Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
Thank you!!
California Dazzling: A Roadtrip Vacation Spectacular - Last Update and Final Thoughts 11/8
- Thread starter Flossbolna
- Start date
Thank you!!
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
The Tour - Part 1
August 10: Carnation Café and The Tour
Today was another very special day. A wonderful friend of ours was able to arrange it through some connections they have for us to get a free VIP Tour Guide for the parks. Have you ever seen those tour guides with the plaid vests? That is what I am talking about. And the most awesome thing about it is that such a tour guide kind of is your “human Fast Pass” for nearly all attractions. I was quite surprised when we first heard that our friend was offering to arrange this for us, but at the same time felt like this was going to be like a dream come true (to continue using Disney’s promotional slogans… ;-) ). And the best thing was that we would be able to share the experience with some of our friends and brought Thing 2, Alison and Michael’s brother along as well. Unfortunately Thing 1 had to work as it was a Monday…
We had arranged that we would meet the tour guide in the lobby of the Grand Californian at the fireplace at noon. It appeared to be the usual meeting place for tour guides as later in the week I saw another tour guide waiting there for her group as well. I actually saw her once and then 30 minutes later she was still standing there and I was really surprised about that and started talking to her. She confirmed that she had been waiting for quite some time now. Considering that normally those tour guides are a very expensive perk, I was really surprised how someone would just let the tour guide wait! But she said that this was not uncommon…
If you can afford the guide, the you likely can afford to waste the experience of having them.
Well, since we had some time in the morning before starting out with our tour guide, I had at some point mentioned to Michael that I was considering heading into Disneyland to have breakfast at the Carnation Café on my own, thinking that Michael would not have any interest in getting up early for a breakfast. I had read about the Carnation Café and it sounded like a great spot. I also thought that if I head into Disneyland in the morning, this would be the perfect day to not feel compelled to get on a lot of rides as I knew we would get a lot done later in the day.
Once I told Michael about my idea, he suddenly was all for coming along!! And Thing 2 and Michael’s brother thought it was a great idea, too!
So, I had gotten us a reservation for four for 10:20 a.m. thinking that that would be late enough for Michael and still early enough to not cause us to rush around.
When we got to Disneyland I noticed the number of Chinese tour groups outside the gates. They seemed to get instructions from their tour guides, but then went through the parks individually. I had never thought about it, but it became quite clear that the USA are as popular with Chinese tourists as Germany. We are getting more and more tourists from China here every year! And we saw plenty more Chinese later on in our trip as well.
When we got to the Carnation Café we requested a table outside – this time no drama about that request. But we were told that it would be a slight wait. We were fine with that and got a pager. We all decided to go and explore in the candy shop next door a bit as we were told that the pager would work in all the shops on Main Street. But as soon as we had walked into the store, the pager went off.
We got seated and had a look at the menu:
The tables all had a carnation on them – and they were all tinted blue. I guess this was for the Diamond celebration.
I got the Spinach and Tomato Egg White Frittata with Mushrooms, Sour Cream and Avocado Black Bean Pico de Gallo served with Café Breakfast Potatoes and Fruit and also ordered a side order of bacon:
I though those Mickey shaped frittatas were too cute! But as you see, the bacon is missing. I asked for it and quickly our server brought out the side order of bacon which consisted of three rashers. However, they were really nice and thick, not the flimsy typical Disney bacon. This was some delicious bacon!! And then in the end they did not charge me for it, which was nice.
I think Michael had exactly the same as I had. Maybe we also shared the bacon?
Yes I did and yes we did. Our server wasn't bad, but she clearly wasn't ''all there'' and you could tell. You'd ask her for something and you could almost see the thought go through one ear and exit the other. But the breakfast was quite tasty, quite reasonable and a good way to start a commando-like day.
This was the view from our table:
I really enjoyed eating there, I can understand why it is such a tradition for many people!
While eating breakfast we also discussed what we wanted to do today. Our friend had advised us that it would helpful if we let the tour guide at the beginning know which rides were our priorities. I had already talked with Alison what she wanted to do and she had said that she was cool with everything as she gets to go to the parks a lot anyway. That was very nice of her, but I think she had fun with most of our selections. I had picked up a park map for each of the parks earlier and we went through the lists of all the attractions and made little notes as to which ones we really wanted to see and which ones could be added in if we had time.
After our delicious breakfast it was time to head back to the hotel, and heading out I got a picture of the crowds heading in:
The four of us then met up with Alison and our tour guide in the lobby as arranged. I handed our park maps with the notes as to what we wanted to see to our lovely tour guide and I think she was quite impressed that we came prepared. I guess it is the German in me – and the years I spent on the DIS learning all about tour planning! Thing 2 also had a very specific request since he knows someone who is in the cast of Aladdin and his friend was going to perform today and Thing 2 really wanted to see his friend perform. I was happy to see the show as I had missed it on previous trips and had heard so many good things about it.
We can call him Thing 3 and let's just say he is good pals with Iago! ... The show is a favorite of mine. I was very close to some of the people who brought it to life in 2003 and still fondly recall the premiere of the show, which featured many Disney luminaries and other celebs and had one amazing party in tents where Carsland now is ... even had live camels.
We decided to start in DCA and quickly went through all the head liners.
Some pictures form Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree:
And Radiator Springs Racers:
But we missed out on Toy Story Midway Mania. On our first attempt it was down and then we wanted to try again, it was getting late and time for our Aladdin show. [No spoiler alert, but we never wound up riding this in any of our five days in the parks.] There we had priority access to the theater with our tour guide and got first pick on our seats. Thing 2 all made us get into the third row and I have to say that these were excellent seats to follow the action on the stage. Close enough to really see the actors and their expressions, but not too close. There is some stuff happening in the walkways of the theater and some of that was behind us. Also, the flying carpet was mainly above us, so not the best view of that either. But all in all, I can very much recommend row three. Not that it matters much at all anymore as Aladdin will soon be gone to be replaced by some icy sisters.
At least a version will live on at sea on the Fantasy. And there's the Broadway show that I want to see too.
There is also a German version of the Broadway show that is about to premier in Hamburg this winter. Michael heard about the process of that being put on during a lecture on our cruise last November. Especially about how they need so many more kids for the German production than the one in the US due to the very strict labour laws regarding minors that we have here in Germany.
The show was really great and the genie was very funny! At some point Jafar was pointing his stick at him and the genie commented how he was able to get this thing in here, he thought that selfie sticks had been banned here now.
That Genie is widely considered to be one of the top two according to Iago's friend. His name rhymes with Fillin.
After the show Thing 2 wanted us to meet his performer friend who took some time to get out of the show. So, Alison and I decided to get in a quick ride on Tower of Terror while the others were waiting. Once we got out, he was there and we all went to get some lunch at Flo’s in Carsland.
I somehow never got on ToT on this trip too. It is one of my favorites, but also one of the few attractions I feel is better at WDW. ... Too bad that when I was there two weeks ago I never even visited the remnants of the park it is located in, so I guess ... I guess we better go to DLP and ride?
I got a meal with ribs, which was delicious and Michael had a beef sandwich. I totally failed at taking pictures before I started eating. Sorry!!
Food was wonderful, but they did change menus after our visit in May of 2014 and the homestyle meat with side plates have largely been replaced by sandwiches and salads.
But I got some more pictures of Carsland:
Because you can never have enough pictures of Cars Land!!
We enjoyed talking with the performer and I also got to catch up with Alison a bit during our meal. Since yesterday was such a large group and today we were busy riding rides, I felt that we were lacking proper chat time and it was nice to get some of that during lunch. Luckily I knew we would have more time for a nice talk later in the week and I was really looking forward to that!
We rode Soarin, Mater's, RSRs -- with no sound (which wasn't fun) and Screamin before seeing Aladdin and having lunch.
After lunch we headed over to Disneyland. Here we did a lot of rides in rapid succession again. And I was busy trying to get at least some pictures for this day!
And once again the Tea Cups. They are so pretty here at DL!
We did Mansion, Pirates, Indy, Jungle Cruise, Matterhorn twice (once each side) before ...
And then we headed to one ride that I never had a chance to ride. It was closed in 1992 and in 2005 and in May 2014!! So, I was quite excited!
And then afterwards I have to say that I have finally found one ride at a Disney theme park that I will never do again. I do have a bit of a scare of closed in spaces. And on this ride I really had to concentrate very very hard to look out of the window to not start to panic! To me the reason was that you go down stairs and then along a long row down to your seat. Once people are seated, you cannot get past them. In order to get out, the people who came in after you all have to get up and walk out single file and climb that small staircase. We were the first group being loaded into the submarine – there was a long row of people between me and the staircase. That really was not good for me at all!! The ride itself was very cute though, but nothing I would wait for very long. I am glad I had the opportunity to do it that day without a long wait, but no way will I ever descend into one of those submarines. Well, maybe if they would guarantee me that I can get the seat next to the staircase. But the good thing is that there is actually an alternate version, which is for people who cannot experience the ride as it is. It is in a room on land and maybe I am going to try that on my next trip to DL. If the ride is open then…
I like the subs, but they aren't a must do. I'm just glad they kept them unlike at WDW. They just take forever to load and ... how do I put this gently? .... They are built for people sized in the 1950s. If you're a 6-foot-0-inch, 150-pound male, then you'll have no trouble fitting on that tiny seat. But we all know that people, especially American people, are larger today. Suffice to say, you wind up pressing the flesh literally with everyone and it just isn't fun or comfortable. I had hoped when the subs came back that they would have addressed this by removing some seats. But since capacity is low on this to begin with that wasn't going to happen.
