orangecats2
Stitch Lover
- Joined
- May 6, 2008
I'm still here too.
When is the next DL trip?
When is the next DL trip?
Thumping Our Way Through Disneyland.
- Thread starter Thumper_Man
- Start date
pkondz
Brace yourself for immediate disintegration
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2007
Nope. To both questions. Not the computer guru here and trying to adjust the filters would probably just get me fired.
Thumper_Man
DDC 684
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2009
Second week of October this year. We'll be in Anaheim from the 6th-12th. We'll switch to San Diego on the 12th-14th.
We're flying in and out of San Diego. It was about the same price as LAX, but the rental car was much cheaper. We didn't mind the drive last time we went, so we figured we could easily do it again.
Thumper_Man
DDC 684
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2009
Thumper_Man's Wife
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2009
Sorry everyone! Thanks so much for sticking around for me. I've been trying to write this chapter forever it seems. But work gets in the way. Between 2 new summits we are working on for the beginning of August and late October, along with the report I am still working on from last summit, not to mention a Human Trafficking booklet that was given to another division, yet they still continue to bring it to me for edits and alterations...I can't seem to get more than a paragraph on the page before I'm being pulled into different directions. I promise I will get it up and I am doing my darndest to get it up soon! 
pkondz
Brace yourself for immediate disintegration
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2007
Hey! If I get fired then I couldn't afford the time to be here and....
Now wait just a second!!!
And on top of doing all that work, you have to do it from mountain tops!
Impressive.
Oh! You meant the chapter.
Never mind.
(and sorry, Mike)
Thumper_Man
DDC 684
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2009
Today is a special day. Please join me in wishing my co-writer, bestest friend and lovely wife; a very Happy Birthday.
Happy Birthday Princess
Happy Birthday Princess
Thumper_Man's Wife
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2009
Yeah...let's not give Ponzi any reason not to come around...He's one of the few we have left here!
I told you I was talented!
Oh! You meant the chapter.
Never mind.
(and sorry, Mike)
Um...I...
Today is a special day. Please join me in wishing my co-writer, bestest friend and lovely wife; a very Happy Birthday.
Happy Birthday Princess
I'm speechless! Aww. Thanks Ponzi and nowellsl!
smidgy
dimples
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2006
Oh! You meant the chapter.
Never mind.
(and sorry, Mike)
OMG!!!! hilarious!!
and I missed wishing heather a happy birthday on your OWN thread!!! I was a day or so late on facebook, then even later on nebo's thread.. sheesh!!!!
happy birthday from "momma smidgy"!!!! love you!
Thumper_Man's Wife
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2009
Oh man, you check every day and nothing happens. Miss a few days and there's a whole extra page to read. Just keep truckin' along Lady H; with time off to enjoy a happy Birthday of course!!! My belated best wishes!
Isn't that the way it always is? You don't think there will be anything new happening for a while, so you decided to take just a short break to do other humanly things like, oh I don't know...Live life...and here we go throwing everything out of wack by posting during that time.
I promise I will get something up soon. And thank you for the birthday wishes. They are greatly appreciated
Sorry I missed your birthday, Lady H. Hope you had time to do something fun!
No need to be sorry, but thank you for the wishes. They are truly appreciated. It was a very good day.
Thank you Momma Smidgy
!!! Love you too!
Thumper_Man
DDC 684
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2009
Can you believe next week will be a year since we started this report. And we're still not done. This is the report that does not end, yes it goes on and on my friends. Some people started reading this not knowing how it goes, and they'll continue reading this forever because this is the report that never ends.
Ok. Eventually it will end. I still say not until after our 2nd trip to DL.
By then, I hope we're not mixing up our trips.
Ok. Eventually it will end. I still say not until after our 2nd trip to DL.
By then, I hope we're not mixing up our trips.
Thumper_Man's Wife
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2009
Can you believe next week will be a year since we started this report. And we're still not done. This is the report that does not end, yes it goes on and on my friends. Some people started reading this not knowing how it goes, and they'll continue reading this forever because this is the report that never ends.
Ok. Eventually it will end. I still say not until after our 2nd trip to DL.
I just finished the next installment. Just need to add a few touches and will post.
Thumper_Man's Wife
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2009
I swear I would have gotten this up sooner, however, in the past 2 months, I have had, not 1 but 2 summits to prepare for and execute. Just finished the second one today. Just in time to start preparing for the 3rd. Needless to say, I've been going a little crazy.
