Happy happy happy! trip story from Feb 2012

[DizNee Luver]

Yay, you started!!!

I had to laugh about your comment on the "pilot voice" & not being able to understand a word they're saying....... I thought maybe it was just me that couldn't figure out what they were saying. You can understand the flight attendants when they go on the mics, why not the pilots?

Its kinda funny that we didn't run into each other after I left the room.......I took pics around the PPH, then went over to the GCH, then to the ticket booths........how funny is that??

I'm undecided on the new entrance & all the changes they're making......I think it will be a huge change & feel when it's done. So my question is.....are they going to keep the name of the park?? Not really covering all of Cali anymore......well I guess they are....... I think some of that laid back attitude for this park will be gone. The new restaurant going in might have a Club 33ish private club on the top floors. So the rich get more & us peon's will be looking in from the outside. Not sure that was Walt's vision....... Oh well, just my opinion on all the changes. If the Little Mermaid ride would switch places with Astro Blasters....they could call it Pixar Land......

 

[bumbershoot]

I look forward to seeing all of DCA, too. Which is what Robert was thinking, when he casually mentioned that we should take a trip after summer, and therefore he and E should get APs, too. Oh that crazy man....


Private rooms at the restaurant, eh? Well, if it helps the bottom line of the park, maybe I can be behind it? Even if I'll never be in it? Oh but wait, it *could* be a way to pull those from the ages-long Club 33 waiting list and make them happy? Then maybe they could *open* the waiting list again? Just the waiting list has been closed for years now!


I have a hard time thinking poorly of the things that people with a bit of money get...since I wouldn't mind being one of 'em. Haven't quite made the choices in this life to get me there, but you can always dream!


Poor Robert has been smacked HARD by the sickness, but has mandatory meeting after mandatory meeting for the last 2 days and on into Monday. I am SO glad I got it first, because I'm a MUCH better care-taker when I know what people are going through. So we picked him up at the train (he didn't let me know in time that he was coming home early so that we could drive up to get him) and he went nearly straight to sleep. Poor guy. Wish I could have slept like that! Took me ages to get to sleep even the evening I took a Cold Plus.


Eamon moved up a swimming level class; now he's in the one that would allow him to be on the Y's swim team. That's neat. This is the last week of normal classes until February! Which is good, because today HE started to sneeze like crazy, just like Robert started the other day....

 

[bumbershoot]

First thing I did was turn left to snag a Soarin' fast pass for later on. Then I turned right and went up the hill. I hadn't thought about Grizzly, and had left my poncho in the room. Which is what kept happening...I'd bring xyz but I would NEED "a". Next time, I'd bring abc but need "y". so I was always carrying too much, but not carrying what I really really needed.

It was actually chilly, though bright and sunny, and I decided I didn't want to get wet. So I contented myself with just watching the people come down the hill. Which used to be in a tag that the Tag Fairy gave me! But it embarrassed me, that I was so excited to watch people get soaked, so I erased it. But then I was embarrassed that I'd un-done the TF's work like that.

I've never noticed this sign before:

The question is, have there been geysers there in the last few years????


I hope very fervently that they are still doing the wilderness ranger stuff there with Russell in February!!!

As I walked up the hill I decided to check out Ariel; for some reason I'd forgotten all about that new ride, then I'd remember, and forget again, etc etc. Of course, when you're in front of it, it's hard to forget!

The boarding area, from right to left.

It was quite cute, I thought! At Epcot I was pretty bored by their Nemo ride, so I didn't have high hopes for yet another clamshell ride, but I liked it. I mean...underwater-Ariel had hair that MOVED. How neat is that?


I've actually forgotten what it all looked like before they threw Mickey's face on the Wheel of Death and messed with the Screamin' sign. I'm used to it now. Sigh.

Is this a water play area?

Looked prettier in person.

I suddenly realized I was hungry, and there I was, right near Paradise Garden Grill.

I went up and got in line (I like how the CMs will happily call out "I have two lines, on either side of me, come on up!" so no one gets angry with you if you "cut"). I overheard a different CM telling guests that the sauces are "free" (I would have said "included") and they could get all 4 if they chose to. With that as my guide, and after checking with my CM, I got the tofu/vegetable skewer with the tzatziki sauce and the tandoori-spiced yogurt sauce.

