For the First Time In Forever.....A Disneyland reopening TR, Dark Ride photos and The End 5/8

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

Then it was on to the next part of our day, the Food & Wine Kiosks. Fran did not start off with us, it was the 25th Anniversary of Indiana Jones, and she wanted to purchase merchandise instead of visiting the kiosks. She did end up joining us eventually because I caught her signature Diet Mtn Dew bottle in one of the later pictures. Our first stop was the Nuts About Cheese booth.



From there we got the Fiscalini White Cheddar Lager Soup served in a Mini Boudin® Sourdough Bowl (Vegetarian) – $6.75



And from Uncork California




We got the White Wine Flight which had the
Malibu Rocky Oaks, Sauvignon Blanc, California
Rombauer Chardonnay, Carneros
Francis Ford Coppola Winery, Sofia, Rose, Monterey County



It seems that I stopped taking pictures of the booths at this point, but based on our food, this came from Golden Dreams. Here we have the Brunch Fried Chicken & Waffle Sandwich with Mimosa-inspired Slaw and OJ Bubbles – $8.00 and Seared Verlasso® Salmon with Lemon Pea Purée, Black Rice and Meyer Lemon Relish (Gluten-Friendly) – $7.75



I can’t tell you about the Salmon because I don’t eat it, but the Fried Chicken and Waffle Sandwich was pretty good, not awesome, but we polished it off.

I have no idea what that beverage in the background is, but both the option from that booth were non-alcoholic drinks.
Strawberry-Rose Lemonade (Non-Alcoholic) – $6.00
Fig & Lavender Cold Brew (Non-Alcoholic) – $6.50

Next up was the LA Style booth. Monkey Bread with Caramel Whiskey Glaze and Candied Pecans (Contains trace amounts of alcohol) – $6.00



I don't remember anything about these so they obviously weren't that memorable.

We also got Asian-style Beef Barbacoa Street Tacos – $8.00



These were pretty good, they weren't too spicy and were easy little bites.

This must have been the Smoked Bacon Barbecue Beef Loco Moco on Rice (Gluten-Friendly) – $7.50



I didn't like this one much at all, but the others did, so I let them finish it.

This next one came from Avocado Time. Tortilla-crusted Fried Guacamole with Carne Asada – $8.25



I wasn't a giant fan of the fried guacamole, it was a little weird, but the chunks of Carne Asada hit the spot.

We also got the Mezcal Cocktail (Alcoholic) – $14.00, and it appears I also had a glass of wine. I think Fran and I split the cocktail, and I'm sure it was good. It's very rare that we don't like drinks like this.



By this point we had hit four different food booths and tried seven different bites split between either two, three, or four people, so we were pretty satiated. Fran wanted to lay down, so she headed back to the room. The rest of us decided to ride the Incredicoaster.



After that we decided that we would hit one more booth. One in a Melon.



At this booth we got Pabana Cream Puff with Mango, Passion Fruit and Banana Mousse – $5.50 and House-made Watermelon Agua Fresca (Non-Alcoholic) – $6.00 either that or the Berry Mule (Alcoholic) – $14.00. Probably more likely the latter knowing me.



I don't remember a thing about these, but from the picture it looks like we ordered three of them!

Meanwhile, back in the room, Fran was nice enough to take pictures before we messed it all up. We always get a one bedroom (or larger), because Fran doesn't like the studio roulette. Meaning one of us gets the side of the bed without a nightstand and she can't even get in and out of the bed on the small side. We need the King size bed with night stands on both sides as a guarantee. Plus I love having the Jacuzzi tub, since mine at home are continuingly malfunctioning.













I’m not certain what we did after that, I’m pretty sure Leonard went back home, it was well after dark. Jill had been up early since she flew in that day, I’m getting most of my information from our text messages which say that we were back in the room by 9:15. I do remember they called her boarding group even though it was a back up boarding group, but she had already decided she wasn’t going back into the park and trekking all the way to Galaxy’s Edge at this hour.

I’m pretty sure that I took advantage of the tub to relax and chill out. Cause I didn’t chime in until close to 10PM, probably after my bath. Regardless we had a pretty early morning the next day and didn’t want to be up too late.



[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

From our text messages the next morning, Jenny was up at 5AM and by 5:30 she was texting us when they planned to arrive. There was a whole lot of back and forthing, until we met up at around 6:45AM and headed over towards the Esplanade. Once we were inside the park we were greeted by Michael (Jenny’s husband) and one of his work friends. You see Michael worked as a firefighter at DL back then and they were making their morning rounds. They stopped to chat with us and take some pictures.





