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

[MEK]

I have gotten pretty far behind - AGAIN - but I just loved the castle pictures. Outstanding! I know the castle is supposed to be on the smaller side, but it looks large in all those pics. What a lovely show.

Of course, its just about lunch time here and I am drooling overthose gorgeous cupcakes!

 

[Leshaface]

Love seeing his face on the castle.

That is SO COOL that they incorporated the Matterhorn to do this!

Gorgeous shot!

Even better shot!

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

I'm excited to see how those pics turn out using the tripod!

he Pineapple upside down bundt cake. I was a little disappointed as it really didn’t have any pineapple on the top. There was hint of flavor, but they really should have placed a ring of pineapple in the bottom of the Bundt on the top of the cake.

So more like Pineapple-flavored Upside Down Cake Yeah I would have been disappointed too.

 

[franandaj]

You had a nice view of Disneyland Forever fireworks that night. Hopefully you were able to use a different tripod that night since the one you used on Sunday had some problems.

Yes, I got my best tripod from the old house. It is so much easier to use.

From your shots, it looked like there were people standing in front of you. I don't know if people do sit on the ground or stand. In the past, Disney always makes the guests stand during the fireworks and there were times where the guests were sitting on the ground in front of the castle.

I think they did make the guests stand up. We were on benches at the hub, similar to the set up we had on Sunday, but unlike Sunday where no one was in front of us, there were people in the street area between the hub and the castle.

Jolly Holiday Bakery has some good treats even the 60th Anniversary ones as well.

That was my first time in there. I would enjoy trying something else from there another time.

 

[franandaj]

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

Sounds like a plan!

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

I'll admit that I did the same thing in Bret's TR. But then I went back and looked at the pictures after having seen the parade in person and realized what great pictures that he takes as well.

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

Well, I noticed a big difference between the pictures that I just posted and the ones that I took earlier this week. I have a couple more posts before I get to those pictures, but having the tripod allowed me to take longer exposure shots, but in hindsight, I don't think these Fireworks lend themselves to the longer shots. You'll have to look at the pictures after we see the fireworks, which is less than a month now!

The baked goods look delicious! What a shame that the cake did not live up to its promise. I am always annoyed when I splurge on something and then it turns out to not be worth the splurge.

And now it makes me want to make my own Pineapple Upside Down Cake!

I could see the pictures this time I'm very excited to see them in person!

And all those treats look fabulous!

I'm glad you could see the pictures!

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

Hmmmm.....why did I think you were flying in to John Wayne Airport. Maybe if you're flying into LAX it would be better to stop on the way to the hotel. You practically drive past our house on the way there. The room won't be ready yet. We should think about this. Also you're only checking into PP for one night right? it won't be critical to get there early and have a good view. :

Those treats look delicious! Much better than my current breakfast.

Much better than I eat on most days.

Wow. Just wow...

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

When I saw them on Tuesday night, it really hit me just how many explosions there were going on in the show. They really pulled out all the stops for this show, and to think that they are doing it every night. It's crazy, but so so impressive.

 

[franandaj]

I have gotten pretty far behind - AGAIN - but I just loved the castle pictures. Outstanding! I know the castle is supposed to be on the smaller side, but it looks large in all those pics. What a lovely show.

The Castle is much smaller in comparison to Cinderella's Castle as that structure is massive and the spires stick up so high that you can see the top from almost anywhere in the park. Sleeping Beauty's Castle is a little over two stories tall. You can see it walking down Main Street, but it's not so huge that the spires are visible from everywhere in the park. We were pretty close and I zoomed in on it in the pictures. It was a great show.

Of course, its just about lunch time here and I am drooling overthose gorgeous cupcakes!

I would love to have a cupcake, but I'm back to being good after a few days of playing hookey.

Love seeing his face on the castle.

I love it how DL makes so much about Walt and that it was HIS park.

That is SO COOL that they incorporated the Matterhorn to do this!

They did a lot more on the Matterhorn, it was just too hard to take pictures of.

Gorgeous shot!

Even better shot!

Thanks!

I'm excited to see how those pics turn out using the tripod!

