MouseEars
08-19-2008, 10:56 AM
Disneyland Recap (All 3 days of pure joy!)
FRIDAY
It took a little longer than we had planned to kick off the birthday weekend and hit the park thanks to our taxi driver. While we didn't necessarily ask for it he decided to give us a tour of all three Sheraton properties in the Anaheim area. In fact, one these properties is still being built…it looked nice and probably will be in 3 months. Listen pal, I pay you to know your city that's the cab/passenger handshake. How am I supposed to know there are multiple Sheraton's in your fair city unless you ASK! Oh well...I was determined to not let this ruin what would be a perfect day (Pam's birthday in Disneyland!) We checked in, caught the shuttle and hit Disneyland. It's such a great feeling when you are standing on the promenade between both Disneyland and California Adventure parks, Disney movie music, the sun drenched walkway, happy people buzzing about. Then when you go through that gate into the park (we arrived at noon), the butterflies begin (look it's my recap, so I get butterflies).Ah Disney…let the fun begin. First we checked in a City Hall and Pam got her birthday button. She listened to the birthday greeting from Goofy on the antique phone. And that also began the brilliance of the birthday button (which I later demanded Pam wear the entire weekend). The power of the button is that everyone (cast member to guest) wishes you a happy birthday, by name. It wasn't even my birthday but I got a warm feeling everytime someone wished "Happy Birthday Pam". Sometimes it even caught me off guard…how did they know…oh, right, the button!
Headed down Main Street which was packed with people and here begins the love/hate with going to Disneyland when the weather is insanely beautiful…everyone decides to come...even locals who haven't been to the park for over a week decide it's time to come. The street was packed. Throngs of people and it was beyond sunny. Temperature predicted to get to 102 today (it did…ugh!). But having weathered the exact opposite in November with torrential rain I'd chose sun over rain any day.
We hadn't had much for breakfast so we picked up some fruit at one of the country stands. Tied us over until lunch
Figured we'd go get a Fastpass for Splash. There was a line for a line. The machines were working "slow" at coughing out tickets, but it's much better than the 65 min standy wait for Splash. Of course all the "water" rides were gonna be popular this weekend.
Cruised through Haunted Mansion. Spooky kitsch as always. Stood in the left elevator chamber (hadn't done that before)
Big Thunder. The goat is back! Tried to do the goat trick but no immediate effect. Still my favorite ride.
Lunch at Blue Bayou. Ah the ambience, the soft sounds of the darkened bayou, the lapping water, crickets and frogs. How can a restaurant be this brilliantly themed. Crab Cakes to start…pretty good. Split the Monte Cristo. At first I was skeptical of this. But then I didn't feel as full and stuffed and sick at having to eat the entire greasy amazing samich. Still the same amount of those amazing potatoes though which comforted me greatly. Since it was Pam's bday we got a free chocolate mousse (which I ate most of). Tons of chocolate doubloons! SCORE!! And all this happened one row off the water.
On the way over to Innoventions I mention to Pam that we need to go see Billy Hill and the Hillbillies this time…I've heard much about it (this is an example of foreshadowing).
Headed over to Innoventions to meet Dave Miller. Working at Microsoft has it's benefits. I arranged a behind the scenes tour (complete with hard hats) of the coming Home of the Future attraction that Microsoft is sponsoring. Surface is one of the technologies the company included. Saw the prototype Surface dining room table and watched the "family" of actors rehearse around it. It's gonna be cool. Walked through the rest of the home. It's in varying stages, some nearly complete, others deep in construction and hard to tell what room it's going to be. But it's coming along nicely. The coolest room will without a doubt be the boys room…just wait. Thanks Dave!
Stopped at First Aid (behind the corndog stand). Pam needed some aspirin to quell an annoying headache (probably the heat and crowds no doubt). First Aid would become our go to place this weekend for band aids (annoying blisters, water refill). Nice touch Disney.
Time to get our wet on. Did Splash. Thank God for FastPass! The line was 1hr 20 mins long otherwise. Got super wet, drenched in fact and I'm sad to report there was a casualty…our faithful wi-fi Kodak Easyshare One camera. It got drenched as well. I pulled it from the bag and water just streamed out of the casing. Ugh!!! Hoping it will dry out but not really confident.
Needed to dry off a tisch so explored the shops on Mainstreet. The advantage of this trip is it was much more chill. An easy pace and not needing to keep the attention of the kiddos.
So we haven't dried off yet and figured we should go back to the hotel to change. Shuttle to the Sheraton. Very nice. The hotel was about a mile from the property. 5 mins and where at the hotel.
