It’s Always Sunny in California!..Eh?...L’il Bit!

[dizneeat]

Great update, Jen! I love all the details you take pics of.

And now, please slow down .. I need to go back to work tomorrow.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm finally catching back up.

What a comedy of errors getting settled into your room. I hope it was smooth sailing from there.

It's been years since we stayed at DLH but I do still remember it. I love the proximity of GCH to the parks, but DLH really is my favorite.

I can't believe the slides closed at 5! I had no idea. I wonder if that's later in the summer months.

I bow to your greatness continuing to go go go after such a long day. I would have passed out the minute I saw the bed after all you did in the course of that day. But nope..... you got up and kept going!

I was really back and forth on flying into LAX or SNA. After hearing all the trouble Cass had, I'm glad I chose SNA.

I can't believe you even had the energy to walk across the esplanade and into DL still that night. I'm so glad we all lowered your expectations enough that you could appreciate the "puny" castle. It does have its charm.

I feel for you with the trouble sleeping that morning. That's the biggest drawback to us heading west. And we have an hour's advantage over you.

Enjoyed your tour around the grounds. It's been years since we stayed there but it still feels very familiar to me. We did walk over to eat there a couple times and see Santa in December though, so we did renew our love of the resort just recently.

 

[jenseib]

You are making me think next time I make it to DL I'll have to stay at least one night at an onsite hotel.

Love all the pictures and the green. I am sure glad it is starting to get green here.

I really became an onsite snob. It was so nice to have the little perks of being onsite and closing out the real world.

I SO was hoping to get to stay at least a night or two in the DLH for our upcoming trip but I had things came up and it became out of our reach maybe one day though

I hate when life gets in the way. In the past, I probably would've went offsite without a thought, but after getting spoiled....wow, it is nice onsite. Not to say offsite would be bad, I would just prefer onsite and if it was a difference between going or not, then I would do offsite in a heartbeat!

Those flowers...I think they are called Birds of Paradise, right?

And fully displaying my geek status (and my age), I think they are the same flowers Superman flies away to get and bring back to Lois Lane while she waits for him in the Fortress of Solitude in Superman II.

Yes they are.. I think they are so pretty!
So funny, I used to love superman and now that you said that, I remember that scene too!

More cool resort pictures.

I really like the one of the Sorcerer's Hat. At first, I thought it was a topiary under construction, then I noticed it was just palm fronds.

That hat is pretty cool and I never did get a really good picture of it. I just assumed I did but looking through my pictures it looks like I just snapped it here and there.
Are you guys staying at the Grand Californian? I stayed there later in the trip and do have more pictures of that resort too.

Great update, Jen! I love all the details you take pics of.

And now, please slow down .. I need to go back to work tomorrow.

LOL. I am trying to do one update a day. I want to get this one going and done in a timely fashion..... .....if possilbe so I can start my WDW one too. I have learned writing 2 at the same time is much too hard for me.
I will put links on the first page though to help you along!

I'm finally catching back up.

What a comedy of errors getting settled into your room. I hope it was smooth sailing from there.

I swear when Cass was telling me about her day it sounded just like a sitcom!

It's been years since we stayed at DLH but I do still remember it. I love the proximity of GCH to the parks, but DLH really is my favorite.

I loved how close GCH is, but looks wise, DLH was my favorite for sure. I am trying to figure out how to possibly stay at both resorts if we do go next year. I also know that Skip will not want to stay as long as Claire and I, so I might have to work out him flying home earlier or something? I know he will want to do other CA stuff as well, and I really want to have enough time to do stuff I missed out on this trip.

I can't believe the slides closed at 5! I had no idea. I wonder if that's later in the summer months.

Cass found that out right away and I couldn't beleive it!

I bow to your greatness continuing to go go go after such a long day. I would have passed out the minute I saw the bed after all you did in the course of that day. But nope..... you got up and kept going!

