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

[Flossbolna]

I think I would prefer shopping over laying by the pool as well.

Why am I not surprised to hear this...

Interesting. I didn't realize that this was a Patina Group restaurant.

I had no clue about Morimoto either... But it seems to already be quite popular!

This is just wrong, on a whole bunch of levels.

Yes, picnic in a hotel lobby just never occurred to me as something one could do.

That's too bad, I'm not a parsley fan either.

I can somehow tolerate flat parsley in small doses, but curly parsley just is only one step behind cilantro!

Now that one sounds really good. Too bad I can't convince Fran to pop over to DTD for a wedge and Prime Rib!

Well, now that you are both relaxed after your cruise, you might want to try it again.

I love that DVC makes it so much nicer to entertain, we just have a problem that we trash the room, and are embarrassed to entertain anyone in the room!

You managed with a Grand Villa!! And I actually liked the fact that I knew people would come to our room as it helped me to keep on top of things.

 

[Flossbolna]

I am all caught up and really love seeing a bit of California again. Going to be back in just a couple of weeks but only a few short hours in Disneyland this time.

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

I like the trip over to the Mission where the swallows are not and the dish towels and nightshirt in TWoD are nice.

The mission was really such a beautiful place!

Sorry your hostess had a 'tude.I don't like when they try to convince you that there is no choice when there clearly is. Good for Michael's brother for "pushing back" and confirming that you will wait. Then to only be 5 min yeesh- no reason for that.

Not sure what was going on...

Looking forward to hearing more.

Well, it took me a while, but new update coming up!!

 

[Flossbolna]

What a beautiful Mission you visited. I love the missions in California and visiting every single one is on my bucket list!

Wow, that should be quite a task!! I read that on the recent visit of the Pope to the US, he actually canonized the priest who founded this mission and so many others. Felt quite proud that I had a clue whom they were talking about!

And yay for getting your nano SIM card.

I think I would have preferred shopping at WoD over lounging by the pool. Although, if it was warm, I would have tried to do both.

I knew I would have time for both during the trip. And it was hot! But WoD was nice and cool, too.

Your food at Catal looks delicious. Thanks to Alison, I tend to only order the lamb burger when I go there. One of these days, I need to try something else.

I think the lamb burger is only a Uva Bar thing. They somehow belong together, but they have different menus. I still haven't managed to get to the Uva Bar!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Shopping!! - Part 1

August 8 – Shopping and Disneyland

Starting today there will be some additional characters taking part in our adventures, we will call them Thing 1 and Thing 2. And not because they create a lot of mayhem! Oh, but they do! We will number them in the order you will encounter them. They are both good friends of Michael and they both work for The Walt Disney Company. However, Thing 1 is based in California, Thing 2 is based on the East Coast. Thing 1 spent the two days of this weekend with us, Thing 2 was actually in California on vacation himself. I think it was only his third visit to Anaheim in 2015 with one more to come! He was going to attend D23 and wanted to spend some time in California before that and joined us for most of our time at Disneyland. For us this worked out extremely well. Not only did we enjoy their company, but between the two CM friends and some pixie dust from a third friend, we did not have to pay for any admission media. That definitely was a huge bonus for our vacation budget and we were extremely grateful to all three people who helped us out!!

Yes, it did. I should also add a disclaimer (wish those bloggers would) that we also were comped into Universal Hollywood and I was comped into Knott's Berry Farm. M would have been as well, but she left two days before I did and simply ran out of time. It's very nice to have very nice people, very generous people, as friends.

The day started early for me again. At a quarter to eight I was not able to sleep any longer, so I got up and went out to explore a little. I picked up a brochure in the lobby with the activities at the resort, thinking I would get a chance to maybe take part in one of the guided tours they offer of the hotels. And then went to my new favorite place in Downtown Disney: Starbucks. I got a coffee and found a table to work on my trip notes:

I also made use of my new SIM card, which had a certain number of international calling minutes with it and called my father and my sister. Unfortunately the connections were really bad with a very long delay. Not good for long chats… Later in the trip I used facetime a few times to talk to them and that worked far better. I also got in touch with Alison (@franandaj) here from the DIS as we had plans to meet up the next day and I had promised her to get in touch once I was there. With all the mobile phone drama, I had not done that yet and felt really bad! I was really excited to see her and Fran!