Chilled back at the hotel for a few hours and then back at the park. Went to DCA this time in hopes of avoiding crowds and for the most part we did…wasn't nearly as packed.
Stopped at the Golden Vineyard. Had a couple of glasses of wine and a cheese, fruit and cracker plate. Nice way to chill on the balcony and people watch.
Grizzly River Run. Hello? Another water ride? Didn't we just change? Not good ride planning but oh well. Always fun and wet. Didn't get too drenched.
Back to Disneyland. Hopped the train to New Orleans Square. We tried to get on Lilly Belle and waited for the train but moments before it pulled into the station they radioed and said that they closed down the famous caboose for the rest of the evening…drats! Some day…)
Got off at News Orleans station. Caught a bit of Fantasmic. We'll save it for Sautrday.
Pirates of the Caribbean. Got right on. Thank you Fantasmic! My second favorite ride. Such brilliant themeing.
Tried Big Thunder. Always better at night…line was too long due to Fantasmic just getting out.
Off to the Matterhorn. It was closed temporarily (back in 20 mins they said). Ugh. My chiropractor thanks you though.
Quick…to Peter Pan. Stood in line and people watched for about 20 mins. While in line we saw the Evil Queen (from Snow White) in her castle ride window. It's cool at night. Probably not noticeable during the day. Nice catch Pam! Cross that off the list.
Peter Pan. Probably my third most favorite…it's charming and fun in a classic way.
Matterhorn. At night…always cool. But damn if those bobsleds aren't a chiropractors wet dream.
Night starting to wind down. Pretzel and drinks and then shuttle back to the park.
SATURDAY
First off California Adventure. 10am on the dot! Reason being…time to pull the Band Aid. I started the day off with The Tower of Terror. Figured I'd get it over with. As you know faithful reader I'm not a big "ride guy". Getting better though. You know the reasons…my mom, newspaper clippings of ride-related deaths on my 8th grade pillow, etc. don't really need to go much further. But I've grown since. Every trip I cross another "scary ride" of the list. In November it was Space (which I now really enjoy despite the G force tears, really I'm not crying for fear) and this trip was either going to be Tower or Screamin. Neither of which sounded good. I did all the YouTube ride video prep. Both looked awful. After consulting friends and praying daily I netted out that Tower was for me. It had a better theme (Iove me some Rod Serling…Twilight Zone is one of my favorite all-time shows) and as far as I know…no one has died on that particular ride yet (I might be the first casualty of ride war though). So I bit the bullet…ugh. I had gone through the queue themeing previously and dug it, this time I was a little distracted but when it came time to board I didn't take the chicken exit (though the cast member looked at me briefly I think he recognized me from my November exit). I'm not going to go into much detail on the description…it was horrible, frightening, sickening. I was stressed the entire time, didn't open my eyes at all (so I don't know what the ride looked like)…I'll leave it to your interpretation of my experience when you see the photo from the ride…a picture is worth a thousand words and I think you'll agree with that once you see me on this ride (look for me to post that shortly).
With week legs we mosied over to the River Belle Terrace for some breakfast. Pam got her Mickey Mouse pancakes.
Hit the Canoes to burn off some of that food.
Time for a Dole Whip Float. Ah the creamy Dole Whip spiked with pineapple…perfection on a hot day. While we were chilling in the hub enjoying our Doles, Taylor from the Dream Squad approached. YES!!! Finally. We were about to win something. The Dream Suite perhaps, a Disney Cruise? Wait…it's only one guy…those big prizes require additional cast members be present…ugh. Oh well. He offered us a front row table to see Billy Hill and the Hillbillies at the Golden Horseshoe.
Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. This was a blast. It was a fun country/swing tinged music/comedy show. We, along with two other tables sat front row enter at white tableclothed affairs to take in the 30 min show. Great entertainers, good music, laughs. Billy Hill plays to the crowd and when he donned his redneck buck teeth and wished Pam Happy Birthday…it was awesome.
Splash for the second time. Not as wet this time. The music redeems the steep down everytime. How can you not love this music.
Lunchtime…corndogs and sodas behind in the cart near the Plaza Inn…it's a quiet oasis from the Main Street chaos.
Time to get our Buzz on. Made it to level 4…I was 7K away from level 5, dammit all! We also got stopped for two lengthy periods which allowed us to rack up points and still didn't get to level 5…Emily I need strategy…help me Obi Wan you're my only hope.
Stopped over at DCA to pick up a Soarin fastpass and then caught some High School Musical 2. "We're champions we know it!"
Back to the hotel. We were gonna swim to cool off but instead just chilled out for a couple of hours instead.
