Going to Disney Worl - eh? LAND??? Updated ... and it's DONE!!

[Dolce27]

Alright people… you don’t know me because I haven’t been on the Disneyland boards overly much (well, actually, the people on the boards that I do frequent a lot don’t really know me either. ) So, allow me to introduce myself:

I’m a thread-killing, self-admitted dork who happens to love Disney.
Hi!

My first trip to Walt Disney World was when I was two years old and my last trip being September 2006. Nowhere between my first WDW trip in 1981 to my most recent in 2006 does a Disneyland trip appear. In fact, I’d never even been to California. I’ve been close: I’ve made it to Arizona and … uh… Arizona.

So, one day, several months ago, I was at work and I had this great epiphany: I should go to Disneyland. Never before had I desired to go and see Disneyland, I mean, I always go to Walt Disney World which is so much larger and therefore, more things to do. Plus, I’m a former CP (college program) from WDW so I’m a bit partial (and a lot biased) about that resort so I was a bit surprised by my sudden desire to travel west.

(No, you're not allowed to throw things at me just b/c I admitted that I'm partial to WDW!!!)

The realization that I should go and discover what charms and magic were held at Disneyland occurred to me at 10:00am (or within that approximate timeframe). The ticket (non-refundable by the way) was booked by 6:30pm that night. I was going; no backing out now or have to deal with the wrath of lost money.

So, I’m going to Disneyland!

Ummmm…. I can tell you anything and *almost* everything about WDW but Disneyland is entirely a foreign concept to me. Time to start planning: what I do best.

Hotel: I find out it’s actually ok to stay in a non-Disney hotel at Disneyland. *gasp!* *shock!* I wouldn’t dream of staying off property at WDW but then WDW offers a few cheaper options in their hotels than what Disneyland offers. So, after some research I decide to stay at the Carousel Inn. At my time of booking everyone on this board was saying great things about the place…. Then, of course, within the few weeks leading up to my trip everyone on this board was saying negative things about this place. Oh well. Booked. Moving on.

Tickets: I buy a 3-day park hopper so that I can have one early entry into the park.

Date: I decided months ago that I’d go in November - mainly because at work I’m not allowed to take any vacation from February to May or from September to November and it was already summer when I began planning this. I decided that the week-end before Thanksgiving looked great. My logic was this: I wanted to use the least amount of vacation days so I’d fly out to LA early Friday (Nov 16) morning and spend that afternoon/evening, Saturday and Sunday at the parks and then fly back to Dallas on Monday morning. I’d then only have two days of work before I had a four day Thanksgiving week-end.

Alright: everything booked and I just needed to learn everything about Disneyland and wait. Simple, right? Wrong.

Well, plans then began changing some. First off, I’m one of those people that everyone always bails out on at the last minute. I tried planning a WDW trip a few years ago with friend #1 to only have her bail out after I made the reservation and paid the deposit. Friend #2 steps in to take friend #1’s place only to have friend #2 bail out on me the week before final payment for the trip is due. So... as this occurs in other aspects of my life too, I’ve learned the hard way to expect to do things solo... which is fine. I’m a big girl and I’ve now done two WDW trips solo. A week-end at Disneyland alone – no big deal.

Then, here is where the plan changes begin, my co-worker, Tiff, tells me one day. “You know, Disneyland sounds like fun. I think that I’ll go with you.”

That was a first – someone inviting themselves on my trip instead of bailing out on me? After picking my jaw up off the floor and clearing the stunned expression off my face I was like: ‘Sure! But you need to know that …..’

Then I went on and on about no sleep – just a quick week-end trip, I’m a serious planner and I do park commando mode (aka: no rest) and no sleep (stressing that part) until the plane touches down in Dallas, at the park for gate opening until gate closing, and food cost lots and lots of $$$ and it’ll be expensive.

I was excited that she actually wanted to go (she knows next to nothing about Disney) but I wanted to give her all the hard facts about the trip before she booked anything. I didn’t scare her off with my lecture (yea! ) so I expected her to book her airfare that week-end and I gave her my flight number. I didn’t want to change the hotel reservation until I was certain that she was really going and booking her flight.

I didn’t hear from her all week-end and I came into work Monday morning expecting her to bail out on the trip. Nope, instead she asked me why I booked the flight I did (a United flight) and I told her it was the cheapest that I was able to find. She then told me that she found an American flight that was direct (mine had a lay-over) that arrived earlier in LAX than my flight did and was $100.00 cheaper.

Alright… I’m a big girl. I can handle that she got a better flight deal than I did. (it doesn’t mean that I have to like it one bit! ) So, lesson #1 learned: Don’t be in such a hurry to book airfare and learn how to search for it better!

Moving on now….

I began learning all I can about the parks and then I discover that Friday, November 16 is the official start of Disneyland’s Christmas season so it might get a bit crowded. Not good. I want to be certain that I have the opportunity to see and do all I want while there so I come up with another brilliant idea, arrive on Thursday morning. So, after convincing Tiff that we need to go a day early and forking over more money to both the airline and the hotel, I’m scheduled to arrive a day early. Now it’s back to reading the boards to learn what I can and waiting… and waiting… and waiting…. subscribe to Ridemax and make out my own highly detailed and color coded spreadsheet with ride times down to the minute...waiting some more and more... freak out Tiff with informing her of my highly detailed and color coded spreadsheet with ride times down to the minute... waiting once again and waiting.. waiting.. waiting.. why is November taking so long to get here??

