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

[dvc4life]

And Ellen, after seeing FB about Alaska it jogged my memory of your cruise. I just forgot, duh. And our cruise leaves October 1st from Port Canaveral. For us it is perfect. A double dip and Key West with one sea day. And we are doing a pub crawl while in Key West. That should be fun!

Have a great time while in Alaska!

 

[scottny]

Love POTC in DL.
I need to try a beignet sometime. Never have.
Your app sounds delicious.
The entrees looked yummy.
I cannot wait to try Carsland area. Nice pics you got.
LOL. He went back to bed. Teenagers! LOL.
Alison those were great pics.
Caught up again.

 

[Linda67]

Wow Franandaj your photos have just made my day - happy memories which I sadly couldn't photograph :-(

Ellen, I have flights booked to LA just waiting for my 7 month window (fingers crossed) and you are giving me lots of ideas as to where I need to eat!

 

[kid-at-heart]

Impatiently waiting for Ellen to return to the lower 48...

Wow, Alison, your photos of Walt’s apartment are awesome. I wonder why they stopped allowing people to take pictures.

Kate

 

[YodasMom]

I'm assuming this is where you all had to hang your cameras.

Great photos of Walt's apartment, Allison! And, yes, that first photo is where we were "asked" (I mean told!) to hang our cameras on my first tour there. Mine was not safe on those hooks so I put it on the floor! I've done 2 ABD-BSM tours (also, the Walk in Walt's Footsteps once) and we were not allowed to take photos at either, only the one in front of the lamp. I was told they used to allow unlimited photos, though.

 

[englishrose47]

Ellen are you stuck in a Fjord !!!!! Can't wait for the pix

 

[Flossbolna]

Ellen, I am not sure when I last commented on your TR!!! Life has been so crazy after I came back from the cruise with work. But now I am caught up and it was wonderful to read along about your DL adventures since I just was there myself! We had dinner at Catal, too, and thought it was absolutely wonderful! Not as good as Napa Rose of course though.

Hope you had a great time in Alaska!!

 

[RGirl]

Hi Ellen! We've been back from our summer trip to DLR for a couple of weeks, and your pics are making me homesick to go back!

Your dinner at Catal looked and sounded amazing. I am going to have to give the DTD restaurants a try - especially that one!

I hope you had (are having?) a great time on the Wonder! Ugh - I hope you love(d) your Alaska cruise as much as we did!!!!

 

[shoppgirl]

Hello.
I just returned to the Disboards since I'm planning a Christmas trip, and came across another one of your fantastic trip reports! I followed your Hawaii trip last summer as I was planning our Hawaii trip, I remember showing my husband your photos of Kauai and how excited I was to see them in person.

I was equally excited to see your photos from San Francisco and Yosemite as we are going there next summer! I have also made reservations for the Ahwahnee Hotel 11 months out! Your room looked lovely (minus the faucet mishap! But loved your room service compensation!). May I ask you what room category you had originally booked? Your photos of the Hyatt in SF look amazing too! Did you just book a regular room with double beds and then upgraded to club access? I would love to do that too!! Right now it doesn't allow me to book club level with double bed room...

Thanks for sharing your awesome trip reports!

 

[dizneeat]

All caught up here too. Thank god you were on vacation too, so I was only 6 pages behind.

 

[mefordis]

Can't wait for the next update!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

I'm baaack. Glad you are so busy, gives me time to catch up. This is my first time on the Dis since my last posting.

Loving the pictures of Disneyland, I didn't know the Indiana Jones thing was a ride. I would like that much better than Dinosaur.

I saw those sliced suckers on Tyler's plate & was totally creeped out. I'm not much of a foodie in some ways, no gross animal parts for me.

One of these days I will get caught up with the rest of your TRs.

I'm still enjoying your travels.

 

[podsnel]

Hello again....remember me? I'm the one who abandoned you about 2 months ago when I went to Alaska, then to Florida, and then had kids going back to school....or choosing not to for the first 4 days (Sean)....BUT, if you will have me, I will keep writing at you, if that's ok- So....I will do replies after, because if I do them first, I am pretty sure the rest of this will never happen- just one thing, tho-

THANK YOU, ALISON, FOR ALL OF THOSE AMAZING PHOTOS!!!!!!

I want to say I saw them in transit somewhere on my iPhone (like maybe Vancouver?) and WOW are they GREAT!!! I wish they would still allow pics! And they do not show the outdoor patio area anymore, either- so thanks for showing it.

Back to DL (actually, CA)business.....

I had been blown off by Tyler in my last update, and had the MOST amazing breakfast before riding Soarin a couple of times solo, with no wait whatsoever (one of the nicest differences of riding Soarin in DL over WDW). Soon after, I was miraculously joined by the rest of my family, and we headed over to California Screamin for a few rides in a row (see- this is why I didn't see everything in DL this trip- they always say you can see everything in 2 or 3 days here, but REALLY??? Who doesn't want multiple rides on some attractions like CS???).



After a ride together, we did two Single Rider-



You have to take an elevator down to the single rider on this ride, and they give you the pass to hand them when you get off.



We walked over to fly with Goofy after that-











One ride on that one is PLENTY, we all agreed. VERY herky-jerky. We took a spin on the Silly Symphony Swings, then headed over to Grizzly River Run which Timmy was begging for-











I will agree with the masses who prefer this over Kali River Rapids which is just waaaay too short.



Right now all I am thinking is that is must be EXHAUSTING to be as cool as Tyler!

