He's with the Band! a DL Performing Arts TR- 7/13/15 A little Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum!

[Steppesister]

well....not to state the obvious but it doesn't take much to pass you up!



Your girls are not exactly tall, all of you are tiny gorgeous things!



He is really torn as he loves the actual marching. And also perhaps a bit anxious about the whole responsiblity aspect of it. He would love being the Jr DM, the boys who will be DM next year is SUCH a great kid that I think it is wonderful he wants Evan to consider it, definitely a boy Ev looks up to. We will see! I think he'd be great at it,

Well, this is true. I mean the passing me up part. It might come off as kinda dweeby to agree on the 2nd part of your response.

It's a great way to practice being a leader in a pretty safe arena, depending on how involved the band teacher is. I'd say go for it!! I'm sure he'd be really awesome using what he already knows to take on the next step of responsibility.

 

[Flossbolna]

Loved the parade pictures, your mom did a great job! We only saw part of the parade in the distance because we made the mistake of leaving it until our last day and that was the crazy 24-hour day. Far too crowded! I find that if I make a point of watching a parade and dedicate the time to wait for it, I usually really enjoy it. I don't enjoy them standing behind everyone craning my neck to see.

How wonderful that you are going back to Aulani! This is really high on my list of places to visit, it is just so damn far away from Europe!! And once I am there, I want to make sure to see lots of Hawaii in general, so it is going to be an expensive trip - and then, since I would have to connect through a city on the West Coast anyway, it would be foolish not to make a short stop at DL (and possibly in the North West to meet some DISfriends there... ), And then the trip suddenly needs a scary budget!!!!!

 

[Pinkocto]

Your mom captured the parade beautifully I'm not a big parade person but I really liked that one.

And hooray for Aulani

 

[eandesmom]

That is a fantastic parade. You can never have too many pictures!

I agree, I am very glad my mom took so many (and this was only a fraction of them lol)

It won't be long until Aulani!

Jill in CO

I cannot wait! I need some vitamin D

Yes everyone loves a parade!!!! Your mom got some great shots.

She did!

YAY for getting Hawaii settled.

I hope I can get the room price for the Waikiki night down a bit as well as the car but it is livable as it is.

I had a spot near the end by IASW. I got to watch them disappear backstage.


DL parade are all about he history- a little different theme than WDW.

Agreed and because of it, honestly, it touches me a lot more!

Love the Soundsational parade! Your mom got some great pictures! I love the one of Tiana looking right at the camera.

She does well!

What an awesome opportunity for your son. I was in band from elementary school through college and we went to Disneyland a few times and I always had a blast! That's where my love of Disney started, actually!

that is fun! We just went to Victoria...oh and then 3 weeks all over Europe but that was a district concert band, not marching.

Your Mom got a lot of great pictures! I remember watching that parade when it first launched. It is a great parade!

It is a fabulous parade, so glad we were there to see it

Great parade pictures. And what a great parade.

Glad your mom took so many pictures so we can enjoy them.

me too!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[franandaj]

O-M-G! Cynthia! We just had breakfast at Schooner or later! It was awesome! I think we have found a new place to add to the breakfast list! I had the Crab Benedict and a side of pancake. Fran just got the standard bacon and eggs, but the hash browns were fantastic. There's a lot of other stuff I want to try.

 

[eandesmom]

Hooray for Aulani! I know I said that before, but it bears saying again.

Why yes, yes it does!

Your mom had a field day with the parade pics! I'm glad you got so much enjoyment out of it.

She did, I'm glad she did as I just sat there and soaked it all in.

Cool! Is this their version of the 3:00 pm parade?

Apparently!

She sure did take plenty of pictures! I know exactly what you mean. I know MiL had to have taken hundreds of pictures, many of which I could probably use for my TR, but I've not seen any of them.

I can't count how many trips I've never seen the pictures from. The one that really bugs he is a trip back in 2004 that I would LOVE to have copies of but I can't seem to get them out of her. Granted it was all print back then but allegedly she has scanned them all at some point. I've asked multiple times. WAH.

WAIT! You're going to Aulani?! You'd only have to pay a little extra in baggage charges, you know, if you snuck me in.

Yep, just a little

Ok, that was quite the menagerie of photos; I'm pretty sure the entire card was full after that hoedown.

Don't underestimate the size of my mom's memory card...or how many she brings.

Well, this is true. I mean the passing me up part. It might come off as kinda dweeby to agree on the 2nd part of your response.

