Nothing to See Here...

[Sherry E]

I think she said her foot hurt for nearly a year before she finally went back to the Doctor. Hopefully, you only have a contusion and the pain goes away quickly. I get the no medical ins thing. If it lasts longer than a few months, you should splurge on the x-ray to save on a possible surgery.

I am so used to Crap carrying all of the cards, cash, etc on trips. That way, I do not have to carry a purse around. He even thought to have me carry my own ID and KttM card, but I never thought about grabbing any cash. Next time, I will get cash before we separate. It stinks wanting something but not being able to get it. They mentioned they do not take the cards, because they are not Disney owned. Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen did not take it either, so that may be a trend there with non Disney owned establishments. Other than cash carts, we've never come across a single place on WDW property that did not take the cards. I am sure there must be, but we never found any.

I still prefer Disneyland over California Adventure even with the new land. It will always hold such magical memories from growing up for me. DCA did not even open until I was already an adult. I was a tennager when Toontown first opened and was still in love with that. However, I spent way more time at DCA than Disneyland on our most recent trip. That will probably happen more and more on each trip too. When I really think about it, I like the attractions more at DCA than Disneyland. It really is the memories that keep Disneyland in first place for me. At WDW (which I was an adult before I saw for the first time), DHS is my favorite park, and it is the most like DCA.

There were so many people wearing jackets. The weather here is a dry heat. It is a more humid heat in Anaheim and Orlando, so it gets to me more. That, and it takes a lot of energy to tour the parks. When it is hot and/or humid, it makes it only that much more uncomfortable.

After seeing your pictures, I may have to venture over to Pixie Hollow next trip. It looks really beautiful there.

I am glad you started feeling better this day but am sorry you did not feel well the following day.

Kim -

There's no denying that Disneyland really has to be the true favorite park, deep down, for those of us who grew up with it and fell in love with it decades before California Adventure came along. I started going to Disneyland 40 years ago, and California Adventure wasn't even a blip on the radar at that point.

(By the way, I remember that year that Toon Town opened - 1993 - and my friends and I were so excited to see a whole new land in DL! We had been used to Disneyland as it was for so long that the notion of a whole new land seemed so ground-breaking and forward-thinking!)

I suspect that maybe the people who go to DLR for the first time as adults and don't already have that built-in love for Disneyland may have a harder time deciding which park they like best - if they are seeing both parks for the first time and it's a level playing field. I think that DCA offers a really nice alternative to people who maybe don't like the vibe in Disneyland. There are people who just prefer a little less of that 'magic' (Princesses, fairies, etc.) and want it to be scaled back a bit. I think DCA has now reached a point where it is a good blend of a little bit of Disney magic, nostalgia and personality, but it still has a different feel to it than Disneyland has.

At the end of the day I think - and maybe it is because I grew up with Disneyland and Disneyland was a part of my life from age 4 - that the original park is aesthetically more beautiful, has more charm and personality/character to it and has more of that nostalgic feel to it.

California Adventure has certainly made great strides - especially with the addition of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street - and many of the gaps in charm that I felt were there before have now been filled in. It is a certainly a place where I will enjoy spending much more time now that I have gotten used to it and learned to love it over the last several years, but it will never have that deep sentimental attachment for me...simply because Disneyland got there first!

Well, everyone knows that taking pictures of fountains means you are SOMEONE.


I fractured a meta-whooey bone (you would seriously think that I'd know the name but who wants to be all specific?) when I was a young teen. You know how parents don't want you to jump on or off of couches? Yeah, there's a reason. So I broke it, and since it was the side of my foot and just a small fracture there was nothing much to be done for it. Then in college I pulled first one, then the other, peroneous longus tendon that attach to the foot *just about* where I broke the bone. I did PT for each of those tendon injuries. And here I am, at 42, and the side that had the break hurts sometimes, gets sore and achey. Sigh. (the side that didn't have the break doesn't feel that way, even though it had the same tendon injury)

Molly -

Of course! Anyone who takes photos of random fountains must be someone!

When you said "meta-whooey," I was thinking that it may be metatarsal (the place where I worked for 14 years did a lot of medical transcription, among other things, so I would see a lot of these terms pass by me as I proofread or packaged up the documents for billing or delivery), but I was not 100% sure that was it. I was relieved to see PHXscuba confirm my suspicion below!

Well, I am glad to know that I'm not the only one who has damaged my foot! I have no clue what I did to it or if the discomfort will go away on its own (as was the case with my knee earlier this year), but unfortunately I don't have anyone to come over and 'do things for me' (like go to the bank, the store, do laundry, prepare food, check mail, wash dishes, etc.), so I am kind of forced to have to get up and walk around every now and then...which I am sure is not helping. If I could totally stay off my feet for an extended period of time, maybe the discomfort would subside a bit.

Hi Sherry,
You sounded just like I thought you would. Friendly and well spoken! Of course your super threads are your favs! I know what you mean about drawing a blank when asked a question. I hate when that happens

Surprisingly there are several places at DL I've never been. On the river boat, PH, the tree house to name a few. Only ventured into Toon Town to pick up hot chocolate during the holiday tour. So many places to see...so little time...or so big a boys that they have no interest even to humor their mom!

Will be here when you rustle up another installment
TK

TK -

Thank you! I'm glad I sounded as expected (and that it was a good thing, not a bad thing) and not totally different!

I do love the 2 Superthreads but I really wanted to think of other threads to mention instead of those. When Nancy mentioned the Christmas thread I took that to mean, "Speed it along, Sherry," so I didn't want to take up time trying to remember the DIS'er who started the flower thread!

Oh wow - you've never been on the Mark Twain? I'm shocked! The Treehouse - I can understand that. I used to go up in it when I was a kid - back when it was the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. It was a must-do for every trip. Then, as I got older it was just kind of...there. I have been in the Treehouse only a couple of times since it changed to a Tarzan theme, and I do plan on going up again to take some pictures at some point, but it's really just not a priority in any way!

Toon Town is a must-do for me on almost every trip. The details and jokes of the land are so 'Disney.'

Oh I am always around I just don't always comment.

I love your Pixie Hollow photos, you know that is a favorite place of mine.


It's too bad about your foot and the nausea.

Michele -

You were the first person I thought of when I went into PH because I know you love it! I was thinking to myself, "Okay, Michele has taken some cool pictures in here and she loves it. I have to force myself to step inside and forget about the fairies!"

If not for the fact that I thought I should get back to Main Street because Liza would almost be done with her pin business at that point, I would have walked the full course of Pixie Hollow. I only made it a few feet in, really. Barely scratched the surface.

Oh gosh is that cute!! Now mind you I have seen it dozens of times but it just hits the awwwww button tonight!!

Michele -

The statuettes and statues around DL seem to have more personality when you get closer to them! Do you notice that? You can see something 100 times from afar and not think too much about it, and then when you suddenly get up close to it, you start to notice the expression on the face more, the details, etc. They seem to come to life a little bit more when seen up close.

Oh look, animatronic ducks!! It's a joke my son and I used to pull on people at Disneyland.

I'm enjoying your beautiful flower photos. I have a total black thumb (I kill everything but cactus) so I have to live vicariously through other peoples' flowers and pictures.

I have hurt both my feet like yours is hurting -- once I just sprained it badly and once I broke a couple small metatarsal bones and pulled the bone/tendon apart on the top of my foot. I could definitely tell the difference between the break and the sprain, so I hope yours is just sprained.

Lucky for you and your heat sensitivity, Catalina is always cooler than the LA area. I am actually over here in the OC right now (but no DLR or Catalina this trip, boo!) Today we went to the park, the beach, and walked on the Huntington Beach pier, and it was absolutely gorgeous all day!!!

Best of luck with the Catalina trip and I will look forward more photos of Avalon and DLR!!

PHXscuba

PHXscuba -

Catalina is often cooler, but it has never felt cool to me at all in the daytime (unless I went in October or something). There is very little shade in Avalon - not like at DLR, where I can retreat to the GCH lobby or the Animation Building if necessary. The sun reflecting off of all that ocean water is to blame, I'm sure.

At night, however, Avalon is very chilly to me! Brrrr.... In fact, I am a crazy person who likes to sit outside on the boat going home - even at night - so I can stare at the clear sky and black water, looking for giant sharks or other predators of the sea to show themselves. A coat is definitely necessary because it is freezing and windy out on that water! And let's not even get into the "sea hair" that I will have after being on the boat in the morning and at night - it is tangle city! I have to try to put my hair back in a braid or something, just to keep it from totally knotting up!

Bot, regardless, I am still planing to go to Catalina on 7/21 - heat or no heat (unless it is predicted to be a temperature that is ridiculous), foot problem or no foot problem - for the sole purpose of taking a bunch of photos so I can start the Catalina Superthread. I need updated photos for that. I may get sick - in fact, I probably will get sick from being out in the sun - but if it can just hold off until I get home, and not when I am in the middle of Avalon or on the boat, I will deal with it.

Actually, I have to figure out if Avalon still has a photo place in town. There used to be a sort of 1-hour photo location where you could also buy photo supplies. My camera batteries have been dying much more quickly lately, even after being charged, so I plan to bring my charger with me in hopes that I can find someone who will let me charge one battery after it runs out of juice and I switch to the second battery.

Thank you - I'm glad you're enjoying the Disneyland flower photos! I am no good with plants or flowers, either. They do not survive under my care. I love to look at the beautiful flowers in my neighborhood, of course, because it cheers me up, but I can't own flowers or plants!

At Disneyland, the flowers and plants are usually so well-maintained and manicured that I am constantly fascinated at how healthy they look - like they are just thriving in that environment.

Your description of "...pulled the bone/tendon apart on the top of my foot" made me cringe in horror. That just sounds awful! I am assuming that if I did something truly horrific to my foot, it would be hurting much more than it is hurting now, and would hurt even if I didn't get up and walk on it. I don't know what I did to it, but it is not the worst case scenario.

Excited that you won a gift card from Amazon.

Very nice pics from your latest pictures of Pixie Hollow. I also see that you took pictures of AiW side buildings. I remember those pictures really well when I did the Heart quest last year. Those were some times when I been looking around the DLR for heart shapes.

Nice to see that you didn't lose any installments to your trip report. I understand that it is disappointing to lose all that work when you write up a trip report. I have done it a few times and I do get upset while I did all that work. I will be looking forward to the rest of your June 9th TR. I will be looking forward to your Holiday TR like I always do every year.

I believe Ghirardelli's is already making a splash with all those selections and the AP discounts. I mostly don't get ice cream at Gibson Girls since I go to the Tiki Juice Bar to get a Dole Whip. But maybe one day, I will stop at Ghiarardelli's or Gibson Girl to have a ice cream. Maybe you need to tell me what I should get at both places since I am not an expert at getting desserts at those two places? You are right about that GB doesn't have outdoor seating while Ghirardelli does. It is so tough to get a seat at GB while there are a lot of choices at Ghirardelli. It will be interesting to hear more of the reviews of Ghirardelli and GB.

I wouldn't be surprise to see you over at Gibson Girl then Ghirardelli if they don't have peppermint ice cream during the Holiday season.

That was really nice that you told Liza to find me when we were at DCA during our previews. I was suppose to meet Liza at the D23 Expo last year, but I couldn't find her that week. But I did meet a lot of great DISers during the D23 Expo trip (franandaj, HydroGuy, and some others). Do you know where Liza thought she saw me on Saturday during the preview? I could remember where I was when she saw me.

Bret -

Of course I remember "Heart Quest" from last year and your wonderful efforts on it! "Heart Quest" was my idea (and a rather good idea at that, if I do say so myself!)! In fact, the massive undertaking known as "Sign Quest" was my idea!

You see? I am giving you all of my good ideas and not keeping them for myself! I have to stop that bad habit! I have to now be silent if I think of another good idea!

I really only get ice cream at Disneyland during the holidays, when they have the peppermint. I wanted to try something at Ghirardelli because it was new to DCA, but I only tried the one sundae. Their menu looks really interesting.

Liza did not say where she thought she saw you. On June 9th I mentioned that you were also at DLR that day and that you were doing 2 Cars Land previews during your trip. I said that I wondered if we would see you as you were starting your 1 p.m. preview (because you might have been on Buena Vista Street at the same time we were or something), as we were headed somewhere else.