We decided to go over to DL now, and lo and behold, the Matterhorn was OPEN!!! I was so happy, I have wanted to ride the Matterhorn since I was a little kid!



Since the stand-by was so long, we decided to all go Single Rider.





Well....this was super herky-jerky too!! One and done! I have heard that one side is smoother than the other, though- I am not sure which we were on, but my guess is the NOT smooth side. I am glad we got to ride, tho- it's a Must Do.

Cont'd next post-

 

[JKSWonder]

Aw, you're back!

 

[ProudMommyof2]

So glad you are back!!! I think I could be convinced it was worth the trip to California just to be able to ride SOarin' multiple times!!!

 

[podsnel]

We were getting hungry, and today we were going to be having lunch over at Cafe Orleans. On our way-





The menu is the same or similar to Blue Bayou, and when booking all the ADRs, I ended up choosing this to save a few bucks- because I kept reading Blue Bayou was overpriced and not worth it. But looking in hindsight now? We should have just gone to BB. While this was fine, I think BB is kind of an experience every disney geek needs to have at least once. But no biggie- something to look forward to next visit!

We started with sharing the famous New Orleans Gumbo- wow, it was really so so good!



Also sharing the Pommes Frites-



And then shared 3 Monte Cristos- which should have been 2. Or maybe even 1!



But, OMG, is this super yummy! SO indulgent!



Someone interesting was at the next table-



Can someone explain these very different dressers to me? Are they Japanese? They REALLY do it up! On our Alaskan cruise there were 3 girls dressed in all the Mickey & Minnie Alaskan outfits every day. I am fascinated! The boys, however, were more fascinated by the lunch-





I got a BIG thank you for ordering THAT lunch! We were sitting outside, but this is how the inside looked-



After lunch, and a ride on Indiana Jones, we decided to go back to the resort. We passed a VERY AMAZING party



Wish I had been there this year to see the 2nd Bday party- OMG! We went to relax by the pool, and eventually ordered-



In the early evening, our Fps were ready, so back to CA we went-





Yea, that's right- Fps from 1st thing this am? Ready now. CRAZEEEEE. Tim and Pods went for a ride, Tyler and I planned to ride Single Rider, but the wait even for that was crazy, so we just perused the area while we waited for the other two.







Very pretty as the sun sets in Radiator Springs.



Cont'd next post-

 

[KristiMc]

Glad to have you back my friend! Lunch looked really yummy!

 

[podsnel]

Tonight we were going to hook up with Drea and family-



I think we started over in RS, and then ended up in Paradise Pier.



SOMEONE had the idea to ride on Mickey's Wheel of Death in one of the swinging cars. It was just Drea and her boys and Tyler and me, as Timmy went to grab a hot dog and Pods and E were grabbing a brew.



Ever been on the Wheel of Death??? Well, it all starts out like any other Ferris wheel- you get on, you rotate, the next group gets on and off, etc...except on this ride, when you are in the special cars that "glide", as you round the curve, you swing from one place to another. Which is "Oh, this is IT??? What's the big deal?" when you are just loading and unloading.



And then, when everyone is on, things start to be a little more than "What's the big deal?"

OMGEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was screaming my head off!



Which I would guess was pretty funny for some others in the car- or not-



It was a VERY entertaining experience, I think. Pretty sure you could hear me screaming for miles and miles. Tyler imparticular really enjoyed it- I guess that's one sure way to make him smile- terrify ME!

Afterwards, it seemed like none of us could figure out what to do with ourselves. Now, Drea kept asking if I was sure I didn't want to see WOC, and I kept on insisting I would see it the next night- another BIG mistake, I only saw the balcony view as I was packing, and it was not the same (which I knew when she was asking, but would rather spend time wandering with her instead). After a bit, we all went our seperate ways, with Tim and Ty going back to the villa, and Pods and I going over to the DL Hotel to check out Trader Sam's.





I am SO excited Trader Sam's is coming to WDW!!!! It is SUPER cool! You order drinks, and different things occur in the restaurant- a volcano erupts, a typhoon happens...incredibly well themed. Excellent fun! We ordered some food to share-



And some cocktails-



Which all looked really good, but tasted kind of MEH. Or ICK.





But still fun in there-





You can sit outside, too-



But that would not be nearly as much fun. We decided to head out to DTD after that. On the way....







Cont'd next post-

 

[podsnel]

I realize I am kind of on a tear here, hope you are still up for more!

One of our favorite things in DLR is that you can go to DTD any time you want and it is RIGHT THERE. So convenient, so easy, so fun! We passed by ESPN Zone (although the boys would end up eating there the next night)



And passed by this-





And ended up stopping at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen.



We sat at the bar, and ordered- I had a Hurricane- it was LUSCIOUS!



The food from the kitchen looked and smelled fantastic. This is going on my Must Do list for my next visit!





Great jazz and drinks aside, the thing I loved most were these two guys-



Those are some A++, super funny, entertaining, and friendly bartenders right there! I think one was even from NJ, and you KNOW how much fun THAT is! I was so sad we had not come here our first night! After the hurricane, it was time to go back-



We passed some very tempting treats on the way-



which were impressing in the window of



I think I'm going to keep going, I really am on a roll, lol-

Our last full day, coming up!

 

[kid-at-heart]

Wow, Disneyland has changed A LOT since I last visited - way back in the 80s, there was one park and no shopping district, or at least no shopping district that I remember.

It looks like you guys were having a great time.

Thanks for coming back to the report (knew you would )

Kate