TR Nov 2012: Another Aussie mad dash - Day 10: Final posts, TR finished #932 (02/21)

[PrincessInOz]

Originally Posted by DisneyFirefly

God... I would love to go to Club 33! That looks amazing, even for someone like me who tends to prefer homestyle type food

Nice as it is, going to someplace like Club 33 is something that I do once in a while...I much prefer a homecooked, homestyle meal anyday as well.

Originally Posted by franandaj

Actually it was simply called a Chocolate Martini! Great pictures and nice how you chronicled the whole experience. I'm able to get there often enough that I don't see it through eyes like that. C'mon, you gotta at least post the pictures of the ladies room. I don't remember what the men's room looks like, but the ladies room is quite unique!

Do you think I should??



Now no one had better dob me in with the mods .....

Originally Posted by shushh

Thank you so much for sharing your Club 33 experience. I really enjoyed reading about it. SOOOOO envious. And the photos are just divine.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I debated with myself about how much detail to include and whilst it is a little OTT, I figured that it was worth chronicling.

Originally Posted by skier_pete

OMG, that looks AMAZING...I am so jealous - something I'll never get to do. I will live vicariously through your pictures. We have had truffle mac and cheese a few times, but never with so many truffles!

I would be curious as to the cost of that meal, too! Don't blame you if you don't want to share.

I might have been the one you were thinking on the "not rare" meat, but my comment was regarding hamburgers, which are ground beef and thus exposed to air throughout...many places won't cook them unless it's all through. You CAN get a medium rare steak in the US, but restaurants are very inconsistent in how they cook them, I find. A good steak house will usually get it right if you describe how you want it, though.

Peter

Considering how much truffle was put in that mac and cheese...Our bill? ..... it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

And even with medium rare steaks in the US, until here, they have pretty much come out medium well done.

Originally Posted by kylieh

One word - YUM


PS - I'm really enjoying all of the trip report...

Hi KylieH! Pleased to see you here and glad you're enjoying the TR.

Originally Posted by usnuzuloose

Club 33 is fantastic. Yeah the womens restroom something else huh? The food is excelent in there. I wish everyone could have the experience one time. Michael sat still looking at all the desserts he could devour. Waiting for the hunchback. I am LOL now Great pics and I love how you are wording it all. Cant wait for more.

I'm learning to love my hunch!

Originally Posted by QuirkyButterfly

Have just finished catching up on your trip report. Looks like you had a great time despite feeling a little let down at main street.

Club 33 looks absolutely amazing! I am so jealous of you going. Thanks for posting so many wonderful pictures.

Can't wait for your update on World of Colour.

Hello QB! Nice to see you back on my TR and on your PTR as well. Hope you've been well.

WoC is a couple of updates away. Still putting my thoughts down.

Originally Posted by skiingfast

The painting on the piano truly reminds me of Epcot.

The Club33 chocolates you brought home was a great idea. I find bringing home food extends the trip a bit. But after you eat your souvenire, you don't get a taste of Disney until you go under those Welcome signs.

Yes...I thought the same thing when I looked at the piano. Sure makes you think about the World Showcase indeed.

I might have eaten the Club 33 chocolates...but I still have those one (or six) Mickey macadamia nut turtles in my fridge.

Originally Posted by hjd0411

Looking good so far!!! I love the food porn from Club 33 - that place looks amazing.
Thanks for sharing and I'm anxiously awaiting WOC pics!!

I'm trying to get to WoC as quickly as I can....but that would mean that the Disney part of my trip would be over...

Originally Posted by tiggrbaby

Your pics of Club 33 - just WOW!

Thanks!

[QuirkyButterfly]

Originally Posted by PrincessInOz

Do you think I should??



Now no one had better dob me in with the mods .....

Oh my gosh, is that the toilet??? If it is it is the most extravagant one I have ever seen.

I have been so slack at being on the boards lately, so many things going on. Glad to be back, and I will have more updates going up soon.

[PrincessInOz]

And now we resume with normal Disney TR programming.


Our DL afternoon Must Do’s and then some!


After heading out of Club 33, I worked out that the boys were at the Matterhorn. They were impatiently waiting for me to tick another one of those Must Do’s off our list.

I must have been in such need of a nana-nap at this point in time that I must have just slipped my mind to take photographs. Aside from the distant tip of the Matterhorn in this picture, I sure didn’t take any near to or on the ride.




The Matterhorn is great at any age…and even though Harold the Yeti is 50 something years old, he actually works inside the mountain (unlike the one at Everest). It is also one of those only-at-Disneyland rides that is a firm favourite with my family. We zipped along on the bedsleds and loved the thrill and chill of the ride.