I finally went to wake up Michael who did not need to be woken up. He was already ready to go and even had tidied the room! We still had some time until Thing 1 would arrive and I quickly had a breakfast with the cereal and berries that we had picked up at Target. I managed to make good use of those breakfast foods while we were staying at the VGC. But then the milk was gone and I never managed to pick up some later, so eating breakfast in the room did not work out as well as I had hoped…

Once Thing 1 got to our hotel, we picked up our car and went on our shopping excursion. As a CM he has access to a store in Anaheim that is run by Disney and which is selling Disney merchandise at reduced prices. Some of it is surplus stuff, but some of it is current merchandise from the parks. Everything in the store is at least 50% marked down. There is a section of “company souvenirs” that only the CM can buy and then there is a special warehouse section which is only for CMs, but a large part of the store is open to guests of CMs as well (not to the general public though).

To people familiar with WDW's cast shopping options, in Anaheim they basically have combined Property Control (excess merchandise, out of season merchandise, stuff from hotels that are being renovated etc.) with the main Company D (Disney CM merchandise) outlet. In FL, Property Control was named Cast Connection about a decade ago and last year moved from its longtime home off of Reams Road behind the MK. Unfortunately, it largely has become simply the cast version of the WDW outlet stores, usually with the same merchandise and same prices as Disney has opted to sell more inventory to third parties like Theme Park Connection to liquidate. The point here (if you are still awake) is that Anaheim still is worth visiting if you have a CM friend to take you. I always find something worth buying in Anaheim. YMMV.

We spent quite some time in there looking at all the different offerings. They had some really nice stuff, but also some really strange things, too. We were quite successful in getting a few things!

A t-shirt for me:

One for Katharina:

A key chain for the key that I give to guests staying with me:

A kitchen timer (one was for me, the other one was for Katharina and her DH):

And a magnet:

All in all it was a fun shopping trip! There were plenty of other things that tempted us, but even with 50% off, it does add up and we still had a whole vacation ahead of us where we might want to do some more souvenir shopping!

After shopping we decided to grab some lunch before heading back on Disney property and make use of offsite food prices. I requested to eat at In-n-Out, the famous Californian burger chain. There is a new In-n-Out location close to Disneyland that was in the general direction that we were in and that’s where we went. It is on the corner of Ball Road and State College Boulevard. You could tell that it was brand new and still very shiny!

We were pleasantly surprised that it was not at all crowded and proceeded to order. Michael and I each got a Double Double, which is a double cheeseburger. Michael got his fries “well done”, I had not really enjoyed the well done fries the last time and got normal fries.

This is my drink and our order receipt while waiting for our burgers:

While we were waiting a nice employee came and asked if we wanted her to bring us our meal when it was ready. We thought that was very nice and she asked us for our order numbers and shortly thereafter appeared with our trays. Very nice!

In-n-Out is not the best burger ever. But it is really good fast food. It always tastes really fresh and it is not pricey at all. This was only the first of several meals at In-n-Out of that trip. But unfortunately in the end I made the wrong decision of having one too many meals there. Not that anything bad happened, but it kind of proved the point that there can be something like “too much of a good thing”. But since I am not expecting to be able to have a burger from them any time soon, I guess by the time I am back in their operating area, I will be ready for another In-n-Out burger.

I love the In-N-Out. But I also feel some devotees take it as far more than what it is: a good fast food burger and fries cooked fresh by workers making a living wage so they do care. It is by no means a great burger. Just very good for fast food. And spoiler alert: we ate here a total of four times (no, not the Anaheim location). Roughly once a week during the trip. I don't think I ate there more than that when I lived in SoCal.

After our meal that was for two the price of what a similar meal would have cost us for one at Disneyland, we were ready to head into a theme park!

