Hound's Perfect Storm 1 Day Report. Report Finished & Cliff Note version on Page 1.

[Hound 109]

If you have any questions about posting pics I can help you step by step.

Have a great time. Have you ever been on the HM overlay yet? It is awesome.

Thanks Mike.

We're back & I have a dozen or so pics. Had a great time on Thursday.

I'll bring the camera in tomorrow & will pm you.

 

[DangerMouse]

Thanks Mike.

We're back & I have a dozen or so pics. Had a great time on Thursday.

I'll bring the camera in tomorrow & will pm you.

Welcome back Hound! Howz about a mini TR? Just enough to get me excited for my trip this week? Please??

 

[tinkermell]

Welcome back Hound! Howz about a mini TR? Just enough to get me excited for my trip this week? Please??

 

[KCmike]

It was about two years ago at this time when we went out there for our first visit. I see the fires are back again. Hope everyone out there is ok and safe. Can't wait to see some pics and here how you liked Halloween Time at DL.

 

[disney_love<3]

Wow! Don't you love it when plans just happen like that!

Have fun!

 

[Hound 109]

Welcome back Hound! Howz about a mini TR? Just enough to get me excited for my trip this week? Please??

Mini report - "Hound & Padewan Alec Invade DLR (for one day) on a 2 1/2 day visit to SoCal".

(will bring camera tomorrow & will attempt to post a couple pics)

3pm - Wed. 10/8 -

Mrs. Hound picks up Padewan Alec from his "very very challenging & very very advanced elementary school" (or so says those snooty school web sites).... which is the reason we paid extra for our "mini-mcmansion" for him to attend.....but who's students seem just as silly/dumb/clueless/intelligent & lovable as every other school with 4th graders. Alec (of course) is heartbroken that he won't be attending classes tomorrow . Suitcases are in the car & the Mrs. drops him off at the Hound place of semi-employment at 3:20pm. We zip (itty doodah) over to the Austin Airport in our houndmobile & arrive for our 5:30pm flight with plenty of time to spare.

4:30pm - Alec (who requires a meal every 90 - 95 minutes).....states this requirement (to me) 2 minutes after taking off our shoes & stuff & strolling thru the security line. Thankfully there's an Semi-Authentic BBQ joint in the Austin airport & we snag a sliced beef sandwich & a bag of chips for the carnivore tyke....thus crisis avoided. The SW flight is on time/problem free (as usual) & we arrive in LAX at 8pm'ish.

8pm'ish - We pick up our mid sized (that they call full sized) Lumina or Impala or whatever from Alamo (cause i get a SWA "double stamp" .....& cause it was 60 bucks for 3 days.....but with tax & fees & stuff turned out to be $80....but hey...it's still a deal) & I was off to DLR in the SoCal night. (Not a problem for the Hound to drive EL LAY traffic.....i LIKE Screamin & even worse coasters at parks that shall remain nameless & I HATE the putt putt cars..... & guys....traffic on the 405 are NOT putt putt cars.

9pm'ish - Padewan Alec is sound asleep in the back seat (it's 11pm'ish Texas time) & the Hound is hauling down the 405 & has come to the realization that although he has driven FROM DLR to LAX several times.....he has NEVER driven TO DLR (from LAX).

An aside:

The "purpose" for my every 3-4 month visits to SoCal is to visit my very cool 90 y/o mother who lives in a swinging singles.....er.....a "very nice" assisted living type place in Woodland Hills. Every other time we've visited DLR.....we tend to drive to DLR from the Matriarch Hound's swinging singles.....er...retirement apt.....or from a sibling's home in the Santa Monica Mtns (above the PCH). I normally take the 101 or the 10 into downtown LA & take a right (south) on the I 5 & on to DLR.....piece of calke. (note- this is a particularly effective drive at 6AMish on a Sunday morning. )

BUT...BUT this time I'm on the 405 heading south.....it's dark & it's bumper to bumper traffic.....except it's bumper to bumper & everyone is driving 73 MPH...... & I have NO clue when to "head east" (or go left)....I know i have to....but my normally trusty "co-pilot" is sawing logs in the back seat & at the present time is of no help to the Impala driving Hound .

I hang a left (east) on (i think) the Garden Grove freeway & pass a sign for Viet town & Korea Town (& make a mental note as I LOVE these....& i suppose all..... types of food......gonna have to plan a stop at some point for some SoCal Bulgogi )...... & after a few more miles I see that I'm approaching the I 5 (aka the "yellow brick road"). Confidently, I turn right (south) on the I 5 & start looking for DLR / the Matterhorn / Harbor Blvd etc.

