Lots of Completed Trip Reports....Nov 2009 - April 2014

WOW your pictures are great. Parade action shots at night are difficult. I can't even get a castle pic to turn out at night and they aren't moving!

I feel like I was there with you. I liked your summary of the party. :thumbsup2
 
WOW your pictures are great. Parade action shots at night are difficult. I can't even get a castle pic to turn out at night and they aren't moving!

I feel like I was there with you. I liked your summary of the party. :thumbsup2

Thanks for hanging in there with me! I know this is dragging on and on and on. If it weren't for you chiming in I would feel like I'm talking to myself...even though I know I'm not. :laughing: Anyway...I'm working on pics for Day 3 right now. :thumbsup2
 
I really enjoyed seeing the Halloween party pictures. I have been to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party the last 2 years and it is nice to be able to compare the two parties. I may have to go west to try out the Disneyland version.
 
I really enjoyed seeing the Halloween party pictures. I have been to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party the last 2 years and it is nice to be able to compare the two parties. I may have to go west to try out the Disneyland version.

So glad to see you're still around eeyore. :) What kind of differences are there between the 2? Does it feel less crowded than a regular day? I was so shocked by how crowded it was/felt compared to our days. I remember reading that the MNSSHP had more of a "real" parade as well.

Still working on Day 3 pictures...
 

The Boo to You parade is great. They have characters from the Haunted Mansion "come to life" and a lot of characters in their Halloween costumes.
The only time it felt really crowded was for the parade and Hallowishes fireworks. About the only thing we stood in line for was for a picture with all seven of the dwarves. Almost all the rides were walk ons.
 
The Boo to You parade is great. They have characters from the Haunted Mansion "come to life" and a lot of characters in their Halloween costumes.
The only time it felt really crowded was for the parade and Hallowishes fireworks. About the only thing we stood in line for was for a picture with all seven of the dwarves. Almost all the rides were walk ons.

Oooohhh, I'd love to see Haunted Mansion characters come to life. Sounds like a nice party!
 
We decided when we got home from the party that it might be best for us to sleep in on Wednesday. We didn't set any alarms or anything. Kind of a dangerous thing in hotel rooms...given how it can seem like 4am when it's really noon with those heavy curtains and all.

And sleep in we did! Disneyland opened at 9am. I think it was around 11:30 or noon when we finally got over there. M48 wanted to pop into The Disney Gallery, so that was our first stop.

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Thought this was amusing. The 1986 part. :laughing:

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This is so true for me... :love:

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Here's something that I need to be reminded of often...Disneyland wasn't meant to remain the same forever.

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Hello old friends...

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"The Bench" where it all started...

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I love this one...

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I'm glad we took the time to go through the gallery. So many cool things to see in there. I :love: Disneyland.

OK. We were definitely overdue for lunch by this time. We decided to go to one of our favorite lunch spots -- the Hungry Bear. I ordered a chicken sandwich. It was pretty good.

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I especially love getting a table by the water and watching the Mark Twain sail by.

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Let's take a closer look at some of the happy people in that last picture...

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After lunch we wandered over to Haunted Mansion.

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Then we decided to take the train over to Tomorrowland. Waiting in line for the train wasn't all that fun. I guess because there was actually a line. I haven't stood in line for the train since the '90s. Recent trips have always been walk right up and just get on the train if it's there, or get on the next one that pulls in. At least 2 trains passed us by. Maybe even 3. The whole reason for riding the train was to save M48's feet/tailbone.

Random in line pic.

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As we waited in line I admit I was starting to feel a bit antsy. I checked the time and realized my kids were out of school and I had only 1 ride under my belt for the day. :eek:
 
The Boo to You parade is great. They have characters from the Haunted Mansion "come to life" and a lot of characters in their Halloween costumes.
The only time it felt really crowded was for the parade and Hallowishes fireworks. About the only thing we stood in line for was for a picture with all seven of the dwarves. Almost all the rides were walk ons.

I agree. I loved the Boo to You parade especially the headless horseman that rides before the parade.
 
WAhoo! A great trip through the Disney Gallery - I loved the Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow plaques. Next we were treated to lunch somewhere I've never been and a turn through the Haunted Mansion Holiday.
Only one ride?? You did laze about this morning.

