rgoble5972
Are we there yet?
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2001
- Messages
- 276
CAST
Robin 42 Trip Report Writer, Hostess, Bringer of Butterfingers
Larry - 46 - Trip Report god, Weary Traveler, Stayer in Parks After Hours
Friday, October 21, 2005
I hate to be smug, but
Larry and I had been dubious about my ability to go on the Fitness walk this morning, given my trouble the day before, but I must have just had some kind of 24 hour bug because I woke up at 6:50 feeling okay. (Fit as a flea, as it turned out, it was me who struggled to keep up today, I was much better at power walking two days before, and when we did the stretching I almost fell over and had to lean on a dustbin, sorry Trash Can!!! L.
Larry stopped by the lounge to pick up some water for us to take with us and we were downstairs by 7:25. There was a bit larger crowd todayprobably 12 people or so. Dave and Brian were both leading the walk again today. Dave had mentioned yesterday that Brian might not be able to make the walk on Friday because he had classes some mornings. They had us do some stretches this morning before we started and we went on a bit different route today (which you will be glad to hear Im not going to re-create for you).
While we were stretching, Dave mentioned that the Grand Californian was the first Disney hotel that was built inside a theme park. Larry pointed out to Brian and I (in his most non-smug way, of course) that Dave wasnt entirely accurate. The Disneyland Hotel in Disneyland Paris is actually the entrance to Disneyland Paris and many of its rooms look out over Main Street. Brian was excited to have something to correct Dave about and said hed be sure to give Dave a hard time about it.
Larry also managed (again with nary a hint of smugnessDo you believe that? Yes? Well then Ive got a bridge in Brooklyn that Id like to sell to you!) to stump Brian with some Disney trivia by asking him if he knew what Disney attraction was in a different land (e.g. Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Adventureland, etc.) in each of the five Disney parks (WDW, Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Disney Sea Tokyo, and the new park in Hong Kong). Youll notice that Im not going to give the answer here because I think its good for you to have to stretch your brain a bit!
Once again, the walk was very enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone as a nice way to start their day (and to feel better about those Mickey ice cream bars that youre going to eat later).
After we finished the walk we said our good-byes to Dave and Brian and left to finish the sad chore of packing our things. We packed, stored our luggage with bell services and headed out to the Magic Kingdom to make the most of our last few hours. After all, I had told Larry that he was going to have to experience the original Tiki Room at least once before we left.
Once inside the park, we went to Adventureland to get Fast Passes for Indiana Jones (with a return time of 9:40-10:40). The next showing of the Tiki Room had just started so we popped into the River Belle Terrace again for some breakfast. After wed eaten, it was time for our ride on Indiana Jones.
Our timing was still off for the Tiki Room (though we stopped and got some pineapple juice while we were there), so we went to Tomorrowland to get Fast Passes for Space Mountain (12:10 1:10). While we were there, Star Tours was a walk-on so we rode that as well. (Gosh you will be shocked to hear that, yet again, we didnt make it to Endor- L.)
It was now do-or-die time for the Tiki room and, as luck would have it, a new show was just about to start as we walked up. There was no way out for poor Larry. I say poor Larry but did you know that he knows all the words to the Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room? And I mean *all* the wordsthe dialogue and everything! Scary, I know. (Hey I like both shows, And yes I do know all the words, and I also know them to Carousel of Progress and to the show us your balls song! - L. )
After the Tiki Room (I do like this original version a bit better than the new one but I have to admit that I missed Iagos joke about the Hall of Presidents!), we checked the Matterhorn, but found a long line there so we went on the Storybook Canal boats instead.
After our boat ride, we went to Innoventions to have a look around. They were just about to start a demonstration of ASIMO (brought to you by Honda!) so we went in to see that. Larry had seen a similar demonstration at Epcot the year before, so it was fitting that he get to see another one on the opposite side of the country.
I almost got to see a third demonstration at the Honda Stand at the Bike Show in Birmingham, I went down there with Kevin Rushforth Big Disney Fan and fellow biker, though he has a sports bike so uncomfortable that my bottom was hurting on his bike, and I was only sat on it in the garage-, a week or two after I got back from LA. But we missed it by one day, but I did manage to blag a ASIMO Pen, result or what???? L.
