Anyone Game? 2 Castles and a Road Trip TR! Last Day and TR Wrap Up! #2796; 10/01

[dgbg100106]

love the updates,... who knew I got that far behind!

The pic of you and DH in the director's chairs is very nice... I am jealous of your visit. One of these days...

 

[franandaj]

You captured the morning perfectly!

I didn't think I really did much else than suggest that I would "like" to eat at the Garden Grill. I guess I'm glad it worked out to be so much of a hit because from your TR it makes me feel like that was my mandate...."and then the people ate at the Garden Grill...." I mean, I did WANT to eat there, but no one objected....

OK, so maybe I did steer us there, but A) I really wanted to eat either the Kefta Kebab, the Chicken Kebab (either with tzatziki) and the gyro and B) I knew that it actually had the best choices in DCA for a Pesky Vegetarian. If he didn't like the salad or the tofu kebab, there was next door with another salad and pizza or pasta with a vegetarian option, so in addition to serving my needs, it also gave the most options for the pesky vegetarian as well!

Just wondering what it would cost to hire a human fast pass if this was even possible............lol Looks like great fun so nice to see the park that way.

From what I have been told (and this is not official), but evidently to actually pay for one of these tours, it is something like $275 per hour with a minimum of six hours per tour.

My friend used this figure when calculating his Club 33 membership dues, he just figured that he would use them all, but since his health was not so good this year and he found out that he can "give" them to others, he has been very kind knowing that I have people visiting from far away and not saving them just for himself, especially knowing that they will expire at the end of the year.

 

[spiritsim]

wow what a great friend, you are truly blessed. Looks like such a great way to see the park.

 

[TifffanyD]

How COOL!!! Can you ask (or do you know) what the license plate at DCA means (It reads "8u 75 92" and is a 1937 CA plate. It was replaced in 2012. We got an impromptu tour from guest services (it pays to be nice!!!!) and that was assigned as homework. Even our club 33 friend can't figure it out!

 

[TifffanyD]

Best guess is something about Snow White due to it being 1937. Although (we've learned) that the Main Street of DCA is designed to be like when Walt came
To Cali in the 1920's. We learned Snow White grossed 8 mil (8u?) and 2012 (when the plate was made) was the 75th anniversary. Any ideas?!

 

[PrincessInOz]

WOW a human fastpass! What will they think of next!

What a great way to tour the park though ... and to do that with friends even better! I think your day was blessed with quite a bit of Disney Magic!

Your lunch looks fantastic ... I think we'll have kebabs for dinner tonight!

I remember riding the Mad Mouse at the Royal Melbourne Show as a teenager, quite terrifying really!

Looking forward to hearing more.

Thanks ADN. It was a great way to tour the park and I was blessed with lots of pixie dust this trip.

Hope you enjoyed your kebab dinner.

What a great morning! You got wonderful photos of the rides, and the food looks delicious

I love rollercoasters, but I have to say, not much of a fan of the crazy mouse style ones! Definitely looking forward to having a go at Goofy's Sky School though.

And yes, no offence, but I'd much rather have gone to Singapore for a few days with DH than sit around at home reading TRs

None taken.

Is that a new PTR link I finally get round to seeing in your siggie??? WOW! I need to head over and check it out.

That's great that Fran and Alison arranged the human fastpass. How kind! Carsland looks so much fun! I love the Under the Sea ride at WDW. Does DCA have the meet and greet with Ariel option also?

I read from Pam's post about the GC entrance to DCA. I thought that was fab. Yum re Paradise Grill but PIO no sweet stuff? Shame on you. I want to see that sticky sweet food porn!

Sadly on this trip, I realised that whilst my mouth and taste buds appreciates the sticky sweet food, my stomach can only hold so much in one sitting. But I certainly ate less sweet stuff than I had planned.

I am so loving your pictures from Disneyland/CA!!! Since I will be there in like 10 days!!!!! I am taking notes of stuff I want to make sure I do (and eat!!

That's a great countdown Denise. Have fun there! I'll try and push a couple of more updates on DCA through in the next week or so.

Just wondering what it would cost to hire a human fast pass if this was even possible............lol Looks like great fun so nice to see the park that way.

I see Alison has answered your question.

You captured the morning perfectly!

I didn't think I really did much else than suggest that I would "like" to eat at the Garden Grill. I guess I'm glad it worked out to be so much of a hit because from your TR it makes me feel like that was my mandate...."and then the people ate at the Garden Grill...." I mean, I did WANT to eat there, but no one objected....