Where are we going next?? :woohoo:
 
WAhoo! A great trip through the Disney Gallery - I loved the Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow plaques. Next we were treated to lunch somewhere I've never been and a turn through the Haunted Mansion Holiday.
Only one ride?? You did laze about this morning.

Where are we going next?? :woohoo:

:rotfl: Well, since you asked... we are riding the train to Tomorrowland and then catching a ride on Autopia!

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I know a lot of people skip over this one, but even kid-less I need to ride it. I sure missed having my 4 year old next to me, though. Squealing such a happy squeal.

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(Anyone remember the Fantasyland Autopia?)

Mom had a lot of trouble with her car. She stalled a total of 13 times. But she was always able to start it up again.

A picture of "M's Trees." (M as in my older sister.) She's always loved this clump of trees.

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From here we went to the subs. Wouldn't really be my first pick for that time of day, but we were right there. Actually our wait was only 15 minutes, so it was fine.

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These bubbles are so deceiving. I don't even want to admit my age when I finally realized that we weren't actually descending deep below the surface! :rolleyes1 Actually I'm not sure of the exact age. I do know I was far too old, though. I guess that "magic" just stayed with me from the time I was a little girl riding the old gray submarine voyage. :)

And speaking of the old subs... scenes like this make me feel like I am still riding it.

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We completed our voyage and began to disembark. As D36 was walking by the CM in the middle of the sub...you know, the one where all you see is his legs? She couldn't resist and actually reached out to grab his legs! She called up to him, "Does anyone ever reach out and grab your legs as they walk by?" He said, "All the time!"

Moving on to Captain EO.

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I was kind of on the fence about seeing this one. I watched it when it came out in the mid 80s, but I remember absolutely nothing about it. So I didn't have that nostalgic pull to see it again. D36 really wanted to see it, though, so we all went. I'm glad I went but I don't feel the need or desire to see it again. Nothing was familiar to me, and the 3-D effect seemed to be off. I had to hold the glasses way out in front of me and it still kind of hurt my eyes.

From here we hopped on the Monorail and rode to DTD. The plan was to walk through DTD and then spend the last couple of hours at DCA. I had to pop into the Lego store for the sake of my 3 Lego Maniac Boys.

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More signs of Halloween:

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(It feels kind of funny posting Halloween stuff while I'm listening to Christmas music. Yep, I broke my "No Christmas music before Thanksgiving" rule.)

We decided to hit Soarin' first. D36 and M48 were worried about this one, from a motion sickness standpoint. Our nearly 72 year old mother wasn't worried. In case you haven't noticed...she does everything ride-wise! Anyway, I told my sisters I can do Soarin' just fine, but I haven't been able to do Star Tours for years. I told them they could always close their eyes or look off to the side if that yucky feeling started coming on.

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So we were off! I'm sad to report that I broke my streak. My streak of never having stood in this line for more than 3 minutes, that is. Get this... I actually had to stand in line for 5 MINUTES! The nerve! ;) It was 6:00 on a Wednesday evening and we didn't have FPs either. Crazy. Anyway, the ride was a big hit with all. D36 was feeling the yuckiness come on at the very end and needed to rest when we got out, but everyone was glad they went. Soarin' in DCA is my Pirates in Disneyland. Meaning, if I went to DCA and could only ride one ride, Soarin' would definitely be the one. :)

While D36 was resting, we had Mom stand by the old gas pumps and pose while we took pictures of her with her hat hair. (When she removed her Mickey baseball cap for Soarin' we all got a good laugh out of her stylin' hair.) She was a very good sport and obliged her daughters' request.

I thought a ride on Heimlich's Chew Chew Train would be a nice calm ride so we headed over there.

OK, these signs of Christmas were not up 2 days ago when we passed through to see Aladdin!

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I remember we stopped at that cute Kleenex box restroom and then got a churro before riding Heimlich. The whole reason I took this next picture was because I was really missing my kids.

