California Dazzling: A Roadtrip Vacation Spectacular - Last Update and Final Thoughts 11/8

[kid-at-heart]

Michael makes me laugh. We have seen his feet and now we see his hand. One body part at a time. By the year 2020 we might see a couple of ears and possibly even a kneecap.

Off now to read about the swallows.

Kate

 

[englishrose47]

Rosie! I am sure by now you are really subscribed to the thread!!



I had to laugh at your hand comment!!

And that is a scary story with Judy at passport control!! Did you still have a British passport then? I guess that would have helped!

Yes I still had a British Passport then , Judy had an American one though which made it a little complicated .!!

 

[englishrose47]

All caught up. the Mission looks very interesting, I grew up in a town built around a LARGE Abbey, this of course was in ruins , but I loved looking at those ruins and thru the 2 churches on either side of my home !!!

 

[Flossbolna]

So happy you started this trip report. Just wanted to say hi as I've enjoyed reading your others. Now I'm going back to start this one.

Thanks for saying hi! It is always great to hear from my readers!

 

[Flossbolna]

I didn't realize that you need to quote things in order otherwise they just insert them in the order you choose, so if you go back and quote something it's out of order. I've had to kind of reorganize this post so it makes sense!

Don't worry! I have done that in the past as well...

I've seen this stream of pedestrians heading towards the park and I can see why it would seem like Salmon swimming upstream to run through them.

I think 20 minutes later it would not have been possible to run anymore. But I just managed to be early enough!

I notice this all the time when driving around So Cal. It used to surprise me how many people were hit in crosswalks, but now I just shake my head. teen and twenty somethings just walk around with their heads in in their phones and don't pay attention to what is going on around them.

I might do that now and then myself... Very bad habit, I know...

Definitely not in So Cal. However, guys, might want to shower before visiting Starbucks if they have been heavily exerting themselves. Women, not so much.

They always get my name wrong too. But I remember in Miami they had the labels because @Leshaface totally read my label and I didn't even realize it!

I actually adopted a "Starbucks name" that is easier to spell. Well, they manage to get that wrong, too. But at least I don't mind it as much as it is not my real name.

Having been raised in California, I never considered the company "adobe" in fact those tile/bricks are things we tried to build as kids! Never would have considered the software!

I had never heard the word "adobe" used with regard to houses until the 2005 trip to California when my friend and I visited El Pueblo De Los Angeles in Downtown Los Angeles. We had no clue what "adobe" was even referring to. I think it was not until Santa Barbara that we finally figured out that these were the bricks!

This was actually a great idea!

It saved Michael some money!

Pitchers of Margaritas are never a bad thing!

Ok, I always thought cocktails in pitchers might be a sign of lower quality. But I guess I am learning that these prejudices don't apply in the US!

Mexican food here can be hit or miss, but glad this was a hit. I can see where it can be a miss in Miami. Sometimes here, it can suck. We know most of the places where it doesn't suck. And then there is fast food. In a pinch, Del Taco is OK, we had that yesterday.

We had Del Taco during our travels!! I liked the Mission Grill better. But as you say, in a pinch it is ok.

I'm glad you finally got your SIM. Of course you had traffic, it's alwarys here especially back from SD.

I really love Southern California. I was surprised how much I liked it when I first visited Los Angels in 2005 (the first trip to Disneyland does not really count as we just saw Disneyland and Universal Studios and Orange County Airport). But I am not sure I ever could live there as the traffic would drive me nuts! I guess the same rule applies that I have decided on for London: Living there is only really enjoyable if one either has lots of time or lots of money, but preferably both.

Yeah, like Michael said, they probably had it all rigged with photographer on each side. I bet they were train buffs and wanted the train action in their wedding photo

I was thinking it might have been something that I read about here on the DIS wedding forum which I stalked when my sister was getting married and I was looking for wedding ideas when I helped her organize her wedding. I think it is called a "staged reveal" and instead of the groom saying the bride the first time at the altar, they meet up beforehand with the photographers documenting the moment the groom first sees the bride in a private setting. This definitely looked like that that was what they were going for. At least in the pictures...

 

[Flossbolna]

I signed up.



And then forgot to actually subscribe, so had some serious catching up to do. It's all fixed now. Go about your usual business. It's all ok now.

I took the entire night off to clean my house, and then rest a bit. It's been an emotional day with the shooting being so close to home. I also found out my neighbor had a massive stroke on Sunday, so we're trying to walk alongside her as best we can. All that to say, been a busy week!

