BE's never-ending fun ** 4 completed TR's ** Thousands of Photos

[kaoden39]

This is a list of the bands. I did a copy and paste so here goes.

Family Force 5
Breathe Carolina
Cash Cash
Queens Club
Irival

 

[Belle Ella]

I'll find the number and give the club a call in a while. I will send you the ticket info in a PM.

This is a list of the bands. I did a copy and paste so here goes.

Family Force 5
Breathe Carolina
Cash Cash
Queens Club
Irival

You are full of awesome.

 

[Belle Ella]

Alrighty then! I just finished editing all of the photos from day 1 and when all is said and done I have 193/279 photos to show for it. There were a lot of crummy shots that just were not salvageable. Not a bad start to the week, however.

And just wait until I get to the weekend. I got some amazing shots of Murphy, but you'll ahve to wait for them.

 

[Belle Ella]

Day 1 Cont.
September 8, 2009​

I took some photos of some delicious treats in Pooh's Corner. Are there any other mouths watering just looking at these or what?

After a nice long browse through the candy (which unfortunately I knew I should stay far, far away from if I wanted to stay in high spirits) it was time to hit the world of action and adventure once more! Our FP for Indiana Jones were just burning a hole in our pockets so we figured it would be safe to go and tour the Temple of the Forbidden Eye! I want to know what it was about this ride that petrified me as a kid, really I do. I blame it on my neighbors growing up who thought it was funny to terrorize anyone for sport. I didn't discover my actual love for IJ until last March when I promised Dre I would give it at least one try as an 'adult'. As you'd have it it is now one of my favorites depending on what mood I am in (I'm always bouncing back and forth between IJ, POTC, HM, and JC). The whole day the wait time was never listed past 35 minutes so the FP didn't exactly save us that much time (I believe we made it through in 20) but that was alright. It was only for the day as I would soon discover the total awesomeness that are Single Rider passes!

And before I forget to mention it, I swear I am happy in that photo (and many others of me that don't completely show the extent of my joy). I am not a big smiler, lol. Don't ask me why, but I just don't have one of those big toothy grins that you can spot from a mile away. A family friend just made a comment to me about that. I swear I was so happy I could cry every minute of every day while we were there!

And look at that, I did manage to get a photo of the two of us all on my lonesome. SCORE!

Afterwards we were walking back towards the Hub and while we were passing the Tiki Room we noticed that the next show was just about 5 minutes to go. Well, then! Our decision was made for us. We hopped on through the turnstile and I snuck my way around taking photos until the doors opened to go inside. And what do you know? I was right by the entrance and walked in first without having to wait. I just love being able to pick where I want to sit. And I didn't have to be rude to do it (not that I would be - but we all know how some people can be).

to be continued ...​

 

[Belle Ella]

Day 1 Cont.
September 8, 2009​

Let's play a little guessing game. I'm going to post a few photos and before I say what's next let's see if you can figure it out!

If you guessed .... Aladdin's Oasis - Congratulations!! I think it got a touch easier tot ell towards the end, right? Well, thanks for playing along with my simple trivia game here. I'm just trying to make this entertaining.

The only time I ever physically saw Aladdin and Jasmine at the Oasis was back when they were still doing their story time show, and for me that was back in 2007! I thought it was pretty cute and it was a shame to hear it was no longer in the parks, but what can you do? But walking by on our out-of-the-blue decision to head towards Tomorrowland and spotting a the pair of them with a PhotoPass Photographer? Was I supposed to pass this up. This could have been my one and only shot at seeing Jasmine the whole week who I never see, and certainly the only shot at seeing Aladdin. I was on a mission to hunt down as many characters as possible, let me tell you!

Dre didn't seem to in the mood for the photo op at the present time so I hit the line myself. I couldn't tell you what shenanigans she was up to, I simply remember that we split up for another short little minute because she is nowhere to be found in the photos and we had the single-together-single routine of character picture taking down to a science.

