BE's Never Ending TR -- That kind of ... Ended? Or did it?

[PlutosRHM55]

Joining in! I finally got myself all caught up.

This has got to be the longest time it's taken me to catch up on a TR, but it was totally worth it, they were all very fun to read and I'm amazed at how many rides you conquered within one trip, never being on them before. If you ever make it to WDW one, you got to try the ToT there, since it is different, where it is a different set of "falls" every ride, where you could drop the regular 3 times, 7 times, wait forever for the drop or rise... it is a bit more intense but still just as fun. And I definitely must ride California Screamin' now because of your experience.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Belle Ella]

Thanks for sticking around everyone, and for the comments! I'm hoping to get out another update today (maybe more while I watch the Emmy's and whatnot) so stay tuned!

Joining in! I finally got myself all caught up.

This has got to be the longest time it's taken me to catch up on a TR, but it was totally worth it, they were all very fun to read and I'm amazed at how many rides you conquered within one trip, never being on them before. If you ever make it to WDW one, you got to try the ToT there, since it is different, where it is a different set of "falls" every ride, where you could drop the regular 3 times, 7 times, wait forever for the drop or rise... it is a bit more intense but still just as fun. And I definitely must ride California Screamin' now because of your experience.

Can't wait to read more!

I feel like I should give you a shiny award or ribbon for catching up on all of my TR's! I sometimes wonder if my older ones have any appeal to those who weren't following along at the time so it warms my heart a little to hear they still get a little bit of attention now and again.

You know, I totally was wondering to myself if I could do the WDW version of TOT. Part of what got me on it in the first place was "knowing" when and where the drops were and that I could get through them. I'm the kind of person who needs to know as much as possible ahead of time! Then again (and I'll post more about it later), when I went on TOT with my mom this past trip for the second time in one day I could have sworn the drop sequence was different than what I was used to (can you be used to something you've only been on a total of 4 times?) so I'm sure I would still love it. Thankfully I have some time to build up my terrorized-threshold since it will be sometime before I can actually plan a trip to WDW for myself.

OK, as a running geek I think it's cool you met Jeff Galloway

Somebody else ought to be excited about that! It was the highlight of the Expo for me, and probably why I was cool with leaving so soon afterward.

 

[Belle Ella]

So I had spent a good hour or so wandering around the Expo and taking in the sites but by that time I was good to go. For my next race (the Tinker Bell Half in January) I plan to stay a little longer and take in some of the presentations but for the time being I was content with what I had seen and was ready to go charge my phone which was slowly drifting away from me. It was going to be a pretty darn long walk back to my hotel from the Disneyland Hotel, but such is the price I choose to pay. Only I decided to break up the monotony of the walk and while meandering through Downtown Disney I took a detour and did some browsing through the World of Disney store. It was just calling out to me, literally. The moment I walked through the doors "Someday My Prince Will Come" started playing, talk about perfect timing. I really just wanted to take a peek at what Disney Dooney & Bourke bags they had. I've had the mind to get my 5th recently but whatever one I had seen a photo of recently wasn't there so I decided to pass. But I did take a good look through the rest of the store as I had a couple of small birthday gifts to pick up for others. This was more of a recon mission though, so I made a few mental notes and then I was back on my way to the HOJO!

It was odd though, considering how much my mother had sounded like she wanted me back at the hotel because she was a little lonely, because the second I walked through the door she was engrossed in a movie and was surprised I was back so soon. Go figure, right? Gotta love her, that mother of mine. Well, I was there anyway so while she was watching her movie I plugged my phone in to charge and tried to get her attention away from the movie. I succeed for just long enough to talk her into heading to the pool for a short while. Well, once the movie was over. But I decided to head there on my own until she joined me a little later. Oddly enough this had to have been the first time that I have ever chilled poolside when on vacation, especially a Disney vacation. I'm usually so go-go-go-go-go that I don't take the time to do something that could actually be considered relaxing by normal people.

If all afternoons at the pool are like the one I got to experience I don't think I'll be making any changes to my usual vacationing plans. When I got to the HOJO's garden pool it was pretty overrun with kids. I'm not such a stick in the mud that I think that kids should be banned from one pool when they have a themed pool, but if you're not going to enjoy that one, don't go crazy at the more "secluded" option. Between the jumping, flipping, splashing, and general craziness I knew I wasn't going to stay long but I'd gone through all the effort to change and walk down there so I was going to at least enjoy the sun if I wasn't actually going to get into the water. After a while I finally saw my mother walking her way over. I had to let her into the pool area because the gate didn't want to seem to work for her and she had pretty much the same reaction to the overcrowding of noisy children that I had but, also like me, wasn't going to walk straight back up to the room.

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And so ... I tried to enjoy myself. Only I couldn't, so after a little while longer I said goodbye to my mother and trudged back up to our room to change again and maybe try for a quick nap before heading back to Disneyland. Only that didn't happen either. All I ended up doing was snacking on some food, drinking some water, and waiting for my phone to charge a little bit more. Finally, I couldn't take it any longer and I found myself walking back down Harbor Blvd.

