Blabbermouth & DH's Feeding Frenzy TRIP REPORT - Final Update 9/21

[Tasscrapper]

Alright I'll guess. Since you're on Main Street it occurs to me you are awfully close to Buzz again. Did you go blast Zurg again?

 

[sonjaandsue]

I will guess Captain EO 'cause that is what I would have done?

 

[blabbermouth]

The lack of pictures tells me that a lot of fun was had. I find that the more fun that I have the less I think about pictures.

It's true, we were having fun!

Alright I'll guess. Since you're on Main Street it occurs to me you are awfully close to Buzz again. Did you go blast Zurg again?

Ooh, fair guess! But no, our final fight against Zurg was already completed earlier that day.

I will guess Captain EO 'cause that is what I would have done?

Good guess too! This does get done, but not until later that night.

 

[blabbermouth]

Ok, I guess I should have given more hints. We LEFT DL and hopped over to DCA!

Jason wanted to draw again, so we headed through the maze of walls to Animation Academy. This time we hardly had to wait at all, and we got to draw Tigger.

It was fun. J turfed his because he didn't think it was any good I kept mine although it's really the Jay Leno of Tiggers, big chin alert!

After this we wandered a bit and were both feeling a bit tired. It was 5 by now and still awhile until dinner, but not long enough to go back to our hotel, so we thought we'd stop for a drink.

We went over to the Golden Vine Winery, but it seemed really noisy and hectic up there, so I figured we could go over to the Hearthstone Lounge at the GC.

This was a great idea! It was nice and air conditioned and quiet in there. We sat in the bar and were served by Becky. She was a bit slow, but friendly.

I got a glass of Pinot Grigio for $9. Refreshing!

Jason got a mojito which he enjoyed... quickly.

We also got some snack mix, just what we needed to get us through to dinner. Yum, my favorite snack! At least if they charge $9/drink they give you endless snacks Doesn't take much to please me.

After his mojito, J had a beer too, I was still sipping my wine

We were here for an hour before our friends called and told us they were over at Coke Corner, so we headed back to DL.

I took some pics of the creepy sailor cat in the window next to Carnation Cafe.

Close up!!!

We headed back to ST for our FP time!

It was great again, this time we were in the back corner, right next to the rebel spy It was much jerkier back here, but still super awesome!

On his way in, C got given 4 FPs for ST with a return time of 7:30. We thought about using them, but figured we probably wouldn't get to it that night, so we gave them away in two pairs. I LOVE giving people FPs for the biggest rides. The second girl said 'sure' when I asked her if she wanted some FPs and then 'for this ride?' 'yes' 'and they're valid now?!?!?' 'yes! get outta this line and enjoy the ride!' She was so excited and it made my day

And then it was time for MJ in Captain EO!

I love the weird rat tailed cat butterfly thing, but otherwise it was a bit lame.

We HAD a reservation at Napa Rose for tonight, but would we make it? Or would we cancel to do something with our friends? First we went to pickup Jason's crest poster at the Castle Shop, here it is! Oh, this isn't actually his real last name, it's his dad's, which is different.

Be back this weekend for more!

 

[Tasscrapper]

Hmmm, the crest image didn't work. Did it turn out nice?

 

[blabbermouth]

Hmmm, the crest image didn't work. Did it turn out nice?

Oh, stupid photobucket. Sorry. Yeah, it's nice I guess, for that sort of thing.

 

[blabbermouth]

Okay, so we cancelled our Napa Rose reservation so we could spend more time with our friends.

We had apparently convinced them that the Big Thunder Ranch BBQ was A-mazing, so they wanted us to go there with them. Two nights in a row? I wasn't terribly excited (sure doesn't make for an exciting trip report!) and would have rather tried something new, but it was good. So, off we went.

I don't know if I ate my money's worth this time, I was pretty tired and just not interested in stuffing myself. The corn on the cob is so good though! And I've come to enjoy that crazy unsweetened iced tea that runs rampant down there.

FYI, tonight there was the same performers, but they sang different songs, which was nice!

After this we were all full and tired, so we just wandered for a bit. Saw the Mark Twain Riverboat was about to leave so we hopped on. It's really nice! A very pretty boat. We took some cheesy photos. Our friends have some more, I imagine they will post them to facebook eventually.