Oh, Liesa, I really need to comment on your thread. I was so relieved when I saw your post, as you posted just a moment after I had read about the shooting. And started to wonder whether that was the place you went for your degree. I am glad to hear that it is not, but it must be horrible for something like that happening so close by. I hope your neighbor will recover quickly!

Del Taco FTW!!!!!! I go at least once a week for my burritos!

Another fine food choice! You 2 and I would get along great eating our way through a trip!

I like anything cinnamon!

Every kid in Cali does a term of State History and when I was in 5th grade everyone had to choose to do a Mission Report. Each of us chose one and I did mine on SJC. I made a really cool diorama of the mission and studied all about the swallows and all. Unbelievable beauty there! I'm SO glad you got to see it and enjoy.

I find the whole history of the missions really fascinating. Even what happened to them during Mexican independence and then later on.

 

[Flossbolna]

Yep it's really strange going back in time when we fly to LA, we get there earlier then when we left home! On the way back we lose a day completely though as the flights from LA to Brisbane always leave at either 11pm or 11:55pm depending on the time of year! So if we leave on a Saturday at 11pm, we arrive home on Monday at 6:30am

Flight to Honolulu from Brisbane is about 8.5 hours, and 9 on the way back. I haven't been to Japan but Brisbane to Tokyo is around 9 hours also.

Wow! That must be weird. To lose one day completely. I was even thinking of my Australian readers today because soonish we will end Daylight Saving Time here and it is always earlier than in the US that we fall back. And then because of this discussion I then wondered that you most likely will go to Daylight Saving Time when we leave it, so time difference will be quite different in summer than in winter.

 

[Flossbolna]

Michael makes me laugh. We have seen his feet and now we see his hand. One body part at a time. By the year 2020 we might see a couple of ears and possibly even a kneecap.

Off now to read about the swallows.

Kate

The picture with the hand was because I told Michael to get out of the picture while I was taking pictures of the room. I regularly tell him to get out of the pictures as I take great care to not post ones that have him walking in front of me or so. So, in order to have pictures that can be posted on the trip report, I keep telling him to move away.

So, instead of walking away, he decided to hide behind the curtain. I told him that it was very obvious that someone was standing behind the curtain and then he said he did not mind if people saw his outline behind a curtain and then proceeded to even show his hand... I will see what other body part I can incorporate next time!

 

[Flossbolna]

All caught up. the Mission looks very interesting, I grew up in a town built around a LARGE Abbey, this of course was in ruins , but I loved looking at those ruins and thru the 2 churches on either side of my home !!!

Sounds like a lovely place!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Back in the Disney Bubble!!

Once back at the hotel Michael had one goal: hang out at the pool! I was not so sure, I felt like I needed to explore! But I also wanted to spend time with Michael whom I had not seen for such a long time.

When I told this to Michael he more or less told me to not go to the pool with him, but go and explore. And he was totally right! I really enjoyed browsing through the Downtown Disney shops for a while! This was my main goal:

I tend to know what she wants, what she really, really wants. ... In this case, it wasn't a Disney pool and hot tub. It was looking at all the overpriced Disney merchandise!

I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with the merchandise for the anniversary, a lot was not my style. Too glittery. But I guess that is what you get for a diamond anniversary!

I was dazzled, myself.

I took some pictures of merchandise with my phone, I think as reminders for stuff that I might want to get later in the trip. I totally forgot about it though and did not buy any of these things. I was surprised to see these pictures when I downloaded them from the phone to the computer. Now I am thinking I should have picked up these things…

After a very thorough look through the World of Disney I walked around the rest of Downtown Disney a bit. I really like this area at Disneyland. It is smaller than at WDW and therefore does not feel so overwhelming. And it is far far prettier than the version at Disneyland Paris. That space (I think the current name is Disney Village, it has changed quite a few times) is in desperate need of a redo. And a far more substantial one than what WDW is getting now!

Useless news: as of yesterday, WDW's DD is now Disney Springs with an unneeded and convoluted backstory (we will come back to that backstory at a later point in this trip report tough...). I'll still call it the Disney Mall!

But here are a couple of pictures of the pretty Disneyland version:

The café just ahead in this picture is the Uva Bar and to the right you can see a patio on the second floor, above the shop “Vault”. This is the outdoor seating area for a restaurant called Catal. Remember this space, it will become important soon!

Back at the hotel I took a picture of the “cake” castle they had on display:

It is actually not really cake, but a giant rice crispy treat instead! Covered with fondant.