After a quick stop in our room to drop off our purchases and me taking a picture of the room view during the day:

We headed to the hotel entrance into DCA. The GCH has a special entrance for hotel guests. There is a tiny bag check and we had a really nice CM there who told us a funny joke, which I hope Michael remembers as I am not quite sure about it… I guess as a German I am not really that appreciative of silly jokes…

I still am trying to understand German humor and what, if anything, they find funny. The joke was: ''Why did Captain Hook cross the road? To get to the second hand store." Yep. That was it. Likely old, but I never heard it and found it funny!

The CM at the turnstile then was really nice, too, and we chatted with her for a moment, too. I often read comments about how the CMs at Disneyland are less friendly than at WDW, but this is really not my experience. And those two that we encounters definitely were among the friendliest ones I met.

I think WDW regulars don't like that Anaheim CMs don't do the phony, management-mandated in FL, ''Have a magical day!'' type lines. I generally find DL CMs to be far more caring and far better than their WDW counterparts with the exception of many of the CPers and internationals along with the retirees who aren't working for the money.

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

We picked up FPs for later and I took some pictures. Here are some other people getting drenched:

And this is the ride entrance:

Next to the GRR area used to be Condor Flats, the area that was home to Soarin. It had recently been re-themed from a desert airfield to an airfield in a National Forest area:

The green building behind the tower is Soarin.

You can see that the subtitle “over California” is only dangling from the main sign. So it can easily be replaced when they are going to switch over to “Soarin Around the World” sometime next year.

Spoiler alert: It is scheduled to debut July 4th ... but you didn't hear that from me.

More nice details:

The Carthay Circle decorated for the diamond anniversary:

And then we were on our way over to Disneyland!

We watched the new version of the Disneyland bad for a short while:

And then went to pick up more FPs, one for BTMRR

and one for Fantasmic. They have recently started giving out FP for Fantasmic like the do for World of Color. These are the machines where you get them from, they look a bit temporary:

We then headed towards Splash Mountain.

Past the Haunted Mansion:

Definitely the prettiest one of the three I know (the one in Paris is actually not called Haunted Mansion, but Phantom Manor).

Continued in Part 2

 

[Flossbolna]

Shopping!! - Part 2

Splash Mountain had a 90 minute wait (well, that was expected as it was a Saturday in August in the early afternoon), but we decided to try our luck with the single rider line.

That did not look very promising:

Do you see the girls with dark pony tails in front of us? This was actually a Chinese youth group. They all gave up after about 15 minutes wait when that line had not moved at all!

However, it looked far worse than it was as once the CM that you can see at the front of the line, had let you go through, the real line started just before the loading platform. They just tried to keep the people out from crowding through the whole ride exit. Smart move!

So, we finally got close to the loading platform:

I really like the single file logs at DL, they make the ride a bit more thrilling than at WDW!

Once we were close to the load the CM was not able to find a group of two or three to fill up the log that he was loading, so Michael, his brother and I lucked out and got to ride together. Only Thing 1 was really a single rider.

All in all it took us 30 minutes and not 90 minutes, so that was definitely a good use of a single rider line!

I am pretty certain we waited closer to 45 minutes, which was ... the longest we waited for anything at DLR in parts of the five days we were there. Usually, I've never waited longer than 15 minutes in Singles, but I haven't gone on a 90-plus degree Saturday in August in quite a while!

We then jumped on the Pooh ride:

At WDW this always has really long lines, but at DL people seem to ignore it. I guess it has to do with the fact that the ride is not in Fantasyland at DL.

M did not want to ride. But it was practically a walk on and we were right there.

One of my main goals of this trip was to have one of those fabulous Disneyland Mint Juleps (not to be confused with the real thing as the Disneyland version is alcohol free). And since we were going to pass by the Mint Julep window anyway coming from Critter Country and we had about 30 minutes until our BTMRR FP window opened, I suggested to make a stop there:

Some of us got Mint Juleps and everyone got some water and we shared an order of beignets. It was a really nice break and we definitely needed the water as it was a very hot day!

