BE's never-ending fun ** 4 completed TR's ** Thousands of Photos

[Belle Ella]

Day 1 Cont.
September 8, 2009​

The normal tradition is to go on the Jungle Cruise, grab a FastPass for Indy, hop in the boats for Pirates, and then take a tour through the Haunted Mansion. But then again, we don't normally have one of our favorite rides closed down during a Disneyland vacation so we did grab our FastPasses for Indy, but decided to do HM before POTC to continue our morning. Our second walk on ride. Off-seasons rock, let me tell you. I have never just walked on to anything except for Snow White before - ever. As if the excitement wasn't high enough already. It just made everything 10 times better to just go and do!

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We did finally make our way over to Pirates after the Haunted Mansion, of course, before we checked in for our PS time. How fitting, eating at the Blue Bayou, just after riding Pirates of the Caribbean? Once again, the wait time was listed at 5 minutes and we just walked right on. I should just time how long it takes us to walk through the arch to the time it takes us to actually step into the boat. That would be all of what, 1 minute?

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I did notice something, and if you know the answer, please help me! What happened to the knife that was supposed to be with the sign at the entrance warning you about getting wet? It was the first thing that I noticed when we walked by and it's been nagging me ever since. I did take a photo of it but I can't find it at the moment. It just looks so ... alone ... now.

And there was another first while riding POTC that morning. I have never, not once, heard an announcement come on during the ride before to warn you about flash photography. All I have ever heard was the little speech given when you are boarding. But there we were, passing through the battle scene when a CM's voice comes booming out from everywhere and nowhere at the same time: "No flash photography". And I hadn't even seen a single flash go off the entire time. Yet when there's a flash going off every 5 seconds I have heard nothing. Go figure.

It's still only about 11 a.m. when we get off of POTC, which is a good 30 minutes before our actual PS time at BB, but there is no way we are missing out on our waterside table because we thought maybe we could squeeze something in real fast. It didn't take long for the little alley in front of the restaurant's entrance to get packed with people checking in so our little 1 our morning tour worked out perfectly. But we still had some time to wait so we took turns saving our 'spot' while the other wandered in and out of the shops and caught some more live entertainment in the form of the Bootstrappers!

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I have a few more photos from watching them that I will post tomorrow when I can get a few more photos edited to go with them. They were a lot of fun to watch, if only for a few minutes. Sorry about the sun flares in some of these photos by the way. There was no way around them at the moment, but I think they add to the look

 

[merrrydeath]

yay the start! makes me sooo excited for my trip in a week!

 

[Sherry E]

I'm here, too, Jazz (of course). I have been silent, but I am reading along! I am so envious that you were able to have so many days in the parks and nights at the hotel! Gotta love that Entertainment rate!

 

[Belle Ella]

yay the start! makes me sooo excited for my trip in a week!

I'm excited for you too! I'll try to keep everything coming so the excitement can keep boiling over for you!!

I'm here, too, Jazz (of course). I have been silent, but I am reading along! I am so envious that you were able to have so many days in the parks and nights at the hotel! Gotta love that Entertainment rate!

Great to see you stopping by Sherry!! Goodness, the Ent. rate is like the best thing ever! I'll always be keeping an eye out for it for future trips. I know a group who wants to do October with me next year!

OK, so I'm working on editing some more photos right now so I can keep going. I've only gone through about 91 of the photos I took on day one (out of 297) so there's a bit to go!!

 

[Belle Ella]

Day 1 Cont.
September 8, 2009​

Before I get a move on here are the rest of the photos I took while watching the Bootstrappers perform. I want to try and include as many photos for you here as possible! And I'll be posting the official album link as soon as all of the photos are added.

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They finished their little show with perfect timing too. We were let into the lobby not long after that, waiting for our turn to be seated. Not that we had to wait very long.