Up Next: My very first day at Disneyland. Ever.

 

[garate55]

Well you were there the same time we were........So did you stay the 3days?
Friday and Saturday were really busy, but I think all weekends are really busy anyways because of the locals.
Hope you had fun. Disneyland is a great place.

 

[Hound 109]

I'm in.

I love funny, stream of consciousness trippies.

So we Disers highly recommended the Candy Cane & then started trashing it. That's classic.

Good to hear that nice smartypants friend got a cheaper flight. (Did she secure a cheap room at the GCH, too?? )

Looking forward to your first day at Walt's park.

 

[Dolce27]

Woo-hoo! Two people are actually reading this thing! I may have to find treats or something to send you guys if you make it to the end.

 

[BillyFan]

I'm in. I was there the same weekend you were. I can't wait to hear your impressions of my happy place!

 

[Keli]

Come on now, where's part II? LOL

I've enjoyed your start and I'm eager to hear the rest!

 

[Dolce27]

I'm in. I was there the same weekend you were. I can't wait to hear your impressions of my happy place!

It was the promise of treats (that I don't really have) that lured you in - wasn't it??

 

[Dolce27]

Come on now, where's part II? LOL

I've enjoyed your start and I'm eager to hear the rest!

Sorry. Last night was Monday night tv (no, not football) Chuck, Heroes, and Journeyman. My must watch. I didn't have time to write anything.

 

[samkj]

You reeled me in too. Waiting for part 2, although I have to admit I am a bit nervous what you will say about my beloved Disneyland. I have much the same feelings about WDW as you did about DL.....

 

[Hound 109]

hound -

 

[Dolce27]

Alright you all... I will give you fair warning: If you are looking for a short, sweet, and to the point trip report - this ain't it! I talk too much, therefore, I type too much.

Allow me to re-introduce the cast - incase any of you forgot either one of us.

Me: The self admitted dork who loves Disney.

Tiff: My co-worker friend who knows nothing (at all) about Disney (well, she has admitted to buying some of the movies) but thought it would be a fun trip to come along on.

I'm the one on the left. I have no idea who the people are in the background - they just showed up. Oh well.. the more the merrier I say.
(edited: the right half of this picture has now been removed. Therefore, I'm also on the right as well as the left )

Alright…the day is finally here. I have a 6:30 am flight to Denver and at 11:00 the night before guess what I’m doing? I need to get up at 3:30 am in order to be at the airport by 5 am and am I finishing my packing? Nope. Am I sleeping since I have a long day the next day? Nope.

I’m on the DIS boards reading posts and thinking.. ‘tomorrow I’ll see that.. and tomorrow I’ll be doing that…’ and no where was there a ‘I better get to sleep so that tomorrow I’ll actually be awake to see and do that’ thought in my head.

So, needless to say, when my alarm went off at 3:30 am – I was not a very happy person. I managed to drag myself out of bed and made it to the airport by the time I wanted. (after getting lost three times trying to find the express terminal parking) One thing I had decided to do (which turned out to be a very wise plan) was to only take carry-on luggage. With all the current flight delays and with my *only* one hour lay-over, I had nightmares of my luggage not making it with me to LAX. So, I hit up Target for all of their cute miniature travel sized items and found that I could stuff a lot of liquid in a quart sized bag.

So, again, this turned out to be a very wise decision and not because I had a flight delay (which I thankfully had none) but because I stepped into the United Airlines terminal at DFW and came to an abrupt halt. Before me, in the check-in line, stood approximately 100 high school orchestra students on their way to China. The check-in line looked to be at least 1 hour long and never mind how long it was going to take all of them to get through security, especially since they all were high school kids and not seasoned travelers. Thankfully, I only had to give them a glance as I bypassed them and walked over the self check-in (that you can’t do if you have check-in luggage) and was through security before the first student had even finished their check-in.

Security was a breeze – I’m too innocent looking so I never get pulled over. I find my way to the nearest Starbucks and sat and waited for my flight. I’m beyond petrified of flying – like to the point that I really ought to take something to help me for the flight but I won’t do that because if there is an emergency I need to be coherent. So, at the first sign of turbulence, I’m gripping my seat and praying ‘please don’t let me die… please don’t let me die’ and I’m always checking my watch and figuring out approximately what time we should be beginning our decent – and counting down the minutes until that time!

Flight was good from DFW to Denver with Denver being noticeably colder as Dallas was upper 70’s/ lower 80’s when I left and Denver…. wasn’t. After a short lay-over in Denver I make my way to LA and turned on my phone as we reach the gate. I had to find Tiff, who should have arrived at least an hour before me. I have two text messages on my phone; the first from an unknown number telling me to have fun on my trip and bring them back a shot glass. The second message is from Tiff stating that she’s in the luggage claim area for American Airlines. So I go to navigate my way around an airport that I’ve never been to before to locate her. Fortunately I don’t have any qualms about stopping every airport employee/TSA/cop that I see to ask directions and be certain that I’m heading in the right way.

