rgoble5972
Are we there yet?
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2001
- Messages
- 276
CAST
Robin 41 Trip Report writer, Bringer of Good Weather, Recently Relieved of Duties as Trip Planner
Larry - 46 - Host, Walking Compendium of Knowledge, and Trip Report god.
Jill - (no way would I betray a confidence without permission) - Keeper of the Passports, Park Navigator, and First in Line
Greg - 17 - Quiet Teenager, Purveyor of Dry Wit and Sarcastic Remarks
Ed - 14 - Runescape Addict, Chief Dog Walker, and Professional Conversationalist
Pippin/Killer - 4 months - Official Wilmot Poodle, Beggar of Table Scraps, Eater of Baked Goods
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Can-a-Magique!
Today was another Disneyland day, so we met up at 8:30 and headed straight for the park and the 9:00 opening. Ignoring poor Gregs pleas for breakfast, we went straight to Frontierland where we rode Big Thunder Mountain. We then hit Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean all by 10:15.
We were feeling charitable, having accomplished so much in such a short amount of time, so we agreed to go and get breakfast now. Ed and I made our usual trip to Discoveryland to pick up Fast Passes for Space Mountain (10:55 return time) while everyone else went to the bakery on Main Street to order breakfast.
After a breakfast, Larry, Greg, Ed and I went to use the Space Mountain Fast Passes while Jill went to stand in line for Lion King tickets (an ingenious system where you have to stand in line just to get tickets and then you have to queue up later as well to get into the theater!) which they werent distributing until 11:30.
We were off Space Mountain by 11:15 so we decided to go to Star Tours and see if we could actually make it to the moons of Endor this trip. I was pleased to see that the Scary-Hair American lady in the pre-show had been replaced by a Scary-Hair French lady for the DLP version. Other than that and the voice of the pilot being in French, Star Tours was exactly the same as the other locations.
By the time we finished with Star Tours, Jill had our Lion King tickets so we headed to Frontierland to see the 12:00 Tarzan show. It was quite different than the show at Animal Kingdom at WDW. Of course, the music is the same, but they use the actual music from the movie and they follow the storyline more closely. The also use a version of Two Hearts, One Family in which Phil Collins sings in several different languages, which was very good. Still, I think Youll Be in My Heart is my favorite song. (Hey I've got that on my iPod if you would like me to email it to you Robin? - L)
After the show, the moment of truth had arrived. Larry had been saying for several days now that he was going to go to Dapper Dans on Main Street and get his hair cut. He had been growing his hair out for several months and had decided that he wanted the experience of having it cut at Disney, so we all went to the barber shop on Main Street.
They have a shave and haircut special for the bargain price of 26 euros and thats what Larry decided on. We took several before and during photos while the barber worked on Larry. The CM was very thorough with both the haircut and the shave. The funniest part was when, after having finished shaving Larry with a straight razor, the CM applied some very cold aftershave that Larry could only describe (after he regained his ability to speak) as bracing! The CM did a really good job, however, and Larry looked very handsome after his experience. ( Thanks, I enjoyed it, it's quite funny really because passers by, look through the open window and wave to you, so you wave back, I think they think you are an actor or something.- That aftershave was quite a shock I must admit. I hope it wasnt the French perfume that they sell in Epcot, which is called Just for Dogs!!! - L)
After the haircut, it was time for our 2:15 tickets to the Lion King (they do half of the show times in English and half of them in French). We only had to wait in line for maybe 5 minutes or so before they let us in the theater. While we were waiting in line we saw several people who didnt understand the process (gee, I dont know what would be confusing about having to queue up for tickets and then wait some more to get into the theater) and were waiting in line without having gotten tickets earlier. I felt sorry for them as they couldnt get in once they got to the ticket collection point.
Jill, having taken the job of getting us into the Lion King personally, was on a mission and she got us great seats on the front row of the theater.
After the show we were all ready for lunch so we went to the Market House Deli on Main Street where I got pizza and all the Wilmots got croque monsieurs. Jill and the boys had chips and Larry and I shared a salad. (Oh gosh don't tell them I was eating Rabbit Food it will ruin my reputation. - L.)
After lunch it was 3:30 and we were ready to go back to the hotel for a rest break. Jill had a headache and was needing some cool and quiet. The boys and Jill took the bus while Larry and I took the walking path (we had an ulterior motive--we wanted to stop in the Disney Village and get ice cream cones, which we did!). We werent out to break any speed records so it took us about 30 minutes to get to the hotel, walking slowly and enjoying our ice cream.
Jill and the boys had to wait a while for a bus and they just beat us back to the hotel by about 5 minutes.
