Disneyland or Bust: A Mother-Daughter Coastal Road Trip

[RGirl]

Day 10I - Sunday, 3 August 2014 - Disneyland Resort (cont.)

Our guide came and sat with us for a while, and we had a nice time chatting with him. When we had finished, however, we realized that we were just completely BEAT. I am pretty sure that we had been in the park, mostly on our feet, for 12 straight hours at this point.

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There was no way that we were doing any more touring tonight. We headed out of the park and into DTD.

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Willow reminded me that she had some important pillow-pet shopping to complete, so we ducked into World of Disney.

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Souvenir money happily spent, we headed through DTD towards our hotel.

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Which pillow pet do you think she chose this trip?????

Soon we were back at our hotel.

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And making our way down the path to the Frontier Tower.

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Willow took a quick shower and was in bed, totally exhausted, at about 7:30.

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Up Next Day: 11A

 

[courtneybelle]

Mary Poppins from...Mary Poppins! I'm making my comeback!! Going back to read now...

 

[courtneybelle]

The Tiki Room!!! One of my absolute favorites. I'm glad you guys enjoyed it, even if it was just to rest your feet

I love that pic of Walt and Mickey in the car together too!! So adorable.

The apartment is absolutely adorable!! I wish Keys to the Kingdom let us go in the Cinderella Suite...and SO touching that they keep the lantern lit at all times now. My heart!!!

They did a similar thing at the end of Keys to the Kingdom about the end of Walt's life...there was MUCH crying. I'm with Willow, smoking is bad.

THAT PIN!!! I am in LOVE. The quote, the dedication...I need to get back to DL pronto!! Thank you for sharing so many great details about the tour, I really want to do it now!!

I'm VERY excited to see which pillow pet Willow got. My guess is Sulley...I'm not sure why but that's one that stuck out in the pictures!

 

[jedijill]

I bawled at the end of the WiWF's tour too. So sad! The apartment is so cool. Best part of the tour!

Jill in CO

 

[Dugette]

Wow, I'm getting teary here reading about Walt's last months and reading those plaques about his vision for Disneyland. And that's awesome that you got to visit his apartment! Sounds like a really great tour experience.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

How appropriate to include the Tiki Room... no wait... WALT DISNEY'S ENCHANTED TIKI ROOM, on the tour. I think these were the very first audio-animatronics the Imagineers did. And yup, you just confirmed it. lol. What a dreamer and visionary that man was.

Hehe, just FYI, they have a big version of that Walt and Mickey Disneyland car picture in One Man's Dream.

There is no doubt in my mind that if/when I ever get back to Disneyland that I will be doing this tour. I won't feel complete until I see that apartment. Hmmm, I wonder if the rooms at WDW (particularly the Values) are so small in honour of Walt's Disneyland apartment? It would be a great marketing tool regardless.

Oh yeah, I made sure to visit the lamp when I was there as well.

Lovely to have lunch included, but I'm a little disappointed at such a missed opportunity. I spot 4 circles in your names (2 dots and 2 o's) and yet not one Mickey head.

I want that pin!!!!!

I sure do miss the ability to walk back to the hotel. And look... Disneyland still has the Sorcerer's Hat.

 

[pkondz]

Willow: Good idea! But wouldn't you feel a little bored?

Nope! I have fun watching others have fun too.
Plus I'd go on the other (thankfully non-spinning) rides.

I think everyone enjoyed this - especially after having heard the story of how Walt was in a store and saw a little mechanical bird in a cage. From that one experience, the idea for animatronics (from the Tiki Room to Pirates and on) was born.

Really! I had no idea.
That's a very interesting tidbit.

We visited the gallery just off of Main Street, which featured pictures of a variety of go-getter famous types.

I can't make him out, but the far left photo.
Mark Twain?
And I'm going to feel stupid, I'm sure (what else is new ), but who is in the bottom right hand photo?

It was at this point that our guide told us about Walt's last months.

So sad.
I remember when I learned he'd passed.
I couldn't believe it.
"But I just saw him on TV last Sunday!!"

(And this is another thing that Willow has never forgotten from this tour and has mentioned several times - especially at Disneyland - she always notes how much she wishes that Walt hadn’t smoked.)

Back then the health risks for smoking were not well known.
Of course now everybody knows smoking is bad for you.

