The Bottomless Pit's Disneyland and Hawaiian Adventures

[Chellymouse]

Hello Everyone! Welcome to the world's longest trip report! Ok, maybe not that long, but this was a 15 day trip that was 18 months of planning, an "emergency" add on and a celebration of 15 years of marriage. Of course, as you all know, I am known as the bottomless pit because, well....I like to eat! Accompanied by my favorite travelling companion, my spouse who is now known as my squatch because....well, he resembles a squatch! We live on the East coast so it made sense to visit Disneyland (where it all started for me) and to celebrate Disneyland's 60th birthday on our way to Aulani, so without further adieu.....here we go!!

Friday 9/11: Yep, we left on 9/11.(My thanks goes out to all of the servicemen and women and first responders.) So, our flight was at the crack of dawn, we made it to the airport (thanks to my DMIL for the coffee stop), TSA pre-check is now our new favorite money well spent, and on time we were off. We arrived in Denver for what was supposed to be a short layover and delay....for over an hour GRRRR! We found a brew pub so we decided to have beers and breakfast. Well....unfortunately, the second Friday of every month is when the take apart all of their taps and clean them. No beers! Oh well, beer was substituted for a Tom Collins which pared nicely with my breakfast. Finally, the plane showed up and we took off about an before we should have landed. We finally landed at John Wayne around 10:45am (thankfully only an hour late) and off to baggage claim and our to meet our driver. Love supershuttle, private car service is the bomb! Except they sent a car and we had a ton of luggage because, it's a 2 week trip. Eventually, all of the people and luggage were stuffed into the town car and off to the Fairfield. Unfortunately, due to no availability at GCV, if you have to use cash....walk across the street. It's a HUGE savings! We arrived and had booked a king room, however, there were no king rooms available. WHAT?? So they offered us an "upgrade" of a themed room (which happened to be directly next to the elevators) ok, whatever, give me a key so we can get across the street. Our themed room (note the large quantity of fatheads)

Ok , now that we have been underwhelmed by our "upgrade" across the street we go!

Walking into the park was a flood of memories for me. Growing up, my family always went to Disneyland because our family vacations were always to SoCal to visit family and DL was always one of our family days. It's also the only park Walt ever set foot in so there is nostalgia in addition to now as a grown child, I can fully appreciate. We walk up Main St USA and what does the squatch say? (not be confused with what does the fox say) "Where's the castle?" ba boom boom boom....yes, he will be for the remainder of the 2 weeks. We have to remember, this was built in 1954-55 and was huge at the time!

We wandered around for a few and since it has been 17 years since I've been here (and let's face it, been to WDW about that many times since) I didn't quite remember where everything was. At one time, I knew this park as well as the WDW parks. So, as you all know, mostly I make a beeline for a Dole whip and POTC the minute we get in the park, however, my very first roller coaster (I was 6 when I was finally tall enough to ride) the Matterhorn!

Let's face it, Walt's use of the first steel tubular track has inspired generations of coaster designers (yes, I'm a roller coaster junkie) We arrive to the mountain only to find it's currently closed due to technical difficulties (this will be a trend throughout our stay) Crumbs!! Wouldn't you know, what does the squatch find.....yep, you guessed it! His favorite way to annoy me!

How pitiful! First time back in many years and I'm forced onto IASW!! That's just wrong! Oh well, as soon as we were off, I noticed the Matterhorn was back in business and we made a beeline for it! As it had just reopened, thankfully the wait was pretty quick as this does not have FP. I should also mention, we were back to old school FP! WAHOO!! (yes, I hate FP+) anyway, after our trip on the Matterhorn, it was snack time. Unfortunately, in California, there is an unhealthy number of churro stands. And here you have, a snack the pit does NOT Like. The Churro. Now I know there are some of you out there who will stop following this TR at this revelation, however, it is one of the very few snacks I just don't like. Call it an East coast thing. At last we found some popcorn! Yay!! I have to say, the original Fantasyland far surpasses it's younger Florida sibling. After my snack, guess what the squatch found? Yep....those rotten tea cups! He finds it hilarious to spin those things ridiculously fast, usually after I have just eaten. bad squatch! However, the tea cups at DL Are outside and therefore, have rubber coating the spinning wheel, therefore stopping his ability to spin the cup into oblivion! Ha! that will teach him! He was over the tea cups so we wandered over to storybook land. Again, one of my faves as a kid!

