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

[mom2rtk]

There really is just not enough time. I am amazed how they say that the avarage person doesn't stay a full 5 days and no one stays longer. I could have easily stayed longer and enjoyed myself.



We did so much but reading other TR's now, I see so much we missed too. But honestly, we did a ton and I was impressed with all we tackled with the limited time we had. Cass was a very good tour director too.

I still can't believe how many people say DL or DCA are 1 or 2 day parks. I've decided we have to really skip some ADRs and extra activities this time, but I wouldn't place money on me actually following through on that!

 

[dolphingirl47]

I have only ever done two things in the Animation Building: Turtle Talk with Crush and the Animation Academy. That Character Close Up area looks really neat. I have to check this out next time.

Corinna

 

[JKSWonder]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5khDGKGv088

Cool!

If you were going to go there next time with Claire, how many days do you think you would need? If we did go to CA we would want to split up our time between Disneyland and a few other things, like visiting my Aunt, etc.

 

[Timon]

That was a great video explaining that zoetrope!!

I think we did pretty good and fit in quite a bit but yeah, I could easily do the parks for a week too!

Not ever having tried avocado seemed like such a shock to everyone

When we did the trade show (later in the week) Jackie, from Knott's Berry Farm could not believe that I had never had it before! She was like "Do they not have avocado in Canada?" Ummm, it's Canada, not MARS!!!

I'm just picky!

For the record, I didn't care for plain avocado but I fell in love with guacamole a few days later

Loving your pics, Jen! I am so impressed since you didn't even stop walking for most of them If I took those, they would all be blurry!!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Soarin is EXACTLY the same but for the queue.

In the picture with the "tower" for Goofy's Sky School - my room is right behind it! We could see the "backside" of the ride and the food stands nearby. LOVE that special entranced for the GC.

I also don't understand the one or two day park thing. They don't even sell more than a 5 day pass! We wanted to add one more day and were told we could not do that, you had to just buy another one day ticket. For like $85 or something. Uh, nope, forget it.

Goofy's sky school looked to me like Primeval whirl in AK - which I will never ever ride again! Toy Story Mania was pretty much the same in both parks I thought too.
My kids went on the parachute ride thing. They have one at Disneyland Paris too.

Storytellers looked good for lunch - we had a breakfast there and it was pretty good. We found a great place over in Paradise Pier to eat - just at the end by Goofy's SS. Counter service - It had pasta, pizza, salads etc. Very yummy!

 

[jenseib]

I still can't believe how many people say DL or DCA are 1 or 2 day parks. I've decided we have to really skip some ADRs and extra activities this time, but I wouldn't place money on me actually following through on that!

I totally agree.
And I have read over and over they have longer hours....that was not the case when we were there.

I have only ever done two things in the Animation Building: Turtle Talk with Crush and the Animation Academy. That Character Close Up area looks really neat. I have to check this out next time.

Corinna

It is a really neat buidling. Tomorrow I'll be posting more about it.

Cool!

If you were going to go there next time with Claire, how many days do you think you would need? If we did go to CA we would want to split up our time between Disneyland and a few other things, like visiting my Aunt, etc.

I personally would want 5 at DL. But not everyone agrees with me. I would say a minimum of 3. And know that you will still miss out on a lot. But depending on how busy it is, you still can do a lot in 3 days.

That was a great video explaining that zoetrope!!

I thought that was pretty good video too and glad I found it. That was such a neat thing!

I think we did pretty good and fit in quite a bit but yeah, I could easily do the parks for a week too!

We did so much. I was impressed with all we did, but there is so many more things to do...of course some would be more of what Claire would like.

Not ever having tried avocado seemed like such a shock to everyone

When we did the trade show (later in the week) Jackie, from Knott's Berry Farm could not believe that I had never had it before! She was like "Do they not have avocado in Canada?" Ummm, it's Canada, not MARS!!!

I remember that. She was totally in shock....and I impressed you remembered her name! I think a lot of people thought Canada was some other planet. Many asked you how you liked it or if you ever wanted to move. LOL

I'm just picky!