I finally find her and we take the Disneyland Resort Express to the hotel in Anaheim. The driver told us that it would take 45 minutes to an hour to get there… I’m not even certain that it took 30 minutes. He was a great driver and it only costs $19.00 one way ($28.00 if you purchase round trip) and they pick up from the airports every 30 minutes starting at 10:30 (on the hour before 10:30).

We quickly check-in at the hotel and find our room and I’m ready to go … and Tiff’s not. I’m almost to the point of laughing as I wait on her to get ready to go to a theme park. First of all, Tiff is a very fashion conscientious person and I’m sooo not. So, I bit my tongue and try not to let her catch me glancing at my watch as I wait for about 30 minutes for her to finish getting ready. Oh, I guess I should mention that I’m not a very patient person.

Finally – she’s ready! I’d decided that we wouldn’t activate the 3 day park hopper pass until the next day (since I had ordered the park hoppers online before we added on the extra day) so we have to make a quick stop at the ticket booth to get a one day ticket for Disneyland and then we make another stop over at Guest Relations as I had reserved tickets for the Fantasmic! dessert package that night and we needed to pick up those tickets as well.

Finally, I enter the gates to Disneyland and go through the very short tunnels under the train station and brace myself as I was told to expect everything to be so much smaller than what I’m accustomed to at WDW. Honestly, the size of everything (such as the castle) didn’t phase me one bit but what did give me pause was when first coming out of the train station I couldn’t look strait down Main Street and see the castle like you can at WDW. But other than that, I was excited to be there and happy to be at a very magical place. Everything was beautiful, all decked out in Christmas décor.

(I couldn't wait to have my own picture of that!)

The first thing on my agenda was to grab a fast pass to Space Mountain and then head over to Toon Town to grab one for Roger Rabbit. I had 1:30 lunch reservations at Carnation Café. We’d actually arrived a little earlier than I planned so I didn’t feel a rush as we headed over to Tomorrowland. We were both starving so I promised Tiff that we’d grab our FP’s and then see if we could get into eat earlier. Approaching Space Mountain we find that there is only a 5 minute stand-by line. What? I’d been lead to believe that the only time the line is that short is first thing in the morning. … NOT that I’m complaining by any means!

OK… I reallllly wanted to ride Space and see what it is like as everyone says that it’s so much better than the one at WDW. So, I turn to Tiff…

“Uh… Tiff… do you want to grab a FP for later and ride it once now… I know you’re starving, I mean, if you have to eat now (because I knew that eating was currently first on her agenda) we can eat now and come back later….” I give my best pleading to ‘go on the ride now’ look.

She assures me that she won’t pass out or become hostel from lack of food and we can go on right the. Woo-hoo! We fly through the empty line and don’t have to stop until we are almost to boarding and yes, I will join the WDW vet bandwagon that will admit – this ride rocks! Sooooo much better than WDW’s current version! But, like many of the other WDW vets, I missed not walking through the star tunnel – I love the music in there.

We leave Tomorrowland and make our way towards Toon Town, passing It’s a Small World in the processes.

I’d seen pictures of this before but this is really a cool looking building. Even Tiff stops and stares at it, quite impressed. The clock has struck something (I know it wasn’t on the hour – maybe 15 after?) and we watch all the little dolls come out and go around. And as I’m typing this, ‘It’s a Small World’ comes on Sorcerer Radio so now I’m singing along with typing this.

OK. I was impressed by the It’s a Small World Building but I was totally blown away by Toon Town. (I had a feeling that I would be.) This place is just full of whimsical fun. I love it! We grab our FP’s for Roger Rabbit and look around a bit.

We head back to Main Street to the Carnation Café and there is a line that we don’t really have to wait in as I have a Priority Seating. Woo-hoo! We were seated within a couple of minutes after checking in. We both had sandwiches and they were good. Actually, I think cardboard would have tasted good to me by that point as the Starbucks blueberry muffin I’d had at 5:00 that morning was long gone from my stomach.

From here on out – ummm…that schedule that I had spent hours and hours working on.. that I had color coordinated… uh, yeah. That schedule ceased to exist and I guess it became more of a guideline to go by– or really just several sheets of paper that took up space in my bag. I think that part of the reason for this, ok – the main reason - is the lines for everything were much shorter and everything was moving a lot quicker than I’d planned on.