It's not such a great shot with my camera. There was another but it was in so much motion it would make you dizzy sitting down!

A few minutes later I must have been looking for her in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Maybe you can help me find her? I was searching so hard I had to get down on my hands and knees to peek into the cracks of the sidewalk but I still couldn't find her.

We had decided to take a break from the Adventureland-New Orleans Square-Critter Country connection that we had made and go for my second first of the day: the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Again, how on earth is it possible that I have never been on this before? I mean, sure, I usually spent the least amount of time in Tomorrowland because Space Mountain and Star Tours both give me anxiety like there's no tomorrow, but what was I thinking when it came to Buzz? It was like, the funnest thing ever. And to top it off, I totally owned Dre, which was surprising because I got off to a rather cruddy start in my honest opinion. Not too bad for a 6 minute wait.

I won the game. The end.

Now, I believe that I will finish up the ending of our first day in my next post with a 3rd and final first for me at Disneyland. We took a tour through Innoventions!

 

[merrrydeath]

Adding to list of things to eat... Where is the drooling smiley?

 

[Belle Ella]

Day 1 Cont.
September 8, 2009​

It seems like I always find something new to do at Disneyland, which is great! I actually like knowing that there are still new experiences to find and things that I didn't already know - it really makes the trip that much more enjoyable even though I would be perfectly happy reliving the same experiences over and over and over again when Disneyland is involved. Innoventions is just something that I never really thought to go and explore, and I couldn't tell you why. Maybe I will use the same excuse I used about the Astro Blasters. I don't go into Tomorrowland all that often because there really wasn't anything that I found appealing. But after seeing the photos from a couple of other Trip Reports we knew we had to add it to the list of things we had to make sure we did!

At least we didn't forget to do everything we meant to (like we did with actually make a list so we wouldn't forget ... we forgot to).

I'll really just let the photos do the talking for me. But I will say this, if you haven't been through Innoventions yet, you really should. As an added bonus to all the fun stuff you get to see, it's nice and cool inside and totally beats the heat!

I was ready to sit and watch this all day. I love Lucy.

Some recreational reading.

As someone who collects Snow Globes, let me say this: "Me want"!!

This would make more sense if you could see the ful poster behind me.

It was a very important phone call.

That left me exhausted.

I have always been a multi-tasker.

I really had a lot of fun exploring all of the different rooms and unlocking all of the fun stuff that they have to offer (remember to look for the CM's to show you all the cool stuff there is). The next time I do this I just need to make sure that it's not at the tail end of an exhausting day. It was about 6:50 when I finally left Innoventions (the park closed at 8 p.m. that day) and I was just exhausted as can be. Luckily the whole second floor held absolutely no appeal to me so I didn't feel too bad about leaving after exploring the home. It was time for me to head back to the hotel so I could get a good nights sleep and be ready to have my full energy all day on Wednesday.

Remember to look for the link to my album for Day 1 back on the main post!

And so I will leave you with the final photo that I took of the day as I left Innoventions:

 

[Belle Ella]

Adding to list of things to eat... Where is the drooling smiley?

There is now a lack in the smiley department!! It sure does look tasty. Let me know how they are if you have one.

 

[Sherry E]

Buzz Lightyear is a great ride - one of my favorites! I am happy you finally discovered it (and kicked some booty in your score too)!!

I also love Lucy, so I would have been tempted to sit down and watch I Love Lucy if I had seen it. One of my all-time favorite shows.

I am glad to see where the pumpkin cupcake is being sold this year. I knew they had a pumpkin cupcake in Marceline's last year, but it was mainly the pumpkin muffin that was sold around the parks more visibly, and I think a couple of DIS-ers were getting confused and thinking that the muffin was the cupcake and that they were one and the same! I knew there was a muffin and a cupcake - two separate entities - but I am glad to see photographic evidence of it now, which I can refer people to who have only seen photos of the pumpkin muffin thus far!! The cupcake, folks, does indeed exist!!