We ended that day with a ride on Space Mountain where Alison and I rocked the front row! I absolutely adore the Disneyland Space Mountain. I think it is even my favorite Space Mountain of all the versions that are available now. Nothing comes close to the original Disneyland Paris Space Mountain though. That is still my overall favorite Disney roller coaster!
And with that our eight hours with our wonderful tour guide ended. But we still had some more exciting fun planned as part of the tour guide experience was that we also had reservations for a VIP viewing area for Paint the Night and the fireworks! It was still a while until the parade would start, but we were all exhausted (riding ride after ride without any wait does get to you at some point…) and we thought it would make sense to sit down and secure our spots in the viewing area. We got great seats in the second row. We were inside the hub, just opposite Main Street, so looking down Main Street. They had set up chairs, so once the parade had stopped, everyone took their chair, turned it around and then had the perfect view of the castle and the fireworks! This was an absolute perfect ending for such an amazing day!
Yes, it was. And we took things slowly, relatively speaking. I'm sure we could have added in another 2-3 major attractions had we pushed ourselves. But what fun would that have been?
Continued in next post
August 10: Carnation Café and The Tour
Today was another very special day. A wonderful friend of ours was able to arrange it through some connections they have for us to get a free VIP Tour Guide for the parks. Have you ever seen those tour guides with the plaid vests? That is what I am talking about. And the most awesome thing about it is that such a tour guide kind of is your “human Fast Pass” for nearly all attractions. I was quite surprised when we first heard that our friend was offering to arrange this for us, but at the same time felt like this was going to be like a dream come true (to continue using Disney’s promotional slogans… ;-) ). And the best thing was that we would be able to share the experience with some of our friends and brought Thing 2, Alison and Michael’s brother along as well. Unfortunately Thing 1 had to work as it was a Monday…
We had arranged that we would meet the tour guide in the lobby of the Grand Californian at the fireplace at noon. It appeared to be the usual meeting place for tour guides as later in the week I saw another tour guide waiting there for her group as well. I actually saw her once and then 30 minutes later she was still standing there and I was really surprised about that and started talking to her. She confirmed that she had been waiting for quite some time now. Considering that normally those tour guides are a very expensive perk, I was really surprised how someone would just let the tour guide wait! But she said that this was not uncommon…
If you can afford the guide, the you likely can afford to waste the experience of having them.
Well, since we had some time in the morning before starting out with our tour guide, I had at some point mentioned to Michael that I was considering heading into Disneyland to have breakfast at the Carnation Café on my own, thinking that Michael would not have any interest in getting up early for a breakfast. I had read about the Carnation Café and it sounded like a great spot. I also thought that if I head into Disneyland in the morning, this would be the perfect day to not feel compelled to get on a lot of rides as I knew we would get a lot done later in the day.
Once I told Michael about my idea, he suddenly was all for coming along!! And Thing 2 and Michael’s brother thought it was a great idea, too!
So, I had gotten us a reservation for four for 10:20 a.m. thinking that that would be late enough for Michael and still early enough to not cause us to rush around.
When we got to Disneyland I noticed the number of Chinese tour groups outside the gates. They seemed to get instructions from their tour guides, but then went through the parks individually. I had never thought about it, but it became quite clear that the USA are as popular with Chinese tourists as Germany. We are getting more and more tourists from China here every year! And we saw plenty more Chinese later on in our trip as well.
When we got to the Carnation Café we requested a table outside – this time no drama about that request. But we were told that it would be a slight wait. We were fine with that and got a pager. We all decided to go and explore in the candy shop next door a bit as we were told that the pager would work in all the shops on Main Street. But as soon as we had walked into the store, the pager went off.
We got seated and had a look at the menu:
The tables all had a carnation on them – and they were all tinted blue. I guess this was for the Diamond celebration.
I got the Spinach and Tomato Egg White Frittata with Mushrooms, Sour Cream and Avocado Black Bean Pico de Gallo served with Café Breakfast Potatoes and Fruit and also ordered a side order of bacon:
I though those Mickey shaped frittatas were too cute! But as you see, the bacon is missing. I asked for it and quickly our server brought out the side order of bacon which consisted of three rashers. However, they were really nice and thick, not the flimsy typical Disney bacon. This was some delicious bacon!! And then in the end they did not charge me for it, which was nice.
I think Michael had exactly the same as I had. Maybe we also shared the bacon?
Yes I did and yes we did. Our server wasn't bad, but she clearly wasn't ''all there'' and you could tell. You'd ask her for something and you could almost see the thought go through one ear and exit the other. But the breakfast was quite tasty, quite reasonable and a good way to start a commando-like day.
This was the view from our table:
I really enjoyed eating there, I can understand why it is such a tradition for many people!
While eating breakfast we also discussed what we wanted to do today. Our friend had advised us that it would helpful if we let the tour guide at the beginning know which rides were our priorities. I had already talked with Alison what she wanted to do and she had said that she was cool with everything as she gets to go to the parks a lot anyway. That was very nice of her, but I think she had fun with most of our selections. I had picked up a park map for each of the parks earlier and we went through the lists of all the attractions and made little notes as to which ones we really wanted to see and which ones could be added in if we had time.
After our delicious breakfast it was time to head back to the hotel, and heading out I got a picture of the crowds heading in:
The four of us then met up with Alison and our tour guide in the lobby as arranged. I handed our park maps with the notes as to what we wanted to see to our lovely tour guide and I think she was quite impressed that we came prepared. I guess it is the German in me – and the years I spent on the DIS learning all about tour planning! Thing 2 also had a very specific request since he knows someone who is in the cast of Aladdin and his friend was going to perform today and Thing 2 really wanted to see his friend perform. I was happy to see the show as I had missed it on previous trips and had heard so many good things about it.
We can call him Thing 3 and let's just say he is good pals with Iago! ... The show is a favorite of mine. I was very close to some of the people who brought it to life in 2003 and still fondly recall the premiere of the show, which featured many Disney luminaries and other celebs and had one amazing party in tents where Carsland now is ... even had live camels.
We decided to start in DCA and quickly went through all the head liners.
Some pictures form Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree:
And Radiator Springs Racers:
But we missed out on Toy Story Midway Mania. On our first attempt it was down and then we wanted to try again, it was getting late and time for our Aladdin show. [No spoiler alert, but we never wound up riding this in any of our five days in the parks.] There we had priority access to the theater with our tour guide and got first pick on our seats. Thing 2 all made us get into the third row and I have to say that these were excellent seats to follow the action on the stage. Close enough to really see the actors and their expressions, but not too close. There is some stuff happening in the walkways of the theater and some of that was behind us. Also, the flying carpet was mainly above us, so not the best view of that either. But all in all, I can very much recommend row three. Not that it matters much at all anymore as Aladdin will soon be gone to be replaced by some icy sisters.
At least a version will live on at sea on the Fantasy. And there's the Broadway show that I want to see too.
There is also a German version of the Broadway show that is about to premier in Hamburg this winter. Michael heard about the process of that being put on during a lecture on our cruise last November. Especially about how they need so many more kids for the German production than the one in the US due to the very strict labour laws regarding minors that we have here in Germany.
The show was really great and the genie was very funny! At some point Jafar was pointing his stick at him and the genie commented how he was able to get this thing in here, he thought that selfie sticks had been banned here now.
That Genie is widely considered to be one of the top two according to Iago's friend. His name rhymes with Fillin.
After the show Thing 2 wanted us to meet his performer friend who took some time to get out of the show. So, Alison and I decided to get in a quick ride on Tower of Terror while the others were waiting. Once we got out, he was there and we all went to get some lunch at Flo’s in Carsland.
I somehow never got on ToT on this trip too. It is one of my favorites, but also one of the few attractions I feel is better at WDW. ... Too bad that when I was there two weeks ago I never even visited the remnants of the park it is located in, so I guess ... I guess we better go to DLP and ride?
I got a meal with ribs, which was delicious and Michael had a beef sandwich. I totally failed at taking pictures before I started eating. Sorry!!
Food was wonderful, but they did change menus after our visit in May of 2014 and the homestyle meat with side plates have largely been replaced by sandwiches and salads.
But I got some more pictures of Carsland:
Because you can never have enough pictures of Cars Land!!
We enjoyed talking with the performer and I also got to catch up with Alison a bit during our meal. Since yesterday was such a large group and today we were busy riding rides, I felt that we were lacking proper chat time and it was nice to get some of that during lunch. Luckily I knew we would have more time for a nice talk later in the week and I was really looking forward to that!