They came out pretty good, but this show has challenges that I didn't expect. You learn something every day.

So more like Pineapple-flavored Upside Down Cake Yeah I would have been disappointed too.

Yeah, I guess I'm going to have to make my own, but after the gingerbread cake splurge, my next update and Plaza Inn with Jenny, I need to go back to being good and drop the 3-4 pounds I gained.

 

[franandaj]

OK folks, this is where I feel blessed. Even though I have canceled, I don’t want to count how many trips this year, I was just going over my Disneyland day trip calendar for the next three months and I hope that I can keep up on the TRs from my trips out there! I’ve been there every week, just about for the last three weeks, and I’m going to be there for two nights next week, another day trip the following week, and then in August I’m going at least five times. I don’t even know how many in September, so at least I’m going to make up for the last few months of Disney deprivation!


For those of you who follow Disneyland closely, you may know that in 2014 the “secret” restaurant Club 33 went down for some serious renovations and opened a little less than a year ago. Fran and I have been lucky enough to dine there quite a bit prior to the rehab, and we have actually been there post rehab. Unfortunately we have not been impressed which is why you find us raving about Steakhouse 55 where the former chef from Club 33 now dazzles us with his creations.

However, we keep hoping that someday something will turn around and the menu will become appealing to us and we will find something we really enjoy eating, so we arranged for a reservation to try the menu yet again for dinner last Sunday evening. However since I can’t resist a day enjoying the park, we got out there around 4PM to do some shopping and go on a ride or two.

Our first stop was to pick up a 60th Anniversary figure of Mickey Mouse. She had only seen it at Off the Page, when we were there a couple weeks ago, at this point, it is everywhere, but back then it was only available at Off the Page, so we went there first and purchased the figure and had it sent to package pick up so we didn’t have to ride around with it.



I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast (which was just a small bowl of cereal) and was trying to hold out until dinner, but I was starting to feel faint. We decided to head over to the Cozy Cones for a snack. The Pixar Play Parade was just beginning. We always get caught up by the Play Parade, so we decided to head away from it and high tailed it out of Hollywoodland, past Grizzly Peak to Carsland completely avoiding the parade.

They had a new cone here, it was a pulled pork with cole slaw and a pickle. Fran had that one.



I got my Chicken Chile Verde cone, which is very tasty and as long as I don’t eat the cone, it’s on my eating program!



They have replaced the souvenir cone cups with Dinoco oil can cups, so we couldn’t resist.



Once my head was no longer spinning from hunger, we decided to check out the 60th Anniversary Merchandise. I found a Tiara and a T-shirt and Fran found a couple other items. While she was paying for them, I got a text from Bret that he was approaching the park. He met up with us inside the store and we decided to head over to DL and ride Star Tours. It was pretty much a walk on. I snapped some photos in the queue. While we rode, Fran purchased some more of the Star Wars figures and had them sent to package pick up at the front of the park.













After that we said, “Goodbye, for now.” To Bret and headed over to Club 33. We started off in the lounge with a drink.







After relaxing and enjoying our drinks, we were led into the main dining room, or as they call, Le Grand Salon.

 

[franandaj]

We were seated at a table in the middle of the room, and I was astonished that at 7:30 there were only three other tables occupied. The server did tell us that holiday weekends in the summer usually have low attendance for dinner, but I’m wondering if that’s just what they tell people or if the place is now a ghost town. If you haven’t read the article just google, “The Man Who Turned Club 33 Upside Down” this explains a LOT about what has been going with Club 33.





We got our menus, and as I suspected it was fairly similar to the last time we were there. I had a hard time selecting the various courses, in fact there was nothing on the second course that I wanted at all, but luckily they let you pick anything from the first three courses, for your first three, the main, cheese course and dessert and pretty much set.









This amuse bouche really impressed me, and gave me high hopes for the meal. It was a quail egg benedict.