After the ASIMO show (brought to you by Honda), it was (sadly) time for our Space Mountain Fast Passes and then time to leave. We went back to the hotel and stopped in the lounge for a last drink to take with us. We collected our bags from bell services and valet brought Larrys rental car around. Larry was nice enough to drive me to the airport since my plane left before his. Id ridden with him before when I visited him in Scotland this summer so I had experienced his driving on the left side of the road (as is the custom theresilly, but the custom) quite a bit. This was my first time, however, to ride with him in America with him having to drive on the right (and when I say right I mean correct!) side of the road. Im almost sad to report that he did an excellent job and I was neither scared by his driving on the right side of the road or by his driving in Los Angeles traffic. (Ah but what you are forgetting Robin, is Ive done Rock and Roller Coaster about 20 times in Paris and Orlando, so I know about whizzing through the sprawl that is LA at breakneck speed.- L.)
CONCLUSION
So, thats another trip over and in the record books and another really nice time at Disney.
October seems to be a good time to visit Disneyland. The crowds were very manageable this trip. We only had to use Fast Pass on the more popular rides and all the others were generally walk-ons. The operating hours were shortened and the fireworks/parades were on a limited schedule but we had time to fit in everything that we wanted to do (with the exception of Fantasmic!, which only ran on Saturday night).
Except for the little bit of rain we had on Monday, the weather was great the rest of the week. We were comfortable wearing trousers and shirts during the day, with a light jacket at night.
I love the Grand Californian hotel and think the convenience of it to the parks cant be beat. I would gladly stay there every visit. Having said that, however, I like the look of the Disneyland Hotel and Paradise Pier as well. I think were going to try out Paradise Pier on our next trip to economize a bit, so well have to get back to you on that one.
Thanks for staying with us throughout the trip report. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me. If you have any criticisms, feel free to email Larry! Until next timeRobin.
OK well its time to finish off now, thank you for reading Robins report, I hope you enjoyed It, I know I did. I think its my turn to write the TR next time, and Robins turn to comment. There is a weekend planned at Disneyland Resort for March, so I guess it will be then, and Im sure hoping that there will be a Special TR from WDW in the summer. But all that is for another time. Thanks for reading. Cheers Larry.
Robin 42 Trip Report Writer, Hostess, Bringer of Butterfingers
Larry - 46 - Trip Report god, Weary Traveler, Stayer in Parks After Hours
Friday, October 21, 2005
I hate to be smug, but
Larry and I had been dubious about my ability to go on the Fitness walk this morning, given my trouble the day before, but I must have just had some kind of 24 hour bug because I woke up at 6:50 feeling okay. (Fit as a flea, as it turned out, it was me who struggled to keep up today, I was much better at power walking two days before, and when we did the stretching I almost fell over and had to lean on a dustbin, sorry Trash Can!!! L.
Larry stopped by the lounge to pick up some water for us to take with us and we were downstairs by 7:25. There was a bit larger crowd todayprobably 12 people or so. Dave and Brian were both leading the walk again today. Dave had mentioned yesterday that Brian might not be able to make the walk on Friday because he had classes some mornings. They had us do some stretches this morning before we started and we went on a bit different route today (which you will be glad to hear Im not going to re-create for you).
While we were stretching, Dave mentioned that the Grand Californian was the first Disney hotel that was built inside a theme park. Larry pointed out to Brian and I (in his most non-smug way, of course) that Dave wasnt entirely accurate. The Disneyland Hotel in Disneyland Paris is actually the entrance to Disneyland Paris and many of its rooms look out over Main Street. Brian was excited to have something to correct Dave about and said hed be sure to give Dave a hard time about it.
Larry also managed (again with nary a hint of smugnessDo you believe that? Yes? Well then Ive got a bridge in Brooklyn that Id like to sell to you!) to stump Brian with some Disney trivia by asking him if he knew what Disney attraction was in a different land (e.g. Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Adventureland, etc.) in each of the five Disney parks (WDW, Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Disney Sea Tokyo, and the new park in Hong Kong). Youll notice that Im not going to give the answer here because I think its good for you to have to stretch your brain a bit!
Once again, the walk was very enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone as a nice way to start their day (and to feel better about those Mickey ice cream bars that youre going to eat later).