Here’s Jenny and her hunky firefighter husband (her words not mine )



We said our goodbyes and headed into the park. I love these trees that bloom at this time of year.


Photo courtesy Jenny.

We headed back over near the castle, on the walkway between the Matterhorn and the Castle. All the reports said to try and get as far away from the crowds as you can. Since we were staying on property we were able to go past the rope. We could have done Magic Mornings, but we were too focused on getting our boarding group.

When the time came, Jill was the hero who snagged it for our party. She got BG27. We all cheered and Jenny ran around screaming and cheering. Her daughter, Chloe, put her head down, shaking it, saying, “That’s not my Mom.” We all had a good laugh.

Then some of us needed breakfast so we went to the Red Rose Tavern. I didn’t need anything, I’d had something in the room (don’t remember what it was now) and they didn’t take any pictures. Something with bacon, eggs and potatoes. After that we had some time to kill. The ride hadn’t come up yet so we decided to ride the Jungle Cruise. It was fun, we didn’t have the best skipper, but not the worst either.







Who knew that this would be my last time to see Trader Sam?



I didn’t have anything from the Red Rose Tavern and by 10:15 I was feeling a little peckish, so I decided to get a snack at the Tropical Hideaway. I’m not sure what everyone else got, or if they did, but I got this raspberry swirl Dole Whip. I was never a huge fan of the Dole Whip. Not that I didn’t like it, but the line was always so long and it was just kind of here or there, I was always partial to the float anyways. However, once they opened the Tropical Hideaway with the swirls, I immediately went for the raspberry and never turned back! I suppose I should try one of the other swirled flavors, but this one is so good I keep going back for it!



By this time it was getting pretty late in the morning. The ride still hadn’t come up, so we decided to go on Indy, it was the 25th Anniversary of the ride afterall and they were giving riders these decoder cards like they gave out when it first opened.



After the ride, from our text messages, it appears that I went back to the room to see if Fran was OK, and bring her something to eat. I’m guessing the others went on a ride, but we all met back up and by this time it was close to or just after noon. We decided that it was 5 o’clock somewhere and decided to get ourselves a drink. Not sure exactly how that went down, I think we were in line for Carthay, but it was around this time when I noticed that the ride was accepting boarding groups. We bolted from DCA over to DL and went right for the ride.

Now all morning I had been reading about how this was the latest EVER opening for RotR since it opened in January. Now our group had Boarding Group 27. When the ride opened the spread was groups 14-23. As I mentioned, we hightailed it over to the ride. They were on Group 29 by the time we got to the queue. We encountered a small wait, however, we just got off the ride when groups 14-40 were being called. By this time the line extended into the outdoor queue. It was moving nicely along, but i think that they were trying to pack in as many groups as they could to get through the Guaranteed BGs and not have to issue any reparations for the next day.

Jill found her hunky boyfriend outside the ride and he posed for a pic.



This is a picture that I stole from the RotR thread of what the line looked like around 3-4PM that day. Keep in mind this is outside the cave portion of the queue.



After the ride, I said “see you later” to the clan, Jenny’s daughter Chloe had to go to work and I don’t even remember if she got to ride with us. Fran and I had to go back home because we forgot some stuff (like her meds). It turns out we had a miscommunication with our cat sitter, Naked Jim, and he didn’t realize that we left Friday afternoon, so he didn’t feed the cats Friday night or Saturday morning. All the cat food bowls were nearly empty, so I filled their crunchies, and gave them a round of canned cat food. I put a note telling Jim NOT to give them another round of cans, but nope he didn’t listen. He came by about 3-4 hours later and fed them again, throwing away all the cat food that I just gave them hours earlier. I learned that if we ever start traveling again, that I will text him the day we leave just to confirm that he should start feeding that night in case he entered it wrong in his phone.

By the time we got back to the resort, Jill and Jenny were celebrating Jenny’s birthday in style.



They were enjoying Champagne and Cranberry Mimosas while we were darting back home.







Fran just wanted to take her meds and go back to bed. One of my texts between the gals earlier that day read “Fran thinks she shouldn’t have eaten the Nachos last night.” So I think her tummy was feeling rather rocky. Also she sometimes likes to just rest in the comfy beds while I hang out with my besties. I think she is partly relieved for me to have friends to hang out with at Disney and the hotel because it takes the pressure off her to be “up” and “having fun”, and she can just let me do what I want while she catches up on her sleep. When it’s just the two of us she feels pressure to keep me entertained and company.

I think all of us needed some rest, the early morning securing a boarding group was pretty stressful and then waiting all day for boarding to start must have exhausted us all. From what I can tell from our text messages, we wrapped things up fairly early again this night, between 8-9PM.