Larry was on a mission to finish taking the bean pictures at the Studios, so we stopped in the hotel long enough to pick up the beans and Ed (who wanted to come along) and then we took the bus back to Disney Village (having agreed to meet Jill and Greg outside Disneyland at 6:30) and went to Walt Disney Studios.
The first shot of the beans was outside the entrance to the studios at a big fountain. I had the privilege of getting to hold the can of beans for the shot. Woohoo! Im a bean ambassador now too! Words fail me on the occasion of this great honor. (Welcome to the club, you will get the uniform from our outfitters in the post shortly.-L)
We took pictures of the beans in front of Anamagique, Armageddon, Minnie Mouse (she was posing for pictures during the parade), and Rock n Rollercoaster. Seeing as how we were so close to RnRC (right outside, to be exact) we decided wed better go ahead and ride it as well. Hey, it may not be a creative excuse, but it works every time.
After we got off RnRC, we decided to check out the line for CyberSpace Mountain so we went in the exit door of the Disney Television Tour. Larry and Ed made it inside, but a CM stopped me and told me that I was going in the exit and that I had to go around and go in at the entrance. She wasnt going to let me in, when Larry showed up beside me and said, Do you mean to tell me that we would have to go back through this attraction?
When she said that, yes, we would, Larry laughed and said that there was no way we would ever consider doing that and that he would rather die a thousand deaths than have to experience this attraction again. Do you realize, he told the CM, that this is the worst attraction in any Disney park in the whole world? This made the CM laugh and she went ahead and let me in. Larry was quick to point out that she certainly didnt deny or argue with him about it being the worst attraction.
The line for CyberSpace Mountain was still really long, so we just sat in the cool, dark room while Ed played video games. On one of the Tarzan games, Ed got his initials on all ten of the top scores, so I took a picture of the screen for him. We had just gone outside when Ed realized that he had left his sunglasses inside so he darted back in to get them.
It was almost time to meet up with Jill and Greg, so we started making our way out of the park, stopping to look around in a shop or two on the way out. We met up with them outside the entrance to Disneyland and made our way to Main Street to find a spot for the 7:00 oclock parade (no one seems to respect the sanctity of the 3:00 parade here). We found a vacant curb right by the dentists shop at the beginning of Main Street. (Gosh I never noticed that they have a dentist there, I suppose that they give you Laughing Gas? - L.)
The parade was quite nice with a very catchy song. I looked for the music on CD in several stores, but never had any luck finding it.
After the parade was over we began debating where to eat dinner (at the suggestion of Greg). We finally decided to try the buffet at the Plaza Gardens, so we went there to see how long a wait they had. Much to Gregs dismay, they said they couldnt get us in until 9:30. We went ahead and put our name on the list and then went in search for something to hold us over for two hours.
We went to Discoveryland and found a crepe stand. Greg and Jill both got crepes while the rest of us decided to tough it out until dinner time (okay, we may have sneaked a taste of Jills--Greg, however, was too hungry to share!).
Since we were in the neighborhood, we decided for another attempt to make it to the moons of Endor by taking that poor excuse for space travel, Star Tours shuttle. Alas, we again were denied our destination. We did however, save the free world (or universe I should say), so I suppose the trip wasnt a complete waste of our time.
Afterwards, we decided to take the train for a loop around the park. They have a Grand Canyon diorama like on the train in California but, alas, there are no dinosaurs. Well, I suppose its a good thing that there arent *really* dinosaurs roaming around the Grand Canyon, but one can only wish for a T-Rex to take a big bite out of your boss from time.
After we finished our train lap, it was 9:10 so we made our way back to Plaza Gardens. We checked in and were seated in a matter of minutes. There was too much food to list, but I can say that there was a lot of variety and everything I tried was good.
After we finished eating, we were all pretty tired so we made our way out of the Park (using the handy arcade) and back to the hotel.
On the way to the bus stop, Eds wheedling and pleading was finally heeded and he got that laser pen that hed had his eye on all week. While Im sure the laser pen was a bargain at twice the price, the really amusing thing about it was the, shall I say, poorly translated instructions. We were tired and simpled out anyway and, as Greg read them aloud to us on the bus on the way to the hotel, they just kept getting funnier and funnier. It was a great way to improve your vocabulary with such misspelled words as Intormation instead of Information and Over Explosure instead of Over Exposure.
We decided that Intormation described the Disney Studios Television Production Tour perfectly and that the definition of the word should be imparting useless information in a way thats both torturous and painful.
We also thought that Over Explosure could be when your bomb bag goes off prematurely after too much exposure to the sun.
Back at the hotel I called home and talked to my family for a bit and then began the sad job of packing up my stuff in preparation for our last day tomorrow. By the way, my favorite new French word that Ive learned this trip is Pampelmousse. No, that isnt an illicit activity that Canadians partake in. Its actually French for grapefruit, but its infinitely more fun to say!
