1st trip to DL, 1st Anniversary, 1st time on the coast...COMPLETED!!

[tinkermell]

Yay!

An update on the way!!

 

[kmab00]

I could have kissed that cord last night when I found it! I was so scared that it had gotten lost into moving land!!!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008 - Continued - Back at DCA!!

Once the tour was finished, they dropped us off at our hotel (around 5 p.m.). We ran upstairs to change (because we were planning on staying at DL until it closed and I didn't want to freeze my butt off in that dress!)!!

We started off at DCA. I know we only had like 2.5 hours but we wanted to get as much done at DCA as we could!

We started off in the Hollywood Pictures area.

First up: Monster's Inc!! I love this movie!!

Waiting in line

Can I have some BLORT please?!

These crack me up!!

I loved this ride! Too cute!!

My favorite part was the door room. I love how they used mirrors to make the effect look as if there were a TON of doors when there actually weren't!!

As I took her picture, she was like, "Cheeeeeeeeeseeeee..." in that loud obnoxious voice of hers!!

This ride scares me. I'll ride it only once each trip. I am usually shaking when I get off the ride. I was unsure about this "version" because I know exactly what sequence the WDW ride goes in and I wasn't too sure of this one!

Welcome to the tower!

Would you like some tea? lol! No thanks!!

I was SCARED!!

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[kmab00]

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This was cute! I used to watch this movie all the time and I think it's neat how they made this set to look exactly as the movie! They even have the "Tip Top Club" on their Directory!

We're the two fools on the front row to the left. Yeah...see how much I'm not a fan of this ride????

This tower of terror was actually a lot shorter than the WDW version! There's not as much of a story line to it. In the one at WDW, your "car" moves forward and this one doesn't (if I remember right). It was kinda strange! Still fun, though!!

My one complaint of this camera....it sometimes focuses on what it wants to focus on and not the things that I want it to focus on....for example...Jason here is blurry but the tower is clear. I don't know why it does that!! It doesn't do it all the time, either...only sometimes!

Aaaaaah!! lol!

This reminds me of Old School Mickey! I love it!!!

After Tower of Terror, we walked over to the Animation studio. The one thing that I REALLY wanted to do here was try my hand at drawing a character. I'm TERRIBLE at drawing, really really terrible at drawing but I heard that they teach you do draw so that anyone can do it well. So I wanted to give it a try!

Love this!!

Our character to draw was:

Pooh!

Mine came out looking like Scooby Doo, though!!

We also walked over into the Sorcerer's Workshop where we stopped first in the Beast's Library...

I tried my hand at "What Disney Character are you?" in the Beast's Library but didn't realize at first that they only wanted my picture...not Jason and me together! lol!

My result was Lady!

Cute little attraction!!

I also took a picture with the Beast's fireplace which came out weird because all of the "illusions" didn't turn up on the camera! There was a "fire" going in the fireplace, the "rose" in that case on the mantle, and the beast as a human was in the picture frame above the fireplace! Crazy stuff!

We also saw Turtle Talk with Crush while we were in here which actually wasn't my favorite. I MUCH more prefer the one at Epcot. The script was different and they pick adults in this one which I thought was kind of strange. I think that it's SO cute when the kids are picked...they say the cutest things!

By this time, DCA was closing so we walked over with the massive crowd to Disneyland! TONIGHT was the night for fireworks!!! We were going to get a GREAT spot and I couldn't wait! Our plan was to walk straight over, grab a spot, leave Jason while I find a pretzel, then wait for the fireworks!

Sooo, we walked across, found an excellent spot....

Such as this one....sorry the dude's head is in it. I did that on purpose though so you could see how close we really were!

Then I left in my pursuit of a Mickey Pretzel! I found a cart right outside of Adventureland and had to wait a little while for it to cook, but I got it!!

How cute! I didn't want to eat it!! lol!

On my way back to the castle, I stopped because I heard an announcement overhead, "Due to high winds, Remember: Dreams Come True Fireworks MAY be cancelled for this evening."

WHAT?!?!

I clung to those words...."MAY".....and met back up with Jason where we shared a pretzel while waiting.

Mickey Food #1: CHECK!!