SO WHY DO KIDS STILL DO IT????????




I see groups of teenagers out smoking.
I just want to run up to them and demand if they're all stupid.

we were off to see the highlight of this tour - Walt and Lilian's apartment over the Fire House.

Cool!

And it is soooo tiny!

That doesn't surprise me in the least.
Living spaces just keep getting bigger and bigger.
Back then, I'm sure it was considered a very acceptable size.

Apparently, there used to be a fireman's pole through the apartment, which Walt would use sometimes.

I wonder if there's footage of that somewhere?
Wouldn't that be something to see?

And one day, a small child climbed up the pole and right into the apartment where Walt was sitting reading the newspaper!

I'd love to hear what that child has to say about that now!

Found this while looking into info about the pole.

Of course, there is also the lamp that was lit whenever Walt was there so CMs would know. Since his passing, it always remains lit. After this tour, every time Willow and I entered DL, we would look up to the lamp and say hello to Walt.

I had heard of this. Thanks so much for including a photo.

We were also given these incredibly cool pins!

Nice pin!

When we had finished, however, we realized that we were just completely BEAT. I am pretty sure that we had been in the park, mostly on our feet, for 12 straight hours at this point.

Wow! I'm surprised Willow lasted that long!

That gif is hysterical!

Which pillow pet do you think she chose this trip?????

I have absolutely no idea.
But she sure looks pleased with her purchase!

Willow took a quick shower and was in bed, totally exhausted, at about 7:30.

And I'm sure Mom wasn't far behind.

Thanks for the update!

 

[afwdwfan]

We had made our way back to Adventureland where we were going to do an attraction that Willow had never done before!

That is just a crime! I'm glad you were finally able to make it right!

We visited the gallery just off of Main Street, which featured pictures of a variety of go-getter famous types.

I loved seeing that! I never knew it was there until I walked around the corner and saw it.

I'd be lying if I said that Willow and I managed to maintain dry eyes through that story. (And this is another thing that Willow has never forgotten from this tour and has mentioned several times - especially at Disneyland - she always notes how much she wishes that Walt hadn’t smoked.)

It definitely is a sad ending to the story... but I'm glad that Willow took something valuable from the experience.

Of course, there is also the lamp that was lit whenever Walt was there so CMs would know. Since his passing, it always remains lit. After this tour, every time Willow and I entered DL, we would look up to the lamp and say hello to Walt.

I had heard the story about his apartment and the lamp. When we got to Disneyland, that was basically the first thing I looked for when we entered the park, and the last thing I looked at when we left. There might have been some dust in the air when I said thanks to him on our way out the final time.

I love how it is kind of a way that they keep that connection to Walt's presence for us all these years later.

Which pillow pet do you think she chose this trip?????

I was hoping you'd tell us! I'm not even going to try to guess.

Willow took a quick shower and was in bed, totally exhausted, at about 7:30.

Wow, she really was wiped out! Certainly a productive day.

 

[RGirl]

Mary Poppins from...Mary Poppins! I'm making my comeback!! Going back to read now...

Another two points for Courtney!

The Tiki Room!!! One of my absolute favorites. I'm glad you guys enjoyed it, even if it was just to rest your feet

We did enjoy it - AND sitting down!

I love that pic of Walt and Mickey in the car together too!! So adorable.

Isn't it so sweet? The pictures of Walt with Mickey always make me want to cry though.

The apartment is absolutely adorable!! I wish Keys to the Kingdom let us go in the Cinderella Suite...and SO touching that they keep the lantern lit at all times now. My heart!!!

Yeah - I had heard about the lantern before, but it sunk in more having actually been up there and hearing the story. Willow and I always check for the lantern when we go into DL now.

They did a similar thing at the end of Keys to the Kingdom about the end of Walt's life...there was MUCH crying. I'm with Willow, smoking is bad.

Ugh - it was SO sad! And I didn't really think about the fact that it would be coming up, so I didn't prepare Willow at all. She was very sad.

THAT PIN!!! I am in LOVE. The quote, the dedication...I need to get back to DL pronto!! Thank you for sharing so many great details about the tour, I really want to do it now!!

Isn't that an incredible pin? I was very impressed. You really do need to get yourself back to DLR and take the tour!

