10 Mths of WDW Planning leads us to~~DISNEYLAND!! Report Completed~Pic Heavy!!!

[DizNee Luver]

I was surprised this year to find most stores had something that others did not. I saw a blanket in ToonTown and assumed it'd also be in the Emporium. I ended up having to go back to ToonTown to get it. We had similiar situations with shirts, ornaments, and other stuff. I'm glad to see more variety in the stores.

It was nice to see a good mix.....but it also is bad if you find something at a shop and never see it again. lol

 

[kaoden39]

Hi I am late to the party. I will be back tomorrow to read.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Hi I am late to the party. I will be back tomorrow to read.

MICHELE!!!!! It's good to see you here!!!! You've been missed!!!

 

[lsulindy]

Awwww.... Those pics with Mickey are great!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Awwww.... Those pics with Mickey are great!

Thanx!!!

 

[nwdisgal]

Maybe I have been spending too much time reading People magazine because Gwen Stefani is one of the few stars I recognize

 

[DizNee Luver]

Maybe I have been spending too much time reading People magazine because Gwen Stefani is one of the few stars I recognize

Not recognize or don't know who she is??

 

[DizNee Luver]

As I left off, we just got done riding Tow Mater's Junkyard Jamboree.....next stop, Luigi's Flying Tires.

I wasn't thrilled with this ride.....partly because we weren't able to get ours to move.....so we kinda sat there and hoped someone would come hit us so we'd move. Now Addy & Anthony flew around the ride......so weight does make a difference on this ride. They were the lightest pairing and had no problems moving around.

As we exited the ride and headed back down towards the Radiator Springs Racers.

It was our return time and we headed down the Fastpass line.

When you get up to the CM collecting the Fastpasses, we are sent down the wheelchair path to a special platform to wait our turn.

I forgot to mention, when we were first heading down the Fastpass line, we notice 3 middle school age boys jump over the fencing and get in the FP line (since it was much shorter). When we caught up to them, I let them know that if they didn't have their FP tickets when they reached the CM.....they'd be starting over in the regular line. They look at me like "what? us, we didn't do anything wrong". Then I showed them that we still had our FP tickets. So again I said, "the CM up there will be gathering these FP tickets and if you don't have one....you'll be asked to go to the end of the regular line". They got a tad pale and headed back out.....realizing that jumping the fence did them no go.......lol I guess I could have let them get all the way up to the CM and tell them that they boys had jumped the fencing to "cut"......but I was in a good mood.......lol

Since there were 9 of us, we had to take 2 cars (each car holds 6). So in car one was: Mike, Shyann, Anthony, Me, Michayla & Addy. A few cars later were Tyler, Derek & Ally. What an amazing ride, the scenery outside was so real looking. The story was fun and had a few surprises. The fast part of the ride was a lot of fun. We all agreed that this was an amazing ride!

 

[DizNee Luver]

This is the on ride picture of us.....unfortunately, we didn't get the picture of the 3 older kids......I guess Ally had her feet on the dash~~which is a no-no.....so they don't "show" the picture.....nor can you get it. So if you do a no-no on any of the rides that take your picture.....it will not be available.

At this point, everyone was getting hungry for lunch.....so we started back up the street and found a few tables at Flo's V-8 Cafe.

Anyone wish the price for gas was like this??

Looking across the street:

Flo's Christmas Tree:

I love this picture! We don't know this guy......but he looked the part and was genuinely happy!

After looking at the menu (and prices)......we decided to find somewhere else to eat. No one seemed thrilled with the choices.......so we left CarsLand behind us.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Everyone agreed that they wanted to have Taste Pilot's Grill, so we headed back through Buena Vista Street and then to Condor Flatts.

I'm sorry.....but this just looks wrong!!

I don't care if this aircraft was the wrong era.....they should have just revamped it to be "time" correct (they did have planes back in the 20's didn't they????) This is how it should look!

So we headed inside and got in line to order.

The food.......delicious!! The burgers were good but everyone missed the waffle fries that used to come with the meal.

The family:

After lunch we headed back out to Buena Vista Street to head further into the park.

Next stop~~the new Little Mermaid ride.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Little Mermaid Ride.....love the colors and of course the music!!

Going "Under the Sea":

Ursula:

"Kiss the Girl"

And like any good Disney story~~"They lived Happily, Ever After"!!