OK, so maybe I did steer us there, but A) I really wanted to eat either the Kefta Kebab, the Chicken Kebab (either with tzatziki) and the gyro and B) I knew that it actually had the best choices in DCA for a Pesky Vegetarian. If he didn't like the salad or the tofu kebab, there was next door with another salad and pizza or pasta with a vegetarian option, so in addition to serving my needs, it also gave the most options for the pesky vegetarian as well!

I guess perhaps I didn't write it the way it happened. And yes, it was definitely a suggestion.....it wasn't like you had issued a biblical decree or anything.

I think I remember you mentioning it during the planning stages and I checked out the menu then. It ticked all the boxes - local recommendation, vegetarian options, delicious and healthy choices - and the option for the pasta next door for DS. We were more than happy to head there ourselves; so it was definitely a joint choice.

Carsland and what a mild looking ride with Tow Mater and then a w a y you go

Looks like so much fun the picture with the G forces had me I couldn't wait before but now I really am looking forward to Carsland coming to us in FL not soon enough for me !

Well.....if it isn't soon enough for you, there is always the option of heading West and checking it out sooner.

Such an awesome day. A human fastpass would be amazing. That has to be the best job ever. It makes me want to move their and get a job with Disney. The Garden Grill looks fantastic. We've never eaten there, because I try to find one restaurant that suits all of us. I may have to do what you did though and get adult food from there and kid food from the pizza joint.

Connor was finally tall enough to ride MJJ this trip. He loved it so much that we rode it four times in three days. He definitely had happy eyes.

The 1901 Lounge is stunningly beautiful.

I hope you get to head to Garden Grill next time you're in DLR. That's fantastic that Connor was tall enough for MJJ. Bet he'll be pleased to get on it again in December.

It was a fun start to the morning. It would have been nice if RSR was up as our first ride but it turned out better later that day.

The food at Paradise Garden Grill was great and glad that Alison chooses that place to have lunch. Very nice update.

Thanks Bret.

I was pleasantly surprised how fun Mator's ride was so fun!

No vacation next year?

None planned for next year at this stage. I'm hoping for Europe in 2015 and will need to start saving the pennies for that trip. It is more expensive to head that way from Australia.

I did not have a chance to try Mater's Junkyard Jamboree when I was at Disneyland in May, but they have a ride that shares the same technology at Walt Disney Studios in Paris called Cars Quatre Roues Rallye which is also surprisingly lively and great fun. I can't wait to see how much you got done in that day. Lunch looks delicious. I love Middle Eastern food so I am surprised that I have not found this on any of my visits.

Corinna

Oooh! Nice! It might be one of those rides I need to try to hit. How many days would you recommend we allocate for DisneyParis?

love the updates,... who knew I got that far behind!

The pic of you and DH in the director's chairs is very nice... I am jealous of your visit. One of these days...

Thanks Brandi. I guess you're up to date again.

How COOL!!! Can you ask (or do you know) what the license plate at DCA means (It reads "8u 75 92" and is a 1937 CA plate. It was replaced in 2012. We got an impromptu tour from guest services (it pays to be nice!!!!) and that was assigned as homework. Even our club 33 friend can't figure it out!

I hope one of the CA locals can help with this question. I'm curious to know the answer.

 

[PrincessInOz]

One-ply Only



We had gotten the news that Radiator Spring Racers was back up and running sometime when we were over this part of the park. So, after lunch, we headed towards that direction.







TSMM was down for a scheduled maintenance thing; so we kept on going. The others were keen to get on California Screamin’. This is one of the two rides I won’t go on at DLR (the other being ToT because I’ve actually been in an elevator that dropped 5 – 8 floors in real life before the safety brakes kicked in. Not an experience I want to do again for fun.)







Fran and I sat this one out and I took the opportunity to head to the restrooms. When on holiday, it seems like it is a never-ending quest to find 2-ply paper in a restroom anywhere! So, this sign really was mocking me. No….you can’t call it quilted when there is only 1-ply. That’s probably an embossing thing. Quilting implies TWO layers joined together.







And whilst we are on the subject…..I can confirm that cost-cutting at Disney is true. Last year, there was one place I found 2-ply paper. Sadly, not so this year. Strictly 1-ply only. And yes, this picture was taken where you think it might have been taken. I just happened to have my camera clean and handy. The things I do…..the things I do.








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[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)


Over and Over - RSR



Moving right along to a different sort of butte…..






It was time to get on these cars.






Tim pushed us through the FP return gates with a flash of his badge. I was just happy to be back in Radiator Springs again.






At this stage of the day, the queues were long in all 3 lines.






Plenty of time to watch water run. Almost like watching grass grow.