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Last year, my littlest guy who was 3 at the time, thought this sign meant "No Dancing Allowed" and "You're Not Allowed To Wear Seat Belts." ;)

D36 and M48 wanted to ride Mickey's Fun Wheel. I thought about riding TSMM while they rode the wheel, but I couldn't bring myself to stand in that long of a line by myself. No one else was interested in riding that one. So Mom and I just sat and enjoyed the Pier and the lights while we waited.

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Up next... California Screamin'! M48 hasn't been able to do coasters of any kind for around 20 years, so it was a really big deal that she rode Big Thunder, Matterhorn, etc. And now she was up for trying Screamin' since the others weren't giving her any motion sickness troubles. :woohoo: So again, all 4 of us rode. I realized that I've only ridden this one at night. (In my whole 3 times of riding it. ;) I can only handle it once, which is sad to me because it's exactly the kind of roller coaster I would have spent all day on in my teen years. Surprisingly, though, I didn't get a headache this time as opposed to my other 2 times.)

Our ride picture was so funny. None of them knew a picture would be taken. My mom totally looked like she was taking a nap. M48 looked like she was nonchalantly cleaning her teeth with her tongue, doing it in a way that would be inconspicuous. D36 looked like she was enjoying an afternoon stroll on the beach. I was my normal "squinty so my contacts don't dry out and fly off my eyeballs" self.

So mom and I handled this one just fine. The other 2 were feeling a little icky, D36 more so than M48. D 36 was ready to call it a night. It was about 7:30 by this time. Closing time was 8:00. D36 headed back to Disneyland to clean out our locker and just sit on Main Street.

Mom, M48 and I went to ride GRR. We waited until the end for this one so we wouldn't have to walk around in wet clothes for long. Of course it was a walk-on. A little 7 year old boy joined us. Apparently his mom told him to try to ride with us because we looked like nice ladies. She was sitting out with a baby. I have a 7 year old boy so of course having this little guy ride with us and "showing us the ropes" (even though I had ridden before) reminded me of my own 7 year old. It was a fun ride and we didn't get nearly as soaked as we had envisioned.

DCA closing time. We danced our way out of the gates to California Dreamin' by The Mamas and The Papas. A perfect way to end our DCA evening. We met up with D36 who apparently really enjoyed some alone time on Main Street. Let's just say the wheels began turning for an AP upgrade... Sitting on Main Street in Disneyland is therapeutic, I tell you!

And that concludes DAY 3!
 
I have a new goal to get this thing wrapped up before leaving town for Thanksgiving, so let's get on with Day 4...

Disneyland opened at 9am, with a MM at 8am. I tried to convince everyone else (non-APers) to go for MM. I don't think I'm a very good convincer though, as I'm not totally sold on the greatness of MM myself. I've only been in DL for 2 MMs. One was great. The other was extremely disappointing and left me wondering what the big deal about MM was. Anyway, they basically didn't want to go and leave me behind. I said I would walk over with them, hang out, take pictures, etc. I didn't mind AT ALL if they went in -- I wanted them to. There was no convincing them, so we left the hotel at 8:15 for the 9am opening. As we were standing in the short turnstile line, I tried my hand at talking them into going in. There was no reason for them not to. Finally, at 8:40, after lots of "Are you sure?"s, they went in. At 8:45 they started letting the rest of us go in and hang out on Main Street. I snapped another picture of Chef Oscar. You know how I love seeing all the CMs in their Mickey hands. :goodvibes

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I crossed the street and tried the ol' trick of walking through the shops and waiting by the door in the last shop for rope drop, but for some reason they weren't letting people wait there. So I went back outside.

Crowds waiting to be set free!

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My plan was to go to Space Mountain and get FPs. Then I realized (duh!) that I only had my own ticket. So I texted D36 and told her to meet me by Space with everyone's tickets. I can't remember what they were doing -- just kind of walking around, I think. They got there before me, I went and grabbed FPs, and then we decided to just hit whatever rides we hadn't yet. We began to trek over to Fantasyland. (I know...who goes to Fantasyland right after rope drop on a MM day?!? Apparently us.)

Some random vegetable patches we passed on our way. :confused:

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First on our list was Storybook Canal. Gotta get some flower pics.

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About to be swallowed...