We were aware that we only had a couple of hours left of the afternoon and so we made our way towards Indiana Jones to redeem our FP by way of….

Not everyone’s cup of tea….the Tea Cups…




… or what I dub the Wash and Spin cycle.




After a suitable spin, we continued onwards in our quest. We wanted to head by Big Thunder Mountain and I wished we had more time when I spotted a change to Fantasyland…




…But I figured that there was no point getting my knickers in a knot ...er...tangle nor losing any hair over this. Maybe next time.

Next up…




The stand-by wait time was 15 minutes. I was pretty pleased with this. Whilst not quite walk-on, it meant that I could take my time taking some more shots of a Disney Mountain….




…and the local railway that ran through it.




And then it was our turn to board….




..and take a turn around the tracks.




Always such fun!

With the other Mountain closed for refurbishment….




…this was the only kind of Splash we were going to see this day.





So, we rounded the Rivers of America and detoured into another family favourite.




And I do mean PoTC; not the Dream Suite....


Strictly walk-on; and we were on the ride and off on the adventure before our patooshi’s even got wet from the seat!




I love the Disneyland version of this ride. There are two drops; not one and it just seems darker and scarier here. There are also minor difference…




He’s holding the sword; rather than the sword being stuck in the stone through him at the World…


And the treasure is found in a room with Capt Jack Sparrow at the World, with no skeleton….




…But the wench in red is lustier at the World…




Somewhere in this ride, I got a text from Alison saying that they were ready to leave. So, we arranged to meet them outside Caseys to say our goodbyes. The bonus was that Alison and I figured that we could catch up the next day before we headed off on our road trip. So, with another Meet planned, we parted company.


Time for us to head to Indiana! DS was certainly chomping at the bit….er…nose…to get there.




Even with FP, this attraction is ALWAYS a 15 minute queue; irrespective of what the boards say.




It takes that long just to get through the passages and gawking at the theming along the way!




I put my camera away in this ride. I knew it was going to be too dark for my photography skills to take any sorts of shots. So, I just enjoyed rolling with the jeep.


When we came out, we had just about enough time to do one more attraction and I was aiming for the only other mountain that was opened at DLR. So, we walked in that direction, passing close to the Matterhorn….




Yes, I did capture the mountain at twilight…just didn’t get any from on the ride.


We got to this side of the park…



…when DS threw another curve ball. He wanted to get on Autopia. Autopia???


By this stage, we had managed to achieve about half of our ‘must do’ rides and then some. I had to be content with that because it was clear that we needed to think about getting across the promenade to DCA and World of Colour.

DH and I had a quick pow-wow. He would take DS to Autopia and I would get across to DCA and collect out picnics and WoC fastpasses. Can anyone else SEE the benefit of this strategy?


[Up Next – Nighttime in the Parks]

[usnuzuloose]

Love the pics! I cracked up the first time I saw the ladies bathroom. I really miss riding the matterhorn. Keep the pics coming. At least I feel like I am there.

[Mum from oz]

Just caught up on your TR!

Wow! You pack sooooooo much in to a short time. You have become an expert at it.

You photos are fantastic. I love all of them. Your interaction with Donald and your DS looks like a lot of fun. Club 33..... Lost for words, all I can say is it looks amazing!

Very much looking forward to hearing about WOC!!

[Jade+3]

Finally caught up...loving the pics as usual.

[skiingfast]

Autopia? Yeah of course. Any chance to drive, or see various specimens from Disneyland's past?

[PrincessInOz]

Originally Posted by QuirkyButterfly

Oh my gosh, is that the toilet??? If it is it is the most extravagant one I have ever seen.

I have been so slack at being on the boards lately, so many things going on. Glad to be back, and I will have more updates going up soon.

and looking forward to your updates.

Originally Posted by usnuzuloose

Love the pics! I cracked up the first time I saw the ladies bathroom. I really miss riding the matterhorn. Keep the pics coming. At least I feel like I am there.

The ladies was much more interesting than the gents (which I saw through pictures ).

Originally Posted by Mum from oz

Just caught up on your TR!

Wow! You pack sooooooo much in to a short time. You have become an expert at it.

You photos are fantastic. I love all of them. Your interaction with Donald and your DS looks like a lot of fun. Club 33..... Lost for words, all I can say is it looks amazing!

Very much looking forward to hearing about WOC!!

Glad to see you back on the boards! Thanks...Donald was great.

Originally Posted by Jade+3

Finally caught up...loving the pics as usual.

Hi Jade...thanks!

Originally Posted by skiingfast

Autopia? Yeah of course. Any chance to drive, or see various specimens from Disneyland's past?

