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

[englishrose47]

Magdalene, auf diesem Wege, alles Liebe und Gute zum Geburtstag! Hope it is a magical one!

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Same from me !!!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I guess I missed your birthday. Hope it was a great one!

And don't forget @Captain_Oblivious, I have to tend to my garden of things you can't pronounce! I can make Michael a boring salad with!

Sounds like for him you can just pull up the dandelions and serve them!

 

[Flossbolna]

That sounds amazing and fun indeed!

The tread mill with scenery is actually really nice. I find it better than watching a TV program! And there were some other scenes that were familiar as well besides Nuremberg: Bad Reichenhall, Munich etc.

Wow! What a clever way to present the soup and it looks yummy!

I have had that soup poured from a pitcher presentation before and really like it. It is a great way to serve soup in a good looking way.

Alison has written about your Club 33 visit, so I was prepared for it. What a great experience, thanks for sharing.

It was truly wonderful!

And I took a note about watching the fireworks from IASW! I would never have thought of it.

I would still recommend to watch them once from in front of the castle as well, but IASW is a great location for all other days. And if you are like us, you will want to see this show multiple times.

What an amazing day being "topped of" with some rides as well.

Because finally, it is still the rides that make the parks a lot of fun!

 

[Flossbolna]

It wasn't at all a big deal, in fact I thought you had arrived a day later, so I was almost surprised to hear from you so early! I was also very excited to meet you. Fran is a little like Eeyore, so she doesn't get excited about much.

I guess did not even know me then, so she had no real reason to get excited about!

I've been to Company D once, and it was pretty cool!

It is quite amazing!

Nice choices!

yes, I was very happy with them. But overall I liked the selection last time better, but I guess it is just draw of luck.

You can't go wrong with In-N-Out!

That's probably because F! is going down with everything else for the Star Wars rehab.

I never thought about that. But that makes sense. I guess they will do some work on the viewing area for F! as well!

Sounds tasty! I could use a beignet right now!

Me too!

That sounds really cool! I hope I get to ride on that. I need to start my DLP do list!

You should be able to see it in total referred splendor after a very long refurbishment! Currently they are draining the Rivers of America for the first time ever.

Yes, but will the track get an update so that it is as smooth as DL's?

I thought the MK track was already rebuilt? But I will try to remember to ask Michael about this. He is more an expert on things like that than me.

Totally agree with you on this one!

I wonder who ever thought it was a good idea to have Star Wars in DisneyLAND!

Those corridors are awesome, you can bypass the crazy crowds on Main Street!

Oh, I can see the function. But once you have seen the DLP version of them, you know why others look down on them a bit. But at least the DL one is far prettier than the MK one.

You really got in some great rides at the end there. I wish I could stay up that late and still be able to make it home safely!

I guess that is where your GCV points can be put to use: Staycations at DL. Not a bad outlook at all. Of course than you have to get Naked Jim hunt down Milo who likes to hide outside...

People always blame the folks driving the scooters, but until you've gone through a park with someone in a scooter people don't realize, it's not always the driver's fault. However, if I see someone in a scooter and it has "rental plates" I tend to give them a wide latitude as many of those drivers are novices. Folks on the Disney rentals, I stay completely clear of as they more often than not have absolutely no clue as to how to operate those things!

I think your scooters are so much more practical than those rentals which are just huge and already look like they are so cumbersome to operate.

And it was great to meet everyone in your party as well. I think having a love of Disney helps people get along, but it is amazing how quickly we all feel at ease when we meet in person!

Yes, having a common interest is certainly a good start!

I was really upset to hear that this spot was being taken away from the general public. I don't think that folks should only be able to visit someplace so pretty only if they have money or connections.

That is kind of my grief with all those upcharge events as well. So many good viewing areas at Epcot for Illuminations are now only available to people who have some sort of event going on. While I don't mind that Disney offers something special for those who want to pay more, I don't like it if it takes away from the experience of those who "only" paid for the normal entrance ticket.

Weeds! Now that was a funny little discussion we had. Folks who read my TRs know that Fran and I don't care for weeds in our salads. Michael however, is quite partial to them. You can imagine the discussion which ensued!