Then I realized that I was not sure if either of us would recognize you to be able to say hello even if we did see you! So I asked Liza if she would recognize you because I thought I remembered a plan for you guys to possibly meet up last year, but I wasn't sure if she met you or not! She said she wasn't sure if she would - she thought she had maybe seen you in passing, but she didn't specify where.

The Disneyland Encyclopedia sounds like an excellent way to spend your winnings. Loving the flower shots. I never noticed how cool that light fixture was near the Alice ride. Thanks for pointing that out. I know what you mean about Timeline. It is hard to find a nice cover photo. Just when I thought the flower photos could not get more awesome, you posted those pale purple ones. They’re awesome. . I am glad you weathered the storm to see those flowers. The candy looks fantastic as well.

Kim -

I never got the first Disneyland Encyclopedia, believe it or not, and I'm glad I waited because I'd rather have an updated version. I think that I could probably get that and another memory card with my big winnings!

It's funny because I see those light fixtures and details near the Alice ride a lot on my trips, as I pass by, but sometimes I am just not in the mood to take photos of certain things and sometimes I am. On this particular day I just felt like taking pictures of them. I don't go out of my way to seek out light fixtures or anything, and I certainly don't even notice too many of them (that's more of Deejdigsdis' specialty!), but when I do pay attention to them I am always astounded at how detailed and theme-specific they are!

Timeline's cover photo choices can be very difficult. You just can't stick any ol' photo in there because not everything will look right - especially when it is essentially blown up to larger proportions in that space. It has to be a careful selection process of trial and error!!

I'm so glad you like the flower pictures. Thank you! I know that Bret took some wonderful photos of the same things - and, in fact, he got many more flower shots on his trip because he was at DLR for a longer period of time than I was - but I can honestly say that I did not know what his photos would be. I took mine while I was there (and he was probably in Cars Land at that moment). He took his pictures after I'd gone home. Neither of us knew what the other one was going to capture and post - but apparently we zeroed in on the same bright, colorful flower beds!! (And Deejdigsdis would have zeroed in on the same flowers too!)

​

Okay, looking at the number of photos I have left in my June 9th DLR Photobucket album, I am not sure if I can get another 2 Trip Report posts out of it. There are definitely enough for one full post, with a few to spare. So I have to see if anything can be cut out of the batch (something terribly blurry or unnecessary, for instance), or if I have to split up the remaining pictures into 2 posts.

I want to hustle and get on with the Christmas merriment (and misery) from December 2011, since I know there are many people out there who have been hanging around for months to read that saga. I have to try to do it in random installments, when I can carve out time in my day, while my computer is cooperating and while I am in the mood to do it. But there are certain spots which will be more involved and require a bit of explanation and 'story,' while other spots I can just coast through and post a bunch of self-explanatory photos.

 

[Sherry E]

Well, it looks like we will be delving into the December 2011 TR even faster than I thought!

Do you remember that I said last night (after I posted the duck pictures and the Candy Palace pictures) that it seemed I had enough photos left from the June 9th trip for one full post, and possibly two?

Apparently I cannot count! I had no clue what I was talking about. It must be the heat. It's causing delirium and delusions.

Somehow I greatly overestimated the number of photos that I had left to share, forgetting that I had already posted the photos of the Cars Land AP preview brochure that I got at DLR a couple of days ago!




So, in truth, I have exactly 7 photos left to post from June 9th! And here they are (all from Town Square)...

At that point I finally got a text message from Liza, who said she was finished with her pin business. Just in the nick of time because I was feeling slightly queasy! We headed to the tram, got in the car and she drove me home.




And that's it for Disneyland & California Adventure - June 9, 2012!! THE END!!!


As you can see, this was not a marathon trip, or a 'let's get as many photos as I can' trip. It was a mission to see the Cars Land/Buena Vista Street preview, say a quick hello to Jessica/Belle Ella and sample a Ghirardelli goody! It was not my preferred time of year to visit DLR at all, but I'm really glad I did the preview. I would have hated to wait until September or October to see Cars Land! Plus, I got to see some different colors of flowers in Disneyland than what I have become accustomed to!

All in all, it was a productive trip!

And then, the next day (June 10th - Saturday) I had horrible nausea and a massive headache for hours and hours! That was not fun. Somehow I was able to will myself into staving off the sickness while I was actually at DLR, but it hit me hard the next day, at home.

That sun - even though it was under 80 degrees on June 9th - is really not my friend, and it does quite a number on me. That is precisely why I literally avoid going anywhere during Summer. I know I am going to get sick, so unless it's a rare circumstance that presents itself I avoid it. And when I say this, I mean that I even get ill if I have been out for 2 or 3 hours running errands and that's it - in 70-degree weather! Sun and heat are not for me until my teeth are chattering and I need some quick warmth.

But really, my teeth don't chatter very often!!




Now...what's next?

Hopefully a day trip to Catalina Island next week (my other favorite SoCal place)...

And, as always, I will plan to visit DLR during Halloween Time - though I am not yet sure if I will wait to go until Mickey's Halloween Party has started, or before that.

Also as always - and at the top of my list - will be some form of another Christmas trip to DLR. I won't get the same awesome hotel deal that I got for the PPH last year, that's for sure. So it will just be a matter of what I am able to pull off, whether it's a day trip or a multi-day trip. You know I cannot miss the holiday season. That is my favorite time of year and favorite time at DLR! One way or another I will be there.

​

Now I think I will take care of some odds and ends.

1. I have to add the link to where the the Cars Land part of the TR begins to Page 1/Post 1, so people can go right to it.

2. I have to revise the title of this thread a bit, to reflect that I am RE-starting the Christmas trip report and where to find it.

3. I am going to copy the first 3 Background/Pre-TR installments to the December 2011 TR here, in a row, as they were posted many, many pages back and they were kind of spread out. I think the whole TR will flow better if the 3 Pre-TR segments come immediately before it, just for continuity's sake and for reference's sake (I may have to go back and refresh my memory on something I wrote in the Pre-TR), and anyone who is new to this TR may not have glanced at them when I first did them.

4. I have to assemble the photos I am going to use for the first installment of the December TR and figure out whatever I have to say about them!





So, at this point I guess I will remind anyone who was only tuning in for the Cars Land/Buena Vista Street/June 9th stuff that I am done with that TR.

If you do not want to hang around for the December 2011 TR, now is the time to exit! Of course, I would love for everyone to stay on and follow my December trip report to find out how I ended up on a bench in DCA, crying like a fool!

BUT I know that everyone has busy lives. If you need to leave before the holiday report gets going, I totally understand and I thank you for joining in with me for my Cars Land/Buena Vista Street/June 9th report!!

 

[deejdigsdis]

You said it was safe to come back...so here I am. I can't wait to go to Ghirardelli! I was hoping to make several visits but at those prices... Maybe not. My dad would die if he saw those prices. Sometimes he expects things to stay the same price-wise as they were in the 70s, I think. When I went to visit over July 4th we were talking about Disneyland. He mentioned how there used to be a sign by the hub about "never paying over such and such amount..." (not exact words) for whatever in Disneyland. He remembers seeing the sign for years, then he remembers seeing that it was gone and that prices skyrocketed. I don't remember this but I've heard him talk about it several times.

Count me as another one that's never stepped foot in Pixie Hollow. Like TK...it's the company with whom I roll...but I can't really see myself peeking in for any reason other than to check out the flowers. I don't even know the fairies' names! (Other than Tinkerbell, of course.)

I'm still reading about your final moments, but wanted to get in here and comment while I had the chance. Life is busy right now and my DIS moments seem to be few and far between!

 

[Sherry E]

You said it was safe to come back...so here I am. I can't wait to go to Ghirardelli! I was hoping to make several visits but at those prices... Maybe not. My dad would die if he saw those prices. Sometimes he expects things to stay the same price-wise as they were in the 70s, I think. When I went to visit over July 4th we were talking about Disneyland. He mentioned how there used to be a sign by the hub about "never paying over such and such amount..." (not exact words) for whatever in Disneyland. He remembers seeing the sign for years, then he remembers seeing that it was gone and that prices skyrocketed. I don't remember this but I've heard him talk about it several times.

Count me as another one that's never stepped foot in Pixie Hollow. Like TK...it's the company with whom I roll...but I can't really see myself peeking in for any reason other than to check out the flowers. I don't even know the fairies' names! (Other than Tinkerbell, of course.)

I'm still reading about your final moments, but wanted to get in here and comment while I had the chance. Life is busy right now and my DIS moments seem to be few and far between!

Hi, deej!

Yes, it is totally safe now! We are out of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street forever in this TR...well, at least until Fall sometime (not sure when)...and at that point you will be there in DCA yourself to see those 2 new lands!

I'm glad you came back (even with limited DIS time, of course)!

That's part of the reason I wanted to take pictures of the Ghirardelli menu and also break down the prices for you all. The cost, to me, seemed very high for 2 sundaes. Looking at the menu, you can see they have some interesting choices of things to order (and they sell chocolate bars, hot drinks and ice cream)...but still, the prices are crazy. Not only that but as I was saying to TK, the hot fudge in my sundae wasn't exactly "hot" - it was more frozen-chewy - and it didn't really quite seem like there were 2 scoops if ice cream in it. I know there was supposed to be a scoop of butter pecan and a scoop of vanilla, but it didn't seem like it.

Still, though, because Ghirardelli has outdoor tables and benches right outside - unlike Gibson Girl - I can see where a lot of people would enjoy getting their treats there and sitting outside on a hot day.

You know, I did not check out the new Gibson Girl space yet - I was going to after my trip into the Candy Palace, but I wanted to get back to Town Square. Why do I have a feeling the Gibson Girl prices went up when they moved into larger digs? If Dreyer's Dibs and Haagen Dazs bars could cost as much as they do at DLR, I cannot imagine what Gibson Girl is now charging!

I will never abandon Gibson Girl completely - I do like the old-fashioned setting , and I like that they sell peppermint ice cream during the holidays! But I think that Ghirardelli will move up in the ranks a bit!

I don't recall the sign that your dad mentioned either, about the "never pay more than such and such..." but we certainly won't be seeing any such sign today! With the current cost of the AP's as crazy as they are, who knows where prices for everything are headed?

You should definitely go into Pixie Hollow if you have a break from the menfolk at any point in your trip. I don't know all the names of the fairies - I know of Tinkerbell, Terence and...who is the other one? Silver Mist, I think? No clue who they are or where they came from (other than Tinkerbell). There are others and I have no idea who they are, either. I know I don't need to get photos with them, that's for sure!

However, if you forget about the fairies and just think of it as an expedition to discover some beautiful little Disney details that you never knew existed in the middle of Disneyland, I think you will really enjoy it! You, of all people, will enjoy the floral aspect of it, deej! Also, you can see from my photos that the first section (with the fountain) of Pixie Hollow is lovely, and very picturesque. It's also very tranquil in there, because of the sound of the various waterfalls and fountains. Think of it as more like a beautiful garden, and not so much a place to meet Terence and Tinkerbell!

Plus, Pixie Hollow is beautiful at night too! There are no fairies there at night!

 

[Sherry E]

Okay, as I mentioned I was going to do earlier, just for the sake of reference and continuity (and for anyone who has just joined this TR thread in the last month or so and is now sticking around for my December 2011 report), I am going to re-post (or, rather, quote) the first 3 Background/Into/Pre-TR installments to that TR here, one after another. It will be easier to follow when I launch into the TR and reference "M," if you know who I am talking about when I refer to "M".

Everyone who has been in this thread for a long time already saw these next 3 posts, so they can skip them!

Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland –

Sunday, December 4 – Thursday, December 8, 2011



Introduction and Background Information – Part 1​

Most of you know me as a longtime contributor and moderator on the Disneyland/SoCal forums of DISboards. Many of you have followed along with my previous Disneyland Trip Reports (all of which can be found in this thread) over the last few years. Some of you are on my Facebook friend list and know me away from the DIS. And very few of you – only a handful – have met me in person.