The castle was breathtaking and we were SO close! I couldn't believe it!!

Well, what do you know...we kept seeing this yellow balloon floating up into the air and being carried WAY off.....then before too long, the announcer said those dreadful words....the fireworks were cancelled. My heart dropped. I had no idea when we'd get to see them again. We still had DCA, Fantasmic, AND the Electric Light Parade to see!! Too much to do and no time to do it all in.

Ah well........

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[kmab00]

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Trying to find the good in every situation, I thought that tonight would be the PERFECT night to get Fantasyland all done with!! We had to wait about 15 minutes for it to re-open but when it did, we were so there!!

MR. TOAD! I haven't ridden this ride in AGES...I was so sad when it closed at WDW but so excited to ride it here at DL!!!

The Toad man and I in line!

While waiting in line, Jason examined this picture and pointed to the far right and was like, "IS THAT......?!?!?" Before he could even finish his question, I was like, "YEP! That's hell! Oh by the way, you go to hell in this ride!!" He couldn't believe it!! Haha!

After Mr. Toad....loved it by the way.....we stepped over to Snow White's Scary Adventure which is slightly different from the one at WDW!

The Evil Queen...

This book used to have an apple on top of it to rub but it's gone now!

Too cute!!

Next in line was Pinocchio's Daring Journey! They don't have a ride like this in WDW so I was excited to see what it was all about!

Poor Jiminy! I love him!!!

We also rode the Storybook Land Canal boats but it was dark and I didn't want the flash on my camera to blind people so we rode again when it was daylight on another day!

Jason tried his hand at the Sword In The Stone, then we walked over to Peter Pan's Flight!

This is one of my favorites in WDW!!

After we finished up in Fantasyland, it was around park closing time so we browsed a few shops on Main Street. In the Emporium, I looked up and found this:

A Barber Shop that's not really a barber shop!! lol!

And a hat shop!!

Goodnight Disneyland!!

Up next: More DISNEYLAND!! Wahooo!!

 

[cdotla]

Yay Karen! So glad you are back in action!

I got thru the 1st 26 pages in no time and was patiently waiting like everyone else!

Love hearing about DL as it is all new to me as well. I am planning a trip with the kiddos once Carsland opens in 2011 or 2012, so your TR will be bookmarked for future refererence for sure!

Can't wait for the next installment!

 

[MA pigletfan]

Oh my Karen..i just loved the update!!!
..i am soo looking forward to all those rides that we dont' get to do in WDW!!! I too am a bit nervous about the Tower of Terror..i might have to "woman up" and do it..since poor Greg has been ripped off both times at WDW since I wouldnt' ride it...

 

[julezdisney]

Great update, Karen! I saw your update in my CP and I was like, Yay! She updated!

 

[jnjusoioa]

Awesome update Karen!!! I loved reading it and it is so good to have you back writing. I love the Mickey shaped pretzels, they were one of my favorite things when I was in DL in March, I forget how many of them I had, seeing your made me want one, they are so yummy and so darn cute. I also love all the rides in FL, so that was so cool to look at all your pictures, your pictures are so great!!! Sorry that the fireworks were canceled but at least you got to do the FL rides, so that is good. Do you have any trips planned in the future?? Your trip reports are great, can't wait to read and see more.

 

[nat1234]

Great update as usual. Your pictures are fantastic and even though you didn't get to see the fireworks, it looks like you both had a great time in fantasyland. I hope your move went well.
Natalie

 

[Disneygrl36]

Great update Karen.
So about the fireworks being cancelled.
I loved seeing Mr Toad......can't wait to ride that in December.

 

[chickyann]

awww sorry about the Fireworks

 

[Bloodhound]

Hi, I cant wait to see all this in October....I really loved the ToT in WDW we rode it time and time again on a EMH Night in the Dark it was so extra awesome Oh Ive herd alot about Mr Toad and really looking forward to it as well. Very nice update as always.

 

[JaxJags08]

Great update! I'm pretty scared of ToT, too. Give me a roller coaster any day! I just don't like being dropped.

That stinks that there were no fireworks that night! I hope you got the opportunity - I guess we'll see in a future installment!

I love Peter Pan too! I don't know what it is - it's just so darn charming! Storybook Land Canal boats - what's that all about?