Robin 41 Trip Report writer, Bringer of Good Weather, Recently Relieved of Duties as Trip Planner
Larry - 46 - Host, Walking Compendium of Knowledge, and Trip Report god.
Jill - (no way would I betray a confidence without permission) - Keeper of the Passports, Park Navigator, and First in Line
Greg - 17 - Quiet Teenager, Purveyor of Dry Wit and Sarcastic Remarks
Ed - 14 - Runescape Addict, Chief Dog Walker, and Professional Conversationalist
Pippin/Killer - 4 months - Official Wilmot Poodle, Beggar of Table Scraps, Eater of Baked Goods
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Can-a-Magique!
Today was another Disneyland day, so we met up at 8:30 and headed straight for the park and the 9:00 opening. Ignoring poor Gregs pleas for breakfast, we went straight to Frontierland where we rode Big Thunder Mountain. We then hit Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean all by 10:15.
We were feeling charitable, having accomplished so much in such a short amount of time, so we agreed to go and get breakfast now. Ed and I made our usual trip to Discoveryland to pick up Fast Passes for Space Mountain (10:55 return time) while everyone else went to the bakery on Main Street to order breakfast.
After a breakfast, Larry, Greg, Ed and I went to use the Space Mountain Fast Passes while Jill went to stand in line for Lion King tickets (an ingenious system where you have to stand in line just to get tickets and then you have to queue up later as well to get into the theater!) which they werent distributing until 11:30.
We were off Space Mountain by 11:15 so we decided to go to Star Tours and see if we could actually make it to the moons of Endor this trip. I was pleased to see that the Scary-Hair American lady in the pre-show had been replaced by a Scary-Hair French lady for the DLP version. Other than that and the voice of the pilot being in French, Star Tours was exactly the same as the other locations.
By the time we finished with Star Tours, Jill had our Lion King tickets so we headed to Frontierland to see the 12:00 Tarzan show. It was quite different than the show at Animal Kingdom at WDW. Of course, the music is the same, but they use the actual music from the movie and they follow the storyline more closely. The also use a version of Two Hearts, One Family in which Phil Collins sings in several different languages, which was very good. Still, I think Youll Be in My Heart is my favorite song. (Hey I've got that on my iPod if you would like me to email it to you Robin? - L)
After the show, the moment of truth had arrived. Larry had been saying for several days now that he was going to go to Dapper Dans on Main Street and get his hair cut. He had been growing his hair out for several months and had decided that he wanted the experience of having it cut at Disney, so we all went to the barber shop on Main Street.
They have a shave and haircut special for the bargain price of 26 euros and thats what Larry decided on. We took several before and during photos while the barber worked on Larry. The CM was very thorough with both the haircut and the shave. The funniest part was when, after having finished shaving Larry with a straight razor, the CM applied some very cold aftershave that Larry could only describe (after he regained his ability to speak) as bracing! The CM did a really good job, however, and Larry looked very handsome after his experience. ( Thanks, I enjoyed it, it's quite funny really because passers by, look through the open window and wave to you, so you wave back, I think they think you are an actor or something.- That aftershave was quite a shock I must admit. I hope it wasnt the French perfume that they sell in Epcot, which is called Just for Dogs!!! - L)
After the haircut, it was time for our 2:15 tickets to the Lion King (they do half of the show times in English and half of them in French). We only had to wait in line for maybe 5 minutes or so before they let us in the theater. While we were waiting in line we saw several people who didnt understand the process (gee, I dont know what would be confusing about having to queue up for tickets and then wait some more to get into the theater) and were waiting in line without having gotten tickets earlier. I felt sorry for them as they couldnt get in once they got to the ticket collection point.
Jill, having taken the job of getting us into the Lion King personally, was on a mission and she got us great seats on the front row of the theater.
After the show we were all ready for lunch so we went to the Market House Deli on Main Street where I got pizza and all the Wilmots got croque monsieurs. Jill and the boys had chips and Larry and I shared a salad. (Oh gosh don't tell them I was eating Rabbit Food it will ruin my reputation. - L.)
After lunch it was 3:30 and we were ready to go back to the hotel for a rest break. Jill had a headache and was needing some cool and quiet. The boys and Jill took the bus while Larry and I took the walking path (we had an ulterior motive--we wanted to stop in the Disney Village and get ice cream cones, which we did!). We werent out to break any speed records so it took us about 30 minutes to get to the hotel, walking slowly and enjoying our ice cream.
Jill and the boys had to wait a while for a bus and they just beat us back to the hotel by about 5 minutes.
Larry was on a mission to finish taking the bean pictures at the Studios, so we stopped in the hotel long enough to pick up the beans and Ed (who wanted to come along) and then we took the bus back to Disney Village (having agreed to meet Jill and Greg outside Disneyland at 6:30) and went to Walt Disney Studios.