The next morning JIll had a noon flight that ended up being delayed after she got to the airport. I reported in our texts that we were home by 12:30 so we definitely checked directly out of the hotel and went basically right home.

The next week Covid cases started to ramp up all over the country. Disneyland announced that they would be closing down the parks over the next weekend. We had a “talk” booked at a local museum the Saturday of the following weekend about “The music of Disneyland” and we even called the day before to find out if they were still having it. The program went on, and we saw a lot of friends there. I think that was the last time that I hugged someone that wasn’t Fran. We greeted each other with a hug and then looked at each other like, were we supposed to do that?

That evening after the presentation, we went to our local Tiki bar and I actually ran into several Disney employees just by chance, we didn’t know them, but you know how you used to talk to strangers if they had a purse you recognized? Or if you overheard them say, oh yeah, I’m a busboy at such and such restaurant….It was really odd how none of us imagined that this would go on for so long.

We had even considered going out to Trader Sams the next day, just to be there for the last day before it closed for a little bit. And then that’s when it all got really real. First Mayor Eric Garcetti closed down all of Los Angeles, and I don’t remember if it was just hours later, but Gavin Newsom closed down the State of California. That made us think that perhaps we (with many many many underlying conditions) should really take this seriously. And so after that, we stayed home. Or went out together to the Post Office in masks. I did all the grocery shopping. Fran drove me around so she could get out of the house, but I went into all the places for online pickup, or takeout.

A whole year we didn’t do hardly anything, but then we got fully vaccinated midway through this month and we are ready to get back to doing things! Disney here we come!

 

[pkondz]

I did too. I almost slapped her hand when she turned it on, but the guy behind me beat me to it with his verbal reprimand.

Whoopsie!

Back later to read the update.

 

[franandaj]

Whoopsie!

Don't worry, this time I got all the posts in before you posted.

I've learned to proof the 2nd or 3rd posts after posting in case you come in to reply.

Back later to read the update.

Okey Dokey. It's not going anywhere.

 

[rentayenta]

What a fun, mostly, update aside from Fran not feeling well. I miss this life!!!! Great pics and update. Can't wait to get back to the Villas and see everyone. It's been far too long since we have had a proper, or any, Disney day.

Hunky hubby.

 

[DnA2010]

This is the oldest Disneyland photo that I can find of us, it came from 1998, back when we were young and care free!

Love love it!!

Awwww

Anyone remember this incarnation of DCA?

I do remember these! is this when "California" was spelt in letters out front too?

the Monte Cristo and Pomme Frites!

Yummm to both!

We love our shopping and after a rough couple years healthwise, we were happy to get back to the parks in 2013.

I love both of your faces here so much! Fran "hehehe" You "Okkk"

We'd like to thank the Academy….

Nice! Have you visited the museum in San Fran?

We have been known to get dressed up and have a night out on the town.

Always love this pic!

We also booked Wine Receptions for Fess Parker, and Skywalker Vineyards at the Carthay Circle

I remember this in your plans too!

I'm going to lead into this new TR with my last bonus features from before the shut down. Remember back then? It was all the rage to try and get a boarding group for RotR from your home?

RoTR..sighhhhh...somedayyyyyy!

I think I'd be interested in this, I like "hash" type jobs

I got a Mickey Waffle! Yum! Even with my own Mickey wafflemaker at home, they totally taste better in the park.

I have a Mickey waffle maker too, nice to have a little magic in the waffle form at home.

Leonard tells me that we rode Guardians as well

Guardian's Ella's fav- she wanted to ride all of the songs over our trip and I think we may have done it too

Those look soo good right now- anything in a mickey shape I suppose

But don’t worry we have more fun coming up in less than two weeks last year! I hope to have everything from the past posted before we attend our first DL day which is during the soft openings, our date is April 28. I don’t know how quickly I’ll be able to post once we start our DL trips because we have quite a few days booked right off the bat, but I promise I will try to update as soon as I can.

Lots of us will be living through you for a while!

I tried to give you a head up! Sorry!

Yup you did...don't know how I missed it, but it kinda goes with this week...thanks for checking in

 

[DnA2010]

The Prime Rib traveled through Universal's resort in Orlando, and the Titanic exhibit before becoming dinner at the AKL and you can read about its adventures here.

Trip Report with Prime Rib tagging along

Its not until page 16, that the Prime Rib actually gets cooked, but everyone was pretty darned concerned about that roast in the time leading up to it

Needed it's own separate message it seems but ahhh the PR adventures! I think I will need to go back and read it again for some laughs

 

[franandaj]

What a fun, mostly, update aside from Fran not feeling well. I miss this life!!!!