First up, after our yummy sandwiches, was Indiana Jones. One of Tiff’s favorite movies so I knew she’d want to see this ride and I was curious as everyone says it’s much better than Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom (which is a ride I’m not very keen on.) Honestly. The ride was alright. Going through the queue I tried to find all the hidden stuff to do. A CM told me that the bamboo pole was temporarily removed as they were ‘improving’ it to do more things. (I’m not certain what it does originally). I snapped a few pictures (in the queue only! Not on the ride) – but limited myself as I didn’t want to blind people as it is a bit dark in there.
As for the ride itself, it was fun but neither Tiff nor I had any desire to ride it more than that one time. Yes, the theme is a lot better than Dinosaur but I felt once was enough.
We worked our way back over to Toon Town and took a spin on Roger Rabbit. I let Tiff drive – or rather, spin- on our wacky ride. I love that movie, which was a good movie and one that I want to buy – I meant to buy it while at Disneyland. Oh well. Onward to Fantasyland to discover that Peter Pan has a twenty minute line – not too bad for Peter Pan…so we jump in that line as this is Tiff’s first time I’m trying to see everything and I’m glad that we did.

Onward to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Yeah, obviously I don’t believe to sticking to one land/location… we were moving. Come on people, or rather Tiff, keep up!

Does anyone know if WDW’s BTMR has the cute little turtle and skunks like DL’s does? I don’t recall seeing them at WDW last year.

After getting off we spot the McDonald’s French fry wagon. You know, I think seeing that was the most enthusiasm Tiff showed that day. So, of course, we had to stop for some fries and we made our way over to the Haunted Mansion.

I planned to get a FP but, of course, we didn’t need one. So, we stood outside the gate stuffing the rest of our fries (geeze! That’s a lot of fries they give!) so that we can go on the ride. I’d asked the CM at greeter what the wait time was and he pointed to the (then) non-existent line at the door and said ‘that’ was the line… about 5 minutes and we couldn’t take the French fries with us. So, as we stood there, stuffing our faces, more and more people passed us to get into the line and the CM kept looking over me and shouting ‘6 minutes’ ‘8 minutes’ ’10 minutes’ as more and more people joined the line. I kept shoving fries into my mouth thinking ‘Ok! Ok!’

Finally, fries consumed, we made our way into the mansion. I wished that Tiff had seen the original HM before but I was glad to see the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay. I saw the movie in 3-D at the theater the week-end before my trip. I hadn’t seen it since, well, since it came out originally, so I need to refresh my Jack and Sally storyline. It was really cute (the ride). We were stopped briefly while passing the ballroom scene (just at the end of it) and I got to watch the two pictures duel it out. I probably would have never noticed that had we not stopped there.

After HM, it was Pirates time! Oh my gosh, DL’s Pirate’s is soooooo much better than WDW’s. Why did they shorten up WDW’s version? That was stupid on Disney’s part. It was so calm and relaxing at the beginning while drifting past the Blue Bayou – I almost fell asleep. I love the talking skull and bones before you go down the first drop.

Back over to Space Mountain... I told ya... we’re moving people... Come on! Keep up!

See, we still had that FP that we grabbed earlier that day… and we still didn’t need it as the queue was only 15 minutes. So, after, I decided that I had to try out the Matterhorn as we passed by walking back to the hub to go back to New Orleans Square. The Matterhorn proved to not be a wise choice for either of us. I liked it… but I banged up my knee pretty bad as it was really rough. Tiff just didn’t like it and flat out told me so. So, that was my one and only time on the Matterhorn. I wanted to try it again but I was weary due to the pain in my knee.

 

[Dolce27]

I think, while passing back through the hub, this was when they were filming Jennie Garth and the Dancing with the Stars segment that she was doing. We passed by as she was on stage with Mickey and asked the audience if they would like to see her dance with him. Needless to say, neither Tiff nor I were a part of that audience.

(I can't recall the exact order some things happend.

Like: I know at some point we passed by these guys as I was feeling pretty bummed that the Alice in Wonderland ride was closed:

And I took this pic after killing my knee on the Matterhorn - but I never went on it:

)

Reaching New Orleans Square, Tiff found a spot over by the Haunted Mansion, sat down, pulled out her cell and told me that she wasn’t moving anymore. So, off I went to explore by myself while waiting for the Fantasmic time (we’d already checked-in for our seats earlier). I briefly spoke to the HM CM again, he was still at greeter. I told him to keep an eye on my friend and I left to take a few pictures and explore the gift shops filled with stuff that I can’t afford. I’m a sucker for the Arribas Brothers crystal figurines. I bought a Steamboat Willie one last year at WDW and I had to physically force myself out of the store there before I added to my collection.

I wondered back over to the Haunted Mansion and found another CM had come out to join the original CM greeter that I’d been chatting with. You know, I’ve read threads on this board about how the DL CM’s are not very friendly – especially in comparison to WDW’s CM. Well, my main complaint with these two CM’s was that they were too darn friendly and happy. I mean, come on! It’s the Haunted Mansion. You are not supposed to be happy at the Haunted Mansion… you are supposed to be serious and a bit scary. So, of course, I had to ask them why they were so darn happy when a third HM CM came out to join the other two. The third CM began questioning me about why I looked so happy and who died….

Anyways… those three guys were fun to talk to and I’m glad that they are having so much fun working at the Haunted Mansion… even if they aren’t supposed to look like they are having so much fun…

Finally, it was time for Fantasmic. Our seats were pretty center. We’d apparently been one of the first ones to check-in and got to pick some of the best seats that they reserve. We got our boxes of treats (which was a lot of food – but oh-so yummy!) and we met a wonderful family from Washington state that we were sitting by. I was hoping that they were a DIS family – but they weren’t. However, I did give the mom this website so maybe they are a future DIS family.

