Day Two: Thoughtful Tolerance
The Plan:
On this day, we wanted to get up by 9:30 and have breakfast in the hotel before meeting friends at MoT. We were going to eat lunch around the museum. After we finished our tour, we were going to take a cab to the hotel to pick up the luggage and take their shuttle back to the airport. There we would jump on the
Disneyland Express and go to PPH. After our arrival on property, we would have dinner in DTD, upgrade our tickets to APs, and pick up our PhotoPass Plus card and lanyard. We planned to get to bed early so we'd be ready for our first full day at DLR!
What Happened:
We had a wonderfully restful sleep the night before, and woke up by seven. Our friends weren't due to arrive until 9, so we were able to take our time getting ready. On our way to the restaurant, we dropped our bags with the front desk. Breakfast was wonderful! We hadn't seen these friends for 10 years, but chatted as if no time had passed. It was hard saying goodbye, but we were very grateful when the offered to let us stay with them in their Anaheim home the next time we were in So Cal.
We took another crazy taxi ride to MoT. We were very moved by the exhibits. My only complaint would be how quickly we had to jump from section to section. It would be nice if they allowed a little more time so we could slow down and really take in the details. Just like the day before, we weren't able to see all that the museum had to offer, but were really grateful to see what we could. We ended the session by listening to a speaker a reformed skinhead who shared how he went down the wrong path, and how he was able to distance himself from that life to now work with MoT to promote tolerance. The visit to MoT prompted a very productive conversation between DD and I.
For the last five years, I've been in and out of a wheelchair. I've noticed how differently people treat me when I can't walk. While some people treat me the same regardless of how I get around, many people either treat me with pity or like a piece of furniture. I'm not feeling sorry for myself here, just an observation. With group tours, I often can't see a thing, so I've learned to soak things in by listening. At MoT, we were pleasantly surprised by the class of teens that were in our group. Instead of crowding us out, they made a real effort to help clear a space so I could be where I could actually see. They did this without any prompting. I was touched by their kindness ~ it's nice to see such a nice group of teens! There was no pity, no dismissiveness, just kindness. We made sure to speak to their teacher after the tour to let her know how wonderful they were. She beamed with pride. DD overheard her talking to them while we were leaving she was showering them with praise.
When we left the museum, we braved another harrowing ride in a taxi to get back to the hotel to pick up our luggage. Our timing was perfect! Just as we pulled up, they were loading a shuttle that was heading to the airport. The driver kindly got our luggage from the desk. When we arrived under the green sign, the DLE was already there. DD and I loaded onto the bus. We left five minutes later. Though we stopped at 6 other terminals, DD and I ended up being the only passengers. What wonderful timing!
Our DLE driver was very funny! His jokes were definitely more 'mature', so my guess is he has a different set of jokes when little kids are within ear shot. Near the end of the ride, he started challenging us with Disney trivia. He obviously didn't know how Disney-savvy his passengers were! He stumped us on a few, but we managed to stump him with even more. I offered to send him more trivia via email so he could expand his challenges on future rides, and he gladly accepted.
We had another stroke of luck when we arrived at PPH no waiting to check in! We were in room 616, which had a partial low view of DCA. The staff was wonderful! There was a slight mix-up with the groceries. The bell staff forgot to refrigerate the cold items, which left us with bad lunch meat and yogurt. Without me even asking, they credited my room account for the amount of the spoiled food.
We did another bed-bug check, and the room was perfectly clean. It took us around 30 minutes to unpack and get organized. I'm so glad we brought a door shoe hanger - It made for much less clutter with three women sharing the room. We absolutely loved PPH! The rooms were bigger than GCH, seemed to be quieter. The only downside (though not a big deal for us), was the elevator shuffle. As reported by other trip-reporters, it took a while to find a spot in an elevator first thing in the morning and later in the evening. It was only really a problem for us that Saturday. Other days were were coming and going at off hours, so access was pretty easy. I would advise anyone who tours the parks commando style (open-close), that they give themselves extra time to get downstairs.
Once we were unpacked and settled, we checked with Bell Services to see if my
scooter might have arrived early. They weren't able to find it, so we headed to DTD with DD pushing my wheelchair. My pain level was manageable, so I thought about trying to just walk with the cane, but DD reminded me that we were there for quite a few days and pushing it now could potentially ruin the rest of the trip. Common sense prevailed, and I let her guide me instead.
We had grumbling tummies. We couldn't figure out why we were SO HUNGRY, until we remembered we'd skipped lunch. We settled on Jazz Kitchen. My stomach was still a little sensitive, so instead of getting big meals, we ordered a few appetizers That really did the trick! Not only did we save quite a bit of money, we had more than enough to satisfy our hunger.
After eating, we headed to the ticket booth to upgrade to Annual Passes. Once again, we had no wait! I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of waiting on this trip so far! The upgrade process was much easier than it was when we had passes in '07. I like that they can renew the same pass now instead of having to get new ones every year.
We headed into DCA. I have to admit, it was odd not to take our first steps into DL. Given the time of day, I decided it'd be better to head to the other park instead of spending the first hour winding around Candlelight crowds. BVS is just awesome! The flow from land to land seems much more fluid. The original entry wasn't nearly as immersive or steeped in Disney history. That first night, DD kept saying
IT'S ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! It became a running theme. I had to giggle when she repeated that phrase over and over throughout the whole trip! I teared up, so happy to be there. I felt so silly, tears rolling down my cheeks looking at every new special detail added to the once-disappointing park.
For the first time in decades, I found myself completely disoriented in a Disney park! I couldn't figure out where anything was. That first night was all about getting a lay of the land and getting our PP+. A nice cast member directed us to the camera shop where once again we found very little wait time. Next we were off to see Carsland for the first time. WOW! I'm glad Disney is back to it's awe-inspiring theming! We went up and down the street, just soaking it all in. Oddly enough, I didn't feel the need to take a ton of pictures I was too busy just being enveloped in the Disney magic.
We decided we needed to hop onto a ride. I knew after watching the racers that I wouldn't be able to ride that, and Mater's was also not a good one with all of that whipping around. We settled on LFT. Now I've read a LOT of negative reviews of this ride, but I actually loved it! DD and I giggled the entire time! It quickly became her favorite. The HA loading was impressive, as was the queue theming. We were happy it was our first ride of the trip.
After a bit more wandering, we left the park at 10:45. On the way back to the hotel, we grabbed Jamba Juice. When we entered the lobby, a bell service cast member stopped us to tell us there was a slight mistake. The scooter had in fact been dropped off earlier that day. No problem! We took the scooter up to the room so we could charge it overnight.
We were sound asleep by 12:30.