Yes! I think "weeds" has become a standard term between Michael and me now as well!

This was my first meal there where the portions sizes were spot on and not too small. It made for a very enjoyable meal not leaving hungry.

I definitely did not leave hungry!!

Imagine my shock after we bought the house when our gardener informed us that coyotes ran in the neighborhood! A year ago, one of our "wild bunnies" was eaten by the coyotes.

Oh, so the coyote thing is not common everywhere. That is good to know! I am very sorry about the bunny!!

I believe that those are "toothpick holders". Disney wouldn't sell shotglasses!

I thought that in the display case they did not call them tooth pick holder... But I checked the receipt and there it is as "Tth Pck Hldr".

All in all, it was a nice and enjoyable day that we had together! It was so nice meeting everyone and a great time was had by all! Fran says "Hi!" back to you and Michael!

to Fran!!

And I agree, it was an all around lovely day!

 

[Flossbolna]

Yes, when I was there, they had a Halloween tree instead.

That sounds fun, too!

I had figured that they will let this run as a Shanghai exclusive for the first 6 months before rolling this out to the other parks.

Seems that that will not necessarily be the case. But I guess we will know more once they announce the opening date for Shanghai finally.

That will be amazing. Unfortunately it looks like it will be still closed when I am planning to go back in September.

That's a shame - but it sounds like they will be doing an amazing job bringing it back to perfect condition hopefully!

That is what I figure. I think the previous fireworks were introduced for the 50th anniversary so they were around for a decade.

At least I am sure that anything that is going to replace them will still make use of the projection technology.

For us, this was actually a big draw. We quite like that we are not disturbed every day. I wish that they would leave more toiletries though.

I guess everyone is different in that regard! But I fully agree on the toiletries question!!

I never knew this about the Wonder. I tend to watch Disney movies while working out on the ships.

And I had no idea that that was a possibility!!

I love them, too. Fortunately we now have them in the UK at Five Guys. I think I may treat myself to a Five Guys burger on Tuesday.

Hmmmm, Five Guys... But we do have a number of non chain burger restaurants here in Nuremberg now and I am planning to investigate them with Michael when he will be here this winter.

I used to love going in there to get a breather when this was still open to the public.

I love quiet corners in the parks.

I would have loved this. I absolutely adore cucumber water. When I last had the chance to be there, we had spiced apple cider in that spot.

Oh, spiced apple cider sounds delicious!

I had every intention to try this as I have only ever had the non-alcoholic version, but the Diamond Martini won out in the end.

Isn't that a rather intense drink?? Sounded a bit harsh to me.

That looks delicious. Lunch looked amazing, too.

The Gin Fizz was quite wonderful, I just wish they had had the egg whites for it. My favorite drinks are all some sort of alcohol with something citrus. Have not found one with that combination that I don't enjoy.

I very much enjoyed this, but in my case I felt that the bread could have been a little more special.

Yes, the sandwich was a bit bland, I agree.

I am with you on that, just that for me the second parade I enjoy is the Christmas parade at Disneyland Paris.

Yes! A fellow non parade person!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Nice update! Your lunch at Club 33 sounds amazing.

I really liked what I have seen so far of that Paint the Night Parade, too. I hope it is still there if I ever get a chance to go to Disneyland

I am still amazed that we got the opportunity to eat there and the whole experience was definitely something unforgettable.

And I think you can count on Paint the Night being around for a long time!! In some way or form and in some Disney park around the globe at least (most likely not Japan, I can see them taking over an old used parade).

 

[dolphingirl47]

Isn't that a rather intense drink?? Sounded a bit harsh to me.

Actually it is so smooth that you want to weep. I can't comment on the vodka version as I am very much a Gin person, but the Gin version is wonderful.

Corinna

 

[Flossbolna]

Actually it is so smooth that you want to weep. I can't comment on the vodka version as I am very much a Gin person, but the Gin version is wonderful.

Corinna

Interesting... I like gin. The only classical Martini I ever had was during the martini tasting on the PC cruise, I think you were around for the same one. And there I could drink the classic one (Michael hated it), but it was not my most favorite Martini...