It was such a long day, but I was so excited! I am surprised I didn't give in after the hot tub too, as that was so nice and relaxing, but I knew I wouldn't forgive myself if I missed my only chance to meet up with Keri too. She had been texting me all day, so I knew she wanted to meet me as well.

I was really back and forth on flying into LAX or SNA. After hearing all the trouble Cass had, I'm glad I chose SNA.

I went with the cheapest flight price. Whatever worked is where I was going. I now know that the super shuttle will be what I will choose over the express though.

I can't believe you even had the energy to walk across the esplanade and into DL still that night. I'm so glad we all lowered your expectations enough that you could appreciate the "puny" castle. It does have its charm.

It was so much bigger than I thought it would be. I was very pleased with it.

I feel for you with the trouble sleeping that morning. That's the biggest drawback to us heading west. And we have an hour's advantage over you.

It was hard for me, but I think it would be perfect for Claire, who's body clock is on west coast time already.

Enjoyed your tour around the grounds. It's been years since we stayed there but it still feels very familiar to me. We did walk over to eat there a couple times and see Santa in December though, so we did renew our love of the resort just recently.

We did tour Paradise Pier too and it looked nice, but not quite as Disney themed. I would say the resort itself was nice, but pool wise , I wasn't impressed with it. But it had some perks over there too. It wasn't quite as far as i thought either when I realized you could walk over to GC pretty easily and get to the parks that way.

 

[jenseib]

We finally were ready and made our way through DTD to the parks and bag check. We were on a mission to get to CA as fast as we could for early entry. My suggestion to you is to get there fairly early!!!!
We did a speed walk so there are no pictures from our walk.
These are the crowds that met us.



Another tip…when you get through bag check do not enter the closest lines. Those were extremely long. We made our way to the other end and the lines were not too bad at all. And then Cass spotted a line with only a couple of people in it. At first we weren’t sure if it was a real line or not…as why would no one be in it? But we lined it up with a turn style and sure enough it was a line so we went into that one.



A CM started walking through the line with some sort of scanner and when she scanned my ticket she said I needed a picture. I wasn’t sure what this was. Cass then told me that they are now taking a picture of each person to match it with the ticket, so if your ticket scans and doesn’t show your picture they know you are not using your own ticket. We also had to sign our tickets. I signed mine, but later found out I was supposed to print my name. It wasn’t a big issue for most, but when someone tells me to sign something I write my signature. At a later point, one CM told me I had to pull out my license because she couldn’t read my signature and I was supposed to print my name. She was the only one who made a big deal over it; no one else ever said a word.

Cass had her picture taken the day before so now we were both good to go. Soon they started letting us into the park a bit earlier than opening and we handed our ticket then to the person running the turn style for her to scan it to allow us in.

My first look at California Adventure in the day time.



We quickly made our way towards Carsland to the next rope. The advice given to both Cass and I were to stay wide and right. When you go to Radiator Springs it will funnel all down to the right and those on the right tend to get in faster.

I took this picture and got a nice photobomb. Seriously I have no idea how this lady got in there as she was on the other side of the roped off area.



We were on the right side and just about the 2nd row back from the rope. While we stood there I took a few pictures.





Here they come!!!!!!!!



That gas hose was going to be the new “rope” to take us back to Carsland.





They had to untangle it a bit.



And we are waiting!!!!



And waiting!



That lady in front of us was not even going to Carsland…..when we were let in, she veered off to some other ride.



This is a good sign…the welcome committee is here!







And then they slowly walked us back towards Carsland. At one point we saw the people who used the Grand Californian entrance walking in too, but we were several steps ahead of that group.
As we walked, some people started pushing their way in front of us. It was really ridiculous how families are pushing their way through people with kids and then getting separated and trying to get the rest to cut in front of everyone else.
We kept walking fast and yes we tried not to let people in front of us if possible. At one point part of a family got between Cass and me. So after being frustrated with them and they were trying to get together I just walked around the guy as best I could and caught up with Cass and now his family was together.
At one point some pushy ladies stepped on my feet to get by and I really thought if they needed to be that far ahead that they were stepping on people’s feet….then let them!