When I got back to the room, it was time to change for dinner. We had plans to eat at Catal in Downtown Disney tonight with a friend of Michael and his brother. Michael’s birthday had been not too long before our trip and he had signed up for a birthday certificate with the Patina Group which operates Catal (and a number of other restaurants at Downtown Disney as well as Via Napoli and Tutto Italia at Epcot) and was planning to use this tonight. Thanks to Corinna (@dolphingirl47) mentioning this in her last trip report I was able to remind Michael of this and it was a nice bonus!

They now operated as of TODAY, Morimoto Asia at Disney Mall in FL. I wonder if Disney will allow them to accept the B-Day certificates there now. Disney won't allow it at the EPCOT locations, which is just another reason why I don't give them my business.

After we had left the room and were walking towards the lobby Michael remembered that he had left the certificate in the room and went back to get it. In the meantime Michael’s brother and I were waiting in the lobby for him and I was fascinated by a spectacle that I found quite unbelievable: A larger family having a picnic with Chinese takeout at one of the tables in the lobby. Even if this family were guests at the hotel, I do think having a picnic in the lobby is taking it too far! A lobby is not a rest stop picnic table! But it highlights one of the issues the GCH has: because it is so close to the parks, a lot of park visitors come to hang out in there. While I think this is totally acceptable in general, it quickly leads to over crowding as well and thus takes away from the lovely lobby atmosphere. Actually, last year I was very pleased that during the 24h-event which was going on while we were there, they actually took care to tell people who came in there for a nap or so, that they could not do that.

Yes, this has been a problem since 2001. It seems worse now. And Disney generally allows it to go on unless they have major celebs or their own execs in the house. I have seen the same things at WDW, though. But I was heartened about a year or two ago when a family bought burger and chicken baskets at Gasparilla's at the Grand Flo and attempted to picnic in the lobby and was told there are tables outside. First time I had ever seen that. But please we're headed down the path where I start a 2,678 word rant on people and shoes on sofas and tables in deluxe resort lobbies and none of us want that, really!

Soon enough Michael arrived and we headed out. Michael’s friend was already standing in front of Catal and once we all had said hi to her we headed inside. I went to check us in (as the reservation was in my name) and ended up with a strange hostess. I requested to be seated on the patio (the one that you saw in the earlier picture) as I thought that it had such a great atmosphere overlooking Downtown Disney. She kept telling me that she had tables available and that there would be a wait for the patio. At first she was even hesitant to tell us how long the wait was. Instead of answering how long the wait would be when we asked her, she just kept repeating that she could seat us immediately if we would accept an inside table. She finally said it would be at least 25 minutes.

She wasn't strange. She was ... wait, can't use that word here ... so ... she was condescending.

I was really unsure of what to do as I did not want to subject the rest of my party to a long wait if we could eat immediately. At the time I thought I was overwhelmed because being told that there is an option of a wait or not is not a situation I am familiar with, so I had no previous experience. Here in Germany it is very rarely that a restaurant will tell you to wait as it is common if you eat somewhere that you just stay for the rest of the evening, most likely consuming a few more drinks, and don’t disappear immediately. And in addition to the cultural differences, I also was starting to get tired as the jet lag was catching up with me.

However, the hostess was indeed kind of pushy and did not really want us to wait for the patio even though we were prepared to wait. She tried to convince us to take an inside table and then they lead us in a room that was behind a hallway where they were stacking additional chairs and next to a large service station. The room was in one of the round towers at the end of the building where Catal is in and had large windows looking out. But otherwise the room really had no atmosphere at all and was full of families with small kids. It really had the feeling of this being the room where they put “undesireable” guests. Not saying that families with kids are undesirable guests, but somehow the room had the vibe about it as if that was what the hostess thought. I was really unhappy but since the others were all just telling me that they were happy with whatever I decided I just felt very overwhelmed with the situation. And I was very grateful to Michael’s [wonderful] brother who just took over the initiative and said we would wait for the patio. We sat down in the small lobby area of the restaurant and after only five minutes they called us and lead us to a very nice table on the patio. It was really quite bizarre.

I don't think the room is for undesirables or anything like that. It's more like a room for either privacy or larger groups. In many meals over the years there, I have never sat in there. It just feels too removed. ... But her 'tude was the issue. She tried to make you look bad for not knowing to request the patio when making the reservation.

In hindsight I think the hostess was really strange and she definitely kind of put me in a bit if a not so great mood.

Really??!?! I thought that was your always mood (he sez ducking ... and hiding under a table ... and crying!)