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Our actual lunch at Blue Bayou was excellent, excellent. My experiences there only keep getting better and better and better and better!! I think I've only had one not-so-great experience eating there and it had nothing to do with the service or the food. We had planned on possibly splitting a meal depending on (a) how hungry we were and (b) how much we really felt like spending on food the first day. But in the end we ended up ordering our own entrees. Heck, we ended up ordering the same entree! The funny thing about that was that she had been giving me a little grief every time it was brought up beforehand because I always order the same thing no matter where I am. I am a salmon-lover! She didn't want to split the meal if I was getting salmon and then she goes and orders it for herself But it was a great choice. So we both had the Cajun-Spiced Salmon. Holy Crow it was delicious. I wish I could have finished mine. Maybe if I hadn't eaten so much of the salad to begin with I might have been able to pack more in. But I was stuffffffffffed.

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But to be honest, the best part of the meal were my TWO birthday candles. Heck yeah! I got one in my iced tea and in my desert. Who ever thought of putting the candle in the tea is a genius. That there, alone, made my day. I could hardly stop laughing it was great.

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And I totally grabbed a couple of the green mickey mouse sprinkles off the desert to keep. Do I have any idea what I'm going to do them just yet. But I have them nonetheless!
And just because I can, I had to take these two photos (although one of them is so fuzzy it drives me bananas). Lucky friend of mine got to eat there with her mom over the summer. One day, it will be my turn.

Day 1 to be continued ...​

 

[kaoden39]

Put them in a scrapbook. Be sure and spray them with hairspray to preserve them.

 

[RiverLou]

Our actual lunch at Blue Bayou was excellent, excellent. My experiences there only keep getting better and better and better and better!! I think I've only had one not-so-great experience eating there and it had nothing to do with the service or the food. We had planned on possibly splitting a meal depending on (a) how hungry we were and (b) how much we really felt like spending on food the first day. But in the end we ended up ordering our own entrees. Heck, we ended up ordering the same entree! The funny thing about that was that she had been giving me a little grief every time it was brought up beforehand because I always order the same thing no matter where I am. I am a salmon-lover! She didn't want to split the meal if I was getting salmon and then she goes and orders it for herself But it was a great choice. So we both had the Cajun-Spiced Salmon. Holy Crow it was delicious. I wish I could have finished mine. Maybe if I hadn't eaten so much of the salad to begin with I might have been able to pack more in. But I was stuffffffffffed.

Pfff! Only because the Surf and Turf wasn't an option! The salmon was yummy though.

And I totally grabbed a couple of the green mickey mouse sprinkles off the desert to keep. Do I have any idea what I'm going to do them just yet. But I have them nonetheless!

You could ask Lisa if she knows how to preserve them in resin, like make a necklace or something?

And just because I can, I had to take these two photos (although one of them is so fuzzy it drives me bananas). Lucky friend of mine got to eat there with her mom over the summer. One day, it will be my turn.

I sure did, 'twas awesome.

 

[Docter419]

AWESOME AWESOME AWEsOME, Keep writing. This is a fantastic TR. And you'll get into Club 33, I never thought I ever would and I was able to go last december. If I can do it, you can do it!

 

[Belle Ella]

Put them in a scrapbook. Be sure and spray them with hairspray to preserve them.

Sounds like a great idea, seeing as I was planning on starting to scrapbook this trip at some point.

OH! Speaking of scrap booking, as my luck would have it all of the Disney scrap booking things that I had bought at work over the weeks leading up to our trip finally go clearance right when I get back to work. We were marking down stationery yesterday and I go to scan some of the Disney embellishments and paper packs and sure enough they are going down to 30%. What the heck. Now I have to see if I have the old receipts so I can take the ones I have back and just buy them at the clearance price.

AWESOME AWESOME AWEsOME, Keep writing. This is a fantastic TR. And you'll get into Club 33, I never thought I ever would and I was able to go last december. If I can do it, you can do it!

I shant give up hope! I shant give up hope!