 

[Belle Ella]

Buzz Lightyear is a great ride - one of my favorites! I am happy you finally discovered it (and kicked some booty in your score too)!!

Are you a fan of TSMM as well? I gave that a try as well (which will be coming up within the next few posts). Totally opposite results for me!

I also love Lucy, so I would have been tempted to sit down and watch I Love Lucy if I had seen it. One of my all-time favorite shows.

Good taste there! Do you have a favorite episode? Man, now I want to break out my DVD's and watch the show but I am busy getting ready for work. Phooey.

I am glad to see where the pumpkin cupcake is being sold this year. I knew they had a pumpkin cupcake in Marceline's last year, but it was mainly the pumpkin muffin that was sold around the parks more visibly, and I think a couple of DIS-ers were getting confused and thinking that the muffin was the cupcake and that they were one and the same! I knew there was a muffin and a cupcake - two separate entities - but I am glad to see photographic evidence of it now, which I can refer people to who have only seen photos of the pumpkin muffin thus far!! The cupcake, folks, does indeed exist!!

Glad my photos were of some help I've never seen these guys before (probably because I have never been in September/October months before). They look so delicious. Wish I could tolerate sweets and stuff, because I could have gone nuts in there.

 

[Sherry E]

Are you a fan of TSMM as well? I gave that a try as well (which will be coming up within the next few posts). Totally opposite results for me!


Good taste there! Do you have a favorite episode? Man, now I want to break out my DVD's and watch the show but I am busy getting ready for work. Phooey.


Glad my photos were of some help I've never seen these guys before (probably because I have never been in September/October months before). They look so delicious. Wish I could tolerate sweets and stuff, because I could have gone nuts in there.

Oh yes! I love love love TSMM!! It has got to be my in my top 2 favorites at DLR (POTC is the favorite classic ride; TSMM is the favorite 'new' ride). Now, mind you, my TSMM scores are never really impressive - I think the highest I ever scored was maybe a 98,000 or so - but I can see improvement as I go along, and I have beaten a couple of people, and I just think the ride is fun fun fun!! Plus, I love the Little Green Men.

Hmmm....favorite episode of Lucy...that is tough. I know a lot of people who prefer the older episodes of Lucy, and of course those were great too, but I really liked it when they got out of the apartment and went places like California, Europe, Florida and moved to the country. I even liked the hour-long 'special' episodes (The Lucy and Desi Hour, I think it was called - or maybe it was "We Love Lucy") that aired after the series ended (where the gang travels to Japan, Mexico and Vegas and all over the place and meets all kinds of celebrities like Milton Berle, Fernando Lamas, Danny Thomas, Tallulah Bankhead, Fred MacMurray). I swear I have watched the entire series of Lucy and all its episodes over the years (since childhood) and I know every episode like the back of my hand and yet I still watch them when I catch them on TV now and I never get tired of them!! There was such great chemistry between the 4 lead actors, along with all the zany antics, and they all had such fantastic comedic timing.

So what would be a favorite episode? So hard to pick. Well, I like the one where they build the BBQ at their house in the country. I love the episode wher they get trapped in a cabin in Switzerland because of an avalanche. I love it when Lucy gets to dance with Van Johnson in California. I love the one where they are on the way to California and they have to spend the night in a rickety old, run down motel. I love the one where Lucy decides to bake a loaf of bread and it traps her in the kitchen. There are so many great ones. That is truly a classic show.

The pumpkin muffin at DLR has a little dollop of cream cheese on the top, raisins in the middle and a hard sugar Mickey jack-o-lantern stuck in the top of it. It's more savory than sweet, really. The pumpkin cupcake in your photo looks as thought the frosting is sweet and the cake part is probably much sweeter than the muffin too. If I get there any time in the near future (knock wood), I would like to try one. I can't eat sweets or heavy carbs without having some good protein first, but after I grab a chicken sandwich or something, I will sample a cupcake.