Not at all, it would be graciously accepting a compliment

It's a great way to practice being a leader in a pretty safe arena, depending on how involved the band teacher is. I'd say go for it!! I'm sure he'd be really awesome using what he already knows to take on the next step of responsibility.

We will see!

Loved the parade pictures, your mom did a great job! We only saw part of the parade in the distance because we made the mistake of leaving it until our last day and that was the crazy 24-hour day. Far too crowded! I find that if I make a point of watching a parade and dedicate the time to wait for it, I usually really enjoy it. I don't enjoy them standing behind everyone craning my neck to see.

I don't enjoy them in that position either!

How wonderful that you are going back to Aulani! This is really high on my list of places to visit, it is just so damn far away from Europe!! And once I am there, I want to make sure to see lots of Hawaii in general, so it is going to be an expensive trip - and then, since I would have to connect through a city on the West Coast anyway, it would be foolish not to make a short stop at DL (and possibly in the North West to meet some DISfriends there... ), And then the trip suddenly needs a scary budget!!!!!

Yes, a scary budget and a lot of time! It would be foolish not to bundle all of that together. We have the same issue contemplating a trip to Europe

Your mom captured the parade beautifully I'm not a big parade person but I really liked that one.

Me too!

And hooray for Aulani

YAY is right! April seems rather far away at the moment

O-M-G! Cynthia! We just had breakfast at Schooner or later! It was awesome! I think we have found a new place to add to the breakfast list! I had the Crab Benedict and a side of pancake. Fran just got the standard bacon and eggs, but the hash browns were fantastic. There's a lot of other stuff I want to try.

You had never been there for breakfast before?????????????????????????

That is just WRONG on so many levels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can make your own mimosas. It is a must do for us when we are there, Jeff is a huge fan of the Galley Mess.

LOVE Schooner or Later.

Good Bloody Mary too

 

[eandesmom]

After the parade we had a decision to make. It actually was an easy one



Single rider line! Eric had never been and as for me, it had been so long I didn’t remember.

When we got off I thought Eric summed it up perfectly.

"The Matterhorn wants to be Everest when it grows up."



From a ride perspective I thought that was spot on in a lot of ways. It is bumpy but it is also a ton of fun! We really liked it.

My memory gets a little fuzzy here. At some point Eric took off with friends. With all the school families that were there, he had friends and arrangements had been made for him to hang with them for a bit and hook back up at RSR at our FP time. I am fairly sure he left with them right after The Matterhorn however it is possible he and I rode it before the parade. As I didn’t take any pictures myself (thanks to the DL horrendous wifi and cell sucking the life out of my phone) we will never know for sure. LOL!

What I do know is this. Mom, Dad and I rode the train. All the way around.
I have these REALLY exciting pictures to show for it.





Fabulous aren't they?

Ahem.

Despite the horrible pictures it was actually really fun to "do" the train, I haven't done it in eons and had really forgotten about the diorama's, it was fun!

Both mom and dad were getting pretty tired of walking, which is why we took the train, however at the time I didn't realize quite how tired. We had, after all, been going since 5:30 am!

Our plan was to meet Evan at the fire station, AKA guest services, and get days added to his ticket.

Which...was a total and utter BUST.

We waited in line, while his friends, antsy to play in the parks, stood outside not so patiently waiting. Evan had a "special" ticket through the performing arts program and they were unable to upgrade it inside the park. I would have to go to the main guest services outside and do it. Which was fine, we had time, as long as Evan didn't enter the park on the last day with it. Which meant we would have to do the whole thing again tomorrow.

That pretty much ate up our early evening, if we wanted to eat we needed to get over to DCA pretty quickly. We did a little bit of browsing as we went as I took this picture to send to Jeff.



We were STARVING. And cold. Or at least I was freezing, I was in a sundress!

It had been determined after the ticket fiasco that there really wasn't enough time to go back to the room and change, at least not if we wanted to eat, go on RSR and see WoC. I'd had a list of places that would be good for dinner but was overruled to go somewhere we could be inside. Which, frankly, was fine with me. We also were semi limited to places that had vegetarian options.

We ended up at Flo's.

For Dad

Veggie Tater Bake
Bulgur Wheat, Roasted Vegetables and Mashed Potatoes topped with Cheddar Cheese served with fresh Fruit $10.99



For me

This actually isn't even on the menu any more but it was a roast beef platter. I was cold and it sounded good and warm! Pretty sure it was $12.99



For mom

Kids' Mickey Check Meal - Turkey Sandwich $6.99
Served with Fruit, Vegetables and choice of small Lowfat Milk or small Dasani® Water.



