A Once in Lifetime Adventure in Walt's Wonderful World-lots of pics-COMPLETE

[jacksparrowfan]

Hi Melanie!

What did you think of Walts chili? Good? Spicy? It was crazy busy for us too, and we were running late, so we had to kind of hurry to eat.

I almost ran into Marty Sklar there. He had his tray and was grabbing something in the middle of the room. I sort of stood there in awe while he walked by me. Silly me!

Thank you for the info on Gus-Gus! On my list, along with chili for next time.

 

[travelmel]

Cute little Gus-Gus!

I know you must have been in 7th Heaven there in that historical place. Congrats on a wonderful day.

 

[Jennifer48]

So we popped over there & I got a couple of Disney Studios pins that you cannot get elsewhere & a magnet.

The pins were on the left side of the store & the right side of the store was more like a regular Disney store.

Is that Mary Poppins? So cool! I have to take a picture of the pin I bought this month at WDW. Its Mickey and Minnie dressed up as Mary Poppins and Bert! So fun.

Here are some of my favorites-Some of Walt's 9 Old Men

Does Ward have 6 fingers on each hand?! Or is it early and I'm seeing things??

The Sound of Music is my favorite non-Disney movie too! I love Julie Andrews

 

[Disneygrl36]

YAY! Amazing amazing amazing!!!!!! Did I say amazing? AMAZING!

Yeah, so Sound of Music is my favorite Non-Disney movie too.

I was just watching some thing on TCM about Disney live action movies and the Sherman brothers were on talking about how much Walt loved "Feed the Birds". I think just Richard was on, I don't remember Robert talking, I need to go back and re-watch it.

But anyways, wonderful! I just love love love this TR!

I saw that special on TCM too. I wish I had thought to tape it as we had to leave & miss the last 30 minutes to get ready to go see Sound of Music.

Hi Melanie!

What did you think of Walts chili? Good? Spicy? It was crazy busy for us too, and we were running late, so we had to kind of hurry to eat.

I almost ran into Marty Sklar there. He had his tray and was grabbing something in the middle of the room. I sort of stood there in awe while he walked by me. Silly me!

Thank you for the info on Gus-Gus! On my list, along with chili for next time.

I knew someone saw Marty Skylar but I couldn't remember who. Lucky you!!!!
I liked the chili-not too spicy & a good amount of beans & meat. The salad bar was great too!!!!
I might have to send you some of my unaswered questions to ask when it gets closer to the time for you to go.

Cute little Gus-Gus!

I know you must have been in 7th Heaven there in that historical place. Congrats on a wonderful day.

I was on It was an amazing day!!!!

Is that Mary Poppins? So cool! I have to take a picture of the pin I bought this month at WDW. Its Mickey and Minnie dressed up as Mary Poppins and Bert! So fun.

Does Ward have 6 fingers on each hand?! Or is it early and I'm seeing things??

The Sound of Music is my favorite non-Disney movie too! I love Julie Andrews

That is Mary Poppins. Sorry that pic is so fuzzy. It is her with a sign that says Stage 2 where the movie was filmed. I have decided pins are hard to take good pictures of. Your pin sounds really cute.
I don't think Ward Kimball has 6 fingers, my guess is he was being funny like Ward seemed to like to be.
You can see in this picture that he did the same thing-but I think it is more obvious here that he is adding a finger.

I the Sound of Music & Julie Andrews!!!!!!!!! Did you know I got to see Julie in Atlanta this past summer. She was doing a tour called Julie Andrews: the Gift of Music. It was an amazing evening!!!!!!!!

 

[Disneygrl36]

So after driving through alot of traffic, we finally arrived at our destination-Disney's Grand Californian.

We all gathered in the lobby (which is amazing) & the girls had someone come over from the desk who gave us all our packets & tickets. It was a very quick & efficient check-in process. We asked about being able to stay in our same room & not have to move for our 2 extra days. They said it shouldn't be a problem & we would just have to sign a new registartion card & get new keys on Sunday. We headed out to check out our room.

We didn't get a king sized bed here either. Oh well no big deal.

The vanity area

The toiletries

The cutest shower curtain eva!!!!

Followed by the most adorable do not disturb sign eva!!!!

The balcony

And it's funny because about that time our fellow adventurer's started coming out on their balconies too & we are all out there waving to each other.

The view

So not very long after we finished exploring, our luggage was delivered. We unpacked & rested a bit before getting cleaned up for dinner.
We met in the lobby at 5pm to go over to the Disneyland hotel for our welcome reception.

Before we left, we were met in the lobby by Liz a 2008 Disneyland ambassador who welcomed us to the Disneyland resort. She told us that Walt Disney started the program when he realized he couldn't always be everywhere he needed to be & so he had ambassadors that could be an extension of him. So on behalf of Walt she welcomed us to Disneyland. Really nice. She also gave out our pins for the day which were Making the Magic-which was our theme of the day.