As we had scooters with us, we were allowed to head to the HA boarding area.






It’s towards to left of the standard area.






I don’t think I’ve ever noticed the tractorglyphs before! But then, I haven't boarded here before either.






It was Fran’s first time on this ride.






This ride is THE hottest ticket in Disneyland Resort right now. Queue times are ridiculous most times of the day and the fast passes run out around 10 am in the morning. Having Tim the Human Fastpass with us meant that we didn’t need to run in early and queue up for a fastpass….and having Fran with us meant that we were legitimate in the use of the HA boarding area. Tim knew that and he worked within the rules of the area. One other thing that Tim knew…..when we returned, he asked if we wanted to go round again. The answer was a resounding YES from all of us. We were allowed to stay in the car and not even get off. (But I did swap with DS…..he had wanted to sit in the front on the second time round.) And so we went round again. Sadly, when we were inside, the ride broke down and we sat there waiting for it to get back up and running for about 5 minutes. It was still good for the race part of the course and we did feed our need for speed. But because the ride had broken down, when we returned, we were asked if we wanted to go round again.

Yes….we stayed in the same car and went round RSR 3 times in a row. So, there probably is no point boring you with 3 sets of pictures from the 3 times we went round. I can bore you with the collated set of pictures in ride order from all 3 rides.



And we’re off!






A quick safety check first.






And we’re off again.






It’s red rock country.






I have 3 separate pictures taken from this other side of the butte. I don't think I've ever noticed that door before.

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Ornament Falls. One of these visits, I must try and grab this shot at night.





With the opportunity to shoot in here numerous times, I tried to make sure I got different things each time.

Mack






The Sherrif











Mater






Tractor tipping






Fillmore and Sarge






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[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)


The inside Radiator Springs town


























We headed inside Ramone’s twice.





















For the record – I did attempt to put the camera down on the 3rd round and enjoy the experience. But we headed into Luigi’s on the 3rd round and it was my first time this trip!











Check out our white threads!






A word of encouragement from Doc Hudson.






A wave of the flags.






And it’s the main event!











It’s a race to the finish at 60 miles per hour!






I don’t think anyone had a clue who won!






But we eventually had to get off.






And check out the photo.






It had been a blue diamond experience all the way.







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[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)

Finishing off our time with mvf-m11c



By the time we got round to the main street of Radiator Springs, we knew that there was a problem with one of the scooters.






Bret helped Alison wheel it back to the resort to see if they could fix it.
Fran ended up having to take a walk from here....






….all the way to Soarin’.



The scooter problems sure cast a shadow on our day.






We did try to see the bright side….at least it was in Disneyland and not in WDW.






But it sure was a rocky road for us.






We did make it to Soarin’ and we got on that ride. By that stage, Alison and Bret had gotten back. They changed the battery out and the scooter was back working again.


But it was time for us to say goodbye to Bret. He needed to meet up with family and then drive back up to NorCal.

We headed into Disneyland for one LAST shot.








Bret – Thanks so much for making the trip down. Great hanging out with you and I hope we can do it again sometime. It was a lot of fun!

 

[spiritsim]

Love the cars ride. So nice you could spend so much time with your friends from CA looked like a great time!

 

[Pinkocto]

You had me chuckling with the single ply, I hate single ply!

Too cool about RSR 3 times in a row that ride has so many amazing details.

 

[TMGosizk]

Wow! Love that you got a VIP tour of the park! What a great, unique way to spend the day and see the parks!

And you got to ride RSR three times!?!? That is awesome (even if it did breakdown once)! I seriously need to get out there to the West Coast and see (ride) these things!

Your pictures, as always, were wonderful!

 

[zanzibar138]

OMG RSR 3 times in a row???

I can't believe it's still so busy! I thought the novelty would have worn off by now... Do you think it will still be like that in another year's time? I'm really dreading the thought of having to race to the park and line up for a FP

And yes, I do have a PTR going for that trip now. It gets kind of ignored at the moment though because not much is happening.

I LOL'd at your comment about the misleading toilet paper sign

 

[dhorner233]

I'm so glad you got to ride the racers!!

I forgot to say it was a shame you didn't have music with your tractor pull. It's supposed to be Mater singing with Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. Like 6 different songs they rotate. I plan to buy the CD this time!

You sure got some awesome pictures on the RSR ride!!

 

[skier_pete]

And were off!

So did your guide tell you what each of the liscence plate numbers mean?

I don't think it's common knowledge yet...so I hesitate to say...

 

[mvf-m11c]

Very nice update. It was fun to hangout with you, your family, Alison and Fran during the trip. It was fun and hope to do it again in the near future.