As I previously said, I worked the College Program (back in 1999…. Gosh I’m getting old!) and I was at MGM and I did work Fantasmic many, many nights. I love the show. I was curious to see Disneyland’s version (yes, I’m quite aware that DL’s version is the original version). I did love the Peter Pan scene and thought that was really nice but I didn’t like the Dumbo and Pinocchio scenes. My idea of a perfect Fantasmic show: Do MGM’s version but replace the Pocahontas scene with the Peter Pan scene. Also, at MGM they are able to set the ending fireworks off higher than they apparently allowed to do at DL so the fireworks are more impressive at MGM. But overall, great, great show. I love that show.

The night is finally to an end. I have no idea how Tiff likes her first time to experience anything Disney. Except for the French fries, she just doesn’t give a lot of reaction to things. So we join the small crowd and work our way out of the park, across Harbor Blvd, and down the couple of blocks to our hotel. Tomorrow’s the one and only chance I’m giving myself to ride Nemo because I refuse to wait in a long line for it.

Up next: I do something that some people will probably perceive as rude – but I perceived as desperate – and do I make it to Nemo?

 

[Dolce27]

hound -

Hey! I'll have you know that it takes awhile to write such a masterful, suspenseful, and intriguing trip report.

OK. It just takes awhile to type the report and fight with photobucket to download all your photos and then fight to get the size you want.

 

[Hound 109]

Truly a masterpiece Dolce.

Random stories that had me cracking up:


- Stuffing french fries while watching the line at HM grow.

- 5 min. line at SM (but why not ride it twice )

- Waiting ''patiently" while buddy takes 30 minutes to "primp". (Man....all Dis Comandos can relate. )

- Working (walking) the park like a child traces a star. (Good thing Trish didn't look at a map. ) We'll call you Trace n Retrace Dolce.


I love reports from first timers to Walt's park....especially when they write like Mark Twain or Erma Bombeck.

I look forward to more great stories & more great pics.

(sorry Alice was down. ....but glad you rode Pirates. )


Thanks for the masterful storytelling, Dolce.

Looking forward to the next installment.


hound -

 

[garate55]

Hey I think we were walking by the "Dancing with the Stars" thingy at the same time and thought oh Jenny Garth? stopped for a split second and BAM on our way to do more important things. I believe we were walking into Adventureland at the time.

 

[Dolce27]

Truly a masterpiece Dolce.

Random stories that had me cracking up:


- Stuffing french fries while watching the line at HM grow.

- 5 min. line at SM (but why not ride it twice )

- Waiting ''patiently" while buddy takes 30 minutes to "primp". (Man....all Dis Comandos can relate. )

- Working (walking) the park like a child traces a star. (Good thing Trish didn't look at a map. ) We'll call you Trace n Retrace Dolce.


I love reports from first timers to Walt's park....especially when they write like Mark Twain or Erma Bombeck.

I look forward to more great stories & more great pics.

(sorry Alice was down. ....but glad you rode Pirates. )


Thanks for the masterful storytelling, Dolce.

Looking forward to the next installment.


hound -

Thanks! And no, I didn't provide Tiff with a map. She was totally dependent on following me around to wherever I went. Oh, and to answer your question about SM: we were too hungry to ride twice and I was happy that she let me go the once as I knew she was starving. I wasn't about to push my luck. She said that she didn't get hostile when hungry... but I wasn't chancing it.

 

[Dolce27]

The next morning I was up just before 6 am and ready to go.

As I said, I was up before 6 am and ready to go.

On my way out the door I told Tiff to call my cell when she was ready to meet up. The hotel had free breakfast… from 7 – 9 am. There wasn’t any way that I was giving up my valuable waiting in line for the parks to open time for what I read is a less than stellar breakfast. (did you understand all that?) I grabbed an Egg McMuffin from McDonalds and was to the plaza by 6:40 am. The place was deserted except for a woman sitting on a concrete wall reading a book, a family that walked up just before me and whose picture I took of them so that they could all be in it, several CM’s flying around heading in various directions and the fork lift driver guy.

At least I was able to take a couple of pictures without other people starring in them.

About 7:00 a few more families had shown up – not many - when we were all kicked out of the plaza and forced to line up outside of the baggage check tents. Now, I would have, and should have, been first in the line outside of baggage check. I was well ahead of the others… until two kids decided to ignore the CM’s yelling ‘No running!’ and raced ahead of me.

Not that it was a big deal that I wasn’t first in the line, even though I’d arrived before that family had, but it just wasn’t fair that I couldn’t get away with running like kids were. If I’m going to have to have a complaint (because everyone has at least one complaint per trip – right? ) then that is going to be my complaint: running kids costs me my first in line every time because they’d race ahead while I’m being the responsible adult and walking and they arrive at my destination first, then I’d arrive, then 5 minutes later their parents arrive and join the kids. (No, this isn’t a serious complaint … but if I had to have a complaint – that’d be it. Those darn kids! ).