I do too! I need to book some more stays at the Grand, and we can have Jill come crash!

Great pics and update. Can't wait to get back to the Villas and see everyone. It's been far too long since we have had a proper, or any, Disney day.

Even if it is just going to be the two of us, next month, I can't wait to be back in a Villa watching the people out in the park, sipping wine on my balcony!

Hunky hubby.

You're the one who put that in my head. You said, "the next time a hunky firefigher asks me to move to Utah, I might say 'no'".

 

[taaren]

At this booth we got Pabana Cream Puff with Mango, Passion Fruit and Banana Mousse – $5.50 and House-made Watermelon Agua Fresca (Non-Alcoholic) – $6.00 either that or the Berry Mule (Alcoholic) – $14.00. Probably more likely the latter knowing me.

From the yellow cup, it must be a Berry Mule! I had one of those at Touch of Disney earlier this month. We travel with teens, so the kids know that the yellow cups are mom drinks that they have to ask before they can steal a sip!

Right around the time you were on this trip we had attempted to plan an extra trip for our Spring Break to go to to this food festival largely because DISsers and DFB pictures of the foods are irresistable (we plan a lot of our trips around food, which doesn't always work well with having VGC reservations in advance). Here's hoping they bring back this one in 2022!

I didn’t have anything from the Red Rose Tavern and by 10:15 I was feeling a little peckish, so I decided to get a snack at the Tropical Hideaway. I’m not sure what everyone else got, or if they did, but I got this raspberry swirl Dole Whip. I was never a huge fan of the Dole Whip. Not that I didn’t like it, but the line was always so long and it was just kind of here or there, I was always partial to the float anyways. However, once they opened the Tropical Hideaway with the swirls, I immediately went for the raspberry and never turned back! I suppose I should try one of the other swirled flavors, but this one is so good I keep going back for it!

Zomg your raspberry swirl picture is making me hungry! Love that they have non-pineapple flavors now, the Tropical Hideaway is one of my group's favorite snack spots.

I think all of us needed some rest, the early morning securing a boarding group was pretty stressful and then waiting all day for boarding to start must have exhausted us all. From what I can tell from our text messages, we wrapped things up fairly early again this night, between 8-9PM.

The procedure to get those ROTR boarding groups was definitely rough! We got to go for Presidents Day weekend, and waiting for our boarding group meant we didn't get our usual afternoon break at the hotel. You know you're spoiled when you complain about having to spend a whole day in the park instead of getting breaks by the pool!

Your pictures of the 1 bedroom make me miss the VGC! We're lucky that this year due to all the extra points from not using any last year we'll be in 1 and 2 bedrooms instead of alternating between studios and 2 bedrooms. Will be hard to go back to smaller rooms after all the excess points get absorbed!

 

[pkondz]

So our last update was from February 24, 2020.

Man... that seems like a lifetime ago.

but instead of Jim, we have Jill.

J for J. Are they interchangeable?

I don’t even remember the name of this parade

It's a Disney parade!


You're welcome.

What can I say? I love Hei Hei!

Funniest part of that movie.

Was he an inflatable? Did he move? (If you remember.)

This guy was my absolute favorite of the movie!

I need to watch that again. I don't remember either one of those guys!

Hey! There's Fran.
Must say (not gonna quote them all) that the floats in this parade are pretty amazing.

Until it broke down in front of us…..

Um... except for that part, I guess.

we had some very intense interactions with characters walking the parade route.

I'm thinking that maybe the breakdown wasn't so bad, then.

Fran: "So you head back the way you came, make a right at the intersection and it'll be on your left."

Merlin and Arthur rounded the corner.

This pleases me. Nice throwback. I'm thinking a lot (maybe most? All?) of the kids haven't seen that.

Fran did not start off with us, it was the 25th Anniversary of Indiana Jones, and she wanted to purchase merchandise instead of visiting the kiosks.

I'm not surprised.

From there we got the Fiscalini White Cheddar Lager Soup served in a Mini Boudin® Sourdough Bowl

That looks very heavy. Was it?

We got the White Wine Flight

I'd be all over that!

Here we have the Brunch Fried Chicken & Waffle Sandwich

mmmmm... yes please.

Seared Verlasso® Salmon with Lemon Pea Purée, Black Rice and Meyer Lemon Relish

That sounds really interesting. I'd try that.

This must have been the Smoked Bacon Barbecue Beef Loco Moco

Whoa. That sounds soooo good!

I didn't like this one much at all, but the others did, so I let them finish it.

But... maybe it wasn't so great. Still... I would've been pretty excited about that one. And maybe disappointed.