The verdict? Meh. All around Meh. Mom liked hers the best. My beef was lukewarm and a bit on the tough side. Dad's veggie casserole thing was tasteless. It was also fairly pricey for meh. I'd go back maybe for dessert or a shake, or try the breakfast option but I've zero desire to eat more there than that.

We found out later that poor Eric ended up having issues. I had assumed he could charge dinner to his room key and for whatever reason, he could not. Some random person at the Taste Pilot Grill (I think that is what it called) bought his Burger. Why he didn't call one of us was beyond me but he figured it was taken care of so why bother us. He loved his burger though. Since it was a random stranger I couldn't repay him but THANKS random stranger!


After dinner we all met up out front for a chilly photo op













And then, it was time for the main event!





Oh my goodness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This ride lives up to every hype um, ever. AMAZING. Absolutely incredible!

Going on it for the first time, in the dark? Even more amazing!!!

Afterwards we headed over to use our FP’s for WoC. We were able to get into our "section" but honestly, it wasn’t terribly good viewing. We enjoyed it, we really did but we were cold, tired and found it a bit hard to see some of the images terribly clearly.

Thanks to the magic of DVC we were soon in our room, the pull out bed made, and fast asleep with no plans to go anywhere super early.

 

[jedijill]

Eric got it right about Matterhorn although I remember thinking, at least their Yeti works!

Boo on the ticket situation but yay for RSR! That is the best ride! I never rode it after dark but I bet its a cool experience.

Your food didn't look great. So nice of the random stranger for buying Eric's dinner! There are nice people in the world!

Jill in CO

 

[Poolrat]

Boo for all the crazy... The ticket hassle, the meal being meh, the burger for Eric and being COLD.


But YAY for RSR. It really is an awesome ride, day or night. Enough of the intro, dark ride and speed.

WoC really depends on a lot of things to be perfect. If the wind is wrong it can be cold and misty. The standing in sections can feel really claustrophobic and for me being short, really hard to get a clear view. Even the GCV does not offer a great view from the observation deck.

 

[franandaj]

You had never been there for breakfast before?????????????????????????

That is just WRONG on so many levels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can make your own mimosas. It is a must do for us when we are there, Jeff is a huge fan of the Galley Mess.

LOVE Schooner or Later.

Good Bloody Mary too

We had never been there before period. We had stuff to do so no Mimosas or Bloody Marys. I'm not sure we'll ever have those when Fran and I go there. Her views on breakfast don't include alcohol. Now if we do Brunch on the Queen Mary we can have all the champagne we want!

I find the Matterhorn very shaky, but I enjoy it as well.

Sorry you had all the baggage with the ticket. I finally did RSR at night and it was great! WoC can be very cold. I found that out a couple years ago. I haven't seen it in a long time, but hope to change that in the next six months!

 

[jedijill]

We had never been there before period. We had stuff to do so no Mimosas or Bloody Marys. I'm not sure we'll ever have those when Fran and I go there. Her views on breakfast don't include alcohol. Now if we do Brunch on the Queen Mary we can have all the champagne we want!

I find the Matterhorn very shaky, but I enjoy it as well.

Sorry you had all the baggage with the ticket. I finally did RSR at night and it was great! WoC can be very cold. I found that out a couple years ago. I haven't seen it in a long time, but hope to change that in the next six months!

No alcohol for breakfast! That's just not right. My favorite breakfast place makes the best mimosas.

Jill in CO

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Single rider line! Eric had never been and as for me, it had been so long I didn’t remember.

When we got off I thought Eric summed it up perfectly.

"The Matterhorn wants to be Everest when it grows up."



From a ride perspective I thought that was spot on in a lot of ways. It is bumpy but it is also a ton of fun! We really liked it.

That's hilarious. Great description. But we also think it's a very fun ride.

That pretty much ate up our early evening, if we wanted to eat we needed to get over to DCA pretty quickly. We did a little bit of browsing as we went as I took this picture to send to Jeff.

Awesome t-shirt!

The verdict? Meh. All around Meh. Mom liked hers the best. My beef was lukewarm and a bit on the tough side. Dad's veggie casserole thing was tasteless. It was also fairly pricey for meh. I'd go back maybe for dessert or a shake, or try the breakfast option but I've zero desire to eat more there than that.

So interesting to hear reviews all over the map. I just read Magdalene's update and she loved the place. Go figure!

Some random person at the Taste Pilot Grill (I think that is what it called) bought his Burger. Why he didn't call one of us was beyond me but he figured it was taken care of so why bother us. He loved his burger though. Since it was a random stranger I couldn't repay him but THANKS random stranger!

