The ABCs of a New 'Ohana Adventure-G is for: Greetings From Teppan, Good-Byes, and Good News!!! - COMPLETED 1/7

[Captain_Oblivious]

P is for: Pre-Vacation Vacation

Who among us doesn't do that?

Somewhere along the way, Kari informed me she had upgraded to first class, or whatever Alaska calls it, and I gave her the appropriate stink eye as I boarded. She was adequately remorseful (you can tell by the well-disguised smirk).

Heh. If you've got it, flaunt it!

but little did she know the plane would be half empty so I had a little karma party as I settled into my entire row for a 2-hour nap LAYING DOWN while we flew to Santa Ana.

Nice! No extra charge for that.

B) she had “lost” hers at Alison’s. (They ended up being found on Alison’s driveway the next day.)

Hopefully not underneath Alison's tires.

We landed about 8:30 and were IN SW:GE and OFF MF:SR by 10:00!!!

Impressive!

Gorgeous colors there.

My take on SW:GE? I am going to have to be brutally honest here…. Disney did a whiz-bang job on theming and Imagineering of details, but after spending 3 or 4 visits there now (including the Florida portions of my trip) I’m in no hurry to go back. The ride is fun, but nowhere near worth more than a 45ish-minute wait.

Gotcha. I bet it would have been better if the other ride was open. Sounds like that one was supposed to have been the show-stopper, and MF:SR the secondary attraction. Too bad it fell behind.

It really feels like a giant, over-priced gift shop with cool theming.

A cynic could say the same thing about all Disney parks...

I am not a Star Wars hyper-fan, so perhaps it would be more enjoyable for those folks.

I can see that. I like Star Wars a lot, but I'm also not in the category of fan who can name every planet/minor character, etc.

I won’t go into the ride details as you either can or have read about it already from other sources. We were both chosen as gunners and I guess, while I can say the ride is fun, my one complaint is that I spent 90% of my time pushing buttons off to the side instead of actually watching the screen/ride in front of me. I know there is an auto option now but didn’t then and it kinda made for a non-experience for me. I had no idea what the storyline even was after I got off. Since then, I’ve also ridden as Pilot, and while more interactive, that was not absent of a fair amount of stress. In the end, I prefer FOP by a longshot.

Good to know. I can't decide if I'd want to try and fly it or just sit back and enjoy. I guess that is supposed to make people want multiple rides.

It’s great to be back with you, Friends, but wish I was still in Florida soaking up all the warm sunshine.

Who doesn't? Anyway, welcome back!

 

[Terra Nova guy]

My take on SW:GE? I am going to have to be brutally honest here…. Disney did a whiz-bang job on theming and Imagineering of details, but after spending 3 or 4 visits there now (including the Florida portions of my trip) I’m in no hurry to go back. The ride is fun, but nowhere near worth more than a 45ish-minute wait. The Play App stuff IS fun, building a droid IS fun (I’ll go into detail on this in a much later update) and photographing is nice, but after you’ve done it a few times, it is simply a gigantic money-grabbing blackhole. Oga’s is astronomically expensive, the merchandise likewise. It really feels like a giant, over-priced gift shop with cool theming. I am not a Star Wars hyper-fan, so perhaps it would be more enjoyable for those folks. I enjoy the movies okay and was excited about seeing what Disney did with it, but even after experiencing it myself, I am not rabid. I’ll certainly share more (a lot more) in upcoming TR chapters about the various things to do there, but I have no need to hurry back anytime soon. I super enjoyed the CMs in character, the obvious and incredible effort on artistic elements such as the hand-painted “rockwork”, and roaming character interaction, but…

I really appreciate this honest assessment. Although I haven't been there yet, from the video and reviews I've seen, I really think I would feel much the same as you. Now, I consider myself a fairly big Star Wars fan (just refer to my new avatar picture). I've seen all the movies. I have a few mugs and t-shirts at home, but I don't have a collection of anything. It looks like a very cool place to walk around in. But the prices I've seen for merchandise and even the drinks are more than I care to spend. That coupled with the fact that the rest of my family has no interest in Star Wars, likely means I would spend limited time here.

We were both chosen as gunners and I guess, while I can say the ride is fun, my one complaint is that I spent 90% of my time pushing buttons off to the side instead of actually watching the screen/ride in front of me.