I think I found a much better use of my time instead of Autopia....personal opinion, of course.

[PrincessInOz]

Disneyland and California Adventure at Night

DH took DS across to Autopia and we parted company. I was pleased with this turn of events as this meant that I had some alone time and the opportunity to take some twilight/night shots at Disney.

So, with that, I left the boys and started my leisurely stroll of this bonus time. So, I am pleased to be able to show and tell Disney at night.

The Astro Blasters seemed like a good place to start…




I caught up with the Dapper Dans down Main Street. It must have been their last outing for the night.



Despite any earlier misgivings, I turned back for my one and only memory of the castle for this trip. If you look closely, you can just about make out the boards around the entire facade.




There was no fireworks scheduled for the mid-week; and in any event, we were heading towards a different show and I didn’t have my tripod with me.

I had realized during the day that it had been a mistake NOT to take a picture of the Main Square with the boards up. I made up for that mistake now….




..before leaving Disneyland.

I spent enough time outside to capture the classic picture….




….but I couldn’t afford to watch the grass grow for too long.




I turned around and cast my sights firmly across the promenade at DCA.




I got on the right side of the rope and followed it round the boards, where after another slip of my ticket in the ticket machine later and no check of my hand stamp, I walked in to DCA.

I was enchanted by this Disney Cast Member blowing bubbles all around.




Luckily, she was heading in the same direction as me so I can enjoy the round rainbows for a bit…before I made a turn and headed to….




…a very empty WoC section that would later be filled to near capacity.


I took my time at taking some nighttime shots of the Pier….




…and the Fun Wheel.




I looked around at the beautiful night lights….




…and stopped on the bridge for some quiet reflection time.




It was hard to concentrate as I kept hearing Screamin’…



..and the bright neon lights kept attracting me.




I looked around a bit; but it was time to pick up our picnics and I made my exit from the Pier.




I picked up our picnics from the pick-up zone, which we had ordered on-line about a month in advance. As we knew we would be visiting Club 33 for lunch, I had decided on the picnics for dinner. It seemed to be the best way to guarantee a fast pass without having to run into DCA early in the morning, it seemed to be a lighter meal and we wouldn’t need to think about two sit-down table service meals in the one day.

When we had planned the day, we had always thought we would be hitting Disneyland all day before heading to DCA after lunch. I wish I had 3 x $15.95 and a crystal ball to know that we would be reversing that order!

DS and I had selected the American meal. It consisted of cold chicken, coleslaw, potato salad and apple pie.




DH selected the Mediterranean wrap, with salad and a lemon pie.




More importantly, we got these as well.




Both picnics were tasty enough and my only complaint is that cold food for dinner in the wintertime is an experience that I wouldn’t care to repeat very often. And despite the beautiful warm day, it had turned out to be a cold night.

I waited impatiently for the boys to pitch up…turns out that Autopia was a lot busier than they had anticipated and they were late turning up.

And after dinner, all my plans of pitching up early to nab a good viewing spot for WoC went down the gurgler….literally!




Both boys stopped in here and we had missed the opening time for the masses to get a place. Whilst I was not entirely happy with this turn of event, I figured that it was probably for the best…there was still another 45 minutes to go before the schedule start time and I knew that all the good viewing spots would have gone by this stage.


[Up Next – World of Colour]

[usnuzuloose]

I love all the night time pics. I love the lights. So many places to take pics of all the lights that would be a whole trip in its self. Keep them coming.

[hjd0411]

Great photos! The evening shots at DCA look lovely.
You sure pack in a lot in a short time! I would be exhausted following you!! Good work, though.

[shushh]

Gorgeous photos of the front of Disneyland and the evening shot of Paradise Pier is superb!

[Mum from oz]

Great shots of all the lights at DCA! The picnic look ok. I think thats what we will be getting in May, hopefully the cold chicken wont be so bad then!

[TheColtonsMom]

Been away from DIS for a while but just caught up with your TR and I must say WOW First your style of writing along with the funny turns of phrase that go so well with your beautiful pictures it was so easy to read all that has happened here in the last month and I thouroughly enjoyed every minute.

You have given me the first Club 33 food porn I have ever seen and it looked wonderful I am so glad you spent the time to make us feel we saw what you saw as I will probably never experience it myself Thank You. I eagerly await the rest of your trip

[AussieDisneyNut]

Loving all the photo's and your commentary! Perfectly matched! Thanks for sharing your Club 33 experience ... how did the food compare to some of your other fine dining experiences? I'm just wondering if Club 33 is so special because of the exclusivity and ambience or the food or both? Not that we will ever have the chance to experience it!