I'm VERY excited to see which pillow pet Willow got. My guess is Sulley...I'm not sure why but that's one that stuck out in the pictures!

Okay, have I posted pics on FB with Sully in them or something??? If not - that's just downright freaky!

I bawled at the end of the WiWF's tour too. So sad! The apartment is so cool. Best part of the tour!

Ugh - it was just so dang sad! The apartment was amazing. I loved the teeny bathroom and "kitchen" as well.

Wow, I'm getting teary here reading about Walt's last months and reading those plaques about his vision for Disneyland. And that's awesome that you got to visit his apartment! Sounds like a really great tour experience.

Oh, it was an amazing experience. Definitely very bittersweet toward the end, but how could it not be, right? We thought the pins were an incredible addition, and of course, it was so special to be inside Walt's apartment.

 

[RGirl]

How appropriate to include the Tiki Room... no wait... WALT DISNEY'S ENCHANTED TIKI ROOM, on the tour. I think these were the very first audio-animatronics the Imagineers did. And yup, you just confirmed it. lol. What a dreamer and visionary that man was.

Based on what our guide was saying, I think that's correct. What an imagination!

Hehe, just FYI, they have a big version of that Walt and Mickey Disneyland car picture in One Man's Dream.

I am never going to hear the end of it if I forget to go in there this summer, am I???

There is no doubt in my mind that if/when I ever get back to Disneyland that I will be doing this tour. I won't feel complete until I see that apartment. Hmmm, I wonder if the rooms at WDW (particularly the Values) are so small in honour of Walt's Disneyland apartment? It would be a great marketing tool regardless.

Seriously though, you would SO LOVE this tour. I can't say enough good things about it. And being right there inside Walt's apartment was amazing. They showed us the little bathroom area and the tiny "kitchen" was right behind us when we were looking at the living room.

Oh yeah, I made sure to visit the lamp when I was there as well.

We always look up there now whenever we enter the park.

Lovely to have lunch included, but I'm a little disappointed at such a missed opportunity. I spot 4 circles in your names (2 dots and 2 o's) and yet not one Mickey head.

I was thinking the same thing when I posted that picture!

I want that pin!!!!!

Isn't it amazing? I mean, they really didn't cheap out with that thing - I thought it was an incredible souvenir of the tour.

I sure do miss the ability to walk back to the hotel. And look... Disneyland still has the Sorcerer's Hat.

Oh, it is going to be downright weird for us this summer when we have to bus and boat everywhere.

 

[RGirl]

I can't make him out, but the far left photo.
Mark Twain?
And I'm going to feel stupid, I'm sure (what else is new ), but who is in the bottom right hand photo?

Sheesh - I can't tell either. And I certainly don't remember!

So sad.
I remember when I learned he'd passed.
I couldn't believe it.
"But I just saw him on TV last Sunday!!"

Back then the health risks for smoking were not well known.
Of course now everybody knows smoking is bad for you.

SO WHY DO KIDS STILL DO IT????????




I see groups of teenagers out smoking.
I just want to run up to them and demand if they're all stupid.

I think most of us are just dumb or feel invincible or something when we're kids. I know I started smoking in college (thankfully stopped many, many years ago), and I certainly knew better. I can't explain it!

That doesn't surprise me in the least.
Living spaces just keep getting bigger and bigger.
Back then, I'm sure it was considered a very acceptable size.

True. But I have to think this was small even for the time - I mean, no bedroom or anything. But one would expect it given its location and purpose, I think.

I know that they did manage to entertain there, and like I said, host the grandchildren, so it was very small for a "home," but probably just right for overnight visits at Disneyland. It was certainly larger or akin to a hotel room.

I wonder if there's footage of that somewhere?
Wouldn't that be something to see?

I would love to see that!

I'd love to hear what that child has to say about that now!

Found this while looking into info about the pole.
No kidding!

Looks pretty much just like that a far as I can remember!

I had heard of this. Thanks so much for including a photo.

It's a really neat thing - Willow and I always look up to check in with Walt now when we first enter DL.

Nice pin!

I was really impressed with how elaborate that pin was. Very cool!

Wow! I'm surprised Willow lasted that long!

We have a terrible habit of over-doing it big-time on the first day of every trip. We were BEAT by the end of that tour.

I have absolutely no idea.
But she sure looks pleased with her purchase!