While we were sitting there someone suddenly started to talk to us. After an initial shock, we found out that it was Thing 2, who had just arrived at the park and Michael had sent him an email where we were.

Thing 2 had picked up a FP for BTMRR on his way, but of course it was for later than ours. He said that we should head there anyway as he was hoping to convince the CM there to let him in with us. And indeed, he was successful when he explained that we had four FPs that were good now and one for later. Somehow that guy is always successful with things like that…[Yes, isn't he? ;-)]

On the way there we walked to New Orleans Square and I tried to capture the beauty of that little nook of the park:

BTMRR was wonderful as always!

The explosion scene had gotten a really nice update not so long ago. We saw that already last year, but we were really impressed this time again!

I think the DL BTMRR is now firmly on second place, there is no way any of the two American versions can ever top DLP’s as there you go through a tunnel and the ride itself is in the middle of the Rivers of America.

WDW's version will be getting the new DL tunnel effects when it has a multi-month closure early next year.

We then ventured over to the Big Thunder Ranch area, which is a petting zoo where you can meet goats and cows and other animals. I never liked petting zoos, not even as a child, so I stayed far away from any animals. However, I looked at the little farm house they have there and took some pictures:

Everyone, except M, love petting zoos and the atmosphere of the BTR area. It will be very, very sad to see it go. Some of the trees in the area date back to Walt's days and the Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland ride, which has been gone since 1977. It is peaceful. We spoke to a lovely CM about how many of the goats had been 'retired' of late since the entire area will be closing early next year to make way for Star Wars Land ... GRRRRR ... only DL's horses will remain, although they will now be trucked in like commuters as the backstage barns that have existed since the 1950s will be bulldozed.

A few months from now, this area will be history as the land it sits on will become part of Star Wars Land in Disneyland (while most likely ending up being a nice enough area, I think it is as bad a fit as Avatarland in Animal Kingdom. But it seems that congruity of theme has long gone out of the window – Frozen in Epcot is another perfect example…).

Absolutely right. Star Wars belongs in DCA or really in its own park. Not shoehorned into Walt's park. Nope.

By now it was time for our GRR fastpass, so from the back of Disneyland we headed over to DCA. Of course our timing was less than perfect and we were trying to swim through Main Street while the parade was going on.

Getting over to DCA was easy once we were out of the craziness of Main Street and over there we made use of our FPs at Grizzly River Run. I absolutely loved this ride in 2005 and was very sad that it was down in 2014. And it was just wonderful! It was really fun to be a large group riding this together as you are sitting in a circle, so really get kind of a group experience.

And when we got off we all were really wet! Our friends had all brought stuff to change as well and we headed back to the resort to get changed there.

Michael and I were ready first and headed back into the park. We decided to soar over California by way of single rider line.

This worked very well as I got loaded onto the next free theater. So, you could have called it a walk on. But the loading process always brings some wait time with it. However, the CM working the lines at the point where you are either sent of to the right or the left theater, was a bit mean. There were several couples in the single rider line and she made sure to always send one person off to the right and then the next person to the left so that all the couples were split up. I know that single rider line means that you are being split up for the ride. But with the substantial wait time during the loading process there is no need to split people up like this already at that point. But I guess too many people abuse the single rider lines and then complain about not being able to ride together. That way those discussions don’t happen at the stressful load position.

Once we both had enjoyed California scenery (it felt like a preview of what we were going to experience during this vacation) in now perfect digital quality (the ride has recently been updated and the picture quality is now amazing!), we reconnected with the others. In the meantime it seemed that Thing 1 and Thing 2 had become best buddies very fast. That was great as they had never met before and when you mix different friends, you never know how it works out.

I had predicted a 75% chance that they would become fast friends and a 25% chance that they'd want to kill each other. I'm glad I was right.

We all headed to the Pacific Wharf area as there were several food options. But in the end everyone ordered something form the Pacific Wharf Café.