We rode Soarin, Mater's, RSRs -- with no sound (which wasn't fun) and Screamin before seeing Aladdin and having lunch.
After lunch we headed over to Disneyland. Here we did a lot of rides in rapid succession again. And I was busy trying to get at least some pictures for this day!
And once again the Tea Cups. They are so pretty here at DL!
We did Mansion, Pirates, Indy, Jungle Cruise, Matterhorn twice (once each side) before ...
And then we headed to one ride that I never had a chance to ride. It was closed in 1992 and in 2005 and in May 2014!! So, I was quite excited!
And then afterwards I have to say that I have finally found one ride at a Disney theme park that I will never do again. I do have a bit of a scare of closed in spaces. And on this ride I really had to concentrate very very hard to look out of the window to not start to panic! To me the reason was that you go down stairs and then along a long row down to your seat. Once people are seated, you cannot get past them. In order to get out, the people who came in after you all have to get up and walk out single file and climb that small staircase. We were the first group being loaded into the submarine – there was a long row of people between me and the staircase. That really was not good for me at all!! The ride itself was very cute though, but nothing I would wait for very long. I am glad I had the opportunity to do it that day without a long wait, but no way will I ever descend into one of those submarines. Well, maybe if they would guarantee me that I can get the seat next to the staircase. But the good thing is that there is actually an alternate version, which is for people who cannot experience the ride as it is. It is in a room on land and maybe I am going to try that on my next trip to DL. If the ride is open then…
I like the subs, but they aren't a must do. I'm just glad they kept them unlike at WDW. They just take forever to load and ... how do I put this gently? .... They are built for people sized in the 1950s. If you're a 6-foot-0-inch, 150-pound male, then you'll have no trouble fitting on that tiny seat. But we all know that people, especially American people, are larger today. Suffice to say, you wind up pressing the flesh literally with everyone and it just isn't fun or comfortable. I had hoped when the subs came back that they would have addressed this by removing some seats. But since capacity is low on this to begin with that wasn't going to happen.
We ended that day with a ride on Space Mountain where Alison and I rocked the front row! I absolutely adore the Disneyland Space Mountain. I think it is even my favorite Space Mountain of all the versions that are available now. Nothing comes close to the original Disneyland Paris Space Mountain though. That is still my overall favorite Disney roller coaster!
And with that our eight hours with our wonderful tour guide ended. But we still had some more exciting fun planned as part of the tour guide experience was that we also had reservations for a VIP viewing area for Paint the Night and the fireworks! It was still a while until the parade would start, but we were all exhausted (riding ride after ride without any wait does get to you at some point…) and we thought it would make sense to sit down and secure our spots in the viewing area. We got great seats in the second row. We were inside the hub, just opposite Main Street, so looking down Main Street. They had set up chairs, so once the parade had stopped, everyone took their chair, turned it around and then had the perfect view of the castle and the fireworks! This was an absolute perfect ending for such an amazing day!
Yes, it was. And we took things slowly, relatively speaking. I'm sure we could have added in another 2-3 major attractions had we pushed ourselves. But what fun would that have been?
Continued in next post
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
The Tour - Part 2
I ventured out to get some snacks and drinks for Michael and me. I had a chocolate dipped pineapple spear and Michael had a pretzel. I know that Thing 2 got a child's meal fried chicken dinner from the Plaza Inn as this is his favourite snack. Not sure about the others. When I got the pineapple, I also picked up a Diamond Celebration chocolate covered marshmallow wand. Marshmallow wands are Katharina’s and mine tradition for park snacks, so I had to get one. It was dipped in chocolate, then in caramel, then another chocolate layer and finally sprinkled with blue sugar crystals. So it was all blue and shiny! I took this one back to the room to consume it at a later point and it was absolutely delicious! But also very decadent!
And then the parade started. I tried to get some pictures. Some are going to be a bit blurry, but I like them anyway as they show how much action is going on in this parade. It is so colorful and energetic!
This Mickey float is absolutely amazing!! Those curly things at the end have a very special effect going on that is so fascinating to watch in motion.
And then we turned around and watched the fireworks the third night in a row. And still loved them as much.
Alison and I were really tired and ready to head out of the park after the fireworks, but the others wanted to ride some dark rides (I am not keen on those), so we separated after the fireworks.
My brother and Thing 1 joined me to ride Mr. Toad, Snow White, Pinocchio and take in the castle walk-thru. We also spent some time in the Disney Gallery before heading out.
Alison and I waited for quite a bit for the crowds to clear and then said goodbye for now somewhere on Main Street. I browsed the shops for a while and looked at the shop windows on Main Street as some had really elaborate decorations:
Both had some fancy effects!
I also headed into the Opera House which I had taken a picture of this morning. This is the home to Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. That was not why I went inside, but because of a temporary exhibition for the anniversary of concept drawings for Disneyland:
There really was some amazing art work and I thought it was the perfect slow ending to an otherwise so exciting day!
When I got back to the room I noticed that our room had once again been cleaned. I was rather baffled. I had called earlier that day to housekeeping to request an additional clean for Tuesday, so I had no clue why they went ahead to clean our room on a Monday even though we just had a full clean the day before. I called to the front desk about this as I did not want to be charged for the cleaning that I never requested and they assured me that there was no charge on our account for this cleaning and that we were still scheduled to get a full clean the next day. I decided to cancel that – it really was not necessary to get the room cleaned three days in a row. I thought I might want to schedule another one for Wednesday, but then in the end decided against it. So, their housekeeping confusion saved us 30 $!
That was strange. There was clearly confusion on their end. But it was nice to have things cleaned again.
However, the odd thing was that both days the housekeeper decided to throw out the bath soap that we were using and then failed to replace it. All other toiletries were replaced, just the soap was missing. So, I also asked for more soap and quickly someone showed up and gave us a bunch of soaps, not just one. With that taken care off, I finally went to bed at 11:30 p.m. totally exhausted and happy!
Up Next: Magdalene, the Movie Star!
I ventured out to get some snacks and drinks for Michael and me. I had a chocolate dipped pineapple spear and Michael had a pretzel. I know that Thing 2 got a child's meal fried chicken dinner from the Plaza Inn as this is his favourite snack. Not sure about the others. When I got the pineapple, I also picked up a Diamond Celebration chocolate covered marshmallow wand. Marshmallow wands are Katharina’s and mine tradition for park snacks, so I had to get one. It was dipped in chocolate, then in caramel, then another chocolate layer and finally sprinkled with blue sugar crystals. So it was all blue and shiny! I took this one back to the room to consume it at a later point and it was absolutely delicious! But also very decadent!
And then the parade started. I tried to get some pictures. Some are going to be a bit blurry, but I like them anyway as they show how much action is going on in this parade. It is so colorful and energetic!
This Mickey float is absolutely amazing!! Those curly things at the end have a very special effect going on that is so fascinating to watch in motion.
And then we turned around and watched the fireworks the third night in a row. And still loved them as much.
Alison and I were really tired and ready to head out of the park after the fireworks, but the others wanted to ride some dark rides (I am not keen on those), so we separated after the fireworks.
My brother and Thing 1 joined me to ride Mr. Toad, Snow White, Pinocchio and take in the castle walk-thru. We also spent some time in the Disney Gallery before heading out.
Alison and I waited for quite a bit for the crowds to clear and then said goodbye for now somewhere on Main Street. I browsed the shops for a while and looked at the shop windows on Main Street as some had really elaborate decorations:
Both had some fancy effects!
I also headed into the Opera House which I had taken a picture of this morning. This is the home to Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. That was not why I went inside, but because of a temporary exhibition for the anniversary of concept drawings for Disneyland:
There really was some amazing art work and I thought it was the perfect slow ending to an otherwise so exciting day!
When I got back to the room I noticed that our room had once again been cleaned. I was rather baffled. I had called earlier that day to housekeeping to request an additional clean for Tuesday, so I had no clue why they went ahead to clean our room on a Monday even though we just had a full clean the day before. I called to the front desk about this as I did not want to be charged for the cleaning that I never requested and they assured me that there was no charge on our account for this cleaning and that we were still scheduled to get a full clean the next day. I decided to cancel that – it really was not necessary to get the room cleaned three days in a row. I thought I might want to schedule another one for Wednesday, but then in the end decided against it. So, their housekeeping confusion saved us 30 $!
That was strange. There was clearly confusion on their end. But it was nice to have things cleaned again.
However, the odd thing was that both days the housekeeper decided to throw out the bath soap that we were using and then failed to replace it. All other toiletries were replaced, just the soap was missing. So, I also asked for more soap and quickly someone showed up and gave us a bunch of soaps, not just one. With that taken care off, I finally went to bed at 11:30 p.m. totally exhausted and happy!
Up Next: Magdalene, the Movie Star!
nodnol
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2009
Wow, what a day. Was the guide able to tell you something about Disneyland you didn't know? Or did you just use the guided tour for all the rides?
The Cafe for breakfast looks really nice. Something like that is definitely missing in DLP!
We're nearly out of Disney soaps now, so did you bring any back with you?