So there it was, closing in on 3pm and I had an idea of what I wanted to do in mind: catch the new Mickey's Soundsational Parade! I had heard some good things about it and a parade worth seeing has be long overdue since the Parade of Dreams ended it's run a few years ago. Let's just say that last years Celebrate left much to be desired. The parade was set to start at 4pm which meant that if I snagged a spot along Main Street I would have until about 4:14pm so I had a little bit of time. I didn't want to do anything that would take up too much time so I could get a good enough spot but I wasn't ready to sit down again just yet. The final decision? Grab another FastPass for later! I had a few for Space Mountain already so I decided to grab another one for Big Thunder. The next thing I had to do was grab something else to eat. All of those little snacks in the room had me wanting more and I also had a small little craving for some special Disneyland Cherry Coke. Alright, I'll admit it's not exactly a pre-race day suitable meal, but I wanted it so I got it. Along with a cream cheese filled pretzel, all from Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner.

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With my food in hand I went out to look for a spot along Main Street for the parade. Thanks to the sun (and the heat) only one side of the street was full of people waiting while the other side was completely empty. I suppose nobody wanted to become a lobster or something along those lines. I couldn't imagine why on earth not. However, I did get pretty lucky! I had eyed a small spot that I could easily fit myself into since I wasn't in a large group and had asked the two families on either side if they needed the space only to find out that one of the families wasn't going to be staying around long enough to watch the parade. Suh-weet! Rather than having a small little space all to myself I would have a little bit of leg room and maybe some other lucky (small) family would be able to get some good seats as well without frying themselves. I continued to chomp on my pretzel while the departing family gathered their things and I got to enjoy some pre-parade entertainment as the Straw Hatters stopped to play a few tunes right in front of us. It was only a few more minutes before I got to sit down and my wait for the parade began!

my lgmh at disneyland, waiting for the parade to start​

Well, I'll go ahead and skip the boring parts of the wait (it wasn't really, I spent a lot of it talking to the couple next to me about cameras, lol) and just jump to my thoughts of the parade: it was COLORFUL! Like ... really, really, really colorful. And I don't mean it in a bad way, I promise, it lifted my spirits in just seconds. I really loved the drumline opening the parade, and it was a great selection of characters and floats for my liking: especially ending with Mary Poppins, Bert, and the chimney sweeps! I didn't get a whole lot of good photos because of the lighting, but here are 2 quickies to satisfy the need for pretty-pretty-pictures.

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[Belle Ella]

A thought occurred to me just as the parade was coming to a close that I was wearing my Mickey Mouse shirt for my first day specifically so I could get a photo with Mickey Mouse! Here it was, closing in on 1/4 to 5 and I hadn't even made an attempt to stop and get a photo with Mickey. Well, by that point I really couldn't put it off any longer: I needed that photo. The question was to either (a) chance it on Main Street or (b) high tail it back to Mickey's Toontown and pay a visit to him at his home within his home. Option (b) ended up winning out and I started my mad dash back to Toontown. I'm sure there was a reason for it, but my path took me through the Hub, through Snow White's Grotto (my favorite spot!) side of the Castle and back through Fantasyland and I was moving! It only took me a few short minutes to cover the entire distance and I headed straight to Mickey's house without stopping to glance any other way. Minnie was outside on her porch posing for photos and her line was rather lengthy, to be frank. It had me a touch nervous about how long the wait would be for Mickey, but as long as he was there that was all I cared about. The sign out front had a wait time of 30 minutes posted. Yeah ... that didn't happen. I think there was a grand total of three people in front of me in line. Then it was just a question of "who will I get a photo with" ? To date I had only previously seen Tuxedo Mickey and Band Leader Mickey with my heart set on someday getting a photo with Sorcerer Mickey or my little Holy Grail of Mickey Mouse photos would be Steamboat Willie. Well, I can cross off another one on that list: I finally saw Sorcerer Mickey for the first time!!

shoddy iphone photo​

So there were the two things I wanted to check off my list done: Mickey's Soundsational Parade and a photo with Mickey Mouse with my matching shirt (too bad it hadn't been a Sorcerer Mickey shirt). That left me with the rest of the evening to play until I was ready to call it a night. Due to my early wake-up time for race-day the following morning (thing 4am'ish) it definitely was going to be an early night which meant no fireworks and no Fantasmic for me. But at the very least I could squeeze in some rides. I already had about 3 FP's for Space Mountain and BTMRR each, but I figured I could spare one more. So my first stop was to go grab one final FP for BTMRR before heading back to Tomorrowland to tackle Space Mountain back-to-back. I almost shot for the three-peat, but in a sentimental moment I decided to save my final Space FP as a little momento, something that is becoming a bit of a habit on my trips.

have i mentioned how much i hate intergalactic travel?


my invisible steering wheel - because it is juuuuuust like driving a semi in europe​

Now, can I take you back to the beginning of the day when I was coming to the end of my first round of rides only to discover that Indy was CLOSED!! Well, I had checked a few times here and there throughout the day (of course forgetting to use my iPhone to check wait times) but I figured there was no point bringing it up again and again and again. Well, this time there was a different result:

It

was

OPEN!!​

Haha, take that evil forces that try to keep my off of my favorite ride. I will have what I seek. And as always I went the route of the single rider and got on in a few short minutes. If only entering this way could could tell the same story that you get going through the actual queue. They put so much work into creating them and I feel like I haven't seen the real queue in forever. But at least there are a couple of hidden treasures going this other route. Maybe someday I'll even get more pictures of these little gems. Today all I have for you though is this little diddy:

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After Indy I decided to go for another beloved favorite of mine so I dipped back into New Orleans Square for what is (in my humble opinion) the best Disneyland treat even though I know many would disagree. But hey, that's why it is my opinion right? Well, it's the right one for this TR otherwise I would have been wasting my time heading over to the Mint Julep Bar for a Mint Julep! It was already closing in on 7pm and this was only my first. I must have been doing some serious slacking. There can be no other explanation.