OK, so I'm just about through editing the next 25 or so photos so I hope to have the next update soon. I'm already starting to forget things though! My notes say I did something and I don't have photos from it so I can't remember. I can't be forgetting already. Nononononono!

 

[kaoden39]

Oh boy I know where I am going on Friday. I love all that stuff and I need to scrapbook our pictures from 2007.

 

[Belle Ella]

Oh boy I know where I am going on Friday. I love all that stuff and I need to scrapbook our pictures from 2007.

I hope they're clearance in your area I can't remember if that store is in the same group as ours. But even then it varies. I know I have to see if they did at Walnut Creek because they had the Tinkerbell packs which we never carried at our store. Grawr.

I do hope it means we'll be getting some new selection in soon. I should see when they'll be resetting that department. It can't be too far away. Half of the scrapbooking aisle went clearance (eell, about 111 different items).

And how is this for sharing the DLR love? One of my co-workers is going to Disneyland later this month with her husband and their two girls and I'm going to get them their Park Hoppers through my Credit Union since they were cheaper and the 2 free days when you buy 3 are still available.

 

[Belle Ella]

Day 1 Cont.
September 8, 2009​

So I wish I could have kept a real journal or something of everything that we did. When and where we were at what time. Really all I have to rely on are the photos, and if photos of the Jungle Cruise come before photos of Pirates it's pretty easy to tell what I was doing, right? Well, right after our beyond-amazing lunch at Blue Bayou I have about an hours gap in my photos. That's just wrong, I tell you! I should never leave my camera in my bag for an hour at a time at Disneyland.

What I do know is that it wasn't long before we found our way over to Critter Country so we could grab Fast Passes for Splash Mountain (which I was yet unsure of the reality of me going on this again). And when in the area, why not stop by to see Winnie the Pooh & Friends?!?! So of course we did, stopping by to visit with our old friends Tigger, Eeyore, and Pooh Bear himself!

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AHA! Now I remember something else - I saw Br'er Fox while I was by my lonesome!! After our experience with the Minnie & Friends Breakfast in the Park back in March we both really, really, really wanted to see Br'er Fox again. But Dre was nowhere to be found at the moment, but he was on his way buh-bye so I didn't get a photo either. I have no idea why we had split up already, but there you has it. And I have now made sense of my notes.

Memo to self: Add Br'er Fox to the list of characters to ask about at City Hall!

Here's something that I just noticed. We didn't do too much of the back and forth between different areas. We kind of stuck to one place. Normally I'm bouncing from left to right faster than you can ask for directions, but that's when I'm on my own, which I will demonstrate to you later in the Report. Our haunt for the day didn't get much variety outside of Adventureland and New Orleans Square with a little Critter Country thrown in for kicks.

We didn't want to wander too far though. We had planned to meet up with another DIS'er, Rachaface, so we didn't want to get stuck who knows where at the time we were supposed to meet up with her. And now I have another hour-long gap where I have no idea what we did. I knew I would run out of Disney memory in my brain sooner or later. What with all the song lyrics and everything else I have to remember all the time. This just isn't fair.

So we're going to take a break while I figure out which photo comes next. Next time I need to remember to set the time and date on the new camera before using it! If you remember that cute little Kodak P&S I got for about $30 dollars it got some use of it. So now I have to go between the two folders trying to figure out what is next, and one of them is telling me it's January 2nd at 2 a.m. when in reality it should be about 4 in the afternoon on September 8!

But regardless, coming up next we've got our meet up with another DIS'er!! And just to note, my photos progress for day 1 is at about 125/279

to be continued ...​

 

[kaoden39]

I think Fairfield is the same region. Even if it isn't I can always use a trip to Target. I am loving your trip report as usual.

 

[Belle Ella]

It might be. Sometimes the way they group our regions is really, really wierd. There's one store that's near us (can't remember which) that you would think is in our region, but in fact it's not. The only one I remember for sure is Walnut Creek because they come up in our huddles a lot. But clearance items can be down to specific stores only sometimes. It's wierd.