As we approached the ride the fire truck came out (sorry I can’t think of what his Cars character name is) and he basically made it clear to all those on the left that you had to go right and it got a bit more crowded then.
All in all we didn’t get too far behind though.

A CM led us into the queue so there was no running through it to get to the front. This part was orderly.



See the ladies following the CM? They are the ones who were stepping on the feet to get up front. I guess they achieved their goal.



As we walked through we could see some empty cars going by. How exciting!!!!



I tried to snap pictures as we walked through, but we were going at a pretty good pace.





Getting closer!





The CM’s are ready for us.



Time to start loading.

 

[KelleyK75]

Great update! Can't wait to see more of Carsland.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Beautiful pictures taken while on your stroll. I too love the Bird of Paradise flowers. They have those on the CBR grounds.

How cute that the CMs had the gas hose to use as the rope. Definitely keep the theme going didn't they?

I absolutely hate it when rude people push their way through knowing that they are going to be separated from their other family members. They are banking on somebody being nice and letting the rest ahead of them. Darn people!

Carsland looks amazing so far!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Goodness, that seems like a bit of a free for all. I have only been back to California Adventure once since Carsland opened. I had every intention to make the EMH, but then a character breakfast with Stitch won out. Having seen your photos, I am rather glad about this.

Corinna

 

[Mndisneygirl]

We had a bit of a different experience with RSR in the mornings - we had EMH and got there early (I'd have to check to see if we rode first) and got to watch the crowd being let in - that was sort of scary! I just pressed back to the side near Mater's and stayed out of their way!!
It always amazed me how fast that wait time got up to 60 minutes and more!
But I think that is one of the best rides - best theme-ing and technology, great fun!!

I cannot stand rude people. I don't like that they think they are so much more important that they can push and shove and step on people to get to a RIDE! They will get to wait, what, 5 minutes less than the next people? Go for it!

 

[scottny]

Just saw this and will catch up over the weekend.

 

[Poolrat]

YAY for RSR. What a great ride.
My only problem was the ride being down during EMMH.

 

[luulu1999]

LOVE RSR my kids still talk about the part where it "tickled their bellies" from our Christmas 2012 trip can't wait to ride it again....we MAY try ONE day to get there and do wide right but IDK about all that pushing and all that I would be very mad if someone pushed my kids out of the way!! I DEF want to get a FP for a night time ride!!

 

[jenseib]

Great update! Can't wait to see more of Carsland.

Coming up soon!

Beautiful pictures taken while on your stroll. I too love the Bird of Paradise flowers. They have those on the CBR grounds.

How cute that the CMs had the gas hose to use as the rope. Definitely keep the theme going didn't they?

I absolutely hate it when rude people push their way through knowing that they are going to be separated from their other family members. They are banking on somebody being nice and letting the rest ahead of them. Darn people!

Carsland looks amazing so far!

And I guess people are banking on me being nice? Good luck sister!

Goodness, that seems like a bit of a free for all. I have only been back to California Adventure once since Carsland opened. I had every intention to make the EMH, but then a character breakfast with Stitch won out. Having seen your photos, I am rather glad about this.

Corinna

It is, but regular hours are worse I hear.

We had a bit of a different experience with RSR in the mornings - we had EMH and got there early (I'd have to check to see if we rode first) and got to watch the crowd being let in - that was sort of scary! I just pressed back to the side near Mater's and stayed out of their way!!
It always amazed me how fast that wait time got up to 60 minutes and more!
But I think that is one of the best rides - best theme-ing and technology, great fun!!

I cannot stand rude people. I don't like that they think they are so much more important that they can push and shove and step on people to get to a RIDE! They will get to wait, what, 5 minutes less than the next people? Go for it!

this was early entry! It was just crazy. I think we had a busier than normal week though because the dapper days had just ended.

Just saw this and will catch up over the weekend.

Hi Scott!

YAY for RSR. What a great ride.
My only problem was the ride being down during EMMH.

It is a great ride!