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By this point I was starting to get the idea that maybe, just maybe, I could hang in there to catch the fireworks or Fantasmic and still get enough sleep to keep me from keeling over. I just wanted to be able to fit in as much nighttime entertainment as I could. I'm still wondering why I thought it could be doable. It was only 7pm after all, I could hang in there if I hadn't left yet, right? After I finished my Mint Julep I continued rolling through the night (well, we did cover this already, I was actually skipping) by getting some use out of those four remaining BTMRR FP's which actually meant only three rounds on the ride itself since I pocketed one of those FP's as well. I had some fun with the CM there who wished me a happy birthday every time I walked by. But we also had to wish BTMRR a very happy birthday as well since the ride opened on September 2, 1279. I never could have guessed your age, darling.

After the Thunder three-peat I took another detour (or was it, considering my whole day is spent doing whatever comes to mind at that moment) and went for some more window-shopping and browsing through every shop on Main Street: China Close, Disney Clothiers, Disneyana, the Disneyland Emporium ... shall I go on? Like I said, I hit them all. I capped off the tour of the shops by sitting down at Coke Corner to enjoy some Ragtime courtesy of Robert. I truly get a little mesmerized watching anyone play the piano like that. I completely boggles my mind and I love it. Such talented, talented individuals there are out there in the world. It was also great to get off my feet for a little while so I made sure to pull up another chair to stretch out a little bit. Good times, good times. But after his little set was over I decided I could do with a little more sitting so I decided to go sing along with the birds and listen to the tikis play the drums and since The Enchanted Tiki Room was only a hop, skip, and a jump away I didn't hesitate!

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And now, at 8p, the exhaustion was finally starting to hit and I knew I wouldn't be able to make it much longer. So my nighttime entertainment hopes were officially dashed for the evening. And my exhaustion wasn't even taking into account the fact that I had the entire walk back to the HOJO from Adventureland. But I could do it. After all I would be running 3.1 miles in the morning. If I couldn't walk a little further I would be absolutely useless for the main purpose of this trip (or at least the dates). And so it looked as thought I would be calling it a night for good. But on my way out I remembered to snap a photo of a shirt I fell in love with to share with all of my friends who know of my character obsession. Surprisingly I found a great variety of Snow White shirts, but I had to share one in particular. And so I shall conclude Day 2 with this:

me want​

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Loved the update Jessica!!

 

[kaoden39]

Great update. Love the Snow White shirt!! That is adorable!!

 

[Princess Row]

That snowwhite shirt is tooo too cute!
Me want too!!

 

[Belle Ella]

It is an awesome shirt! Hehe. I believe Andrea posted on Favebook somewhere that it sheds glitter all over the place though. I do still want it. Or a least one of the other Snow White shirts they had since there were a few others. Well see. I will be back in 2 weeks, hehe

 

[kim3339]

Hi!! Glad you had a great race and trip! Great report so far. I took extreme comfort in reading what you said about you 1st pool trip in the afternoon and not liking it, DL is a go, go, go trip. I am the exact same way! At least I know now, that I'm not the only one!!

 

[Belle Ella]

Hi!! Glad you had a great race and trip! Great report so far. I took extreme comfort in reading what you said about you 1st pool trip in the afternoon and not liking it, DL is a go, go, go trip. I am the exact same way! At least I know now, that I'm not the only one!!

It's always nice to know we're not the odd ball in the bunch, huh? I always see people suggesting an afternoon break by the pool and going back to use FP's in the evening but I just don't see how that works for people, lol. But I gave it a try. Now I can really say that it's not the right fit for me!

I know I have a bit of a ways to go, but here's to hoping I can wrap this up in the next few days. Time is winding down before I leave again!

 

[Belle Ella]

It's race day! It's race day!

OK, I know, today-today isn't race-day. But in the TR-today it is race-day and a very, very, very early morning for me. According to my the race packet that I had picked up the previous day (and the course map I had taken a peek at before leaving home) the race would be starting at 6:45 am at the Mickey & Friends Parking Structure tram loading area and I should plan to arrive by 6:00 am and if I wanted to check any items while running that would start at 5:30 am in the Pinocchio Parking Lot. So I knew where to go, but the question was how to get there. Transportation was provided for guests staying at Good Neighbor Hotels but I wont lie, I was pretty nervous about taking the shuttles. I figured it would probably be easiest on me if I simply drove myself. The Mickey & Friends structure is easy enough to get to and my Premium AP includes free parking which I should be able to get even with the structure opening early because of the race so it seemed like a no-brainer. But I still decided to give myself some extra time in case something odd happened.

How early did I wake up? I'm pretty sure my alarm went off at 4:00 am!

Let's not focus on my early-bird wake-up call though. I started to get things ready which took quite some time considering I actually ate breakfast! I am not a big breakfast eater because of what time I wake up in the morning. I usually need to wait a couple of hours to let my stomach settle, but I actually ate something good for me for breakfast due to the race and then went on with getting ready. A big decision was what I wanted to wear. I had planned on wearing my Starship shirt and I really, really, really wanted to. Of course there was a small problem in the fact that I couldn't figure out where I put it while unpacking. Note to self: leave everything in your suitcase next time - that's how you lose things! With no Captain Up to be found I settled on wearing my Star Tours 5K shirt after all. Can't you just feel the enthusiasm? Who knows what other little things I was doing, but just before 5 am I was ready to head out to my mother's car and drive over to the parking structure. It was nice to find out that I wasn't the only one who thought 5 was the perfect time to head over: a family parked next to us at the HOJO was getting into their car just as I was and I followed them over. The morning was already off to a great start!

