Business Trip to San Diego? I'M GOING TO DIDNEYRAND!!!!!-April 2013 TR*Update 11/18

[IheartDDuck]

I love Roger Rabbit too. Cool ride

Always one of my favorites.

 

[teekathepony]

I love the idea of doing all the things not in wdw first! I can't wait to see them all. The Roger Rabbit ride looks awesome! I have a cousin who would go crazy for that one!
The Disneyland castle is so adorable!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[shan23877]

Somehow I missed an update? One with awesome dad pictures? Uggghh. Sorry!

That castle does look small! I don't know that I've ever seen a picture of it with so many people in front of it for reference.

Your poor butt!

I didn't know you guys worked at Great America! My buddy Joe and I used to torment our pals by doing the Viper spiel (complete with the click at the end) over and over and over. We've been there a few times.

 

[CarolynK]

I love Matterhorn, but, yeah, it's one bumpy ride!! And Toontown, love it! Did you make the dog bark at the fire station??

 

[IheartDDuck]

I love the idea of doing all the things not in wdw first! I can't wait to see them all. The Roger Rabbit ride looks awesome! I have a cousin who would go crazy for that one!
The Disneyland castle is so adorable!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

I thought that was a really great approach, and I am honestly flabbergasted that I wasn't the one that came up with the idea.

I love Roger Rabbit. I just love the spinning option really. It makes me giggle.

Somehow I missed an update? One with awesome dad pictures? Uggghh. Sorry!

That castle does look small! I don't know that I've ever seen a picture of it with so many people in front of it for reference.

Your poor butt!

I didn't know you guys worked at Great America! My buddy Joe and I used to torment our pals by doing the Viper spiel (complete with the click at the end) over and over and over. We've been there a few times.

Haha! Yes, awesome Dad pictures abound!

It is small for sure. Sometimes I forget, and then when you're there you kind of go "oh, yeah".

We did work at Great America! I was there from 1997 until 2002, in the rides department. I haven't been in quite a few years though, because I just don't like it anymore. It was a great place when I worked there, but now it's just kind of icky in my opinion.

I love Matterhorn, but, yeah, it's one bumpy ride!! And Toontown, love it! Did you make the dog bark at the fire station??

Wait, there's a dog that you can make bark at the fire station? Clearly, we didn't make him bark, because I had no idea! I learn something new every day.

I just noticed you are in Highland Park. Hi there neighbor.

 

[MEK]

Matterhorn - cool!

Roger Rabbit - double cool!

Mickey Bars that don't melt - priceless!

Great Popadon pictures!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Matterhorn - cool!

Roger Rabbit - double cool!

Mickey Bars that don't melt - priceless!

Great Popadon pictures!

Hahaha. I Mickey bar not melting was great until the ear broke off in my mouth and it was absolutely freezing!

 

[klacey1]

Hi, joining in!! I've only been to DL once, but I'm trying to convince my boyfriend to go next year, so I'm loving reading about your trip!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Hi, joining in!! I've only been to DL once, but I'm trying to convince my boyfriend to go next year, so I'm loving reading about your trip!

Glad you're here! I hope you can convince him to go. I definitely don't make it there as often as WDW, and it was a really nice change of pace. Plus, all the things they have that WDW doesn't is always great!

 

[IheartDDuck]

So we left off having just completed our ride on Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, and I had my lovely snack of a Mickey bar. Hmmmm. Which froze my tongue, but what can you do?

We decided to head over to New Orlean's Square to check out Pirates of the Caribbean. Popadon adores this one, because you drop twice instead of once. The man.....he's very easily amused.



For all those out there that typically go to WDW instead of DLR, it's important to note that most queues in DLR are outdoors with not a lot of coverage. Which I forgot. And like the doofus that I am, I didn't wear a lot of sunscreen (read: none), thinking "oh yeah, I'll be fine!" The moral of this story......I wasn't fine by the end of the trip. Need I remind you I am pasty white?

ANYWAY!! That was a bit of a digression. The line wasn't too bad, so soon we were inside the building.



I don't know about you guys, but I always seem to have a couple of pirates following me around everywhere.



The ride was good as always. It does help to have some pirates along with you, in case you're curious. I love the bayou portion of this ride. And I miss this in WDW.



So......we're going along, all nice, enjoying the ride. First drop hits. I'm all like "yaaaaaayyyyyyyy.......AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!! WWWWAAATTTTEEEERRR!!"

At the end of the first drop, we hit the water, and the water hit me. I'm not exaggerating. I was soaked! My entire left side was soaked. If I had known I was going to ride Splash Mountain......

Now, this picture I'm going to show you is blurry. But it helps to emphasize how close you are to the final Captain Jack on the ride.



Really! He's like almost in your boat. If it was the real Johnny Depp, I would love for him to be in my boat.