 

[Trentmom]

The menu at Flo's cafe looked blah.

Good call going to other restaurant. That menu looked way better and burgers looked yummy

Racers looks like our Test Track. Is that a fun ride?

Love all the mermaid pics

 

[DizNee Luver]

The menu at Flo's cafe looked blah.

Good call going to other restaurant. That menu looked way better and burgers looked yummy

Racers looks like our Test Track. Is that a fun ride?

Love all the mermaid pics

It just didn't thrill us any and Taste Pilots has always been a favorite of the family.

I think the fast part (road race) is like Test Track.....but the story line fits the Cars movie theme where Test Track you make your car and go thru tests.

I believe the Little Mermaid opening (or just opened) at WDW is similar and possibly the same.

 

[DnA2010]

Well back to check in after a day at the Walt Disney Family Museum!
Not going to leave any spoilers, but we LOVED it! DH and I took 2x 8 year olds and 1 x 11 year old and they all enjoyed it, and only 1 of the 8 year olds is into Disney (my niece and nephew are not Disney kids but really enjoyed it!)

We arrived around 11am, and were only on the 4th (of 10 I believe) section by around 12:45 when we figured we needed to get the kids some food before watching the feature movie (Sleeping Beauty today )

The food at the cafe was fresh and tasty! There were some sandwiches which were of nice quality, a huge cheese plate which was yummy and nice salads and soups.

After the movie we then finished the museum! You will LOVE it!

Love the Cars update, we MUST get back and see it all and ride RSRers!!

 

[nwdisgal]

What i was trying to say was Gwen is one of the few famous people I would recognize. She doesn't look any different than her pictures in People - lol.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Well back to check in after a day at the Walt Disney Family Museum!
Not going to leave any spoilers, but we LOVED it! DH and I took 2x 8 year olds and 1 x 11 year old and they all enjoyed it, and only 1 of the 8 year olds is into Disney (my niece and nephew are not Disney kids but really enjoyed it!)

We arrived around 11am, and were only on the 4th (of 10 I believe) section by around 12:45 when we figured we needed to get the kids some food before watching the feature movie (Sleeping Beauty today )

The food at the cafe was fresh and tasty! There were some sandwiches which were of nice quality, a huge cheese plate which was yummy and nice salads and soups.

After the movie we then finished the museum! You will LOVE it!

Love the Cars update, we MUST get back and see it all and ride RSRers!!

Oh I'm so happy to hear all the great reviews about this place......just makes me wanna go right now!!! How cool they show a movie!! Of course we own a ton of them already.......but I don't remember anyone mentioning that before.

Do you think we could push strollers through the museum?

CarsLand is AWESOME......you really have to see it for yourself. Addy when we walked about 15 ft into the street.....she stops and looks around and goes "it's like we're in the movie!" Good endorsement from a 7 yr old that really shouldn't have noticed the big picture.......but she did!!

What i was trying to say was Gwen is one of the few famous people I would recognize. She doesn't look any different than her pictures in People - lol.

Oh, Ok........I even read the statement you made to my hubby......and we both were confused at what you were saying......lol Gwen really does look she does on camera. Adam Sandler does too (I saw him on one of my past trips.....just couldn't get the camera out fast enough).

 

[Sherry E]

I understood what nwdisgal was saying when she first said it - and I was tempted to step in to clarify when I saw that Laurie misunderstood but it wasn't my place to do so. I stayed quiet! I'm glad it was cleared up!

While I will agree that Gwen's face looks exactly the same in person as it does on TV, I have to mention that - in my opinion - her stature and body looked much different in person at DCA than from what I've seen of her on TV since the '90s. I saw her at DCA too - after Laurie saw her there - and I stood there, watching Gwen's family (including the nanny and some older man) on Buena Vista Street for a while, because they were just standing there too.

I kept thinking to myself, "Wow. I never realized how thin Gwen actually is. The TV cameras really do make people look bigger than they are." She was skinny - and her arms were bony, which does not come across in photos or on TV. Of course Gwen always appears slender, but she never looks quite as thin on camera as she did in person.

Also, Gwen was shorter than she appears on TV because she is usually wearing very high heels during performances/appearances!

Gwen's husband, Gavin, was also much taller and leaner than I ever realized from seeing him on TV in Bush videos years ago. And he is also much hotter in person than I expected him to be!