Let's fasty-forward to actually arriving at the Mickey & Friends structure where I was very happy to be reassured that my free parking included race morning. I parked, I stretched a little bit, and I got a little chatty with an older couple who had parked next to me as we made our way toward the Pinocchio parking lot where a few festivities were kicking off before the race. There was a DJ who led us in some line-dancing and stretching, as well as a couple of Jedi-CM's. I decided to get a couple of photos, but please feel free to ignore them. I look horrible and completely awkward!

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I couldn't tell you what else happened at that point. I slowly started to make my way over to the corrals, which were fittingly named after something Star Wars or another, so I could try and get myself good positioning for the race. I may not be that fast over the duration but I really didn't want to get stuck in a crowded mess. I could run for a few minutes to start and if I could give myself some free space then by golly that's what I was going to do! And so that's what I did. I was right there when they started letting us in and did I get near the front? I'll let you be the judge of that.

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You don't get any closer to the starting line than that, my friends! I didn't actually think I would get as far to the front as I did but I was glad. And funnily enough, most of the people near me had all gotten up front for the same reason rather than because they planned on keeping an 8 minute pace or less for the whole race. It helped me feel like less of a fraud. And then we waited. You could tell it was almost race time when a little staged act with Jedi-CM's, Storm Troppers and even Darth Vader took center stage. And a good thing too, I was getting antsy!

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And just like that it was time to race! A burst of confetti rained down, which got me super pumped, and the enxt thing I knew I had officially begin the Star Tours 5K. The starting route took us along the road the trams drive down toward Downtown Disney but it didn't last very long before we took a pretty sharp left and we started what would be the first of many backstage segments. There wasn't much to be seen in this area except for CM's coming out to cheer us on (and reminding us not to take photos - boo). The next thing I knew we were had entered Disneyland, coming in through Critter Country, down near Splash Mountain.

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Running through a nearly deserted Critter Country just seemed extremely peaceful and relaxing! Then we were running past the Haunted Mansion and into New Orleans Square where I later found out that Tiana, Prince Naveen and Louis had been out for photos - but not for me! I guess that's the price you pay for leading the pack? I'm actually pretty bummed about that because I would have loved to stop for that photo. Thankfully I didn't know this during the race so I didn't spare a seconds thought. Let's see, we continued by running into Frontierland and past Big Thunder Mountain and up Big Thunder Trail where, just before passing through into Fantasyland, we took another sharp left and passed backstage again and started running through a tunnel where you could hear Darth Vader breathing. When we came out on the other side I saw the marker for mile number 1. I reached it just after 9 minutes had passed.

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The course then took us back into Disneyland, coming out near Princess Fantasy Faire and continuing into Mickey's Toontown where I caught sight of my first character! I had to stop for a photo with Pluto.

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And ... then we were backstage again. I was starting to feel like most of this race was being run backstage and while that was cool and all I was really wanting to see a little bit more of Disneyland. This one was short lived and we quickly came out by It's a Small World, around the Matterhorn, and into Tomorrowland where they had a few Storm Troopers out but I didn't really want to stop for a photo with them. No offense, just not a Star Wars fan! But at least after this came the best part of the race for me: we came out through the hub and got to run down Main Street in it's entirety. It's not running through the Castle, but it was definitely special. At the end of Main Street I got to stop for another quick little character photo:

it is safe to say this cm was not camera friendly​

At this point it was time to bid adieu to Disneyland as we ran out through the gates and to the left where a large crowd of people had come to cheer on all of the runners. We entered yet another backstage area behind the shuttle loading area, past the CM entrance, through an underpass that's near the Harbor Blvd. crosswalk and we came up near DCA. Somewhere near here was the marker for mile 2.

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There's not much to say about running through DCA as it was pretty much all backstage around the perimeter of the Park. But the cool part was getting to see some of the construction on Carsland. Let's just say that my jaw wanted to drop at how HUGE the rock work is in person. I was in awe a little bit. It's impressive when you're at ground level and looking up at it. We finally got to enter DCA somewhere in Paradise Pier and were promptly greeted by the marker for mile 3 which meant the finish line was close at hand. Yeah, this gave me an extra little push. I was feeling good and I definitely pushed myself for that final distance where Jedi Mickey and Princess Leia Minnie were waving us in. I took a look at the clock posted at the finish line and I finished in 33:30 which gave me roughly an 11 minute/mile average! To say I was excited is an understatement. Let's put it this way: at home, I had never averaged under 13 minutes and 14.5 was more common for me.

So there you have it, I did it! Not only did I finish the race strongly, but I would do it again in a heartbeat, that's how much fun it was. I was a little disappointed that they didn't have more characters out at the start of the race but what can you do. I have heard from a lot of different people that there was more running backstage than normal which I can only attribute to the construction over in DCA but I for one would have loved running through more of Disneyland proper. But I ran a race through Disneyland! And it gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, I can do the Tinker Bell Half in January.