I was absolutely overwhelmed by the size of the platter and the amount of the food.

The hunks of tofu were huge and unappetizing to my eyes ("big" food doesn't look good to me, never has), but I cut them into quarters, and they were actually very tasty. The veggies were good. The rice you can barely see underneath was a good portion, and was very good. The cucumber salad was maybe a bit over-herbed, but with rice to dampen the spice, it was good, too. The least tasty part of the meal was the pita, and I ended up throwing away most of it. I was so full I couldn't even drink my water. This would be something Robert and I share, most definitely. I got to wondering if you could *just* order a skewer as more of a snack, or perhaps order two skewers with the meal, so it could be more easily shared. We will have to find out in the future.

During lunch, I got to listen to the song-stylings of a band whose name I have forgotten. At first I thought they were Peruvian, like many of the bands that play around here and sound very similar, but they said they were Bolivian.

They were very good, very upbeat, and there was a little girl dancing in big circles (it was really empty in the seating area and it was not a problem for anyone) for a good half-hour. She really liked the music.


More pretty-shiny.

 

[bumbershoot]

For anyone familiar with the area, you know that by going the direction I was going, the next ride I was going to run into was Toy Story Midway Mania. Given my previously-published views that anything under 40 minutes is nearly a walk-on in my opinion, when I saw that it was a mere 30 minutes, you KNOW I went on! Threw away my remaining water and got in line.

Well, after a brief chat with a CM during which he spouted silly ideas of why they got rid of the single rider line. One idea was that it took AT LEAST an hour to get through it, and so it wasn't helping anyone. Oh *whatever*. It wasn't an hour, not unless stand-by was 2 hours or more. But it wasn't a walk-on, either. You waited a decent amount of time, then the CM asked the person that happened to be riding alone if they'd like a co-rider, they generally said yes (at least when it was me that was getting in their car...not sure what they would say if Robert were getting in their car), and you went. Simple.

The other idea was that "since it's a family ride, there was no one ever alone in their car, so the single riders couldn't ever get on". Oh YES, you KNOW I understood and agreed with that! Yes, ALL families are made up of groups of TWO. All of 'em. Can't possibly be families of 3 or 5 or 7 or 101. Now where's that second kid of mine? I haven't ever met that kid, but apparently we have another, since NO families have odd numbers....

I kept pleasant and smiling, but inside I was rolling my eyes so far back I was like Mad Eye Moody.

I did tell him that I am part of a family of 3, that my son always wants to ride with my husband, and not only did I enjoy *being* a single rider, but I was always happy to accept a single rider to my vehicle, and that I mourned the loss of the SR line from both sides of it.


I went through the line and it was fun and people were basically fun and I caught a few giggling over an unexpected switchback, AND I got 169,500 which was the best in my whole group and I was very giggly and happy.

And ya know what? I wished I'd had another rider with me!

Someone had parked their stroller right at the big balls, so I had to suffice with a closeup of 'em instead of a far-away shot.

I didn't ride anything in bug's land, just looked around, making sure it was all still there.

It's just so weird to see all the construction.

So....elecTRONica... It sounds like a fun idea. At night. During the daytime, it looks sad beyond belief. And SO out of place. Like the fraternity rec room after the party is over, in the light of day. (not that I would know what that looks like...but I've heard. yeah, whatever, la la la...)

 

[bumbershoot]

Since I was in the area, I rode Monsters Inc. Still fun!

When I got out, I realized I hadn't heard from the guys in AGES, so I called. I think they were thinking I was having too much fun to be interrupted, but the awful truth was...I was sad and lonely for them and missing my guys a whole lot. I was glad to be having a solo trip and to have the opportunity to meet S&L, but it didn't keep the sniffly feelings away entirely. So we chatted for a little bit, and then I went on over to Animation Academy.


I am GLAD to say that the two CMs they had there (one teaching, one helping, as always) are CMs we've seen many times before! I was also glad because at DCA they have a *schedule*. There's no voting, no slow-the-class-down nonsense to make sure no one repeats a character ever. That's what has happened at the WDW Animation Academy classes I've been to, and it's just annoying.

We drew Chip, and it was great, and I think the guy next to me was actually an animator b/c his Chip was just perfection and I was jealous.