 

[debrapagliasotti]

I wanted to stop in and say hello! I am only up to the end of your first night at PPH/WOC, but from what I read so far the trip sounds great. I will try and catch up the rest of the way tonight if I can.

Did you ever have any luck getting your money refunded from Madame Tusseauds (sp??)?

 

[DizNee Luver]

I understood what nwdisgal was saying when she first said it - and I was tempted to step in to clarify when I saw that Laurie misunderstood but it wasn't my place to do so. I stayed quiet! I'm glad it was cleared up!

While I will agree that Gwen's face looks exactly the same in person as it does on TV, I have to mention that - in my opinion - her stature and body looked much different in person at DCA than from what I've seen of her on TV since the '90s. I saw her at DCA too - after Laurie saw her there - and I stood there, watching Gwen's family (including the nanny and some older man) on Buena Vista Street for a while, because they were just standing there too.

I kept thinking to myself, "Wow. I never realized how thin Gwen actually is. The TV cameras really do make people look bigger than they are." She was skinny - and her arms were bony, which does not come across in photos or on TV. Of course Gwen always appears slender, but she never looks quite as thin on camera as she did in person.

Also, Gwen was shorter than she appears on TV because she is usually wearing very high heels during performances/appearances!

Gwen's husband, Gavin, was also much taller and leaner than I ever realized from seeing him on TV in Bush videos years ago. And he is also much hotter in person than I expected him to be!

She is petite......a little smaller than what I expected. I only saw Gavin as he passed by us at the exit of pirates with the rest of the family and about 6 Disney security officers......which is funny about CarsLand.....we only saw Gwen and the boy.....no VIP guides or officers.....weird!

I wanted to stop in and say hello! I am only up to the end of your first night at PPH/WOC, but from what I read so far the trip sounds great. I will try and catch up the rest of the way tonight if I can.

Did you ever have any luck getting your money refunded from Madame Tusseauds (sp??)?

It was a wonderful trip!!! I'm glad you asked about the refund.....I meant to re-address this. I had emailed the gal and got an email back saying we would need to do the refund over the phone, as they don't want me emailing my card info to them. She wanted to know a good time to call......so I replied right back saying anytime would be fine. A week went by and no call. So on Friday the 28th, I called and was told she didn't come in until 4pm but my message would be forwarded. So at 4:30pm, I decided to call again and it went to an answering machine. UGH....I was starting to get a tad frustrated. I also wanted to deal with this before the new year since the tickets were only good thru Dec. 31st and I didn't want them to tell me that they won't refund my money because I didn't deal with it prior to the expiration date on the tickets. At 5:30, I tried to call again and someone answered!! I asked to speak to the gal that I had emailed and they asked me to call her on her cell # since she wasn't in her office. So I call the cell # and she was super friendly and she went to one of their credit card machines to run the refund. We get all done and she goes....I was afraid of that....this machine hasn't been working. So we had to do the whole thing over again when she found another machine. This time it went thru. She said she'd scan the receipt and email it to me. She also said that depending on the bank, it could take 3-5 business days to show up in my account.

I wasn't home when we did this, so I wasn't able to see my email until I got home. The thing that worried me was the part it said the machine was "off line". So I was starting to think that maybe they hadn't actually run the refund or I was getting the run around. But I decided to be patient and just wait the 5 business days before doing anything (or saying anything). I believe it was on Weds. the 2nd, the refund showed up in my acct!!! Relieved to see it there!!!

What I don't understand........this was a debit card. If they run your card for a debit, it shows up instantly......so why did the refund/credit take days??? Oh well......at least it did show up!!

 

[nwdisgal]

We like the Taste Pilots Grill too! One of our favorite spots. I am sad to hear they don't serve the waffle fries with the burgers anymore.

I am glad to hear you received your money back from the wax museum. I notice a lot of businesses delay refunds like that especially in the hospitality industry. Seems like it should be a quid pro quo type of deal but they take money quickly then hold it longer than they should after the refund transaction has already been processed. This allows them to earn the extra interest on the money in their account before they return it to you. I am surprised some consumer rights group isn't all over this or the IRS since the business is overstating revenue. I am sure their lawyers have found some loophole. Anyway, I am off on a rant because this practice really irks me - glad you got the money back!