At this booth we got Pabana Cream Puff with Mango, Passion Fruit and Banana Mousse – $5.50 and House-made Watermelon Agua Fresca

Both sound really good.

Fran doesn't like the studio roulette. Meaning one of us gets the side of the bed without a nightstand and she can't even get in and out of the bed on the small side

Ohhh... Was gonna ask what the studio roulette was. Thanks for the explanation.

Plus I love having the Jacuzzi tub, since mine at home are continuingly malfunctioning.

Plus you never have to clean theirs.

I do remember they called her boarding group even though it was a back up boarding group, but she had already decided she wasn’t going back into the park and trekking all the way to Galaxy’s Edge at this hour.

Too bad. But... glad they got in the next day.

Here’s Jenny and her hunky firefighter husband (her words not mine )

All the reports said to try and get as far away from the crowds as you can.

Really? Huh. Wonder why? Bandwidth congestion, I guess?

When the time came, Jill was the hero who snagged it for our party. She got BG27.

Way to go Jill!

We all cheered and Jenny ran around screaming and cheering

Her daughter, Chloe, put her head down, shaking it, saying, “That’s not my Mom.” We all had a good laugh.

Who knew that this would be my last time to see Trader Sam?

I do wonder...
Is he gone for good? Or just getting a refurb/new storyline?

I got this raspberry swirl Dole Whip.

Want!!!

I was always partial to the float anyways.

Oh, for sure! I never have it any other way.

we decided to go on Indy, it was the 25th Anniversary of the ride afterall and they were giving riders these decoder cards like they gave out when it first opened.

Cool!

Jill found her hunky boyfriend outside the ride and he posed for a pic.

This is a picture that I stole from the RotR thread of what the line looked like around 3-4PM that day. Keep in mind this is outside the cave portion of the queue.

Holy crap.

It turns out we had a miscommunication with our cat sitter, Naked Jim, and he didn’t realize that we left Friday afternoon, so he didn’t feed the cats Friday night or Saturday morning. All the cat food bowls were nearly empty, so I filled their crunchies, and gave them a round of canned cat food. I put a note telling Jim NOT to give them another round of cans, but nope he didn’t listen. He came by about 3-4 hours later and fed them again, throwing away all the cat food that I just gave them hours earlier.

Whoops! Bet the cats were at first, miffed, then later, overjoyed.

I think she is partly relieved for me to have friends to hang out with at Disney and the hotel because it takes the pressure off her to be “up” and “having fun”, and she can just let me do what I want while she catches up on her sleep. When it’s just the two of us she feels pressure to keep me entertained and company.

Interesting observation. Have you asked her?

The next week Covid cases started to ramp up all over the country.

Ugh. As mentioned earlier. Seems like a lifetime ago.

I think that was the last time that I hugged someone that wasn’t Fran. We greeted each other with a hug and then looked at each other like, were we supposed to do that?

That's such a sad couple of sentences.

but then we got fully vaccinated midway through this month and we are ready to get back to doing things! Disney here we come!

Please world. Get better.

Don't worry, this time I got all the posts in before you posted.

Just barely!

I've learned to proof the 2nd or 3rd posts after posting in case you come in to reply.

 

[franandaj]

Love love it!!


Awwww

I do remember these! is this when "California" was spelt in letters out front too?

Yes. Not sure why the Hyperion bridge is better than the Golden Gate, but I guess it fits the LA theme of Buena Vista St.

Yummm to both!

Can't wait to have them again! I snagged two reservations yesterday, May 2nd and May 17th!

I love both of your faces here so much! Fran "hehehe" You "Okkk"

We had other friends with us and I don't remember what they were saying to make us laugh so hard!

Nice! Have you visited the museum in San Fran?

Yes, several times!

Always love this pic!

Thanks!

I remember this in your plans too!

So sad. It would have been fun.

RoTR..sighhhhh...somedayyyyyy!

It will happen!

I think I'd be interested in this, I like "hash" type jobs

Maybe next time!

I have a Mickey waffle maker too, nice to have a little magic in the waffle form at home.

Maybe one of these times we are going we should get breakfast....

Guardian's Ella's fav- she wanted to ride all of the songs over our trip and I think we may have done it too

It took me four months to get all six!

Those look soo good right now- anything in a mickey shape I suppose

I'm gonna stock up on treats my first day. So many that I miss!

Lots of us will be living through you for a while!

I'll try to make it worth it!

Yup you did...don't know how I missed it, but it kinda goes with this week...thanks for checking in

Sorry you've had a sucky week. :flower3

Needed it's own separate message it seems but ahhh the PR adventures! I think I will need to go back and read it again for some laughs

I read up to when I cooked the Prime Rib and it was fun re-living that trip!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I fail to see a problem with that.