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Oh look...another lamppost! ;)

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Our tour guide was soooo into his job. I think he kept his eyes closed the whole time, though. (Side note: I remember when I was 6 years old I got to sit up there with the tour guide for the whole ride as a little assistant. I wonder if they let kids do that anymore?)

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Continuing on with more Fantasyland...
 
So continuing on through Fantasyland...

I couldn't pass these flowers by the Teacups without taking pictures, or touching them. Yes, they are as velvety as they look. ;)

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Dumbo was our next destination. Wow, I wonder when the last time was that I rode Dumbo with my mom??? So fun!

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We rode Peter Pan next, but my camera battery died while we were in line, so no pics here.

After PP we very lazily made our way over to Blue Bayou for lunch. Pics taken along the way...

The Disney Family Crest:

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After passing through the castle we walked around the Carnation Plaza Gardens area and reminisced about old times. We were trying to figure out how the Carnation ice cream place fit into that area. It just looked too small. Anyway, we sure miss getting our ice cream back there.

Continuing on our way...

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I like this tree.

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Up next...lunch at Blue Bayou.
 
I'm still here!!:banana: I know all too well that feeling of talking to yourself in a TR, and wondering if anyone will chime in. It's nice to have interaction and feedback. Or you feel like you are wasting your time!!

I wish I could get in here to chime in more often, and I mean that literally. For some reason, my very ancient and ailing PC has a heck of a time with your TR and loading the pages. Some TR's are like that for my computer and others are not. I think my own TR, which started off with extra large photos at the beginning (2 years ago), was doing that for some people. Their machines would lock up on my TR. Even my PC was locking up on my own Trip Report!!:rotfl2: So when I changed the size of the photos that seemed to help a little. My PC will still lock up on TR's that don't even have many photos, or the photos are smaller, so there is no logic behind it all. Some TRs that are really, really long (like 3 times as many pages as my own) will freeze up the ol' PC, too,

Anyway, I love the photos, as always. What I have to do is access them by clicking on the links in the e-mail subscription alerts - that seems to work better for me than trying to view them in the TR when the PC is being temperamental. I LOVE the big photos because you can see the colors and details so much better.

What was I going to comment on...

1. One of the main reasons I was sad to not go to the MHP this year was because of Jack Sparrow, since he does not appear any other time of year at DLR...because he was cruelly removed from regularly appearing at DLR under the guise of 'not being very popular.' Yeah, right. Who believes that? He was a little too popular, in fact.

2. It does look like they sold too many tickets to the MHP. Too many people for an exclusive party, I think. Even though folks seem to have differing opinions of whether crowds were really bad or not too bad at all, in every photo I've seen it looks like there were a lot of people. I noticed this when I went to the TOTP in DCA 2 years ago - it was not all that uncrowded. I think they should really cut the number of tickets down considerably to make it more exclusive-feeling.

3. I agree about the trick or treating - it's not something I have done since childhood, and the only place you can get away with trick or treating as an adult is at Disneyland. At Disneyland, anything is possible. So if I shell out money for that darn party in 2011 - and I most likely will - you're darn tootin' that I am going to get my candy! Even if I give it all away and only hoard my favorites from the bunch, I'm loading up the bag!

4. I hope hope hope that DLR comes to its senses and puts some form of Halloween decor in DCA next year. Yes, yes, there's the contruction work and all that, but they CAN do it if they want to. If they can do it for the holidays, they can do it for Halloween. I really think DCA needs to be included in the Halloween Time festivities, and what I've seen in this year's photos just ain't cuttin' it.

5. That safety sign ("keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle" is hilarious. I mean the one with the red line through it - showing you what you're not supposed to be doing. It sort of looks like dancing...and it sort of looks like some sort of calisthenic move ("...and one, and two, and up, and stretch, and three, and four....")...and it sort of looks like two people doing the 'Y' in the "YMCA" dance.

I'm pretty sure that no one is going to be dancing, exercising OR forming letters from Village People songs on these rides, so DLR might want to re-think the sign.;)

6. Clearly, the Autopia cars need to be repaired - I'm glad to know that we were not the only ones who had cars that stalled! I still love that ride because it reminds me of how excited I was to ride it when I was a kid (and yes, I remember the Fantasyland Autopia very well!!). But the vehicles must be on their last legs, even though these are the newer models.