 

[Flossbolna]

Great lunch at Club 33. I think I almost licked the screen at the Fillet Mignon and the dessert. YUM!

It was such a wonderful experience!!

I miss being able to go to the Court of Angels. It was always a cool spot to head to after a busy morning in the park.

Yes, it is quite a shame. Quiet spots in theme parks are just precious...

 

[dolphingirl47]

The only classical Martini I ever had was during the martini tasting on the PC cruise, I think you were around for the same one. And there I could drink the classic one (Michael hated it), but it was not my most favorite Martini...

Compared to the the Diamond Martini, the one at the martini tasting tasted like paint stripper.

Corinna

 

[irene_dsc]

Subbing to come back later! Thanks for letting me know about this on Liesa's thread!

 

[Flossbolna]

Man, I need to become friends with your friends!

It's all in who you know!

It was really quite amazing!

Hey, I thought it was funny. But I love stupid jokes.

Michael seemed to like the joke, too, so you are in good company!

I generally have wonderful experiences with CM's anywhere. I think Disney does a good job hiring people who for the most part care about their work. I also think if you go in looking for good or bad experiences, well...you usually find what you're looking for.

I love the National Park theming. But then again, I'm pre-disposed to like that.

We share that pre-disposition. However, once we got out on the road, I realized that Grizzly Peak is really more National Forest themed than National Park themed.

I love that explosion scene! Can't wait for it to show up in Florida too.

It should be quite marvelous. I am so happy that they managed to figure out a good solution to the problem that the lawyers did no longer allow the moving parts over the guests heads...

I can see that. It does make more sense to try and preserve the original DL. It really highlights the issue of available space on the California property.

DCA would have had the space, there is some space behind Tower of Terror that can be used still. But maybe it was shaped the wrong way?

Wow! I thought Disney had a detector to find things like that!

Well, they certainly have a detector for cash in people's pockets and are pretty good at sucking it all up!

Just tell me you will write up a full report if this happens.

If I ever watch Walking Dead, I will be in no state to take notes, so you will have to rely on Michael for that!

Yeah, when you spend that much money on lodging, it would be nice to have somebody else clean it.

Exactly!

I would think "Kill Your Wonderful Neighbors" would be much, much worse.

Cool! Did you see yourself? Did you wave hello?

I was actually looking around if I saw someone who I knew in Nuremberg, but no success. That would been totally cool!

But it was like that when I got there! I swear!

I don't think a diaper would have lasted that long since your visit to California!!

It was eye-opening to me as well when we walked around with Alison. I am guilty of grumbling about scooters in the past, so it was good to see it from the other side.

Exactly!

I like American cheese. Now I'm wondering if Michael will think I'm boring. Maybe he can just hang out with Scotty.

Oh, Michael likes American cheese, too. It was a stab against me as I am quite a cheese snob.

Spoilsports.

Never!!

I bet they were out of American cheese, too.

Actually, Alison asked if they could change the salad that Michael had and substitute iceberg lettuce for the "weeds" and they said that they were out of lettuce. So, I guess the same would have applied for American Cheese...

This is redundant. There is no such thing as an exciting salad.

I like salads, but I agree!

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I doubt I could have identified most of it, but I'm glad it was a great experience for you!

The steak would have been easy to identify, wouldn't it?

@franandaj also has to make sure they aren't locked in the garage, or that random naked people aren't running around in the back yard.

She lives in a dangerous neighborhood!

Sounds like your CM friend knows what he's doing!

Oh, he is such an expert!

Did they add Buzz Lightyear guns to the boats? That would make it better.

I see, not a great fan there! I think the worst thing is that it is a children's choir singing and I find children voiced rather unbearable (in a choir, singing).

A message that is bludgeoned into your brain over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over...

I find that the more often I hear the song, the less it sticks with me for a long time. So, you still need to ride it many times more to become immune!

I'm just glad all of these parades are here to distract people from the rides!

 

[Flossbolna]

Compared to the the Diamond Martini, the one at the martini tasting tasted like paint stripper.

Corinna

Noted!! That sounds like a delicious drink then!