There wasn't much to see at the end of the course, but some post-race refreshments and snacks were being handed out. I took a bottle of water and a handful of mini-Cliff bars and kept on walking to cool myself down. They had us take a left at the Little Mermaid ride and down by the water wheel (having a brain fart and I can't remember the actual name of it - although I know it begins with a P) where they were taking photos with our "medals", which were more of plasticals. So no post-race entertainment or anything so I just kept walking all the way to the makeshift exit that dumped us out into another cheering crowd of family and friends in Downtown Disney. I had nobody there for me so it was just a matter of getting back to the Mickey & Friends structure. It was too early for the trams to be out (especially considering the race) and so I just kept on walking. It's a good thing I felt good during the race because that could have been brutal! But I managed the walk without incident and before I knew it I was back at the HOJO and in our room where my mother was prepping for her first Disney day since 2003!

More to come on that later. For now I'll leave you with this freakshow

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[Belle Ella]

Going into the weekend my original plan after finishing the Star Tours 5K and getting back to the hotel was going to include a very limited number of things: a long shower, something to eat, and a nap. As it turns out I only managed 2 out of 3. I made such good time and I was still pumped by the time I got back to the hotel that it made sense to keep going, especially since my mother was already up and getting ready for the day, we could feasibly make it in time for rope drop since Disneyland would be opening at 9 am. And that's exactly what our goal became. After she snapped a photo of me in my race gear and with my "plastical" I hopped in the shower so I could get all the race ickyness off me and change into some clean clothes. Add in some sunscreen, snacks, and cameras and the next thing I knew we were in the elevator and on our way out of the hotel and my mom got her first taste of the walk from the HOJO to the Parks. I was a little worried about how she would do with it and was prepared to either drive or get an ART pass for her. But neither ended up being needed. Now we'll fasty-forward through the walk, the bag-check, because at 8:50 we were getting our tickets scanned and then walking down Main Street for rope drop! My mom had brought a few snacks and frozen water bottles along with who knows what else so I showed her the way over to the lockers so we wouldn't have to carry them with us all day long, something I knew she would thank me for later.

Then it was time to remember why I have fallen in love with solo trips: that never ending "what should we do first/next?" question. When you are by yourself you get to do what you want to do, but when you're with someone else or with a group you decide by committee. Luckily for me my mother's answer never varied and she left the decisions up to me and she would just follow along, but that didn't mean I didn't want to take her interests into account. We did manage to settle on Space Mountain first, grabbing FP's and then going standby. Although, on our way in to Tomorrowland I got to show her the craziness that has become of Star Tours since it's reopening. I still had those 2 remaining special FP's that we could use for Star Tours later in the day if she was interested, otherwise we could put them to use somewhere else (not that they'd really be needed elsewhere). But we kept walking. I'm used to always being at the front of the pack when it comes to rope drop so it was a little unusual getting caught in all of the congestion when the Park actually opened. I suppose this was just payback for me slicking to the front of the pack for the race but regardless, we were getting in line for Space Mountain with FP's for later safely tucked away at 9:09 am!

she told me she'd kill me if i posted this on facebook ... i tried to remind her about the photo​

Next up we decided to just go ahead and use those special FP's now rather than later and we hopped in line for Star Tours. I'm pretty sure my mother had been on the original version and she and my dad are bigger Star Wars fans than I am so she definitely enjoyed the reboot. She probably got a whole lot more of it than I did. We did get split up when we got seated though, which was a bummer, and I actually got the same seat in the same ... whatever you call it ... that I did the first time the day before. Funny how that works out, huh? I can't say that my assesment of the ride changed any for the better. If anything I have to say that this time was probably more then enough for me for a lifetime. Most of that has to do with the scenes we got this time. I guess you can say I got a case of motion sickness. Whatever it was I felt like I couldn't breathe in there and it didn't feel like my blood was pumping anywhere. Yeah, I felt like my head was going to explode. I was so happy to get out of there and I couldn't even begin to tell you where we went. My mother wasn't that impressed either so the line craziness wouldn't interfere with out plans for the rest of the weekend. We left and we moved on, following much the same pattern that I had by myself the day before which meant that Big Thunder was up next, followed by Pirates, followed by Jungle Cruise, and ...

INDY!​

Yeah, guess what wasn't closed down? We had been here the summer that Indy opened by mother was having a hard time remembering this one. Considering it is easily one of my favorites I was really excited to see what she thought of it. I was really hoping that she wouldn't mind forgoing a seat next to one another and we could use the single rider line, it's just a preference, and luckily she went along! I had fun showing her which way we went and getting her into the elevator which she was grateful for, stairs and her knees aren't really the best of friends. Everything was fast from there and before I knew it I was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs on the exit side and all she had to say to me were these wonderful words: "When can we do that again?" I knew she had good ride taste!

Now, just like yesterday I happened to have afternoon plans - a meeting with a few DIS Divas Scavenger Hunt Committee to do a little planning for the hunt during next year's Girls-Only trip. My mother knew going into the day that I'd be busy for a few hours in the afternoon but she decided t come with me to grab some food and figured she'd find a quiet place to read or something. We were planning to meet up at noon at Tangoroa Terrace and by this point it was already a little passed 11 am which gave us a little less than an hour to make it over to the Disneyland Hotel. Since we planned on taking the Monorail back into Downtown Disney we decided to go ahead and use our FP's for Space and grab some new ones for later. This time I got a laugh at the photo of us, she decided to put her hat on and hold on to it for most of the ride. And me? Who knows what I was doing, because I sure as heck don't.