Ha!

After I took this pic I laughed my butt off and then turned the camera around to show C&C. They also burst out laughing, I THOUGHT from the photo. But apparently I hadn't actually clicked the 'play' button, I was just looking at the photo as it freezes on the screen for a few seconds after you take it. So by the time I turned it around to them it was back on picture mode and showing them a close up of my chest! Oh, they thought it was funny, I thought it was embarrassing

While we were on the boat, C was asking me about Club 33, so I explained it to him and told him we'd go find it when we were off the boat.

I was surprised how long the boat ride was, didn't realize there was so much water around there. I liked the little spiel that played while we were on the boat, describing what we were looking at and giving some history etc.

So off we went to NOS to see Club 33... I told them they should get on the wait list for that or the new Club in DCA

Then we went off to meet C's family to watch the fireworks. Good thing I haven't posted many pics in this post yet because I have a ton of fireworks shots.

This is my favourite with the way the castle is highlighted by the fireworks:

Sombody tell Sleeping Beauty she needs to evacuate!

Dumbo!

Goodbye Disneyland

After the fireworks we decided to wind down with a drink at the Hearthstone.

This time I had a Chardonnay, the guys had Long Island Ice Teas and C had a Bahama Mama. Those mixed drinks were strong! The Chardonnay was better than the Pinot Grigio I had earlier in the day. The service was a bit lacking this time, I forget our server's name, but I think she had way too many tables, it was actually about 3/4 full at 10:30.

At about 11:30, we said goodbye to our friends, they had to walk all the way back to Harbor, and we were back at our hotel and fast asleep asap!

Don't worry, it was our last day at the parks, but I still have two relevant meals to write about from our last day in Anaheim! Keep reading for Mimi's, White Water Snacks and Tangaroa Terrace/Trader Sam's!

 

[kaoden39]

I am not sure I would have been thrilled to have the bbq two nights in a row.



What is in a Bahama Mama?

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I took fireworks pictures at DL in the past, but none came out as nice as yours! And I had a decent camera, also; obviously photographer error.

Still enjoying the ride...

 

[blabbermouth]

I am not sure I would have been thrilled to have the bbq two nights in a row.


What is in a Bahama Mama?

Yeah, I try to minimize arguments while on vacation, especially in front of friends!! So BBQ it was.

Rum, lots of it, and some fruit juice. I guess similar to a Mai Tai?

I took fireworks pictures at DL in the past, but none came out as nice as yours! And I had a decent camera, also; obviously photographer error.

Still enjoying the ride...

I tried to use the fireworks setting and it sucked, so I just set it back to automatic, and ta-da, they turned out ok. I've never had any luck in the past either, I don't think it was your fault!

 

[kaoden39]

Sounds yummy!!

 

[blabbermouth]

Our last day of vacation! So we slept in.

When we got up, we drove over to Mimi's for breakfast.

I, of course, got the one and only mixed berry pain perdu. I still think I could eat this on a daily basis!

Jason got some sort of spicy omlette.

He liked it and the hashbrowns were really good! (I ate some!) Made with REAL diced potatoes, not creepy potato mash stuff.

Because I am in love with this meal, it gets a

I don't even really remember how the service was, but didn't care as long as my meal was good.

After this we headed back to the hotel to search for a good mall and so we went over to the Block at Orange to do some shopping. It's pretty close by and easy to get to if you have a car. It was HOT over there. Jason bought some cigars at the cigar shop, cheaper than home and we don't have to pay duty. I bought a scarf (totally fits the weather, huh) and that's it. Everything was fall-ish and I wasn't ready for that yet! But we spent about an hour or two browsing.

After this I was hungry again, so we headed back to the hotel and dropped off our car. We went to Whitewater Snacks in the Grand Californian.

I got the Char-broiled Chicken Sandwich with guacamole and an ortega chile, served with grapes. This was so good, very flavourful and the chicken was juicy and not dried out. It was actually quiet messy though. Jason didn't eat, just watched me mow down on my burger in shock at his piggy wife Well, he helped with the grapes and drank a beer, he was still full from his big breakfast. The grapes in California were sooooo good.