Whether you know me only on the DIS or off of the DIS as well, whether you have met me in person or not, or if, perhaps, this is your first time tuning into one of my Trip Reports and have no idea what to expect, I want you to know a little bit more about who I am and how I came to love Disney and Disneyland. Plus, in order to properly understand why the outcome of the December 2011 DLR trip which I am about to explain affected me as much as it did and had as great of an impact, you kind of have to know me and know a wee bit of my history. To get to the present, I need to first visit the past for a moment. It will all make sense to you after it is laid out, so just try to bear with me!

So…..

I should begin by saying that this year, 2012, is the 40th anniversary of my very first trip to Disneyland!!!! ....At least, I think it is. I know for a fact that I was at Disneyland in April 1972, as that trip yielded the first photographic proof:

​

I was 4 years old in those photos.

But it’s possible that I was at Disneyland earlier than 1972. If I was there, no one took any photos, or they didn’t give me any copies of photos they took! That isn’t a far-fetched thought, to be honest – I know there were other specific Disneyland trips that were made in the years before I turned 15, as well as trips to Knott’s Berry Farm, Busch Gardens, Marineland, Japanese Village and Deer Park, Enchanted Village, the L.A. Zoo, the Griffith Observatory, Sea World, etc., and yet I find almost no pictures from the Disney trips, and NO photos from the trips to other places. ???

In any case, I have been happily and proudly going to Disneyland every single year since 1972 (and usually taking more than one trip each year), with the exception of 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 & 2006.


Those 9 years that I did not visit my favorite place were filled with all kinds of stress and problems and my mind was not on Disneyland. I’ve seen the park and the Resort in general go through many, many changes in the last 40 years. In fact, whenever I would return to Disneyland after there had been many changes made (like, say, my trips in 2000 and in 2007), I always felt a bit like a fish out of water and had to get re-acclimated. I felt like a stranger in a strange land, with some familiar landmarks. Soon, the magic would envelop me again and I was bitten by the bug!



This year will also mark the 20th anniversary of my very first character meal – at Goofy’s Kitchen!!!! I think that my friends and I ate there in Summer of 1992, when we didn’t really know what character meals were about or that we needed to have a camera ready (?), so there are no photos from that. But my first actual photographic evidence of a 1992 Goofy’s Kitchen meal (back when they served breakfast, lunch and dinner, and when breakfast was only about $11.00!!!) included these pictures from December 1992:

I’m sure that those of you who have been following my TR’s for the last few years will recognize Shawn – one of my usual Disneyland companions – in these photos. I am the one in the striped shirt who looks as if she was up all night, on a wild crack binge – which, I assure you, was not the case at all! And the blonde girl – we will call her “M” - is the one you will learn more about – my now infamous “out of state friend” with whom I was reunited this past December 2011.


So, as you can see, 2012 will be a momentous year for me because of these two anniversaries. But even if I were not celebrating my 40th anniversary as a Disneyland visitor or my 20th anniversary as a loyal Goofy’s Kitchen devotee, Disneyland would be no less important to me and no further from my heart.

This brings me to what I wanted to explain about how I became enamored and in awe of Disneyland and all the joy it can bring…



It all started with my grandmother.



You see, I had what we would call an “unhappy childhood” - in many ways. I was miserable at home with my parents, and I hated school because most of the kids were mean to me and treated me badly. So I couldn’t escape the turmoil at home by immersing myself in schoolwork because I didn’t want to go to school, and I couldn’t escape the stress of being at school when I was home because home was even more stressful in many ways. My parents were two people who basically had no business being parents, and they didn’t really want to be parents…which was quite obvious.

I felt very lost and alone for years. The only time I got any kind of ‘break’ from all the sadness was when I went to visit my grandmother, usually on weekends. My grandmother tried to give me a somewhat normal childhood and do the things for me that my parents would not do. She didn’t have any money and she had a lot of health problems, but she tried to spoil me and make me feel special anyway. She loved holidays – all of them – and she passed on her love of holidays to me. She had a greeting card and a small gift ready for every single holiday (no matter how minor the holiday was), and at Easter and Christmas time she went all out with the baskets and stockings. She made sure that I had whichever Barbie or Barbie car/plane/boat that I wanted for my birthday. She threw parties for me. She let me invite friends over to play. She introduced me to Peanuts, Bugs Bunny & Porky Pig, all the main Disney characters, the Muppets, etc. She took me on trips to Washington and Oregon. She did so many things for me, including arranging my first Disneyland trip in 1972.

But even before I ever actually made a trip to Disneyland itself, there were early ‘seeds’ being planted - whether I realized it or not. It was kismet. I think that Disney and I were destined to be intertwined in some way or another forever.

For instance, on some of the weekends when I would visit my grandmother (she lived in a sprawling apartment complex called Park La Brea, which was really more like a small city), we would take a walk across Third Street, past a place called Gardner Park and into the Pan Pacific Auditorium, where we saw the Ice Capades and a couple of other events before it closed down as an entertainment venue (in 1972, I think). We also attended a couple of rummage sales at Pan Pacific.

I remember, as a small child, really finding the design at the entrance to be quite odd!

(These 4 photos are from Google Images)

​

Little did I know that this design would eventually become a prominent part of both California Adventure and Hollywood Studios. (In fact, to this day I have to admit it drives me nuts when people say that the new entrance for DCA is merely “copying” the entrance for DHS. In my opinion, DCA is simply claiming the design that belonged to California in the first place! What happened was that the DHS entrance “copied” the Pan Pacific Auditorium architecture – which is California-originated. California Adventure may be a bit late in the game as far as getting its own California-originated Pan Pacific Auditorium design, but it makes sense that we here in SoCal have a California-based design!)


Anyway, over the years the Pan Pacific Auditorium became a hollowed-out refuge for homeless people and bugs, and it finally met its brutal end when it caught fire in the ‘80s. I could see the fire from my grandmother’s apartment across Third Street. It was a piece of my childhood – one of the happier times in my childhood – burning to the ground.

So I am vaguely comforted when I enter DCA nowadays, because I look up at that familiar color, the flags and the telltale design above the turnstiles, and I remember the Ice Capades and the rummage sales and Saturday afternoons. It reminds me of my grandma. If she were alive, she would find it very interesting that two Disney parks adopted the Pan Pacific design, as she went there even more than I did – well before I was born – and to her, it was just a local neighborhood haunt!

In addition to the new California Adventure entrance, there are also some subtle tips of the hat to the Pan Pacific Auditorium entrance’s design and color in the area around/in Farmers Market and The Grove.

And Pan Pacific Park (or as we used to call it around these parts, “The Hole”) takes up the land where Pan Pacific Auditorium used to sit.

When I would stay at my grandmother’s place for the weekend, one ritual was to visit the Farmers Market on Saturday mornings (way, way before The Grove was built), and another one was to go to church on Sunday mornings.

My grandmother belonged to a beautiful church called The Little Country Church of Hollywood.

(photo from the Country Church of Hollywood website)

​

A tall, thin man with white hair and a booming voice named Thurl Ravenscroft belonged to the congregation of the Country Church, way before I was born.

(from the CCoH website)

He sang there every once in a while, as part of the “Goose Creek Quartet.” Thurl was charismatic - a jovial man with an expressive face. His commanding name, his height and that deep voice all stood out, and he used that voice to make money!

Thurl began coming to church less and less because he was always busy with work for Disney, either providing voices in their animated features or in many of the attractions and rides at Disneyland and Disney World. When he did return to the Church to sing, it was an event!

Thurl’s real claim to fame came from his long-running role of Tony the Tiger in the Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes commercials.

(From Google Images)

But you may be most familiar with this (slightly spookier) version of Thurl Ravenscroft in the Haunted Mansion (photos from Google Images):

​

I was always excited when it was “Thurl Day” or “Goose Creek Quartet Day” at the Little Country Church of Hollywood, because I was anxious to hear stories of the latest voices he did for rides in Disneyland. This was something that made me want to go to Disneyland – I wanted to find the Animatronic figures that Thurl voiced.



Coincidentally, just like what happened with the Pan Pacific Auditorium, the Little Country Church of Hollywood burned to the ground – about 5 or 6 years ago, I think. I was never a very religious person, but, like it or not, that Church was part of my childhood – one of the better parts of it – and there were many wonderful people there.

In fact, it was my grandmother and her lovely church friends who decided to take me on my first Disneyland trip – in 1972, as you already know – after a Sunday service. We were going to ride Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion to “find Thurl.”


That’s my grandmother with the dark hair, holding my hand, and the other lady next to me (Martha) was the proprietor of the Country Church and my grandmother’s best friend:

Of course, being only 4 years old, I was scared to death of Pirates and especially the drops in the ride – a fear that took me years to get over – and I ran screaming and crying from the entrance of Haunted Mansion…a fear that took me less time to overcome.

When I finally made my way onto Haunted Mansion in a couple of years, I had to help my poor, unstable grandmother onto one of the Doom Buggies because she had terrible balance and was afraid she was going to fall.


Needless to say, after that first visit to Disneyland in 1972, I was hooked. It began a tradition, and every year my grandmother and her church friends would take me to Disneyland until I started going with my own separate friends. As soon as one trip ended, I was plotting out the next year’s trip!

Since I was so unhappy at home with my parents and in school, these Disneyland trips were my lifeline…they were my light at the end of the tunnel… It was something I looked forward to so I could block out the sadness I felt. It was a haven for me – an escape.

(at Blue Bayou)

I have posted all of these old Disneyland photos – and many more – in the earlier parts of this thread. So if you want to see them, go to the first post on Page 1 and look for the links. I just wanted to toss a few of them in during this “Intro to the Trip Report/Background” section.


I have to admit that I kind of view Disneyland in the same way today, as an adult – it’s still kind of a ray of light for me. When things are going awry and life is very stressful or depressing, I can always think ahead to my next trip and have something to look forward to!



Coming up soon (within the next couple of installments)…my love of Christmas and Disneyland at Christmas time, my love of photography, and my long friendship with “M” (my out of state friend who is like a sister to me, and who was the cause of my crying on a bench in DCA this past December). And then...the report and photos from the trip!

So just hang in there! I know you’re getting impatient and want me to jump ahead to the pictures from the Disneyland 2011 trip, but it was/is important to me to give you some background because it directly influenced and impacted my life and who I am, and especially my friendships and my love of Disneyland today. The past led to the present!

 

[Sherry E]

Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland –

Sunday, December 4 – Thursday, December 8, 2011





Introduction and Background Information – Part 2​

So, where were we?

In Part 1 of the Introduction & Background Information of this TR (Page 169, Post #2532), I filled you in on how Disneyland became a joyful part of my life 40 years ago, thanks to my grandmother and her church friends, and how it ended up meaning much more to me than simply being a fun place to spend a day.

I also told you about the early Disney ‘seeds’ that were planted in my young mind – the Thurl Ravenscroft connection at the Little Country Church of Hollywood (which prompted the first trip for me to Disneyland, to “find Thurl”), and the visits to the Pan Pacific Auditorium when I was a wee tot (even though I clearly had no clue at that time that the Pan Pacific Auditorium’s unusual design and color would end up figuring so prominently into the entrances to 2 Disney parks in the United States, and even lending its style to the construction walls that currently line the pathway into California Adventure!).

Well, where do I go from here?

I suppose I will use this second part of the Background and Introduction to tell you about my friend – I shall call her “M” – who will be play a very prominent role in my December 4 – December 8, 2011 Disneyland Resort holiday trip report tales.

M and I met in 1979, when we were both in detention in junior high school (or middle school, as it is more commonly known in this century!). We were 12 years old. I’ve already explained to you that I hated going to school because many kids were awful and mean to me, and I didn’t really care for a lot of the teachers, either. So I got in trouble for skipping school and was put in detention. M was also in there for some other reason – I’m not really sure what it was, but I think it involved insulting a teacher. Soon we realized that were both in the same music class together, with a teacher who loved Barry Manilow and wanted us to learn his entire songbook.

M’s vocal talents were, um…interesting. I would hear these strange, alien sounds coming from a couple of rows back, in the middle of a lively rendition of “Can’t Smile Without You,” and I realized it was M. She sat behind me in the class and was perpetually off-key (to say the least), to the point where I think the teacher just asked her to stop singing after a while because it was confusing the other singers.

Our friendship led us on many adventures. We spent the Summers of 1980 and 1981 frolicking around Westwood Village, spending way too much money in Tower Records, or lurking behind fruit stands at the Farmers Market, spying on cute boys until they caught us and we ran away.

