Sharing the Disney Magic with Family & Friends-DL Diamond Anniversary-DCA F&W Fest Kiosks & The End!

We should get planning on our meets for your trip!

I am all for that. Time will now just fly. I have one upcoming business trip to Germany in just under two weeks and then another business trip to Dubai about a month before this trip. I am also now planning a December trip so I am going to be good and busy.

Corinna
 
The music didn't annoy me, so I guess I did like it better than MSEP.

No, it was real music and not synthesized crap.

I thought I was the only person (well together with my sister) who found the MSEP music annoying!! We saw it during our first DL visit in 1992 and were totally amazed how this beautiful park would have something with such cheap sounding music - and that people seemed to love it!! Somehow MSEP seemed to follow us around on our future trips as we had the good luck to encounter it again in DLP several times. For us it always meant that this was the best time to go and ride rides!
 
Hey Alison, I think I'm all caught up!

Sounds like you're back in full vacation-planning mode, which is great to see! The trips you have lined up sound pretty exciting. I'm glad you have something to look forward to.

I know this will shock you, but I like the "National Park" theme in DCA. Of course, that's right in my wheelhouse.
 


I am all for that. Time will now just fly. I have one upcoming business trip to Germany in just under two weeks and then another business trip to Dubai about a month before this trip. I am also now planning a December trip so I am going to be good and busy.

Corinna

It does sound like you are going to be busy!! I think in addition to a day at the park, we were talking about a girls trip to The Melting Pot, are we still on for that one?

I thought I was the only person (well together with my sister) who found the MSEP music annoying!! We saw it during our first DL visit in 1992 and were totally amazed how this beautiful park would have something with such cheap sounding music - and that people seemed to love it!! Somehow MSEP seemed to follow us around on our future trips as we had the good luck to encounter it again in DLP several times. For us it always meant that this was the best time to go and ride rides!

It came out when I was in the height of my Music Major Snob phase and right at the time when electronic music was putting real musicians out of business. Nowadays with Hip Hop, Rap and all that other garbage people don't even notice that they're not listening to music anymore, but I hated it with a vengeance back then. Now I appreciate the parade for the lights and photographic quality and I just tune the music out. But I used to always go on rides when the parade came out. I actually saw it for the first time on my trip last May in 2014.

I sorry you had to cancel the car show trip :(

Me too, but now I can go and spend tonight at DL with Jenny and her girls.

Hey Alison, I think I'm all caught up!

Welcome Back!

Sounds like you're back in full vacation-planning mode, which is great to see! The trips you have lined up sound pretty exciting. I'm glad you have something to look forward to.

I hope so, it seems that every time we get excited for something, I end up canceling it. I am sooooo looking forward to October and the Cruise!

I know this will shock you, but I like the "National Park" theme in DCA. Of course, that's right in my wheelhouse.

Go figure! I thought of you guys when I saw the new Soarin area!
 
And for the Grand Finale of the night, we present you with, Fireworks!





OK, so it actually started with lights on the Castle and there were projections going on throughout the entire fireworks sequence.





Evidently they “projected” for quite a while before the actual fireworks began.





They brought it back to Uncle Walt and how everything began.





It took me quite a while to get the proper settings before I was able to get any decent shots. Next time I will be sure to bring a tripod. (Which may be sooner than I had expected.) We were well into the show by the time I finally got some shots of the fireworks that weren’t blurry.








By this time we were on “Up”








They were also projecting onto the Matterhorn as well, but it was hard to get shots of both the castle and the Matterhorn. So I mainly focused on the Castle.









Julie Andrews narrated the opening and they continued to travel through various animated adventures from Walt and beyond Walt. There was really no order to the various features. And from my pictures, I can’t really tell which feature we are in at this point. Next time I see it, I will try to keep better track.











I think this is the Jungle Book.








And now we’re on The Little Mermaid, I see Sebastian on the Castle.





As the Nemo segment began the Matterhorn became part of the Ring of Fire.





You can see Nemo swimming around the Castle here.





Then it was off to Arendelle.

















 
And then we return home to Sleeping Beauty’s Castle for the Grand Finale












































And that’s it! I had to hustle to get this post finished today because in a few hours I am heading back out to meet up with Jenny at the park and we’re going to see the fireworks again. This time I will bring my Tripod, so I hope to have even better pictures!
 


Disneyland Forever looks amazing and your photos have come out really well. Thanks for sharing.

It does sound like you are going to be busy!! I think in addition to a day at the park, we were talking about a girls trip to The Melting Pot, are we still on for that one?

Yes, I will be. Graham is currently working at the opposite end of the country so I will make a couple of trips over there as well when I have days off during the week.

I am definitely still up for The Melting Pot. I am not so patiently waiting on some announcement for the Halloween season and the parties specifically. Once I know when they are, I can start looking in the rest of the trip. Sue is also cruising around Europe at the moment so when she is back, we can hopefully start planning this.

Corinna
 
Love the fireworks photos, and exciting that you are going back out again.

Have a wonderful time.
 
What a great set of firework shots! You know....I think if I'm lucky to see this show, I think handheld might be an option given the projections on the castle.

I wonder how long it will take you to get a tripod?? popcorn::
 
Love the fireworks! Hope you had fun with Jenny and the girls!