we also stopped to pick up our photopass plus. After the storybook canal boats, we found Mr. Toad's wild ride!! I so miss Mr. Toad. After taking our wild ride, we stopped and looked around a few shops and after a quick time check, realized, the day was quickly getting away from us and it was almost time for dinner! We started to make our way over to New Orleans Sq , grabbed a FP for HM (which had just reopened with its holiday makeover this morning" and had just enough time for my all time favorite POTC! The original BLOWS the FL version clear out of the water! We also stopped for a quick pic!

After POTC, we had a little bit of time before my feeding so we tried to do Splash, which was.....closed temporarily due to technical difficulties so we visited the 100 acre forest instead. After bidding Pooh and friends TTFN, we noticed Splash had reopened! Sweet! So, the line said 15 minutes and unfortunately, after close to 30 and near the load zone, we had no choice but to bail because it was time to eat!
Up next, our first meal at DL!!

 

[SSRmonkey]

Hooray for a Chellymouse TR featuring the Squatch! I've been waiting! Nice Fatheads! Hahahaha. The pictures are beautiful, but that whale needs a good tooth cleaning! Other than IASW, it sounds like you were able to keep the Squatch under control (for now). Can't wait for the next installment!!

 

[Chellymouse]

First meal back, where do we eat? Blue Bayou of course! We did the F! dinner package because 1. we had to eat and 2. I wanted a good spot to watch because at DL (where F! originated) it's done on the Rivers of America and the pirates/Tom Sawyer island so grabbing a spot can be quit a task! As we were seated (and of course in the back, can't be on the water to watch the POTC boats go by) and it seems the lady sitting at the table next to us may have been having a stroke. There was quite a fuss with the medics coming and in and taking her out (certainly hope she was ok) and finally our server came over. The dinner package includes app, entrée and dessert so after my shrimp cocktail (which was a little weird, but tasty), filet and lobster tail and crème brulee. I was stuffed! After dinner, I convinced the squatch to ride POTC again! I knew ahead of time it was going down for a short refurb on Monday so I wanted to ride as much as possible!

After POTC, it was time for HM. guess what....yep! technical difficulties....temporarily closed! Is this park stuck on opening day or what!? CM said no worries, our FP will be honored so we went over to Adventureland where the line for Indy was pretty humane, however, there was a couple that had FP and couldn't use them and asked if we wanted them! (another reason why I miss the old FP at WDW) We thanked them profusely and off to see Indy in action! Why, why can't we have this in FL, why?? We have a stale stunt show instead of this awesome ride! After Indy, we went back over and thankfully, HM had reopened! This is the first time I have ever seen the Nightmare before Christmas overlay and I was blown away! absolutely amazing, even if it's not your cup of tea. You have to appreciate it for sure. Even the squatch was blown away and mentioned, we definitely have to do this again! Here's a few exterior pics.

Teaser pic there as there are many more! After HM, we went over to BTMRR which is actually better than it's FL sibling. It's faster and better themed. After BTMRR, we went to stake out a spot for F!. I didn't bring my GWTS ears (carry on space was limited) so I bought the GWTS headband! Go me! Wasn't overly happy the CM who made us wait forever and therefore cheating us out of a better spot, but oh well. We had a decent spot and since you actually have to sit on the ground, I was thankful for our "seats" (if you do the dinner package, you receive a foam "seat" cushion) soon F! started and in it's a bit different from the FL version. Here's a few pics from the OG!

As much as I would have loved to make it a little longer, we were wrecked. We had been up since 4am our time (1am West coast time) and it was nearly 9:30pm. We decided to throw in towel and head back to the room for the night, stopping for milk on the way. (we had enough sense to pack cereal) So, we made it back, showered and hit the bed! Up next.....Back to our roots....RD to close for California Adventure, Carsland and an epic pit failure!

 

[Chellymouse]

Hooray for a Chellymouse TR featuring the Squatch! I've been waiting! Nice Fatheads! Hahahaha. The pictures are beautiful, but that whale needs a good tooth cleaning! Other than IASW, it sounds like you were able to keep the Squatch under control (for now). Can't wait for the next installment!!