My first course was new on the menu according to our waiter. It was the Sauteed Asparagus with Ricotta Cheese Dumplings, Lamb Bacon and Asparagus Nage. While everything sounded really good, the Dumplings were a little too dense for my tastes, I couldn’t find any of the Lamb Bacon and the Asparagus taste was really overpowering. I’m not saying I didn’t eat it, I just wasn’t sopping up the juice with the bread. Oh yeah, because they still hadn’t brought us any bread!



Fran ordered the Lobster Rockefeller with Crispy Oysters and Lemon Hollandaise. I think she liked it. She ate everything, but she did agree that it didn’t have that WOW! Factor.



For the second course I had somewhat of a problem. There was absolutely nothing there that I wanted. As I mentioned earlier, luckily they let you shift things around a bit, and courses 1-3 are somewhat interchangeable.

I went with the Roasted Lobster Sausage with Black Eyed Pea Cassoulet and Lobster Sauce. This was not at all what I expected. It had a very Creole taste to it, for some reason I was expecting something much lighter. I ate the three pieces of sausage, but actually preferred the Black Eyed Pea mixture over the sausage.



Fran went with the Salad of Frisee, Coastal Strawberries, Avacado, Pistachio and Buttermilk Dressing. I guess she liked it, she ate it all.



For the third course, Fran had the Lobster Sausage and I went with the Grilled Diver Scallop with Corn Flan, Succotash, Pedron Pepper and Lobster Chorizo. The scallop was cooked perfectly and it was very tasty. The rest of the stuff on the plate was just weird. I tried both the yellow stuff (I think that was the corn flan) and the green stuff and they were just slimy and strange tasting. Now you folks know that I’m a pretty adventurous eater, more adventurous on the carnivorous side than the herbivore side, but still here I am striking out on most of these dishes with the exception of the amuse bouche.



We were served a palate cleanser before the main course which was very nice. I definitely enjoyed this.



Then we were served our Main courses. Fran went with the Petit Angus Filet Mignon with Tasso Ham Scalloped Potatoes and Collard Greens Pesto. Again, she must have liked it since she ate it.



I had the Colorado Rack of Lamb with Spring Garlic, Mushrooms and Syrah Sauce. The lamb was very tasty, but somehow I felt it was lacking a little something, if I had to guess, it needed a little more salt. That’s really odd because I am not very heavy handed with the salt, in fact I’m supposed to have a reduced sodium diet, so I’m very careful with it when cooking at home. That’s not to say I hated the dish, I just wish I enjoyed it more.



By this time Fantasmic had started. It was about 9:15 and we had the entire restaurant to ourselves.



We had a very obstructed view of the show.



Then the cheese course arrived. This was about my favorite course of the evening. Everything on this plate went so well together, my favorite was the honeycomb and blue cheese combination. Fran skipped the Cheese Course.



We both ordered the dessert and agreed that this was also one of the best parts of the meal. Mississippi Molten Chocolate Cake, Vanilla Bean Marshmallows and Café au Lait Ice Cream.



We were also given Petit Fours, but in our haste, I forgot to take a picture of them. We gobbled those up really quickly! And then we headed out.





The Court of Angels is so pretty when it is lit up and night. It’s a shame that they made it so that not everyone can enjoy this space any more.



After all that food and wine, what did I do? Went on Big Thunder Mountain of Course! Sorry, no pictures! And then we were off to meet back up with Bret to see the Parade!

 

[dolphingirl47]

I love the Mickey figurine. I would have loved to see a photo of the tiara. What a shame that Club 33 was such a ghost town. I have to say looking at the menu, only three things appeal to me: the palate cleanser, the cheese course and Valrhona Dark Chocolate Five Nut Tart from the dessert menu.

Corinna

 

[franandaj]

I would have loved to see a photo of the tiara.

 

[franandaj]

What a shame that Club 33 was such a ghost town. I have to say looking at the menu, only three things appeal to me: the palate cleanser, the cheese course and Valrhona Dark Chocolate Five Nut Tart from the dessert menu.

I think it just speaks volumes about the menu. While it is rather upscale and pleasant enough, I think folks really liked the more standard fare that was served before. It was still upscale and had a few weird ingredients for sure, but you knew you could get a good chunk of steak, a piece of fish and you weren't worrying if there was going to be something on there you liked.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

That article is very interesting about the changes that were made to the club. I understand allowing others to have access to the club but its ashamed if they took so much of an advantage of it for 400 reservations a month!