For the record, I didn't care for plain avocado but I fell in love with guacamole a few days later

Try it with salt. Paige recently introduced that to me and it's really good that way!

Loving your pics, Jen! I am so impressed since you didn't even stop walking for most of them If I took those, they would all be blurry!!!

I have gotten pretty good at pictures on the go, but I have my share of blurry and just plain bad ones. I might be dangerous if I actually took my time!

 

[jenseib]

Soarin is EXACTLY the same but for the queue.

I have heard that too.

In the picture with the "tower" for Goofy's Sky School - my room is right behind it! We could see the "backside" of the ride and the food stands nearby. LOVE that special entranced for the GC.

I will have to go back and look. When we move over to GC our room is right behind it as well, but we are on the corner, 2nd floor.

I also don't understand the one or two day park thing. They don't even sell more than a 5 day pass! We wanted to add one more day and were told we could not do that, you had to just buy another one day ticket. For like $85 or something. Uh, nope, forget it.

I don't get it too. At one point in our meetings we had some Disney expert person there and I asked why they couldn't get more than 5 days and she said they have done a lot of research and the average person only stays like 3 days and they had longer than 5 at one time and they never sold. It just seems so weird to me.

Goofy's sky school looked to me like Primeval whirl in AK - which I will never ever ride again! Toy Story Mania was pretty much the same in both parks I thought too.

I don't do pirmeval whirl anymore either. I hate the spinning on that one.

My kids went on the parachute ride thing. They have one at Disneyland Paris too.

LOL and they didn't fall to their death?

Storytellers looked good for lunch - we had a breakfast there and it was pretty good. We found a great place over in Paradise Pier to eat - just at the end by Goofy's SS. Counter service - It had pasta, pizza, salads etc. Very yummy!

OOOH, another reason to go back and another place to put on my must eat list!

 

[Beth D]

LOL Death traps! I loved CA Screaming, but yes Goofy's is a bit of a peculiar scare. You don't realize how narrow the track is and how wide the car overhangs until you're up there on the hairpin turns! Very disconcerting!

I loved Carsland. It was so well themed. DS is now 9, and was just at that age when both of the Cars movies came out. Your descriptions of the rope drops are hilarious! If you want to see something truly crazy, go on Youtube, and search for Cedar Point running of the bulls. You think DIS fans are crazy? Don't get between a coaster freak and Millennium Force! Makes all those others look tame.

Jen - are you considering a summer trip? Allegiant out of Toledo has some great fares right now. I know you're not a big fan of them, but we just got a fantastic deal. Down to Orlando, picked our seats, paid for luggage, and our rental car, all for less than $370 per person. This will be my first summer trip to Orlando since i was 15. We're going to just veg by the pool, unless we stumble upon free tickets to a park somewhere….

 

[KatMark]

I'm sorry you didn't like the Magic Bands/My Disney Experience. I have to admit how surprised I am that I actually liked it...we had such ease in changing FP+ selections, etc.

Thanks for posting that video...that was really cool.

The only thing I don't like about Turtle Talk with Crush are those stupid benches.

 

[jenseib]

LOL Death traps! I loved CA Screaming, but yes Goofy's is a bit of a peculiar scare. You don't realize how narrow the track is and how wide the car overhangs until you're up there on the hairpin turns! Very disconcerting!

EXACTLY!!!! You are looking over and it appears you will fly right off at each turn!

I loved Carsland. It was so well themed. DS is now 9, and was just at that age when both of the Cars movies came out. Your descriptions of the rope drops are hilarious! If you want to see something truly crazy, go on Youtube, and search for Cedar Point running of the bulls. You think DIS fans are crazy? Don't get between a coaster freak and Millennium Force! Makes all those others look tame.

I should go look that up. Cedar Point really gets the crazy coaster people. It's been a few years now since we went. it just doesn't hold the same love for me anymore, but now Claire is liking a few bigger things, I suppose we should take her. I will ride the tamer ones with her still.