We even met Michael Damian – I think it was in 1981. Who is Michael Damian, you ask? He played Danny on “Young and the Restless,”a CBS show, and he was always in Tiger Beat or Teen Beat magazine because he had a ‘rock music’ career. (I say ‘rock music’ with a wink and a nudge.)

Farmers Market was across a huge parking lot from CBS, and “Young and the Restless,” was taping at that specific location in those days, so the stars of CBS soap operas and game shows would walk across the lot to Farmers Market to eat lunch. Not one to bother with walking, Michael Damian drove his snazzy black Porsche across the lot and parked it in front of Farmers Market. M and I happened to see him pulling up, and we started talking to him. He was by himself, and he graciously sat down with us for 45 minutes to chat. He was a very nice guy.

When we were done talking to Michael Damian, we walked him back to his Porsche, where he hugged us and kissed both M and me smack dab on the lips – which, at that time, was shocking!!! And he drove off into the mist – which was really just back across the parking lot to CBS.

Needless to say, Michael Damian left quite an impression on our little 13-year-old broken hearts…

As M and I got older and the years passed, the types of adventures and mischief we got into changed quite a bit, and we sometimes included other friends in the mix, too. But there was always lots of fun to be had.

We worked for Poison/Bret Michaels together….

We mingled with Warrant...

We generally trotted around, acting & looking silly…

There were trips to Catalina…

And, of course, there were many trips to Disneyland…way more than I have room to represent in photos in this one single post, so here is just a sampling…

November 2001 (below) was our last trip to Disneyland together until December 2011...

Actually, my first trip to Disneyland with M was in 1980 or 1981, but for some reason I have absolutely no photos from that time…or from any trip we took to Disneyland together until 1990, for that matter. I have no clue why. I’m not even sure if anyone else took photos from those trips, but I remember being there with her a few times in the early ‘80s.

Any sharp-eyed, long-time followers of this TR will know that there are also lots of other photos of M and me scattered throughout this thread in various vintage Disneyland segments, as well as in Catalina photos. I am just showing you a small glimpse of our adventures right now but you can always go back and skim through the thread, where you will find lots and lots of other photos!!!

My friendship with M over the years – decades, actually – was not without conflict. Far from it. While I won’t go into all the details here (because it’s not necessary), suffice it to say there were many issues and rough patches along the way. Sometimes there were long-lasting arguments. She used to do and say a lot of things that I thought were not indicative of a friend who really cared about me, and, in fact, were more indicative of a friend who resented me for some unknown reason. This is not to say that I am always a joy to deal with, either, because I am not. We all have flaws.

But with time and maturity you assume that people change, situations change and you evolve as friends. I have tried to mature and evolve as a person in many ways. M got married (to “B”) back in 1997 and moved to Idaho a couple of years later. Her dad (“S”) joined them. They welcomed their adorable little boy, “R,” five years ago. Her life has changed a lot.

I valued my friends very early on in life – back in those days when my grandmother would let me have friends over or allow me to bring them to Disneyland with me. I felt that if I was lucky enough to make any friends in the sea of horrible kids who attended school with me, I wanted to hang on to them. To this day, I have kept several friends that I knew in school. Also, I don’t have any family – my grandmother passed away in 1996, and all of my other relatives have since passed on or they were so distant that I never knew them in the first place. So my longtime friends of many, many years have literally become my family because there is no other family for me.













As some of you may recall, I had not seen M in 10 years, since 2001, and there were a couple of close calls with M and her family making plans to come out here to SoCal. They were going to make a trip out here last May, for example, and there was going to be a big Goofy’s meal (they were going to treat me to dinner because I had facilitated so many of our Disneyland trips in the past and she said she owed it to me), but then she began including all kinds of other people in on the plan so I got uncomfortable with it and backed out. They ended up not coming out in May.

Finally, M and family solidified their plans to come out to SoCal this past December. I picked hotel dates at the Paradise Pier Hotel that I thought would coincide with their planned dates at Disneyland. M waited 5 months to tell me that the dates I picked were not good for them, so then it was a last minute scramble for me to see if I could switch dates with the Special Activities department. M doesn’t get the concept of ‘You are taking a big risk by trying to make down-to-the-wire changes in your reservations at the Disney hotels during the holiday season.’ To her, it is no big deal to just make last-minute adjustments and she doesn’t understand that sometimes it is not possible to make those changes.

Fortunately, I was able to switch my original December 2011 dates to dates that worked with M & family’s DLR trip date. Originally I booked 11/28/11 – 12/5/11, but I changed the dates to 12/4/11 – 12/11/11. I eventually ended up lopping off 3 of the nights and changing it to 12/4/11 – 12/8/11.

M arranged to stay with me at the PPH on the night of 12/5/11 (Monday), and she split the cost 50/50 with me, but her family was staying in another room at the PPH…or so she told me. (I soon found out that was not true, but more on that later.)

M also asked me if one of her new friends and she could stay in my PPH room on the night of 12/8/11. Well, the thing was, I was due to check out on 12/8, and she only wanted to chip in 50% of the cost, whereas I felt that if 2 other adults were going to be staying with me, we should be splitting the cost 3 ways. In other words, it’s not a “2 for the price of 1” deal for M and her friend in my PPH room! Each person should pay 1/3 of the price. In any case, I knew I was going to check out on 12/8 so it was not possible for them to stay with me even if I had agreed to the 50% split.

I was due to be alone at the Paradise Pier Hotel on the night of Sunday, 12/4, which I preferred. I can’t sleep as well with other people in my room, and I don’t have to worry about waking other folks up or bothering them if I want to get up at the crack of dawn or in the middle of the night. So 12/4 would be my solo night at the PPH. M (and possibly her then-4-year-old, R) would be with me on 12/5. And I had arranged with fellow wonderful DIS’ers, Laurie (DizNee Luver) and Molly (bumbershoot), to stay with me on the nights of 12/6 & 12/7.

Originally I had discussed the possibility of sharing the PPH room with Jessica (Belle Elle/BillyJazz) and Paula (smile4stamps), but that didn’t look like it was going to work out – or so I thought – so I had to launch into warp speed ‘find roommates’ mode once I switched dates. Molly had already thrown her hat into the ring long ago. Laurie miraculously was able to come to DLR and share the room on the exact dates I had available, and she had met Molly before on a Diva trip – so it seemed like it was going to work out perfectly! Plus, both Laurie and Molly had stayed at the PPH before and loved it, so I knew there would be no complaints about the hotel choice from them. Everything kind of fell into place the way I needed it to fall, and it seemed like a plan that would work for everyone else involved as well.



Coming up soon….Finally, Sunday, December 4th arrives and it is time for me to head to Disneyland to soak in the Christmas spirit! A fun-filled day with the usual Disneyland friends awaits, and merriment is all around!

 

[Sherry E]

This is the final installment of the Pre-TR/Intro. So after we get through this, it will be on to the parks.

Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland –

Sunday, December 4 – Thursday, December 8, 2011




Introduction and Background Information – Part 3

(let’s just call it a Pre-Trip Report!)​

So…we now arrive at our last installment of the ‘Pre-Trip Report/Background/Introduction’ section of this Trip Report!

To recap:


In Part 1 of this epic, I explained about how my Disneyland initiation in 1972 was largely due to Disney vocal veteran Thurl Ravenscroft being a member of the church I attended every Sunday, because my grandmother and her friends wanted to take me there so we could ride the rides/see the shows to which Thurl had contributed his talents.

I looked back fondly on my visits to the old Pan Pacific Auditorium in the Fairfax District area of Los Angeles – never expecting its unique design to become intricately interwoven into the fabric of the Disney Parks’ history.

I also revealed that, if not for my grandmother, Disney and Disneyland may have never become part of my childhood at all, let alone the haven - and light at the end of the tunnel - that it actually became for me.

And, finally, I explained that – while I cannot get to Disneyland as often as many other people on this board do – I have made at least one Disneyland trip per year (and, many times, more than one trip), for 31 of the last 40 years (I skipped some years in the late ‘90s and in the early-to-mid 2000’s).




In Part 2, I told you about how I first met “M” – the friend who will play a prominent role in the December 2011 Trip Report I am about to share with you – back in 1979, in junior high school, and how our friendship was filled with both conflict and many fun adventures. She was with me at that first Goofy’s Kitchen breakfast 20 years ago. She was with me on many Disneyland trips. She was with me in Catalina. She was with me back in the old rollicking rock & roll days of the Sunset Strip and the ‘80s hair bands (such as Poison & Warrant). She was with me when we spied on cute boys from behind fruit stands…and she was with me on that fateful day when we met Michael Damian from “Young & the Restless”[/I} at Farmers Market.

I don’t think I explained this, but prior to this past December, my last Disneyland trip with M was on a very rainy Thanksgiving weekend in 2001, when we stayed at the Grand Californian Hotel (that was actually the GCH’s very first holiday season and the first year of its lobby’s magnificent giant Christmas tree!). We rode exactly 2 rides (Haunted Mansion Holiday and Autopia – what an odd choice for the only 2 rides to go on, I know!), ate at Plaza Inn and the Storytellers Critter Breakfast, wandered over to the Disneyland Hotel and spent too much time in Downtown Disney (M is obsessed with shopping in Downtown Disney, for some reason). We also watched fireworks from our GCH room. That was about it!

By the way, that November 2001 Grand Californian Hotel booking was a last-minute reservation, as that was the only place I could find availability – and I got stuck paying for the entire hotel bill. M later grumbled to me about how she didn’t want to stay at the GCH – she preferred the Disneyland Hotel (which was not available) – even though I told her that with less than a week’s preparation for a Thanksgiving weekend trip, we could not get into the Disneyland Hotel and had to take what was open. So we had to ‘settle’ for the Grand Californian, and M and her husband didn’t seem all that impressed.

November 2001 was also the last time M and I saw each other, period, because she and her husband, “B,” moved out of state and started a family. Even though they apparently made trips back to Southern California all the way up to 2006 or so, they didn’t think to contact me to get together when they were in town.





So what could be in store for Part 3 of this Background/Introduction/Pre-Trip Report?


Well, again, keeping in mind that I am laying the groundwork, building anticipation and setting the stage here for the actual Trip Report to come (because, if you remember what I have revealed in Parts 1, 2 & 3, then the events and outcome of the trip will have more meaning and impact!), I really wanted to express a few final things:

1. My love of Christmas, especially Disney + Christmas together; and

2. My love of photography (as being both a precious memory-preserver and a cathartic release/creative outlet for me).


As you can imagine, these passions can be blended together at times, which is probably my ultimate scenario – taking photos of Disneyland at Christmas time!!



Let’s start with my absolute adoration of Christmas – well, holidays in general, really, but Christmas is at the top of the list (Halloween is in second place and Easter is third)!

My grandmother, who I already told you about in Part 1, was big on holidays – she went the extra mile to be sure that holidays were special for me as a child. There was a card and/or gift for almost every significant occasion. She gave me jewelry and candy for Valentine’s Day. She gave me little bits of money and maybe a 4-leaf clover pin to commemorate our Irish heritage on St. Patrick’s Day. She would buy me the PAAS dye kits so I could color eggs & then she would hide several wonderful treat-filled baskets around the house for me to find on Easter morning (I loved that!). She would give me costume-clad stuffed animals for Halloween. She would load up Christmas stockings with all kinds of little treasures, and give me many presents on December 25th. My grandmother did not have any money – as I have stated before – but she wanted to be sure that I had that experience of enjoying all holidays, so she pulled it off somehow.

Luckily, that enjoyment of festive occasions has stuck with me over the years. What I really appreciate is the overall fun involved in holidays. I love the colors, as well as the different textures and styles used in holiday decorations. For example, I was recently walking down the street and I stopped to admire a festive array of plastic bunnies, baskets, flowers, eggs, baby chicks and fake green grass in the window of an Italian restaurant – and it made me very happy to see such a lively representation of Easter, when normally it’s just Christmas (and maybe Halloween) that people acknowledge!! I suppose I love the celebratory aspect of most holidays – the traditions, the cheesy rituals, the TV specials, the songs, the Hallmark lapel pins and ornaments...I love it all.