Who wouldn't?

Don't get me wrong; chasing prime rib is never a bad thing. I mean, I did the same thing.

The problem is also that APs really don't spend that much money. They come in do the rides they want, watch parades or shows, and barely buy coke and a popcorn.

Out! Out with all of them!

I know it wasn't, but I still feel bad you didn't get on it. I guess it's something you can complain about over and over and over and over again!

And I do! Gotta get some mileage out of this suffering.

Well that's a bummer. At least you are back in planning mode. So far I only have plans until the end of June. I can't seem to think past there.

I have a hard time moving forward if I don't have something to look forward to on the calendar.

We're trying to get creative. I didn't want to do Disneyland on a Saturday, but we might have to if that's the only day we get all together.

This time we had a similar cast of characters, but instead of Jim, we have Jill.

Hi Jill!

Best float, right there.

Leonard was having some serious words with Peter Pan….

Yes, you CAN save money with Geico!

And finally the parade came to its conclusion with Sleeping Beauty, the Prince, and the Good Fairies. It looks like their float needed a little help as well.

Love those magical farm tractors.

Fran did not start off with us, it was the 25th Anniversary of Indiana Jones

Hey, that sounds like a fun ride.

After that we decided that we would hit one more booth. One in a Melon.

I see what they did there.

Meanwhile, back in the room, Fran was nice enough to take pictures before we messed it all up.

That room looks a lot swankier than the Castle Inn across the street. Don't ask how I know.

I do remember they called her boarding group even though it was a back up boarding group, but she had already decided she wasn’t going back into the park and trekking all the way to Galaxy’s Edge at this hour.

Oh man, I'd be hightailing it over there!

We said our goodbyes and headed into the park. I love these trees that bloom at this time of year.

Beautiful!

All the reports said to try and get as far away from the crowds as you can.

Huh. Hadn't heard that one.

When the time came, Jill was the hero who snagged it for our party. She got BG27.

Nice!

Who knew that this would be my last time to see Trader Sam?

Yeah, that came about very suddenly.

I was never a huge fan of the Dole Whip.

Blasphemy!

I was always partial to the float anyways.

Well, ok. The float is better.

The ride still hadn’t come up, so we decided to go on Indy, it was the 25th Anniversary of the ride afterall and they were giving riders these decoder cards like they gave out when it first opened.

Cool.

Jill found her hunky boyfriend outside the ride and he posed for a pic.

Looks like he could stand to shave.

Fran and I had to go back home because we forgot some stuff (like her meds).

Seems important.

I put a note telling Jim NOT to give them another round of cans, but nope he didn’t listen. He came by about 3-4 hours later and fed them again, throwing away all the cat food that I just gave them hours earlier.

I think all of us needed some rest, the early morning securing a boarding group was pretty stressful and then waiting all day for boarding to start must have exhausted us all.

This whole procedure sounds really stressful, and then your day might be ruined if you don't get a BG. Not a huge fan.

The next week Covid cases started to ramp up all over the country. Disneyland announced that they would be closing down the parks over the next weekend.

Boo.

We greeted each other with a hug and then looked at each other like, were we supposed to do that?

Yeah...it's gotten weird.

That evening after the presentation, we went to our local Tiki bar and I actually ran into several Disney employees just by chance, we didn’t know them, but you know how you used to talk to strangers if they had a purse you recognized? Or if you overheard them say, oh yeah, I’m a busboy at such and such restaurant….It was really odd how none of us imagined that this would go on for so long.

I thought maybe we could make it for a couple of months.

First Mayor Eric Garcetti closed down all of Los Angeles, and I don’t remember if it was just hours later, but Gavin Newsom closed down the State of California. That made us think that perhaps we (with many many many underlying conditions) should really take this seriously.

Yeah, we all had that moment where it was like, "Ok...we're really doing this."

A whole year we didn’t do hardly anything, but then we got fully vaccinated midway through this month and we are ready to get back to doing things! Disney here we come!

Hooray!

 

[DLfan4]

Following along. Great trip report. Love all the pictures, especially the Food related ones.

 

[irene_dsc]

Jumping in to say hi! Glad you guys got your jabs so you can go places more safely again.

 

[Flossbolna]

What a beautiful parade! Thanks for sharing those pictures!

Can't believe that it has been over a year now that DL closed. I am very much looking forward to reading about your new adventures!

 

[franandaj]

From the yellow cup, it must be a Berry Mule! I had one of those at Touch of Disney earlier this month. We travel with teens, so the kids know that the yellow cups are mom drinks that they have to ask before they can steal a sip!