Very nice pictures from RSR. That was a real treat that we got to ride RSR three times in a row after the 2nd time broke down and got the opportunity to ride it again.

 

[franandaj]

Again PIO, you find the silver lining in everything and paint a very warm and fuzzy picture. That wait inside the RSR was Waaaaaay longer than 5 minutes. I was looking on my cell phone and I didn't completely time, it but I know that my butt began hurting in that ride and we were sitting there well over 12 minutes, but I don't have the exact time!

Otherwise great reporting, and yes I'm so glad that Fran got on the ride and got to do it more than once, and especially without having to climb back out of that car because I know it was difficult for her!

So did your guide tell you what each of the liscence plate numbers mean?

I don't think it's common knowledge yet...so I hesitate to say...

OK....spill the beans we want to know! Didn't you see TiffanyD's post above about the other license plate? YOU have more knowledge than any of us! Inquiring minds want to know!

Oh yeah! and edited that I can't believe that they switched out the 2ply from last year to a 1ply. That's just not right! Wow! talk about cost cutting!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Love the cars ride. So nice you could spend so much time with your friends from CA looked like a great time!

I really enjoyed this trip because of all the time I spent with people in 3D.

You had me chuckling with the single ply, I hate single ply!

Too cool about RSR 3 times in a row that ride has so many amazing details.

I am resigned to single ply whenever I travel. I can only hope for the soft and not scratchy kind.

Wow! Love that you got a VIP tour of the park! What a great, unique way to spend the day and see the parks!

And you got to ride RSR three times!?!? That is awesome (even if it did breakdown once)! I seriously need to get out there to the West Coast and see (ride) these things!

Your pictures, as always, were wonderful!

RSR 3 times in a row was really awesome. I think that if you've never been to DLR, that it is worth a trip out.

OMG RSR 3 times in a row???

I can't believe it's still so busy! I thought the novelty would have worn off by now... Do you think it will still be like that in another year's time? I'm really dreading the thought of having to race to the park and line up for a FP

And yes, I do have a PTR going for that trip now. It gets kind of ignored at the moment though because not much is happening.

I LOL'd at your comment about the misleading toilet paper sign

Actually.....I was talking about your Shanghai Disney line; with no PTR yet. Are you going to go?

I'm so glad you got to ride the racers!!

I forgot to say it was a shame you didn't have music with your tractor pull. It's supposed to be Mater singing with Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. Like 6 different songs they rotate. I plan to buy the CD this time!

You sure got some awesome pictures on the RSR ride!!

It did play music on MJJ. But DS and I were giggling and laughing so much, we couldn't hear it.

So did your guide tell you what each of the liscence plate numbers mean?

I don't think it's common knowledge yet...so I hesitate to say...

I believe that they only have license plate numbers from the states that Route 66 crosses. Are you saying that the string of numbers and letters on each plate also means something? *sigh*

Did they carry that theme through from the movie? I understand that some of the number plates in the movie represent things like GPS coordinates for racing/car factory sites and also for significant dates.

I hope you check in here before your trip and answer the question. Otherwise, it's gonna be a long wait for us.....

Very nice update. It was fun to hangout with you, your family, Alison and Fran during the trip. It was fun and hope to do it again in the near future.

Very nice pictures from RSR. That was a real treat that we got to ride RSR three times in a row after the 2nd time broke down and got the opportunity to ride it again.

Again PIO, you find the silver lining in everything and paint a very warm and fuzzy picture. That wait inside the RSR was Waaaaaay longer than 5 minutes. I was looking on my cell phone and I didn't completely time, it but I know that my butt began hurting in that ride and we were sitting there well over 12 minutes, but I don't have the exact time!

Otherwise great reporting, and yes I'm so glad that Fran got on the ride and got to do it more than once, and especially without having to climb back out of that car because I know it was difficult for her!



OK....spill the beans we want to know! Didn't you see TiffanyD's post above about the other license plate? YOU have more knowledge than any of us! Inquiring minds want to know!

Oh yeah! and edited that I can't believe that they switched out the 2ply from last year to a 1ply. That's just not right! Wow! talk about cost cutting!

Seriously.....over 12 minutes????? I sure lost track of time if that was the case.

 

[PrincessInOz]

How COOL!!! Can you ask (or do you know) what the license plate at DCA means (It reads "8u 75 92" and is a 1937 CA plate. It was replaced in 2012. We got an impromptu tour from guest services (it pays to be nice!!!!) and that was assigned as homework. Even our club 33 friend can't figure it out!

Pete - This might be one for you too; if you know.