California Dreamin'-A 14 Day Odyssey to San Fran,Yosemite & DL! 8/2013 COMPLETE!1/9!!

[Linda67]

Oh I so wish I had tried dinner at Napa Rose when I was last in DL but I was travelling without DH and felt a bit self conscious dining in there alone :-(
I did order from their lounge menu though, and sat out on the terrace with a nice glass of wine and a delicious appetiser
Isn't the Walt in Walt's Footsteps Tour the best?! - I loved it !

 

[podsnel]

Next, we were walking through the VERY special castle- just look how huge it is!







Look! We're in Fantasyland! BIG surprise!!!



We stopped at the carousel, and the CM told the story of why this is so important to Disney- now, I am going to guess every one of you knows the story of Walt at the park with his daughters, watching them on the carousel, and how he dreamed of a place where he could have fun with his girls together, all of them. So since you know that, I won't bother to tell you again.



Moving on through the rest of Fantasyland...







We did get to go on a ride here, and I want to say it was Peter Pan's Flight, but I can't say for certain- I do remember though, that we were able to cut the line which everyone in our group enjoyed a LOT! Peter Pan is one of the original opening day rides left in the park.



I was trying to get Figaro with his eyes open, but I missed-



Keep walking, and now we were in Frontierland.



Our tour guide was Mia, and she really and truly LOVES her job. She told us she had wanted to be a Disneyland Tour Guide ever since she was 9- it is her dream job. Absolutely believe her- she was living every moment of every story. Fantastic!



We heard the story of why this is here- look MEK!



which is pretty much Walt should have had a personal shopper help him when shopping for Lilly...

Next we were going to New Orleans Square-



For something everyone was looking forward to....

To be continued...

 

[jenseib]

Now you know you can't stop there....thats the part of the tour I didn't get to do!!!
I thought the same thing about the petrified tree...I would kill my husband if he bought me one.

 

[JKSWonder]

Napa Rose dinner looks ah-mazing!

If we go to DL, I definitely want to do this tour.

 

[dizneeat]

Following along! Had a lot to catch up on. Again, as always, I just love all the detail I see in your pics. Especially DL brings back a lot of memories as we were able to take our mum there 5 years before she died.

 

[DWGal210]

Fun, fun fun on Main Street USA! How cool. I love tours and history, so I bet I would have enjoyed that too.

 

[jedijill]

Isn't the Walk tour great? Can't wait to hear about you "illegally" touching things.

You should have gone for the Matterhorn macaroon for breakfast.

Jill in CO

 

[Misskitty3]

rsday. The stan by times would completely change over the weekend. But today...WOOHOO!!!!




Cont'd next post-

Very impressive that you kept your sunglasses on AND they stayed on!

Some day I will have to try this ride....after riding the roller coaster at New York, New York, I haven't loved the idea of roller coasters that have those bars over your shoulders. Made me feel very claustrophobic....but I do love a good roller coaster!!

 

[podsnel]

Well, of course, we were now going to see-



Well, kind of. We were going to see the lobby, and the beautiful elevator Walt had created just for his special club. Mia let them know we were here, and while we waited, I took some pics outside-





Say CHEESE!







Mia told us about why Club 33 was created by Walt- he was on that very popular TV program every week, and everyone knew who he was. So of course, as you can well imagine, he was bombarded by fans in the park- which was fine, but sometimes, he needed a break, somewhere where he could go with his guests or cast members and have an un-interrupted conversation and kick back a bit. So he built Club 33 for that purpose.



She told us about the elevator- it is an exact replica of one from a hotel he stayed in in France. He wanted to buy THAT elevator, but, no, sorry Monsieur who ever you are, this elevator is not for sale. So Walt sent his Imagineers back to france to scope out the exact elevator and duplicate it PERFECTLY for his club. GO WALT! We then all took turns taking pics in the elevator-



And then went back outside to continue the tour.



Mia spoke about Walt and his well known love of trains. One of which we were about to board.



I loved talking to Mia in between her official tour parts. I learned she has never been to WDW. I think she said it would feel like cheating on her park. Of course, I tried to do my best to explain WDW to her, and told her her DL would really understand if she went there someday. But I got the feeling it would be many, many years before she EVER would consider doing that. She REALLY loved Walt- she was extremely passionate about upholding his vision and I can honestly say she did a great job of it. She fit right in with that mold of perfect, polite, wholesome young women he had contracted with Disney back in the day- and she was a trooper, man- she wore high heels the entire time!