We had about 3000 pics from this trip and still waiting on my photopass pics (on top of the 800+ we shot) The whale looks as though he hasn't brushed his teeth since 1955! Oh, the squatch had his shenanigans for sure!!

 

[iris1910]

I think Squatch and Mr T are going to get on very well. They both subject people to IASW. Maybe we should put them on it for an eternity! Looking forward to the next episode. PS Mr T doesn't like the tea cups, so maybe that should be my first port of call.

 

[alohamom]

awesome so far! Cant wait for more Chellymouse...

 

[Chellymouse]

I think Squatch and Mr T are going to get on very well. They both subject people to IASW. Maybe we should put them on it for an eternity! Looking forward to the next episode. PS Mr T doesn't like the tea cups, so maybe that should be my first port of call.

I think the squatch and Mr T are going to give you and koala a run for money in the shenanigans! Perfect! Mr T can ride the teacups with the squatch, therefore sparing the pit!! I don't know what's worse....IASW or CBJ?

 

[Chellymouse]

awesome so far! Cant wait for more Chellymouse...

Aloha! Thanks for joining in!

 

[Chellymouse]

On a good note, the photopass arrived finally! Bad news...it's late and I've been away for the last 2 evenings. Here are a few pics of the Nightmare before Christmas HM overlay to tide everyone over until I can get back on the regularly scheduled programming tomorrow

More to come in the upcoming installments!

 

[Chellymouse]

Ok, now that the remainder of the pics are uploaded, here are a couple more from our first day. The HM and Matterhorn pics are a special photopass for the 60th birthday celebration

 

[Chellymouse]

It's Saturday and we are back to our roots! We were up early, packed, fed and out the door in plenty of time to make RD. We had planned to spend most of the day at California Adventure then maybe head back to DL for the late night. We arrived just as the CM were opening the gates and we made our way up the "starting line" for the race to CarsLand. Here's a few pics before the park gets full.

We spent the time waiting for the rest of the park to open chatting with a group around us. Conversation was definitely interesting, particularly on the similarities and differences between the CA and FL parks. Finally it was time and the CM from CarsLand came up to walk us back. Our first views of CarsLand!

We actually wound up being the third and fourth people on the ride! Wohoo! Words cannot describe the awesomeness of CarsLand! It's very much like stepping into the movies! As you can see....we didn't know where the camera was located the first time out!

RSR is now our new favorite Disney ride ever! Even the squatch (who still prefers MK to DL) LOVED RSR! The detail is simply amazing! It's worth the airfare and price of admission just to ride RSR! The Ramone side wins, the Luigi side is better though. So, we had Ramone the first time around. After we won the race, we ran up to grab a FP for later....one thing about that....the FP for RSR is actually not in CarsLand. It's right before you get to Bug land. FP secured for 9:30am-10:30am and then we stopped to take a spin on Mater's junkyard jamboree. Cheesy fair ride for sure, but it was pretty cool and very well themed! After we spun around Mater's place, we spent quite a bit of time just walking around the land. Words do not do this justice so I will let the pics tell the story! We also stopped to visit with some of the residents of Radiator Springs!

We did stop in Lizzy's curio shop and couldn't help but laugh at this one. In hindsight....should have bought it!!

So the squatch was itching to ride again and we still had about 45 minutes until our FP time, so he says "let's go check the line, maybe it's not that bad" So we walk over and score! Wait is only 30 minutes so we decided to go ahead and ride again. If we had it right we would get off and it would be time to run around for our FP!

Imagine our surprise that the sign was not quite correct! 15 minutes and we were back on the track!! Hoped to get Luigi's side this time, but alas, it was Ramone again! At least we had a little better picture on this ride!

or not After our ride, we still had some time so we did some shopping. Picked up an awesome CarsLand hoodie and then we stopped for a couple of more pics. We had asked a CM to take some pics in front of the sign and we got to chatting. She asked what we were celebrating and we said our 15ht wedding anniversary. She asked what my favorite ride was and, even though I LOVE RSR, POTC-CA will always be #1. So, the CM gives us a story about "sweeping" at POTC and Jack just happened to give her a few pieces of 8. Well, wouldn't you know, she gave each of us a piece of 8. Very cool! After we left our new friend, we ran up to the locker to drop off our purchases and it was finally time for ride 3. Yes, 3 rides on RSR in 90 minutes. It may be some type of record!

