Just back- some helpful info

[PinkBudgie]

I'm sorry - this is WAY not the point, but WHERE are these magical travel centers where you get chocolate banana coffee??? *Must have*
I live in Southern CA, if that helps. They are along the 5 to Northern CA?

Yes, on 5. They are called Travel Centers of America and they have the big TA signs along the road. They are other places too, but we stop at the ones on 5.

We stop at Button Willow on the way down and can confirm that they have the chocolate banana there. They are serve yourself.

The other one we stop at is on 5 going north just after the Grape Vine. Also had chocolate banana.

Here is a link to their map of places along 5 but you can do a search forall of them in CA. They usually have good gas prices, a store with coffee and many other items, and a restaurant or two. The one by the Grape Vine was nicer than the Button Willow one, we thought.

http://www.tatravelcenters.com/find-a-location.php?state=&highway=i-5

 

[LisainCalifornia]

I like the exit with all of the new places around Tejon Pass. At least the bathrooms are clean and there are no flies buzzing around the eating places.

I don't like flavored coffee, so to me banana coffee just sounds not good! We also bring our coffeemaker to our hotel (not Kuerig, Tassimo).

 

[katiemac1875]

So on WOC.... You go down a little ways and the go right to the firehydrant? from my aerial view I thought it was left... I am so confused! I wish someone could tell me exactly what to do. We will be there for our first time ever next week and I am totally trying to understand it! I even printed out an aerial view to take with me! ha!

 

[rentayenta]

We love BTMRR at night. Especially during the fireworks. It is a must do of ours. During the fireworks the line is always non-existent which makes for an extremely fun 3-4 times riding right in a row. I'll usually wait the 2 hours for a prime fireworks spot once during the trip but DH and the kids prefer to ride-n-watch.

 

[LuvindisCruiser]

We love BTMRR at night. Especially during the fireworks. It is a must do of ours. During the fireworks the line is always non-existent which makes for an extremely fun 3-4 times riding right in a row. I'll usually wait the 2 hours for a prime fireworks spot once during the trip but DH and the kids prefer to ride-n-watch.

One year we did BTMRR during the fireworks, and it was totally awesome !
One of my favorite memories. I'm going to try to do that again when we go this weekend !

 

[PinkBudgie]

I like the exit with all of the new places around Tejon Pass. At least the bathrooms are clean and there are no flies buzzing around the eating places.

I don't like flavored coffee, so to me banana coffee just sounds not good! We also bring our coffeemaker to our hotel (not Kuerig, Tassimo).

Actually, we don't like flavored coffee either. It always tastes like tobacco smells and is too weak. This one has a good flavor and is creamy. Probably more like a hot chocolate drink but I believe it has coffee in it. Sometimes we mix in a tad of straight coffee in with it.

So on WOC.... You go down a little ways and the go right to the firehydrant? from my aerial view I thought it was left... I am so confused! I wish someone could tell me exactly what to do. We will be there for our first time ever next week and I am totally trying to understand it! I even printed out an aerial view to take with me! ha!

Go down to the second to the last post on this page: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2501719&page=9
You can see the hydrant and where it is located. We were not actually standing on that spot but just to the right of that lamp post where the little short railing is. About room for 4 of us to stand there. Either side of that lamp post is probably very good.

We love BTMRR at night. Especially during the fireworks. It is a must do of ours. During the fireworks the line is always non-existent which makes for an extremely fun 3-4 times riding right in a row. I'll usually wait the 2 hours for a prime fireworks spot once during the trip but DH and the kids prefer to ride-n-watch.

We love doing the Materhorn during the fireworks too!

 

[pinksand]

Thanks PinkBudgie! Next road trip we will check it out!

 

[smiley_face2]

We also bring our coffeemaker to our hotel (not Kuerig, Tassimo).

I wanted to bring our Tassimo, but our daughter wants us to pleeeeeaaaase leave it at home! lol...I'm excited because there are some cool types you can get in the US but not up here in Canada (yet) so on the agenda is a stop to load up on Tassimo pods to bring home. Hubby says it's one of the best things we've bought in years!

