My Unexpected Decemeber Weekend Trip to DL. Christmas at Disneyland! post #66!

[funatdisney]

Thanks Matt. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[funatdisney]

Well Joy can not make it after all. So I think I will stay home and go see a movie for something. I have been going to DL quite a bit lately and I should take a break. Looks like the next visit could be the Star Tours 2 AP preview in May. That is if I get selected to preview it.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Well Joy can not make it after all. So I think I will stay home and go see a movie for something. I have been going to DL quite a bit lately and I should take a break. Looks like the next visit could be the Star Tours 2 AP preview in May. That is if I get selected to preview it.

Sorry to hear about that Liza. Hoping that you get selected for the Star Tour 2 AP Sneak Peak Liza and I'm hoping for the same thing when i go down later in May. I would guess that you selected all the available dates for the sneak peak?

 

[skiingfast]

Well Joy can not make it after all. So I think I will stay home and go see a movie for something. I have been going to DL quite a bit lately and I should take a break. Looks like the next visit could be the Star Tours 2 AP preview in May. That is if I get selected to preview it.

Sorry about Joy.

I think odds a probably pretty good. Over several days they should be able to run a lot of people through the attraction.

 

[funatdisney]

Sorry to hear about that Liza. Hoping that you get selected for the Star Tour 2 AP Sneak Peak Liza and I'm hoping for the same thing when i go down later in May. I would guess that you selected all the available dates for the sneak peak?

Sorry about Joy.

I think odds a probably pretty good. Over several days they should be able to run a lot of people through the attraction.

Thanks Bret and Matt. I did chose all days and time slots when I signed up. I figured that whatever day I got I could make it happen. I am hoping for Monday, Saturday or Sunday. That way my kids can come with me. If not, DH and I will go.

I had won a sneak peak time slot for Toy Story Mania in 2008. It was on a Tuesday, so my girls couldn't go. My DH and I went and had a blast. We were told the first time we entered to get back in line if there was no one in line when we finished. We could keep getting back into an empty line for the duration of my time slot which was from 10am to 2pm.. We must have rode TSM at least 10, 11 times. A week later, we were in WDW and riding their TSM on DL's TSM's opening day! Ah good times. Sometimes I am just too lucky.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Thanks Bret and Matt. I did chose all days and time slots when I signed up. I figured that whatever day I got I could make it happen. I am hoping for Monday, Saturday or Sunday. That way my kids can come with me. If not, DH and I will go.

I had won a sneak peak time slot for Toy Story Mania in 2008. It was on a Tuesday, so my girls couldn't go. My DH and I went and had a blast. We were told the first time we entered to get back in line if there was no one in line when we finished. We could keep getting back into an empty line for the duration of my time slot which was from 10am to 2pm.. We must have rode TSM at least 10, 11 times. A week later, we were in WDW and riding their TSM on DL's TSM's opening day! Ah good times. Sometimes I am just too lucky.

That must have been fun to go to the sneak peak of TSMM and to ride it that many times on that day. I might not ride ST2 that many times if I get selected, but I will do it multiple times to tell everyone what it felt like. I am not lucky with these Disney contests, but maybe this will be the time.

 

[tksbaskets]

Thanks Bret and Matt. I did chose all days and time slots when I signed up. I figured that whatever day I got I could make it happen. I am hoping for Monday, Saturday or Sunday. That way my kids can come with me. If not, DH and I will go.

I had won a sneak peak time slot for Toy Story Mania in 2008. It was on a Tuesday, so my girls couldn't go. My DH and I went and had a blast. We were told the first time we entered to get back in line if there was no one in line when we finished. We could keep getting back into an empty line for the duration of my time slot which was from 10am to 2pm.. We must have rode TSM at least 10, 11 times. A week later, we were in WDW and riding their TSM on DL's TSM's opening day! Ah good times. Sometimes I am just too lucky.

WOW that would have been a great experience!