One problem......(as you SoCal Disers probably know).....i should have taken a left (north).......instead of a right....& now I'm heading (south) toward San Diego & the very lame (for hounds & hound padewans) LegoLand.

.....to be continued.

.

 

[BillyFan]

More, More!!!!!!!!!

 

[bumbershoot]

Loving your report!!!!



Are there no signs to point the way to Disneyland on this road????



"pass a sign for Viet town & Korea Town (& make a mental note as I LOVE these....& i suppose all..... types of food......gonna have to plan a stop at some point for some SoCal Bulgogi"

Ooh. No need for bulgogi in this vegetarian household, but we do like a nice bi bim bap, and hubby loves some dish whose name I'm forgetting. Does the Padewan have an instinctive yearning for such dishes? DS, who is only a quarter Korean, had a very early love for sour and vinegar foods, with the very first food he had on his tongue being a lemon, and he had an early affinity for dill pickles (though he's still scared of kimchee b/c it looks scary to him and of course it smells a bit).

 

[Hound 109]

Thanks BillyFan & Bumber (& hi Tinkermel, DisneyLove & KC Mike )

Loving your report!!!!



Are there no signs to point the way to Disneyland on this road????

I DIDN'T SEE ANY. I PASSED HARBOR BLVD (WHICH REALLY CONFUSED ME) BUT IN LOOKING AT THE MAP LATER IT WAS HARBOR BLVD A FEW MILES SOUTH OF DLR.....I HAD THOUGHT I WAS NORTH OF DLR AT THAT POINT.



"pass a sign for Viet town & Korea Town (& make a mental note as I LOVE these....& i suppose all..... types of food......gonna have to plan a stop at some point for some SoCal Bulgogi"

Ooh. No need for bulgogi in this vegetarian household, but we do like a nice bi bim bap, and hubby loves some dish whose name I'm forgetting. Does the Padewan have an instinctive yearning for such dishes? DS, who is only a quarter Korean, had a very early love for sour and vinegar foods, with the very first food he had on his tongue being a lemon, and he had an early affinity for dill pickles (though he's still scared of kimchee b/c it looks scary to him and of course it smells a bit).

Alec loves (sweet) Bulgogi & mild kimchee.....& pickles & sour candy & stuff.

Then again he loves chicken nuggets, dole whips, churros & corny dogs....proving that food preferences are biological AND socialogical.




Update 10/20 - Here's a pic to introduce Padewan Alec. He's not a meek or shy boy.....dude cuts a wide swath thru life:

Before the school play last spring.

 

[bumbershoot]

Alec loves (sweet) Bulgogi & mild kimchee.....& pickles & sour candy & stuff.

Then again he loves chicken nuggets, dole whips, churros & corny dogs....proving that food preferences are biological AND socialogical.

Eamon is currently eating a granola bar with a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese. So somewhere in there he got some pseudo French genes, ha ha.

Or maybe it's confused Irish genes having a version of a ploughman's lunch?

Or maybe he just likes cheese.



I can't wait to hear the rest of your story!

 

[KCmike]

I will stay posted awaiting the next chapter.

Side Note. I remember our first time driving to DL from LAX. We had the handy one sheet flyer from the car rental place. Luckily we were doing it in the midday after a 3-4 hour flight from Kansas City. Our hardest part was driving on a day off from disney to Hollywood and getting caught up in the traffic home to DL. We went north on a highway and somehow got lost all the way to Pasadena and I consider myself a good navigator. It was the wall to wall evening traffic that threw me for a loop.

 

[mariezp]

Very entertaining so far Hound. I am assuming since you are writing a trip report that you did eventually find your way to DLR! Can't wait for more!

 

[DangerMouse]

Yeah, I was hoping that Hound would get to the actual DLR part before I leave for my trip on Thursday morning. . . HINT HINT!!!

 

[disneegrl4eva]

oh that was fun....Im having a good laugh but you cut the report too short waaaaaaaaay to quick...so um er hurry the heck up .......

 

[MickeyNikiNaka]

I love it! Keep the TR Coming, am I the only one who finds these to be better than TV lately? Anyone? Just me? Ok....