Anyway, I have prepared a special chapter for you, to make up for lost time. Because of all the pictures, this chapter will be split into two. I will get them up one right after the other, so there is tons to read! Hopefully this will keep the village from coming after us with the torches...at least for a while.
On with the chapter!
_________________________________________________________________
After our self portrait and the well deserved adult beverage, we headed into Radiator springs just to see what the crowd looked like today. The crowds were just as bad. Im hoping by the next time we go (and there will be a next time) the crowds will thin out a little. Its hard walking through those streets. When you have kids running you over, you think nothing of it. True Disney fans get used to this after so many trips. However, when you have actual cars characters trying to run you over, thats another story.
We walked into Sarges Surplus to take a look at the merchandise. There was some really cool stuff in here, but for the time being we were saving our money for dinner. After that we will see what we can afford.
After going in and out of some of the shops and trying to navigate through the crowds, we gave up and took a short cut through Its a Bugs Land, stopping only to grab another beer for the journey. What? Its hot out. And I just went on the death defying Ferris Wheel. I think another beer was in order
We headed towards the other end of the park, passing the Hollywood Tower of Terror, and noticed it was only a 10-minute wait. I stopped to seriously consider it. However, I still had a pretty full beer in my hand and I was not going to chug it just to get on the ride. So we continued to walk.
As we turned the corner, we noticed a huge line forming off to our right. We stood off to the left to get some shade, and noticed the line was forming for the next showing of Disneys Aladdin A Musical Spectacular. They had 3 more showings for today. 3:20pm, 4:45pm and 6:20pm. We both knew that we wanted to hit up The Cheesecake Factory for dinner a little early if possible, and we want to make sure to make it back early enough to pick up the souvenirs from DL and still go back to DCA for World of Color. We still had a few minutes before the doors opened, so we finished our beers in the shade before heading for the line.
We didnt have to wait long. Soon the doors opened to allow us into the cool theater. We got some great seats towards the front of the stage, and off to the side. This was our view.
Of course since our last trip to WDW, T-Man has been on a kick to find hidden Mickeys everywhere.
The pictures a little blurry I know, but you can still make out the hidden Mickey. This was over one of the doors.
Pretty soon the show started. Now, Im a huge fan of musicals. I always have been. My favorite Disney show, has been Beauty and the Beast. I can watch that over and over again, and never get tired of it. Until now This has got to be one of my top favorites. The actors were great, the comedy the actor playing the genie brought to the show was awesome. I am so excited to see it again!
Oh you want to actually get details about the show Whats that? And pictures? Geez You all want everything dont you?
OK You twisted my arm.
Most of these pictures were taken by T-man because my camera died on me pretty much as soon as the show started.
As the show opened up, we are transported to a deserted land, where camels roamed on the hot sand and no one dared venture for fear of never returning.
I dont remember if this guy had a name at all But he set the mood for the story
We begin with the sultan, thinking he has the one true person who will do his bidding for him, makes some poor schmuck go down the mouth of the Cave of Wonders (please insert the echo into your mind as you read that) to retrieve the golden lamp.
Unfortunately for the schmuck, he didnt make it.
We return to the city where a street rat is trying to get his daily dose of protein by stealing from the local street vendors.
This does not bode well for the street rat when the authorities catch him and almost cut off his hands for stealing.
Lucky for him, a beautiful woman, wondering through the towns market happens to come to his rescue.
It is only after they do not heed her orders, that they find out this beautiful woman is in disguise and she really is the Princess.
Doh!
The sultan thinks this guy has Ba I er mean guts and thinks he could be his saving grace when it comes to the Cave of Wonders (echo echo echo).
Here he is chatting him up, making it look like a great deal.
Of course like the Schmuck that he is or wait hes the street rat Sorry. Like the street rat that he is he takes the bait.
Now hes starting to second guess himself
Once down in the cave, he sees all the neat stuff
Look at this trove, treasures untold, how many wonders can one cavern hold, looking around here youd think, sure, shes got everything
Oh wait Wrong story.
Right Aladdin I remember now.
So once in the cave, Aladdin finds the treasure he is seeking, but also finds a million other treasures and of course being the street rat that he is, cant keep his grubby little hands off it, and the cave collapses.
All he has now is the lamp and a new friend, the magic carpet. Because everyone needs a friend that can fly
He rubs the lamp after his new friend shows him what to do, and Viola! er Voila!
Instant smurf!