The Cafe for breakfast looks really nice. Something like that is definitely missing in DLP!
We're nearly out of Disney soaps now, so did you bring any back with you?
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
We were all such Disney nerds that none of us really asked any Disneyland questions. But I am sure if that is what we would have been interested in, she would have provided that. We did talk to her a lot about all kind of aspects of Disney though. But it was not a tour like the Keys of the Kingdom Tour or the one we did at AK.
Yes, something like that would be wonderful at DLP. I think in the first years, Walts had an outside seating area in that little side street off from Main Street. But that seems to have disappeared.
I did not bring a lot of soap (only one or two), but someone I know usually has a good supply. You might want to ask him to bring some to Germany with him. ;-) And we should be able to pick some up at DLP!
PrincessInOz
Thanks for my avatar, Mary Jo!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2010
What an awesome day. How fantastic to be able to enjoy it with a guide. That friend is just the best!
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers!!
While I am sitting at my desk at work, I hope you all have a wonderful day filled with parade viewing, turkey and cranberries!!
While I am sitting at my desk at work, I hope you all have a wonderful day filled with parade viewing, turkey and cranberries!!
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
That surprises me, too.
I am glad that you did not have a problem with your request this time round and that they waiting time was not long.
I got the Spinach and Tomato Egg White Frittata with Mushrooms, Sour Cream and Avocado Black Bean Pico de Gallo served with Café Breakfast Potatoes and Fruit and also ordered a side order of bacon:
That looks delicious.
I was lucky enough to do this twice. The first time round, I asked everybody which two rides they wanted to do and compiled a list. The second time round, we kind of went with the flow and this actually worked better.
What a shame.
We will get the show in London next year, too.
I guess we better go to DLP and ride?
That sounds like a plan. I seem to remember that the one at Walt Disney Studios in Paris and the one at California Adventure are identical.
What a shame. I rather like this one, but Graham feels much the same way as you.
I never knew this.
I like this, but still prefer the one in Paris.
We were on the other side of the hub. We had to peek through the trees for the parade, but the view for the fireworks was amazing.
How very strange.
Corinna
Poolrat
I am alive, sometimes I wonder too.
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2008
All caught up ...again.
What a special day to have a guide. Certainly looks like you got a lot done and everything that you wanted.
I am in shock that Michael actually joined you for a not so early but still breakfast time breakfast.
How odd that they actually screwed up and cleaned your room early. If it was a screw up. Glad in the end you actually saved he cleaning fee. I am on the fence about that. While I like clean towels every day, and the straightening up and of course the toiletries, I can do without someone else being in the room and I have gotten used to hanging the privacy sign to keep people from coming in.
I will say that not having daily housekeeping was a small reason I waited on DVC initially.
What a special day to have a guide. Certainly looks like you got a lot done and everything that you wanted.
I am in shock that Michael actually joined you for a not so early but still breakfast time breakfast.
How odd that they actually screwed up and cleaned your room early. If it was a screw up. Glad in the end you actually saved he cleaning fee. I am on the fence about that. While I like clean towels every day, and the straightening up and of course the toiletries, I can do without someone else being in the room and I have gotten used to hanging the privacy sign to keep people from coming in.
I will say that not having daily housekeeping was a small reason I waited on DVC initially.
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
Yes, I am still very grateful for all the wonderful things our different friends were able to do for us this trip!
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
I think Michael's explanation makes sense: Some people who book tours like that have so much money that they don't appreciate the value that much...
I think the charm of the Carnation Cafe is being able to sit outside and watch the people arrive at the park!
Breakfast was very good!
I am feeling that now with the trip behind me, I am a little less anxious about getting on all the rides than before. So, I think I would be more willing to go with the flow. However, I think our guide was really great in putting our requests into an itinerary that flowed very well.
I am actually not a great fan of TSMM. I think it is neat, but I have found myself skipping it more and more in recent trips as it is just not a priority and jumping to hoops to get on it does not seem to be worth it.
Interesting! Maybe Michael and I need to plan a trip to London sometime soonish then.
Yes, they are. I think they actually built the DCA one according to the specifications they had designed for WDS. However, because of the DLP finances, the one in California was built first, while Paris only got the Toilets of Terror! And then there is of course the language difference. They can run the Paris one in English or French, but I have mainly experienced it in French. And I think it works so great even though my French is not that good...
Sensible man!
You should try it out with Graham on day.
Oh, the original Paris Space Mountain is still my all time favorite! And I think the current one has a really hard time with me because I loved the first one so much. I have heard that the effects are all refurbished now and that it is in great shape. Definitely looking forward to trying it again very soon!
I think for us the location we had was perfect as everyone in my group really loved the parade. So prime parade spots were definitely favored over prime fireworks spots!
I had many comments on the DIS about how housekeeping for the GCV is often screwed up. It seems that there housekeeping team has trouble to understand how DVC works...
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
I had a lot of catching up on other threads to do as well... Hope you are finally getting a little bit of a quieter time at work?
It was really amazing! And something I had dreamt of in the past and never expected to be possible.
I am in shock that Michael actually joined you for a not so early but still breakfast time breakfast.
I know! I was totally surprised as well!
I get your point about no one coming to the room. We hang the privacy sign out a lot as well for that purpose. I guess the model I like the best is the one the cruise ships have, where you actually get to know your stateroom host. So, you know who is cleaning and it is not that anonymous thing. Of course, in reality anyone who goes into your room, if you have seen their face and know their name or not, can do all kind of things in there that you would not want to happen.
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
Magdalene, the Movie Star! - Part 1
August 11: Fitness in the Park, Universal, Mediocre Pizza
After three days of Disney we had different plans today. Originally we had thought that we would spread out our Disney days over the time we were going to be there, but then we wanted to spend time with our friends and had to look at their schedules as well and that is how we came up with the schedule of three straight Disney days.
In hindsight, as enjoyable as the trip was, I would have much preferred not doing three in a row at DL/DCA. It's like eating all your Halloween candy in one sitting! Not that anyone ever does that!
However, I started the day in DCA – and even without having to have admission media!
Sometime this spring DVC announced a new program at VGC for members called Fitness in the Park. There were two different events: a pilates class on Tuesday and a power walk on Thursday. I thought those sounded like great fun, especially since they came with extra perks: with both you get a smoothie from Jamba Juice afterwards and with pilates you get an exercise towel and with the power walk you got a brief chair massage. The power walk is actually an activity that is also offered to all hotel guests, but without the Jamba Juice and the massage. For the DVC offerings you need to sign up beforehand and you can do it by phone with Member Services. When I called, I wanted to sign up for both events, but then was told that they did not have it available on Thursday. The lady was not sure if it was full or not being offered. My guess was that due to some D23 pre-event or so, it would not be offered. And my experience on this Tuesday led me to believe that this was a correct guess.
So, the fun thing about Fitness in the Park is that it is before park opening in DCA. However, that meant that it started at 7a.m.! And I was told to be at the meeting place 15 minutes early to sign in etc. Which meant that I got up at 6:30 a.m. to quickly jump into my work out clothes, throw a little water at my face and get down to the entrance to DCA! I was really surprised how busy the hallways were with people starting to get ready for their park days! At WDW I always had the impression that the hotel was really empty when we had an early start for rope drop.
Crazy people get up with the sun, or before it, while on vacation. I may be nuts, but I am not crazy.
When I got to the DCA entrance I was the first guest to arrive. But their were two CMs who greeted me with enthusiasm. It turned out that one of them, Grant was his name, actually spoke German and we talked a little in German. He had spent 6 months living in Germany as an exchange student. Soon more people arrived and all in all we were a group of six ladies (yes, no guy dared to join us!). Grant and the other CM then led us into the park through the turnstile without anyone having to swipe a ticket. That felt pretty cool!
We then went to the area behind Grizzly River Run where we met Chrissy, our trainer for this morning. She was really wonderful, very cheerful! She told us that due to some filming taking place, we had to be relocated to this area. I think during park hours it is actually a smoking area. But now it was just a wonderfully peaceful place with trees and a view of the ride. It was set up with exercise mats. Each had a spread out towel, a folded towel, a water bottle and an exercise ball. The folded towel was the one that we got to keep. It was actually a plain white towel with neat Mickey heads woven into the border on the side. I saw them selling these types of towels in World of Disney. Definitely a very nice towel!
We warmed up a little and then we did a lot of stretching exercises. Those felt so good with all the walking we had done over the last three days! We actually went over to the bridge that leads from Little Mermaid to Pacific Wharf to use the bannisters of the bridge for some of our exercises. We could see them setting up for the filming. It was for a Japanese quiz show. I had hoped to see something with lots of characters, but this was cool, too!
You never told me about this.
I am pretty sure I tried to tell you, your brother and Thing 2 about it while we were in the car, but nobody appeared to show any interest at all and insisted on arguing about which roads we should take...
We then went back and did quite a bit of core exercises and then when Chrissy was through with her program the two CMs reappeared with our Jamba Juice smoothies. We had been asked to pick from a list what we wanted when we signed up.