So then, we headed out to the Disneyland hotel for our welcome reception & dinner.

We went to the Disneyland Hotel Wine Cellar where they had 3 wines we could taste & a spread of snacks including cheeses, crackers, bread with olive taponade & grilled veggies. It was all really yummy.

We had a reisling, a chardonnay & a pinot noir to taste. I tasted all 3 & liked all three. We had a good time sitting & chatting with our fellow adventurers sipping our wine. The Wine Cellar was a cozy & intimate area that was perfect for us to all enjoy our time before dinner. Diana proposed a toast to new friends & adventure which was very appropriate.

We were able to all fill our glasses one last time with our favorite to take up to dinner at Hook's point.

Captains Hook's nemesis

I had the chicken which came with a risotto. It was very tasty.

Key lime pie for dessert-yummo.

Dinner was really nice. We sat at the smaller of the two tables & had a quieter conversation than the big table. They were having a gay old time & we kept saying everyone in the restaurant was going to wonder who that rowdy group was........why, we were the Adventures by Disney group of course.

Continued in the next post..........

 

[Disneygrl36]

We regrouped outside after dinner where Kristin held us all together by making sure we were paying attention to the almighty paddle.

At this time, they gave us our 4 day passes to the parks & then we headed over to go into the Magic Kingdom!!!!!!!!!! Yippee, we are going to Disneyland.
They took us in a side gate so we didn't have to wait in a line & we all scanned our tickets quickly & we were there!!!!!!!

We walked along following the leader & Diana lead us over to the Haunted Mansion, where we got to go in through the exit without waiting.

We had a stretching room & then the entrance hall practically to ourselves. I was so excited to see Haunted Mansion holiday that I could hardly stand it.
In the stretching room

Before you get on the ride

Our fellow adventurer's Mark & Mindy took this picture of us in our doom buggy.

Bye Sally-we'll be sure to hurry back.

After our ride, they gave us a special fastpass to use on Haunted Mansion again & 1 extra fast pass to be used tonight. We immediately headed to Pirates as I wanted Eric to experience how much better it was here than at the World. We had a swashbuckling good time. Then we decided to use our Haunted Mansion fast pass & rode it again. Picked up more of the details this time & enjoyed it so much. We decided to use our other fast pass to ride Space Mountain. We got a bit lost trying to find it which was funny, as we would never get lost at Disney World. But this was a new park to us & it was dark. We finally found it & had a great ride on Space Mountain which is also better than at the World. I love the soundtrack & sitting side by side.
That's us in the back.

After that ride, we decided that even though the park was open until 11 that we were just too tired to hang in there much longer, so we sauntered down Main Street & stopped at the Firestation to say goodnight to Walt (this would become a tradition for us) before heading on back to our room.
Turn down service

The very last of the fireworks from our balcony

We had a very full & exciting day & we knew tomorrow was starting bright early again. So we showered & got ready for bed. We both fell asleep in a flash with big smiles on our faces.

Up next: Walt's World

 

[Jennifer48]

That is Mary Poppins. Sorry that pic is so fuzzy. It is her with a sign that says Stage 2 where the movie was filmed. I have decided pins are hard to take good pictures of. Your pin sounds really cute.
I don't think Ward Kimball has 6 fingers, my guess is he was being funny like Ward seemed to like to be.
You can see in this picture that he did the same thing-but I think it is more obvious here that he is adding a finger.

I the Sound of Music & Julie Andrews!!!!!!!!! Did you know I got to see Julie in Atlanta this past summer. She was doing a tour called Julie Andrews: the Gift of Music. It was an amazing evening!!!!!!!!

Ahhh that makes sense. You can see it much better in that photo.

I didn't know you got to see her! Thats so awesome! I hope you were able to take your picture with her. Thats so cool. I've debated whether or not to purchase her autobiography. Have you read it?

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

wow those wree some great updates i really enjoyed them and thanks for sharing them with us.

did you get a pin each day, if so that woud be worth it right there.

 

[wendylady36]

I'm still SO super jealous of your trip! It's hard to read your updates. Someday that WILL be me on that tour, darn it!

Everything looks so wonderful, and I can tell you two had a wonderful time. I'm eager to read and see more.

 

[Disneygrl36]

Ahhh that makes sense. You can see it much better in that photo.

I didn't know you got to see her! Thats so awesome! I hope you were able to take your picture with her. Thats so cool. I've debated whether or not to purchase her autobiography. Have you read it?