I mean Genie. Its easy to get them confused. I mean, hes blue
Random spontaneous musical number ensues, while the Genie tells Aladdin how he has never had a friend like him.
Eventually the Genie gets them all out of the Cave of Wonders, and Aladdin makes his first wish to get the girl of his dreams.
Meanwhile back at the ranch er I mean Castle
Jasmines father is trying to marry her off to Jafar, because there have been no other suitable princes for her.
Then Prince Ali makes his grand entrance
When Jasmine denies Aladdins proposal, and he asks if it will ever be possible to get her to agree, Genie tries to cheer him up, Anything is possible if Snookie is a mother!
Anyway, I have prepared a special chapter for you, to make up for lost time. Because of all the pictures, this chapter will be split into two. I will get them up one right after the other, so there is tons to read! Hopefully this will keep the village from coming after us with the torches...at least for a while.
On with the chapter!
_________________________________________________________________
After our self portrait and the well deserved adult beverage, we headed into Radiator springs just to see what the crowd looked like today. The crowds were just as bad. Im hoping by the next time we go (and there will be a next time) the crowds will thin out a little. Its hard walking through those streets. When you have kids running you over, you think nothing of it. True Disney fans get used to this after so many trips. However, when you have actual cars characters trying to run you over, thats another story.
We walked into Sarges Surplus to take a look at the merchandise. There was some really cool stuff in here, but for the time being we were saving our money for dinner. After that we will see what we can afford.
After going in and out of some of the shops and trying to navigate through the crowds, we gave up and took a short cut through Its a Bugs Land, stopping only to grab another beer for the journey. What? Its hot out. And I just went on the death defying Ferris Wheel. I think another beer was in order
We headed towards the other end of the park, passing the Hollywood Tower of Terror, and noticed it was only a 10-minute wait. I stopped to seriously consider it. However, I still had a pretty full beer in my hand and I was not going to chug it just to get on the ride. So we continued to walk.
As we turned the corner, we noticed a huge line forming off to our right. We stood off to the left to get some shade, and noticed the line was forming for the next showing of Disneys Aladdin A Musical Spectacular. They had 3 more showings for today. 3:20pm, 4:45pm and 6:20pm. We both knew that we wanted to hit up The Cheesecake Factory for dinner a little early if possible, and we want to make sure to make it back early enough to pick up the souvenirs from DL and still go back to DCA for World of Color. We still had a few minutes before the doors opened, so we finished our beers in the shade before heading for the line.
We didnt have to wait long. Soon the doors opened to allow us into the cool theater. We got some great seats towards the front of the stage, and off to the side. This was our view.
Of course since our last trip to WDW, T-Man has been on a kick to find hidden Mickeys everywhere.
The pictures a little blurry I know, but you can still make out the hidden Mickey. This was over one of the doors.
Pretty soon the show started. Now, Im a huge fan of musicals. I always have been. My favorite Disney show, has been Beauty and the Beast. I can watch that over and over again, and never get tired of it. Until now This has got to be one of my top favorites. The actors were great, the comedy the actor playing the genie brought to the show was awesome. I am so excited to see it again!
Oh you want to actually get details about the show Whats that? And pictures? Geez You all want everything dont you?
OK You twisted my arm.
Most of these pictures were taken by T-man because my camera died on me pretty much as soon as the show started.
As the show opened up, we are transported to a deserted land, where camels roamed on the hot sand and no one dared venture for fear of never returning.
I dont remember if this guy had a name at all But he set the mood for the story
We begin with the sultan, thinking he has the one true person who will do his bidding for him, makes some poor schmuck go down the mouth of the Cave of Wonders (please insert the echo into your mind as you read that) to retrieve the golden lamp.
Unfortunately for the schmuck, he didnt make it.
We return to the city where a street rat is trying to get his daily dose of protein by stealing from the local street vendors.
This does not bode well for the street rat when the authorities catch him and almost cut off his hands for stealing.
Lucky for him, a beautiful woman, wondering through the towns market happens to come to his rescue.
It is only after they do not heed her orders, that they find out this beautiful woman is in disguise and she really is the Princess.
Doh!
The sultan thinks this guy has Ba I er mean guts and thinks he could be his saving grace when it comes to the Cave of Wonders (echo echo echo).
Here he is chatting him up, making it look like a great deal.
Of course like the Schmuck that he is or wait hes the street rat Sorry. Like the street rat that he is he takes the bait.
Now hes starting to second guess himself
Once down in the cave, he sees all the neat stuff
Look at this trove, treasures untold, how many wonders can one cavern hold, looking around here youd think, sure, shes got everything
Oh wait Wrong story.