What was funny about these two kids (boys; both looked to be under 12) was that when they arrived at the bag check they began arguing because one boy (I think the one who lost the race) began yelling at the other that a CM had told them to not run and the other boy argued back that it hadn’t been a CM. Then the little sister (looked to be 5 or 6) walked up and told them that the CM said not to run so then the argument continued about whither it was an actual CM or not. As I walked up I stated: “That was a Cast Member.” Both boys looked at me, their eyes got wide, and they shut-up.

I almost began laughing. I don’t feel like an ‘adult’ (probably because I don’t have my own kids to boss around) so I wasn’t expecting the kids to stop arguing and behave just because I, an adult, spoke up. The parents finally caught up and joined them. Surprisingly, a line was quickly forming now that it was just after 7am. I observed the family in front me for awhile, and spoke briefly with them. They seemed to be a nice family and purely based upon my observations, no facts given, I’m assuming that they are a new family. I think the parents just married and one boy and the girl was hers and the other boy was his. Just the way they were interacting - they seemed to still be trying to get to know one another. So, no particular reason why I mention that – just my observations and how I spent my time waiting for them to let us back into the plaza. By this time the line was getting pretty long. I heard a couple of different stories from CM’s as to why we had to wait outside of bag check but I think the reason was back to the fork lift driver. He was trying to remove stuff from the plaza area and they didn’t want guests in that area until he was finished and gone – I guess for liability reasons.

Finally, we were allowed through bag check and I rushed towards a gate. I got into the line behind two women and waited. I wasn’t sure if that gate was going to open, and quite frankly, neither were they but they said that one of the CM’s had pointed at that gate.

It was almost 8:00am. This was my one shot at Nemo. If I didn’t make it with opening – so that I didn’t have much of a wait – then I was just going to skip the attraction. I’d read HydroGuy’s tips: I was one of the first people there that morning, I was at the front of a now massive line and I was ready to go. CM’s began to unlock the gates and move into position to collect tickets… all except for my gate. What?!?! Wait a minute. I was here before alllllll of these people save for 5 (the family of four and the one lady with the book) and, looking back at the long, long, long lines alllll the way back to the DCA signs, this just wasn’t fair. (Yes, I’m stomping my foot and pouting right now.) So, I did what any normal and desperate person did – I jumped into the line next to me.

Yes people, I was a line-cutter. The two women in front of me did the same. I know, if it wasn’t Nemo day then I wouldn’t have done it but I’d put in my time that morning and gosh darn it – I’m riding Nemo!

Fortunately, for me, I was not lynched and strung up by my toes from the top of the gate – although there were probably some pretty nasty glares directed at my backside by people who weren’t aware that I was at the park before them. I happened to jump in front of an older couple (I think from Arizona?) I did profusely apologize (because I’ve never cut in a line before and I felt horrible – but it was Nemo day! I’m not normally a bad person – really I’m not! ) and I explained that I’d been there since 6:40 and it was my first time at Disneyland. They were actually very sweet about it all. (Thank goodness!!) Just as everyone was moving up to begin going through the turnstiles… a tardy CM shows up to open the gate that I’d originally been standing in front of. Now I feel really horrible. The two women that had been in front of me at the first gate moved back over to the previous gate but the older couple told me to stay where I was, that it was fine. They were very sweet and I again thanked them for not killing me… actually, I think I literally did say those words: Thank you for not killing me.

So, at a brisk walk, remember, no running! (apparently line cutting: yes – running: no. I’ve got to have my priorities people! ) I made my way to Nemo and the helpful CM’s showed me the way – which I understand to be the long way around. By the time I reached Nemo they weren’t allowing anyone into the actual queue yet. A CM was standing in front allowing a line to form and then he walked us through the entire queue. I was either in the first or second sub – not certain but I never really had to stop before boarding the sub so I think I may have been on the first sub. The ride was really cute and I enjoyed it. I was glad that I was able to see this. So, I get off and check my phone – Tiff’s still in bed apparently so I decided to head over to Autopia. They actually gave me a license. They’re going to let me drive! Really, they probably should have given me a driving test first but since they didn’t….

(See? Proof that they are letting me drive! )

Yeah, darn, that car didn’t go very fast –
My ride:

(not exactly my dream car - bit it'll do.)

but I almost did rear-end the car in front of me once. See, I told you they should have given me a driving test first! At least I didn’t have to parallel park because I can’t do that for the life of me. Seriously, the last time I parallel parked I was 15 and taking the driving portion of the test for my learner’s permit. I haven’t had to take a driving test since and I prefer to park ten blocks away and walk rather than attempt to parallel park in that one open spot directly in front of the door.

So, after my leisurely drive around… wherever I was driving around…

Hey! Cute sign

I finally get the phone call from Tiff that she’s arrived. I go back up to meet her and then stop off at the Main Street Bakery for food. (You know, now that I think about it... McDonalds was the next day. They yummy sugery carbs was this day.) Tiff confirms that the free breakfast at the hotel is less than stellar and I devour a very tasty cinnamon twist and pumpkin spice latte. I left my diet back in Texas – I’m on vacation people – no healthy food for me!