That menu looks ok to me - I think I can figure something each course I would like but its also not a good thing if you aren't wow'd when you are spending that much per person.

That's crazy that there were only 4 tables taken at 7:30pm at night!

 

[dizneeat]

I am all caught up here - again, FINALLY! The end of the school year is to blame for my lack of posting.

Have to add that I just adored your fireworks pics - they make me even more excited for next year. Your meal at Club 33 looks good, even though reading through the menu was not as exciting as I had hoped it to be.
Some of your dishes looked VERY yummy though I have to ask and I would have loved to try your dessert. Thanks for doing it for me.

The diamond merchandise looks awesome so far. Love the Mickey statue and the Tiara looks great too! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Pinkocto]

How fun to be getting out to DL so often! I know you're close but life often gets in the way. You need some fun interspersed in there

Your Club 33 meal looked great! Here is one place that I would have found plenty to eat on the menu. Too bad it didn't live up to par

Fun that you met up with Bret.

Hmmmm.....why did I think you were flying in to John Wayne Airport. Maybe if you're flying into LAX it would be better to stop on the way to the hotel. You practically drive past our house on the way there. The room won't be ready yet. We should think about this. Also you're only checking into PP for one night right? it won't be critical to get there early and have a good view. :

Well, I was hoping to fly into John Wayne but when I was ready to buy tickets they were $100 more each way. And I can do LAX as a nonstop. I don't like having to get a shuttle to the car rental but that was the downside. I'll be at PP for four nights, but I'm not worried about the view. No, I don't think the room would be ready that early anyway. I'm ok to stop on the way

 

[mvf-m11c]

I can understand why you are at Steakhouse 55 over Club 33 with the chef over at SH55. I will have to dine there one day and would do the Chef's Table.

The menu at Club 33 looks okay but not as good before the post renovation. The food looks appetizing that night.

I had a fun time last Sunday with you and Fran. It was nice to make a last second trip after Anime Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center. I was thinking of not going on Sunday and only go part of the day on Monday until I head home that day. Anime Expo took a lot out of me. It didn't took too long to go through the queue of Star Tours that day.

 

[rentayenta]

I'm here, back, unpacked, and super behind! Had so fun with you.

 

[ACDSNY]

I'm finally caught up again. That's great you're having so many DL meet ups. I was amazed one member at Club 33 would think that was appropriate and then file a suit when the gig was up. I could sure go for your Mississippi Molten Chocolate Cake right now.

 

[dolphingirl47]

That looks really pretty.

Corinna

 

[franandaj]

That article is very interesting about the changes that were made to the club. I understand allowing others to have access to the club but its ashamed if they took so much of an advantage of it for 400 reservations a month!

It's one thing to make reservations for friends or even acquaintances, but 400 a month!!!! That is clearly abuse. And to think that the member is responsible for the behavior of their guests too! No wonder they chose not to renew his membership!

That menu looks ok to me - I think I can figure something each course I would like but its also not a good thing if you aren't wow'd when you are spending that much per person.

That pretty much the point, not that there isn't a lot to choose from, I could have chosen two or three items from all the courses except the second. My only complaint is that each of the times that I've eaten there I'm not thinking, "Wow! I'm coming back for this!" or doing the Happy Food Dance as I take each bite.

That's crazy that there were only 4 tables taken at 7:30pm at night!

I know! You would think that the place would be at least half full.

I am all caught up here - again, FINALLY! The end of the school year is to blame for my lack of posting.

Real life can do that to you!

Have to add that I just adored your fireworks pics - they make me even more excited for next year. Your meal at Club 33 looks good, even though reading through the menu was not as exciting as I had hoped it to be.
Some of your dishes looked VERY yummy though I have to ask and I would have loved to try your dessert. Thanks for doing it for me.

Thanks! I think a lot of people feel that way. I don't know why it's like that. Sutton's other restaurant, Napa Rose, has lots of wonderful things that I would gladly go back and order over again. Even the Plaza Inn, makes me do the Happy Food Dance. I just wish that this place had the same effect on me. The dessert was very good!