She definitely was. You know, some people collect pins, some people collect other little trinkets. My child has to collect HUGE pillow pets. I can hardly even find her in her bed.

And I'm sure Mom wasn't far behind.

I wish! I always end up spending hours writing trip notes, uploading pictures from cameras, and then needing to relax with my book.

Thanks for the update!

Thanks for continuing to follow along!

 

[RGirl]

That is just a crime! I'm glad you were finally able to make it right!

I know! I guess it's just one of those things that I somehow forget is there or something.

I loved seeing that! I never knew it was there until I walked around the corner and saw it.

It was a good place to end the tour, I think. Kind of full circle. And then go from that to the cute apartment and a meal - very good.

It definitely is a sad ending to the story... but I'm glad that Willow took something valuable from the experience.

Me too - I hope it sticks.

I had heard the story about his apartment and the lamp. When we got to Disneyland, that was basically the first thing I looked for when we entered the park, and the last thing I looked at when we left. There might have been some dust in the air when I said thanks to him on our way out the final time.

We do that every time we enter and leave too.

I love how it is kind of a way that they keep that connection to Walt's presence for us all these years later.

Wow, she really was wiped out! Certainly a productive day.

Yeah - it was a LONG day with a lot of walking. However, to be fair, that was her regular non-vacation bedtime.

 

[RGirl]

The Contest: First person to provide the movie title from which the chapter heading comes get a point; two points if the character who utters the line is also identified. If the first person doesn’t name the character, the first poster to do so will get a point.

Current Standing:
Courtney (courtneybelle): 14 points
Jill (jedijill): 20 points
pkondz: 10 points
Megan (MonsterWDWmom): 2 points
Shannon (shan23877): 6 points
Lori (STLMickeyMom): 4 points
petals: 1 point
Rob (DisneyKid4Life): 2 points

"The sky's awake, so I'm awake."​

Day 11A - Monday, 4 August 2014 - Disneyland Resort

We were up bright and early yet again and out of the room before 6:30.

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We headed out through our "secret path" (seriously - we only saw maybe 2 or 3 other people use this walkway during the entire time we were at the Disneyland Hotel) to DTD.

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We arrived at the DCA gates at 6:41 for early entry at 7:00.

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We got lined up at a turnstile.

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And then were told that they were only going to open one turnstile per gate, so we had to get in line behind people who arrived after us - always a bummer, but not really a big deal.

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Unfortunately, when the gates opened, the folks in front of us apparently had no idea what to do - you know, use your ticket or card to get into the park....

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We were bummed because it really did take this particular group an incredibly long time, and we therefore found ourselves WAY back from the RSR rope - not the way we roll, people! Here, you can kind of see the rope CMs up ahead - normally, we are right at the rope.

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Nonetheless, we persevered and stayed to the right in hopes of getting on RSR relatively quickly. The masses, including us, were moving into CarsLand and back towards RSR when we heard the CMs telling everyone that RSR was down. Wah-wah-wah.

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What to do? We could stay here in this mass of humanity:

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Or we could ditch our favorite DCA attraction for the morning and go do something else. Well, like everyone else, we stayed put to wait it out. It wasn't down long, but it was funny to watch people in this situation. There were folks kind of milling around not sure whether to stay or go. Then there were the folks who would kind of wander outside the RSR pack and then surreptitiously wander back into it but several groups of people in front of where they had wandered out. We got a couple of these who wandered in front of us - two teens, brothers, I think. The funny thing was that their parent was clearly somewhere behind because they kind of kept looking over my head to someone.

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Anyway, RSR soon opened, and the mass of people moved forward, relatively politely.

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Soon we were actually in the queue.

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All the way through the queue, the teens were in front of us and constantly craning their necks to see over me to the parent. Finally, as we were getting close to the last part of the queue, the older teen said something to me like, "Um, my dad's back there, can he ....." at which point I kind of interrupted and gave him a big warm smile and said, "SURE! You can absolutely go back and join him!" And he stood still with a stunned look on his face, so we walked around him and made our way to the ride. Maybe I'm not the nicest person, but I don't like this kind of stuff - if you "get separated" (or separate yourself in an attempt to get ahead of people who were in front of you) and you want to ride with someone behind you, step aside and wait for the person or persons behind you.