At WDW the room is flat and they have tables (that I don't fit at since I'm so short, and DS nearly falls off the chairs the whole time), but at DCA it's an auditorium.

You attach the paper to those big clipboards, and just hold the thing, and I find it much easier to deal with than the tables at WDW.

From there I decided I needed to go back to the room and get myself situated for the evening. Went on back through the Grand!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Well you got a lot done in the first half of your day!! I got down to the new restaurants, but never went in or ate.....glad you did & reported on it. I never made it to Toy Story Mania, I'm always amazed even on slow days how long that line is. I'm not a fan of standing in long lines.......lol I love the Animation Academy, but I didn't get there this time So where's a pic of your drawing??

I'm sorry you were missing your guys so much.....I did really well this trip......the Diva trip was bad......I was so homesick & missing my family that I didn't allow myself to have fun.......but now I know it's ok for me to have time off & I really enjoyed my time alone!!

Looking forward to more!

 

[bumbershoot]

It's been a LONG time since I had roommates. So I was totally nervous going back to the room!

Should I call the room? Should I call or text their cells? Just to let them know? I mean, if I get home from shopping and Robert is in mid wardrobe change, it's not a problem, but I was so worried I was going to somehow bother someone....

But I decided to be a normal person, and went along my way. Went up in the glass elevator, even holding the door to see if anyone waiting at the normal elevators (who had been waiting there since before I walked up) wanted to join...nope, OK, off I went.


From the room.

A little bit of zoom.

The elevators.

I decided to go the LONG way around, so I could stop at the Lego store. And I mean, I went through the grounds of the Disneyland Hotel. That kind of long way around.


I *love* this outdoor seating area....

Neat stuff around Tangaroa Terrace.

Fun sign. Though the slide area was all being worked on, nothing fun going on under that sign!

Got to the Lego store and was able to see *inside* that $149 Millenium Falcon. Sooooo cool. Why wasn't THAT on Eamon's Yule list? Dumb old Harry Potter Legos....(which will be way cool and lots of fun, but man that's neat) I hadn't seen inside the Falcon, and maybe you haven't either, so here ya go.

As kids, my brother and I had a huge, take-the-top-off, Millenium Falcon, and it was VERY cool. Cooler than the Lego, but we don't have it anymore (gave it to our half-brothers and I've been having a hard time getting it back from my dad), so this is just about the coolest.

Well, I got E his souvenirs very quickly (couldn't make up my mind between the two he'd sweetly given me as options (I was going to Disneyland without him...of course he was going to get a souvenir even this close to the holidays!), so I just bought 'em both. Lucky kid...but when he goes off to college, I'm getting out all his legos and playing with them all the time, LOL) and headed on over to Disneyland.


But for now I have to put E to sleep, because it's late and Robert's still sleeping the sleep of the sleepy sick person!

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm sorry you were missing your guys so much.....I did really well this trip......the Diva trip was bad......I was so homesick & missing my family that I didn't allow myself to have fun.......but now I know it's ok for me to have time off & I really enjoyed my time alone!!

Looking forward to more!

I hadn't felt that sad yet in my trips! So I was definitely due.

I also think it's because they've become Disney fans like I am; we were further apart in fandom before, but they've really gotten into it. And I know we were ALL wishing we could have had a stopover in Anaheim after Orlando. So...a bit more guilt than usual, along with just flat out missing them.

 

[kaoden39]

Wow Molly you got a bunch done!! That was a ton of food at lunch time. I am not a fan of big pieces of food either.


I do not care for how the elecTRONica looks either, but it put more in mind of the barracks out to the base after a party.


I love Monsters Inc!! In February I am looking forward to riding both the Little Mermaid ride and TSMM. When Dina and I went earlier this year it was over Presidents week and was so busy there was no way we were getting on TSMM without a huge wait and the LM wasn't open yet.


What a great view your room had. That fireplace area looks so inviting to me, I would love to sit there in the evening with a nice hot toddy.


I am not a Star Wars fan but oh boy that is a cool Lego set!!

 

[bumbershoot]

That fireplace area had me thinking about changing our reservation in February...

It also made me want a house with a nice big backyard and some money to have something like that built....

 

[bumbershoot]

Aha! I forgot. I used my FP for Soarin' on my way towards my way out of DCA.