Yeah I finally figured that out after the bazillionth time I read that post! I'm sure it was good! How could it not have been?

Right around the time you were on this trip we had attempted to plan an extra trip for our Spring Break to go to to this food festival largely because DISsers and DFB pictures of the foods are irresistable (we plan a lot of our trips around food, which doesn't always work well with having VGC reservations in advance). Here's hoping they bring back this one in 2022!

I usually just plan to go the first week in March and hope they have the F&W festival. I really need to book for next year, cause I have a crazy amount of points since we didn't go last year.

omg your raspberry swirl picture is making me hungry! Love that they have non-pineapple flavors now, the Tropical Hideaway is one of my group's favorite snack spots.

The raspberry swirl still has the pineapple buts ots not as prominent with the swirl.

The procedure to get those ROTR boarding groups was definitely rough! We got to go for Presidents Day weekend, and waiting for our boarding group meant we didn't get our usual afternoon break at the hotel. You know you're spoiled when you complain about having to spend a whole day in the park instead of getting breaks by the pool!

#1stWorldProblems

Your pictures of the 1 bedroom make me miss the VGC! We're lucky that this year due to all the extra points from not using any last year we'll be in 1 and 2 bedrooms instead of alternating between studios and 2 bedrooms. Will be hard to go back to smaller rooms after all the excess points get absorbed!

Gosh I can't wait to go back!

 

[franandaj]

J for J. Are they interchangeable?

Not really. One comes with a whole lot more sarcasm than the other.

It's a Disney parade!


You're welcome.

Funniest part of that movie.

He was the best part.

Was he an inflatable? Did he move? (If you remember.)

I'm pretty sure he was not an inflatable, and he may have rotated from side to side, but he wasn't like an animatronic.

I need to watch that again. I don't remember either one of those guys!

You don't remember the goofy dog with his tongue hanging out? In the end he transformed into a rainbow magical creature, just like the cat that was following them around in the afterlife.

Hey! There's Fran.
Must say (not gonna quote them all) that the floats in this parade are pretty amazing.

They were pretty spectacular, too bad the parade ran less than a few weeks.

Um... except for that part, I guess.

Yeah the song was LOUD, and it's OK when it's just passing by, but when it's stuck there playing over and over, not so much.

I'm thinking that maybe the breakdown wasn't so bad, then.

It was kind of fun having full on discussions with the characters who could speak, I know the Fairy Godmother spoke with us a bit as well.

Fran: "So you head back the way you came, make a right at the intersection and it'll be on your left."

I wouldn't be surprised!

This pleases me. Nice throwback. I'm thinking a lot (maybe most? All?) of the kids haven't seen that.

Maybe they're working on a live action movie down the road....

I'm not surprised.

She likes her shopping!

That looks very heavy. Was it?

Not that I remember. We also split it three ways, so it wasn't too much. At some point that evening I sent Jenny that picture and said it was the winner so far.

I'd be all over that!

Yes I enjoy white wine flights!

mmmmm... yes please.

I haven't had chicken and waffles in a long time. Perhaps I need to fix that.

That sounds really interesting. I'd try that.

I don't do salmon.

Whoa. That sounds soooo good!
But... maybe it wasn't so great. Still... I would've been pretty excited about that one. And maybe disappointed.

Well you really like Loco Moco. I found there to be too much egg and that's why I didn't like it. You mentioned at some point that you really liked eggs as they were easy. I'm very particular about my eggs and don't care for them very often, so you may have liked this one more than me.

Both sound really good.

I don't remember so much.

Ohhh... Was gonna ask what the studio roulette was. Thanks for the explanation

Yeah, studios only have one nightstand and the other side of the bed has less than a foot to get in and out. For able bodied people that's not a thing. And for the first first few times we stayed in Studios I got that side so she was cool with it, but then we got a studio where her side of the bed was next to the wall and she went nuts. We had to switch sides and she pretty much said "never again!" And I was like

Plus you never have to clean theirs.

Au contraire! I have read horror stories about sludge coming out of them so I always bring a bottle of bleach and clean my jets before using the tub myself!

Too bad. But... glad they got in the next day.

That's why she decided to forgoe it, we knew we would get a group the next day.

Really? Huh. Wonder why? Bandwidth congestion, I guess?

That was the theory. The group even suggested you run a speed test from your location. Something I had never heard of until RotR premiered.

Way to go Jill!

I do wonder...
Is he gone for good? Or just getting a refurb/new storyline?

Oh, for sure! I never have it any other way.

Well except my new favorite!

Whoops! Bet the cats were at first, miffed, then later, overjoyed.