I think that would be my complaint about the ride too (again, it's my assumption since I haven't ridden it yet). I would be quite content if it was more of a Star Tours type ride where you just sit there. Pushing buttons distracts from the story. I suspect the people you end up riding with could also make or break the experience too.

 

[Steppesister]

Welcome back! Sounds like a good trip! And yes, I do want to see SWGE sometime, but I'm not in any big hurry, for all the reasons you said. I'm definitely more a fan of the original SW movies than the current stuff, so I won't recognize a lot of the more recent references, I suspect. Dh and ds would appreciate those details way more than me (and dd barely knows the basic characters). Of course, I still haven't seen Pandora yet, either!

Interesting that it just doesn't appeal to quite as many people as I myself once thought it would. I honestly thought that I was in the minority casual fan group. I think even without loving the Avatar movie the beauty of that area draws me in. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on how each one compares to you.

 

[Steppesister]

Welcome back!

Thanks, Vanessa! It's slow slogging getting settled back in with work and laundry and other life stuff competeing for time.

Perfect way to start a WDW vacation.

Yes! And there's loads to come on that part...

I hate when I forget my sunglasses.

Ugh, me too! But there is a story there. I'll share more about sunglasses screw up Pt. 2 soon.

This would be my problem too. I have prescription glasses too.

Such a pain!

I enjoyed your review. I enjoy Star Wars but I'm not a mega fan. I'm looking forward to seeing all the details but I don't think it will be somewhere I will spend a great deal of time every trip.

That's where I am now. Poke around a bit, take some photos, maybe catch some character antics and leave.

The food actually sounds pretty good.

It was very good, but steep price, I thought. The upside is that it is very shareable.

Love all the details found here.

Good start to your trip reporting.

THanks!! As you probably guessed I now have about a year's worth of material to write about.

 

[Steppesister]

I'm actually happy ROTR wont be open for me in Disneyland when DH and I go in November. Like you I have enjoyed my time in Batuu but there's not much drawing me back like I HAVE TO BE THERE RIGHT NOW! lol For our first Disneyland experience I really don't want to waste a lot of time roaming around there when we've done that many times over in WDW! I do enjoy the ride though but I agree with the assessment that there is either A. too much going on or B. heckin stressful! lol

Sounds like a successful morning for hopping right off the plane!

Oh good point! DLR has so much unique to it, I love the rides in Fantasyland that WDW doesn't have and Carsland makes my heart go pitter-pat. I wish you were going a bit earlier to see what they've done there for Halloween!!!! UH-MAZ-ING!!!!

As for that ride. Meh. I was gunner and didn't even hardly watch the show, and was pilot and sucked so my passengers were all killed many times over. LOL! I laughed, but am not so sure they were amused. I was so stressed out!

 

[Steppesister]

Also, since they've made almost everything at HS a tier 1 now, even RnRC and ToT and SDD will be less likely on my radar.

This really irks me to no end. Enough that I ride a ride or two and leave. I like the park's theming, but there is ZERO motivation to stick around long with no options.

When we got done, she made a statement about how good she did.

Doing "good" is so relative. I'd very likely have said the same thing if I'd even gotten ONE point. I stink at gaming and know it, so just surviving is a win for me.

 

[Steppesister]

Welcome home (slightly... okay, a lot delayed.)

Thanks! Trying to get settled back in.

 

[Steppesister]

Now that's a win!

It'd have been even better if the laying down part hadn't of hurt my neck so much. Stupid neck.

I closed my eyes through most of the Star Wars, but opened for this. Looks so yummy, will definitely be trying!

OH!! I should have remembered to put **SPOILER ALERT** at the top of the post!! Sorry, Kara!
But, yes, the hot dog was pretty good. I generally try to avoid burgers and dogs on my trips but this one was unique enough to make me take the bait. And unless you're starving DO share it. It's big.

Can't wait to read more of your Disneyland experiences!

More coming up this weekend.

 

[irene_dsc]

Interesting that it just doesn't appeal to quite as many people as I myself once thought it would. I honestly thought that I was in the minority casual fan group. I think even without loving the Avatar movie the beauty of that area draws me in. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on how each one compares to you.