7. If I were only going to ride one thing in DCA, it would be TSMM! But Soarin' would be a close second. Let's just say that if I were given 30 minutes to get in line and ride TSMM in DCA and I got it done in 29 minutes and 40 seconds, I would be trying to squeeze in Soarin' in those last 20 seconds! But I totally agree about Pirates - that is my favorite ride in DL, which I would never miss...even though I missed it last Saturday when I was at DLR. LOL!!




How are you feeling now? Is the strep all gone? As someone who has suffered from chronic tonsilitis all her life - which has many of the same symptoms - I can totally relate. You feel so run down and that 'sick' feeling is just miserable...and it lingers on forever, it seems. Gotta love Zithromax's Z-pak!

I'm pretty sure there was more I was going to comment on, but I wanted to get this much in while you were still here (before you go away for Thanksgiving) to read it. Can't wait to read the rest of the TR!!

I see that you and some others commented in my TR a couple of days ago, so I am heading over there to reply now!!
 
Deej how do you find all these things I've never seen before? I appreciate all the reasons to return to my happy place :worship::worship:

Can't wait for lunch!
 
I'm still here!!:banana: I know all too well that feeling of talking to yourself in a TR, and wondering if anyone will chime in. It's nice to have interaction and feedback. Or you feel like you are wasting your time!!

I wish I could get in here to chime in more often, and I mean that literally. For some reason, my very ancient and ailing PC has a heck of a time with your TR and loading the pages. Some TR's are like that for my computer and others are not. I think my own TR, which started off with extra large photos at the beginning (2 years ago), was doing that for some people. Their machines would lock up on my TR. Even my PC was locking up on my own Trip Report!!:rotfl2: So when I changed the size of the photos that seemed to help a little. My PC will still lock up on TR's that don't even have many photos, or the photos are smaller, so there is no logic behind it all. Some TRs that are really, really long (like 3 times as many pages as my own) will freeze up the ol' PC, too,

Anyway, I love the photos, as always. What I have to do is access them by clicking on the links in the e-mail subscription alerts - that seems to work better for me than trying to view them in the TR when the PC is being temperamental. I LOVE the big photos because you can see the colors and details so much better.

What was I going to comment on...

1. One of the main reasons I was sad to not go to the MHP this year was because of Jack Sparrow, since he does not appear any other time of year at DLR...because he was cruelly removed from regularly appearing at DLR under the guise of 'not being very popular.' Yeah, right. Who believes that? He was a little too popular, in fact.

2. It does look like they sold too many tickets to the MHP. Too many people for an exclusive party, I think. Even though folks seem to have differing opinions of whether crowds were really bad or not too bad at all, in every photo I've seen it looks like there were a lot of people. I noticed this when I went to the TOTP in DCA 2 years ago - it was not all that uncrowded. I think they should really cut the number of tickets down considerably to make it more exclusive-feeling.

3. I agree about the trick or treating - it's not something I have done since childhood, and the only place you can get away with trick or treating as an adult is at Disneyland. At Disneyland, anything is possible. So if I shell out money for that darn party in 2011 - and I most likely will - you're darn tootin' that I am going to get my candy! Even if I give it all away and only hoard my favorites from the bunch, I'm loading up the bag!

4. I hope hope hope that DLR comes to its senses and puts some form of Halloween decor in DCA next year. Yes, yes, there's the contruction work and all that, but they CAN do it if they want to. If they can do it for the holidays, they can do it for Halloween. I really think DCA needs to be included in the Halloween Time festivities, and what I've seen in this year's photos just ain't cuttin' it.

5. That safety sign ("keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle" is hilarious. I mean the one with the red line through it - showing you what you're not supposed to be doing. It sort of looks like dancing...and it sort of looks like some sort of calisthenic move ("...and one, and two, and up, and stretch, and three, and four....")...and it sort of looks like two people doing the 'Y' in the "YMCA" dance.