Not sure they really cared.

Interesting observation. Have you asked her

Nope. Afraid of the discussion.

Ugh. As mentioned earlier. Seems like a lifetime ago.

That's such a sad couple of sentences.

I know isn't it?

Please world. Get better.

Except I wonder. I saw a map of where in the US there is vaccine hesitancy. It's all up near the Canadian border. And in the South. California and New England are all over it. I don't know where we are headed.

 

[pkondz]

Not really. One comes with a whole lot more sarcasm than the other.

I'm pretty sure he was not an inflatable, and he may have rotated from side to side, but he wasn't like an animatronic.

Ah.

You don't remember the goofy dog with his tongue hanging out? In the end he transformed into a rainbow magical creature, just like the cat that was following them around in the afterlife.

I forgot! But I watched it again yesterday.

They were pretty spectacular, too bad the parade ran less than a few weeks.

Maybe they’ll bring it back?

was kind of fun having full on discussions with the characters who could speak, I know the Fairy Godmother spoke with us a bit as well.

That must’ve been fun.

Maybe they're working on a live action movie down the road....

I haven't had chicken and waffles in a long time. Perhaps I need to fix that.

I have... but made the waffles myself. Chicken I got from Popeye’s

I don't do salmon.

Bu I do.

Well you really like Loco Moco. I found there to be too much egg and that's why I didn't like it. You mentioned at some point that you really liked eggs as they were easy. I'm very particular about my eggs and don't care for them very often, so you may have liked this one more than me.

I’m pretty particular about my eggs too. I’ve started attempting a perfect French omelet. Have come very close twice.

Yeah, studios only have one nightstand and the other side of the bed has less than a foot to get in and out. For able bodied people that's not a thing. And for the first first few times we stayed in Studios I got that side so she was cool with it, but then we got a studio where her side of the bed was next to the wall and she went nuts. We had to switch sides and she pretty much said "never again!" And I was like

Au contraire! I have read horror stories about sludge coming out of them so I always bring a bottle of bleach and clean my jets before using the tub myself!

Ew! Yuck! But m a bit surprised by that. I expect better of Disney.

That was the theory. The group even suggested you run a speed test from your location. Something I had never heard of until RotR premiered.

Huh!

Not sure they really cared.

Well... cats. Of course.

Nope. Afraid of the discussion.

Oops!

Except I wonder. I saw a map of where in the US there is vaccine hesitancy. It's all up near the Canadian border. And in the South. California and New England are all over it. I don't know where we are headed.

I suppose everyone (or close to it) will either get vaccinated or get the virus. Her immunity should happen one way or another.

 

[franandaj]

Don't get me wrong; chasing prime rib is never a bad thing. I mean, I did the same thing

Out! Out with all of them!

Well at least Fran and I pull our weight!

And I do! Gotta get some mileage out of this suffering.

That should be the first ride when you get to DL!

I have a hard time moving forward if I don't have something to look forward to on the calendar.

That's why I haven't been getting out of bed before 10AM, nothing to look forward to.

We're trying to get creative. I didn't want to do Disneyland on a Saturday, but we might have to if that's the only day we get all together.

School schedules are difficult to work around.....

Best float, right there.

Love those magical farm tractors.

Hey, that sounds like a fun ride.

Yeah, you should go on it sometime!

I see what they did there.

I don't....

That room looks a lot swankier than the Castle Inn across the street. Don't ask how I know.

Oh man, I'd be hightailing it over there!

Well, she pretty much knew she would be getting on the ride the next day.

Blasphemy!

Well, ok. The float is better.

But the raspberry swirl is even better!

Looks like he could stand to shave.

Seems important.

Just a teeny bit.

This whole procedure sounds really stressful, and then your day might be ruined if you don't get a BG. Not a huge fan.

It is really stressful, hopefully we will get you a BG when you come out.

Yeah...it's gotten weird.

It's going to be even weirder when I start seeing people I know again. I mean I don't generally hug the mailman or the gardener, and they're pretty much the only people I really see.

I thought maybe we could make it for a couple of months

I was thinking that we would be back at Disney for my birthday LAST year!

Yeah, we all had that moment where it was like, "Ok...we're really doing this."

It took a while for it to really kick in for us, but yeah....

 

[franandaj]

Following along. Great trip report. Love all the pictures, especially the Food related ones.

Hope to have many more!

Jumping in to say hi! Glad you guys got your jabs so you can go places more safely again.

Thanks! Can't wait to go places!

What a beautiful parade! Thanks for sharing those pictures!

Can't believe that it has been over a year now that DL closed. I am very much looking forward to reading about your new adventures!

Glad to have you here!