On that first day, I got maps, and I used them to take notes like I do at universal. But the Universal maps are huge and thick and substantial (helps that they have BOTH parks on one map) and it's easy to write on them. Plus, they aren't *quite* as detailed as DLR maps are, so there's more white space to write on.

But I did my best, and I see that Soarin' is definitely marked as #6 (getting the FP for it was marked as #1).

 

[bumbershoot]

While E has some food before we go out to pick up some Sears portraits and maybe use these JCP coupons that I've been hanging on to....


I recall doing a little turn around the park, or at least parts of it, to say hi, before meeting up with S&L for the parade. Sigh, that was nice. And then I got stuck in a rather long line for coffee at the Blue Ribbon Bakery. i pretty much got to do the whole line, which was super-fun when on a schedule.


But I did get to the parade area on time, saw the ladies easily, and went on up to chat! That was the first time I met Sherry, and between her and Laurie, things were very cheerful! I was so appreciative that Sherry let me sit in her special seating area for this parade. It was so kind of her. Thank you, Sherry!

Even though I'm not a "parade person", I do like their Christmas Fantasy one, so it was really nice to see it. Though...I don't remember the song finishing and re-starting and finishing and re-starting quite so many times! Wish they'd make it less obvious that it's on a loop.

I was getting chilly, so I was glad I had my decaf to warm up my hands.


Eventually the parade was over, and we went our separate ways.


Blurry pix of NOS lights. Obnoxious I know, but they are still pretty to me.

I went on to ride Pooh. Yay for Pooh! Love that ride. After that, and after looking through the giftshop there (I really want those lined Mammoth Crocs but always talk myself out of them and I don't know why!), I went up and used my FP.


After that I went on Pirates. When they found out I was just one, the CM took me over to a line and put me on a boat sitting next to another single rider who was already seated. It was a 5 minute line, so I figured this was their new way of doing things. I was fine with it, the other rider was fine with it, it was all fine.

Oh how I missed Disneyland's Pirates ride! It's like home. I just smiled the whole time. I realized that the reason I never totally understood the idea of "dirty foot pirate" (not really talked about here, but on micechat people bring him up semi-often for some reason) at disneyland but did at WDW is because his foot is in shadow at Disneyland! His foot is nearly in a spotlight at WDW. At Magic Kingdom when we would go under him, I cringed because his foot was so nasty. At Disneyland you can sort of see it, but not as much as at MK.

As we finished up the ride we could hear the fireworks going off. I remember seeing them as they finished, and went on for a ride on Haunted Mansion Holiday.

With NO flash, and covering up the red light on the front of the camera, here's a picture of the tree in the gingerbread house/dancing ghosts/etc scene.

Moved over towards it's a small world and got some pictures.

Dang, I need a tripod...

I got in line for this. Now here's the problem. I'd forgotten about The Magic The Memories and You. Thought they played it with the fireworks, which were already done. But no. Shortly after I got in line, they announced they'd be playing it soon. The line was longer than the wait for MMY (or TMTMAY). I saw this little show thing at MK, and didn't like it then, and didn't want to see it now. But I wanted to ride iasw. Sigh.

So I was halfway through the line and it started. Bleah. The biggest odd part of the show was when they started to project images of a burning building onto the small world facade. Someone around me said that it was from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Ok but that's not the weird part. So iasw is a burning building, a building that doesn't look like small world, which is actually pretty neat, but then they start to project pictures of children onto the burning building!

Is no one thinking about what this looks like? It looks awful! Even if I were into MMY I wouldn't want to see children projected onto a burning building.

Well, I finally got through the line and got onto the ride and almost immediately remembered that I'm not the hugest fan of holiday small world. Too late now!

iasw in its original form is possibly my fave ride ever. But when it's interspersed with Jingle Bells....not so much. Plus, I've never been able to find the Korean dolls on the December version, and that's become important to me, to have DH's heritage shown on the ride. They already disappear at the end of the normal ride (there's a plethora of Chinese and Japanese dolls that show up in the white room at the end, but no Korean dolls), but I just can't find them at all singing Jingle Bells.

So...sadly...my last ride of the night, my triumphant return to the original iasw, was more of a "grin and bear it" situation, since I like my small world pure and unadulterated.


Oh well.



