to DL later on.

 

[afwdwfan]

Just to share a quick update about life on the farm for those who are interested...

Weather here has turned significantly wetter over the past couple of weeks. We did manage to finish planting soybeans last weekend, so all the seed is in the ground. Corn is coming up and looks like it is off to a great start. We've started applying nitrogen and are about 1/4 done with that. It's been a slow process though. We need the rain, but at the same time, it has been too wet to get out and knife in the anhydrous ammonia. Since it is injected into the soil as a gas, if the ground is too wet for the disks behind the knife to seal the trench, then it just escapes back up out of the ground. Anyway, that tractor has been parked since this weekend and we are waiting for the weather to straighten out.

In the meantime though, we've been mowing roadsides and ditches around our fields. I did quite a bit of that last week. We always try to get everything looking nice before Memorial day, as long as the crops are in the ground and we have time. I don't have many pictures this time, but I did snap a couple while I was mowing the hill next to our house.

I've got to actually do some work for a while, but I'm hoping to at least start on my next update later today!

 

[pkondz]

Just to share a quick update about life on the farm for those who are interested...

Always!

We did manage to finish planting soybeans last weekend, so all the seed is in the ground.

That's good. Bit of a relief?

I imagine you probably look at that and go, "Meh, same old, same old."
But to me it looks beautiful!

 

[Steppesister]

Anyway, that tractor has been parked since this weekend and we are waiting for the weather to straighten out.

Yay! More time to hang out here.

In the meantime though, we've been mowing roadsides and ditches around our fields.

... or not.

I understand the busy-ness. I really do. Speaking of which... I should get my rear in gear this morning.

 

[pkondz]

Speaking of which... I should get my rear in gear this morning.

More "exercises"?

 

[Steppesister]

More "exercises"?

Same "exercises", new venue.

The car.

My kitchen trashcan is finally toast enough to where my hubby actually suggested I get a new one. It's the little things.

And I needed some Del Taco. You know... to hasten the exercise's effects.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

it has been too wet to get out and knife in the anhydrous ammonia.

Please. If I had a dollar for every time somebody told me that...

 

[pkondz]

My kitchen trashcan is finally toast enough to where my hubby actually suggested I get a new one. It's the little things.

"Did you get a new trashcan?"
"Yes I did... and a new sofa too!"

Please. If I had a dollar for every time somebody told me that...

 

[Steppesister]

"Did you get a new trashcan?"
"Yes I did... and a new sofa too!"

Do Q-Tips, flip flops for the 12 years old, and kitchen sponges count?

 

[jandlinz]

Beautiful pictures of your farm! Can't wait to see what you do next.
-Lindsey

 

[RGirl]

In all our visits, we have never managed to see this. As you may know, it is beyond difficult to get Willow to see a show, and if we don't happen to be right there at a time it is starting, it's just not happening. I console myself with having seen the Aladdin musical on the Fantasy.

But based on my experiences, Aladdin is the best theme park show I’ve ever seen. It is phenomenal!

*sigh* See above.

Wow, Genie really makes the show. I don’t remember a lot of specifics to share, but he delivered a lot of one liners that were both funny and relevant.

Oh, this is so true for the DCL show as well. Genie is just the show-stealer for sure!

Adorable! CarsLand at night is one of my favorite things on earth.

I had the BBQ pork ribs, DW had the turkey dip sandwich, and the kids had the mac & cheese. I’ve go to say that we were all very happy with the food we got there. My ribs were perfectly cooked and delicious, which can be a hit or miss thing, especially with quick service places. DW liked her sandwich and the kids actually sat down and ate their mac & cheese.

This is good to hear - I'm glad the meal was so tasty. We have never eaten here, just stopped in for a drink in the heat or maybe a glass of wine....

We, of course, took a couple more rides on Luigi’s Flying Tires…

Your family's love of this ride will never cease to crack me up!

This is SUCH a great shot! We have never encountered a PP photog here. I sure wish we would have - it's an ideal CarsLand-at-night photo spot!

And apparently, because it was finally a Friday Disneyland had early hours at 7AM!!!!!

You kill me! We actually love the low-season hours - it's the only time we ever slow down in life. There's just no hurry at all!

There were crowds of people wearing all kinds of crazy Star Wars costumes, also heading towards DLH.

This sounds so cool - I would love to see pics of this!

Oh, wait......