After we got, you guessed it..Ramone again we stopped to grab some pics of the drive!

I think I've used my allotted space for the first 2 hours we were in the park so I will pick up from Paradise Pier (yes, we did finally leave CarsLand) coming right up!

 

[Chellymouse]

So, we finally left CarsLand and made our way over to Paradise pier. I have to say, this park is definitely strange. I can understand why people have issues with it, they layout is a little odd. Anyway, I digress. As we were walking over we stopped to tour the little sourdough bakery....all I can say is I know what the pit is getting for lunch!! we grabbed a few pics as we strolled over the bridge.

We saw Donald, who is the squatch's favorite character and stopped to get in line to see him, however, Donald was leaving so we did also. We were quite surprised to see California Screamin' was basically walk on, so not ones to pass up the opportunity, away we went. As you can tell, we had no idea where the camera was located!

That's just bad. so after we secured our really bad pic (and learned the location of the camera) the wait was still nonexistent so we went again of course!

After ride #2, we stopped to add to our "60th anniversary pic collection"

the plan was to nap a FP for TSM, ride the fun wheel, then TSM then eat....the pit was really starting to growl and do you think I can find snacks anywhere....ok other than a churro? nope! So, much to our dismay, TSM does not have FP.....WHAT?? it also has a 45 minute wait, no thanks! We went over the fun wheel where I convinced the squatch the swinging side would be more fun. I will regret that decision later. Very odd feeling and not a good one to have when it's past feeding time!

After the wheel, we found TSM was, you guessed it, closed for technical difficulties. Enough already, the pit is going to revolt if some food is not secured! Went back to the sourdough place and as delicious as the tomato bisque tasted (CM kind enough to share a sample) it was 96 degrees so I went of the waldorf chicken salad in the sourdough bread bowl! Oh it was heavenly!! Poor squatch, all he wanted was a beer and either a burger or a pizza. Imagine my disdain when we returns with this and pronounces it "lunch"

Apparantly, there was no "squatch approved food" anywhere in sight so this is his lunch!

After lunch, the pit was still miffed at the lack of food so we decided to take it easy, get out of the heat and catch the first showing of Aladdin. This is one of my top 5 favorite Disney movies and I'm very sad this production is being taken over by Elsa. Very happy we got to see the show. Here are a few pics from the production.

After the show we went over the ride TOT, but the wait was nuts, nearly and hour and we couldn't pull a FP at that time because we had grabbed one for (anyone want to guess?) yep RSR for a night ride so we wandered over to see the Mad T area and the Monsters Inc ride. this is a weird section of park that really doesn't make any sense. There was a CM standing outside and the squatch and I were talking about the 20 minute wait was ok, however, the CM stopped us and gave us a "back door pass" so we went in the back door and walked right onto the ride. It's cute, but nothing to write home about. After Monsters, poor squatch was really hungry and we found a hot dog place so he grabbed a hot dog, I ate the chips, and off we went. Little did we know, we walked right past where Olaf meets and decided, it's hot and we packed, let's ride Grizzly run. well, it's 100 degrees and the line was long so we grabbed a FP, did some shopping (where I score my Pandora fun wheel charm and a new bracelet!) dropped our treasures off at the locker and surprise, Soarin' is only a 30 minute wait. We jumped in line and soon we on the squatch's least favorite ride (yes, there is something wrong with him) and as we exited the ride, we find the burger place. Poor squatch, we have dinner ressies soon and he's not allowed to spoil his dinner!

Headed back to the locker and the washrooms to change into different clothes and shoes and it was time for Grizzly run!

We had a little bit of time before dinner so we walked around for a bit, checks out some shops and then changed back into dry clothes for dinner.
Here are a few pics of the Mad T party set up

It's time for dinner and we chose to do the dinner package for World of color and what better place to eat than Carthay Circle? This choice is about to have major consequences. Stay tuned for the dinner report, CarsLand at night, World of color and an EPIC pit failure!