Jill in CO
 
For whatever reason I can't see most of the pictures, I'll have to come back.

Have fun with Jenny and the girls!!!
 
Disneyland Forever looks amazing and your photos have come out really well. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you!

Yes, I will be. Graham is currently working at the opposite end of the country so I will make a couple of trips over there as well when I have days off during the week.

I am definitely still up for The Melting Pot. I am not so patiently waiting on some announcement for the Halloween season and the parties specifically. Once I know when they are, I can start looking in the rest of the trip. Sue is also cruising around Europe at the moment so when she is back, we can hopefully start planning this.

Corinna

OK, I have nothing going other than I think we'll visit my parents in early September, but we're wide open in the end of September so once they announce the parties and Sue gets back, let the planning begin!

Love the fireworks photos, and exciting that you are going back out again.

Have a wonderful time.

We had a lot of fun, didn't do a ton, but had fun being together.

What a great set of firework shots! You know....I think if I'm lucky to see this show, I think handheld might be an option given the projections on the castle.

After last night and the shots that I took, I completely agree. There are good and bad points to these shots and the ones I got last night.
I wonder how long it will take you to get a tripod?? popcorn::

Well I have three tripods. The one I brought Sunday night with Bret was worthless, so I got my good one on Monday when I met Jenny over at the old house. I had the best TriPod last night for the fireworks, and it worked towards me and against me, but you'll see that when I post the pictures from that night.

Love the fireworks! Hope you had fun with Jenny and the girls!


Jill in CO

We had a blast!

For whatever reason I can't see most of the pictures, I'll have to come back.

Have fun with Jenny and the girls!!!

I hope you can see the pictures when you come back!
 
OK, one last follow up to the fireworks. After we left the viewing area, we headed to the Jolly Holiday Bakery to get some treats to take home. It wasn’t really on my eating plan, but Fran twisted my arm, so I complied. I ended up choosing this one. The Pineapple upside down bundt cake. I was a little disappointed as it really didn’t have any pineapple on the top. There was hint of flavor, but they really should have placed a ring of pineapple in the bottom of the Bundt on the top of the cake.



Fran ate the other two snacks while I wasn’t around and she didn’t tell me if she liked them or not. I guess she did since she didn’t throw them away, one was the 60th Anniversary cupcake, the blurry one was the Red Velvet Moon pie.





Now that completely wraps up that night a couple weeks ago, next up, dinner and a parade.
 
You had a nice view of Disneyland Forever fireworks that night. Hopefully you were able to use a different tripod that night since the one you used on Sunday had some problems. From your shots, it looked like there were people standing in front of you. I don't know if people do sit on the ground or stand. In the past, Disney always makes the guests stand during the fireworks and there were times where the guests were sitting on the ground in front of the castle.

Jolly Holiday Bakery has some good treats even the 60th Anniversary ones as well.
 
OK, I have nothing going other than I think we'll visit my parents in early September, but we're wide open in the end of September so once they announce the parties and Sue gets back, let the planning begin!

That sounds like a plan,

OK, one last follow up to the fireworks. After we left the viewing area, we headed to the Jolly Holiday Bakery to get some treats to take home. It wasn’t really on my eating plan, but Fran twisted my arm, so I complied. I ended up choosing this one. The Pineapple upside down bundt cake. I was a little disappointed as it really didn’t have any pineapple on the top. There was hint of flavor, but they really should have placed a ring of pineapple in the bottom of the Bundt on the top of the cake.


That looks so good. What a shame that the taste did not quite live up to this. I have to go back to the Jolly Holiday Bakery in September. I see a lunch in my future consisting of grilled cheese with tomato sauce followed by a Matterhorn macaroon.

Corinna
 
I have to admit that I scrolled through your fireworks pictures - knowing that I am going to see them in person so very soon I did not want to get any spoilers. :goodvibes

I wonder whether you will have perfected your picture taking for the fireworks by the time we meet. I will then happily "borrow" pictures from you as I intend to not even try. My little point and shoot does not do fireworks well at all. So, I will just enjoy!

The baked goods look delicious! What a shame that the cake did not live up to its promise. I am always annoyed when I splurge on something and then it turns out to not be worth the splurge.
 
I could see the pictures this time :) I'm very excited to see them in person!

And all those treats look fabulous!


Of course we can play it by ear. But I would definitely want you to check in first before coming over. I know what you mean. I am dying that we haven't booked our flights for the Mississippi River Boat trip. SW still hasn't released flights for March 20 next year, they just did them through March 8 and it's looking doubtful that they will have a direct flight with no plane changes. We may have to pony up and use miles, which we didn't want to do, but we're still too large to fly cattle class that long. Maybe by then we will be small enough.

I went ahead and booked my flights, prices were coming down and I didn't want to miss out. So I'll be arriving at LAX at 1:00 pm, grabbing a rental car, and should check in first you said? We can plan a time for me to come over whenever you want, I'm completely free that day.
 
Those treats look delicious! Much better than my current breakfast. :)

Jill in CO
 
Wow. Just wow...

Those fireworks look incredible. SOOOOO much better than the ones I saw. And I'm pretty sure you have provided photographic evidence of at least 3 more explosions than we saw in the entire show when we were there.
 

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