 

[Belle Ella]

Day 2
September 9, 2009​

Day 2 was our first character meal!! We had a PS for Ariel's Grotto at DCA for 9:40 a.m. (with both parks opening at 10 a.m.). We loved doing the earliest PS we could get with Minnie's & Friends back in March where we were literally the first table seated, so we wanted to be there nice and early this time as well. The only problem was that we really had no idea where to go.

I reached the esplanade earlier than Dre did since I was ready, and I wanted to be able to get those final photos of the California letters since this is was my last trip before they get removed (unless something insanely awesome happens between now and then). I was really looking forward to it. Little did I know that the photos I wanted to get would be impossible after Tuesday. As soon as we reached the bag check nice and early to wait (where some guy was having a hissy fit because nobody knew that he had been there 'first', not that any of us really cared, it was annoying - I don't need to start my morning being ******* at) I was greeted by those marvelous construction walls that we all know by know that were blocking off a huge chunk of the esplanade in front of the letters, but not the letters themselves. I meant to get photos so you could see what I mean, but I kind of forgot. It's cute though, directly opposite the letters the walls have letters of there own, each with some Disney characters. My assumption is that they are removing the bricks close to the letters for safe keeping/relocation for the big remodel of DCA's entrance and the removal of the letters. I never asked anyone about it, but that just seems sensible. I was really wondering what they would be doing with those.

But back to our breakfast! It was a little confusing for me as far as where we actually had to go since they let you into DCA at about 9:30 and not everything is opened up yet. One CM that I asked at the gate told us that we could walk straight through to Ariel's Grotto through the Sunshine Plaza and over by the Golden State/Bug's Land area. Well, he was wrong, which meant a whole lot of extra walking for us. Once we got to the rope they had there another CM informed us that we needed to take the path along Condor Flatts until we reached the rope that was over there and the CM would let us through if we informed them we had a PS at Ariel's Grotto and tell us where to go. It was pretty annoying to keep being told one thing after another, but eventually we got the information that we needed. Once we got past the rope we just followed the road and a bunch of sings towards Paradise Pier and we had made it! I even got the opportunity to take photos with no guests in front of me whatsoever!

Wrong direction, Jazz!

We're almost there ...

We made it.​

After we finally made it we had to wait just a moment before they were ready for us to head downstairs for our photo with Ariel and to be seated. I love the blue dress that she wears, but it really makes me miss when she had her own meet & greet in true mermaid fashion. But that's Pixie Hollow now. Phooey. Of course I ordered the photo, however, and I'll add it to our PhotoPass CD whenever I remember to actually do it. But here is the one from my camera. I always look so awkward in photos, lol. I'll also post a few of the restaurant as we were being seated. I absolutely loved it.

Then, of course, there is the food! Where am I to start with the food other than saying it was delicious. You always hear mixed reviews about AG around here, although one thing that you hear over and over is that it's gotten much better recently. Then again, I don't really hear people talking about the breakfast very much. The food is served family style, meaning you get a whole lot of it to share with everyone at your table. First they bring out the three-tiered platter with an assortment of fruits, cheeses, and breads while your waiter takes your order for your drinks and they they bring out a big waffle as well as another tray filled with meats, potatoes, and eggs. Then you just dive in

 

[thmar]

I didn't realize you could make reservations before the park opens...good to know. The breakfast does look good! Did you see any other princesses?

 

[kaoden39]

Oh yum, that looks good. Did you get my pm about the concert and everything?

 

[Belle Ella]

I didn't realize you could make reservations before the park opens...good to know. The breakfast does look good! Did you see any other princesses?

We did, we did! I still have much to post from Ariel's Grotto and the rest of day 2. I'm just getting ready for class right now but it will be up sometime today since I already have the photos edited.

Oh yum, that looks good. Did you get my pm about the concert and everything?

It made me hungry all over again. And I'm not normally a big breakfast eater. Lo and behold, I actually ate breakfast this morning (although not nearly as full as that).

And I did Thank you for that. I've been trying to figure out if there was any way that I could go, but I think I'm going to have to pass on it because of work. There's no way I would be able to get out there and then back home again. Such a shame.