 

[SSRmonkey]

Dude! I really should have stowed away in your suitcase. I really want to go to Cars Land now. Like a lot. Great pics as usual. Sounds like the food wasn't the best but I bet you'll make up for that on the next leg of your trip. The Squatch seems to be pretty well behaved so far. I hope there are shenanigans to come! Thanks for all the great pics! I am very impressed with your mountain climbing skills. I would expect that from the Squatch but you must have picked up on that skill quickly. And to climb the Matterhorn in shorts and a tank top! Wow- you are brave.

 

[Chellymouse]

Dude! I really should have stowed away in your suitcase. I really want to go to Cars Land now. Like a lot. Great pics as usual. Sounds like the food wasn't the best but I bet you'll make up for that on the next leg of your trip. The Squatch seems to be pretty well behaved so far. I hope there are shenanigans to come! Thanks for all the great pics! I am very impressed with your mountain climbing skills. I would expect that from the Squatch but you must have picked up on that skill quickly. And to climb the Matterhorn in shorts and a tank top! Wow- you are brave.

Believe it or not, the mountain climbing wasn't too difficult and was good practice for the next leg of the trip! The squatch has been pretty well behaved thus far....trust me....it doesn't last!! Food has been up and down so far. Some has been very tasty and some has not been. CarsLand is just awesome! The night pics are in the next installment! I told mom she should have sent you with us! Maybe next time

 

[Chellymouse]

Sat night: It's dinner time! Sweet, the pit is in needing of a feeding! We arrived at Carthay circle, again, did the dining package because 1. we have to eat, 2. we secure a decent spot for the show. Same deal as Blue Bayou, 3 course meal and wohoo! Nice wine list! We were seated shortly after arrival and chose our meals. Squatch found some weird beer and I ordered a nice glass of wine. our apps arrived with the squatch getting a salad and I tried the tomato broth with chorizo. It was quite tasty. Our entrees arrived, chicken for the squatch and a pork chop for me and about halfway through my chop....the Pit decides to revolt. Ok, off to the powder room and no dice...pit is still down. Long story short, didn't finish my dinner, wine or the dessert. Squatch finished his food and our server could tell I was a bit green so she brought our check and very kindly some gingerale. The pit did settle a bit so we decided to head out. Of course, the tums are in our room, across the street, which I had no intention of walking to at that moment so we went to the first aid place and they, thankfully, had some tums! Ok, I can do this. Now the squatch is having issues. So, we spent approximately the next 60 minutes finding every powder room in the park. It's now close to our FP time for RSR so we started back to CarsLand. I can tell disaster is about to strike so I took off for the ladies room and made it just in time. EPIC PIT FAILURE!!!!! If anyone following this TR was in there, I'm very sorry, but I'm not a good expeller of stomach contents type of gal. The squatch had also made a run for the border. He made it back out before me and when he saw me, he knew what happened. Very thankful he somehow conjured out some oral care supplies and after a quick cleaning, I was ready to hit the town of Radiator springs. Squatch was also finally feeling better (not sure wth we ate, but we won't be eating there again) so GI issues resolved and it was time for the RSR! Again, for the 4th time today!! Wohoo!!

After our ride we walked around and took some pics of the neon. When the song from the movie comes on, the CM come out and dance in the streets. It's pretty cool, unfortunately, I did not get a good shot of that!

After we enjoyed Radiator springs after dark, we made our way back over the boardwalk area for the World of color show, which was recently refurbished for the DL 60th birthday. It was very different and very cool. A great mix of old and new and really integrated where Disney began and where Disney is now. Definitely happy we did the dinner package. We (wisely) decided against snack and were both still sipping on sprites. Here are some pics from WOC!

Here's the view before the show began. We did have a really great spot!

After the show, we had planned to grab our stuff out of the locker and go to DL for the parade and fireworks and maybe a couple of rides. Unfortunately, after our "issues" following dinner, we decided the wise choice would be to head back to the room for the night, so we did. As we were walking back to the hotel, we did see the fireworks. It's really a bummer they don't pipe the music outside the front because we would have been able to hear the soundtrack, but oh well! We went in, cleaned up and went to bed because we had planned another RD for the morning. Up next, how much is possible in 1 hour, A Walk in Walt's footsteps and our anniversary dinner at Napa Rose

 

[Chellymouse]

It's Sunday and DL opens at 8am. We were up and out the door and actually made it to the park before even the gates opened!