Right Aladdin I remember now.
So once in the cave, Aladdin finds the treasure he is seeking, but also finds a million other treasures and of course being the street rat that he is, cant keep his grubby little hands off it, and the cave collapses.
All he has now is the lamp and a new friend, the magic carpet. Because everyone needs a friend that can fly
He rubs the lamp after his new friend shows him what to do, and Viola! er Voila!
Instant smurf!
I mean Genie. Its easy to get them confused. I mean, hes blue
Random spontaneous musical number ensues, while the Genie tells Aladdin how he has never had a friend like him.
Eventually the Genie gets them all out of the Cave of Wonders, and Aladdin makes his first wish to get the girl of his dreams.
Meanwhile back at the ranch er I mean Castle
Jasmines father is trying to marry her off to Jafar, because there have been no other suitable princes for her.
Then Prince Ali makes his grand entrance
When Jasmine denies Aladdins proposal, and he asks if it will ever be possible to get her to agree, Genie tries to cheer him up, Anything is possible if Snookie is a mother!
Thumper_Man's Wife
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2009
Jarfar and Llago look like they are up to no good here
Aladdin takes Jasmine on a magic carpet ride (I would post pics, but we really didnt catch any good ones here.) Once Jasmine falls in love with Aladdin the Genie tries to remind him that he promised to release him from captivity as his last wish. But Aladdin tells him he cant. Genie is now mad at Aladdin and refuses to talk to him saying, Talk to the left hand because youre not right!
Yes I got a kick out of Genies one liners this day.
At some point there were some people who started leaving in the middle of the show and Genie spouts off, I havent seen this many people leave in the middle of a show since the Justin Beiber concert.
Jafar gets a hold of the lamp and asks Genie to make him the most powerful wizard around.
Aladdin makes Jafar use his last wish to become a Genie, and then gets trapped in the lamp.
Aladdin uses his last wish to give Genie his freedom, he and Jasmine live happily ever after The End!
After making our way through the crowd, we finally get outside, only to be bombarded with the heat again. It was so nice and cool in the theater.
Now, here is where both T-Man and I get a little fuzzy, and it could honestly be from the alcoholic beverages, or just from it being so long ago, but we cannot remember for the likes of us, when we got Fast passes for Grizzly River Rapids.
What we do remember is this: After watching Aladdin, we made our way towards GRR, whether this was to get FPs for World of Color and GRR, or because we already had them, is unknown at this time, but either way we walked over there.
We decided to take the time to get on the ride since we were in the vicinity. We got into the raft with another couple who were pretty outgoing. We talked on our way up the ramp.
Now with this ride, I think its hard to really say whether I really liked it or not. I would categorize it with Animal Kingdoms Kali River Rapids. I think its pretty much the same in regards to the getting wet factor and how tame the ride is. As opposed to say, Blutos Barge over at Islands of Adventure, where you are bound to get soaked no matter what.
Given that information, I will take you through it. We unfortunately dont have any pictures of this ride, since we werent sure what we were up against, we didnt want to take the chance of the camera getting wet. But you can definitely go to Youtube and get a great POV video, like this one here http://youtu.be/4kB4kPXcct4 and see it for yourself.
As you climb up the hill, you almost expect to be immediately dropped. I think after all the years of going on rides and playing dumb wife I have gotten accustomed to just assuming the worst right away. I was pleasantly surprised that once over the hill, you are slowly lowered into the rapids.
Once in the rapids, you are sort of pushed from one side to the other. Luckily for most of the ride we were facing straight ahead, going along with the ride. Its so much better than being the one facing where you just came from and having to gauge the faces of the others in the car to find out what is in store for you. Like the other couple was probably doing.
So far the ride has been pretty tame. A few splashes from the side have made their way into the raft but nothing major and, we are all still dry for the most part until the drop. Now this drop wasnt a huge drop, but as you come around a bend, you see it. You almost know what is going to happen. There is a big boulder stopping you from going straight ahead, so you have to go down in order to continue on. Its not until you are going over that you can tell how far down it really is. Luckily it is not too steep, no matter though, even that slight drop has made what seems like the entire river come into the boat and onto us!
It never fails. No matter where we sit on any water ride, we are going to get soaked. When we went to Animal Kingdom a couple of years ago, The first and only time we did KRR, My sister in law, who loathes water rides, got minimally wet, while T-Man and I were soaked. Its just written in the stars I guess.