I asked one of the other ladies to take a picture of me:
And then took one of my smoothie with my mat set up:
I was the only one that did not choose a green smoothie. I guess I don’t confirm with the current fashion, but nothing in the world can convince me that spinach or even worse: kale is a good addition to an otherwise delicious smoothie!!
We headed back to the hotel where I sat at some table outside the lobby and enjoyed my smoothie.
I also decided to try whether the hotel wifi would be good enough to let me facetime with my parents and Katharina. I usually only use audio facetime as I don’t have to see the person I talk to and that worked really well. Much better than the other day when I tried to use the international calling with the mobile network I had.
Once I was done with that, I repeated the same procedure as two days ago and sat at the pool and caught up with my trip notes.
According to my trip notes I also enjoyed some quality hot tub time (the thought of that is now tainted with Michael’s diaper story. I still need to find out which day I need to be grossed out…).
Wednesday or tomorrow in our little trip report.
We had plans to meet a friend of Michael's, let’s call her Princess Jasmine, on Wednesday. However, once Michael got up, he had an email from her saying that she wouldn’t be able to meet us the next day as her uncle had passed away the day before. However, she was working at the place that was our destination for today: Universal Studios Hollywood. And we had some little things for her from Florida and Germany that we wanted to give to her. So we quickly had to get these things together which unfortunately delayed our departure time… But we finally got started and brought Michael’s brother and Thing 2 along as well.
Traffic was a nightmare and we had to make brief pit stop not too far from UNI. But getting up there required multiple freeways (think we used four or five, two being the 605 and the 210. which meant going way out of the way to actually not spend hours on the road.
Before we went to Universal, we decided it would make sense to pick up some lunch somewhere that did not have theme park prices. So, once we got the drive behind us (yes, there was traffic, but we managed to avoid a lot of it by Thing 2 guiding us all around it – but that added time as well as now we had to drive a longer distance), we stopped at a Carls Jr. I am told that this is another West Coast chain. I actually came to rather like their offerings. Sorry @nodnol and any other European reader who might be as intrigued by fast food pictures as my sister and I are, but I forgot to take any pictures.
A contingent in our group wanted In-N-Out, but we had been there over the weekend and I knew we'd eat here multiple times in the weeks ahead and we did.
I remember that I had a burger that was supposed to be “all natural”. That kind of concerned me about how unnatural their other burgers might be… But the one that I had was really good!
When we finally drove up to Universal, we had our first ride experience: the parking garage maze. We seemingly drove through parking garages for hours until we ended up parking on the very top of the second one.
We were planning on paying to park, which I hate. But Thing 2 was once a TM at UNI-FLA and still had an ID, but he didn't even have to flash it as the nice attendant sent us on our way for free. $17 is $17!
We then headed towards the park and just as we enter City Walk, a complex with shops and restaurants, Michael notices that he forgot to bring a hat. And it was a very sunny day…
As any SoCal resident will tell you, UNI is on the border of the San Fernando Valley and it is always a good 5-15 degrees hotter once 'over the hill' ... it was extremely hot on this day, somewhere in the 90s. And, yes, in the rush to get all the stuff together for my friend, I forgot to grab a cap.
We decided that we should see if we could find a hat that was not too pricey and while walking through City Walk we spotted a shop that had hats on offer. They turned out to be really cheap and Michael got a new Universal hat (saving him the embarrassment of wearing a Disney one at Universal) for 3 bucks. That was much less painful than we thought it would be!
Yup. And I actually like it. M does not.
We made our way to the park entrance. And of course I entered the park as a VIP on the red carpet:
I thought it was very funny that Universal does not have children’s discounts, but short persons’ discounts:
Turnstiles:
And entrance area:
The great thing about Universal Studios Hollywood (USH) is that it is still very much a working film studio. And if you want to know what they are filming that day, there is even a production schedule to tell you:
After you enter the park you first walk through a rather small area that has different themes:
Those were definitely nice on a hot day!
The Shrek area is nicely themed:
And this is where you will find Hogsmeade soon:
And then you are in Springfield:
Our first destination was the Studio Tour which takes you on trams through the real backlot:
This is the real thing that the one at DHS was modeled after.
I'll break in here to mention that wonderful PJ had sent me a stack of Front of the Line passes and some that could also be used for free fountain beverages. A good FL-based UNI friend had set us up for free one day passes, so we were truly set. And it was truly appreciated as beyond the weather, it was the busiest I had ever seen USH. It was DL-like crowdwise, which I never experienced in many visits to the park as a tourist and then as a part time local. Every attraction seemed to have waits of between 30 minutes to about 75 and we were able to simply walk on whatever we wanted with the passes. What was strange was that at some of the attractions they'd take the passes -- which are paper -- and some they would scan and hand back to us and others they'd just look at and let us into the express queue. The result is that I still have a stack of these passes. Turns out they are good indefinitely, although they won't be useable for Potter when it debuts in March.
You have a nice view down towards the Universal studios in the foreground and then just after some trees you see another beige area with large studios, that is Warner Brothers.
Continued in next post
August 11: Fitness in the Park, Universal, Mediocre Pizza
After three days of Disney we had different plans today. Originally we had thought that we would spread out our Disney days over the time we were going to be there, but then we wanted to spend time with our friends and had to look at their schedules as well and that is how we came up with the schedule of three straight Disney days.
In hindsight, as enjoyable as the trip was, I would have much preferred not doing three in a row at DL/DCA. It's like eating all your Halloween candy in one sitting! Not that anyone ever does that!
However, I started the day in DCA – and even without having to have admission media!
Sometime this spring DVC announced a new program at VGC for members called Fitness in the Park. There were two different events: a pilates class on Tuesday and a power walk on Thursday. I thought those sounded like great fun, especially since they came with extra perks: with both you get a smoothie from Jamba Juice afterwards and with pilates you get an exercise towel and with the power walk you got a brief chair massage. The power walk is actually an activity that is also offered to all hotel guests, but without the Jamba Juice and the massage. For the DVC offerings you need to sign up beforehand and you can do it by phone with Member Services. When I called, I wanted to sign up for both events, but then was told that they did not have it available on Thursday. The lady was not sure if it was full or not being offered. My guess was that due to some D23 pre-event or so, it would not be offered. And my experience on this Tuesday led me to believe that this was a correct guess.
So, the fun thing about Fitness in the Park is that it is before park opening in DCA. However, that meant that it started at 7a.m.! And I was told to be at the meeting place 15 minutes early to sign in etc. Which meant that I got up at 6:30 a.m. to quickly jump into my work out clothes, throw a little water at my face and get down to the entrance to DCA! I was really surprised how busy the hallways were with people starting to get ready for their park days! At WDW I always had the impression that the hotel was really empty when we had an early start for rope drop.
Crazy people get up with the sun, or before it, while on vacation. I may be nuts, but I am not crazy.
When I got to the DCA entrance I was the first guest to arrive. But their were two CMs who greeted me with enthusiasm. It turned out that one of them, Grant was his name, actually spoke German and we talked a little in German. He had spent 6 months living in Germany as an exchange student. Soon more people arrived and all in all we were a group of six ladies (yes, no guy dared to join us!). Grant and the other CM then led us into the park through the turnstile without anyone having to swipe a ticket. That felt pretty cool!
We then went to the area behind Grizzly River Run where we met Chrissy, our trainer for this morning. She was really wonderful, very cheerful! She told us that due to some filming taking place, we had to be relocated to this area. I think during park hours it is actually a smoking area. But now it was just a wonderfully peaceful place with trees and a view of the ride. It was set up with exercise mats. Each had a spread out towel, a folded towel, a water bottle and an exercise ball. The folded towel was the one that we got to keep. It was actually a plain white towel with neat Mickey heads woven into the border on the side. I saw them selling these types of towels in World of Disney. Definitely a very nice towel!
We warmed up a little and then we did a lot of stretching exercises. Those felt so good with all the walking we had done over the last three days! We actually went over to the bridge that leads from Little Mermaid to Pacific Wharf to use the bannisters of the bridge for some of our exercises. We could see them setting up for the filming. It was for a Japanese quiz show. I had hoped to see something with lots of characters, but this was cool, too!
You never told me about this.
I am pretty sure I tried to tell you, your brother and Thing 2 about it while we were in the car, but nobody appeared to show any interest at all and insisted on arguing about which roads we should take...
We then went back and did quite a bit of core exercises and then when Chrissy was through with her program the two CMs reappeared with our Jamba Juice smoothies. We had been asked to pick from a list what we wanted when we signed up.
I asked one of the other ladies to take a picture of me:
And then took one of my smoothie with my mat set up:
I was the only one that did not choose a green smoothie. I guess I don’t confirm with the current fashion, but nothing in the world can convince me that spinach or even worse: kale is a good addition to an otherwise delicious smoothie!!
We headed back to the hotel where I sat at some table outside the lobby and enjoyed my smoothie.
I also decided to try whether the hotel wifi would be good enough to let me facetime with my parents and Katharina. I usually only use audio facetime as I don’t have to see the person I talk to and that worked really well. Much better than the other day when I tried to use the international calling with the mobile network I had.