Now, just for the record, I don’t have any money at all - I am currently not even gainfully employed - and I don’t have any family. So my holiday celebrations do not involve awkward Thanksgiving dinners at wacky relatives’ houses, nor do they involve me waking up on Christmas morning and opening presents under a tree, nor do they involve wild parties on New Year’s Eve. To be honest, these days I spend all holidays alone, at home, 99% of the time.

…But that’s okay. I have certainly bought lots of presents (and even made some by hand) for friends in the past, when I had a few dollars to spend. I have certainly sent out cards for every ‘fun’ holiday (Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Halloween and Christmas). I have put together an occasional Easter basket for friends. I’ve been to New Year’s parties. I have had dates on Valentine’s Day. I have attended some Thanksgiving dinners along the way. And I have been very fortunate to have received some nice presents from people over the years, too.

The bottom line is that I love all holidays despite not having any money to spend or family with whom to share the occasion. I dare say that I might actually enjoy holidays more than many other people do because I don’t have the same pressures that other people have as far as needing to buy this or cook that, or give this present to that person, etc. I can enjoy the holidays with no pressure at all, really, other than feeling like I am expected to be doing these things by other people, or feeling like I should{/I] be doing certain things.





Christmas is a particularly special time. It stands out above all other holidays for me because there are so many layers involved in celebrating it, which can range from the highly religious to the highly whimsical.

I am an absolute sucker for Christmas ‘stuff.’ I love it all, from Nativity scenes to Santa Claus; from angels to snowflakes; from elves to little drummer boys and everything in between. I love the symbols and iconography of the season (snowmen, nutcrackers, candy canes, stars, reindeer, etc.). I love the vibrant colors. I love the gorgeous lights. I love the aromas (pine; cinnamon; gingerbread) & flavors (peppermint, nutmeg, hot cocoa, sugar cookies, etc.) of the season. I love Christmas trees, and the many ways in which they can be adorned – from the very classic styles to the ‘themed’ trees (like an all-Disney tree, and all-blue tree or an all-unicorn tree, etc.). I love that Christmas décor can be rustic and countrified, or it can be elegant and sparkly; it can be old world or modern, or it can be playful and childlike. There are so many different ways to express one’s ‘Christmas personality’ through textures, patterns, colors, lights and designs.

I wander around town, snapping photos of random holiday things…

I took this window display picture back in 2000, with a 35mm camera:

And this was taken during the Christmas season of 2010, with my cell phone. The banner says “Deck the Hills,” because it’s a Beverly Hills sign!:

Needless to say, I love Christmas music too – from the more spiritually-based songs that I learned as a child (“O Holy Night,” “Angels We Have Heard On High,” “The First Noel,” “Away in a Manger,” etc.), to the more standard-style songs (“White Christmas,” “Silver Bells,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” etc.), to the bubbly, bouncy songs that are fun to sing along with (“Frosty the Snowman,” “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Winter Wonderland,” “Sleigh Ride,” etc.).

Additionally, I love Christmas movies and television!! Of course, I am a fan of movies such as “Love Actually” and “Elf,” as well as classics like “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “A Christmas Carol.” Yes, I am an avid watcher of all the Peanuts holiday specials, too. Gotta love that Charlie Brown Christmas tree! And I just became a fan of the Hallmark Channel last year, when I discovered that, starting on the very first weekend in November, they run a Christmas movie marathon every weekend until right after the New Year begins. Jackpot!! Plus, my DVR is overloaded with every kind of Christmas-decorations special known to man (and Halloween-related shows, too), such as “Christmas Crazy,” “Extreme Christmas Trees,” “The Most Christmasy Places in America,” “Invasion of the Christmas Lights, 1, 2 & 3,” and the list goes on and on.

And…as many of my longtime TR followers know, since childhood I have been a connoisseur of the old Rankin-Bass holiday TV specials (including the Easter ones, such as “Here Comes Peter Cottontail”!), featuring some very corny-looking stop-motion puppet characters. I won’t even name them. I will just show you an image, and this should explain it all:

(Photo from Google Images)

So, there you have it…you get the picture. I am a huge fan of holidays in general, and particularly Christmas, but I kind of observe and enjoy these occasions in my own way, and not necessarily in the way that people typically do.

The one Yuletide tradition I try to maintain for myself is a yearly visit to Disneyland during the holiday season, whether it’s for multiple days or only one day. I know I visited the park in November or December at some point during the late ‘70s or early ‘80s, but for whatever reason I do not have a really strong memory of seeing Christmas trees and wreaths in the park. I just remember being there during the holidays. I am guessing that we must not have stayed very long, and that no one took any photos.

My first real, vivid memory of being at Disneyland for Christmas – and ‘discovering’ that I preferred to go in December over any other time of year - was probably in 1990. But Disney and Christmas were synonymous in my mind from an early age, as you can see:

I have no clue whose house this was, but apparently I made a life-sized friend that day…

This was my rockin’ Weebles Disneyland set (a gift on Christmas morning), complete with mini-Teacups, a mini-Monorail, a mini-Dumbo ride, a Castle (that looked nothing like Disneyland’s Castle), as well as Mickey, Pluto and Donald Weebles (who wobbled, but they didn’t fall down, of course!).

Sadly, I had to sell that set in the ‘90s (along with many of my cherished Disney watches) when I needed money.


As you can imagine, Disneyland at Christmas time encompasses everything I love about the holiday season, mixed in with a big helping of Disney magic. It’s sensory overload, but in the best possible way! If you’ve ever been to Disneyland, you know how enchanting of a place it is to begin with. Add in some Christmas merriment and it is just amazing. “Magical” doesn’t even begin to cover it! So this is why I make a point of experiencing the festivities, Mickey-style, every year – it’s my only holiday ‘activity (not counting the random neighborhood photo sprees!) and my only real tradition.






As I was saying earlier, the other thing I am passionate about is photography. Ever since my grandmother handed me her Kodak camera in a restaurant at the top of the Space Needle when I was a small child, and let me take a photo of the Seattle cityscape below, I was hooked. I must have been only 3 or 4 years old but I knew I wanted to take photos.

Even as a teenager and young adult, I was always the annoying one with the camera who pestered everyone to pose for photos when my friends and I got together. They all grumbled and complained (except for “M,” who was a ham) at the time, and then eventually – when they saw my pictures – everyone loved them and they all started taking their own. But everyone still wanted copies of my pictures!

Thanks to my photo habit I got lots of great shots of the old Poison/Bret Michaels days – some of which I have shown here but most of which I have not. Sadly, some jerk got into my Facebook albums a couple of years ago and ‘stole’ the Poison-related photos I posted only for my friends who had been around during that time in the ‘80s, and the jerk decided to share them with the world. Not only is that copyright infringement, but it also just hurt that some stranger took MY memories – which are precious to me – and decided that he needed to share them with strangers. I felt violated. That STILL makes me very, very angry to this day.

Anyway, when I was a teen I had a boyfriend who was a concert photographer. He took professional, close-up photos at all the big concerts of those days. Any major musician or group you can think of, he was there in the front row with his camera – Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, the Pretenders, David Bowie, the Go-Go’s, Stevie Nicks, Berlin, INXS, Duran Duran, etc. He gave me copies of a lot of the photos that he considered ‘bad,’ but which were really great!

Perhaps inspired my ex-boyfriend, for a while in the ‘80s I was practicing my “concert” photography at some club shows with a very bad disc camera, just to see if I liked taking those types of pictures…

This is Jani Lane of Warrant, who passed away last August:

This is Gilby Clarke, who is a former member of Guns N’ Roses and star of CBS’ “Rock Star: Supernova” a few years ago…

I have found that photography – albeit, amateur photography – is very healing and therapeutic for me. It calms me, relaxes me and yet focuses me, stimulating my brain and imagination. It’s a cathartic way to de-stress and channel my creativity.

Some would say (and have said) that writing is my real forte…I’m not sure what to say about that. I don’t think I agree. Yes, I can write a lot, and if I get on a roll I can probably string some words together on paper that might flow reasonably well. However, quantity (writing a lot) does not necessarily equal quality (interesting reading material). Also, it is more stressful to come up with what to write and how to express it – especially within a certain time frame or deadline - than it is to just lift up a camera and shoot something! Writing is not as cathartic for me as it should be, regardless of how well or how poorly I do it.

Now you all may or may not like any of my pictures. Some photos are hits; some are misses. Some are average; some are boring; some are really good. The thing is that many avid photographers – amateur or professional - will not show you their less-than-perfect photos. They will only show you the ones that came out really fantastic, or the ones that were heavily edited. I, on the other hand, will show you the hits and the misses. I don’t care. This is not an art gallery or a photo exhibit. It’s just for kicks. I don’t have a DSLR camera (yet) so I just play with the camera I have, which is a simple ol’ Canon point & shoot with 100 different complicated features! But it serves me well, my Canon. Most of what makes a great photo comes from our brains or imaginations, anyway. The equipment we use is just the tool that helps us execute our visions.

The important thing to me is that taking pictures – good or bad pictures – is something I love doing and have always loved doing. It brings me a lot of joy. For some reason, I let this hobby fall to the wayside in the late ‘90s and early part of this decade. It was a rough period of time for me, I suppose, and I just kind of gave up on a lot of things I loved doing rather than trying to find comfort in them.

However, when I started making annual trips to Disneyland again in 2007 (after being away from the Land for 5 straight years), that rekindled the spark for me. Since then I have been a picture-taking machine when I am by myself. I find it very difficult to get the sorts of photos I want to get when I am with people. I cannot concentrate when anyone is around me. I have to have a good chunk of time alone to be able to come up with ideas for pictures and spend the necessary time required to compose them to my satisfaction.

Here are some photos I have taken over the last couple of years - many of them recently, when I have just been cruising ‘round the neighborhood…

In this version of this photo I used the Autofix feature on Photobucket, as well as brightened it up a notch or two. However, in another version of it (for my Facebook Timeline cover picture) I punched up the color even more to make it pop off the page…

I Autofixed and Blurred/Softened this one a bit, just for kicks- and it made a rockin’ Facebook Timeline cover picture too!…

Another Autofixed/Blurred photo for the dreaded Timeline cover slot…

Yes, I used this one for Timeline as well! It was Autocorrected (or whatever it is called) in the Canon software. The color was not altered…

Let’s try a photo with a person in it for a change! This is Maria Menounos from “Extra” and “Dancing With the Stars” at The Grove last month, posing with a random girl. The only change I made to this was to wipe out the girl’s face, as I don’t know that she necessarily wants to be seen on a discussion board!

This was taken with my cell phone – I blurred the edges but that’s it. The color was not enhanced in any way – it was exactly that rich in the original photo. The pink is so luscious that it reminds me of cake frosting or candy.

Another cell phone photo, Autofixed…

This one (on the Canon) was not edited in any way. I love the juxtaposition of the colors and textures – the red and green leaves against the delicate, almost lacy, flowers and tiny pink bulbs.

This one was not edited in any way either. It was hard getting this shot, between the flowers swaying in the breeze and the bees that didn’t want to stay put for longer than 2 seconds to let me snap some pictures!

A sculpture by Rodin at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art…

A creature at the Tar Pits….

Three of my favorite Catalina photos, circa 2001 & 2002, I think. These were taken on the old 35mm and then scanned, so they needed to be Autofixed…

And finally, here are some of my favorite Disneyland Resort photos, which everyone who has followed this TR has seen 150,000 times, but I will throw them in here for the folks who are brand new to this Trip Report…

I Autofixed and blurred the edges of this one from the Grand Californian Hotel…

The clock on Main Street at dusk (no one was really taking too many pictures of the Main Street clock at that point, back in 2010). I don’t think I did anything to this version except Autofix it…

I Autofixed this. This was an idea I came up with as a way to put a different spin on the famous Sorcerer’s Hat at the border between the Disneyland Hotel and Downtown Disney. In December 2010, when I took this photo, I had not yet seen any other photos like it – on the DIS or elsewhere.

From the Paradise Pier Hotel, 12th floor (December 2010)…a different perspective of California Adventure…

So, now that you have seen the photos I wanted to share, and you’ve read the stories I wanted to tell in Parts 1, 2 and 3 of this Pre-Trip Report/Introduction/Background, you know how much Disneyland means to me and why it means so much. You know how much my friends mean to me and why they do. And you know how much Christmas & photography mean to me and why.