 

[kmab00]

Yay Karen! So glad you are back in action!

I got thru the 1st 26 pages in no time and was patiently waiting like everyone else!

Love hearing about DL as it is all new to me as well. I am planning a trip with the kiddos once Carsland opens in 2011 or 2012, so your TR will be bookmarked for future refererence for sure!

Can't wait for the next installment!

I'm glad you are enjoying it!! DL can be kinda of intimidating to a "new" person....I did a lot of research and that helped! I hope this trip report will be of help to you, too!! Thanks for following along!!!

Oh my Karen..i just loved the update!!!
..i am soo looking forward to all those rides that we dont' get to do in WDW!!! I too am a bit nervous about the Tower of Terror..i might have to "woman up" and do it..since poor Greg has been ripped off both times at WDW since I wouldnt' ride it...

I know that's what I was looking forward to also!!! I talked about Mr. Toad for WEEKS to Jason!! Tower of Terror isn't that bad. It's over before you know it and the drops probably only last for like 6 seconds....but seriously, that has to be the longest 6 seconds of my life!! I think that the ToT at DL is smaller. I'm not sure if it is or not (I know the "ride" part isn't as long) but it just seems smaller to me. Good luck!!!

Great update, Karen! I saw your update in my CP and I was like, Yay! She updated!

Thank you!!

Awesome update Karen!!! I loved reading it and it is so good to have you back writing. I love the Mickey shaped pretzels, they were one of my favorite things when I was in DL in March, I forget how many of them I had, seeing your made me want one, they are so yummy and so darn cute. I also love all the rides in FL, so that was so cool to look at all your pictures, your pictures are so great!!! Sorry that the fireworks were canceled but at least you got to do the FL rides, so that is good. Do you have any trips planned in the future?? Your trip reports are great, can't wait to read and see more.

Thank you so much!!! YES that pretzel was AWESOME!!!! I've never seen any like that in WDW but then again, I never did look! I WISH I had a trip planned for the future! I'm sure we'll do something Disney-ish in 09 but nothing on the books yet!!!

Great update as usual. Your pictures are fantastic and even though you didn't get to see the fireworks, it looks like you both had a great time in fantasyland. I hope your move went well.
Natalie

Thank you so much!! I loved Fantasyland!! It was so much fun!! The move went well too, thanks for asking!

Great update Karen.
So about the fireworks being cancelled.
I loved seeing Mr Toad......can't wait to ride that in December.

Thank you! The fireworks being cancelled did upset me but that's ok! Mr. Toad...lol...after we got off the ride, I told Jason "I see now why I loved that ride so much as a kid!" I forgot that you get to "drive" your own car!!! There's nothing that I could see that would have gotten me excited to ride that as a kid other than the fact that you could drive the car!! It's funny seeing the ride as a kid and then again through the eyes of an adult!! Funny stuff!!

awww sorry about the Fireworks

I know....it was sad. That's ok though...I got to see it a lot of times!!

Hi, I cant wait to see all this in October....I really loved the ToT in WDW we rode it time and time again on a EMH Night in the Dark it was so extra awesome Oh Ive herd alot about Mr Toad and really looking forward to it as well. Very nice update as always.

Oh yes!! ToT in the dark is GREAT!!! You're goin to have fun!!!

Great update! I'm pretty scared of ToT, too. Give me a roller coaster any day! I just don't like being dropped.

That stinks that there were no fireworks that night! I hope you got the opportunity - I guess we'll see in a future installment!

I love Peter Pan too! I don't know what it is - it's just so darn charming! Storybook Land Canal boats - what's that all about?

LOL I know what you mean about ToT! I'm not a huge fan of drops, either. Peter Pan is too cute!! Storybook Land is a little area in Fantasyland (it's a "ride"). You get in this little boat with a "guide" and ride on a little river through Monstro's mouth and into "storybook land". It's a place filled with miniature replicas of Disney stories....such as, the 3 little pigs houses, princess jasmine's castle, cinderella's castle, Mr. Toad's house, etc. I have pictures of it in the daylight!! It was cute!

 

[kmab00]

What's this? Another update in the same week!!??!