I had a salad with chicken and walnuts and cranberries. It usually comes in a bread bowl and I had read here on the DIS that you can actually order the breadbowl “on the side” – meaning that they serve the salad on a plate and give you a whole loaf of bread with it. I told Michael that and he agreed that this was a good idea as we both were really sad about how much bread we threw out when we ate there last time.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture until I had eaten already quite a bit…

Michael and I shared one of the bread bowls we had gotten as bread with our salad. The other one was still in its bag:

The bread was delicious and the salad was really good, too! But even between the two of us we were not able to finish one of these breadbowls! We ended up with one and one quarter breads left over!

After dinner we wanted to head over to Disneyland for fireworks and Fantasmic. Michael’s brother was so nice to offer to carry our bread back to our room so that we did not have to drag it through the park with us. But Thing 1 and 2, Michael and me all headed over to Disneyland. Just to arrive on Main Street with the nighttime parade going on! Yes, great timing again!! But Thing 2 knew exactly what he was doing. We stopped in front of “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” and Thing 2 told us that in a moment when the next float has passed, we would be able to cross the street and disappear into a back alley:

That would be the new backstage bypass. They aren't much, but they are superior to MK's, which totally ruin any illusions that you are anywhere but in a dumping area, a parking lot and a cast break area. ... But it was a lucky day for Thing 1 as he found a $20 bill on the ground while rushing through the bypass!

And he was right! We came out on the Tomorrowland side of the hub and saw the end of the parade pass us. Thing 2 asked us where we wanted to see the fireworks from and stupid us thought we should stay on the hub to see the projections on the castle and on the Matterhorn. Well, it got very very crowded very soon! Even though the whole road became available to stand on once the parade was through, people just crowded in from everywhere. It was quite a bit scary.

The timing of parade and fireworks is really good that they go from one show into the next. And soon enough Disneyland Forever started!

What a wonderful fireworks show. I really loved it! They have some amazing fireworks that we already saw last night, but now with everything put together into one big show, it really was wonderful. I am not sold on the castle projections as part of the show. It might have been our position, but I did not think they work that well. The Matterhorn is a fun addition though. I loved that they incorporated some Disney songs that are not usually part of fireworks!

It's a great show. One of the best I have ever seen. Like the music, like using the castle and Matterhorn in the show, the projections are better when seen from Small World Mall.

Once the fireworks were over we had planned to head over to the Haunted Mansion before watching Fantasmic. That would have been a great plan if only a quarter of the masses had been in the park that night. So we ended up just getting into our “blue area” for our Fantasmic FP. Once again Thing 2 had a very precise idea of where he wanted us to be (he is great in picking out really good spots!) and we ended up directly behind the control booth with a fantastic view of the show.

I actually really enjoyed it. I never liked Fantasmic in the past. I am much more a fireworks person. Actually, the first time I saw it, I found it far too scary. Yes, I am scared easily. That’s why a Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is the right scare level for me.

I can only imagine M watching an episode of The Walking Dead with me.

I can guarantee you that this would not be a pleasant experience for either of us!!

However, during Fantasmic my jet lag caught up with me and I was getting so tired from standing in the darkness. A few times I was about to fall asleep with the show going on around me and standing up. That was a strange feeling!

But as soon as the show was over and the lights came on, I found some more energy. It also helped that we immediately rushed over to the Haunted Mansion. That worked great and we got in without a wait!

They just added a new ghost to the Disneyland Haunted Mansion, the Hatbox Ghost. more can be found here.

And since I was not able to take a picture of him, here he is in concept art from the parks blog:

It is quite a “mystical” animatronic as he was in there in the very beginning, but then the effect did not work as well, so he was removed. Now they made a new one. It is a fun figure and the effect is very neat. But I thought he stood out in a bad way. He is so new and shiny and more modern looking than the other animatronics in the ride. It felt a bit out of place for me.

After HM we hopped on Pirates and then got to ride Indiana Jones just before the park closed. A pretty successful first day!