LOVE RSR my kids still talk about the part where it "tickled their bellies" from our Christmas 2012 trip can't wait to ride it again....we MAY try ONE day to get there and do wide right but IDK about all that pushing and all that I would be very mad if someone pushed my kids out of the way!! I DEF want to get a FP for a night time ride!!

I love the tickle your belly part too!!!! I did ride it at night later in the week!

 

[jenseib]

I believe Cass and I ended up being within the first 20 in line.



We didn’t make it in the first set of cars, but we did make the first car of the 2nd set.



And we’re off!



We go out just a little ways and then stop again for a seatbelt check.



I took a picture of Cass then! She always has cool poses on rides. Half the time I look like I am hanging on for dear life.



The ride starts out slow with a leisurely drive around the outside.








Once we went inside it was much harder to get pictures. I should’ve brought my other lens which works better in dark areas, but I will confess right now I let that lens sit in the room the whole trip and never once put it on.



Someone went tractor tipping.



This part always made me laugh when the green jeep would call the van “hippy”. (Yes I will admit I am terrible with the car character names). It was so funny because the way he said it sounded just like my oldest daughter Paige’s dad. He would call people that and said it in the same tone.







Time for a new paint job.







Time for the big race.





We then race another car and go outside on some bunny hills and turns. This is so much fun. Better than test track, but with a similar feeling. We laughed and giggled and our hair whipped all over.



I believe we won the race, though I am not positive, but it was so much fun. I am not sure what these things are sticking out of the walls. I assume some car part. Again I have only seen Cars 2 at the movies and only bits and pieces of the original Cars movie. Claire likes it, but not super into it, so we don’t own the movies.



We get stopped here and then the cars take turns going to the unloading area.





We go to get off and I gracefully trip! Yep, I had my bag looped around my foot so it would be safe in the car, but when getting out it becomes quite hazardous. Plus I have big elephant feet on top of that. Ok, I have issues getting off rides…I’ll admit it. My feet always tend to trip over something. Well my wonderful new friend was so worried about me that she burst out laughing! Which of course makes me laugh and then I have a harder time getting out of the dang car! And of course it then led to Cass reminding me all the time to be careful when I got off rides, always followed by a laugh!

We then went to look at our picture. I look like a big goof. I am blurring out Cass because she hates her picture taken. (and she looks a bit goofy here too )



I look like I am peeling my skin off my face! LOL. I was really trying to pull my hair out of my mouth.

We then exited the ride. That is such an awesome ride and I think one of my Disney favorites now.

 

[jedijill]

RSR is a great ride! I loved it..the themeing is amazing!

Those are vintage tail lights that are in the cave area.

Jill in CO

 

[jenseib]

RSR is a great ride! I loved it..the themeing is amazing!

Those are vintage tail lights that are in the cave area.

Jill in CO

LOL...I would've never guess that!

 

[BellaBaby]

RSR looks like so much fun!! We can't wait to ride it next month!!

 

[ilovedevin]

We are taking a 15 day Hawaiian Cruise next year ad I am trying to talk DH going a day earlier than planned to go to WDL/CA. However he hates the crowds and such at WDW he is begin very resistant. Maybe cars land will be the winning ticket LOL. He and DS love cars.

 

[jenseib]

RSR looks like so much fun!! We can't wait to ride it next month!!

It really is super fun!!!

We are taking a 15 day Hawaiian Cruise next year ad I am trying to talk DH going a day earlier than planned to go to WDL/CA. However he hates the crowds and such at WDW he is begin very resistant. Maybe cars land will be the winning ticket LOL. He and DS love cars.

OOOOH! I would love to take a 15 day cruise! What line are you going on?
You must lure him!!!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Woohoo for a ride on RSR!! I agree - super fun ride! Just a beautiful scene too!

at your story about tripping getting off the ride - some of them are just so hard to get out of!

 

[Poolrat]

Isn't it a great ride???? I loved it and can't wait to go back. Now I could do without the ride being down as much as it was and the mad rush but I will do it all over again.