After this, the raft started steering us around, and of course, now we are looking at where we just came from and the other couple is looking at us like, HAHA now we got you!
We stayed this way for a majority of the rest of the ride. Nothing major happening again until just before the end, The rapids slowly die down, till you think its over and it will just be a coast to the exit, and then BOOM! Down you go and of course, we are now sitting in another perfect position to get soaked!
Needless to say, we walked off that ride not soaked to the bone, thankfully, but wet enough! Thank goodness we are wearing clothes that dry easily. I hope the heat from the day will speed that process along.
From here, we head back to the lockers to grab one of our Simply Lemonades for the ride to dinner. T-Man mixes them up while I dispose of anything we dont need in the locker and off we go to the shuttle.
Now is the fun part. In the past week that we have been here, we have taken shuttle number 1 each time we have left from Disney in order to get back to our resort. This time however, taking that shuttle will get us no-where close to our final destination. We have to take shuttle #8. Shuttle #8 is on the other platform. Its like trying to get onto platform 9 ¾ Luckily we dont have to take a running start into a pillar. We get on the shuttle pretty quickly and begin our journey to Anaheim Garden Walk.
We came here the first day, to eat at Johnny Rockets, tonight; we are dining at The Cheesecake Factory. We dont have one in NM, so any chance we get to eat here, we take it.
While the shuttle ride isnt a long one, it gives us a chance to drink our drinks. Our stop is still a ways away from the restaurant, leaving us to walk the rest of the way, and to cross the street. Trying to do this while chugging my drink is not recommended, Im amazed I did not have Simply Lemonade all over my shirt by the time we got there.
Finally we arrive and are seated immediately in the bar area. We already know what we want for appetizers. Buffalo Blasts.
These are little wonton packets of goodness. Sort of like a buffalo chicken tender, shredded and placed into a wonton wrapper and deep fried. YUM!!!
T-Man also ordered a Spiked Milkshake called the Flying Gorilla. According to the website, its a kicked up chocolate and banana milkshake, made with Godiva Chocolate liqueur and Banana liqueur. I took a sip it was good.
I on the other hand did not order a drink, outside of an Iced Tea. I just downed that Simply Lemonade and needed a reprieve before drinking again. I needed sustenance.
We ordered dinner. I had the Herb crusted salmon and shrimp scampi, while T-Man had the Shrimp Scampi and Steak Diane.
We only have a picture of T-Mans dish, because at the time, I didnt think to have T-Man take a pic of my dish and I have no clue why I didnt take one myself.
For dessert, The options were endless. T-Man always goes for the White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle cheesecake. He never differs from this option. Me on the other hand, I have to try a new one each time. This time, I went for the Dulce de Leche Cheesecake. Both were very yummy.
Once we were done with dinner and dessert, we started out for the shuttle stop However, this time, we started looking at the map of all the shuttle stops, and believed there was one closer, that would take us back sooner. So off we went in search. After a little wandering, we finally found what we hoped was the stop since there was no sign or marker stating so, but there were a few people in Disney gear standing around. As we waited, more people started coming out of the hotel near-by and waiting with us, so we hoped we were in the right area.
A little while later, the shuttle appeared. Now granted, we probably could have walked back to the park, in the time it took this shuttle. But, I dont think T-Man was too keen on the idea. So once in the shuttle, it was a hop, skip and a jump to the park entrance.
Once again, we had to go through the security check; luckily we didnt have all our bags like before, so it was pretty easy to get through. We headed over to DL first, to pick up the glasses we had engraved.
What we didnt take into consideration was the Parades. We got there just as the parade was going through, and the sidewalks were packed. It was like dodging objects in the Despicable Me game on my phone. Eeek.
Eventually something triggered in our brains and we remembered that most of the stores are connected to one another on Main Street. We ducked into one of the stores and made our way through.
In no time, we were trying to make our way through to the exit. I stopped in another shop as we walked through, to get my boss a little something. I think this was the fastest we were ever in and out of DL
We walked across the way and entered DCA, going straight to the lockers to pick up our stuff. As T-Man made a pit stop, I sauntered over to the little market store next door. I had been eyeing the pickles there and decided to grab one along with a bottle of water. As I waited in line to make my purchase, T-Man came to join me and just shook his head. He knew I had wanted one for a while. Every time we passed that place I would eye them. Now he looked at me with that curious look he gets when hes thinking and said Only one? I sagged my shoulders in defeat and went and grabbed another one. He knows me too well.