Here we go!



Notice how all the seats face out? She was happy we got this one-



Just a drive by-







When WILL it open????



When we got off, we stopped over here-





Never did get on IASW this trip- I was kind of really hoping it would be a part of this tour, but guess not, today.



Cont'd next post-

 

[podsnel]

We were then taken into Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. For those of you who have not been to DL, the lobby of this attraction reminded me of One Man's Dream in DHS a little. AND the American Adventure lobby a little. Kind of like THEY had a baby.

Here's the plan-



Now where I have I seen this before?





In case you were wondering, Walt had a huge fondness and admiration thing going for old Honest Abe. Mia started to tell us about it...and about the end of Walt's life. At some point she stopped and looked at me to say I was really going to cry now (I guess I had been doing that occasionally, here and there on the tour whenever she would relate some tender Walt fact. Goober that I am. Called out by Practically Perfect Tour Guide, Mia. SHEESH). She was right- I did. GOOBER!

Here is Walt dressed up with Roy- 2 guesses which one is our beloved hero in the pic-



More heroes in there, like Jackie Robinson-



Helen Keller-



Our heroes-



Well, we watched the movie/show, and then the tour was concluded...EXCEPT...for 2 more things. The first of which was lunch! Back down (up?) Main Street we went, to Jolly Holiday for my second meal of the day in the same place.





We were shown a menu before our tour began, and I had ordered the Jolly Holiday Salad - Blend of Lettuce, with Spiced Pecans, Feta, Red & Yellow Tomatoes and Craisins Dried Cranberries. Served with Raspberry Vinaigrette. $7.99 .



It was waaaaay better than breakfast!



Especially because I got a Matterhorn Macaroon, JEDIJILL, for dessert!



They gave us our VERY amazing pins during lunch-





Then Mia said we could leave any leftovers here with her while we went on the last part of the tour, which would be given by a different CM.

Different? Yea- this one was DIFFERENT alright.....

to be continued.....

 

[JKSWonder]

It looks so much different then I remember. Then again, I was only 15 when I went there the one and only time!

 

[jedijill]

Mmmmm, Matterhorn macaroon! Worth the trip to DLR!


I sobbed at the end of the tour too. You are not alone.

Jill in CO

 

[ProudMommyof2]

Ugh.... cliffhangers

Come back real soon please

 

[franandaj]

This definitely sounds like a cool tour!

 

[Mysteria]

Noooo not a cliffhanger! Ok, so just kidding with the mad face but you are killing me.

 

[rentayenta]

If Amercian Adventure and One Man's Dream had a baby!

The Matterhorn Macaroon looks divine.

I'll tell you, I use to feel just like Mia about visiting WDW before I actually visited. WDW does not illicit nearly the same heartfelt, magical, and nostalgic response as Disneyland does and I'm glad. I am much more of a blubbering fool at Disneyland. I don't feel Walt's presence at WDW. WDW is amazing but its not Disneyland. I totally get Mia's thinking. When someone says Disney I think Land not World. Love them both but just in different ways. But not like if they had a baby.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi Ellen! How fun you got to meet up with your old beach friend Steve! Love the hair on the guys from the TBT pic!

Your NR dinner looked amazing! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

The tour is so cool! Looks like Mia was able to really connect with the culture that Walt tried to hard to preserve. "Cheating on DL" What a cutie! Looking forward to seeing who your next CM guide is

 

[eandesmom]

Love the pin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't get on It's a small world on our DL trip either, I need to fix that.

Fun update but gah on the cliffhanger!

 

[saintstickets]

If DW and I ever make it out to DL again we MUST do this tour. It's been only 47 years since I was at DL so I guess it's time to go again, right? I love the update!

 

[DWGal210]

What a sweet tour guide! You can tell from the pictures that she loves her job. I love when you encounter people like that; you can't help but catch their enthusiasm!

I would have teared up, too!

Lunch looks yummy! How cute that they put your name stickers on there. And the pin is SO neat - I love it!!