A generous soul! That burger probably cost $47 or so given Disney prices.

Oh my goodness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This ride lives up to every hype um, ever. AMAZING. Absolutely incredible!

Going on it for the first time, in the dark? Even more amazing!!!

Glad you loved it! I imagine it must be incredible at night.

Afterwards we headed over to use our FP’s for WoC. We were able to get into our "section" but honestly, it wasn’t terribly good viewing. We enjoyed it, we really did but we were cold, tired and found it a bit hard to see some of the images terribly clearly.

Now that I've experienced it, I think the first thing I'd do if I were king of Disneyland for a day is re-vamp that whole WOC viewing area.

 

[Steppesister]

Meh meals just.... stink. Sorry about that! But how great that a stranger paid it forward. It's nice to see people just being... nice.

I cannot WAIT to go on the new ride- or even SEE Carsland at all for that matter. Someday, I'll get back there.

 

[KatMark]

Well, I either never knew about this TR or totally lost it. Now I am subscribed and will have to read from beginnign to end.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I haven't eaten at Flo's either. There always seems to be better options to eat; but I really should check it out one of these days.

Eric made a good call on the Matterhorn. But it is still a fun mountain to ride. So happy to read that a random stranger paid for his burger. That's such a great deed to do. I sure hope the stranger got some good karma back in return.

Shame that the night was a bust with getting days added to E's ticket.

 

[Pinkocto]

Great update. Everybody's already said everything so I'm just here and enjoying

 

[KatMark]

Okay, I'm back and all caught up. I have no idea how I didn't know you started this and I feel awful that I wasn't here at the beginning.

I'm sure I'll forget plenty, but here are some comments.

I love your intros, and especially like he picture of you and Minnie.

I'm so glad that you got to meet Em and Brenda. Aren't they terrific? I haven't had the pleasure of seeing Michael...my best friend that I've never met as he refers to me. One of these days I will.

I'm so glad that Evan and friends from orchestra stopped by while you were at dinner.

The photopass with Walt is terrific.

Congrats on the extra months on your AP!

Eric is definitely taller than you now.

What a beautiful room.

Great kids of the pictures performing. Evan looks great.

Congrats on Aulani in April.

Terrific parade pictures.

I enjoyed seeing all the ride pictures.

Okay, I should be able to keep up now.

 

[Chilly]

I missed quite a few updates.

It is funny how one person is scared of one thing and someone else another, I won't go on the rollercoaster at CA but the ferris wheel I like.

The parade was fabulous, they looked awesome in their costumes, pity they can't go round again.

Great photos by your Mum of the other parade, i'm looking forawrd to the sitting with Freya for the first time at all the parades.

How nice that Eric got some random pixie dust from a stranger, makes me smile when I hear about RAOKs.

Over to catch up on your other thread now.

 

[eandesmom]

Eric got it right about Matterhorn although I remember thinking, at least their Yeti works!

So true!

It's funny, I grew up with the Matterhorn but the bulk of my adult life has been WDW. I never connected the dots on the 2 rides until he said that!

Boo on the ticket situation but yay for RSR! That is the best ride! I never rode it after dark but I bet its a cool experience.

It is fabulous any time of day but night was very very cool

Your food didn't look great. So nice of the random stranger for buying Eric's dinner! There are nice people in the world!

Jill in CO

There are nice people!!!! The food really was meh.

Boo for all the crazy... The ticket hassle, the meal being meh, the burger for Eric and being COLD.

Thank heaven for the magcial parades and the matterhorn or the day would have been rather icky from about 3:30 until RSR on with the whole room delay fiasco.

But YAY for RSR. It really is an awesome ride, day or night. Enough of the intro, dark ride and speed.

Any time of day, it pretty much rocks!

WoC really depends on a lot of things to be perfect. If the wind is wrong it can be cold and misty. The standing in sections can feel really claustrophobic and for me being short, really hard to get a clear view. Even the GCV does not offer a great view from the observation deck.

Yes, the mist. At times we had NO idea what image was up there, just saw slightly colored mist. Agreed on the GCV viewing but I'll get to that another day. I do think I was spoiled by the water "movies" at Universal, they really really got the projection right.

We had never been there before period. We had stuff to do so no Mimosas or Bloody Marys. I'm not sure we'll ever have those when Fran and I go there. Her views on breakfast don't include alcohol. Now if we do Brunch on the Queen Mary we can have all the champagne we want!

So does that mean you drink your Prosecco solo at Palo brunch?