The first shot of the beans was outside the entrance to the studios at a big fountain. I had the privilege of getting to hold the can of beans for the shot. Woohoo! Im a bean ambassador now too! Words fail me on the occasion of this great honor. (Welcome to the club, you will get the uniform from our outfitters in the post shortly.-L)
We took pictures of the beans in front of Anamagique, Armageddon, Minnie Mouse (she was posing for pictures during the parade), and Rock n Rollercoaster. Seeing as how we were so close to RnRC (right outside, to be exact) we decided wed better go ahead and ride it as well. Hey, it may not be a creative excuse, but it works every time.
After we got off RnRC, we decided to check out the line for CyberSpace Mountain so we went in the exit door of the Disney Television Tour. Larry and Ed made it inside, but a CM stopped me and told me that I was going in the exit and that I had to go around and go in at the entrance. She wasnt going to let me in, when Larry showed up beside me and said, Do you mean to tell me that we would have to go back through this attraction?
When she said that, yes, we would, Larry laughed and said that there was no way we would ever consider doing that and that he would rather die a thousand deaths than have to experience this attraction again. Do you realize, he told the CM, that this is the worst attraction in any Disney park in the whole world? This made the CM laugh and she went ahead and let me in. Larry was quick to point out that she certainly didnt deny or argue with him about it being the worst attraction.
The line for CyberSpace Mountain was still really long, so we just sat in the cool, dark room while Ed played video games. On one of the Tarzan games, Ed got his initials on all ten of the top scores, so I took a picture of the screen for him. We had just gone outside when Ed realized that he had left his sunglasses inside so he darted back in to get them.
It was almost time to meet up with Jill and Greg, so we started making our way out of the park, stopping to look around in a shop or two on the way out. We met up with them outside the entrance to Disneyland and made our way to Main Street to find a spot for the 7:00 oclock parade (no one seems to respect the sanctity of the 3:00 parade here). We found a vacant curb right by the dentists shop at the beginning of Main Street. (Gosh I never noticed that they have a dentist there, I suppose that they give you Laughing Gas? - L.)
The parade was quite nice with a very catchy song. I looked for the music on CD in several stores, but never had any luck finding it.
After the parade was over we began debating where to eat dinner (at the suggestion of Greg). We finally decided to try the buffet at the Plaza Gardens, so we went there to see how long a wait they had. Much to Gregs dismay, they said they couldnt get us in until 9:30. We went ahead and put our name on the list and then went in search for something to hold us over for two hours.
We went to Discoveryland and found a crepe stand. Greg and Jill both got crepes while the rest of us decided to tough it out until dinner time (okay, we may have sneaked a taste of Jills--Greg, however, was too hungry to share!).
Since we were in the neighborhood, we decided for another attempt to make it to the moons of Endor by taking that poor excuse for space travel, Star Tours shuttle. Alas, we again were denied our destination. We did however, save the free world (or universe I should say), so I suppose the trip wasnt a complete waste of our time.
Afterwards, we decided to take the train for a loop around the park. They have a Grand Canyon diorama like on the train in California but, alas, there are no dinosaurs. Well, I suppose its a good thing that there arent *really* dinosaurs roaming around the Grand Canyon, but one can only wish for a T-Rex to take a big bite out of your boss from time.
After we finished our train lap, it was 9:10 so we made our way back to Plaza Gardens. We checked in and were seated in a matter of minutes. There was too much food to list, but I can say that there was a lot of variety and everything I tried was good.
After we finished eating, we were all pretty tired so we made our way out of the Park (using the handy arcade) and back to the hotel.
On the way to the bus stop, Eds wheedling and pleading was finally heeded and he got that laser pen that hed had his eye on all week. While Im sure the laser pen was a bargain at twice the price, the really amusing thing about it was the, shall I say, poorly translated instructions. We were tired and simpled out anyway and, as Greg read them aloud to us on the bus on the way to the hotel, they just kept getting funnier and funnier. It was a great way to improve your vocabulary with such misspelled words as Intormation instead of Information and Over Explosure instead of Over Exposure.
We decided that Intormation described the Disney Studios Television Production Tour perfectly and that the definition of the word should be imparting useless information in a way thats both torturous and painful.
We also thought that Over Explosure could be when your bomb bag goes off prematurely after too much exposure to the sun.
Back at the hotel I called home and talked to my family for a bit and then began the sad job of packing up my stuff in preparation for our last day tomorrow. By the way, my favorite new French word that Ive learned this trip is Pampelmousse. No, that isnt an illicit activity that Canadians partake in. Its actually French for grapefruit, but its infinitely more fun to say!