The diamond merchandise looks awesome so far. Love the Mickey statue and the Tiara looks great too! Thanks for sharing.

I'll have to post some of the items that we have picked up. And they will have even more stuff on the actual day of the 60th Anniversary.

How fun to be getting out to DL so often! I know you're close but life often gets in the way. You need some fun interspersed in there

Yeah, it got in the way from March until Mid June. Fran always feels guilty when we're not working, but I have to convince her that we need some fun. What good is life if we can't enjoy it?

Your Club 33 meal looked great! Here is one place that I would have found plenty to eat on the menu. Too bad it didn't live up to par

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, it was nice, just not O.M.G. nice.

Fun that you met up with Bret.

It was nice to see him again, plus he gave me some good tips for capturing the parade on my camera.

Well, I was hoping to fly into John Wayne but when I was ready to buy tickets they were $100 more each way. And I can do LAX as a nonstop. I don't like having to get a shuttle to the car rental but that was the downside. I'll be at PP for four nights, but I'm not worried about the view. No, I don't think the room would be ready that early anyway. I'm ok to stop on the way

If your plane lands at 1:00PM, with picking up your luggage, and getting the rental car, it should take you about 40 minutes to get here at that time of day, so probably between 2:30 and 3:00PM. I can give you the Nickel tour and make us something for dinner.

 

[Flossbolna]

Loved seeing the pictures from your meal and everything looked delicious to me. I also thought the menu sounded really good. What a shame that the taste was not as good as everything sets it up to be. One thing I noticed is that a lot of the dishes sound very contrived. As if there is too much going on in them. Sometimes simpler is better. I don't know why it falls flat compared with Napa Rose. Maybe the chef isn't there as much as is overseeing so many places and the delivery is off? Isn't Andrew Sutton responsible for the Carthay Circle as well?

I read that article you linked to and was quite in shock. I had read a bit about rule changes for Club 33 in the past, I think Mouseplanet (ok, my computer does not like that website and wants to autocorrect it into houseplant!! ) and Miceage have reported on it now and then and I read both of them for Disney news on and off. It was quite obvious that some of the rule changes were to curb abuse by members, but really that one person would be going so overboard with it is quite amazing!! I would have been embarrassed in his position. But I guess there are always people who try to take advantage and in the end they spoil it for everyone...

It's great that you are getting more Disney time again! Living so close and with a profession where you don't have to adhere to strict office hours, it would be a shame if you did not use those freedoms! I know that some of your future plans include me and I am really looking forward to meeting you at DL!

I know that I owe you an email! Will write soon!

 

[franandaj]

I can understand why you are at Steakhouse 55 over Club 33 with the chef over at SH55. I will have to dine there one day and would do the Chef's Table.

The menu at Club 33 looks okay but not as good before the post renovation. The food looks appetizing that night.

I definitely like the S55 menu better (even though I never order off the menu there!)

I had a fun time last Sunday with you and Fran. It was nice to make a last second trip after Anime Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center. I was thinking of not going on Sunday and only go part of the day on Monday until I head home that day. Anime Expo took a lot out of me. It didn't took too long to go through the queue of Star Tours that day.

I'm glad you were able to come down that night. Not only was it fun to see you but I appreciated your tips with the camera, and the pictures I will post in my next update will hopefully show the pointers you gave me.

I'm here, back, unpacked, and super behind! Had so fun with you.

Sometimes you have to chug!

I'm finally caught up again. That's great you're having so many DL meet ups.

It is! It seems that some years more people just flock to the parks, last year was slow, but the year before that and this year, I'm seeing a ton of DISers!

I was amazed one member at Club 33 would think that was appropriate and then file a suit when the gig was up.

I know, I knew about the suit, but until I read that article I had no idea that someone could abuse the system that much!

I could sure go for your Mississippi Molten Chocolate Cake right now.

That can also be ordered a la carte in the Lounge.... you're coming back this Fall, right?

That looks really pretty.

Corinna

Thank you!