Pickles and water in hand, we headed towards our favorite watering hole. We grabbed a beer and headed to the line for entry into the World of Color viewing area. Our show starting time isnt until 9:00, but people start lining up at 7 to make sure they get a good spot. We are among those people.
I usually dont like to stay still too long with all this Disney wonder around me, but you do what you have to do in order to get the spot you want. So we sat, and waited.
Around 7:30, they let the rope drop, and allowed everyone to race to their positions. This is the fun part. Staking out your spot, and then not moving for the next 2 hours.
I gave T-Man the all clear to run ahead and find the spot he wanted. I wasnt picky. I caught up with T-Man and we moved in. Putting down our jackets so we could sit on the floor, I leaned back against the railing and began to read the DIS while we waited. I decided this would also be a good time to snack on my pickle.
Time passed quickly. T-Man mixed us some drinks and took a few pics while we waited.
Here is the Wheel of Death!
The Wheel of Death with the Roller Coaster of madness.
A colorful Wheel of Death
I noticed a theme with these pictures. There are a series of about 10 or so from that last night on Flickr, all of the Wheel of Death. Do you think T-Man was trying to tell me something? Just because its colorful doesnt make it less scary!
This time, we made a pact that during this show, we would just enjoy it. No pictures, no video, you all got that the last time anyway, but we wanted to take in the full effect. I absolutely adore this show. So it was nice to be able to watch it without worrying about capturing certain pieces.
Once the show was over, we stayed back, hoping the crowd would die down so we wouldnt get lost or trampled. In hopes of the crowd lightening up even more, we took some night shots of Carsland. You may have seen some of these previously, but it doesnt hurt to see them again right?
This is the Taste In, The hippie market place of Fillmore the VW Microbus.
Flos V8 Café, and the street light.
This was one ride that always had a crazy line. We just werent willing to spend over an hour waiting to ride a tire on air. Hopefully we will get a chance to do it next time we go.
Slowly we made our way to the exit. We said goodbye to Mickeys Wheel of Death, Goodbye to Tower of Terror, Goodbye to Grizzly River Rapids, and Goodbye to Radiator Springs. We had a wonderful final day here, and I wouldnt change a thing. Except for the fact that we were leaving of course.
But our day is still not completely over. Ill let T-Man finish it off. I hope you can stay with us for the final installment of this TR, as Mike takes us home Literally
Aladdin takes Jasmine on a magic carpet ride (I would post pics, but we really didnt catch any good ones here.) Once Jasmine falls in love with Aladdin the Genie tries to remind him that he promised to release him from captivity as his last wish. But Aladdin tells him he cant. Genie is now mad at Aladdin and refuses to talk to him saying, Talk to the left hand because youre not right!
Yes I got a kick out of Genies one liners this day.
At some point there were some people who started leaving in the middle of the show and Genie spouts off, I havent seen this many people leave in the middle of a show since the Justin Beiber concert.
Jafar gets a hold of the lamp and asks Genie to make him the most powerful wizard around.
Aladdin makes Jafar use his last wish to become a Genie, and then gets trapped in the lamp.
Aladdin uses his last wish to give Genie his freedom, he and Jasmine live happily ever after The End!
After making our way through the crowd, we finally get outside, only to be bombarded with the heat again. It was so nice and cool in the theater.
Now, here is where both T-Man and I get a little fuzzy, and it could honestly be from the alcoholic beverages, or just from it being so long ago, but we cannot remember for the likes of us, when we got Fast passes for Grizzly River Rapids.
What we do remember is this: After watching Aladdin, we made our way towards GRR, whether this was to get FPs for World of Color and GRR, or because we already had them, is unknown at this time, but either way we walked over there.
We decided to take the time to get on the ride since we were in the vicinity. We got into the raft with another couple who were pretty outgoing. We talked on our way up the ramp.
Now with this ride, I think its hard to really say whether I really liked it or not. I would categorize it with Animal Kingdoms Kali River Rapids. I think its pretty much the same in regards to the getting wet factor and how tame the ride is. As opposed to say, Blutos Barge over at Islands of Adventure, where you are bound to get soaked no matter what.
Given that information, I will take you through it. We unfortunately dont have any pictures of this ride, since we werent sure what we were up against, we didnt want to take the chance of the camera getting wet. But you can definitely go to Youtube and get a great POV video, like this one here http://youtu.be/4kB4kPXcct4 and see it for yourself.