On the way out of the park I tried my best to capture the beautiful Diamond Sleeping Beauty Castle at night:

And on the way out, I even picked up my 60th anniversary pin:

Up Next: A Meet and a Meal

 

[Flossbolna]

Sorry, I need to chat with Florida and will finish up replies tomorrow! I promise!! I also promise to return to posting much quicker than the long hiatus you just suffered through!

 

[AussieMumma]

Great update!
We have only been to WDW once so far, and we found the CM's there less friendly then at DLR. I am always surprised when people say the opposite! We will know for sure on our upcoming trip as we are going straight from WDW to DLR!
It's such a shame Big Thunder Ranch will be going soon, it always makes me feel like I am somewhere else other then a theme park when I'm in there. I just love how they do Santa's cottage at Christmas time also, where will Santa be next year I wonder?? Maybe I'll ask him when we're there

 

[glennbo123]

All caught up! I loved the pictures of the Grand Californian and great pictures of the castle at the end of the last chapter!

 

[dizneeat]

''Why did Captain Hook cross the road? To get to the second hand store."

OMG - that sounds like one of the Pal Mickey jokes.

You can see that the subtitle “over California” is only dangling from the main sign. So it can easily be replaced when they are going to switch over to “Soarin Around the World” sometime next year.

Spoiler alert: It is scheduled to debut July 4th ... but you didn't hear that from me.

If it really starts at July 4th, that should work out nicely for us. Thanks for the hint.

I just love this photo! It really makes me homesick for DL. And let me just add that it will be about time we return - last time we were there, they had the 50th anniversary decorations up!

You fit A LOT into one day and especially at the very beginning of your trip. Hope you got to slow down a little bit lateron in your trip.

 

[dolphingirl47]

It's very nice to have very nice people, very generous people, as friends.

How true.

Once Thing 1 got to our hotel, we picked up our car and went on our shopping excursion. As a CM he has access to a store in Anaheim that is run by Disney and which is selling Disney merchandise at reduced prices. Some of it is surplus stuff, but some of it is current merchandise from the parks. Everything in the store is at least 50% marked down. There is a section of “company souvenirs” that only the CM can buy and then there is a special warehouse section which is only for CMs, but a large part of the store is open to guests of CMs as well (not to the general public though).

That sounds like a nice experience. I like all the things that you ended up getting.

I often read comments about how the CMs at Disneyland are less friendly than at WDW, but this is really not my experience.

Actually, my experience is exactly the opposite and this became especially obvious when I did both coasts in one trip.

Spoiler alert: It is scheduled to debut July 4th ... but you didn't hear that from me.

That is earlier than I had anticipated.

I really like the single file logs at DL, they make the ride a bit more thrilling than at WDW!

I think it is a good job that I was never brave enough to try. The one at WDW is already a little too thrilling to me.

On the way there we walked to New Orleans Square and I tried to capture the beauty of that little nook of the park:

This is hand down my favourite land of any of the Disney parks I have visited.

I think the DL BTMRR is now firmly on second place, there is no way any of the two American versions can ever top DLP’s as there you go through a tunnel and the ride itself is in the middle of the Rivers of America.

I wondered about this. Unfortunately I do not get to make up my mind about this as BTMRR at Disneyland Paris will be closed while I am there.

WDW's version will be getting the new DL tunnel effects when it has a multi-month closure early next year.

I wondered if this would happen.

while most likely ending up being a nice enough area, I think it is as bad a fit as Avatarland in Animal Kingdom.

I could not agree more.

Absolutely right. Star Wars belongs in DCA or really in its own park. Not shoehorned into Walt's park. Nope.

That was precisely my reaction when I first heard about this.

What a wonderful fireworks show. I really loved it!

This absolutely blew me away. Unfortunately I only got to see this once.

It is quite a “mystical” animatronic as he was in there in the very beginning, but then the effect did not work as well, so he was removed. Now they made a new one. It is a fun figure and the effect is very neat. But I thought he stood out in a bad way. He is so new and shiny and more modern looking than the other animatronics in the ride. It felt a bit out of place for me.