Knowing that I would be wrapped up with M and my other friends for at least the first few days of my December 2011 Disneyland Resort holiday trip, it seemed as though I was going to have to put my photo-taking sprees on hold to focus on seeing my friend(s). I had not seen M in 10 years, after all. This bothered me, because I really, really wanted to take a lot of photos, as I did on my December 2010 Disneyland trip. But, as I mentioned, I cannot concentrate when there are people around me and I really need to be able to wander off by myself for hours at a time to make any progress.

However, seeing my friends – since they are basically my family in the absence of real blood relations – was very important to me, and I put that ahead of anything else, no matter how much I wanted to follow my own agenda.

Was it worthwhile to sacrifice what I wanted to do to be with my friends? Well, since I ended up crying on a bench – alone - in California Adventure on the next to last day of my trip, I’ll let you decide! There were some high points. There were some low points. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was a weepy, wacky, wonderful trip!






Coming up…the adventure FINALLY BEGINS as I head towards the Happiest Place on Earth on December 4th…

BUT…does the shuttle driver know where he is going? Is he purposely going the wrong way because he is a crazed maniac who is going to kill me? Will I ever make it to Disneyland at all? And does the driver know how to make a mean bowl of spaghetti and meatballs?

All that and more – in the first installment of the Trip Report!! Stay tuned!!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Bret -

Of course I remember "Heart Quest" from last year and your wonderful efforts on it! "Heart Quest" was my idea (and a rather good idea at that, if I do say so myself!)! In fact, the massive undertaking known as "Sign Quest" was my idea!

You see? I am giving you all of my good ideas and not keeping them for myself! I have to stop that bad habit! I have to now be silent if I think of another good idea!

I really only get ice cream at Disneyland during the holidays, when they have the peppermint. I wanted to try something at Ghirardelli because it was new to DCA, but I only tried the one sundae. Their menu looks really interesting.

Liza did not say where she thought she saw you. On June 9th I mentioned that you were also at DLR that day and that you were doing 2 Cars Land previews during your trip. I said that I wondered if we would see you as you were starting your 1 p.m. preview (because you might have been on Buena Vista Street at the same time we were or something), as we were headed somewhere else.

Then I realized that I was not sure if either of us would recognize you to be able to say hello even if we did see you! So I asked Liza if she would recognize you because I thought I remembered a plan for you guys to possibly meet up last year, but I wasn't sure if she met you or not! She said she wasn't sure if she would - she thought she had maybe seen you in passing, but she didn't specify where.

The "Heart Quest" was a great quest when I ran around the DLR looking for all those hearts. It was a pain in some different parts of the lands at DL & DCA, but I have seen the most hearts around FL. The sign quest was really a daunting quest to get all the signs and with everything around me it was like taking a picture of each sign for every one to 2 seconds. I might consider doing another one of those quests again in the future. But as you know when we get to the Holiday season, I will be going around looking for trees, wreaths, etc.

You have great ideas of setting up these quests. I think I told you before that the sign quest was the most difficult while I still like doing the Holiday quest.

I will look at the menu at Ghirardelli again before I go back to DL next month with my DB and his GF. Maybe they will want to get a treat at Ghirardelli that night.

Just before 1pm around 12:30pm, my DA and I were in ABL right between Tuck and Roll's Drive 'em Buggie and Heimlich's Chew Chew Train at the entrance to CL towards LFT instead of going through Pacific Wharf where I heard a lot of people headed in that direction.

It would have been nice if we crossed paths during the preview, but I am still excited to hear that you and Liza had a great time at the preview.

Nice pics of the flowers.

I will be looking forward to the rest of your Holiday trip report.

 

[kmedina]

I am glad you posted the remaining seven photos. They were beautiful. I did notice all of the lovely flower pictures Bret took as well. You two did get some great (and similar) ones. Sorry you had a horrible day when you got home, but I am glad it did not happen while you were at Disney. I do plan on sticking with you for the remainder of the trips. Since I am highly unlikely to attend the Halloween party this year, I am looking forward to reading about it. If we do not go to WDW for Halloween next year, we will do a quick weekend trip to Disneyland. We were at WDW the days you were at Disneyland. Bret arrived at WDW just as I was leaving for the Disney Dream. All over the map, we were enjoying Disney at the same time.

I have no photos from my very early days at Disney. Most of my baby and pre 8 years old photos were burned in a fire. Your photos at age four are awesome. I hope my boys cherish theirs as much as you love yours. We skipped Goofy’s Kitchen this trip, since we were trying to get mostly new restaurants in. Xander protested, because he did not remember going and really wanted to go. We may have to go there on our next trip. Love your photos.

Your grandmother sounds fantastic. I am sorry your parents did not get it, but I am glad you had her. Those are interesting facts about the entrance to DHS and the new DCA. I cannot remember what the front gates looked like at Disneyland when I was little. It is cool that you knew someone who did Disney voices. How exciting for anyone, especially a kid.

After reading about your background, I totally get why Disneyland will always be more special to DCA for you. It was your escape and place to be a real kid immersed with love from your Grandma and her church. I am glad that Disney was your happy place. Every child deserves to be happy even if it is fleeting at times. Glad you found such a great friend in M. Sorry there were rough patches, but I cannot wait to read how your reuniting went. I am also a little envious that you worked for Poison and Bret Michaels. How cool is that!

Even though the hotel planning was a little stressful, I am glad everything worked out. I love Christmas so much too. It is my favorite holiday, and I love the decorations. The picture with you in front of the big Mickey is awesome. I have a similar one of Xander like that. Sorry someone stole your photos.

I am terrible at taking pictures. Yours are quite nice, so I am glad you enjoy it so much.

Oh no. I am nervous to read about you crying on a bench at DCA. Hopefully, you cried for a short period of time, then got up and took the pictures you wanted to take.

 

[Sherry E]

Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland

(12/4 - 12/8/11)



Day 1 - Sunday, December 4, 2011 - Part 1​

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light
From now on,
Our troubles will be out of sight…

​

So…where to begin?

If you’ve followed along with my previous trip reports and you’ve read the 3 Pre-TR Background/Intro installments leading up to this post, you know a bit about me by now, and you know how much these Christmas time Disneyland trips mean to me. You also know that it can be very hard for me to actually pull them off, both financially and transportation-wise. When I set foot on Disney soil it is a liberating feeling because it is such a hard-won trip! It seems like a miracle when I am able to overcome all the hurdles and actually get there.

In the interest of time (since I have delayed this TR sooooo long) and not wanting to drag things out even further, suffice it to say that this trip was no different. I will spare you some of the rundown of how this all finally came together, but nothing ever goes seamlessly for me. I always manage to be caught up in a last minute maelstrom of madness, trying to figure out how I am getting from Point A to Point B, how I am going to pay for X, Y & Z, who is going to show up at which time, packing and various other nagging details. Just once I would like to have all the plans made in advance, everything paid for in advance, and be able to breathe easy! Just once it would be nice to pull off one of these little jaunts without a hitch!


Only a couple of days prior to Sunday, December 4, 2011, I was frantically running to & fro, turning an unused department store gift card I had into cash, making a Super Shuttle reservation to get myself to Disneyland, and buying an extra Park Hopper for Shawn (those of you who have followed along on previous reports know who she is), simply because I wanted to hang out with her in Disneyland on 12/4, and because Jackie & Bob (friends who usually show up to see me at DLR) were going to be there on that day too.

I had already renewed my Annual Pass in late October, so at least my admission would be covered. And I got a sweet deal at the Paradise Pier Hotel for one totally free night (yes, 100% free), and $99 each additional night.

Plus, fellow DIS’ers Laurie & Molly (DizNee Luver and bumbershoot, respectively) were coming in on Tuesday, December 6th and were splitting the cost of the PPH room with me for 2 nights. My friend “M” (refer to Pre-TR/Background/Intro installment, Part 2, to find out about her) was also splitting the cost with me for one of my other nights. This trip – while being my longest stay so far at a Disney hotel – would also end up being my least expensive holiday trip with a hotel stay to date, I think!




(For the explanation of how I ended up with the free night at the PPH and a great rate for the other nights in 2011, and if you want to see a TR packed with well over 1000 photos, I will refer you to my epic extravaganza of a December 2010 Trip Report:

“The Evil Chair & The Peppermint Cone of Death – A 2010 Christmas Tale,” which starts on Page 83/Post #1244 [ends on Page 110/Post #1641]).





All in all, since I was getting this Disneyland holiday trip ‘on the cheap’ (if you can ever call a Disneyland Resort hotel stay ‘cheap’), I felt I could get the Hopper for Shawn. It was either that, or use the money I paid for her Hopper on staying one extra night at the PPH. Did I need the extra night? Well, I wanted an extra night, for sure, but as it turned out, an extra night would have been wasted on me because I was starting to get sick.

In the end, I wanted to see my friend (who I had not seen since December 2010), so I used the extra money I had rounded up for her one-day Hopper. I kind of hoped that Shawn would take the Hopper I gave her and turn it into an Annual Pass on the monthly payment plan – which she keeps saying she is going to get – but she didn’t.



Now, truth be told, I think that Shawn may have been willing to come pick me up this time around, on the morning of December 4th, except for the fact that she had an office Christmas party to go to on the night of Saturday, December 3rd, and would be out late. She is usually a very early riser, but not when she has been out late the previous night.

So I called Super Shuttle and booked the ridiculously expensive, one way “point-to-point” shuttle service (meaning no stops at the airport – just straight from my house to Anaheim), which is in the range of $130 (including 18% tip) for Sunday, December 4th. I told them I needed to be at PPH by 6 a.m. I like to go really early (which I will explain shortly)!

Jackie contacted me at the last minute - after the shuttle reservation had already been made and my money was gone – and offered to come and get me after she and Bob got out of his office’s Christmas party (does every office have its Christmas party on the same night? Lol), bring me back to their house and let me stay there before Disneyland. The trouble was, aside from the reservation already being made, I didn’t have my bags anywhere close to being packed and ready to go, AND there is no way I’d get to the Paradise Pier early enough in the morning on Sunday, 12/4 if I stayed with them. I really appreciated the offer (they were trying to save me from having to spend the $130 to get down to Anaheim) and I would have taken them up on it in an emergency, but I had kind of set my plan in stone at that point and it would have been tough to change it so late in the game.

There had also been talk of Liza/funatdisney coming to pick me up on the morning of Sunday, 12/4, but she had some sort of business dinner the night before and wouldn’t be able to get up early enough.

So I was set for a Super Expensive Super Shuttle ride to Paradise Pier Hotel before dawn on Sunday morning!

​

Sunday arrived. Due to no one’s fault but my own, I got no sleep the night before I was due to leave. I was in a frenzied Tasmanian Devil-like mode, throwing things in my suitcase and taking care of odds and ends, and there was just no time for something like sleep. Lol. At least I managed to carve out time to get in the shower, wash my hair and brush my teeth! Oh, and I remembered to get dressed too, thankfully.

Somehow I managed to get myself together in time to answer the automated call from Super Shuttle, telling me that the driver was 5 minutes away and I had to wait outside. I think this was around 5:15 a.m.

Mind you, I had to wait outside by myself, in the dark, when everyone was still asleep. Not the most comforting feeling.

The driver arrived on time – I have read others’ experiences about their Super Shuttle drivers being Super Late, but I have not yet experienced that. For their Super High rates, they’d better darn well be Super Punctual!

​

And away we went, Anaheim-bound!

Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever been picked up by a shuttle driver or a taxi driver at a time when you are really only half-awake, not functioning on all cylinders yet, and haven’t really decided if you feel chatty. I was still trying to unwind from my tornado of packing and prep mode activity before dragging my stuff outside to meet the shuttle. I was still silently assuring myself that it was okay that I hadn’t gotten any sleep, and that I would have enough stamina to last the whole day. I needed to switch modes from “frantic” to “relaxed.” It’s a process. It doesn’t happen instantaneously.

If you don’t talk to your driver, then you are stuck in awkward silence for the duration of your ride (which is about 40 minutes from my area). Well, my driver was very nice and he seemed to be talkative. I mean, not overly, obnoxiously, talkative. But he was at least awake. So I decided to force myself to start engaging – maybe it would help wake me up, I reasoned.