Jen - are you considering a summer trip? Allegiant out of Toledo has some great fares right now. I know you're not a big fan of them, but we just got a fantastic deal. Down to Orlando, picked our seats, paid for luggage, and our rental car, all for less than $370 per person. This will be my first summer trip to Orlando since i was 15. We're going to just veg by the pool, unless we stumble upon free tickets to a park somewhere….

I am not at this point. Mainly because my husband would kill me. I do need to cruise another cruise line for some requirements I need to fill, but that is even looking iffy. Though I keep looking at deals daily.
I do like Allegiant, I just don't like their prices anymore since they added charges for carryons. I have to have 1 carryon and it really sucks.
If that price includes rental car, then that is great....but be aware. I have done rental cars through Allegiant before....they don't add the taxes. I ended up paying another 150 for taxes when I got there and i wasn't too happy. I really got a fabulous deal with dollar this past time. It was like 169 or less for our whole trip. I just got the economy, but it was still an awesome deal. Hertz wanted like 400 for that same timeframe.
Pool time is very nice. I think Claire would be super excited if we just did a pool trip. I know I would be antsy being so close to the parks and not going though. LOL. But you never know...maybe someday. If i could find a steal of a deal on flights and room it could be doable.

I'm sorry you didn't like the Magic Bands/My Disney Experience. I have to admit how surprised I am that I actually liked it...we had such ease in changing FP+ selections, etc.

Thanks for posting that video...that was really cool.

The only thing I don't like about Turtle Talk with Crush are those stupid benches.

 

[jenseib]

After we had fun with Crush we headed out and I noticed there was an area down some stairs so we decided to take a look that way.
This area was really cool and I am not sure how to describe it, but it had stations of interactive stuff and Cass and I both thought our girls would love this area.









The next room we came to was Beast’s library. Very cool! I am not sure when this was made, but it had some similar things to what the new Fantasyland has in WDW. I had never heard about this area at all. Again it did have some interactive things in there as well.









A really bad picture of me from my phone.



We left that area and went to the next room. I have no clue what this next picture is of.



Again, more interactive things in here and I played with one.





We did some sing along thing and Cass and I both did the practice run of singing Hi Ho…and then when it came time to do the real deal…..Cass became completely quiet…..that stinker!



They then played back what you sang……let’s just say I won’t be winning any awards anytime soon.

Here is another picture I took, but again, no clue what it is or why I took it.



And then we headed back outside.



I believe we went through a dump shop once again.



And we did browse a bit. I found a lot of things I wanted to buy this trip, but I just didn’t want to pay what the price tags showed for them.

It was now time to head to Tower of Terror.



It is similar inside, but a bit different.









When we came to the boiler room, it was very different and there were 2 levels and we went upstairs.





Soon we were in our seats and I knew this was different than WDW. I knew we didn’t get pushed out in the hall like the WDW version does. I am trying to remember how it exactly worked, but we went up so far and then doors opened.



I believe we then went up some more and the doors opened again and more of the story was told/showed…..and then BAM! We are dropping. I knew to expect it yet I didn’t. I was laughing so hard and we were going up and down and up and down. I think this went more than any WDW version I have done. Oh…and this one has just one set version, it doesn’t randomly select a drop sequence like at WDW.
We were squealing and laughing so much.
When we got off we went to look at our picture. I had to crack up again, as of course Cass has the cool pose going on and I look like I am about to wet my pants.



That was a lot of fun!

 

[mickeystoontown]

The interactive area that you guys stumbled upon looks really really cool. I even like the "no idea what they are" pictures. Jen, girl, you look 100% better than I do on Tower of Terror. I'm usually hanging on for dear life and screaming like demons are after me.

 

[mom2rtk]

We really HAVE to get over to the Animation Building this time. Katie would love all of that. I heard about the Beast's library some time ago, and still want to see it. Although I always pictured taking pictures in there with Katie in a Belle costume. I guess I'll have to settle for a Belle t-shirt now. Sigh.