I'm pretty sure that no one is going to be dancing, exercising OR forming letters from Village People songs on these rides, so DLR might want to re-think the sign.;)

6. Clearly, the Autopia cars need to be repaired - I'm glad to know that we were not the only ones who had cars that stalled! I still love that ride because it reminds me of how excited I was to ride it when I was a kid (and yes, I remember the Fantasyland Autopia very well!!). But the vehicles must be on their last legs, even though these are the newer models.

7. If I were only going to ride one thing in DCA, it would be TSMM! But Soarin' would be a close second. Let's just say that if I were given 30 minutes to get in line and ride TSMM in DCA and I got it done in 29 minutes and 40 seconds, I would be trying to squeeze in Soarin' in those last 20 seconds! But I totally agree about Pirates - that is my favorite ride in DL, which I would never miss...even though I missed it last Saturday when I was at DLR. LOL!!




How are you feeling now? Is the strep all gone? As someone who has suffered from chronic tonsilitis all her life - which has many of the same symptoms - I can totally relate. You feel so run down and that 'sick' feeling is just miserable...and it lingers on forever, it seems. Gotta love Zithromax's Z-pak!

I'm pretty sure there was more I was going to comment on, but I wanted to get this much in while you were still here (before you go away for Thanksgiving) to read it. Can't wait to read the rest of the TR!!

I see that you and some others commented in my TR a couple of days ago, so I am heading over there to reply now!!

So glad you were able to find your way in here Sherry! I had no idea it could be so tricky. I can't remember ever having trouble with TRs and pictures loading. I guess I didn't know that could be an issue. I don't know how to change the size of the pictures, but I'm a fan of the bigger ones anyway. I just didn't realize it could possibly cause so much trouble! Sheesh!

Thanks for your comments! I never heard the one about Capt. Jack "not being very popular." :rolleyes: I noticed he often posed in a way that made him "keep his distance" somewhat, and I wondered if he was told to do that to sort of ward off the ladies. :rotfl2:

Ha! The "Y" in the YMCA dance...that is too funny! I hadn't quite seen it that way before, but you're right.


I'm not feeling any more effects from the strep. Thanks for asking. I still have a few more days of antibiotics to go. When I went to the pharmacy to fill my prescription, I was expecting the usual Amoxicillin tablets. When the pharmacist handed me the bottle she said, "Boy, I hope you don't have a sore throat...these are huge!" I checked out the bottle and it was filled with the biggest pills I've ever seen. They were huge! I said, "Well I have strep throat. There is no way I can swallow those things." They offered to chop them up for me so I could sprinkle them on pudding. :confused: Uh, no thanks. My mom used to chop up penicillin and "hide" it in raspberry jam when I was little because I couldn't swallow pills. To this day I can't eat raspberry jam without tasting penicillin. Anyway, so they ended up giving me what I think of as the liquid kid-version. The pink stuff my kids take. It took a lot longer for the liquid to take effect, compared to the tablets I've gotten before. I don't know what was up with that, but I'm finally feeling better. (Probably more than you wanted to know. :))

Deej how do you find all these things I've never seen before? I appreciate all the reasons to return to my happy place :worship::worship:

Can't wait for lunch!

Hey TK! I was in such a moseying around mode my last 2 trips that I couldn't help but notice stuff! ;) So are you down to the 20s in your countdown yet? Wait, you're going after Christmas, huh? It will be here before you know it! I want time to slow down a bit. I love this time of year and it just goes by too fast. I might be thinking differently if I had a Disney trip on the horizon, though. :)

So lunch at Blue Bayou... we'll get to that tomorrow. :thumbsup2
 
So lunch at Blue Bayou. I had such wonderful memories of my last Blue Bayou lunch with my husband in April. We had the perfect waterside table and the food couldn't have been better. I was excited to duplicate the experience with Mom and my sisters, as the last (and only) time we all lunched at Blue Bayou together was in 1996 and it was not a good experience. Sitting by the kitchen, pots and pans clanking around...you get the picture. I made reservations for 11:30 -- the first seating of the day. We got there early and went up to the podium to check-in around 11:10. This is what I did when I went with my husband, at the recommendation of other DISers, and things turned out great. Well...they appeared to have changed their policy. They told me to come back around 11:20 or 11:25. :eek: I thought maybe this guy was new and wasn't quite in the know of how they did things. So I asked for a menu and we stood back and waited.