That must have been fun to go to the sneak peak of TSMM and to ride it that many times on that day. I might not ride ST2 that many times if I get selected, but I will do it multiple times to tell everyone what it felt like. I am not lucky with these Disney contests, but maybe this will be the time.

The old Star Tours had quite a bit of motion. 10 or 11 time might be a bit much indeed

 

[Sherry E]

Was your birthday yesterday, Liza? Or is it next Thursday? Or is it today? I'm all confused! LOL! I was thinking it was yesterday because you were trying to go back to DLR with Joy, although it did not work out. In any case, belated happy birthday if it was yesterday or today and early happy birthday if it is next week!!!

Although I signed up for the Star Tours 2.0 sweepstakes too (all time slots), I don't think I could ride it a bunch of times in a row. The original Star Tours was hard enough to get through. Lord only knows what this new one has in store for us.

Now TSMM, on the other hand, I would have gladly, gladly ridden 20 times in a row...or 11 times, or whatever they allowed me, if I had been there to sneak preview it in 2008. I love that ride and could go on it repeatedly, despite the burn in my forearm!!

And The Little Mermaid, if there are previews for that, will definitely be something I would ride again and again!

Thank you again for your help (and your DH's help) in trying to figure out my computer woes a couple of weeks ago, before we knew exactly what had happened!

 

[funatdisney]

That must have been fun to go to the sneak peak of TSMM and to ride it that many times on that day. I might not ride ST2 that many times if I get selected, but I will do it multiple times to tell everyone what it felt like. I am not lucky with these Disney contests, but maybe this will be the time.

I don't know Bret. I think you have a good chance. I was surprised to see so many days offered and then each day had two time slots. I was also surprised that Saturday and Sunday was on Memorial Day weekend. A good chance to get lots of APs to show up for testing, I guess. My guess you have a good chance to get a day that you can go.

WOW that would have been a great experience!

It was! One of my fondest memories of DL and WDW. I have quite a few fond memories, and cherish all of them

The old Star Tours had quite a bit of motion. 10 or 11 time might be a bit much indeed

I agree, 10 to 11 times would be a bit much. I think I would like to ride ST2 at least twice. Once just to feel and first the impressions of the ride, and the second to really "get" the ride. I know I would miss a lot the first time around. The second time would fill in anything I missed the first time.

Was your birthday yesterday, Liza? Or is it next Thursday? Or is it today? I'm all confused! LOL! I was thinking it was yesterday because you were trying to go back to DLR with Joy, although it did not work out. In any case, belated happy birthday if it was yesterday or today and early happy birthday if it is next week!!!

Although I signed up for the Star Tours 2.0 sweepstakes too (all time slots), I don't think I could ride it a bunch of times in a row. The original Star Tours was hard enough to get through. Lord only knows what this new one has in store for us.

Now TSMM, on the other hand, I would have gladly, gladly ridden 20 times in a row...or 11 times, or whatever they allowed me, if I had been there to sneak preview it in 2008. I love that ride and could go on it repeatedly, despite the burn in my forearm!!

And The Little Mermaid, if there are previews for that, will definitely be something I would ride again and again!

Thank you again for your help (and your DH's help) in trying to figure out my computer woes a couple of weeks ago, before we knew exactly what had happened!

After riding TSMM that many times, our elbows ached! But it was so much fun. I feel lucky I got to ride it that much. Because of the preview experience, I never complain about how long the wait is now for TSMM. I have no business to be complaining about that.

Your are quite welcome. I just wish we could have done more for you.

Thanks Sherry for the birthday wishes. Today is my birthday and I have a trip report...

 

[funatdisney]

Today is my birthday and I have been MIA. DH took me to Disneyland! He rearranged his schedule and the kid's pick up so we could go! I have said this before and I will say it again: he is a winner that one!

No pictures this time. But a TR nevertheless. We left at 8:45am after dropping off the kids at school. I brought some pins to trade, but not too much. It was a day with hubby and I didn't want to spend all my time pin trading. We hit a lot of traffic on the way down. There were a few accidents and that really slowed us down. We arrived at 11am.