Subbing to come back later! Thanks for letting me know about this on Liesa's thread!

Great to have you here. It will be a while until I get to Yosemite, but there is quite a bit fun along the way!

 

[Poolrat]

By now you should be back from California. I hope you had a fantastic time!!

I did and also back from WDW. Always a great trip. Now to catch up.

We had one mission in DCA: Get a FP for Grizzly River Run! This is a raft ride and it usually soaks the riders.[One of us had a mission. The rest of us agreed.] Nobody in our group is keen on walking around a theme park drenched. But, this is where staying at the GCH comes into play: With the direct entrance into DCA from the hotel that even is more or less opposite GRR, you can ride it, get drenched, run up to your room and get changed and then be back in the park quickly. So, our plan was to make use of exactly this today!

I did exactly that - run back to the room to get out of wet clothes.

I was a bit scared as I knew that the music for Paint the Night was kind of a homage to the music for the Electrical Main Street Parade

I picked up on the "recycling " of the music right away.

People always blame the folks driving the scooters, but until you've gone through a park with someone in a scooter people don't realize, it's not always the driver's fault. However, if I see someone in a scooter and it has "rental plates" I tend to give them a wide latitude as many of those drivers are novices. Folks on the Disney rentals, I stay completely clear of as they more often than not have absolutely no clue as to how to operate those things!

They need a scooter tutor.....


All caught up- The lunch at Club 33 looks amazing. Even though I have no hope of ever being up there I still one how they would handle my crazy allergies...

 

[Flossbolna]

I did and also back from WDW. Always a great trip. Now to catch up.

Oh, I had no idea that you went to WDW as well! Sounds like a great fall for you!!

I did exactly that - run back to the room to get out of wet clothes.

Isn't that the best?? Worth the high points one has to spend for GCV.

I picked up on the "recycling " of the music right away.

Who wouldn't? It is quite obvious, but I am so glad that it is more subdued.

They need a scooter tutor.....

Sounds like a great idea. But I can't imagine people agreeing to that before they rent a scooter. One day those things will require a special type of drivers license, I am sure.

All caught up- The lunch at Club 33 looks amazing. Even though I have no hope of ever being up there I still one how they would handle my crazy allergies...

I have no idea, we did not have any very special dietary restrictions. Michael and I can't eat shellfish and he can't eat fish. But those are easy to avoid. On the other hand, it is a Disney restaurant, so they should be able to accommodate you in the same way any other Disney restaurant does. Which I understand varies a lot!

Great to have you back!!

 

[Flossbolna]

OH, how I absolutely adored your post about Club 33. I'd give a lot to have just one chance to dine in there and experience a piece of truly Disneyana myself. Maybe someday.... :dreamysigh: When I workd in the Blue Bayou, I'd dream of stepping inside just to get a peek, but never had the opportunity.

What a shame that even as a CM you were not able to get a peak! I never expected to get a chance to eat there either in my life. But when you make it to Disneyland Paris, I will gladly take you to the special place there that I have "exclusive" entrance to: Salon Mickey. That should count for something!! It is not nearly as special, but it is a private little lounge where you can have coffee and pastries in the morning and then be lead into the park directly through a door out onto Main Street. It is for members of the Shareholder's Club. One needs to be a shareholder of Euro Disney SCA, the company that runs Disneyland Paris and hold a certain number of shares. Yes, this was definitely not the wisest investment I made considering how well that stock does. But it does get me into an exclusive "club" at a Disney park!!!

The meal looked abosolutely amazing, especially your charcuterie!! WOW!! Pate is a favorite of mine!!

Yes, this was really good stuff!! I love pate as well! When I was in France for a month for a language course while I was at university, my dinner was nearly always a salad, some pate and some fresh baguette! So delicious!!!

Yes!! I think we also watched the Fireworks from right there on our last trip as well. Crowd free is definitely the way to go, and that's a GREAT place to find that.

On my 2013 trip to WDW we happened to watch Wishes one evening from the bridge leading towards Splash and Big Thunder from Frontierland at the MK and that was a great spot for Wishes without huge crowds as well!