Once I was done with that, I repeated the same procedure as two days ago and sat at the pool and caught up with my trip notes.
According to my trip notes I also enjoyed some quality hot tub time (the thought of that is now tainted with Michael’s diaper story. I still need to find out which day I need to be grossed out…).
Wednesday or tomorrow in our little trip report.
We had plans to meet a friend of Michael's, let’s call her Princess Jasmine, on Wednesday. However, once Michael got up, he had an email from her saying that she wouldn’t be able to meet us the next day as her uncle had passed away the day before. However, she was working at the place that was our destination for today: Universal Studios Hollywood. And we had some little things for her from Florida and Germany that we wanted to give to her. So we quickly had to get these things together which unfortunately delayed our departure time… But we finally got started and brought Michael’s brother and Thing 2 along as well.
Traffic was a nightmare and we had to make brief pit stop not too far from UNI. But getting up there required multiple freeways (think we used four or five, two being the 605 and the 210. which meant going way out of the way to actually not spend hours on the road.
Before we went to Universal, we decided it would make sense to pick up some lunch somewhere that did not have theme park prices. So, once we got the drive behind us (yes, there was traffic, but we managed to avoid a lot of it by Thing 2 guiding us all around it – but that added time as well as now we had to drive a longer distance), we stopped at a Carls Jr. I am told that this is another West Coast chain. I actually came to rather like their offerings. Sorry @nodnol and any other European reader who might be as intrigued by fast food pictures as my sister and I are, but I forgot to take any pictures.
A contingent in our group wanted In-N-Out, but we had been there over the weekend and I knew we'd eat here multiple times in the weeks ahead and we did.
I remember that I had a burger that was supposed to be “all natural”. That kind of concerned me about how unnatural their other burgers might be… But the one that I had was really good!
When we finally drove up to Universal, we had our first ride experience: the parking garage maze. We seemingly drove through parking garages for hours until we ended up parking on the very top of the second one.
We were planning on paying to park, which I hate. But Thing 2 was once a TM at UNI-FLA and still had an ID, but he didn't even have to flash it as the nice attendant sent us on our way for free. $17 is $17!
We then headed towards the park and just as we enter City Walk, a complex with shops and restaurants, Michael notices that he forgot to bring a hat. And it was a very sunny day…
As any SoCal resident will tell you, UNI is on the border of the San Fernando Valley and it is always a good 5-15 degrees hotter once 'over the hill' ... it was extremely hot on this day, somewhere in the 90s. And, yes, in the rush to get all the stuff together for my friend, I forgot to grab a cap.
We decided that we should see if we could find a hat that was not too pricey and while walking through City Walk we spotted a shop that had hats on offer. They turned out to be really cheap and Michael got a new Universal hat (saving him the embarrassment of wearing a Disney one at Universal) for 3 bucks. That was much less painful than we thought it would be!
Yup. And I actually like it. M does not.
We made our way to the park entrance. And of course I entered the park as a VIP on the red carpet:
I thought it was very funny that Universal does not have children’s discounts, but short persons’ discounts:
Turnstiles:
And entrance area:
The great thing about Universal Studios Hollywood (USH) is that it is still very much a working film studio. And if you want to know what they are filming that day, there is even a production schedule to tell you:
After you enter the park you first walk through a rather small area that has different themes:
Those were definitely nice on a hot day!
The Shrek area is nicely themed:
And this is where you will find Hogsmeade soon:
And then you are in Springfield:
Our first destination was the Studio Tour which takes you on trams through the real backlot:
This is the real thing that the one at DHS was modeled after.
I'll break in here to mention that wonderful PJ had sent me a stack of Front of the Line passes and some that could also be used for free fountain beverages. A good FL-based UNI friend had set us up for free one day passes, so we were truly set. And it was truly appreciated as beyond the weather, it was the busiest I had ever seen USH. It was DL-like crowdwise, which I never experienced in many visits to the park as a tourist and then as a part time local. Every attraction seemed to have waits of between 30 minutes to about 75 and we were able to simply walk on whatever we wanted with the passes. What was strange was that at some of the attractions they'd take the passes -- which are paper -- and some they would scan and hand back to us and others they'd just look at and let us into the express queue. The result is that I still have a stack of these passes. Turns out they are good indefinitely, although they won't be useable for Potter when it debuts in March.
You have a nice view down towards the Universal studios in the foreground and then just after some trees you see another beige area with large studios, that is Warner Brothers.
Continued in next post
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
Magdalene, the Movie Star! - Part 2
Here we are in line for our tram:
And then we had screens where we could see our guide talking to us:
Fist we had to drive down the hill and along the path they had posters from famous Universal films over the years:
And then you come down to today and the Stages start:
A lot of it is really not that interesting to look at, so a lot depends on your guide to make it more entertaining and they show clips and stuff on the screens on the tram as well. And then in some areas they have fun props around:
Of course in order to promote their films…
We drove past a lot of bungalows that used to be dressing rooms for the stars, but now are rented out to different production companies and such as offices:
Some city (whichever one you want it to be):
Oh! And it seems something went wrong with that tram!!
Yes, there are a number of surprises along the route that are more like mini-attractions. Think Catastrophe Canyon. But cooler and more of them.
Here we are entering the first:
It has something to do with an oversized ape. We even had to wear special “protection glasses” in that area!
They had some pretty cool cars:
Then we entered an area where there might be dinosaurs:
Fortunately we only saw some tiny ones:
We went around a bed and I took a picture of the first car with our tour guide:
We experienced some flooding in a Mexican village:
Some more props:
Now we are getting to “Europe”:
Stored decorations:
We also visited Amity Island – even though their beach was closed…
And then our tour guide was very concerned about that car being parked there:
This ultimately led to a very crazy race that we took part in with our tram!
We also drove past a rather scary looking Motel:
And an even scarier looking house:
(No, this is not DLP’s Phantom Manor. It is the Psycho house.)
Someone crashed a plane in the middle of the backlot:
Interesting story about this: They actually use this for training for people who have to deal with plane crashes. Quite a unique set up they have there.
Yes, they do as it is a real jetliner that once flew. It is the set for the War of the Worlds film with Tom Cruise that came out maybe a decade ago.
All in all I really enjoyed the tour. I thought it was great to see where movies were really made. In 2005 my friend and I had done something similar at Warner Brothers. There they don’t have whole theme park combined with it and the trams are much smaller. We even got to stop at certain spots and walk around. Overall I think the Warner Brothers tour was better if your main purpose is to just see how films are being made. But Universal has a lot of other great things to offer as well, so delivers a different package. And for me it was fun to see a different studio.
I am partial to the VIP Tour at Paramount myself.
After the studio tour we headed to the special effects show. Thing 2 has a friend that is connected with that show and had gotten the tip that if one of us would want to be a volunteer in the show, that they always need a lady that can scream loudly. So, Thing 2 suggested that I try to do that. I thought why not. I did not have my sister with me who would be embarrassed. I did not even have Michael with me as he had gone back to the car to pick up the gifts for his friend to give those to her while she was on break. So, when they asked for a volunteer who could scream, I tried my best and was picked!
Yes, there was no 'fix' in there. No, 'let's take the friend who just happens to be a German tourist who loves to scream!' Nope ;-) ... I had an ugly 'getting older' moment while M was getting prepped for her starring role. Won't go into detail beyond saying that my legs didn't appreciate being asked to walk very briskly in that heat. Didn't cramp up, but could barely move and was in severe pain. But got the gifts and made it just as the show was about to start. Thankfully, M (or the bro or the Thing) had gotten water for me, which I really needed.
It was quite exciting as we got moved to the very best seats in the middle of the theater! I am pretty sure that this was why Thing 2 suggested it as he wanted to have a better seat...
And then it was my turn!
I was going to be taken by King Kong and had to scream. They showed how distance to the camera could make things appear bigger or smaller.
I am the white blob in the ape’s hand. And it looks like some Universal helper guy is going to eat me because that was part of the routine (he was always in the wrong place so that things went wrong). And to the right you can see one of the two presenters of the show.
The whole being a volunteer thing was over so quickly! I am normally not someone who has spent a lot of time on stages, so this was a new experience for me. But it was definitely a lot of fun!
Continued in next post
Here we are in line for our tram:
And then we had screens where we could see our guide talking to us:
Fist we had to drive down the hill and along the path they had posters from famous Universal films over the years:
And then you come down to today and the Stages start:
A lot of it is really not that interesting to look at, so a lot depends on your guide to make it more entertaining and they show clips and stuff on the screens on the tram as well. And then in some areas they have fun props around:
Of course in order to promote their films…
We drove past a lot of bungalows that used to be dressing rooms for the stars, but now are rented out to different production companies and such as offices:
Some city (whichever one you want it to be):
Oh! And it seems something went wrong with that tram!!
Yes, there are a number of surprises along the route that are more like mini-attractions. Think Catastrophe Canyon. But cooler and more of them.
Here we are entering the first:
It has something to do with an oversized ape. We even had to wear special “protection glasses” in that area!