 

[kaoden39]

We did, we did! I still have much to post from Ariel's Grotto and the rest of day 2. I'm just getting ready for class right now but it will be up sometime today since I already have the photos edited.


It made me hungry all over again. And I'm not normally a big breakfast eater. Lo and behold, I actually ate breakfast this morning (although not nearly as full as that).

And I did Thank you for that. I've been trying to figure out if there was any way that I could go, but I think I'm going to have to pass on it because of work. There's no way I would be able to get out there and then back home again. Such a shame.

That's too bad. Did you see the list of concerts they have coming up? I was amazed at the amount of concerts that they have in that area.

 

[Belle Ella]

Day 2 Cont.
September 9, 2009

Me so happy!​

There was much entertainment for us to be had that morning, and lots and lots of signing. We even got a little rendition of "Happy Birthday" sung by the CM's along with a tasty little brownie that I dared dive into!

What an attractive first image you see

But even more impressive was the Squire (who I only wish we had thought to capture on video) who before making the announcements of each Princesses arrival sung ... OH! What is that song that was used for the TV promotions not too long ago? I can't remember. But dang, was this guy good And then of course each of the Princesses is introduced individually at spaced intervals to give them time to circulate through the dining are before the next princess enters. We got to see Cinderella, Snow White cool1:), Belle, and Sleeping Beauty/Aurora. We couldn't have asked for anything better. Heck, all I really wanted to see was Snow White anyways. Have I mentioned she is my absolute favorite? And I have officially decided that Belle looks like one of our Execs. at my store, which is way random.

Coming up: a short tour of DCA and then back to Disneyland!

 

[Belle Ella]

That's too bad. Did you see the list of concerts they have coming up? I was amazed at the amount of concerts that they have in that area.

No, I didn't. That was really the only date that I saw. Gah. Oh well. If it was in some place like San Jose I could go. It's a more familiar drive (I still get lost driving to see my grandparents in Auburn) plus it doesn't have the bridge toll. Yuckies.

I will console myself by blasting my iPod with some FF5 while I'm at work on Saturday into Sunday. And then gear up for my first hockey game of the season, and getting my hands on Snow White and a new book that also comes out on the 6th.

 

[kaoden39]

No, I didn't. That was really the only date that I saw. Gah. Oh well. If it was in some place like San Jose I could go. It's a more familiar drive (I still get lost driving to see my grandparents in Auburn) plus it doesn't have the bridge toll. Yuckies.

I will console myself by blasting my iPod with some FF5 while I'm at work on Saturday into Sunday. And then gear up for my first hockey game of the season, and getting my hands on Snow White and a new book that also comes out on the 6th.

I was thinking that while the kids are at the concert I am going to either Barnes and Noble or Borders while they are at the concert. There is a book I want coming out around that time. I would rather go to the hockey game. I was amazed at the prices of the concerts the most expensive ones were less than $20. I was amazed.

 

[Belle Ella]

I was thinking that while the kids are at the concert I am going to either Barnes and Noble or Borders while they are at the concert. There is a book I want coming out around that time. I would rather go to the hockey game. I was amazed at the prices of the concerts the most expensive ones were less than $20. I was amazed.

It's pretty hard t find some cheap entertainment these days, isn't it? Such a shame. I swear I would get out more if everything didn't cost an arm and a leg to do. I'm not interested enough in most things to spend a small fortune on them (like I will for Disneyland every now and again).

Ack! This totally reminds me that I need to pick a day to go out to the Disney Family Museum next month. I was discussing it with a girl from my Biology class yesterday (OK, so I have convinced yet one more person to go to Disneyland - she's 'blaming' me for the trip she is now planning for December) and I really need to go as soon as I can.

Alright, I'm off to my dance class. I have a performance/exam today. Should be fun, right? We'll see. I missed the second half of the ballet choreography while I was at Disneyland and I still haven't picked it up 100%.

I'll have another trip update coming afterward!