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After about 5 minutes I walked up to the other side and tried to check in with a different CM. She said it was too early to check in -- I had to wait until 11:20 or 11:25. She did ask for my name and confirm that I did indeed have a reservation, but it didn't count as a check-in. I would have to come back. I decided to take a few pics of the newly hung Christmas decorations while the others stayed close by.

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By this time the lunch crowd was gathering and I was getting nervous. Everyone was going up to the podium and I wasn't sure if they were being told the same thing or what. When the clock struck 11:20 I pounced on the podium, trying to check in with the original guy I had spoken with. He told me it would be a couple of minutes, so I just waited right up there. Finally, with a huge crowd upon them, they finally began checking people in. It was so chaotic compared to my earlier experience. I was told that they don't do earlier check-ins because they would invite the checked in people to come and sit down in the waiting area, and then they would forget about them and they weren't getting seated. :confused: This made no sense to me whatsoever. I had a Seinfeld moment go through my mind...something about being able to TAKE the reservation (for a rental car) but not being able to HOLD the reservation. Not exactly the same thing, but I did think of that. :)

At last! We're officially check-in! :yay: We waited inside for about 3 minutes before being called up. First party of the day to be seated. :cool1: We were seated at a perfect table, where there were 2 pirate hats waiting for us. Apparently the reservation listed us as a party of 2 adults and 2 children. D36 and I took it upon ourselves to be the children of the group and put on the pirate hats (which we later discovered were really the child menus). Our big heads stretched and tore the paper a bit, but we made them work and wore them for the rest of the day.

Getting ready to order...

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To be continued later...motherhood calls...
 
So back to lunch in the bayou...

What would an update from me be without a light or 2? ;)

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I ordered the same thing I did last time...the Tesoro Island Chicken. The first thing I noticed when we perused the menu was that the price had gone up from $27.99 to $29.99 since April. The second thing I noticed was the smaller piece of chicken. The third thing I noticed was that the seasonal vegetable was MUCH better this time around.

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I'm pretty sure my mom ordered the chicken too. I know M48 ordered the beef short ribs (which she loved) and D36 ordered the Monte Cristo. She only ate one of the 4 sections. I was really wishing I could somehow send the rest of it to my husband who is a Monte Cristo fan. He about died when I told him how she couldn't finish it after filling up on bread and gumbo, so it got tossed.

Overall, I enjoyed my experience more in April. I thought the chicken and the potatoes tasted better during that visit, plus I was with my husband.

Parting shots:

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It was 1pm by this time and we decided to take a ride on Pirates.

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Here's the menu hat that D36 and I wore for the rest of the day. There is a skull-n-crossbones on the front, but we both preferred the back, so we wore it that way. Many people asked where we got them, even a CM or two.

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When we got off Pirates we had just enough time to get Mom back over to the Golden Horseshoe (I still want to add Review in there ;)) so she could enjoy another Billy Hill show.

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The main Billy was different this time around. I preferred the main Billy from Monday's show. This time we had seats on the floor -- up front on the far left side. Once again Mom had lots of fun. She misses the good ol' Disneyland Days when there was all sorts of entertainment to be had. Back when I was a kid, the first thing my brothers and sisters and I would do was check the little board on the ticket booths that announced which rides were closed for the day. (What a sad day it was when we'd see POTC at the top of the list!) The first thing Mom and Dad did was check what the entertainment would be for the day. "Oh look! The Pointer Sisters are singing tonight!" (I remember them performing on one of the rafts.) So Billy Hill and the Hillbillies took her back to those days.

We headed over to Tomorrowland next.

My kids will love this.

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We rode Buzz. I guess I don't have any pics.

On to Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy!

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I love Space Mountain and was really excited about this overlay. For some reason the idea of this overlay didn't bother me. I thought it sounded like a fun change. All 4 of us rode. M48 hasn't done this one in years and years, but she was OK on the other rides so she decided to give this one a go too. We had FPs and our wait was about 10 minutes at 3pm. D36 and I got the very front seat. Love the front seat! :woohoo: I was right -- Ghost Galaxy WAS a fun change. I wouldn't want it to change over permanently, but it was fun for the Halloween season. Loved it!