They had some pretty cool cars:
Then we entered an area where there might be dinosaurs:
Fortunately we only saw some tiny ones:
We went around a bed and I took a picture of the first car with our tour guide:
We experienced some flooding in a Mexican village:
Some more props:
Now we are getting to “Europe”:
Stored decorations:
We also visited Amity Island – even though their beach was closed…
And then our tour guide was very concerned about that car being parked there:
This ultimately led to a very crazy race that we took part in with our tram!
We also drove past a rather scary looking Motel:
And an even scarier looking house:
(No, this is not DLP’s Phantom Manor. It is the Psycho house.)
Someone crashed a plane in the middle of the backlot:
Interesting story about this: They actually use this for training for people who have to deal with plane crashes. Quite a unique set up they have there.
Yes, they do as it is a real jetliner that once flew. It is the set for the War of the Worlds film with Tom Cruise that came out maybe a decade ago.
All in all I really enjoyed the tour. I thought it was great to see where movies were really made. In 2005 my friend and I had done something similar at Warner Brothers. There they don’t have whole theme park combined with it and the trams are much smaller. We even got to stop at certain spots and walk around. Overall I think the Warner Brothers tour was better if your main purpose is to just see how films are being made. But Universal has a lot of other great things to offer as well, so delivers a different package. And for me it was fun to see a different studio.
I am partial to the VIP Tour at Paramount myself.
After the studio tour we headed to the special effects show. Thing 2 has a friend that is connected with that show and had gotten the tip that if one of us would want to be a volunteer in the show, that they always need a lady that can scream loudly. So, Thing 2 suggested that I try to do that. I thought why not. I did not have my sister with me who would be embarrassed. I did not even have Michael with me as he had gone back to the car to pick up the gifts for his friend to give those to her while she was on break. So, when they asked for a volunteer who could scream, I tried my best and was picked!
Yes, there was no 'fix' in there. No, 'let's take the friend who just happens to be a German tourist who loves to scream!' Nope ;-) ... I had an ugly 'getting older' moment while M was getting prepped for her starring role. Won't go into detail beyond saying that my legs didn't appreciate being asked to walk very briskly in that heat. Didn't cramp up, but could barely move and was in severe pain. But got the gifts and made it just as the show was about to start. Thankfully, M (or the bro or the Thing) had gotten water for me, which I really needed.
It was quite exciting as we got moved to the very best seats in the middle of the theater! I am pretty sure that this was why Thing 2 suggested it as he wanted to have a better seat...
And then it was my turn!
I was going to be taken by King Kong and had to scream. They showed how distance to the camera could make things appear bigger or smaller.
I am the white blob in the ape’s hand. And it looks like some Universal helper guy is going to eat me because that was part of the routine (he was always in the wrong place so that things went wrong). And to the right you can see one of the two presenters of the show.
The whole being a volunteer thing was over so quickly! I am normally not someone who has spent a lot of time on stages, so this was a new experience for me. But it was definitely a lot of fun!
Continued in next post
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
Magdalene, the Movie Star! - Part 3
After the show we went to the Springfield eatery to have a look around The whole place is decorated from top to bottom with fun things:
Springfield is much nicer and more detailed in Hollywood than it is in Orlando. A Simpsons fan could go crazy with all the details that are included.
Then we headed down to the lower part of the park. You take down some really long escalators. There is actually a great view down into the valley:
And you have a great view of WB:
This is the lower part of the park:
Thing 2 convinced us to go on the Jurassic Park ride. This is very similar to the one in Orlando. It is a boat ride with a large drop. Think of a drop like on Splash Mountain, but with a boat that is larger than the one on Pirates. The sun was starting to come down and I really did not want to get wet as the air was already starting to cool down. Thing 2 absolutely promised me that if we sat in the back of the boat, I would not get wet. So far all his knowledge had been perfect, so I trusted him with this. BIG BIG mistake!! We came out more or less soaked! There is a huge fountain that is timed so that it shoots up a lot of water into the air just before the boat passes and then when the boat is directly over the fountain the water falls down again, drenching every single person on that boat!! There is no way not to get wet on this ride!!! I was not pleased.
That wasn't surprising considering it always happens at IOA when I ride. It wasn't as soaking as a typical raft ride, but we were VERY wet.
The others convinced me that it would be a good strategy to head over to the Mummy next, which is a roller coaster in the dark with some fire effects. It is very similar to the one in Orlando as well. So, fire effects sounded warm, so that seemed a good idea. And by the time we got out of the Mummy, I did feel a bit better. [It actually is considerably different from Orlando's, which I had forgotten since I hadn't ridden since 2007. One major difference is no room where the ceiling becomes a wall of fire, which I had expected in the drying off department.] The others then wanted to ride Transformers, but I had no desire to repeat that ride. I was far too scared the one time I experienced it in Orlando. So, I tried to dry a little bit more. By then the high buildings caused a lot of shade and I went up one escalator to find some sun to hang out in until the others got off their ride. The valley looked even prettier in the evening light:
There was something involving wanting ice cream and nothing but soft serve being available (yes, that was me and I got popcorn instead) that happened about this time. There also, on the lower lot, a very nice historical exhibit on USH both from a studio perspective, what was filmed here and when, and from a park perspective. I would have enjoyed more than 10-15 minutes in it, but we had other things to see and do.
Once they were done, we headed to the upper area again and walked around a bit:
to head to Super Silly Fun Land:
This is mainly a play ground for kids themed after the amusement park in Despicable Me. But it is also home to the Despicable Me attraction.
We were going to be turned into Minions!
Something went wrong though and we left as humans again, not as Minions…
By now it was dark and during this summer they offered special Night Tours of the Studio Tour. So we went there to experience this special offering. It was kind of the normal studio tour, but with a few special things added in.
They change the narration on the tour, both are done by Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, and they add live actors to certain scenes ... so you see Frankenstein's monster and Norman Bates hiding a body in the trunk of a classic car among other fun surprises. ... I had done night tours as part of media/VIP events, but this was new and interesting.
This is the not really trustworthy motel again (with some Whooville in the background):
And after the Night Tour we went to see the last show of the Waterworld stunt show. I was ensured that it was not necessary at all to have seen Waterworld in order to be able to follow the show. It was actually quite a fun show!
With a big finale:
It definitely is more impressive at night than during the day!
At this point I should mention that I had been starving for the last 2-3 hours. But there was no way to see and do everything if we had stopped to nosh, so we didn't. I was a bit grumpy over this as I don't do well when I am deprived regularly scheduled meals.
And with that we left USH:
We found our car and headed back towards Anaheim. Somehow we were at a loss as to where wanted to eat if we wanted to avoid Disney prices. We ended up at a little pizza place at the corner of Harbor and Katella. The pizza was definitely cheaper than Disney food and it was ok. But I would not call it Anaheim’s best kept secret. I had a bit of a scary bathroom experience there however. Next to the door to the bathroom was some arcade game. And somehow while I was using the bathroom, the guys playing the game had moved it slightly, so that it blocked the bathroom door. When I wanted to exit, I could not open the door. I tried again and pushed even harder and then the game started to move a bit as well, so I realized what was happening and pushed even more and got out. But at first I was really scared that I was locked into a dark bathroom!!
The original plan was to try a place that locals, as well as rabid online Disney fans, rave about called the Pizza Press. It is almost directly across from the DL Esplanade and sorta in a local motel (think it's the Carousel Inn) . As soon as we got there I knew it was a mistake. It looked like there were approximately 114 people in line to order and the parking lot has space for about 1 2/3 cars. Trying to turn the car around and leave was an adventure. At that point I wasn't sure what to do. None of us wanted to sit down at a place like Denny's and at midnight in Anaheim you have limited options. So we noticed the place in the strip center (near Subway, which would have been a bland but open choice) and thought we'd give it try. The pizza was fine and the prices reasonable. But it was in no way a place you'd describe as memorable or particularly tasty. I'd eat there again in a pinch. That's about all I can say.
I think we did hang out in our room with Michael’s brother and Thing 2 for a while after dinner, but did not stay up too late.
It was a fun, but tiring day. Too much traffic, heat, crowds etc. The trip was really feeling like a commando job at this point, but thankfully we slowed the pace down as we went forward!
Up Next: Do we really want to miss the fireworks?
After the show we went to the Springfield eatery to have a look around The whole place is decorated from top to bottom with fun things:
Springfield is much nicer and more detailed in Hollywood than it is in Orlando. A Simpsons fan could go crazy with all the details that are included.
Then we headed down to the lower part of the park. You take down some really long escalators. There is actually a great view down into the valley:
And you have a great view of WB:
This is the lower part of the park:
Thing 2 convinced us to go on the Jurassic Park ride. This is very similar to the one in Orlando. It is a boat ride with a large drop. Think of a drop like on Splash Mountain, but with a boat that is larger than the one on Pirates. The sun was starting to come down and I really did not want to get wet as the air was already starting to cool down. Thing 2 absolutely promised me that if we sat in the back of the boat, I would not get wet. So far all his knowledge had been perfect, so I trusted him with this. BIG BIG mistake!! We came out more or less soaked! There is a huge fountain that is timed so that it shoots up a lot of water into the air just before the boat passes and then when the boat is directly over the fountain the water falls down again, drenching every single person on that boat!! There is no way not to get wet on this ride!!! I was not pleased.