 

[mariezp]

I love it! Keep the TR Coming, am I the only one who finds these to be better than TV lately? Anyone? Just me? Ok....

Oh no, MickeyNikiNaka, you are not the only one. I would much rather be reading on the Disboard than watching the junk they put on TV nowadays!

 

[Hound 109]

Yeah, I was hoping that Hound would get to the actual DLR part before I leave for my trip on Thursday morning. . . HINT HINT!!!

CARP !

I hate it when work gets in the way of important stuff (like completing our one day TR). Have a great time DangerMouse !!


.......so where was i? Oh yeah.....heading the wrong way on the I 5 at 10pm on Wed. 10/8. Padewan Alec still sleeping in the back seat....oblivious to the fact that he might be putting Legos together in the morning instead of Commando'ing thru Fantasyland at 8:03am.

No worries....Hound immediately recognizes... that he does not recognize....any of the towns or street names on this strange patch of the I 5 (Tustin is NOT on the houndmobile's yellow brick road route).....so i hop off the freeway, confirm DL's location on the trusty free Alamo Car Rental map....& do an interstate U'y & head back north. Seeing "Katella" after 10 miles, so I know I'm in biz.

I don't know about the rest of you, but looking at DLR resort maps a few dozen times helps me instantly know that Katella is "under" DCA, thus it's easy to find our eventual destination....the cheapest of the DLR Resort hotels....the Paradise Pier!!!

So why the Pier??? & Why on a Wednesday night??? Some would ask??

But not my fellow Diser's !! They know that if one is planning an impromtu trip to visit "Mom" & spend one mega day at DLR.....then OBVIOUSLY one gets an AP rate at the PP ($139 Baybeee!!!) & books it so he/she can do EE.....er Magical Morning the next morning (Baybee!!! ) & it's even better (to me) that MM starts at 8am (so we're not hanging with the newpaper delivery guys at 7am).

Alec zombie walks with me into the Pier & we're given 2 magical cards for room keys....THAT WE WILL NEED TO TAKE TO MM IN THE MORNING....(good to know ). We park the Impalamobile in the garage (knowing of course that we won't retrieve it till LATE the next night.....cause that's what cool dissers do. ) & we grab our ONE suitcase (that rolls) & off to our 14th floor room with a view of the parking lot . BTW, it's ONE suitcase because we don't have shampoo or extra underwear or really anything but the "bare necessities".....you may hum to Phil Harris/Baloo if you want to....that two DUDES would need....which isn't much.

I don't DO room service. Tax/Tip/Delivery Fee....nope, not for me....ever. But Alec looks at the room service propoganda sheet & says "Dad, the Big Breakfast looks pretty good".....& dad contemplates the fact that we need to get up at 6:15am (& who the heck knows what might be open at that hour).....& we're walking thru DTD, not by MickeyDs... so what the heck.

A quick aside......And you know what??? It's a good deal. We split 3 scrambled eggs, 4 pieces of bacon, two pastries, potato/peppers/onions mixture, juice & coffee. Worked out to 8 bucks per dude (including tip)....& it fed both of us.

So before watching the the 6 disney channels on the PP TV & falling asleep, we put the little Room Service propoganda sheet on the door knob & they delivered it at 6:20am (10 min. after we got up).....so we were fed, clean & out the door by 7:15am. Because (as you know) cool disers ALWAYS are near the front of the line for DL MM opening.

We did the PP-DL "stroll"....walked thru the GCH..... & out into DTD & then on to DL. The best 1/2 mile stroll in the world.....thru the prettiest hotel....& thru a cool outdoor shopping mall (if you're into that sort of thing)....on a pretty & crisp morning.....& on to the most magical place on earth.

But first Security. An FYI.....at 7:25am the security line had formed (but not to bad since it's Thursday & on the DTD side)....& we were 5th or 6th. Five minutes later they opened up security & we were second in line at 7:31am in front of one of the MM turnstiles. A nice family (who looked Persian or Indian but spoke with an educated English accent) were in front of us. Two kids aged about 4 & 6....& a nice mom who was trying to get the 4y/o boy from bopping his 6 y/o sister with a pirate sword & a dad who was studying the map & a ride max ride order listing. Small talk revealed that:

- this was their only day at DL (no DCA).
- They had never been.
- They REALLY want to do it all, but especially Fantasyland.
- Ridemax had them going to Nemo first.....but they were confused....was Nemo open for MM? Is Nemo the best use of MM? What should they do?? Who could possibly help them? or offer an opinion??