We chit-chatted about the fortuitous timing which allowed such a traffic-free freeway. No one is up and out on the freeway before sunrise, really. This would help us to make good time, and I should be on target to get to the PPH at 6 a.m.

It took a while of making small talk before I snapped out of my fog and realized that this driver was not going the way I am used to going. Whenever I ride with anyone to Disneyland – friend, shuttle driver or otherwise – we hop on the 10 East freeway, switch to the 5 South, and get off at Disneyland Drive. It’s that easy. The only time it’s bad is if we are going during rush hour and hit insane traffic.

I scanned the various signs on the freeway as we passed them, eyes darting back and forth, trying to determine if this driver was lost, or if he was a mad genius who had found an even faster way to get me to Anaheim. Maybe he knew something I didn’t know? Every sign I saw indicated that we were not going the right way. This was some roundabout, circuitous way. I could only hope that this driver’s intentions were not evil ones. I’ve seen a lot of movies. I knew there must be a random forest off to the side of the freeway where bodies could be discarded.

​

I tentatively and quietly – as if not to make any sudden, startling moves – reached a hand towards my cell phone…in case I had to quickly dial 911 or text someone and say I’d been kidnapped by Super Shuttle and was being taken into a forest. I felt my heart beat a little faster as I mustered up the courage to say, “Um…I don’t recognize this route. I’m used to the 5 freeway.”

I braced myself for what I was sure would be an outburst of rage, and the driver said, “We’re gonna get on the 605.”

Oh. We are? Well, okay, yes, the 605 freeway is another way that people can get to Anaheim, but is not the most direct way by any means. It is, as I said earlier, more roundabout. Taking the 10 to the 5 would have been better.

I said, “We’re…taking the 605? Is that…better…in some way?”

He said, “Well, we can use the carpool lane.”

I said, “Oh.” In my mind I was thinking, but did not dare say, “Why do we need the carpool lane when there is no one on the freeway at this time, as we just discussed?”

I said, “So…you’ve gone this way before?”

He said, “Oh yeah!”

At that point I decided to just put my trust in this potential madman and assume he had my best interests in mind. I stayed on alert and on edge the whole way to Anaheim, and I felt such relief when we finally began to see the Disney signs and other familiar landmarks.

By the time my Super Shuttle guy pulled up to the valet area in front of Paradise Pier Hotel, we were engaged in a discussion about cooking and how, if you are truly a “good cook,” you have to be able to cook a wide variety of dishes from every culture. He said he cooked for his wife, and he used to run a catering business, I think? I said I have simple tastes. I don’t need fine dining or gourmet cuisine. Just give me the basics. I asked him if he could make a good, basic spaghetti and meatballs dish (the true test of a chef, in my book! Lol).

He said, “Sure! You have to be able to make all of that, even if it’s not your specialty!”


As it turned out, because ‘his way’ was not as direct as ‘my way’ to get to Anaheim, it took a bit longer than planned and the Super Shuttle driver did not get me to the PPH until shortly after 6 a.m. But…at least I got there, and I got there in one piece, carefully avoiding ending up in a forest!




Up next, in Part 2 of Day 1…that awesome, tummy-tingling, makes-me-want-to-burst-into-song-and-then-dance-a-jig feeling of walking into the Paradise Pier lobby and seeing the gorgeous blue-green Christmas tree lights….

 

[kmedina]

I have never cried then laughed out loud the same night from updates. Your history made me cry. This update had me laughing so hard that Crap wanted to be filled in on what I was reading. It was the wittiest update I've ever read on the boards. Even though the driver got you to the hotel shortly after 6am by taking the long way, I am glad he got you there in once piece. Needing the carpool lane at seemingly the only time there is no traffic would make me laugh already. You were sweet not to call him out on that. I cannot wait to read why you needed to be a PPH so early. Hopefully, you had awesome plans. Sorry you did not sleep well the night before.

 

[mvf-m11c]

What a crazy morning to get to the PPH Sherry. At least you got to the DLR safely early in the morning. A very nice conversation with the driver on the way to the hotel. Interesting to hear that he went the longer way to the hotel as well as driving in the carpool lane.

I can't wait for your next update to your TR.

 

[Sherry E]

The "Heart Quest" was a great quest when I ran around the DLR looking for all those hearts. It was a pain in some different parts of the lands at DL & DCA, but I have seen the most hearts around FL. The sign quest was really a daunting quest to get all the signs and with everything around me it was like taking a picture of each sign for every one to 2 seconds. I might consider doing another one of those quests again in the future. But as you know when we get to the Holiday season, I will be going around looking for trees, wreaths, etc.

You have great ideas of setting up these quests. I think I told you before that the sign quest was the most difficult while I still like doing the Holiday quest.

I will look at the menu at Ghirardelli again before I go back to DL next month with my DB and his GF. Maybe they will want to get a treat at Ghirardelli that night.

Just before 1pm around 12:30pm, my DA and I were in ABL right between Tuck and Roll's Drive 'em Buggie and Heimlich's Chew Chew Train at the entrance to CL towards LFT instead of going through Pacific Wharf where I heard a lot of people headed in that direction.

It would have been nice if we crossed paths during the preview, but I am still excited to hear that you and Liza had a great time at the preview.

Nice pics of the flowers.

I will be looking forward to the rest of your Holiday trip report.

Bret -

Oh, that's right - Tree Quest and Wreath Quest were my ideas too! I almost forgot those. I was mainly thinking about Sign Quest and Heart Quest.

Gee, I really, really need to stop giving out all my good photo quest ideas - I have nothing left for myself to do! It's just like with the Grand Californian Hotel lobby during the holidays - I have talked about it so much, and said what a great holiday environment it is and how festive it is, that now I can't find a seat there in December. I need to learn to keep the Disneyland secrets to myself too.

In any case, you did an excellent job on all of the photo quests, finding things that I'm sure never would have been found otherwise. Heart Quest was particularly interesting, I think! Sign Quest was really meant to be more of an ongoing quest over many trips - not necessarily all in one trip! But you took on the challenge and did it all in one trip, basically! How exhausting!

The various holiday-related quests are always fun, and it's a great way to keep tabs on DLR and see what they are adding and removing from the decorations each year! If you have one year's photos of a particular land to compare against another year's photos of that same land, you can easily see which trees and wreaths are new or which ones have suddenly gone missing, etc.

I am glad you posted the remaining seven photos. They were beautiful. I did notice all of the lovely flower pictures Bret took as well. You two did get some great (and similar) ones. Sorry you had a horrible day when you got home, but I am glad it did not happen while you were at Disney. I do plan on sticking with you for the remainder of the trips. Since I am highly unlikely to attend the Halloween party this year, I am looking forward to reading about it. If we do not go to WDW for Halloween next year, we will do a quick weekend trip to Disneyland. We were at WDW the days you were at Disneyland. Bret arrived at WDW just as I was leaving for the Disney Dream. All over the map, we were enjoying Disney at the same time.

I have no photos from my very early days at Disney. Most of my baby and pre 8 years old photos were burned in a fire. Your photos at age four are awesome. I hope my boys cherish theirs as much as you love yours. We skipped Goofy’s Kitchen this trip, since we were trying to get mostly new restaurants in. Xander protested, because he did not remember going and really wanted to go. We may have to go there on our next trip. Love your photos.

Your grandmother sounds fantastic. I am sorry your parents did not get it, but I am glad you had her. Those are interesting facts about the entrance to DHS and the new DCA. I cannot remember what the front gates looked like at Disneyland when I was little. It is cool that you knew someone who did Disney voices. How exciting for anyone, especially a kid.

After reading about your background, I totally get why Disneyland will always be more special to DCA for you. It was your escape and place to be a real kid immersed with love from your Grandma and her church. I am glad that Disney was your happy place. Every child deserves to be happy even if it is fleeting at times. Glad you found such a great friend in M. Sorry there were rough patches, but I cannot wait to read how your reuniting went. I am also a little envious that you worked for Poison and Bret Michaels. How cool is that!

Even though the hotel planning was a little stressful, I am glad everything worked out. I love Christmas so much too. It is my favorite holiday, and I love the decorations. The picture with you in front of the big Mickey is awesome. I have a similar one of Xander like that. Sorry someone stole your photos.

I am terrible at taking pictures. Yours are quite nice, so I am glad you enjoy it so much.

Oh no. I am nervous to read about you crying on a bench at DCA. Hopefully, you cried for a short period of time, then got up and took the pictures you wanted to take.

I have never cried then laughed out loud the same night from updates. Your history made me cry. This update had me laughing so hard that Crap wanted to be filled in on what I was reading. It was the wittiest update I've ever read on the boards. Even though the driver got you to the hotel shortly after 6am by taking the long way, I am glad he got you there in once piece. Needing the carpool lane at seemingly the only time there is no traffic would make me laugh already. You were sweet not to call him out on that. I cannot wait to read why you needed to be a PPH so early. Hopefully, you had awesome plans. Sorry you did not sleep well the night before.

Kim -

Thank you for all of the kind words, on the Pre-TR and on the first installment of the TR. I'm so glad you're sticking around! I'm glad to know that I have had you both crying and laughing in such a short period of time! Not everyone gets my sense of humor (especially in print), so I always appreciate it when people know where I am coming from!

I have no clue why that driver wanted to take the carpool lane when there was no one on the freeway, which we had just talked about! It made no sense, which is why I was getting nervous!

Thank you, also, for the kind words about my photos. I think some (probably very few) of them come out really well, and then others I kind of look at say, "Well, that's a clunker." I can only hope that some people will enjoy some of the pictures! I really, really find great joy and a much-needed calming effect in taking photos of everyday things as well as on trips, so it helps me (therapeutically) in many ways!

From what I have seen of your photos so far in your TR, they are not terrible at all. I thought they were quite good!

Oh gosh - your photos being burned in a fire is horrible! Short of lives and homes being lost, as far as possessions I think I would die if my old photos, photo CDs or ancient negatives were lost forever. That's terrible!

Yes, my grandmother was amazing. I mean, she had her flaws and issues - as we all do, of course - but the 'good' that she brought to my life in so many ways outweighs any of the other stuff in the grand scheme of things. If not for her, I may never have discovered Disneyland (at least not when I did), I might not love holidays and Christmas as much as I do, and I might not have ever become interested in taking photos (after using her camera to take a picture from the Space Needle as a small child). It was sad to see her in her final years, as she was unhappy and didn't seem to get any fun or joy out of life, anymore. It would have been nice if she had been one of those spry old people you see who are always traveling or taking walks with friends, or staying active in senior groups. She had serious health issues and those sort of made her depressed, so she just kind of 'gave up' over time.


The Bret Michaels/Poison phase of my life was in the mid-to-late '80s. Back then, Poison, Warrant and Guns n' Roses were popular on the Sunset Strip scene. "M" and I met Bret, etc. in 1985. He was unlike any of the dopey guys we knew, because he was cool and in a band! He had/has a really engaging personality, and is very charming and funny in kind of a goofy way. His interaction and repartee with Rikki Rockett was very endearing. We started working for them in, I think, 1986 and it lasted for about 2 years.

(Somewhere in the earlier part of this TR I have a picture of the platinum album I earned - with my name on it - for working for Bret/Poison. I guess that platinum album would be the other possession I do not want to lose in a fire, as it is irreplaceable! It is not worth much money, to be honest, but it means the world to me!)

Yes, some jerk stole over 200 of my prized Poison/Warrant photos from Facebook a couple of years ago and I was/am livid. Those are my photos, my memories, that I was sharing with my friends and other people who had been there back in the '80s with me - they were not intended for strangers to latch on to. I do have a few posted in this TR - I even have a photo of Bret on the Pinocchio ride at DLR on Page 1 of this TR - but the rest of the photos that were stolen were ones I was sharing only with friends on Facebook.

A few years ago - before all of Bret's health issues - his assistant and tour manager contacted me and was going to use a couple of my pictures in the autobiography that Bret was writing, which was supposed to be released that year. Then, he got bonked on the head at the Tony Awards, went in for an appendectomy, had a brain hemorrhage, won "Celebrity Apprentice," did another reality show with his girlfriend and then had heart surgery. The book was shelved so that it could eventually be revised, if not rewritten, to include all of the latest events. At this point, even though I signed the photo release, I'm not sure if my photos will make it in the book if the book will ever see the light of day!!