I thought this was pretty cool! After the gates opened we headed toward tomorrowland as we still had not been on space mountain. While they do let everyone in 20-30 minutes early, once you arrive to where you want to go, the areas are roped off. There is also no opening of the park (note MK opening) It was finally 8am and after they play the opening spiel, we made it to space. The cool thing about the DL version is there is only 1 track, but it's double wide seating. Squatch proclaimed the DL version the winner. Again, space also receives a Halloween makeover with a (honestly, a little scary) ghost projections. It's pretty cool!

obviously, we had no idea where the camera was located! After space, we quickly made it across the way to POTC (trying to ride as much as possible knowing it will be closed on Monday) rode POTC and chose splash over HM because we hadn't been on splash yet. FL version is the winner of the splash battles. The DL is just a little weird quite honestly. We did at least have a log all to ourselves!

After splash, we had planned to try HM however, the line went from walk on to 30 minutes in the time we spent on splash so, we made our way to the meeting place and checked in for our tour. We chose the Walk in Walt's footsteps tour for our "extra" and if you have a 1/2 day to spare, it's so worth it! This is the only park Walt ever set foot in and there is just so much history here. The tour itself was awesome! Our tour started up main st and into adventure land and then New Orleans square. SCORE!! we get to ride HM.....ahhh, no we don't because.......c'mon you know the answer.....temporarily closed due to technical difficulties. We were promised FP for later, SWEET and the tour continued.

Unfortunately, after the recent refurb, the door to club 33 is no longer easy to find (and we went back and still could not find it). This tree stump was actually a gift from Walt to Lillian and ultimately, it wound up on the park. Of course, what does the squatch say? "I could have saved a ton of cash and just brought you some dead wood? sweet" my response to the squatch was not family friendly so I will refrain.

Our tour continued and we took the train over toward fantasyland and made our way closer to tomorrowland. The pit's impeccable sense of smell detected that sweet smell of freshly popped popcorn and convinced our gracious guide we needed a snack break! (so in all honesty, it really was a scheduled break during the tour) we also had just enough time to run over and grab a FP for space for later. Here is our guide with us on our snack break!

After our break, we thoroughly toured fantasy land which included a ride on alice in wonderland, which was great for 2 reasons, 1. we hadn't ridden yet and 2. we didn't have to wait in line because we were on the tour. Our guide felt bad we missed a ride so he took us on IASW (really???)

I will say this much, the clock is really cool at DL and goes off quite a bit more!
After Fantasyland, we were taken to the front of the park where the bench where Walt actually sat and watched his daughters play, is on display.

The original model of Disneyland in 1954-55

After this part of the tour, we went to lunch at the jolly holiday bakery. The sandwiches and homemade chips were delicious as were the cookies. We had a great lunch and had some time to speak with both our tour guide, his mentor and several other guests on the tour. After lunch, we received our tour pins and then, (while disappointing to me, I would have rather seen Walt's apt) we were taken up to see the dream suite. We were not permitted to take pictures, but the guides did take one of us inside at the end. We were also allowed to take pictures outside. This also concluded our tour.

We went back over to tomorrowland and rode Space MTN again and then noticed the line for Buzz was decent so we on Buzz. No different from FL...squatch annihilated me! We grabbed a FP for Star Tours before Buzz

We had a little time before Star tours so we decided to walk around for a bit and grab some pictures.

It was time for ST so we wandered back over and rode. It's basically the same as FL. Even tie. Following the ride, the squatch found the poisoned apple so we picked on up (it was filled with grapes) and a popcorn for me. We had our snacks while we did some shopping and took some more pics. After we finished our snacks, as we were heading toward the gate, we did also stop and see the great moments with Mr. Lincoln. Definitely very moving and way better the hall of presidents! The squatch was very proud of his prop!

We had decided to go in and take a break for a bit as it was nearly 100 degrees again today. We cooled off, showered, dressed up and packed a bag for later and headed back out for our California anniversary dinner at Napa Rose. Stay tuned.....on a good note, there is no pit failure in the next installment!

 

[SSRmonkey]

I'm very sorry to hear about the epic failure of the Pit! So, if a Squatch throws up in the woods, does anyone hear it? Sorry, I couldn't resist. Glad the sickness didn't last too long, but I'm sure it felt like forever.