I wish I could have had a picture made with her. We just attended the concert. It was at a huge ampitheatre in Atlanta. I thought she would just narrate/introduce music because of her throat issues, but she SANG & I got chill bumps. It was a wonderful evening. There was a limo waiting out front when we were leaving & people were asking if it was for her & were told no.....I should have waited to see if it was & then I could have at least seen her closer. I have her autobiography & I liked it. She left out right at the good part though.....getting ready to make Mary Poppins. I hope she will get on with the next part soon.

wow those wree some great updates i really enjoyed them and thanks for sharing them with us.

did you get a pin each day, if so that woud be worth it right there.

Thanks Dan. I have had fun writing them. Yes we were given a pin of the day every day of the trip. I think all ABD trips do that. I have done something fun with them all & I will show you guys that at the end.

I'm still SO super jealous of your trip! It's hard to read your updates. Someday that WILL be me on that tour, darn it!

Everything looks so wonderful, and I can tell you two had a wonderful time. I'm eager to read and see more.

for you Wendy that you can take this trip some day!!!! I am thinking if they change it up or add more things that I will so want to go back again!!!! I will have another update tomorrow. I have to upload the next set of pictures.

 

[travelmel]

Woo Hoo Haunted Mansion Holiday!!! I'm not a big fan of change.. especially Disneyland change but I LOVE THAT RIDE! It's wonderful and even more special since it's only temporary and it won't be there everytime you go.

I'm looking forward to hearing about how you liked IASWAA (SMall WOrld!-I never get those ititial thingy's right ) in its holiday glory. I love that one, too. I am partial to seasonal changes. Pirtates with a permanent Johnny Debb invasion... I wish that hadn't happened. I miss my old pirates on the ship fighting!! Ah well.. go with the flow, right?!

Did your DH like the Pirates better?? What did he think about all the newness of the rides??

 

[DisGal520]

Great that you got pins everyday and the guides took photos for you.

Did you find that you liked the character breakfasts? - Were the characters different at each of those breakfasts?

Loving your report!

DisGal

 

[kmab00]

I bet that the Haunted Mansion Holiday is SO neat to see!! I do agree with you....I like Space Mountain and Pirates much more at Disneyland than I do at Disney World! We rode each of those rides 3 times because we loved them so much and we weren't sure when we'd be back!

I love the Grand...so pretty inside! I'm glad your first day at DL went great!!

 

[SoonerGirl]

I too, agree that Space Mtn & POTC are better at DL. I could have ridden SM a hundred times, it was so much fun! I hope they referb the one at WDW sometime.

I'd love to see the HM holiday overlay - it looks so cool!

 

[CangriChika]

Dinner was really nice. We sat at the smaller of the two tables & had a quieter conversation than the big table. They were having a gay old time & we kept saying everyone in the restaurant was going to wonder who that rowdy group was........why, we were the Adventures by Disney group of course.

I wonder who the crazy loud people that were sitting at that big table were!?


lets hear it for wine tasting!

((off topic))did you get your photopass letter yet? We got ours in the mail today!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Melanie! I've been wondering where you were and if everything was alright I am blonde, so didn't think to look back at your siggie - I saw you on Dan's TR - now I have alot of great catching up to do on your TR

 

[Disneygrl36]

Woo Hoo Haunted Mansion Holiday!!! I'm not a big fan of change.. especially Disneyland change but I LOVE THAT RIDE! It's wonderful and even more special since it's only temporary and it won't be there everytime you go.

I'm looking forward to hearing about how you liked IASWAA (SMall WOrld!-I never get those ititial thingy's right ) in its holiday glory. I love that one, too. I am partial to seasonal changes. Pirtates with a permanent Johnny Debb invasion... I wish that hadn't happened. I miss my old pirates on the ship fighting!! Ah well.. go with the flow, right?!

Did your DH like the Pirates better?? What did he think about all the newness of the rides??

I loved the holiday layovers on both rides & Eric enjoyed them too.
We are big fans of Captain Jack Sparrow so I actually liked that change at Pirates too because I think it still keeps enough of it's originality whilst throwing in good ole Jack. Eric did like Pirates & Space Mtn both better at Disneyland. I wasn't sure how he would feel about DL overall since it's so much smaller, but he really liked it & could see that it has it's own brand of charm.

Great that you got pins everyday and the guides took photos for you.

Did you find that you liked the character breakfasts? - Were the characters different at each of those breakfasts?

Loving your report!

DisGal

DisGal
I did like the character breakfasts. Since we were a group of adults, the characters didn't always spend alot of time with us which was fine when you wanted to eat. More coming about our first character breakfast soon. We did have different characters at each breakfast & the DL character breakfast aren't as themed as the ones at WDW so you never know who might show up.
At one we had Tigger, Rabbit, Pooh, Eeyore, Chip & Dale, Captain Hook, Minnie Mouse & White Rabbit.

I bet that the Haunted Mansion Holiday is SO neat to see!! I do agree with you....I like Space Mountain and Pirates much more at Disneyland than I do at Disney World! We rode each of those rides 3 times because we loved them so much and we weren't sure when we'd be back!