I had no idea they gave Alice some updates; need to get back to DLR sometime soon... also need to see the Frozen updates on one of my favorite rides: Storybook.

Peter Pan also got some updates! And the Frozen part of Storybook is really well done! We liked that a lot!

 

[Flossbolna]

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag Magdalene! Wir wünschen Ihnen einen ganz besonderen Tag und eine wundervolle Jahre zu kommen!

Not to be shown up by my friend Marv up there....

Tyghan myen, kytah bolsin!!!! Ozak omir bolsin!!!! Boogin, bari zhangaluk boldai!

So I gather birthday wishes are in order today! I'll say it more like an American

Fröhliche Geburtstag!

Herzlichen Glueckwunsch zum Geburtstag.

Corinna

Magdalene, auf diesem Wege, alles Liebe und Gute zum Geburtstag! Hope it is a magical one!

​

Happy belated Birthday!!

Thank you all for the lovely birthday wishes!!!! I am impressed by all the language skills you demonstrated and am very grateful to @PrincessInOz to at least provide one English Happy Birthday as well!!!

I had a wonderful birthday as I took the day off from work. My parents came over for a nice birthday breakfast, I then met a very good friend for lunch and in the afternoon went away for the weekend to a spa resort with two girlfriends where we ended the evening with some tasty cocktails at the hotel bar. Definitely an all around wonderful day!

 

[Flossbolna]

Rumor has it, more updates are already written and approved, just waiting for me to catch up with what is already posted….

I guess rumor was wrong... Considering how much time has passed since you wrote that comment...

I got really exhausted just by reading about your day with shopping and theme park until late at night, no wonder you war falling asleep standing up. I remember that this happened to me once on our first trip to WDW. But you still took pictures, I admire that!

Taking pictures kept me awake!!! And I have to say that knowing that I am going to do a report does make me keep taking pictures even when I am tired. And I like that. Talking about the intention of writing reports... wasn't there something about a cruise to far away northern lands????

And it is already in heavy rotation, although in winter it might get less used…
Thank you again for all the presents

I am so glad that you liked the t-shirt!! And you are welcome!!

If they would serve their Burgers in Germany, they would definitely be one of the best classic burgers!

That mud have been quite a treat, I remember being really disappointed by the quality last time we saw it together at WDW. I really like the pictures of the Grizzly Peak area!

Yes, the digital projection is really great! And with the new film being shot in digital quality, it should be even more impressive!

Yes, I remember that very well! Also that I had a horrible cold and was freezing in the air conditioned car, as we were not used to those at all.

And we tried our first ever slurpy there! Fun times!!

What I can't remember is a petting zoo in Disneyland...

I can't either. I am sure this was one of the things that we did not see any point in at all. Like with Autopia.

Bitburger??????? Do they want to make people believe you can't get any decent beer in Europe????

I did not see that! I never had a Bitburger, is it that bad. But I am rarely surprised by the choices of German beer they sell in the USA. Unless you go to a fancy beer speciality pub or so.

Your meal at Club 33 looks lovely!

It was very lovely!

I think it's a cultural difference thing. It's a Small World is just very over the top for Germans, especially in the 1990s, when we weren't yet exposed to American culture as much as we are now. So for us the important message got kind of lost in all the (for us) exaggeration.

That is a good explanation!

This reminds me, my husband has just returned from a conference at Phantasialand, where he saw not the whole park, but one of the "lands" and the entrance area, the "main street" of Phantasialand as he called it. He said it looked nice, but not as nice as Disneyland Paris and that he is obviously spoiled….

Yes he is. I have been to Phantasialand. It cannot compare. I am excited to see how Europapark is going to hold up against it.

 

[Flossbolna]

I have to agree with Michael about the parade , BUT I don't think you are a CommunistMy favorite parade was SPECTRO, I was crushed when they cancelled that and brought out MSEP, so my next favorite was The AK parade , now that is cancelled, I am avoiding any favorite parades from now on !!!

Yes, please!! Don't pick any favorites - or maybe, you could pick MSEP to make sure that I will never have to hear that music again?!?

 

[Flossbolna]

I guess I missed your birthday. Hope it was a great one!

Yes, thank you!!