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Anyway, soon we were in position to board.

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And, of course, we were excited because, as you may have heard, we love this attraction!

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Oh, here are the shoes that Willow picked out the day before prior to the Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour.

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Up Next: Day 11A (cont.)

 

[jedijill]

Anna from Frozen.

Going back to read.


Your response back to that teen is PRICELESS! Yay for standing up for yourself and not rewarding bad behavior. Glad you got on RSR...It's one of my favorites. Love Willow's shoes!

Jill in CO

 

[RGirl]

Day 11A - Monday, 4 August 2014 - Disneyland Resort (cont.)

And some pics from the ride.

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As you can see here, we got the new-tire room this time (as we usually do).

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We had a good time, but RSR was totally wonky. The waterfall had no water. We got stuck for a while after tipping the tractors. Etc. Nonetheless, it was still a good ride. Because of all the delays getting to it, however, it was already 7:40 when we exited, so our early hour was almost over! What should we do????????

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Well, in a complete detour from our normal Disney reality, we decided that we would just take it easy and not worry about trying to do anything else "big" during EMH. This was one of the greatest benefits of having more than one trip this year - we had just been there in January, so we felt okay with slowing it down a little and maybe even trying a few new things and/or doing some of the less headliner-ish attractions instead of stressing about how many times we could do RSR in a row. Even Willow was on board for this!

So we wandered through CarsLand.

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Willow met Mater at about 7:45.

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And then we hit up Mater's ride, which almost never has any kind of wait and looks kind of boring. However, we think it is REALLY fun!

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And I believe it was here that I first pointed out the Disney "No Dancing" sign to Willow. To say that she found this hilarious would be quite the understatement. It became our new favorite Disney game.

Hey, Willow, no dancing!

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And then something like this would happen:

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Followed by peals of laughter and "I disobeyed you!!!!"

Up Next: Day 11A (cont. again)

 

[courtneybelle]

Oh no, that's a rough start to the morning. There were so many times in July when we got stuck behind people who couldn't use the MagicBands--just put the Mickey to the Mickey!!

And such a bummer that RSR was down, but I love that gif of Bonnie from Toy Story. I laughed OUT LOUD at what you said to that boy, you go, Roni!!! Tell them how it is!!!

I love Willow's flip flops! Excellent choice!

Mater's ride looks so cute, and the new No Dancing game KILLS ME. I'm glad Willow is one of us DISers!!

 

[RGirl]

Day 11A - Monday, 4 August 2014 - Disneyland Resort (cont. again)

After fun with Mater, we wandered through CarsLand some more.

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And decided to do the Luigi tires ride. (I'm sure it does have a name, but I can't remember it right now.) Only we couldn't find the entrance.

Maybe it's this way.

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Nope.

Maybe this way?

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Nope.

Oh! It's that storefront that we have passed a million times during our hundreds of visits to CarsLand and never realized that it was actually an attraction!

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As you can see, this attraction is not exactly in high demand. Perhaps because, although people can view the ride, which is OUTSIDE, they can't figure out how to get to it! No? Just us? Okay…. Let’s go in then.

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After admiring the queue we had never seen before, we noticed that there were a lot of instructions for riding this ride.

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After taking notes about HOW to ride, we finally boarded our tire.

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This is definitely a weird attraction. You basically get in a tire, which then inflates and is propelled by air vents in the floor and steered by guests leaning in the direction they wish to go.

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We had fun, but it was definitely weird. (The last rumor I read indicated that the expectation is that this attraction will be replaced this year.) When we disembarked, it was about 8:00, park opening. Where should we go?????

Up Next: Day 11B

 

[courtneybelle]

Whoops, interrupted your updates!!

I think between finding the entrance and following all the instructions, Luigi's is just too complicated for tourists!! It does look like it would be fun, but I imagine something really cool will replace it.

Excited to see what happens next!!

 

[jedijill]

I rode Luigi's solo...that was an interesting experience!

Jill in CO

 

[Dugette]

Okay, first, I LOVE what you said to the teen!!! When you first said that he cut in line, I wondered if you were just going to let him. Perfect response!

I want to ride RSR so badly!!! It sounds so fun. I love Test Track and I love Cars theming, so it seems awesome. Really hoping we can get out there soon for DL. The rest of Cars Land looks fun too!