Yes, I was crying on a bench in DCA! Let's just say that things with the M reunion didn't go as planned and I was very hurt by it (which will be explained in this TR down the road). Having some time pass since the trip, I've been able to gain more perspective on the situation and look at things from different angles (this means that I am not really still harboring great resentment, but I know that I will not make the same mistakes again!). The initial 'sting' of the situation is gone, so I can report on it all with a less emotional voice...and a more logical one!

Stay tuned!

 

[bumbershoot]

After reading all that you just posted, I feel even sadder that you felt so cruddy during the December trip.

Oh gosh - your photos being burned in a fire is horrible! Short of lives and homes being lost, as far as possessions I think I would die if my old photos, photo CDs or ancient negatives were lost forever. That's terrible!

I agree. Whenever I think of having to leave the condo for a fire or whatever, I cannot stop my brain from thinking "and then I'll grab the wedding album and box of digital storage media on the way out". Of course I wouldn't, but my brain sure thinks I should!

And the only reason I have the disc and rights to our wedding photos is b/c the photographer had a fire at his warehouse 5 years after our wedding, and lost HIS wedding photos and negatives in it. Client photos were stored elsewhere, but his stuff was at his office. He got scared and contacted clients that they could now buy the discs and rights, b/c he didn't want that responsibility anymore.

 

[deejdigsdis]

Ahhh...the flowers make me happy! Especially these ones. I have no idea what they are really called, but my mom used to grow these in our yard when I was younger. She always referred to them as "Disneyland Flowers."

I'm sorry about your foot. When you mentioned stepping off a curb I imagined that pesky Main Street garbage can had somehow maneuvered itself to get in your way!

I hear you on the heat. I don't have the same physical problems as you do, resulting from the heat, but I'm still not a fan. It just zaps me energy-wise and all I want to do is rest.

I loved the 4th of July look that the Main Street lampposts had! That picture with the Coca-Cola sign in the corner...very Americana looking. I loved it.

About an Exit Sign Quest...I tried to take pics of ride exit signs during a trip last year and I think I only remembered to do it 3 times. I would love to see someone else succeed.

I loved the old-fashioned look of the candy displays in the Candy Palace...what a clever exit sign as well! Are chocolate-covered pineapple spears a new thing? I've never seen them before. I wonder if they are any good.

I wish I had more time to comment! I am looking forward to cozying up with your Christmas Time TR. I will pop in every chance I get!

 

[deejdigsdis]

WHOA! What happened here? ^^^

ETA: Well, I guess we flipped pages and these ^^^ don't show what I was referring to. My quote is in your quote box. When I went to log in a while back -- maybe 6 weeks ago or so -- I was apparently already logged in as "8timesblessed." I think that was her name. I PMed her to let her know, but it was very strange. Anyway, this recent strangeness reminded me of that.

 

[Chereya]

Sherry, thank you for posting so many personal details about your life. I am looking forward to reading the rest of your TR! And I think you are a great writer - you are giving the rest of us snapshots of your life using words!

 

[kaoden39]

I was chuckling over the shuttle ride. I am like the shuttle driver in the sense that I get in the habit of going a certain way and no matter what going that way. I do it all the time.

 

[Sherry E]

Aunt Betty's Weepy, Wacky, Wonderful Christmas Trip to Disneyland

(12/4/11 - 12/8/11)



Day 1 - Sunday, December 4, 2011 - Part 2​

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas;
Soon the bells will start,
And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing
Right within your heart.






When last I posted, I explained how I narrowly escaped being dumped in the forest and how I ultimately made it to the Paradise Pier Hotel, safe and sound.

I hopped out of the Super Shuttle van, collected my bags and wished my driver/current chef/former caterer/potential hatchet-wielding maniac a happy holiday season.

It’s interesting because Super Shuttle includes the gratuity (18%) in the total for point-to-point pick-ups such as mine. That 18% is part of the near-$130 one-way price. And yet, I always get the feeling that the drivers still expect to be tipped. I feel bad about that – because I DO tip the people I am supposed to tip – but if I am going to tip a driver, then I want to hand him the money myself and not be charged for it automatically. I can’t afford to tip even more on top of already tipping 18%, except for maybe a couple of dollars – and I would think the drivers would be offended if I handed them only $2.00! I would rather that Super Shuttle just stopped charging the 18%, and then I could tip the drivers myself. That’s what some other shuttle places do (like Karmel Shuttle, for example) – they let you figure out your tip on your own. I would like to tip after I know for sure that the driver is not going to dump me in the woods and/or cause me to arrive horribly late!




Anyway, I will now let you in on a little secret…I absolutely love love love arriving at the Disney hotels really early in the morning on my first day at DLR…preferably before sunrise! I like to be there when the dawn breaks, if it is at all possible.

I can’t quite explain it. There is something very exhilarating and invigorating to me about feeling the cold, crisp December air on my cheek, and walking around the property before most people wake up. It puts me in a good mood and starts my day off on the right foot! This way I can kind of ease into things - rather than scramble to get the day started by immediately having to be somewhere or meet someone. I enjoy kind of leisurely strolling around, looking at the hotel Christmas trees, saying hello to other early risers and soaking in the quietness of the morning. I usually feel inspired to take pictures, too.

This was taken outside of the Grand Californian Hotel just before the break of dawn, in December 2009…

These were taken from my Paradise Pier Hotel room in December 2010, just as the sun was beginning to come up…

Even if I’m not staying overnight on a particular trip, I still like to start my one-day visit off by arriving at the Grand Californian Hotel before the sun comes up. When I think back, out of the last few years of DLR trips – well, let me narrow it down to holiday trips and exclude Halloween trips from the mix for the moment – I think there has only been one time when I arrived later in the afternoon to check-in at my hotel. And you know what? When my days start off late like that – especially during the holiday season – I feel out of whack! I feel like everything is off-kilter.

Oh, and that’s the other thing – aside from the above-stated reasons, there is also a practical side to getting to the hotel (whether it be PPH, DLH or GCH) really early in the morning. First of all, I know that I will most likely encounter no one in line at the front desk, so I can just march right up and take care of my paperwork.

Second of all, the Cast Members at the front desk are more likely to give room upgrades and such when you get there before anyone else is checking in…or even waking up! On my last two December visits and stays at the Paradise Pier Hotel, I was upgraded to a theme park view, free of charge. In December 2010 (the “Evil Chair and the Peppermint Cone of Death” trip), not only did I get the free upgrade but my room was ready for me to move into when I arrived just around 6 a.m. That saved me the trouble (and extra cash in tips) of having to leave my bags with the Bell desk.

I would bet that if I were to have arrived at the PPH at 1 p.m. in 2010 or 2011, there would have been no upgrades or instant room availability!




The morning of Sunday, December 4, 2011, did not disappoint. It was just as gloriously brisk as I’d hoped it would be. If I recall correctly, the temperatures were in the 30’s. Given what I told you about how I respond to heat in my “CARS LAND MANIA” trip report, you can imagine that this was a gift from the heavens for me! I knew it would warm up during the day, but if I could enjoy a couple of hours of cold in the blissful tranquility of the morning, at least I would be in a good mood for a while.


When I entered the Paradise Pier Hotel lobby and saw their stately Christmas tree (which is my favorite of all 3 of the hotels’ trees), aglow in warm blue-green lights, I was overcome with that same gleeful, giddy feeling that I used to have when seeing beautiful lights and trees as a child. In fact, it was the same feeling I’d had in December 2010 – the last time I saw the tree.

The PPH tree is eye-catching, to say the least. I can’t quite describe it – and photos never do it justice. It’s just something you have to see in person. While the giant tree at the Grand Californian Hotel is lovely and very fitting with the mood and ambiance of that particular hotel, the PPH tree is colorful and more striking, in my opinion.

…Although, apparently I was not the only one who felt this way. I noticed that there were several people gathered near or around the tree, pointing and commenting; oooh-ing and aaah-ing. Later, one of the Bell desk guys told me that I would not be the first one to say that the PPH tree is the best tree of all the 3 hotels’ trees. “That’s what I keep hearing,” he said.

Of course, it’s all just an opinion, but trust me – if you are someone who enjoys Christmas trees in their overall majestic beauty to begin with, and/or if you are someone who just enjoys pretty things, it’s worth a stroll over to the PPH to check it out!


I felt so happy to be there. As I said yesterday, when these trips come to fruition – because they are so hard to pull together for me – it makes the reward that much sweeter. I truly appreciate being on Disney property and am so thankful that I’m there in all of the glorious holiday magic. I have told you how much I love the season and all that comes with it, so it is my time of year!


I could barely contain my excitement. I felt as though I had become one of those peculiar people doing the “Safety Dance” in the Men Without Hats video (a band from the ‘80s, for all you young ’uns out there).

I wanted to burst into song and run around with my arms outstretched in a dramatic fashion, hugging anyone who got in my path.

I wanted to shout, “I am Lord of the Dance,” for no apparent reason…just ‘cause it’s a fun thing to shout (if you use a semi-British accent).

I was momentarily Julie Andrews, running over the hills in “The Sound of Music.”



“The hills…are alive
With the sound…of mu-uuu-sic…”



But I remained calm. There are no rolling hills in the middle of the Paradise Pier Hotel, for one thing, and I wasn’t sure if the other guests would appreciate being hugged by a random crazy woman spewing random references to Michael Flatley. And I think I might need some form of an alcoholic beverage before I start busting out a “Safety Dance” type of move in the lobby. So I stifled my joy. But there was a song in my heart!




I pulled out my license, Annual Pass, debit card and whatever else I needed to check in at the front desk. Although the lobby seemed to be abuzz with tree admirers, there was no one in line ahead of me…which was my master plan all along.

I went through the check-in drill – a routine with which I am quite familiar - and the CM who helped me told me that I would be charged for the 100% “free” night at the PPH up front – or that the amount would be blocked on my card – but that it would be removed by the time I checked out (which was going to be 4 days later). I guess their computer system just automatically charges up front, and then the CM’s have to go in and tell it to deduct X number of dollars or credit you for whatever on your last day. Given the billing mishaps that ensued during my December 2010 PPH stay, I was a bit leery. I didn’t quite trust them to bill me correctly and credit me where they were supposed to credit me, but I had no choice other than to just check in and deal with whatever happened later on.

My room was not ready yet, unfortunately (though it was ready a couple of hours later) - it was shortly after 6 a.m. on Sunday morning - and no one said anything about upgrading me to a theme park room (though that is exactly the room I got). I suspected that if it had not been the Candlelight Processional weekend at DLR, which draws big crowds, there probably would have been a room available for me at check-in. It was fine, though.

After receiving my Keys to the Magic (for myself, Molly/bumbershoot, Laurie/DizNee Luver, “M” and M’s 4-year-old son), a manager or supervisor or something like that came out to shake my hand and greet me. He presented me with my “Welcome” folder.

In previous years I had received a bright pink folder with Goofy’s picture on it upon checking in. This time I received the folder that the people with Disney Vacation Club memberships receive (I guess?).

I made sure I had everything I needed in my Bagallini, and that anything I didn’t need could be stored with the luggage – including my coat. I left my bags with the Bell desk.

At that point I wanted to stop and take some pictures of the lovely PPH Christmas tree, but there had been some discussion with Jackie about meeting early for breakfast – like right when Disneyland opened, which was very unlike what she and Bob usually did. Normally they would meet us later in the afternoon. I’d told Shawn that they wanted to come over in the morning, so Shawn planned to high-tail it over to meet me (even though she had been up late at her office Christmas party the previous night) before they arrived.

I wasn’t even totally sure how soon Shawn would get there, so I just headed across the street to the GCH and Downtown Disney to at least be in the right area of DLR when everyone showed up for breakfast.

I get that same giddy, exuberant feeling at the GCH, too!

Here comes the Monorail!

It’s a secret, hidden tree!

Yay! Into the stunning lobby we go!

Presents under the tree!

Good morning, Downtown Disney!

​

Up next, in Part 3 of Day 1, I stroll around Downtown Disney without my coat as I wait for my 3 friends to arrive!

 

[pixleyyy]

Please tell me that, eventually, we'll see a picture of the PPH tree!