As you climb up the hill, you almost expect to be immediately dropped. I think after all the years of going on rides and playing dumb wife I have gotten accustomed to just assuming the worst right away. I was pleasantly surprised that once over the hill, you are slowly lowered into the rapids.
Once in the rapids, you are sort of pushed from one side to the other. Luckily for most of the ride we were facing straight ahead, going along with the ride. Its so much better than being the one facing where you just came from and having to gauge the faces of the others in the car to find out what is in store for you. Like the other couple was probably doing.
So far the ride has been pretty tame. A few splashes from the side have made their way into the raft but nothing major and, we are all still dry for the most part until the drop. Now this drop wasnt a huge drop, but as you come around a bend, you see it. You almost know what is going to happen. There is a big boulder stopping you from going straight ahead, so you have to go down in order to continue on. Its not until you are going over that you can tell how far down it really is. Luckily it is not too steep, no matter though, even that slight drop has made what seems like the entire river come into the boat and onto us!
It never fails. No matter where we sit on any water ride, we are going to get soaked. When we went to Animal Kingdom a couple of years ago, The first and only time we did KRR, My sister in law, who loathes water rides, got minimally wet, while T-Man and I were soaked. Its just written in the stars I guess.
After this, the raft started steering us around, and of course, now we are looking at where we just came from and the other couple is looking at us like, HAHA now we got you!
We stayed this way for a majority of the rest of the ride. Nothing major happening again until just before the end, The rapids slowly die down, till you think its over and it will just be a coast to the exit, and then BOOM! Down you go and of course, we are now sitting in another perfect position to get soaked!
Needless to say, we walked off that ride not soaked to the bone, thankfully, but wet enough! Thank goodness we are wearing clothes that dry easily. I hope the heat from the day will speed that process along.
From here, we head back to the lockers to grab one of our Simply Lemonades for the ride to dinner. T-Man mixes them up while I dispose of anything we dont need in the locker and off we go to the shuttle.
Now is the fun part. In the past week that we have been here, we have taken shuttle number 1 each time we have left from Disney in order to get back to our resort. This time however, taking that shuttle will get us no-where close to our final destination. We have to take shuttle #8. Shuttle #8 is on the other platform. Its like trying to get onto platform 9 ¾ Luckily we dont have to take a running start into a pillar. We get on the shuttle pretty quickly and begin our journey to Anaheim Garden Walk.
We came here the first day, to eat at Johnny Rockets, tonight; we are dining at The Cheesecake Factory. We dont have one in NM, so any chance we get to eat here, we take it.
While the shuttle ride isnt a long one, it gives us a chance to drink our drinks. Our stop is still a ways away from the restaurant, leaving us to walk the rest of the way, and to cross the street. Trying to do this while chugging my drink is not recommended, Im amazed I did not have Simply Lemonade all over my shirt by the time we got there.
Finally we arrive and are seated immediately in the bar area. We already know what we want for appetizers. Buffalo Blasts.
These are little wonton packets of goodness. Sort of like a buffalo chicken tender, shredded and placed into a wonton wrapper and deep fried. YUM!!!
T-Man also ordered a Spiked Milkshake called the Flying Gorilla. According to the website, its a kicked up chocolate and banana milkshake, made with Godiva Chocolate liqueur and Banana liqueur. I took a sip it was good.
I on the other hand did not order a drink, outside of an Iced Tea. I just downed that Simply Lemonade and needed a reprieve before drinking again. I needed sustenance.
We ordered dinner. I had the Herb crusted salmon and shrimp scampi, while T-Man had the Shrimp Scampi and Steak Diane.
We only have a picture of T-Mans dish, because at the time, I didnt think to have T-Man take a pic of my dish and I have no clue why I didnt take one myself.
For dessert, The options were endless. T-Man always goes for the White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle cheesecake. He never differs from this option. Me on the other hand, I have to try a new one each time. This time, I went for the Dulce de Leche Cheesecake. Both were very yummy.
Once we were done with dinner and dessert, we started out for the shuttle stop However, this time, we started looking at the map of all the shuttle stops, and believed there was one closer, that would take us back sooner. So off we went in search. After a little wandering, we finally found what we hoped was the stop since there was no sign or marker stating so, but there were a few people in Disney gear standing around. As we waited, more people started coming out of the hotel near-by and waiting with us, so we hoped we were in the right area.
A little while later, the shuttle appeared. Now granted, we probably could have walked back to the park, in the time it took this shuttle. But, I dont think T-Man was too keen on the idea. So once in the shuttle, it was a hop, skip and a jump to the park entrance.