I love the Grand...so pretty inside! I'm glad your first day at DL went great!!

The Haunted Mansion Holiday was really neat & so wonderfully done. I wish my pictures were better-but I did them on the ride without the flash & most turned out fuzzy. I think we rode Space Mountain 2 times & Pirates 3 times & Haunted Mansion 4 times. I agree you don't know when you will get back so you gotta maximize your favorites. There were still things we didn't do that are unique to DL that I wanted to do so you know what that means-I gotta go back.

I too, agree that Space Mtn & POTC are better at DL. I could have ridden SM a hundred times, it was so much fun! I hope they referb the one at WDW sometime.

I'd love to see the HM holiday overlay - it looks so cool!

They need to redo SM at WDW just like at DL. That would be great!!!! Christmas time at DL was beautiful.

I wonder who the crazy loud people that were sitting at that big table were!?


lets hear it for wine tasting!

((off topic))did you get your photopass letter yet? We got ours in the mail today!

Oh........so the photopass info is coming via a letter-for some reason I thought it was coming in an email. Hope it's here today!!!!
Sakina, I say yeah for the wine tasting too!!!!!!!!! That was fun & you were too funny going around with your Hook all night!!!!!!!!!!

Melanie! I've been wondering where you were and if everything was alright I am blonde, so didn't think to look back at your siggie - I saw you on Dan's TR - now I have alot of great catching up to do on your TR

Glad you found me Tammie! I was wondering where you were. I was afraid I might throw some people off with the new thread. Let me know what you think when you get caught up.

 

[Jennifer48]

I wish I could have had a picture made with her. We just attended the concert. It was at a huge ampitheatre in Atlanta. I thought she would just narrate/introduce music because of her throat issues, but she SANG & I got chill bumps. It was a wonderful evening. There was a limo waiting out front when we were leaving & people were asking if it was for her & were told no.....I should have waited to see if it was & then I could have at least seen her closer. I have her autobiography & I liked it. She left out right at the good part though.....getting ready to make Mary Poppins. I hope she will get on with the next part soon.

Thanks to you, I just purchased her book on Amazon. It was a good deal Thank you!

 

[Disneygrl36]

This morning we had another very early meeting time of 7am in the lobby. We were headed for Disneyland so no one seemed to mind the early hour too much. We followed the paddle & were soon being checked in at a side gate to go on in to the Magic Kingdom.
I like this shot of the California letters without people in the way as they will be going away with the California Adventures Layover.

You know you are really there when you see the Train Station.

This sign says it all doesn't it?

It was really cool to be the first guests in the park. I was just taking pictures & marveling at the quietness of the place.
Let's take a stroll up Main Street together.
The Firestation where we would be going later today to see Walt's apartment.

The HUGE Christmas tree

Detail of the tree

Cars & a cutie on Main Street.........

How cute is Santa making the popcorn?

The hub uncrowded

We got to the castle & were all able to get pictures without people in them. I was one of the last ones there because I was trying to take photos of the quiet early morning on Main Street.

So we needed to head on over to our Minnie & Friends breakfast at the Plaza Inn.

What a beautiful restaurant & the cool thing about it is that some of the elements in the restaurant come from a 1870 Victorian mansion called the St James mansion that Walt bought in Los Angeles. The cut glass front door is one of the items from the mansion.

My breakfast

Before long, characters started coming to visit us. The character interaction here was the best we had!!!!
Tigger was an absolute mess. This was the BEST Tigger I have ever seen. He WAS Tigger!!!! Bouncy & playful & fun, fun, fun. He stole the ABD sign

Rabbit was pretty fun too. He took Eric's sunglasses off his shirt & put them on him.

Rabbit also wouldn't let Tigger back in when he went outside.

I went to the bathroom at one point & came back where Chip was sitting in my seat having a little chat with my DH. Wish I had the camera to get a picture of that as I came back.
How cute are Eeyore's ears over our heads.

How cute are these 3?

Kristin & Eeyore somehow got put outside too?

This photo shows better the room we were in, which they said Walt used to entertain guests in from time to time.

As we were getting ready to leave we also got a visit from the White Rabbit who of course was LATE, LATE, LATE!!!!!!!

Continued in the next post......

 

[SoonerGirl]

They need to redo SM at WDW just like at DL. That would be great!!!! Christmas time at DL was beautiful.

I've never been to a Disney resort at Christmas time - but that's about to change! The Disney Grump has agreed to a 2009 WDW Christmas vacation! I'm so excited - I can't wait to see WDW all dressed up for the holiday! Now, I just have a year to wait............


ETA: Wow - you got an update in there while I was posting this. Great pictures of main street. AND you get to go into Walt's apartment?? I can't wait to hear about that!