 

[smiley_face2]

Actually, we don't like flavored coffee either. It always tastes like tobacco smells and is too weak. This one has a good flavor and is creamy. Probably more like a hot chocolate drink but I believe it has coffee in it. Sometimes we mix in a tad of straight coffee in with it.



Go down to the second to the last post on this page: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2501719&page=9
You can see the hydrant and where it is located. We were not actually standing on that spot but just to the right of that lamp post where the little short railing is. About room for 4 of us to stand there. Either side of that lamp post is probably very good.



We love doing the Materhorn during the fireworks too!

thanks for the good tips! banana is my favorite flavor for everything else, so I will for sure be trying one of these. We also stop at these stops, they are great, even having a basket of fresh ripe bananas near the tills which we like to grab. We were going to do the Ariels dinner for WOC one night, we really want to try the food there it sounds good, and we can't get tri-tip up here in Canada! so we try it everywhere we find it down there. the other place they had amazing tri-tip was at the Hearst Castley, which we will be going for again!! But for the other nights we want to see WOC, we were going to get FP's. I will scout out the hydrant before hand

 

[MyYearWithTheMouse]

Sounds very cool! Glad you had a good time!

 

[PinkBudgie]

My parents have a Tassimo and I have noticed that the pods are harder to find in the stores than the K-cups. I think Bed, Bath, and Beyond usually has them and they always have coupons if you can get your hands on one and happen to find a store on your travels.

We did Ariel's WOC last summer. We all enjoyed it and had the tri tip. Not absouletly amazing, but definately good. We lined up early last year and got great spots at the railing. That was when they didn't divide up the colors into lines like they did this year. Last year every section stood in one giant crowd by the Mermaid ride and then you walked to your section where they took your ticket there. It was much more organized this year.

 

[Disneylovers2000]

My parents have a Tassimo and I have noticed that the pods are harder to find in the stores than the K-cups. I think Bed, Bath, and Beyond usually has them and they always have coupons if you can get your hands on one and happen to find a store on your travels.

We did Ariel's WOC last summer. We all enjoyed it and had the tri tip. Not absouletly amazing, but definately good. We lined up early last year and got great spots at the railing. That was when they didn't divide up the colors into lines like they did this year. Last year every section stood in one giant crowd by the Mermaid ride and then you walked to your section where they took your ticket there. It was much more organized this year.

I agree, it was much more organized this year! I will give them that much!!lol

 

[LisainCalifornia]

My parents have a Tassimo and I have noticed that the pods are harder to find in the stores than the K-cups. I think Bed, Bath, and Beyond usually has them and they always have coupons if you can get your hands on one and happen to find a store on your travels.

I bought my Tassimo at Bed Bath and Beyond--but that store is sort of far from my house in the Bay Area. We live in the Orinda/Moraga area, and it is in Pleasant Hill. Luckily, they sell the Tassimo Coffee discs (t-discs) at our local Safeway which is right by our house.

I have tried my sister in law's Keurig many times and it is great too--but the coffee seems a little weaker and not as hot to me, and I really like my coffee a certain strength and temperature. I may eventually end up getting a Keurig just due to the variety of coffees and ease of obtainig them, and will save our Tassimo for traveling--but so far I haven't got the that point! I hate that they lost their contract with Starbuck and no longer make those discs!

They also sell t-discs at Target if anyone is looking for them.

Smiley--I love taking our Tassimo (we have the smaller white one) with us when we travel! I took it to the Grand Californian with us and would make my coffee before my girls got up. I sat on my balcony and sipped it and people watched the people in downtown disney. I love not having to leave the room to get it. Once I had my first cup, I would throw on a little dress and run down to white water snacks and get their girls their Mickey waffels.

I plan on taking it again on Sunday when we go again!

 

[PinkBudgie]

It depends on what Kcup you buy. Most people seem to like weak coffee but we order from Amazon and always get Dark Extra Bold. We don't like the flavored ones because they are always so light and taste like tobacco. So I always add cinnamon to mine after it is brewed. Our smaller keurig that we take with us actually makes hotter coffee than our big one. The big one isn't bad but we do like it at tad hotter.