(I guess he think that this smiley here best describes my character: )

Once we got seated, I started to enjoy the evening again though! I decided to try a beer:

Not sure what it was, my notes say white ale. I think it was some kind of wheat beer from a local brewery. During my last two trips I have really started to enjoy all the different craft beers that are available. I think it is fun to try new stuff and I know my way around different types of beer enough to kind of have an idea which ones I like and which I don’t like. This one I liked a lot!

Michael and I shared a salad, the Catal Wedge: iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, bleu cheese crumbles, house buttermilk dressing. I failed to take a picture. And I did not take one last year either when Michael had that same salad!

It is a pretty standard wedge, but done very well. I could go for one right now!

Michael not only had the same salad, he also had the same entrée:

Slow Roasted Prime Rib with potato puree and au jus. He loved it as much as last year.

I decided to have some pasta and got the spaghettini pasta with bacon, mushrooms, roasted butternut squash, sage-brown butter sauce and parmesan:

I would love to be able to tell you that I loved my dish as well, but somehow they had added quite a bit of parsley to the dish and I really am not a huge fan of parsley. And it was too much mixed into the dish to take it out. Otherwise it was a very generous portion of pasta and quite tasty. People who like parsley would most likely have liked the dish much better!

Michael’s brother had the Catalan Seafood Stew (Suquet De Peix): mussels, fish, shrimp, potato, fennel, tomato-shellfish broth, crostini and rouille:

He really enjoyed this dish, too. To me it sounded very much like a bouillabaisse, which is a specialty in Southern France.

I don’t remember what Michael’s friend had, but she said she did enjoy her meal.

Just when we had finished our main course and were thinking about whether we wanted dessert (we did not) we could hear shells exploding. The Disneyland Forever fireworks were starting. From our table the view was blocked by other buildings, but I saw that by moving along the balcony a bit would improve my chances to see something. I found a great spot just in front of a large pillar (so not blocking any window) and far enough from other tables, so I did not crowd anyone on the patio. Michael came over, too, and we enjoyed seeing “Disneyland Forever” for the first time without music from the Catal patio.

I feel like I saw the fireworks about eight times, even though we most certainly weren't in the park that much!

I found this a fascinating experience as I often wonder how the Disney fireworks would compare if you took the Disney element (the music and the whole show around it) out and just viewed them as fireworks. I have to say I was impressed. The show is full of amazing shells, some which I had never seen in another Disney firework show before. It was great fun to watch! And definitely made us even more excited about seeing it inside the park very soon!

After dinner we thought we should see if by any chance we could get a space in Trader Sam’s, which is a very popular tiki bar at the Disneyland Hotel. Of course that was not going to happen on a Friday night. So, we decided to return to our villa and open one of the two bottles of wine which we had picked up at Target the day before. This is one of the advantages of a DVC room: they have a sofa, so you can actually have people visit in your room. Of course with a one-bedroom that is even better!

This was a nice end to a great first day. Tomorrow we would finally step inside a theme park, but not until we had some other adventures!

Up next: Shopping!!

 

[franandaj]

When I told this to Michael he more or less told me to not go to the pool with him, but go and explore. And he was totally right! I really enjoyed browsing through the Downtown Disney shops for a while! This was my main goal:

I think I would prefer shopping over laying by the pool as well.

They now operated as of TODAY, Morimoto Asia at Disney Mall in FL.

Interesting. I didn't realize that this was a Patina Group restaurant.

A larger family having a picnic with Chinese takeout at one of the tables in the lobby. Even if this family were guests at the hotel, I do think having a picnic in the lobby is taking it too far!

This is just wrong, on a whole bunch of levels.

She wasn't strange. She was ... wait, can't use that word here ... so ... she was condescending.

Oh, I know what you mean!

It is a pretty standard wedge, but done very well. I could go for one right now!

I could go for one as well!

I would love to be able to tell you that I loved my dish as well, but somehow they had added quite a bit of parsley to the dish and I really am not a huge fan of parsley.

That's too bad, I'm not a parsley fan either.

Slow Roasted Prime Rib with potato puree and au jus. He loved it as much as last year.

Now that one sounds really good. Too bad I can't convince Fran to pop over to DTD for a wedge and Prime Rib!

This is one of the advantages of a DVC room: they have a sofa, so you can actually have people visit in your room. Of course with a one-bedroom that is even better!

I love that DVC makes it so much nicer to entertain, we just have a problem that we trash the room, and are embarrassed to entertain anyone in the room!

 

[Poolrat]

I am all caught up and really love seeing a bit of California again. Going to be back in just a couple of weeks but only a few short hours in Disneyland this time.