The pics of the neon in Cars Land is awesome! It must have been so cool to see that in person. AND Doogie Howser?!?!? Wow!

The tour also sounds awesome. Sorry that Buzz isn't any better for you in CA. You'll have a chance to redeem yourself soon. Or you and Mom can fail together.

How in the world did the Squatch catch TinkerStink??

Can't wait for the next installment!

 

[Chellymouse]

I'm very sorry to hear about the epic failure of the Pit! So, if a Squatch throws up in the woods, does anyone hear it? Sorry, I couldn't resist. Glad the sickness didn't last too long, but I'm sure it felt like forever.

The pics of the neon in Cars Land is awesome! It must have been so cool to see that in person. AND Doogie Howser?!?!? Wow!

The tour also sounds awesome. Sorry that Buzz isn't any better for you in CA. You'll have a chance to redeem yourself soon. Or you and Mom can fail together.

How in the world did the Squatch catch TinkerStink??

Can't wait for the next installment!

I can't even hear the squatch throw up in the bathroom....it's pretty impressive! I hope that never happens again!

The neon is amazing! It's like watching Cars on bluray only it's in real life! We got to see the real Doogie 2 years ago during the taping of the Christmas parade at WDW....AND we were on TV Christmas morning! I see you forgot to mention Walt during WOC

I'm happy that is all the squatch did! Usually he is trying to squash Tink.....so naughty!

The tour really was awesome! The tour really gives a new appreciation for Disney, and makes me really question those who just don't "get it"

I think if mom and I do Buzz together, it will be good for our self esteem! Then we don't have to listen to dad and squatch because we will have enough sense to sit behind them so they don't see our scores!!

 

[Chellymouse]

Sunday night: We have a conundrum! Do we pack a change of clothes, change at the GC and get a locker or walk back after dinner to change and then back to the parks. We opted to pack a bag. We figured we would waste nearly an hour if we go back to the room so $7 for a locker was worth it! We had decided to do 2 dress up nights...one in CA and one in HI. (hey, I don't get to dress up and go out much!) The quickest way back to GC is to cut through the park so we did and couldn't resist stopping for a pic on the way!

We made it GC for dinner at (my choice) Napa Rose! (I'm the foodie...in case anyone was wondering) Our table wasn't quite ready so we hopped up to the bar. Squatch found some beer he's never had and I was very pleased to find out you can try the REALLY expensive wines, small pours for reasonable prices so I decided to taste a wine that cost $85 for a full glass, but could have a 1 ounce pour of $8! Sweet!! We finished our drinks and our table was ready. Our server asked if we were celebrating anything and if this was our first time at Napa Rose. We told her it was our 15th wedding anniversary and yes, it was our first visit. After we were seated, our server returned with 2 complimentary glasses of champagne, which was excellent. Squatch was squawking it was too dry so I drank his also! I desperately wanted to the chef's vinter's menu with wine pairings and squatch was a good sport and did not tell me no (I think his mind was in the gutter quite honestly) unfortunately, I'm not a huge fan of lamb and lamb was the entrée....so disappointed. Squatch came up with a perfect solution, he would eat the lamb and he would order the filet and I could have that. Thankfully, our server overheard our discussion (which we didn't realize at the time) and she returned to our table to let us know the chef (which he did NOT have to do!) had offered to swap out the lamb for the filet! SWEET! Thank you chef! We put our orders in and shortly after, our server came back with an amuse bouche. This is actually a gift from the chef, it's a very small, 1-2 bite offering before the first course. Unfortunately it was a goat cheese mousse with a chorizo jam. I'm not a fan of goat cheese. I ate as much as I could....the squatch took a HUGE bite (I laughed very hard), nearly spit it out and made a remark about what he thought of it. It had something to do with a dirty bush. I will not say anymore...if you REALLY want to know, PM me! My first glass of wine arrived along with a seasonal salad. Very tasty, both the food and the wine. Next course was scallops escabeche with another white wine. yummy! Main course of filet mignon arrived and it was one of the best prepared pieces of meat I've ever had....it could be cut with a butter knife. The wine pairing was also fabulous. By the time dessert arrived I've had 6 glasses of wine/champagne and a ton of food....last glass of wine, a glorious dessert wine and our dessert was just awesome! We also received individual boxes of truffles for each of us for our anniversary. Anyone who is a foodie or wine lover, Napa Rose is the place to go. It's a bit on the $$ side, but so worth it! I was stuffed and pleasantly buzzed! Good thing we packed a bag because I did not want to walk back to the hotel at that point! We walked around the GC for a bit, maybe next time we will get lucky and get in at 7 months, changed out of our dress clothes, took a quick spin through the wannabe DTD and back to DL for the evening. We dropped our duds in a locker and off to Adventureland!
Jungle cruise was walk on and that ride is always better at night! After our journey to see the back side of water, we wandered over to Indy, which was also walk on! Following Indy, we made a ride on POTC, HM and BTMRR. It was getting late and even after a couple of waters, it really was getting to be nap time. We hadn't planned on catching the second parade, however, not knowing the parade route, we wound up with a great spot so we stayed put! The paint the night parade is brand new and very, very awesome! Again, will let the pics tell the story because words just don't do it justice!