​

We still had plenty of time, but after Space we made our way over to the Tomorrowland Monorail Station and before long we found ourselves getting off in Downtown Disney where I was in for a small surprise. My mother and I were getting off the monorail when a large group of teenage girls saw my birthday button and started a very loud rendition of "Happy Birthday". Now, I've gotten plenty of birthday wishes thanks to those little beauties but I can't say any group of strangers have ever started singing the song while I was at Disneyland before. It felt a little awkward and I can only hope someone in their group also had a birthday and I just didn't see their buttons. But oddly enough this would happen a few more times over the course of the weekend, who knew!

We made it over to the DLH early, just as I had predicted, but that was a good thing as my mother asked if I could show her the lobby and she wanted to explore a little bit. I don't think she realized about all of the construction going on though and we easily got turned around a little bit. But I did get her to the lobby and then we decided to take a quick little peek into the Fantasia shop, me still on the lookout for some gifts to bring home for a few friends. We finally decided to start trying to find out way to the meeting spot and not long after we left the lobby I practically walked right by one of the other Divas! Mel/tinkermell was walking right by us and it took me a moment to realize it was her but I called out to her and we spent a few minutes chatting where we were and I introduced her to my mom and all. Then the three of us took off to find the new Tangoroa Terrace which was actually pretty easy even with certain pathways closed off. We got there, saved a table, and ordered some food while waitng for the rest of the group to slowly trickle in. It was great to see everyone again, and Bridget/sierranevada brought along another birthday button for me since she didn't know if I already had one. Well, now I had two: Jessica and Jazz and you'd better believe I wore them both for the rest of the weekend since, you know, my split personalities share a birthday.

Now I can't really spill the beans on what went on during out meeting, it was top secret after all. But we certainly covered a lot! My mother ended up departing for the HOJO at some point with plans for us to meet back up at the Disneyland gates close around 3:15 or 3:30 pm. And we certainly took up those 3 hours and then some. I actually had to skip out a little early as we were wrapping things up because I needed to meet back up with her, but my task ... ... would require some sunlight and I had a lot to do before leaving on Monday.

bridget/sierranevada, mel/tinkermell, yours truly, trudy/vintagedisneyrules, wendy/wendypooh36, katie/mamakate, and little laila​

I was going to take the monorail back into Disneyland to meet my mother but I got a call from her reminding me that as the designated FP-runner I still had her Park Hopper! Such silliness. And so I set out to meet up with her in front of the Let the Memories Begin setup in the middle of the Esplanade. Once we got back into Disneyland I decided to show her around a little rather than focus on rides (although we did take another spin on Indy). We eventually ended up in Critter Country so we could check out the goodies in Pooh Corner and maybe bring some home with us. I didn't end up getting anything but I did see a stuffed baby giraffe that made me think of my cousin. The next time I go back I must grab it for her. She's a big Giants fan and a certain rookie this year earned himself the nickname Baby Giraffe thanks to his awkwardness and I know she'll flip for the Disney version. It's exactly the kind of thing that she loves, along with all of her stuffed pandas.

On a whim I decided to take a peek at the entertainment schedule for the day. I really wanted to see if we could squeeze in a Billy Hill show because I knew my mother would absolutely love them and we were in luck! We had plenty of time to go get seats and a float to enjoy while we waited. I really wish I could put into words what would ensue. It was entirely and and and and I don't know what else, but it just was. And big thanks to the woman sitting right next to the stage that made it all possible. They really play off the people sitting at that particular table and she was just beet red from laughter and a little bit of embarrassment which only made it that much better. I really wish I could have recorded the entire thing. As it was I only have a few photos, but the sound of my mother completely dying of laughter will never leave me. It was just too perfect for words and she is now a Billy convert!

​

After a show like that we were hard pressed to find a way to top off the evening - you really couldn't have done better.

At this point my early wake up call and 3.1 mile race were starting to catch up with me. It wasn't even 6 pm and I was ready to call it a night! But that wasn't an option just yet. We had dinner plans that night for Blue Bayou and I was not missing that for the world. I love that restaurant and will always try to squeeze a meal in during every single trip. We still had enough time before we needed to check in for our reservation to sail through the Caribbean with pirates. It wasn't our first time on POTC for the day but my mother was still having fun playing Spot the Capt. Jack Sparrow which was pretty entertaining. This time though there was a small mishap on the ride. Well, not the ride itself, but there was a gate or something was left open right as your passing the cannons that led to an offstage area that was very well lit. Let's just say it ruined the atmosphere just little bit.

By the time we checked in at the Blue Bayou we were both hungry enough that we didn't feel like requesting a waterside table. All we wanted was to sit down, eat, and not fall asleep until we got back to the hotel - and it was only 6:30 pm! But the food was enough to give me a pick-me-up for a little while. We were seated within a few minutes at a table in a small little corner that some people would probably detest but I actually liked it very much. It was removed enough from the main bustle of the rest of the tables that it almost seemed as tranquil as the waterside tables, only without the water. I ordered my go to favorite of the Cajun Spiced Salmon along with the gumbo and between those and the wonderfully delicious bread and the day's only mint juleps I was stuffed to the bursting point long before my birthday dessert was brought out to the table. Luckily I had my mom to help me finish that. But it was a miracle I could walk at that point.