I like the trip over to the Mission where the swallows are not and the dish towels and nightshirt in TWoD are nice.

Sorry your hostess had a 'tude.I don't like when they try to convince you that there is no choice when there clearly is. Good for Michael's brother for "pushing back" and confirming that you will wait. Then to only be 5 min yeesh- no reason for that.

Looking forward to hearing more.

 

[PrincessInOz]

So, if you leave at 12 noon for your 14 hour flight, you arrive at 9am while at home it is 2 am the next day??? Sounds crazy!!

It is a very long groundhog day for us! Crazy? That would be about right!

How long of a flight is it from Australia to Hawaii or Japan? Those must be somewhat closer??

Japan is 10 hours.
Hawaii is 10 or 11 hours.

Do those sound closer??

 

[PrincessInOz]

Catching up on your updates!

What a beautiful Mission you visited. I love the missions in California and visiting every single one is on my bucket list!
And yay for getting your nano SIM card.

I think I would have preferred shopping at WoD over lounging by the pool. Although, if it was warm, I would have tried to do both.
Your food at Catal looks delicious. Thanks to Alison, I tend to only order the lamb burger when I go there. One of these days, I need to try something else.

 

[nodnol]

There I turned around and ran through Downtown Disney all the way to the Disneyland hotel until I saw these guys:

I thought that this was a great end point for my run and felt like I had really accomplished something!

I would love to see those on my regular run instead of crows picking at barbecue leftovers….

They even don’t fill out the side of the cups anymore, but instead a computer prints labels – also with your name. They got mine wrong:

That's because you used your real name - I still thin it would be worth to try for all women to say their name is Uschi and then we'll see how long Starbucks will carry on asking for my name. (Although I have to admit at such a big location the name thing might make sense. But why do all the other coffee places in Germany manage to hand me the right coffee without knowing and distorting my name?)

I guess Magdalene is too complicated… To be fair, a lot of people here get it wrong, too. Or at least change it into MagdalenA.

As I said… Uschi...

Again, a place that I had wanted to go before I lived out there and after, but never had. I had dined in the area, but that was it.

I see very clear priorities.

It was a bit bizarre. One of those places that had more people just sitting around than drinking coffee. But we had some and it was pretty good.

So actually like an old European Café?

I would love to be able to tell you that I loved my dish as well, but somehow they had added quite a bit of parsley to the dish and I really am not a huge fan of parsley. And it was too much mixed into the dish to take it out. Otherwise it was a very generous portion of pasta and quite tasty. People who like parsley would most likely have liked the dish much better!

What a pity, it looks real good!

I very much enjoyed that you took so many pictures at the mission. That was really interesting and should find a place on my list of places for whenever I get to California again...

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I'm all caught up! Sorry I've been away from the boards for so long.

I enjoyed the visit to the mission, and then the return to the Disney bubble. After the weirdness with the picnic in the lobby and the hostess, I hope things got much better for you!

 

[Steppesister]

Caught up once again, and really enjoyed your Catal Chapter. Whereas the food looked absolutely perfect, your waitress should be collecting unemployment until she finds a job she can do. Clearly, this one didn't suit her. At all. Grrrr....!

Trying my best to keep caught up!

 

[dolphingirl47]

But thanks to the very full day the day before I managed to sleep quite well and only woke up after 7 a.m.

That definitely sounds like a result.

But first a few views of the beautiful grounds of the mission:

This looks absolutely beautiful. I think this needs to go on the to do list for a future trip.

We then also ended up with a typical Southern Californian experience: We ended up in traffic.

After having experienced Honolulu traffic, I will never say anything about the traffic in Southern California again.

I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with the merchandise for the anniversary, a lot was not my style. Too glittery. But I guess that is what you get for a diamond anniversary!

I was in my element, but then I love my "pixie dust".

Back at the hotel I took a picture of the “cake” castle they had on display:

I would have loved to have seen this.

Thanks to Corinna (@dolphingirl47) mentioning this in her last trip report I was able to remind Michael of this and it was a nice bonus!

I am glad that you managed to make use of this.

A family having a picnic in the lobby is too strange.

That is really weird that the hostess was determined to seat you inside.

Corinna

 

[Steppesister]

Just checking in. It appears you are as busy as me- which makes it much easier to stay caught up. Miss you, Friend!!!

 

[englishrose47]

I have to second Liesa's comment , the slower running threads are the best to keep up with, That is my reason for saying all have time to keep up with mine as apart from Marv is the slowest ever !! But even his are beating mine lately thanks to Pat