This was great too! I give it another

I think I was just happy to be still enjoying Disney stuff even though we weren't in the parks. It was a toss up between the nachos and this sandwich, but I made the right choice. It was also fairly healthy which was refreshing! And it was under $10 which is a steal for a fancy chicken burger.

Then we did some shopping in DTD. Yay for souvenirs! We didn't go too crazy, but we bought a few things that I'll show at the end of the post because I don't want to give away our last stop.

After this is was pool time, our last pool time. Sad! Had our last two Sam Adams' poolside and caught some rays. Did I mention it's raining outside right now? I could really handle some suntanning weather!

Eventually we headed inside to relax a bit until we decided we were hungry.

We decided to head over to the Disneyland Hotel to visit Tangaroa Terrace and Trader Sam's! It was a nice walk even though I'm not sure if we took the most direct route.

Past the gazebo...

Through the Frontierland building...

Really cool model of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. And nice lobby decor, although weird going through a hotel building without a front desk!

I had heard that you could order Tangaroa Terrace food from Trader Sam's, so we went in there first to see. We sat, and waited probably 5 minutes and no one helped us, so we decided to just walk over to TT and come back to TS later.

We went inside and ordered. I got the Asian Chicken Salad

Jason got the Hawaiian Cheeseburger with sweet potato fries (sorry, no pic, it was too blurry... must have been hungry!)

And we took them outside to eat

It was VERY quiet here, and it was about 6pm, so regular dinner hours. The pool seemed pretty busy though.

I LOOOOOOVED this salad. It was SO delicious. It had tons of veggies (red and yellow peppers, cucumbers, enoki mushrooms and carrots and cabbage) which isn't typical of a theme park "salad" aka lettuce only. The dressing was light, but flavourful and the cashews and dry rice noodles gave it some extra crunch and texture. I would eat this again any time!

Jason liked his burger too, but the sweet potato fries were really good! Crispy, hot, and just the right amount of salt.

The staff inside were really friendly, helpful and chatty (in a good way!) And the food was delivered in a reasonable amount of time. It was nice paying reasonable prices ($8.49 for the salad and $10.19 for the burger) and still gettting to eat with real plates and cutlery and having your food delivered fresh.

I apparently was very easy to please on our last day, and I give this another

I took a pic of the new pool sign

And the pool construction hole

After we were finished here, we headed back to

This time it was pretty empty as opposed to our first try when it was full. So we sat at the bar. It was pretty funky inside and DARK!

One of the two bartenders, Rhonda was quick to ask us what we'd like. Otherwise we found her to be fairly rude. She asked if we wanted to eat and we told her we were just next door and she just said "oh, well you should have come here". J asked if it was the same kitchen/menu. And she said 'yes. well, no. same kitchen, different menu' which we thought... so it's not like we could have had full meals there anyway!

I ordered the Krakatoa Punch which came in a souvenir glass, but since it was going to be $17, I said I didn't need the glass, I'd just get the drink. It was good, and cute!

She asked Jason if he wanted something strong, and he said he'd like a mojito, and she said 'well, that's not strong, it's just a mojito'. Yes, well that's what he'd like...

We sat around awhile chatting and watched the stuff going on around the bar. When we went to pay our bill, the other bartender helped us. He was soooo nice and funny! Too bad he didn't serve us the whole time it would have made for a better experience. Anyway, as soon as Jason paid he realized we were charged for the souvenir glass afterall, so we decided to just take it. The male bartender got us a fresh glass and fished out the glowing cube for me too. So, the drinks were good, the atmosphere was neat, but the service was mean And we're not very sensitive people! At all!

So we headed off back to our hotel to finish our cheap bottle of wine and watch some more trashy tv before going to bed early.

The next morning our flight out of LAX was at 11:30. I was worried about rush hour traffic so we were up early and left the hotel at about 8:00 (an hour or so to drive, an hour or so to get gas/return car/get shuttle, and then an hour an a half to check in as required). It only took us 40 minutes to get to the airport (what google maps said it would) and there wasn't a stitch of traffic. We stopped to fill up our rental car and then went around the corner to drop it off. This took probably less than a minute. The guy greeted us as we pulled up and Jason tried to give him our gas receipt, but he said he saw it was full, so he didn't need it (I've heard horror stories about this) and we were off to our shuttle, which was waiting and left immediately to take us to our terminal. I think we arrived at our gate by 10:15am! Our longest wait was at the air canada check in kiosks. The only flight of the day from LAX to Toronto was delay indefinitely so there was a bit of a back up trying to help those people get sorted out.