I'm having Disney Withdrawals so bad!! I know we'll probably do something Disney next year for Vacation, but I don't have anything definitive yet and it's making me CRAZY!!!!

DVC called yesterday because I had ordered a DVD and information packet (I just want to watch...I'm not really like 100% interested) and when I got off the phone with them, Jason asked who I was talking to. I told him that it was Disney World and that I had just planned our next vacation!! He about died!! It was funny!! It's not that he doesn't want another trip...we just don't know when his vacation time will be. BUT, he gets TWO weeks of vacation next year so we'll have to figure out something really fun to do!!!

Anyway, onto the update!!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

We woke up what we thought was early but apparently the rest of Anaheim had the same idea....

First stop: Disneyland - we wanted to get more things done as early as possible before DCA opened!

We hurried over to the Matterhorn first because I wanted to ride the "other" side since I heard that each side is a different experience.

The line was a little long which surprised me for that early in the morning! I amused myself by admiring the flowers!!

I didn't know that there was a control tower on this ride! I guess it makes sense to say that every attraction has one!

I took pictures as we zoomed by! The crystals didn't come out showing their colors!

Aaaah the Yetti! Oh wait never mind....wrong ride!! It's the Abominable Snowman!!

We walked by Nemo's Subs but of course the line was H-U-G-E!!!

So we continued onto Buzz! We got STUCK at one point and I found a SECRET target inside the tunnel that wasn't lit up so I just kept hitting and hitting it!! I beat Jason's BUTT!!!!

YEAH!!

Our ride photo!! lol!

We also rode Space Mountain again while we were there. Did I mention before that I LOVE this version of the ride??? Because I DO!!!

Redneck photo...lol!

After Space Mountain, we realized that we were hungry and we had decided earlier that morning to for-go the Go-Tarts and have Mickey Pancakes instead!!! We made our way over to the River Belle Terrace and we saw this.....

.....going on in front of the castle! I wonder what it was all about?

We found the River Belle Terrace and I was really really impressed with the decor inside!! They did a great job! Reminded me of how a plantation home would be decorated!

I watched as they made the Mickey pancakes.....they gave me crazy faces too when I took a picture! lol!

Mickey Food #2 - Mickey Mouse Pancakes (CHECK!)

Jason had the Mark Twain, I think! It was good, too!

Me with my pancake! I didn't want to eat it!! lol!

I'm telling you, I could have sat in this place for hours! It was so quiet and peaceful and quaint! I loved it!!!

He's ready to go!!!

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[kmab00]

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We decided to walk towards New Orleans Square but first stop at Pirates again. We were so bent on finding the face of "Walt" on one of those pirates. We looked HARD too but still don't know if we found him or not!! I think we did but I'm not 100% sure!

As we passed through New Orleans Square, we heard a trumpet warming up. Anytime Jason hears a trumpet like that, he follows!! (He was a trumpet major in college...music education)

We found ourselves in this beautiful little courtyard so we stopped to take pictures! The "band" was warming up at the top of the stairs.

We of course followed them like groupies!!!!

But stopped first in front of the train station/fountain to take a picture!

The Jazz band.....funny, I don't think that any of them were from the south but they had Jazz down pretty good!!

We stood there and watched their entire act. They even threw out gold beads (so that's why you'll see pictures of me with a gold bead necklace around my neck!! haha!).

Next we decided to go to the Pirates Lair (aka Tom Sawyer's Island).

On the bridge

I like how it has the "Pirates" theme to it, but I think I like Tom Sawyer's Island better!! It's just a classic!

Jason in front of the mill

I thought this was cute! lol!

There were lots of "Pirate" things to see!

Like this for example!! Haha!

The Columbia....closed of course!

Having finished most of what we wanted to see at Disneyland, we decided to board the train to the entrance and walk across to California Adventure!

A shot from the train station!

Enjoying the afternoon!

As we walked out, I turned and saw this trolley and thought it was cute!

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[kmab00]

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The day was beautiful and I'm glad we didn't have any bad weather the entire week!

The Golden Gate Bridge!

We stopped for a couple of photo pass pictures along the way.