D36 was feeling a bit queasy afterward, so we took a bit of a break. Actually she wanted a popcorn break. I thought the boxes were so cute!

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I wanted to head down main Street in search of the Dapper Dans. I mainly wanted to hear them sing "Grim Grinning Ghosts." :lovestruc I wasn't sure exactly where they'd be, so we just headed that direction.

So true.

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Not sure what I'm doing here. I guess I wanted another picture of my shirt???

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M48 bought some fudge for us to share. Everyone sat down on the curb and I went to grab 4 plastic forks. We dug in.

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I mentioned earlier in the TR that one of the things I wanted to remember from this trip was M48 eating fudge off of Main Street. Fudge that fell off my fork and into the street. I was going to pick it up and throw it away, but she beat me to it. Only she didn't throw it away.... :laughing: I didn't get a picture of the actual eating off of Main Street, but this picture will help me remember the memory. :)

Up Next... Continuing my search for the Dapper Dans!
 
Well, I couldn't find the Dapper Dans on Main Street, so I walked over to Town Square. Took this pic on my way:

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Finally, I found them. They were standing near City Hall. I called back to the others to say I found them, and then we went over to hear them sing.

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There weren't many other listeners around. I was trying to take a picture of the Dans when out of the corner of my eye I saw this guy dancing right outside City Hall, just to the right of the Dans. He had seen me trying to get pictures and decided to give me something else to take a picture of, I guess. So I moved slightly to the right and took a picture of Random Dancing Guy:

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It was so funny! The Dapper Dans actually stopped singing their song and one of them asked me, "Do you know that guy you just took a picture of?" I said, "No. He's just some Random Dancing Guy that seemed to want his picture taken..." Then the Dans started laughing.

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Then they picked up with their song again -- which WASN'T "Grim Grinning Ghosts" by the way. They never did sing that one. :mad: After they were done performing one of the Dans came over to me and asked, "Can I see the picture of Random Dancing Guy?" So I showed him. Then I took a picture of him.

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After fun times with the Dapper Dans, we decided to hang around and wait for the Flag Retreat Ceremony. It was our last chance to see it. I loved seeing it with my husband back in April, and I knew Mom would especially enjoy it as well.

Random waiting around pics:

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The Dapper Dans sang. I prefer the retreat ceremony with the Disneyland Band because they play all the anthems from the different military branches, and invite guests who have served/are serving to stand when their anthem is played.

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I couldn't help but wonder what kind of stories this older gentleman would tell if given the chance. I wondered if his story included time spent serving our country in the military. (I admit I'm completely basing this on his age and just watching his face during the flag retreat.)

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The Flag Retreat Ceremony is SO worth the effort to see. There's nothing quite like singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" and saying the Pledge of Allegiance in Town Square at Disneyland. :goodvibes
 
I love your TR, it inspired me to start my own in Dec. I love the pics and now I feel I have to attend a flag ceremony one of these days. Halloween has never been special to me but it looks like a good time at DLR, so maybe when my babies are older it would be a good idea to try it. Thanks for sharing!
 
Hey TK! I was in such a moseying around mode my last 2 trips that I couldn't help but notice stuff! ;) So are you down to the 20s in your countdown yet? Wait, you're going after Christmas, huh? It will be here before you know it! I want time to slow down a bit. I love this time of year and it just goes by too fast. I might be thinking differently if I had a Disney trip on the horizon, though. :)

So lunch at Blue Bayou... we'll get to that tomorrow. :thumbsup2

33 days!! I first saw your pic of the BB menu and said to myself "Deej must have a powerful flash!" Then I kept reading and found you were outside when you took it. That was one of the main problems we had with BB - we couldn't see to order or eat. Perhaps the ambiance is on purpose so you also don't focus on portion size per dollar spent :rotfl:

After dining there and at Cafe Orleans my family is glad we ate ONCE at BB and prefer go to CO or CC.

My hubby would have mourning the passing of 3 triangles of Monte Cristo too.

Still laughing about Random Dancing Guy. You are very entertaining!! :lmao:
 













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