We went to the pin trading store next to the Monorail in Downtown Disney. There was a few pins I wanted to buy that were released today. I wasn't in the best of moods, so I suggested we go to the GCH's Hearthstone Lounge for an attitude adjustment. It was 11:30am, but I didn't care. It was my birthday and I wanted a drink! I ordered a chicken quesadilla (couldn't drink on an empty stomach could I?), a Long island for DH and a Key Lime Martini for myself. My drink was so yummy and instead of a sugar rim, it had a crushed graham cracker rim. The quesadilla was good, too. It was so nice to sit in a comfy couch sipping our drinks and eating our quesadilla. The Hearthstone Lounge is really beautiful and the woodwork gorgeous. So calming on my soul, too.

After that, I was in a good mood and ready to hit DL. Once we were in DL, we, of course, headed over to Westward Ho so I could trade and chat with some traders. I got into line for the CM trade and meet some nice folks from AZ. I even got to trade with some folks while waiting in line, too. I had the best trade today with the guy in front of me. Not because I got a pin I really wanted, but because I was able to give him a pin he really wanted. He collects fireman pins. I happened to have Stitch as a fireman in my collection that I was going to trade with a cast member anyway. I just picked a pin that I thought was fair from his collection, and traded. I was so pleased to be able to offer a pin that he so obviously admired. Completely made my day. I have a smile on my face as I remember that trade. The trade that keeps on giving. In my book, anything that makes me smile is priceless and a gift from heaven.

DH sit in the shade nearby while I waited, traded, chatted and then traded with the CMs. Good thing he can do most of his business on the phone. It kept him busy while waiting for me. When I finished, we decided to get something to eat. DH wanted to have chicken strips so we ate at the Stage Door Cafe. We ate outside at one of the table nearby the Stage Door Cafe. It was a beautiful spring day and it wasn't too crowded. It was quite pleasant eating our meal outside, watching people walk by and enjoying the soft breezes that came and went. The Rivers of America area was a mess though. They were setting up for the POC Premier and there was a lot of noise and workmen every where the stadium seating was. The seating and prep work for the premier took up most of the area surrounding the RoA. It was a good thing it wasn't the busy spring break. It would have been bad news last week.

After eating we headed over to ride the HM and then POC. There wasn't a long wait for the HM (5 min), but POC had a longer wait of 20 minutes. Much of the premier prep work ate up the area in front of Pirates, so the line was down to one instead of two. Still not bad of a wait.

DH was very kind to give me time to pin trade here and there. I made sure it wasn't the focus of my day. He suggested we go over to DCA, which we did. He likes to go into the Off the Page store. We sometimes like to buy cells and artwork that really touch us or speaks to us. I found one that I really wanted. I didn't really paid much attention to the artist or medium of the piece. The subject was the Main Street Trolley Horses. It was a painting of one of the Clydesdale horses hitched up to one of the trolleys in the middle of the painting. Each corner of the painting had one of the different horse breeds used to pull the trolleys (They were head portraits.) For years I have been looking at the different Disney artwork both at DL and at WDW, and have never seen the Main Street Trolley Horses as a subject before. I think it is funny how in the last few months of deciding to one day adopt a Disney horse, I run into the theme over and over again in different avenues. I am just drawn to them. I think the forces that be are trying to tell me something.

After that, we decided to go home. The girls were home alone and we wanted to get back by 8. My trusty Sprint app said we would arrive home by 7:30pm. We stopped and got some Wetzels Pretzels for the way home. By the time we got to the car, we left the park at 6:30pm. While driving home, I realized that I didn't have cake or something sweet (like Tiger Tails or something similar) the whole day. It didn't really bother me that I missed having this traditional birthday ritual. I just figured that I will make it a point to get something tomorrow. Maybe a chocolate dipped ice cream bar from Costco. Those are quite yummy and I only have those maybe twice a year. I think I'm due.