After we left and I assessed the water damage to my body (yup, still wet), we moved on to the Haunted Mansion.

Little fun fact. The Haunted Mansion is the only ride that appears in a different land in every single park it's in. Can you name the lands?



Nothing out of the ordinary at the Haunted Mansion, but it is one of my favorites for sure. Always has been.

The Bride says hello.



After that, we decided to head over to Tomorrowland. Buzz Lightyear was calling our names.

Any new readers out there, let me educate you on something. We are a competitive family (otherwise translated as, Jason and I are competitive). So, on scoring rides like Buzz Lightyear and Toy Story, it's GAME ON!



My precious!





I educated my brother in line on this version of Buzz Lightyear. I may not like to lose, but I'm fair with making sure we're on a level playing field. I warned Jason that this version is more difficult than WDW, which doesn't make sense at first to him because you can remove the blaster from the holster. So, he didn't believe me. I told him to just trust me on it.

There was virtually no wait time, so we were soon boarding our space cruisers. And apparently, at the same time my Popadon was trying to shoot me in the face with his blaster.



Now....I am ashamed. Straight up ashamed at the quality of my score, and my friends and readers of my other TR's can yell at me to shame myself, because you know what my normal scores are like.





Jeez. Jason's wasn't much better.



But out of all of this, neither he nor I had time to debate the fact that I lost and he won. You know why?

BECAUSE MY POP BEAT US!

Did you hear that? Let me say it again.

MY......FATHER.....BEAT US!

I'm sorry, I have to end this update here, because I'm just ashamed, shocked and chagrined.

Up next: And then there was that time that I tried to bite my brother in the face.

 

[shan23877]

LOL. I understand competitive, but I have to say I'm laughing out loud at Pop beating you both.

Would have to google the answer to your trivia question, and as much as I'd like to be the winner that feels like cheating.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Gah this trip report makes me miss Disneyland so much.

I think the POTC in Disneyland is so much better than the WDW version. Nice picture of the Haunted Mansion. The two times I've been to DLR have been in December/January so I haven't even seen the normal version-it was the holiday version when we went! As for the lands the HM appears in, I feel like I should know the answer to that. Our tour guide for KTTK mentioned how it was in a different land in every park. But I only know Liberty Square and New Orleans Square! For some reason I want to say it's in Fantasyland in one of the international parks but I could be totally wrong about that.

 

[IheartDDuck]

LOL. I understand competitive, but I have to say I'm laughing out loud at Pop beating you both.

Would have to google the answer to your trivia question, and as much as I'd like to be the winner that feels like cheating.

I was not laughing out loud. I was grousing out loud.

Hahahaha, that's okay if you have to google. It's an interesting question, and the only reason I know it is because it's my favorite attraction.

Gah this trip report makes me miss Disneyland so much.

I think the POTC in Disneyland is so much better than the WDW version. Nice picture of the Haunted Mansion. The two times I've been to DLR have been in December/January so I haven't even seen the normal version-it was the holiday version when we went! As for the lands the HM appears in, I feel like I should know the answer to that. Our tour guide for KTTK mentioned how it was in a different land in every park. But I only know Liberty Square and New Orleans Square! For some reason I want to say it's in Fantasyland in one of the international parks but I could be totally wrong about that.

Then you definitely need to make it back there soon!

POTC is so much better in Disneyland, isn't it? I just like the fact that it feels so much longer too!

I miss Haunted Mansion Holiday! I've only seen it once, and I want to go back when it's like that! I haven't been successful though.

Yes, it is in Fantasyland in one of the international parks. Care to harbor a guess which one?

 

[teekathepony]

Ahhh I just laughed out loud (seriously, fairly loud) at the thought of you and your brother of all people, being beat on Buzz of all rides, by your Popadon! Go Popadon! Hehehehe but I am sorry to make light of your pain.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Joining in! So excited to read more about this trip. I hope someday I'll be able to go to DLR. Can't believe I'm spoiling myself of what surprises may be in store for me there but whatever. And on the question about the Haunted Mansions: In WDW, it's Liberty Square; In DLR, it's New Orleans Square; In DLRP, it's Frontierland; In TDL, it's... uhhh either Adventureland or Fantasyland... I think. Well, can't wait for the next update!

 

[TinksThree]

Wow! I love the differences in the rides! And I miss Toontown in WDW but this Toontown looks amazing cute!!! (Still love seeing the crazy pics you and your fam do!!)

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

All caught up... Glad your Dad and Jason were able to go to Disneyland with you...

Congrats on the 40 pound weight loss!!!!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Ahhh I just laughed out loud (seriously, fairly loud) at the thought of you and your brother of all people, being beat on Buzz of all rides, by your Popadon! Go Popadon! Hehehehe but I am sorry to make light of your pain.

Hahaha! It's a sad state of affairs, isn't it?! To have two extremely competitive people lose to their Pop? What is this world coming to!?