I totally fell in love with the Hatbox Ghost. I wonder if he fits in better with Haunted Mansion Holiday.

Corinna

 

[PrincessInOz]

Catching up as well.

Loving the update.
Sounds like you had a great time shopping and your loot is very nice. And well done for getting comps! So awesome when that happens to lovely Dis-sers.
You packed a lot in, with shopping, In-n-Out and then back to the parks. But then I guess you feel the same like me.....you don't get to go to the parks often and you want to get as much time there as possible.

 

[Flossbolna]

I would love to see those on my regular run instead of crows picking at barbecue leftovers….

Oh, I would love some nice topiaries, too. I get at least a nice fountain and lake with ducks on my regular run... But you can run on an landing strip, very few people can do that!!

That's because you used your real name - I still thin it would be worth to try for all women to say their name is Uschi and then we'll see how long Starbucks will carry on asking for my name. (Although I have to admit at such a big location the name thing might make sense. But why do all the other coffee places in Germany manage to hand me the right coffee without knowing and distorting my name?)

I have never heard that suggestion! It's hilarious! And the name thing is not for handing you the right coffee - the marketing idea behind is to make the service more personal. Which of course is a total failure if they get your name wrong!

As I said… Uschi...

I am wondering what would have been printed on that label when I had told them that my name was Uschi??? Ooshee??

I see very clear priorities.

Yes - you know him well: food is #1!

So actually like an old European Café?

It looked like a run down Starbucks, but otherwise: yes.

What a pity, it looks real good!

You would have liked it I think.

I very much enjoyed that you took so many pictures at the mission. That was really interesting and should find a place on my list of places for whenever I get to California again...

I am glad you liked them! Do you remember that we went to see a mission in Texas in 1992? I remember that we really liked that, too. It felt so much like Europe there.

 

[Flossbolna]

I'm all caught up! Sorry I've been away from the boards for so long.

Don't worry. Looks like I took a more than three weeks break in trip reporting myself...

I enjoyed the visit to the mission, and then the return to the Disney bubble. After the weirdness with the picnic in the lobby and the hostess, I hope things got much better for you!

Don't worry, it was a fabulous trip!!

Caught up once again, and really enjoyed your Catal Chapter. Whereas the food looked absolutely perfect, your waitress should be collecting unemployment until she finds a job she can do. Clearly, this one didn't suit her. At all. Grrrr....!

She was strange.

Trying my best to keep caught up!

Trying my best in helping you with that by not updating too much!!

 

[Flossbolna]

That definitely sounds like a result.

One of the worst things of jet lag is when you wake up too early. So, yes I was really happy to able to sleep well until a normal morning hour!

This looks absolutely beautiful. I think this needs to go on the to do list for a future trip.

I think you would love it! I remember how much you enjoyed the monastary in Cartagena. I think this is similar, but does not have the same great view.

After having experienced Honolulu traffic, I will never say anything about the traffic in Southern California again.

I was in my element, but then I love my "pixie dust".

I have never been a fan of sparkly/shiny things. But I can see that for someone who like that kind of decor, those merchandise would be a dream come true!

I would have loved to have seen this.

So, it is gone by now? They were not sure how long they were going to keep it around.

I am glad that you managed to make use of this.

Yes, it was perfect! Thank you again!

A family having a picnic in the lobby is too strange.

I agree.

That is really weird that the hostess was determined to seat you inside.

I really did not understand it. What was the benefit for her for doing this?

 

[Flossbolna]

Just checking in. It appears you are as busy as me- which makes it much easier to stay caught up. Miss you, Friend!!!

I have to second Liesa's comment , the slower running threads are the best to keep up with, That is my reason for saying all have time to keep up with mine as apart from Marv is the slowest ever !! But even his are beating mine lately thanks to Pat

The two of you are too funny!!! At least you did not pester me with the popcorn guy!!! I will try my best to make your life harder from now on!

 

[Flossbolna]

Great update!

Thanks!