 

[taaren]

Happy birthday!
Subbing since we're going to be doing a quick trip in a few weeks and your pictures are so beautiful its giving me the 'excited' feeling even though we're kinda not as excited about this trip as we usually would be since we don't have enough points to stay at VGC.
I still can't figure out where the 2nd waterfall picture was taken ...

 

[funatdisney]

Happy birthday!
Subbing since we're going to be doing a quick trip in a few weeks and your pictures are so beautiful its giving me the 'excited' feeling even though we're kinda not as excited about this trip as we usually would be since we don't have enough points to stay at VGC.
I still can't figure out where the 2nd waterfall picture was taken ...

Thank you, taaren for the birthday wishes and the compliments on my photos. Makes my day that my photos can get into the right mood for a DL trip. I sure missed my camera yesterday. There was at least four shots I wanted to take.

Yes, I understand about "comprising" your lodging when one doesn't have enough points to book at stay at the VGC. After staying at the Villas and feeling so at home, nothing compares! I will be staying at the Marriott near the convention center for the D23 Expo, and I know I will miss my familiar one bedroom across the way. I just keep consoling myself with the thought that I wont be in the room much anyway.

The second waterfall is quite challenging. I just happened to discover it myself a couple of years ago. I will for post the answer before you leave so you can go and see it for yourself in a couple of weeks. For now, I'll give you a hint. Winnie the Pooh.

I am considering adding a "Can you find this in DLR?" photo game. What did you all think?

 

[skiingfast]

I am considering adding a "Can you find this in DLR?" photo game. What did you all think?

I tried to comment before but it never sent through. Late Happy Birthday Liza!

There was a "Where am I thread" on the CB side of the DL boards but it seems to be gone.

If you start one I'd love to guess along.

 

[TheColtonsMom]

Thank you, taaren for the birthday wishes and the compliments on my photos. Makes my day that my photos can get into the right mood for a DL trip. I sure missed my camera yesterday. There was at least four shots I wanted to take.

Yes, I understand about "comprising" your lodging when one doesn't have enough points to book at stay at the VGC. After staying at the Villas and feeling so at home, nothing compares! I will be staying at the Marriott near the convention center for the D23 Expo, and I know I will miss my familiar one bedroom across the way. I just keep consoling myself with the thought that I wont be in the room much anyway.

The second waterfall is quite challenging. I just happened to discover it myself a couple of years ago. I will for post the answer before you leave so you can go and see it for yourself in a couple of weeks. For now, I'll give you a hint. Winnie the Pooh.

I am considering adding a "Can you find this in DLR?" photo game. What did you all think?

I would be happy to join that game! Oh and here is a late Happy Birthday wish too although looks to me like your DH took care of that pretty well.

 

[funatdisney]

I tried to comment before but it never sent through. Late Happy Birthday Liza!

There was a "Where am I thread" on the CB side of the DL boards but it seems to be gone.

If you start one I'd love to guess along.

I would be happy to join that game! Oh and here is a late Happy Birthday wish too although looks to me like your DH took care of that pretty well.

Thank you Matt and Sherri. I really had a great time. DH and I have a trip in July by ourselves. I kept thinking that our July trip would be something like my birthday trip, but for three days instead of one. I'm gonna like our Romantic Get Away trip. It will be nice to go back to our DVC room instead of a car at the end of the day.

I was considering embedding a photo game into my TR and not a thread. I keep finding good candidates of things in the Park that would make a good shot a photo game.

 

[mvf-m11c]

A little late to say this, but Happy Birthday Liza. You should do that photo game since I did the sign quest game three months ago and have to figure out what sign belongs to.

 

[skiingfast]

Going back to the hotel room rather than the car will be great. Surely a treat for a local.

 

[funatdisney]

Going to quietly post some Christmas pics since I haven't been here for a awhile

 

[funatdisney]

I love this one from 2010

 

[funatdisney]

And another one