Once again, we had to go through the security check; luckily we didnt have all our bags like before, so it was pretty easy to get through. We headed over to DL first, to pick up the glasses we had engraved.
What we didnt take into consideration was the Parades. We got there just as the parade was going through, and the sidewalks were packed. It was like dodging objects in the Despicable Me game on my phone. Eeek.
Eventually something triggered in our brains and we remembered that most of the stores are connected to one another on Main Street. We ducked into one of the stores and made our way through.
In no time, we were trying to make our way through to the exit. I stopped in another shop as we walked through, to get my boss a little something. I think this was the fastest we were ever in and out of DL
We walked across the way and entered DCA, going straight to the lockers to pick up our stuff. As T-Man made a pit stop, I sauntered over to the little market store next door. I had been eyeing the pickles there and decided to grab one along with a bottle of water. As I waited in line to make my purchase, T-Man came to join me and just shook his head. He knew I had wanted one for a while. Every time we passed that place I would eye them. Now he looked at me with that curious look he gets when hes thinking and said Only one? I sagged my shoulders in defeat and went and grabbed another one. He knows me too well.
Pickles and water in hand, we headed towards our favorite watering hole. We grabbed a beer and headed to the line for entry into the World of Color viewing area. Our show starting time isnt until 9:00, but people start lining up at 7 to make sure they get a good spot. We are among those people.
I usually dont like to stay still too long with all this Disney wonder around me, but you do what you have to do in order to get the spot you want. So we sat, and waited.
Around 7:30, they let the rope drop, and allowed everyone to race to their positions. This is the fun part. Staking out your spot, and then not moving for the next 2 hours.
I gave T-Man the all clear to run ahead and find the spot he wanted. I wasnt picky. I caught up with T-Man and we moved in. Putting down our jackets so we could sit on the floor, I leaned back against the railing and began to read the DIS while we waited. I decided this would also be a good time to snack on my pickle.
Time passed quickly. T-Man mixed us some drinks and took a few pics while we waited.
Here is the Wheel of Death!
The Wheel of Death with the Roller Coaster of madness.
A colorful Wheel of Death
I noticed a theme with these pictures. There are a series of about 10 or so from that last night on Flickr, all of the Wheel of Death. Do you think T-Man was trying to tell me something? Just because its colorful doesnt make it less scary!
This time, we made a pact that during this show, we would just enjoy it. No pictures, no video, you all got that the last time anyway, but we wanted to take in the full effect. I absolutely adore this show. So it was nice to be able to watch it without worrying about capturing certain pieces.
Once the show was over, we stayed back, hoping the crowd would die down so we wouldnt get lost or trampled. In hopes of the crowd lightening up even more, we took some night shots of Carsland. You may have seen some of these previously, but it doesnt hurt to see them again right?
This is the Taste In, The hippie market place of Fillmore the VW Microbus.
Flos V8 Café, and the street light.
This was one ride that always had a crazy line. We just werent willing to spend over an hour waiting to ride a tire on air. Hopefully we will get a chance to do it next time we go.
Slowly we made our way to the exit. We said goodbye to Mickeys Wheel of Death, Goodbye to Tower of Terror, Goodbye to Grizzly River Rapids, and Goodbye to Radiator Springs. We had a wonderful final day here, and I wouldnt change a thing. Except for the fact that we were leaving of course.
But our day is still not completely over. Ill let T-Man finish it off. I hope you can stay with us for the final installment of this TR, as Mike takes us home Literally
Thumper_Man
DDC 684
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2009
There was no theme to my madness. bwahhahahaha.
If you recall, the first time I took pictures of this alleged wheel of death. It's alleged because you're still alive to tell the tale. Dead men (and women) tell no tales. Anyways I took the pictures because there was a section that wasn't lit up the first time I took them. Now the whole wheel is lit up so I needed to take a whole new set of pictures.
Leaving any Disney park is always tough. Getting back to reality is rough. I wish I could win the lottery already. Then I can spend all my time at Disney.
Lady H did a wonderful job summarizing our final hours at DCA. Good thing we're getting close to the end, because as she stated, we're having a hard not so much remembering what we did, but the order we did them in. I agree, must have been the heat and alcohol.
This TR won't last much longer now. While Lady H was busy working on her summits for work, I was able to write the next (possibly the last) chapter. Stick around just a little longer. I promise this will be ending soon. Really soon.
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