At some point in there, just before 8, it seems I had veggie gumbo. Which was salty and spicier than I remember, and the bread was stale and I was too chicken to ask for it in a bowl...and it was unsatisfying sitting on a brick wall eating my breadbowl gumbo alone. Drat.


Once I was done with small world, I made my way out and went on back to the room for some sleep! AS I got ready for bed I realized I had forgotten any and all sleep pants, which made me feel rather foolish. Nothing like wearing the same pants or shorts you wore all day to bed, eh?

I slept on the daybed, and it was comfy.

 

[kaoden39]

I would love to have an area like that in my yard. I look at the fire pits all the time and consider it.


I think the whole pictures on IASW is kind of lame. So that is that. I read it all but you know the biggest things that hit me were the fire pit and a back yard to put it in and the whole IASW thing.


Oh and the stale bread bowl, yuck. I went to San Francisco about a month ago and we decided to eat at Boudin's and they were much busier than they had expected to be that day and my soup was served in a cold bread bowl it was not fun.

 

[bumbershoot]

Cold breadbowl, ick.

 

[kaoden39]

Yes, it was. But, oh the soup was wonderful, and they had one of my favorites if it is made right vegetarian chili.

 

[bumbershoot]

If it's the same veggie chili they sell at Pacific Wharf, I know how deelish it is!



The next morning showed up (as it will do), and Laurie and I decided to check out breakfast at the Tangaroa. Which enabled us to wander the grounds of DLH. They didn't just change the outside and the rooms, they changed the inside public areas as well!

Or, well, I think they did. We only really checked out the one that we stayed at, back in '09 or whenever we were there.

Model of Big Thunder.

A sunnier shot of the slide sign.

The food was pretty good. I ordered things a la carte, which turned out to be about 5 cents cheaper than getting a platter, and the platter would have included meat, but since I didn't want meat and couldn't figure out how to tell them to leave it off, it worked for me. It's STRANGE to order from a touchscreen, when I swear it would be faster to just do it in person, but oh well. That's what they want to do... I had eggs, potatoes, and a biscuit, and although I tried to finish it, I don't remember it being possible. It was good, though!


I'm not totally sure why I took this picture of pictures, but it meant something at the time.

Another view of the outside seating area!

Laurie, in her infinite wisdom and much better memory than I have, pointed out that the pool isn't as private anymore. That it used to be "ground" level and the fence actually covered more of the people inside, but now you can just look over at the pool area. Kinda odd.

I'll have a page of showing trees, once I figure out how to get them from my phone to my computer to photobucket, but for now here's the DLH main lobby tree from my camera.

It had this blue-ish cast to it that my photos couldn't capture.


The checkin area has changed too. I remember there being an L at the end, with the concierge checkin there, but that's gone. And behind the counter, it looks like this.

 

[bumbershoot]

My theme for the trees was to take them with my phone's camera. I figured...I rarely get quality shots of the trees anyway, might as well not even try, LOL. And because I didn't try, they surpassed my expectations (expectations being tree-shaped glinty things).


Paradise Pier Hotel:

Grand Californian, plus sunshine:

Disneyland Hotel, main lobby:

Disneyland Hotel, Frontier tower:

Disneyland Hotel, um....tower with concierge level:

Downtown Disney, really really really BIG tree:

 

[kaoden39]

The wall behind registration is odd. Maybe the walls are shorter to make people want to stay there because of seeing the pool? That tree was pretty.

 

[bumbershoot]

That could be it, Michele. Because it REALLY looked inviting, I wanted to dive in to the pool!

I'm so conflicted over changes like the ones they made there. On the one hand, the neverland pool was annoying b/c you couldn't play on the ship. On the other hand, it was pretty. Then the changes came about, and I'm sad that they got rid of the Pan stuff, but it really does look nice. I'm just back and forth on it!



Robert came home early from work; he got slammed by the sickness (though he's lucky b/c his airways don't close up like mine tried to) and couldn't stop coughing. But here it is, the sun is setting (I can see the "side" of the sunset from a window) and I gotta go out and get Emergen-C and stuff like that....augh. All I *want* to do is cut out some more sugar cookies and molasses cookies, but we have to go to the store. Thppppthhh. Wish I had a butler to do these things.

 

[kaoden39]

I have had the same annoying quasi-cold for weeks. I just want it to go away. Poor Robert, this is a terrible time of year to get sick with there being so many more people around.