That wasn't surprising considering it always happens at IOA when I ride. It wasn't as soaking as a typical raft ride, but we were VERY wet.
The others convinced me that it would be a good strategy to head over to the Mummy next, which is a roller coaster in the dark with some fire effects. It is very similar to the one in Orlando as well. So, fire effects sounded warm, so that seemed a good idea. And by the time we got out of the Mummy, I did feel a bit better. [It actually is considerably different from Orlando's, which I had forgotten since I hadn't ridden since 2007. One major difference is no room where the ceiling becomes a wall of fire, which I had expected in the drying off department.] The others then wanted to ride Transformers, but I had no desire to repeat that ride. I was far too scared the one time I experienced it in Orlando. So, I tried to dry a little bit more. By then the high buildings caused a lot of shade and I went up one escalator to find some sun to hang out in until the others got off their ride. The valley looked even prettier in the evening light:
There was something involving wanting ice cream and nothing but soft serve being available (yes, that was me and I got popcorn instead) that happened about this time. There also, on the lower lot, a very nice historical exhibit on USH both from a studio perspective, what was filmed here and when, and from a park perspective. I would have enjoyed more than 10-15 minutes in it, but we had other things to see and do.
Once they were done, we headed to the upper area again and walked around a bit:
to head to Super Silly Fun Land:
This is mainly a play ground for kids themed after the amusement park in Despicable Me. But it is also home to the Despicable Me attraction.
We were going to be turned into Minions!
Something went wrong though and we left as humans again, not as Minions…
By now it was dark and during this summer they offered special Night Tours of the Studio Tour. So we went there to experience this special offering. It was kind of the normal studio tour, but with a few special things added in.
They change the narration on the tour, both are done by Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, and they add live actors to certain scenes ... so you see Frankenstein's monster and Norman Bates hiding a body in the trunk of a classic car among other fun surprises. ... I had done night tours as part of media/VIP events, but this was new and interesting.
This is the not really trustworthy motel again (with some Whooville in the background):
And after the Night Tour we went to see the last show of the Waterworld stunt show. I was ensured that it was not necessary at all to have seen Waterworld in order to be able to follow the show. It was actually quite a fun show!
With a big finale:
It definitely is more impressive at night than during the day!
At this point I should mention that I had been starving for the last 2-3 hours. But there was no way to see and do everything if we had stopped to nosh, so we didn't. I was a bit grumpy over this as I don't do well when I am deprived regularly scheduled meals.
And with that we left USH:
We found our car and headed back towards Anaheim. Somehow we were at a loss as to where wanted to eat if we wanted to avoid Disney prices. We ended up at a little pizza place at the corner of Harbor and Katella. The pizza was definitely cheaper than Disney food and it was ok. But I would not call it Anaheim’s best kept secret. I had a bit of a scary bathroom experience there however. Next to the door to the bathroom was some arcade game. And somehow while I was using the bathroom, the guys playing the game had moved it slightly, so that it blocked the bathroom door. When I wanted to exit, I could not open the door. I tried again and pushed even harder and then the game started to move a bit as well, so I realized what was happening and pushed even more and got out. But at first I was really scared that I was locked into a dark bathroom!!
The original plan was to try a place that locals, as well as rabid online Disney fans, rave about called the Pizza Press. It is almost directly across from the DL Esplanade and sorta in a local motel (think it's the Carousel Inn) . As soon as we got there I knew it was a mistake. It looked like there were approximately 114 people in line to order and the parking lot has space for about 1 2/3 cars. Trying to turn the car around and leave was an adventure. At that point I wasn't sure what to do. None of us wanted to sit down at a place like Denny's and at midnight in Anaheim you have limited options. So we noticed the place in the strip center (near Subway, which would have been a bland but open choice) and thought we'd give it try. The pizza was fine and the prices reasonable. But it was in no way a place you'd describe as memorable or particularly tasty. I'd eat there again in a pinch. That's about all I can say.
I think we did hang out in our room with Michael’s brother and Thing 2 for a while after dinner, but did not stay up too late.
It was a fun, but tiring day. Too much traffic, heat, crowds etc. The trip was really feeling like a commando job at this point, but thankfully we slowed the pace down as we went forward!
Up Next: Do we really want to miss the fireworks?
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
That sounds great.
That is really interesting. Maybe I have to drum up the courage to try this the next time I am there.
That is if I can get him in the park in the first place.
I was really surprised by this area, but we only walked through. We had Chrissy as well.
The towel I got was not half as nice. It is kind of a cross between a towel and a scarf with Membership Magic printed on it.
This sounded like a very, long busy and exhausting day, but also a lot of fun. Universal Studios Hollywood has changed a lot since we last were there, but I am glad that they still have the tram tour. That was easily the highlight for me. The night tour sounds great, too. You were brave to volunteer for the show. I have done a fair bit of amateur dramatics and have plenty of public speaking experience, but I would not dare volunteer in a show like this.
Corinna
englishrose47
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2007
What a great day with the tour guide . That breakfast looked great, I would have had the eggs benedict though , I just love them.Wow Michael got up for breakfast , good for him , BUT I didn't see another part of him in those updates we have seen a foot , a leg any I have missed
Poolrat
I am alive, sometimes I wonder too.
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2008
Yes it is a slower time now but .....
A pretty small construction project around the pool started as soon as I got back.
We are in the midst of a re-organization at Park and Recreation where people are just being moved all over. I get to stay but everyone around me is moving and even though I am staying at my site, my duties are changing somewhat and now I have a full time and a regular part time to manage along with all my other part timers. Both these Ladies require training and oversight that is welcome since they will help with my work load but can take a while to develop. I am Lucky as both these ladies are quick learners and hard workers, the only problem is when they want to do something their permissions do not allow yet or they want to move faster than the " County " will allow and patience is just not there yet.
I am with you on that one. Kale
That DVC exercise looks great- it might actually get me to go.
Then again, being up that early on vacation might be crazy.... yes that was for you Michael.
Your day at USH look nice. Glad Michael could find a cheap cap to keep his head from sunburn and his body from complete dehydration.
Being King Kong's girlfriend looked like fun. You sure put in a long day at USH.
Our last jaunt to DL we stayed offsite since it was one night and we decided kind of late that we would even venture up to Anaheim. We could not stay away from DL 60th. We ended up at Tiffy's and it was okay. We had dinner before going into the Halloween party and then breakfast the next morning before heading back to SD. The dinner was uneventful but breakfast came with a floor show.
I hope you are able to slow up a bit and relax.
englishrose47
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2007
Great update about Universal Studios in Ca . I don't think they have the tour you took there , wish they did !!Poor starved Michael !!!! Yeah for you being picked . I lucked out this year at Universal and did NOT get picked , but 2 out of 3 times I've been I have been Muther Nature !!
Captain_Oblivious
DIS Dad #257, Galactic Salad Dodger
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2008
Man, you guys have all the connections.
Nice. Stay classy, folks.
What?? NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Whew. All's well that ends well.
From what you described earlier, I bet that's a rare occurrence for her.
Boo. Not everything needs to tie into Frozen.
I would love to have seen this show. Oh well. Maybe I can catch the Broadway version.Agreed!
For taking it easy, you all covered quite a bit of ground!
Uh oh. I can see where that one wouldn't feel very comfortable.
Wow, that sounds perfect. I'm afraid you guys aren't going to be able to have any normal experiences again after all of this VIP treatment!
I love the drawings! Definitely worth a visit to see them.
Thanks! It's always a great holiday!
No, never...
I'd amend that to say it's ok to get up with the sun, or before it, if you have a chance to see something special or need to avoid traffic/crowds. Crazy people get up with the sun, or before it, just to exercise.
You never told me about this.
I am pretty sure I tried to tell you, your brother and Thing 2 about it while we were in the car, but nobody appeared to show any interest at all and insisted on arguing about which roads we should take...
Bravo! Thank you! I will stand with you in defiance of this trend.
Hmm...if you'd only gotten up with the sun, or before it...
Not exactly. It has a sister chain in the rest of the U.S. called Hardee's. Same logo and menu. I don't know why it has 2 different names.
If it's a fast-food burger, you'll be hard-pressed to find many "natural" things about it!
That's it, I'm traveling with you guys from now on.Darn. Next time make him wear the Disney hat.
Makes sense...it probably coincides with the height requirements on the rides.
Mmmm...donuts.
Maybe it got too close to the Jurassic Park set!I hate it when that happens.
Oh, I remember that scene!
You guys and the VIP stuff. If you get VIP bathrooms in the National Parks I'm really going to get upset.
Oh, come on. Let her have her moment.
Oooh, I think I'd have a lot of fun with that.
Sounds like famous last words to me.
That place looks creepy!
That's a blessing! That movie was pretty terrible.
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