I think part of the issue is that the franchise has been around for so long, and has so many different parts to it. (There are also a whole bunch of books that tell a bunch of other stories, and I'm not sure how much they connect to the more recent movies and tv series). You have to be a *very* committed fan to be up on all of it. I know my dh has read at least some of the books, but I'm not sure how many of them. Compared to say, Harry Potter - there are mainly the 7 books, and the movies are pretty similar to the books. Lots of people know those well. But, not that many people also know the newer side books and movies. And Pandora just had the one movie!

As for comparing the different lands, I'm curious to see my thoughts, too! I probably wouldn't mind more time at the two HP lands, since I kinda feel like I didn't really get enough time to see a lot of the details. But then, it's also been 4 years since we were there. I have a feeling I would get tired of any of them if I saw them 3-4 times in a year.

 

[Steppesister]

A month!?!? Whoa! Niiiiice!

There was a 3 day work week slipped in between the trips, but yes... long weeks of vacay.

Or just Car-ee.

That works too!

3:00am? How nice to be able to sleep in a bit.

LOL! I'm up at 4:00 at least once a week and 4:30 as well. What's another hour...?

I've done that once or twice and... I love it! So nice to breeze in and out instead of checking a bag and then hoping it shows up (and waiting for it.)

I LOVE it too, and will likely do it more in the future.

Whoops. I need mine. And... same as you, prescription.

More to this story.

How did that happen?

I think she just dropped them because she had an armload of stuff when she got out of the car.

Huh! That's a ton of room.

I was actually very impressed. Makes easy to travel with a carryon for sure!

At first I was thinking you'd just leave your bag spinning on the carousel while you went to Disney.

LOL!!

You've done that at least twice, I think? You went to California with her when I was there, didn't you?

Yep! And I've seen her at her home and we've gone to Seattle together for PNWMM as well. Twice.

Oh, really! Huh. I just assumed that would be about the same.

No. They transtion to and from different lands altogether. One from Frontier or Fantasylands, and the other from ToyStory. So they had different stuff and places to work with.

Hmmm... I've only been once, so don't have the same feeling.
But I think I understand that.
More later...

Interesting to hearing your "more" later....

Again... I haven't been often enough, but... yeah... lots of stuff to throw your money at.

Yep. Overpriced plushes, plastic creatures made in China with the same amount of material in the crap you can get at ChuckECheese's, I guess it's the branding that matters, but it's just not for me. Then again, I'm not a shopper and merchandise doesn't get me all giddy.

This is me as well. I've seen the movies, but... usually just once for the newer ones. And only a handful for the originals.

I tried to go back and watch them so I could be a bit more informed before going in, but the cheapest I could even find them TO RENT!!!! was $20 per episode. Ridiculous. And it screams of Disney+ (or whatever their new video site it called, GREED! Or extortion.LOL! NO WAY are any of those movies worth paying $20 PER EPISODE for or be forced to pay even more for the privvy of watching them on their site. Gimme a break.

Yes! I was an engineer. So not only was I at the back, but I spent most of the ride looking at a bunch of buttons.
So... what's the ride like? I have no idea!

That's how I felt!! I honestly had only a general, but still foggy, clue what our "mission" even was. Ah well.

Yeah... me too. Snow in the forecast.


Snow!!!

And so it begins...

 

[Steppesister]

How great you were able to sneak a weekend in DL before your big trip to Florida. Although, I am always amazed at people who can travel with just a weekender bag. All the discount airlines in Europe run off the precedent that you only bring a carry on, but it still baffles me. Four years in Europe and I still WAY overpack...

I really didn't have a choice this trip as we h ad to go straight to the park for logistics reasons. BUT, after having done it, I now know how completely easy and hassle free it is and I actually PREFER it. I'd never do it for a trip to WDW because those are longer, but for a weekender to DLR it's a GREAT option!

The fall decorations at Disneyland look stunning! I think if I ever make it out to the CA parks I'd want to go during the fall season; the parks just seem extra pretty during that time.

They are a notch above WDW I think. Just MORE, especially with the HM overlay (in the next update) and little touches throughout the park. Plus loads at Downtown Disney and over at Carsland too. Loved it!

Interesting observation about SW:GE. Based on all the reviews I have read, I can completely see it being a big money pit. And I mean, 14 dollars for a glorified hot dog? That right there is kind of baffling.

Exactly! I did think it was one of the better ones I've had (and you know I love my Casey's nuggets!). It was unique with the spicy slaw on it, but yeah... $14?! For sure split it and you're more in the ball park. But...