This is when the day went really really bad!! I guess it's mostly from lack of sleep/being tired/cranky/hot/something...anyway, we stopped in front of the parade waterfall (with the grizzly river run bear up top) to take a picture with Miguel, a hilarious photo pass photographer. So we take a bunch of Photo Pass pictures, he makes us kiss, whatever. Then he tells us to put our hands up and make a "Grizzly Face". Ok, so I by now had my jacket off because it was warm and I also had my park map in my hand. I turned around to the ledge of the bridge to put them down and take the picture. We took the picture, fine, no problem. When I turned around, my heart dropped. The wind had picked up my park map and blew it into the water. Oh but no, it wasn't just my park map! It was my PREFERRED SEATING tickets from the Disney Travel company!!! I about died. Miguel came over to see what we lost and walked over to Guest Services with us. As we walked in, the lady said that she couldn't replace those but could give us a few fast passes instead. Fastpasses isn't what we needed. I wanted those dang vouchers so we wouldn't have to sit in God's Country to see Aladdin!! That's when I lost it. I had to walk out of the door because I didn't want anyone to see me cry. I couldn't stop it. The tears just kept on flowing. It was so embarrassing. I mean, seriously...I'm crying over two slips of paper that fell into a lake?!

So Miguel walks out and sees me crying and says he feels horrible like it's all his fault. That "Dang Grizzly" is what he kept saying. I reassured him that it was ME and not him and not to feel bad. He kept telling me that everything happens for a reason. I think he said that at least 5 times!! So then he told us to walk over outside the gate to the ticket sales counter and see if they could help. I guess they could tell that I had been crying too and they also didn't have the vouchers. I still couldn't help myself. I was still crying! They made a phone call to the Disney Travel Company (which is located in Downtown Disney...about a 15 minute walk from where we were at) and they said that the could definitely replace the vouchers!! YAY!!

So, we begin our journey through Downtown Disney and who do we see in front of the World of Disney Store?!

It's the DREAM TEAM!!!!!

I guess Miguel was right....everything DOES happen for a reason!!

Now I figured out what I did wrong that morning. I prayed during breakfast (being silly) that we would run into the Dream team that day and win a dream!! Well, you better be careful for what you pray for because God has a funny way of answering your prayers sometimes! Had I not lost the vouchers, then I wouldn't have seen the Dream team.

Anyway, so of course the Dream team just absolutely made my day!!! Every time following that day when I prayed, I would say, "...and please let us run into the dream team again...with NO mishaps this time!" Be careful how you word things!!! lol!

Jason and I with our new ears!!

We made it to the Travel Company and on our way back in to DCA, we ran into Miguel. I stopped him and said, "Look what we won!" He was SO EXCITED for us! He was like, "SEE I TOLD YOU that everything happens for a reason!!" He was too sweet!!!!

We decided first to stop and see the Drawn to Animation show....it was SO cute!!

Definitely a must see!

Mickey, Woody, and Cindy were all there to visit!

We saw lots of ducks, too! lol!

With the Mickey Fountain in the Animation Courtyard

On our way around to Aladdin, we saw this guy!

Dressed in his vacation clothes!!

With Cruella's trailer!

We made it to Aladdin......

.....and look what I got to use!! YAY!!!

Up next: Lunch in DCA and the Electric Light Parade!! (aka...the MAIN STREET Electrical Parade!!) Haha!

 

[Bloodhound]

Very Nice update with lots of great pics....The Mickey Pancakes really made my mouth water....I love pancakes cooked nice and crunchy around the edges ....they looked puuurfect...lol Sorry you lost the vouchers but Yay on getting replacements, fast passes and A DT dream...did they give you Mickey Ears or did you buy them???

 

[JaxJags08]

Are those lines??? Sheesh! I really, really hate lines!

The Mickey pancake looked really cute. I would have had a hard time eating it too! Have you ever watched Steel Magnolias? They have a red velvet armadillo cake in it. That's what I always think of when I eat food shaped like animals!

I'm so sorry you had to go through the drama of losing the passes. Miguel seemed very nice. You just have to love those cast members! But it really was an example of how things happen for a reason!

So you got gold beads from the jazz band! And it was much more innocent than what has to be done to get them back in your home state!

 

[stagemomx3]

How was the preferred seating for Aladdin?