Definitely one of the best parades we have ever seen, hands down! After the parade, we stopped to grab our bag from the locker and then stopped for some pics on our way out!

It's definitely past our bed time and we have early entry at CalAdventure in the am at 8, so it's really time to head in!
up next, the squatch has a major disappointment to start our last day in California!

 

[Chellymouse]

It's our last day in California and we started the day with early entry to California Adventure. if you stay across the street and have a 3 more day park hopper, you receive 1 day early entry to the park of choice. This is what the paperwork says.....we arrived at California Adventure right at 7:30am, the gates were open and entry was to be granted....or so we thought. We actually were lucky as there were 2 ladies ahead of us. The CM at the gate kept trying to tell us we could not use our magic morning, it was only good at DL. Thankfully I had the paperwork in my bag, however, the 2 ladies in front of us were a bit more vocal, so I didn't have to use it, she did finally let us in. We had planned to use our MM today as we had breakfast at 9am at Ariel's grotto. So, finally in the park, we ran to.....wait for it.....anyone want to guess.....yep! RSR!! Last ride and we FINALLY got Luigi side! I have to say it's much better than Ramone's.

We did finally snap a shot with Lightning! And another with Red!

We had thought about a second ride, but the line grew quite long rather quickly so we opted to get more rides in elsewhere. We made our way over to Paradise Pier and FINALLY rode TSM. I hereby declare, I do NOT like the Cali version (you know...jet lag) for the first time ever, the squatch beat me at TSM....by 4000 points. So wrong!

After the TSM embarrassment the line for California Screamin was nonexistent so we rode it again!

We also managed a ride on the Little Mermaid carousel. It's nearly 9 so we headed over to breakfast the squatch decides to go grab a FP fo RSR, I told him to hurry. I was just sending him a message because our beeper was going off and to my surprise, he came back empty handed. WHAT? he said the line for FP was insane....reminded him of the TSM run at HS before the vacation overplanning started. We ate breakfast at Ariel's Grotto because the squatch LOVES Jasmine (so much he named our GPS Jasmine) We went down the stairs and met Ariel first.

So, I had read Jasmine was one of the visiting princesses. Unfortunately....she was out flying with Aladdin that morning so, no Jasmine for the squatch....denied! Poor squatch! The breakfast was tasty! We each had Belgium waffles with berry compote. We did at least send a pic to our friend of the squatch with Rapunzel. If you remember our friends' DS (monster) he is in love with Rapunzel and was none too happy the squatch sent a pic to his mom with HIS girlfriend! We had Cinderella, Rapunzel and Tiana!

After breakfast we grabbed a couple of pics on our way to the Little Mermaid

We had planned to ride TOT, grab pics with Olaf and Oswald, get squatch's beer he didn't get the other day and head over to DL. well, the line for TOT was over an hour with FP up to noon (it was 10) Decision time, we decided, we can always ride TOT at home so we went over to meet Olaf

We had made our way up to the front of the park and stopped for a couple of scenic pics on the way!

We arrived and figured out where Oswald would be out and were there to greet him when he arrived!

I gave the squatch the option of heading back to get his beer, but he had decided it wasn't worth the walk so we made our way back over to DL!
up next, our last afternoon at DL!