We have only been to WDW once so far, and we found the CM's there less friendly then at DLR. I am always surprised when people say the opposite! We will know for sure on our upcoming trip as we are going straight from WDW to DLR!

Wow, that sounds like an amazing trip! I think both parks have some absolutely wonderful CMs as well as a share of bad ones. But I think that you can tell that both resorts are very different in their location, their local culture and there access to the labour pool.

It's such a shame Big Thunder Ranch will be going soon, it always makes me feel like I am somewhere else other then a theme park when I'm in there. I just love how they do Santa's cottage at Christmas time also, where will Santa be next year I wonder?? Maybe I'll ask him when we're there

I would have loved to see Santa's cottage there at Christmas time!

 

[Flossbolna]

All caught up! I loved the pictures of the Grand Californian and great pictures of the castle at the end of the last chapter!

Thanks! I was very proud that my makeshift trash can tripod (or better: monopod) was sufficient for getting decent pictures!

 

[Flossbolna]

OMG - that sounds like one of the Pal Mickey jokes.

That could very well be the source of that joke!!

If it really starts at July 4th, that should work out nicely for us. Thanks for the hint.

I think you can bet on that the new Soarin film will debut first in Shanghai Disneyland before it is going to be shown in the USA. And so far there is still no word on an opening day for Shanghai... But lots of rumours that they are woefully behind... I will keep my fingers crossed for July 4th however for you!

I just love this photo! It really makes me homesick for DL. And let me just add that it will be about time we return - last time we were there, they had the 50th anniversary decorations up!

Well, then you are only two years behind me. I had a long long gap between 2005 and 2014 as well...

You fit A LOT into one day and especially at the very beginning of your trip. Hope you got to slow down a little bit lateron in your trip.

We definitely had some relaxing days as well - but it was a trip with lots of activity from start to finish.

 

[Flossbolna]

That sounds like a nice experience. I like all the things that you ended up getting.

It really was nice to have a nice stack of souvenirs so quickly!

Actually, my experience is exactly the opposite and this became especially obvious when I did both coasts in one trip.

Once you are a little less stressed and have the time to start your trip report I will look forward to hear more about it.

That is earlier than I had anticipated.

I think they are mainly just waiting for Shanghai's attraction to open.

I think it is a good job that I was never brave enough to try. The one at WDW is already a little too thrilling to me.

If you have a thrill issue, then there is no reason to ride the DL one. This and ToT are the only two rides that are better at WDW in my opinion. So, stick with the WDW one and you will not miss anything!

This is hand down my favourite land of any of the Disney parks I have visited.

I can totally see that. I am not sure what my favorite land is... But I feel like it needs to be one at DLP, most likely their Fantasyland.

I wondered about this. Unfortunately I do not get to make up my mind about this as BTMRR at Disneyland Paris will be closed while I am there.

Yes, we will miss it, too.

I wondered if this would happen.

And they are going to add the effect in Paris as well. I think it is a fantastic substitute for the moving rocks!

That was precisely my reaction when I first heard about this.

I wonder what goes on in the heads of those people who make these decisions??

This absolutely blew me away. Unfortunately I only got to see this once.

Sorry that you saw those wonderful fireworks only once. Hopefully the show will stick around for quite some while and you will be able to see it again at some point!

 

[Flossbolna]

Loving the update.

Thanks!

Sounds like you had a great time shopping and your loot is very nice. And well done for getting comps! So awesome when that happens to lovely Dis-sers.

It was really wonderful of all our friends who made our trip more magical!!

You packed a lot in, with shopping, In-n-Out and then back to the parks. But then I guess you feel the same like me.....you don't get to go to the parks often and you want to get as much time there as possible.

Exactly. At one point I talked with Thing 2 and Michael who both have spent lots of time at DL about how I wish I could come more often to Disneyland as I would love to be able to tour it more relaxed and not be afraid of missing out so much. It got better towards the end of the trip though!

And on another note, I recently saw this blog post: Bringing Back the Missions and thought of you. I think you should plan a visit to Knott's Berry Farm next time you are in Southern California!