 

[Steppesister]

All caught up on replies up to pg. 21 and the rest will have to wait for another time. Heigh ho, heigh ho.... Have a lovely day, All, and be safe.

 

[Cloe Colton]

Oh good point! DLR has so much unique to it, I love the rides in Fantasyland that WDW doesn't have and Carsland makes my heart go pitter-pat. I wish you were going a bit earlier to see what they've done there for Halloween!!!! UH-MAZ-ING!!!!

I can't wait for DL!!! I debated going for Halloween but seeing IASW all lit up won for me. Just another reason to get back there though! haha

As for that ride. Meh. I was gunner and didn't even hardly watch the show, and was pilot and sucked so my passengers were all killed many times over. LOL! I laughed, but am not so sure they were amused. I was so stressed out!

Hahaha I think even when you do well it can be stressful! My sister was screaming towards the end because she got so into it and was scared to run into anything! lol

 

[docsoliday1]

This really irks me to no end. Enough that I ride a ride or two and leave. I like the park's theming, but there is ZERO motivation to stick around long with no options.

I usually went there because I wanted to ride RnRC or ToT (usually both). If I could manage to grab a FP for SDD or TSMM, I'd do that as well. With EVERYTHING being tier 1 now, not sure this park will get my attention much. Much more I like at the other 3 parks.

Doing "good" is so relative. I'd very likely have said the same thing if I'd even gotten ONE point. I stink at gaming and know it, so just surviving is a win for me.

Relative or subjective?

 

[sheri18]

Hi joining in. Just got caught up.. 22 pages in...great report ...I always collect Christmas ornaments..then each year I have a nice reminder of our trips..
now I do the same for my grandkids. Anywhere we go. I get them an ornament. And when they get there own place someday they will each have at least 20+ornaments to start their tree. And hopefully remember to visit us in the nursing home ..lol

 

[pkondz]

There was a 3 day work week slipped in between the trips, but yes... long weeks of vacay.

Oh, you poor thing! You had to work 3 days while you had your month off!!! How did you survive????????????????

LOL! I'm up at 4:00 at least once a week and 4:30 as well. What's another hour...?

I get that. I don't (usually) have to get up at 4:30, but I do get up at 5am after working 'til 11pm the night before every week.
And add in getting up at 5am 2 days in a row before staying up on the second one for 27 hours or so...

More to this story.

Yep! And I've seen her at her home and we've gone to Seattle together for PNWMM as well. Twice.

I was thinking of the Seattle one. I was there! And now remembered you'd done that twice.

No. They transtion to and from different lands altogether. One from Frontier or Fantasylands, and the other from ToyStory. So they had different stuff and places to work with.

Of course.

Yep. Overpriced plushes, plastic creatures made in China with the same amount of material in the crap you can get at ChuckECheese's, I guess it's the branding that matters, but it's just not for me. Then again, I'm not a shopper and merchandise doesn't get me all giddy.

I'm not a shopper either. I did get a couple things... one pricey the other not... but that's an anomaly for me.

I tried to go back and watch them so I could be a bit more informed before going in, but the cheapest I could even find them TO RENT!!!! was $20 per episode. Ridiculous. And it screams of Disney+ (or whatever their new video site it called, GREED! Or extortion.LOL! NO WAY are any of those movies worth paying $20 PER EPISODE for or be forced to pay even more for the privvy of watching them on their site. Gimme a break.

I'll gladly pay $20/episode as long as I can project it to about 30 people or more at $5 a head.


But for myself? No way in hell.

And so it begins...

It began...

 

[Steppesister]

Who among us doesn't do that?

Well, shoot, I thought I had the corner on the extended vacation market.

Heh. If you've got it, flaunt it!

I say that a lot. Except about my waistline.

Nice! No extra charge for that.

Slighty off topic but...
I just heard from my daughter who's flying tonight to Vegas that Spirit literally charges $50 for a CARRYON!!! What in the actual he** even is that?!

Hopefully not underneath Alison's tires.

No, just beside it.

Gorgeous colors there.

THanks!! I LOVED that little side alley and this display made it just that much more WOW!

Gotcha. I bet it would have been better if the other ride was open. Sounds like that one was supposed to have been the show-stopper, and MF:SR the secondary attraction. Too bad it fell behind.