At some point we make a stop by the castle. I don't think these two little guys are at WDW:

( I love statues. )

We take off to Tomorrowland to find that Space Mountain was down and so we check out Innoventions. The Innoventions at EPCOT at WDW isn’t very good and there is so much potential for it if only Disney would do something about it. I was keeping my fingers crossed that this one was better – because it sounded fabulous on the Disneyland website. Yeah, I sadly have to say – EPCOT’s is much better and I’m not overly impressed with EPCOT’s. Really, Disney needs to hire me to oversee some of this stuff. I have considered submitting my resume for an Imagineering position before – but yeah, good luck to me for ever scoring one of those coveted jobs!

Off to Adventureland with the intentions of going to the Tikki Room. I don’t even remember the original version of this – I’m used to the new version (which I happen to like!) at the Magic Kingdom so I wanted to see this – and hoped that it didn’t put me to sleep. I don’t do very well in shows. Alas, they’d just let a group in and it was another 16 minute wait and the Jungle Cruise beckoned to us so… no Tikki Room. The Jungle Cruise was a walk on and I sat down next to the skipper.

(This was carved on our boat)

(It's waaaay to cold for him to be having too much fun. I think he's faking that smile!)

(Ummm.... are monkeys required to get a gun permit before owning a gun?)

 

[Dolce27]

After a nice cruise though, where were we? Africia? We returned to Disneyland. She was one of the better skippers that I’ve seen and I enjoyed my cruise.

Next was a quick stop at Tarzan's treehouse:

I attempted to convince Tiff to go on Splash Mountain – but she was having none of that. She has issues of being wet… truthfully, so do I but I was curious to see the difference between the two Splash Mountains. This is one ride that is reported to be better at WDW. Even offering to buy her a poncho couldn’t bribe her on the ride so instead off we went to Winnie the Poo. This was another ride that is better at WDW but I wasn’t nearly as disappointed in DL’s version as I expected to be after reading everyone’s thoughts about the ride. I do miss the bouncing Tigger section that the WDW version has – that’s my favorite part of the ride. The things you ride in are cute and I liked how they were all named.

I grabbed a Tigger Tail after and we explored the gift shop. Man, do all of those treats look yummy. I could never work in there… I’d eat it all.

We hopped the boat over to Pirate’s Liar (aka Tom Sawyer Island) just in time for the show to begin. It was a cute show. We’d actually ridden the raft over with one of the pirates.

Off to explore the island. How many caves are there? I know at WDW there are at least two but I only went through one at Disneyland. There were cute little birds hopping around the island. So yes, they required a picture.

Easley amused – aren’t we?

We made our way back to Tomorrowland and Space Mountain was back up. Yea! Tiff did admit to liking this ride, so another yea! We grab a FP for later and work our way to New Orleans Square. You know, never once did Tiff question why we zigzagged all over the park – which is a good thing as I didn’t actually have an answer for that question. I think it was that I just thought of something we should do, regardless where it was located, and went with it. My detailed, color-coded itinerary was still buried in the bottom of my bag.

We detoured by the Big Thunder Ranch on our way back to see the reindeer.

Mrs. Clause was there but what I really became excited about was this guy:

Dale is my absolute favorite Disney character. I don’t know why. I just love him. It was a free for all to get autographs or pictures with him. Line? What line? Apparently no one there had ever heard of a line. A CM approached Dale and told him it was time for him to go do something – I forget what but I know that he was leaving. I asked if there was a line because I wanted my picture and she said no. Dale began to walk off but the CM stopped him and told him to be certain to get a picture with me. Thank you nice CM. Thank you Dale.

 

[Dolce27]

We eventually make our way back to New Orleans Square where I have a priority seating for Café Orleans. Once again – a long line of people wanting to eat at the restaurant. I’m too accustomed to going to WDW to not have made reservations and I’m so thankful that I had. You do not go to WDW without reservations – especially since they began the Disney Dining Plan a couple of years go. If you don’t have reservations there – even if you are on the Dining Plan – 9 times out of 10 you’re out of luck. Most restaurants there will not take walk-ups.

So, we were seated and I ordered the Monte Cristo. It looked wonderful in the pictures I’d seen of it. Then I got it. You know, I really should have taken into consideration that I do not normally eat high-fat greasy food (except for doughnuts ). I managed to eat one slice of my sandwich and that was all my stomach could take –it was way too much for me. Tiff had ordered a Salmon Salad that looked wonderful! I probably should have ordered that. I did order the beignets and was ok to eat those – so that was basically my lunch.

We went over to the train station and hopped the train back around to Main Street where we saw the fireman band playing. Goofy joined them and boy can he dance for a dog.