I told them (of course) to follow me.....that we would do (of course):

- PP (first.....ALWAYS first). & we were all first on
- Dumbo (but it wasn't open yet ??...the CM said "another 5-10 min."...so we all quickly to walked (with a purpose) to...
- Alice (which had no line) & our Persian family LOVED it......(as does the Hound family). Then a quick hop to...
- Matterhorn - which we (& they) liked & no one was scared at all, because Harold isn't MEAN....he just "growls" hello! (cause i told them DangerMouse told me so) So we all yelled "Hi Harold!" back at em. Following the Matterhorn, i suggested to the nice Persian family (with an English accent) that they might want to head back to Dumbo before the line get's long. We waved to them good bye as Padewan Alec & I WENT TO THE OTHER SIDE of the Matterhorn & rode it again.........because we can. (& btw....Harold told me to say "HI" to DM on this go round.)

- Being sneaky....i avoided the dreaded tea cups by advising Alec that we had to make sure the family got to Dumbo OK. When we eyeballed them in a short line for the flying elephant, we happened to be right next to good ol' Toadie....which of course we had to ride......which of course meant I snuck by those dang teacups. Toadie is as good as ever, but we weren't very good drivers...& ended up in a very HOT part of the ride....it's funny...we never seem to avoid this. .

- It's 8:38am at this point, so it was off (thru the super secret route by the Snow White Statues) to ride Buzz (no line) where Alec was very mad that I scored higher than him (hey....they don't call him Padewan & me the Master Jedi for nothing. ). Note: At th :38 point of MM..... Peter Pan was PACKED.....but of course this was of no worry to us, because we did PP first (always first)

- After Buzz we finished off MM with a scary dark ride thru Space (about a 5 minute wait) & after looking at our SM pics & a quick "pitstop" (which as most Disers know is right next to the SM picture viewing spot)....it was 9:00am....so naturally we picked up our first FP (at SM) at 9:02 (just as the great unwashed non-MM participants came roaring in to pick their FPs & race down the SM stand by lane).

Having successfully negotiated MM (no Dumbo, Carousel or Nemo for us....& we would save Pinnochio & SW for later).....it was time to embark on our tour of the left side of the park.....BTMRR & (Holiday) HM first. As folks raced by us on their way thru the hub & on to PP or Nemo, Alec & I stopped at the statue to take a breath.....& glance at the castle.....& enjoy the 65 degree, sunny day......& we wondered how all of people were doing today in 4th grade ..... & at work back... in Texas.

But only for about 15 seconds .....because it was time to walk thru the fort entrance of Frontierland, & make our way to the "wildest ride in the wilderness!!!! But.......But.....it was closed for 15-30 minutes. But no worries!!! ......we merely continued on to HM (knowing that the holiday version might get crowded later on)............. where a nice CM informed us that.........that........."it was closed for the next 15 - 30 minutes." ......doesn't he know that i plan this out?? & delaying the opening of HM is NOT part of my plan!!!

What are we going to do?????




Padewan Alec battling the "dark side" & Darth Maul (12/07).....those Darths never stood a chance!

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

Hound, you crack me up...

Keep it going!!!

 

[mariezp]

Nice, very nice, Hound. I can just envision the Hound bachelors strolling into PPH with their one suitcase. Guys are so lucky! (I started an inventory of what all needs to go in our suitcases and let me tell you it is not easy for the girls to narrow down all the things they "need". Our guys are like you though, they would probably be fine for 2 weeks with only 2 changes of clothes!)

It was very nice of you to act as a MM touring guide with the Persian family! I am taking notes from your report to see if I can implement some of it in November. Mighty sneaky avoiding those teacups! Can't wait to see if Padewan Alec caught on and eventually got you on them.

 

[bumbershoot]

Am loving this trip report! You must do it more often.

PP first, always first.


And you accidentally made me all teary-eyed, b/c someday Eamon is going to be Alec's age, and since he's been 4 forever and before that he was 3 forever, etc, it seems impossible that we'll ever get there, but it will be here and then hubby and E can take trips and he can make strong requests about breakfast (OK so 4 year olds do that too but not as calmly perhaps as 4th grade aged kids) too.

I know, silly! But that's why it was accidental of you.


I have now combined your way of writing with AA Milne, as E and I have been reading my mom's 1950s era Pooh compilation. So I shall say "Hallo, Hound!"