After dinner we decided to squeeze in another round on Indy where we ended up waiting in the SRL line with some guy that we were both pretty darn sure was pretending to be an Aussie and was hitting on me. It was all kind of creepy and I was just trying to keep my mouth shut and stare at a wall while my mother continues to be her chatty little self. If I ever wondered where my penchant for talking came from, I got my answer this weekend. She talks to anyone and everyone about anything and everything. Gosh, I love her. It wasn't until we were off the ride and back in Adventureland and far-far-far away from creepy fake Aussie guy that she spilled that she was pretty sure the guy was just faking it. We got a good laugh out of it for the rest of the evening, however short it was going to end up being.

And it ended up being very short indeed. I had been running on all 4 cylinders since 4 am and I was definitely feeling it at this point. If my mother had any problems with me calling it a night then and there she didn't say a peep. Instead we made out way out of the park slowly, walking hand in hand down Main Street with smiles on both our faces. It was actually a special moment for me. I've wanted to share the love I have for Disneyland with someone from my family for a long time now and I never thought I would actually get the chance. It was a perfect moment and (not that I hadn't been before) I was very very happy that she had decided to come along.

I was also very ready to go to sleep, but even once we made it back to the hotel I had to wait a little while longer. My friend and fellow DIS'er, Meredith/merrrydeath, was driving down from the Bay Area to join us for the remainder of the weekend and I needed to be up to get her her parking pass and room key. And so I lounged in bed with my laptop for a while, listening to the fireworks go off, and waiting for 10 pm to roll around. Before too long I got the call (or was it a text?) that she was here so I went down to meet her. It was funny to see her one small bag compared to the suitcases my mother and I had for the weekend, but it was a pretty quick trip on her end. Arriving late Saturday night and leaving sometime on Monday. So it was back up to the room we went and we wasted no time in falling asleep. Just a few quick questions on what time to wake up for our character breakfast in the morning, getting ready for bed, and then it was light's out!

 

[JH87]

Great updates!! Congrats on your race time! That's excellent.

 

[Belle Ella]

Thanks Jillian! I didn't even realize that I was doing so well during the race. I actually thought I was going pretty slowly because of the few photos that I took (a lot didn't come out so I didn't include them) and stopping to say hi to Pluto, Chip, and Dale. I almost wish I had taken the time to get a few more photos. But hey, finishing was what mattered!



So some good news! I have officially finished editing the remaining photos from the trip. It's a little different this time around. I can't share a lot of photos because of the Divas Scavenger Hunt, and the ones I will be using I pretty much left the way they were other than the size. All that's left to do now is just type these suckers out.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Finally made it back over here & got caught up! Awesome job on the 5k.....was there a time limit to do this? (just wondering if there were walkers vs joggers/runners) I'm not a huge star wars person, but a themed run looked fun. I think going thru all the back stuff would be interesting.....just to say you were "back there"......lol

The Tink medal is nice!!! I know a 1/2 marathon would be out for me....the 5k a possibility.

So rats......no secrets from the meeting...... Love the group shot of all you lovely divas!!!!

 

[Belle Ella]

Glad to see you caught up, Laurie! I know I need to get myself caught up on a few others, but it's so hard when I'm using all of my free time to try and get caught up on my own in time for my own next trip (just barely over 1 week from today).

If the theme had been announced for the 5K before I signed up I think I might have passed on it entirely, despite how much pull I was feeling for signing up for a Disney race. When I registered I was focusing solely on the Disney and running through Disneyland aspect I didn't even think what they would have done for the theme. Of course with the re-opening of Star Tours I guess it made sense - but why couldn't they have done a Little Mermaid theme? At least that ride was brand new and not just a new and improved version, it should have been celebrated! And I definitely did love running through the backstage areas, it's something not a lot of people can say they've done, but from things I had heard about previous races I had this preconceived idea that there would be more running through the Lands. It was hard not to be a little bit disappointed. I am pretty sure there was a time limit on the 5K as well and they probably wanted you to keep to at least a 16 min/mile pace just like the 5K which is probably a lot easier for the 5K than a half! But considering they need people out of the Parks in time for opening there has to be some kind of timetable expected I would assume. But I really think the 5K is completely doable for everyone!

And the shot of us Divas on the Scavvy Committe is only lovely because my eyes were closed.

 

[DizNee Luver]

my eyes were closed.

You were tired!!

 

[Belle Ella]

Yeah, that was it, lol. Either that or I was trying to hid my secrets.

 

[Belle Ella]

Another morning at Disneyland = another early wake-up for me! At least this time I got to snooze a little while longer, my alarm waking me up at 6 am instead of 4 am. While Disneyland seems to keep me going like the Energizer Bunny those extra 2 hours of sleep did a world of wonder for me. It was still a good 3 hours before Disneyland opened for real but it was a Magic Morning and while neither Meredith or I had access because of our AP's we would still be putting that extra hour of Disney-morning-glory to good use. We had reservations for breakfast at the only character meal inside Disneyland, Minnie & Friends Breakfast in the Park at the Plaza Inn, for 8:10 am. Sometime around 7 am we had all of our things ready and after a quick goodbye to my mother who would be meeting us a little later in the morning we were on our way down Harbor to wait at the security checkpoint for them to open up the Esplanade. It got a little confusing because of the Half Marathon going on that morning. There were a lot of people that were crossing to make it to wherever they would be cheering on their friends and family who were running. Telling some people it was okay to go on through and others that they needed to wait until they got the all clear didn't seem to ring a bell for some people we were waiting with, but we both knew the drill and started a small line off to the side for people waiting for them to officially start checking their bags. It seemed to take a little longer than I was used to, but about 7:45 they got the all clear and we were good to go.