And then we were in the air. Very nice, uneventful flight to Vancouver and a quick wait catching up with the free airport wi-fi before we took the 20 minute flight home (although this was delayed about 20 minutes!)

All in all a great trip, it went off without a hitch and we had a fab time!

Here's our souvenirs:

bamboo coasters, travel mug, tiki glass and light up ice cube

Ewok stuffie, wine bottle opener and stopper combo and matching Mickey and Minnie drawing mugs (since we loved Animation Academy so much!)

Scarf and Ewok tshirt

Thanks to everyone who followed along, I hope I helped with all of the reviews!

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Loved the last update!!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

What a fun ride! Thanks for sharing it.

 

[Tasscrapper]

Thank you so much for sharing your trip and all the lovely photos. I was hoping today that you would finish it before I left for my trip. My sister arrives tomorrow and we leave for Vegas early Friday. My hubby will join me Monday when sis goes home and we will be off to the happiest place on earth!

You said you almost got the nachos at White Water Snacks. They aren't on the menu that I could see and was wondering if they were the ones with the meat strips on them? I had wanted to try them before and was hoping to this time but was bummed they weren't on the menu. I really would like to go through the Grand just to see what it is like.

I hope you enjoyed reliving everything as much as I've enjoyed reading about your trip.

 

[DisneyPhreak]

Great trip report! Thanks for all the great pics. Little over 3 weeks for us! Since I'm off work at the moment I'd love to do an in depth TR with pics like yours!

 

[smile4stamps]

Great Reviews and sounds like a GREAT trip!

I was following in the beginning and then wasn't on the DIS much but am glad I came back and was able to finish your TR!

I loved the BBQ but also 2 nights in a row might have been a bit much for me!!

I may have to try the Hearthstone Lounge! Did they have the munchies both times or just the first time?

 

[Tnut]

Great report! I'm so looking forward to my trip in 32 days. I think we'll try the bbq place. I've never been and I bet the boys would like it (DS 7,5 & 2)

 

[blabbermouth]

Loved the last update!!

Thanks!

What a fun ride! Thanks for sharing it.

No problem

Thank you so much for sharing your trip and all the lovely photos. I was hoping today that you would finish it before I left for my trip. My sister arrives tomorrow and we leave for Vegas early Friday. My hubby will join me Monday when sis goes home and we will be off to the happiest place on earth!

You said you almost got the nachos at White Water Snacks. They aren't on the menu that I could see and was wondering if they were the ones with the meat strips on them? I had wanted to try them before and was hoping to this time but was bummed they weren't on the menu. I really would like to go through the Grand just to see what it is like.

I hope you enjoyed reliving everything as much as I've enjoyed reading about your trip.

Have a great trip!

Yes, the nachos with the beef or chicken chunks, they were available when I was there at least. The GC is really nice, I'd recommend a wander if you're in DTD, there's an entrance by Sephora.

Great trip report! Thanks for all the great pics. Little over 3 weeks for us! Since I'm off work at the moment I'd love to do an in depth TR with pics like yours!

Thanks! They're fun to write and it's a great memento to relive your trip again and again, you should give it a try when you get back.

Great Reviews and sounds like a GREAT trip!

I was following in the beginning and then wasn't on the DIS much but am glad I came back and was able to finish your TR!

I loved the BBQ but also 2 nights in a row might have been a bit much for me!!

I may have to try the Hearthstone Lounge! Did they have the munchies both times or just the first time?

Munchies both times yup, but the second time, as I mentioned our server was a little bit slow, so it took awhile to get them.

We had a lot of just 'ok' service this trip, no really great servers.

Great report! I'm so looking forward to my trip in 32 days. I think we'll try the bbq place. I've never been and I bet the boys would like it (DS 7,5 & 2)

You're getting close now! I think the kids would definitely like it. There's a lot of variety to the food, and the entertainment should keep them... entertained if they like music. Thanks for reading!

 

[sonjaandsue]

Wonderful trip report! What kind of restaurant is Tangaroa Terrace - meaning is it sit down/table service or counter service/quick service type? The food looked good!