We only do it on vacation, and a trip to Schooner or Later, by definition, is vacation! With exceptions for Christmas morning or post race.

I find the Matterhorn very shaky, but I enjoy it as well.

It is shaky/jerky. A lot like Space in WDW if you ask me. Not great for the neck but it is fun!

Sorry you had all the baggage with the ticket. I finally did RSR at night and it was great! WoC can be very cold. I found that out a couple years ago. I haven't seen it in a long time, but hope to change that in the next six months!

I was freezing!!!!!!!!!!!!

No alcohol for breakfast! That's just not right. My favorite breakfast place makes the best mimosas.

Jill in CO

What Jill said

That's hilarious. Great description. But we also think it's a very fun ride.

Oh he meant it in a good way. I think. One of them liked it, one of them hated it (the jerkiness) and I can't recall which was which!

I liked it although I would have a much more magical experience later, on a different trip.

Awesome t-shirt!

Jeff is a huge Genie fan. This was before things happened.

So interesting to hear reviews all over the map. I just read Magdalene's update and she loved the place. Go figure!

Yes, it may well depend on what you order

A generous soul! That burger probably cost $47 or so given Disney prices.

Seriously!

Glad you loved it! I imagine it must be incredible at night.

Incredible during the day too but the lights at night, as you know, in that area are something else and whizzing through the canyon in the dark was pretty sweet.

Now that I've experienced it, I think the first thing I'd do if I were king of Disneyland for a day is re-vamp that whole WOC viewing area.

Well, it's better than the Fantasmic viewing area! Which granted, isn't saying much.

 

[eandesmom]

Meh meals just.... stink. Sorry about that! But how great that a stranger paid it forward. It's nice to see people just being... nice.

What a concept huh? Someone being nice. Pretty cool although honestly I was mortified as it would appear I sent my kid out without any money or conversely taught him it was ok to go up and order, and not have any money. Or worse, than he knew his room key wouldn't work as he was a minor but was trying anyway. Thinking back I am sure I only gave the adults charging privileges (which was a bit of a mistake in more ways than one).

I cannot WAIT to go on the new ride- or even SEE Carsland at all for that matter. Someday, I'll get back there.

it's not an if, it's a WHEN

Well, I either never knew about this TR or totally lost it. Now I am subscribed and will have to read from beginnign to end.

I hate it when that happens! And it has certainly happened to me before.

I haven't eaten at Flo's either. There always seems to be better options to eat; but I really should check it out one of these days.

There are better options

Eric made a good call on the Matterhorn. But it is still a fun mountain to ride. So happy to read that a random stranger paid for his burger. That's such a great deed to do. I sure hope the stranger got some good karma back in return.

I love the matterhorn and find it entirely amusing I never connected the dots before.

I am a bit mortified about the stranger but also very grateful! I would have loved to have been able to pay them back.

Shame that the night was a bust with getting days added to E's ticket.

Yes, that was a major drag and it would still need to be dealt with.

Great update. Everybody's already said everything so I'm just here and enjoying

Okay, I'm back and all caught up. I have no idea how I didn't know you started this and I feel awful that I wasn't here at the beginning.

Don't feel awful! Updating hasn't been terribly consistent and as you well know, I get horribly behind on yours! We are still on day 2!

I love your intros, and especially like he picture of you and Minnie.

thanks! That is obviously from a different trip but I really like it too. I had to get it taken, for Jeff.

I'm so glad that you got to meet Em and Brenda. Aren't they terrific? I haven't had the pleasure of seeing Michael...my best friend that I've never met as he refers to me. One of these days I will.

It's not an if, it's a when! They are just lovely!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so glad that Evan and friends from orchestra stopped by while you were at dinner.

That made my heart happy

Congrats on the extra months on your AP!

I wish it was just about two weeks longer......

or a month. LOL!

Eric is definitely taller than you now.

Oh he is taller than that now, it's a bit mind boggling. We will have new pics from Aulani in April. I am going to look really really short!

Great kids of the pictures performing. Evan looks great.

Thanks!

I missed quite a few updates.

It is funny how one person is scared of one thing and someone else another, I won't go on the rollercoaster at CA but the ferris wheel I like.

So very very true!

The parade was fabulous, they looked awesome in their costumes, pity they can't go round again.

Around again would have been fabulous!

Great photos by your Mum of the other parade, i'm looking forawrd to the sitting with Freya for the first time at all the parades.

How nice that Eric got some random pixie dust from a stranger, makes me smile when I hear about RAOKs.

I love parades with little ones. My guys are too big and generally not into them but when they were little it was a different story. The pixie dust was truly magical.