I know. Maybe I should ease up on my criticisms until that is revealed. I mean, I will admit that I LOVE Pandora and could spend a LOT Of time there, part of what does draw me back is FOP. Maybe "the other one" (I have no idea even the name right now without looking it up) will make me visit more often. Who knows.

A cynic could say the same thing about all Disney parks...

Wait. You have to be cynic to say that?

I can see that. I like Star Wars a lot, but I'm also not in the category of fan who can name every planet/minor character, etc.

I know people like that.

They are annoying.

Much like myself when my family talks about my Disney fandom.

Good to know. I can't decide if I'd want to try and fly it or just sit back and enjoy. I guess that is supposed to make people want multiple rides.

I guess. Kinda scared me off. People were WAY too intense and I was a bit intimidated.

Who doesn't? Anyway, welcome back!

Thanks! It's good to be "here".

 

[Steppesister]

I really appreciate this honest assessment. Although I haven't been there yet, from the video and reviews I've seen, I really think I would feel much the same as you. Now, I consider myself a fairly big Star Wars fan (just refer to my new avatar picture). I've seen all the movies. I have a few mugs and t-shirts at home, but I don't have a collection of anything. It looks like a very cool place to walk around in. But the prices I've seen for merchandise and even the drinks are more than I care to spend. That coupled with the fact that the rest of my family has no interest in Star Wars, likely means I would spend limited time here.

It's just my own 2 cents, but apparently many others share it too. I DO wonder if the opening of "the other ride" will change my views. I AM open to rescinding my criticisms if it's enough of a draw to bring me back to GE. The jury is still out on that.

I did notice your new avatar! Nice. I think one of the fun things to do, espcially for kids and teens, is the App Interactive stuff. We played around with it a fair bit and they'd have kept going all day if I hadn't done an Operation Extraction for FiPs.

I know I"ve encouraged you before about other things regarding getting some "Jeff Time". I hope that at some point you can pull away and do the things that you want to during a trip. I can tell you that getting up for the 6:00AM RDs WAS worth it. No line, or much, for the ride, it was less crowded, but then again it wasn't crowded terribly at any point (which kinda proves my whole point) but if you got up early, knowing your family just doesn't, maybe you could get some SW:GE time in before they meet you at the park. ??

I think that would be my complaint about the ride too (again, it's my assumption since I haven't ridden it yet). I would be quite content if it was more of a Star Tours type ride where you just sit there. Pushing buttons distracts from the story. I suspect the people you end up riding with could also make or break the experience too.

Yes to both. Although some would argue that pushing buttons or moving joysticks ENHANCE the ride. That would be the gaming folks of which I am 100% NOT! At. All.
And there are some people that get on the ride and literally yell at you for sucking at your job and forget IT"S JUST A RIDE!!! Geez, Louise, Folks. Take a chill pill. I promise you won't actually die on this attraction.

 

[Steppesister]

I think part of the issue is that the franchise has been around for so long, and has so many different parts to it. (There are also a whole bunch of books that tell a bunch of other stories, and I'm not sure how much they connect to the more recent movies and tv series). You have to be a *very* committed fan to be up on all of it. I know my dh has read at least some of the books, but I'm not sure how many of them. Compared to say, Harry Potter - there are mainly the 7 books, and the movies are pretty similar to the books. Lots of people know those well. But, not that many people also know the newer side books and movies. And Pandora just had the one movie!

As for comparing the different lands, I'm curious to see my thoughts, too! I probably wouldn't mind more time at the two HP lands, since I kinda feel like I didn't really get enough time to see a lot of the details. But then, it's also been 4 years since we were there. I have a feeling I would get tired of any of them if I saw them 3-4 times in a year.

Interesting thoughts! I totally get that the scope of source material is vastly different for the areas we're talking about which for sure plays into the fandom base. I would LOVE to go back to Uni to soak in the Potter details. It was hard to catch it all with a quick done day pass through each park over 2 days.

 

[Steppesister]

I can't wait for DL!!! I debated going for Halloween but seeing IASW all lit up won for me. Just another reason to get back there though! haha

OH, I forgot they do that. Nice! I'd like to see that again someday.

Hahaha I think even when you do well it can be stressful! My sister was screaming towards the end because she got so into it and was scared to run into anything! lol

LOL!! I like to leave my stress at work on vacation.