OK, just about to start writing the next part - now that I cleared up whatever issues I was having in the order of things.

 

[kaoden39]

Jazz, before I forget I wanted to tell you that Family Force 5 is playing in Orangevale, near Sacramento on October 4. The tickets are like $15 a piece.

 

[Belle Ella]

Jazz, before I forget I wanted to tell you that Family Force 5 is playing in Orangevale, near Sacramento on October 4. The tickets are like $15 a piece.

Ah! My sister hasn't mentioned it ... I wonder if she knows about it. Thanks for sharing. I may just have to get me some tix Although if I do that will be one long weekend! I'm doing to Walk for Hope in S.F. on Saturday with work (which is lame only because I'm missing the Celtic Festival which I was dying to go to this year) and then I work overnight Saturday night into Sunday morning.

Eh, that's what coffee is for.

 

[kaoden39]

I am getting tickets for my three kids and I am going to find someplace to hang out during the concert. They have VIP tickets in which I think you get to meet the artists and the tickets are only $20 a piece. I told Kody I was going to check it out and if it means a meet and greet I will get them the VIP tickets.

 

[Belle Ella]

Day 1 Cont.
September 8, 2009​

So it's sometime before 3 p.m. which is where I will pick up again. We had planned to meet up with another DIS'er, Rachaface/Rachel, in New Orleans Square to grab some Mint Juleps. There was one very big catch, however. I have never been to Disneyland during the week be it off season or not, and I completely forgot that the Mint Julep Bar is only open on the weekends. I wanted to just die. I have been craving a Mint Julep like I cannot tell you for months. Ever since we got back in March I had been counting down the days until I could get my hands on them again. And now it was looking like I would have to wait a few more days.

If this had been the first day back in March I literally wold have broken down, crying! But I wasn't going to let the disappointment faze me this time. I would just have a lot to make up for come the weekend!

When we met up with Rachel outside of the Pirates exit we had some brainstorming to do of what we should do since we wouldn't be grabbing our Mint Juleps. Well, we came to an agreement that we would take a cruise through the jungle! As it would happen we got Skipper Sarah again!

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I really wish we had thought to stop by a PhotoPass photographer or something and get a photo of all three of us. It wouldn't be the only time we saw her, but we never did get a picture with all of us You'd think we would have thought about that, right? After we got off JC Rachel had to go get ready for her PS at Blue Bayou. It was awesome meeting her though! And did I mention that she made me a totally & completely awesome birthday card? It rocks and I love it. I really should take a photo of it so you all can see it.

So after saying our goodbyes Dre and I made our way back over to Critter Country. I had to share the little piece of information that I had never been on the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh before, so we absolutely had to do that. It's funny that we ended up waiting for that longer than we did for any ride so far that morning and afternoon, 7 minutes. But we passed the time trying to get a photo of the two of us in line with the Kodak, which was absolutely not happening seeing as I have never mastered the art of taking my own photo. But we did get one of us in our honey pot (Kanga).

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After Winnie the Pooh we had to do a little exploring of the shops in Critter Country (where I fell in love with the Halloween mouse ears they have out) and I got some photos that I will be posting very soon that I know for a fact many of you will enjoy

to be continued ...​

 

[Belle Ella]

I am getting tickets for my three kids and I am going to find someplace to hang out during the concert. They have VIP tickets in which I think you get to meet the artists and the tickets are only $20 a piece. I told Kody I was going to check it out and if it means a meet and greet I will get them the VIP tickets.

Let me know what she finds out I'm going to bring it up with my sister tonight and see if she and her friend would like to go with me. That is certainly something I am interested in going to. Doing a little dance just thinking abouts it.

 

[kaoden39]

Let me know what she finds out I'm going to bring it up with my sister tonight and see if she and her friend would like to go with me. That is certainly something I am interested in going to. Doing a little dance just thinking abouts it.

I'll find the number and give the club a call in a while. I will send you the ticket info in a PM.