After we finished the walk we said our good-byes to Dave and Brian and left to finish the sad chore of packing our things. We packed, stored our luggage with bell services and headed out to the Magic Kingdom to make the most of our last few hours. After all, I had told Larry that he was going to have to experience the original Tiki Room at least once before we left.
Once inside the park, we went to Adventureland to get Fast Passes for Indiana Jones (with a return time of 9:40-10:40). The next showing of the Tiki Room had just started so we popped into the River Belle Terrace again for some breakfast. After wed eaten, it was time for our ride on Indiana Jones.
Our timing was still off for the Tiki Room (though we stopped and got some pineapple juice while we were there), so we went to Tomorrowland to get Fast Passes for Space Mountain (12:10 1:10). While we were there, Star Tours was a walk-on so we rode that as well. (Gosh you will be shocked to hear that, yet again, we didnt make it to Endor- L.)
It was now do-or-die time for the Tiki room and, as luck would have it, a new show was just about to start as we walked up. There was no way out for poor Larry. I say poor Larry but did you know that he knows all the words to the Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room? And I mean *all* the wordsthe dialogue and everything! Scary, I know. (Hey I like both shows, And yes I do know all the words, and I also know them to Carousel of Progress and to the show us your balls song! - L. )
After the Tiki Room (I do like this original version a bit better than the new one but I have to admit that I missed Iagos joke about the Hall of Presidents!), we checked the Matterhorn, but found a long line there so we went on the Storybook Canal boats instead.
After our boat ride, we went to Innoventions to have a look around. They were just about to start a demonstration of ASIMO (brought to you by Honda!) so we went in to see that. Larry had seen a similar demonstration at Epcot the year before, so it was fitting that he get to see another one on the opposite side of the country.
I almost got to see a third demonstration at the Honda Stand at the Bike Show in Birmingham, I went down there with Kevin Rushforth Big Disney Fan and fellow biker, though he has a sports bike so uncomfortable that my bottom was hurting on his bike, and I was only sat on it in the garage-, a week or two after I got back from LA. But we missed it by one day, but I did manage to blag a ASIMO Pen, result or what???? L.
After the ASIMO show (brought to you by Honda), it was (sadly) time for our Space Mountain Fast Passes and then time to leave. We went back to the hotel and stopped in the lounge for a last drink to take with us. We collected our bags from bell services and valet brought Larrys rental car around. Larry was nice enough to drive me to the airport since my plane left before his. Id ridden with him before when I visited him in Scotland this summer so I had experienced his driving on the left side of the road (as is the custom theresilly, but the custom) quite a bit. This was my first time, however, to ride with him in America with him having to drive on the right (and when I say right I mean correct!) side of the road. Im almost sad to report that he did an excellent job and I was neither scared by his driving on the right side of the road or by his driving in Los Angeles traffic. (Ah but what you are forgetting Robin, is Ive done Rock and Roller Coaster about 20 times in Paris and Orlando, so I know about whizzing through the sprawl that is LA at breakneck speed.- L.)
CONCLUSION
So, thats another trip over and in the record books and another really nice time at Disney.
October seems to be a good time to visit Disneyland. The crowds were very manageable this trip. We only had to use Fast Pass on the more popular rides and all the others were generally walk-ons. The operating hours were shortened and the fireworks/parades were on a limited schedule but we had time to fit in everything that we wanted to do (with the exception of Fantasmic!, which only ran on Saturday night).
Except for the little bit of rain we had on Monday, the weather was great the rest of the week. We were comfortable wearing trousers and shirts during the day, with a light jacket at night.
I love the Grand Californian hotel and think the convenience of it to the parks cant be beat. I would gladly stay there every visit. Having said that, however, I like the look of the Disneyland Hotel and Paradise Pier as well. I think were going to try out Paradise Pier on our next trip to economize a bit, so well have to get back to you on that one.
Thanks for staying with us throughout the trip report. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me. If you have any criticisms, feel free to email Larry! Until next timeRobin.
OK well its time to finish off now, thank you for reading Robins report, I hope you enjoyed It, I know I did. I think its my turn to write the TR next time, and Robins turn to comment. There is a weekend planned at Disneyland Resort for March, so I guess it will be then, and Im sure hoping that there will be a Special TR from WDW in the summer. But all that is for another time. Thanks for reading. Cheers Larry.
), which just made them funnier!