They were fun to watch for a bit. As we walked up Main Street the crowds were already forming for the parade. As this was November 16, it was the first day for the Christmas parade and fireworks. We made our way through the masses as I silently laughed to myself about all of the poor suckers stuck sitting there for awhile. I’d purchased RideMax and it gives a tip where you should watch the parade from. (Can’t tell you… it’s a secret.) So, onward to Fantasyland and Mr. Toads Wild Ride. I really wanted to ride this. As some of you may or may not know, WDW got rid of theirs back in 1998 despite the angry protest from Toad fans all across the nation. So, I hadn’t been on this since I was a child and was eagerly looking forward to another wild ride… but that was not meant to be. Approaching the building, we ran into a solemn looking CM that stood before the door turning away guests as the ride would be down for ‘some time… but probably around 45 minutes (the 45 minutes part he really wasn’t supposed to tell me) so I decided that we’d go to the parade spot to sit and wait for the parade – like almost everyone else seemed to be currently doing. Yeah, suddenly I didn’t consider everyone else a ‘sucker’. Man, a person’s perspective can change pretty darn fast.

I arrive to the spot – which was sooo not crowded – to decide that I really didn’t like the spot very much. So, I decided that we’d find another spot. So off I go with Tiff following – I’m not certain that I even told her that we were waiting for the parade. I think she was just following; expecting to end back up at Pirates or Space Mountain or something.

I see a spot on the curb of the hub that could almost fit two people if someone moved over just a little bit. So I walk up to two women to the right of the spot and ask if they were reserving that for anyone and they said no. I turn to the people on the left, a young mother and father and their toddler, and ask if they are saving that spot for anyone and they said no and the mother moved over a little bit more. Score! Curb side seating.

Poor Tiff – she’s so tall (like model height) and she looked down at the short curb and asked me if I expected her to sit all the way down there. Me, being short and no where near model height, was already seated and getting comfy for the short wait until parade time looked up at her and was like: Yes! Sit. Now.

It really wasn’t too long of a wait for the parade and they sent out Giselle from the movie Enchanted in a horse drawn carriage before the start of the parade to introduce her as Disney’s ‘newest family member’ as the movie was releasing that week.

So, without further ado… a photo montage of the parade for your viewing enjoyment:

 

[Dolce27]

After the parade we made it over to a showing of Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. I was rather amused by them and they are wonderful fiddle players. I’ve been attempting to learn the violin but as I had to fire my instructor – I’m currently not making much progress but they inspired me to try to get back with it. I think that Tiff could have done without them. She received a phone call from her boyfriend (I think) just as the show ended and she explained that we saw a performance. There was a pause and then she said ‘banjo music’ in a tone that made me think she would not be joining me if I opted to see another performance. Well, I thought that they were funny.

Earlier that day we'd stopped at a few stores on Main Street. Why are hats so darn alluring? So, what do ya think:

(I'm a serious pirate... hand over your goods)

or

(Huh? I do look rather smart in this - don't I?)

Onward to Space Mountain – and this time we did have to use our Fast Passes. Then it was a trip to the Endor Moon, well, it was supposed to be a trip to the Endor Moon – stupid droid! Do I get my money back? Honey I Shrunk the Audience was next... it has been years since I last saw that one.
Onward to Buzz Lightyear using a Fast Pass! Now, I was a bit concerned about this. This one is a little different than WDW’s version. The WDW version is focused on spinning your car and the guns are secured down on the console. I really am not good at Buzz Lightyear. At all. Last year at WDW I tried it and the 6 year old kid three cars in front of me had a score quadruple what mine was. It wasn’t a pretty sight.

So, we blast our way through and neither one of us were that great – but I did do better than what I did last year at WDW. So, my bruised ego is finally beginning to heal some.

I finally get to ride Mr. Toad’s and I know we went to hell but it was actually getting pretty cold outside. I thought it was supposed to be hot?

Big Thunder Mountain was next – I wanted to ride it at night. It’s great with all the Christmas lights up in the park – a very pretty sight. After, we caught another cruise around the African jungles as I also wanted to ride this at night for the atmosphere.

Tiff was a bit cold – ok, quite cold as were I, and I was honestly was having trouble telling if she was enjoying her trip or not. I did snap this pic:

(picture removed)
(picture was of a person not looking as if they were having a good time)

Honestly, I think that picture sums up her trip. I don’t think she was hating it per sae.. but she’s so not going to be joining these boards to discuss all things Disney.. at least not in this life time. We browse through all the shops – trying to stay out of the cold. We saw the 50 years exhibit but skipped out on the movie.

Main Street was beautiful all lit up:

We even saw the carolers:

Finally, it was fireworks time.

To be truthful, I was a bit disappointed in the holiday fireworks. The last Disney fireworks I saw was Hallowishes last year at the Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and it was so awesome – they even shoot off a 180 degree arc at one point.

Being Disney – I think I was expecting more. But part of my attitude may have been due to that I was concerned that Tiff was really miserable. She was freezing cold and honestly did not look to be having much fun. I’m not blaming my friend for my lack of awe at the fireworks but it did put a serious damper on my mood… that and the fact that the guy in front of me would not shut-up for anything during the fireworks. He basically had his back to the fireworks and chatted with his friend the entire time and it was rather distracting.

So, as everyone stuck around to watch the ‘snow’ come down on Main Street, we fought our way back to the gate to go back to the hotel.

Next Up: Early morning entry and does Tiff enjoy DCA more than Disneyland?