Meredith and I parted ways for a brief moment at this point. Not only was it a Magic Morning that we didn't have actual access to on this particular day, but Meredith technically didn't have admission at all - her Deluxe AP was blocked out for the day. We both knew this when plans were made for her to come down for a couple of days (wait, make that when she invited herself - not that I minded ;)) so while I went to stake out our spot by the special gate for the character meal on the left side of the entrance gates she went off to pick up her blackout passes. Because I have a Premium AP blackout days aren't a problem for me so I've never had any experience with how they work, and neither had she. When she met back up with me a few minutes later she walked me through how it worked just as the CM had with her. Basically she had two tickets for the day: one was her AP and the other was her blockout pass. Both would need to be scanned to get into the Park but only one would be needed for FP's. I would probably lose one of course and then where would I be, lol. I'm not so great with keeping track of too many things. But at least she could get into the Park!

At 8 am things got rolling and we had our own personal escort down Main Street and to the entrance to the Plaza Inn for our meal. We took a quick photo in front of the restaurant and then went in to pay, be taken to our table and start the fun! And get this ... for the 3rd time in a row I was seated at the exact same location. This is what happens when you eat solo or in small groups first thing in the morning. The next time this happens I am taking a special photo of the table and I will get it framed. It gives me the giggles, no doubt.

we got a little card on our table​

If you've followed my TR's in the past you'll know I'm not much of a food critic so I'm going to skip over what foods are available and if they are any good or not. To me, food is food, and I don't have much to say on it. All I wanted to do was grab something, eat it, and then have them bring on the characters. And bring on the characters they did. Let's see who we can see!

It's Dale! Always a favorite of mine.





Tigger!





Why, it's our lovely Hostess, miss Minnie Mouse!





Good old Geppetto!





Hello there, Chip!




goofy dale wanted to come say hello again - i don't think he realized there was a window in the way​

Our character meal was already off to a great start, the characters were coming in pretty darn rapid succession but somehow I was able to find time to eat in between photos. I wasn't too hungry this time around and didn't end up needing to go back for seconds. So far the characters were pretty standard for me and my experiences with M&F, although Geppetto was first for me. I was definitely anxious to see who else we would see. The next appearance was a fun one though. He and his blue rear-end were making the rounds and doing an awful lot of what you could call dancing all over the place. I'd only ever seen him once at M&F so I was excited for another photo with Rafiki! And of course Meredith started a trend, taking photographs of a lot of the characters tails. I think I may have gotten in on the fun too

pulling up a chair


someone who is meredith sized!


i seem to be sprouting from his hair


yeah, that one was me​

 

[Belle Ella]

There was definitely still plenty of fun to be had at the Plaza Inn and our breakfast in the Park with Minnie & Friends! Meredith and I had already seen Chip & Dale, Minnie Mouse, Geppetto, and Tigger too. Not bad for barely being 20 minutes into our mealtime. I wish I could remember a little more in detail about the interaction between us and the characters so far. Some were more in depth while others would be a simple smile and photo before moving on. Up next was another of my personal favorites at character meals and in the Parks, Captain Hook! And I was trembling in my flats thanks to his sneaky appearance near our table. Only moments before I had been talking about Baloo scaring me silly at Goofy's Kitchen and now Hook can be added to that category as well. I wasn't expecting him to come stomping up behind us and the sound made me jump from my seat with a little scream, no lies. He seemed rather pleased with himself. But at last my terror turned into a fit of giggles and it was hard to stop laughing long enough to take a photo.

Captain Hook!

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And yet another of my personal favorites (I was really hitting the jackpot already and the best was yet to come) was spotted amongst the tables behind me: Br'er Fox! I hadn't seen him at M&F since my first character meal experience back in 2009, I believe. I was very antsy for him to make his way to our table since you never know how long it's going to take and it would be just my luck that he turns around and never makes it back to us before we had to leave. For a moment we both thought this would be the case as he doubled back and disappeared behind a door - only to reappear a few moments later to show off a neat little trick of his! I was too slow with the camera to get a good shot but I did manage to catch him in the act just before the broom came falling down.

his hidden talent​

But just like that he had disappeared again and we were left wondering if he, in fact, wouldn't make it to our table after all. We were both done eating by now so it was really just us waiting to see who else would be coming around to say hello and we certainy hoped there would be plenty more. But just like that Br'er Fox made another appearance ... running into the windowed door next to us as though he didn't realize he couldn't get in. He must be a little slow because he didn't get the message and tried again, and then again for good measure. He just couldn't seem to get himself inside. Luckily for him though there was a young girl at a table near ours who knew all about doors. She was an expert, actually, so she showed him how it was done. So he was in our neck of the woods now and it wasn't too long before we got our photos (and Meredith continued with her tail obsession photography session).

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At this point Captain Hook made an reappearance near our table. He was searching for some attention and even with no cameras on him he started striking some poses. So of course I had to ask him if he was contemplating a career in modeling. This time I managed to get my camera out in time and so he struck a few more poses for the camera and after some prompting from his crowd of his admirers he even showed off his catwalk skills (maybe we could call them plank-walk skills since I'm guessing that's where he practices). Hook's got some skills, just sayin'.

Dashing, no?



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