Joining in! So excited to read more about this trip. I hope someday I'll be able to go to DLR. Can't believe I'm spoiling myself of what surprises may be in store for me there but whatever. And on the question about the Haunted Mansions: In WDW, it's Liberty Square; In DLR, it's New Orleans Square; In DLRP, it's Frontierland; In TDL, it's... uhhh either Adventureland or Fantasyland... I think. Well, can't wait for the next update!

One day, you till go to DLR. I don't get out there half as often as I get out to WDW. It's just less cost effective for us.

You were correct on all of your Haunted Mansion answers. In TDL it's Fantasyland.

Wow! I love the differences in the rides! And I miss Toontown in WDW but this Toontown looks amazing cute!!! (Still love seeing the crazy pics you and your fam do!!)

The one thing about this Toontown that was always so much better was the fact that they had Roger Rabbit. That definitely makes it a winner to me.

All caught up... Glad your Dad and Jason were able to go to Disneyland with you...

Congrats on the 40 pound weight loss!!!!

Thanks! I'm stuck at 40 pounds and have been for a while now. But, I figure it's a hump that I'll get over at some point.

 

[IheartDDuck]

We had left off with Jason and I getting beaten on Buzz by our father.

Laugh. Go ahead and laugh. It's totally fine.

We decided at that point to head right across the way to Star Tours.



Oh R-2. How I love thee.



We are huge Star Wars fans in my house. And it's funny, because we've only been to Star Wars weekends one time. You would think we would remedy that. Perhaps next year?????

Of course, Jason and I being.....well, Jason and I, decided we needed to take some silly selfies in line.



So at this point, we were discussing the ride and all of the options. And I made a fatal error. What error would that be?

Talking about the fact that I hate getting the Pod Race.

You know what that means......

Do not pass go, do not collect $200, and go straight to your Pod Race.

D'oh!!!!! And then, to add insult to injury, we had a Pod Race, and then went underwater to Jar Jar Binks land. Oh Jar Jar. How you aggravate me. Let me count the ways. One one thousand, two one thousand.....

After we left the ride, we decided to have some fun wandering around the store. Of course, Jason and I being in a store together with a camera is never really smart thing.....






And that is a pictorial recounting of that time I almost bit my brother in the face. Don't worry. He deserved it.

After our fun in the Star Wars shop, it was time for us to head towards Indiana Jones for our fastpass return time.



This, our of many many rides in the Disney universe (and there are many) is one of my favorites. I first went on this ride back in 1998. I believe it was a pretty new one at the time. And we were all sold on it then. It forever remains one of my favorites. It also explains my love of Dinosaur too. I find that Indiana Jones is superior, but I absolutely love the ride technology that's used.

I lead such a tough life, don't I?

I one complaint I have about Indiana Jones is that it has the longest queue of life. For real. Like, endless. And it's in the dark. You could mistakenly think that someone is going to jump out and get you at any given moment.

See? Dark. Oooooohhhhhhh.





I attempted to get some pictures on the ride, but I failed. I tried again later on the trip, so I'll post those.

After this we all decided two things:

1) We were really hungry!
2) We were really tired!

Dad had been up since 4am central time, and he was fading fast. Jason and I were tired too, so we decided that we would stop for some dinner, and then head back to the hotel. It was around 9pm at this point, so it's not like we were calling uncle super early. However, please note if we were calling it early, I'm not ashamed. I'd tell you when I was a pansy.

We headed to the French Market, which is by the Haunted Mansion and not too far from where we were at Indiana Jones.

It was super dark, so I couldn't get pictures (the eating area is outside, and I wasn't in the mood to blind any other guests eating there). If you were a guest eating at the French Market on Friday April 26, 2013 at around 9pm......you're welcome!

Disneyland (in my humble opinion) kind of beats WDW on the counter service front. They serve on real plates, because it appears they trust their guests more, and the food is just more robust to me. You can go to Disneyland and subsist on counter service if you ask me.

Dad got a 1/2 rotisserie chicken, I got red snapper, and Jason got shrimp penne pasta. We all liked our food very much.

We headed out of the park at that point and back to the Grand Californian. We picked up some treats on the way out, and headed back to the room.

If you're ever looking for a tasty treat in Disneyland, get the peanut butter sandwich. It's not a sandwich, it's a chocolate covered treat, but OMG. Sooooooo good.

That ended our first Disneyland day.

Up next: Radiator Springs here we come!!!!

 

[teekathepony]

I am only a recent Star Wars fan and when I first watched the movies I couldn't understand why everyone hated Jar Jar. After watching the movies a few times... let's just say I get it.
I have always hated the fracking pod race.
Love the pics of you and your bro in the shop! Nice hats.
Have to You Tube an on ride video of Indie in Disneyland! Looks spooky and cool.