He had what must have been a huge box, shaped and painted like a Starspeeder. There was a hole in the middle for him to basically stand in it and it hung from straps on his shoulders. It stood out to me for a few reasons. One, you just couldn’t miss it. Two, it was unique. And three, I couldn’t believe that they’d let someone run in something so… big and bulky.

Hilarious! I can't believe he could RUN in it!

One family had effectively shut down 2 whole lanes right at rope drop.

*sigh*

We enjoyed it. It has never been a must do for me. I enjoy doing it once in a while at MK, but I do think I like it better there than at DL. The DL version is right at the entrance to Tomorrowland next to the hub and some rockwork. And it is on ground level. It is a much different experience from the MK counterpart.

We have never bothered to do the DL version of this. I don't like the MK version at all because it's so hard for an adult (well, an OLD adult) to get in and out of, and it's on top of a building. But the DL version is just silly - I mean, I hate that the MK version is on top of a building because I don't like heights, but I get WHY it is up there.

It was the shirt with Darth Vader and storm troopers on the carousel with the quote, “This will be a day long remembered.”

I have never seen this one before - it sounds cool!

This is AWESOME!!! You really should have purchased the shirt.......

it has been too wet to get out and knife in the anhydrous ammonia. Since it is injected into the soil as a gas, if the ground is too wet for the disks behind the knife to seal the trench, then it just escapes back up out of the ground.

So, when I read this, all I could think was Corporations class in law school. All semester, all I heard was the Charlie Brown teacher. It was just one of those things that my brain could not take in and turn into something I could understand. So you sound very knowledgable here, but I have no idea what you are saying.....

Gorgeous pic!

 

[KatMark]

It has been rather wet the last couple of weeks...really wish that nonsense would end. Today was the first really nice day in a while.

I hope it dries up for you soon.

 

[pkondz]

Do Q-Tips, flip flops for the 12 years old, and kitchen sponges count?

Yes! Yes they do!





Not.

 

[lilpixiebabe101]

Finally caught up! Told you I was working on it!

Looks like y'all had fun in WDW but even from just reading y'all seemed rushed like you said you felt. Looks like y'all had a much for relaxed and nice experience at DL this time!

 

[amazingact21]

Yeesh, it was like DL did not think about the fact that people would be driving on race days. It kind of baffles me, because I know at WDW, they leave papers in all the resort rooms with specific road closures and alternate routes. I guess they are more used to those kind of events.


Ugh, some people. Like, by letting you through that lady just knew she'd have to wait an extra 5 minutes at Buzz or something. Makes me sad at the ridiculousness of some folks.



Hmm, I think I know what you werehoping to do at park opening, and if so, you guys deserved the chance after 2 duds of Extra Hours.

 

[SarahDisney]

Just to share a quick update about life on the farm for those who are interested...

Yay! A farming update!

It's interesting, because I wouldn't have guessed that rain is so bad for farming - like you said, you need the rain - but there really seems to be so much that you need to get done that I'm starting to understand why rain is so bad at this stage.

I hope the rain lets up and you can get the rest of the nitrogen in there!

 

[afwdwfan]

That's good. Bit of a relief?

I imagine you probably look at that and go, "Meh, same old, same old."
But to me it looks beautiful!

Thanks. But no, it doesn't get old. I love the view from up there. We live in a pretty flat area, but right around where we live, there are 3 large hills. I mean, not large by some standards, but they're an abrupt elevation change surrounded by flat ground. The hill where we live is actually called McCrea Mountain if you look it up on Google maps. I know we've called it that before, but I totally had no idea that was a formal name for it.

By the way, McCrea is the name of the family that owned the property from the early 1800's until the time I bought it. My dad started farming all their ground for them when they retired in the late 70's.

Yay! More time to hang out here.

Maybe... I guess I'm not quite as busy as I was.

... or not.

I understand the busy-ness. I really do. Speaking of which... I should get my rear in gear this morning.

I hope your rear got sufficiently into gear.

And I needed some Del Taco. You know... to hasten the exercise's effects.

I... I just don't know what to do with this. It kind of brings to mind the line of conversation going on over at @pkondz TR.

Please. If I had a dollar for every time somebody told me that...

Hey, if you spent more time around farmers or meth cookers (meth chefs?) I'm sure you'd be rich.

Beautiful pictures of your farm! Can't wait to see what you do next.
-Lindsey

Thanks!