You look adorable in that ToT shot! I did miss the elevator coming off its track, but I preferred the DCA version just because I'm sort of a whimp on that ride, and I think their version is tamer. Maybe less drops? Or maybe it was that they didn't vary the drop sequence? We rode it 3 or 4 times in a row one EE morning.

 

[KelleyK75]

Just caught up. Mickey is too cute in the streetcar! The Animation Building looks really cool, especially Beast's library. And your TOT picture is great! It looks like you are having so much fun!!

 

[jenseib]

The interactive area that you guys stumbled upon looks really really cool. I even like the "no idea what they are" pictures. Jen, girl, you look 100% better than I do on Tower of Terror. I'm usually hanging on for dear life and screaming like demons are after me.

I crach up when I see that picture. I had a great time but it looks like I am crying!

We really HAVE to get over to the Animation Building this time. Katie would love all of that. I heard about the Beast's library some time ago, and still want to see it. Although I always pictured taking pictures in there with Katie in a Belle costume. I guess I'll have to settle for a Belle t-shirt now. Sigh.

You look adorable in that ToT shot! I did miss the elevator coming off its track, but I preferred the DCA version just because I'm sort of a whimp on that ride, and I think their version is tamer. Maybe less drops? Or maybe it was that they didn't vary the drop sequence? We rode it 3 or 4 times in a row one EE morning.

Bribe her!
I think this one had more drops. It might because it just took us by surprise when it dropped. I was laughing so hard.

Just caught up. Mickey is too cute in the streetcar! The Animation Building looks really cool, especially Beast's library. And your TOT picture is great! It looks like you are having so much fun!!

It really was a neat place and i know with claire I would be spending more time in there.
I had a blast. I know I say it over and over, but I really did have such a good time.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Those interactive rooms are amazing. This is something else for the to do list.

I know that the technology for Tower of Terror in California is completely different from Walt Disney World. They both freak me out though.

Corinna

 

[KatMark]

Jen, I think you are doing too much. You quoted me:

"Originally Posted by KatMark
I'm sorry you didn't like the Magic Bands/My Disney Experience. I have to admit how surprised I am that I actually liked it...we had such ease in changing FP+ selections, etc.

Thanks for posting that video...that was really cool.

The only thing I don't like about Turtle Talk with Crush are those stupid benches."

But you didn't type a response (I've done that often and had to go back and fix it ). Now off to read your update.

 

[KatMark]

The interactive area looks really neat. I love the Beast library.

It's funny how different the rides are at each park. I look forward to trying TOT at DL.

And your picture just shows that you are having a great time.

 

[jenseib]

I'm sorry you didn't like the Magic Bands/My Disney Experience. I have to admit how surprised I am that I actually liked it...we had such ease in changing FP+ selections, etc.

Thanks for posting that video...that was really cool.

The only thing I don't like about Turtle Talk with Crush are those stupid benches.

Jen, I think you are doing too much. You quoted me:

"Originally Posted by KatMark
I'm sorry you didn't like the Magic Bands/My Disney Experience. I have to admit how surprised I am that I actually liked it...we had such ease in changing FP+ selections, etc.

Thanks for posting that video...that was really cool.

The only thing I don't like about Turtle Talk with Crush are those stupid benches."

But you didn't type a response (I've done that often and had to go back and fix it ). Now off to read your update.

Oh my gosh! I am just a little crazy these days. LOL I am not purposely try to miss you or anyone for that matter.
The chairs were nice!!!! Much better!
The fp+'s really held up lines because people couldn't figure out how to scan. Plus the whole ap is messed up and people were losing spots or they times would change. When I write that report I will tell more.

 

[jenseib]

Those interactive rooms are amazing. This is something else for the to do list.

I know that the technology for Tower of Terror in California is completely different from Walt Disney World. They both freak me out though.

Corinna

LOL! Yeah, that quite the ride!

The interactive area looks really neat. I love the Beast library.

It's funny how different the rides are at each park. I look forward to trying TOT at DL.

And your picture just shows that you are having a great time.

It really is neat. I know Claire would love it in there.