Returned to DCA. Dinner at the Vineyard Room. Three course with wine. Great view of DCA. The food was quite tasty. What is strange though is the menu felt like it was ripped from the Autumn menu, steak, potatoes, parsnip soup, etc. Oh well, it was still very good. It's not exactly Napa Rose, but it's nice.
Soarin with our FastPass. Such a brilliant ride!
Over to Disneyland for the fireworks. Man the crowds!!!
An iced mocha (they desparately need a Starbucks here) and a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie.
Big Thunder at night!!! This ride improves with night. You miss the bat and such in the caves during the daylight.
Space Mountain. Fast. Fun and thrilling. Teared up (what causes that exactly)?
Picked up a Steamboat Willie B&W pin and an E Ticket back issue. Left the park with 10 mins to spare. A very good day indeed.
SUNDAY
Our last day. Checked out early. Hit the park around 9:45am. It was bittersweet as we walked through the tunnel onto Main Street. Butterflies nonetheless!
Oh it's hot. Again. Predicted to get to 100 again. Ugh!
Breakfast at Café Orleans. Cross that off the list…had never been before. Had the 3-cheese Monte Cristo. Good but not the same as the BB Monte. A tisch lighter though that was nice in terms of starting off the morn. Pam got the powdered sugar with the beignets (seriously…there was so much sugar on those things)
Picked up FastPass to Indy. Yes Indy. Can't wait!!
Headed over DCA to avoid some of the crowds. Plus it was hot and we figured we do some indoor stuff.
Hit the Flea Market Pin Trader and scored a few pins for the boys. Thought hard about picking up the 2008 Annual Passholder pin (it looked cool, but it's big, not something I'd ever wear on my geeky lanyard)
Sat around in the shade in DCA…coffee, drinks, stayed well hydrated and shaded.
Approached by a Dream Squad member but he just wanted to chat…I just wanted a prize so we both cancelled each other out.
Cruised through the Animation Building. Chilled in the main room soaking up the clips and music. Went to the Sorceerers Academy and Pam VOed some music to Unbirthday from Alice in Wonderland.
More airconditioned fun at Muppets 3-D. I love Muppets and Sam Eagle is always the best!
Then to the Candy Store. Picked up some Tiger Butter fudge. Found a shaded nook outside and watched High School Musical 2 again. "What time is"
Back to Disneyland. Picked up our PhotoPass CD. We loaded it with 60 photos…we made those photographers work over the past 3 days!
Attempted Indy but just as we approached the FastPass line they announced technical difficulties and closed it. Dammit all! As we exited Frontierland we stopped at the ride wait kiosk and noticed that Peter Pan, Indy, Buzz and some others were shut down. Picked a good time to leave I guess.
Took the monorail to Downtown Disney. Did some shopping. Legos for the boys. World of Disney for last minute items.
Lunch at Panera Bread. Sat on the patio and peoplewatched. You know it's not only tough to be a bug but it's also tough to be a goth at Disneyland…I feel sorry for the black clad Goths and their thick soled biker boots and makeup…ugh.
Got to the quaint Long Beach airport early and then proceeded to wait and wait and wait (on plane, off plane, on plane). Technical difficulties prevented us from getting to home until 2am last night. Ugh. Get ready for an email Alaska!
And that faithful reader is a birthday weekend fit for a Queen (in this case my lovely bride, Pam!). Happy Birthday sweety!
FRIDAY
It took a little longer than we had planned to kick off the birthday weekend and hit the park thanks to our taxi driver. While we didn't necessarily ask for it he decided to give us a tour of all three Sheraton properties in the Anaheim area. In fact, one these properties is still being built…it looked nice and probably will be in 3 months. Listen pal, I pay you to know your city that's the cab/passenger handshake. How am I supposed to know there are multiple Sheraton's in your fair city unless you ASK! Oh well...I was determined to not let this ruin what would be a perfect day (Pam's birthday in Disneyland!) We checked in, caught the shuttle and hit Disneyland. It's such a great feeling when you are standing on the promenade between both Disneyland and California Adventure parks, Disney movie music, the sun drenched walkway, happy people buzzing about. Then when you go through that gate into the park (we arrived at noon), the butterflies begin (look it's my recap, so I get butterflies).Ah Disney…let the fun begin. First we checked in a City Hall and Pam got her birthday button. She listened to the birthday greeting from Goofy on the antique phone. And that also began the brilliance of the birthday button (which I later demanded Pam wear the entire weekend). The power of the button is that everyone (cast member to guest) wishes you a happy birthday, by name. It wasn't even my birthday but I got a warm feeling everytime someone wished "Happy Birthday Pam". Sometimes it even caught me off guard…how did they know…oh, right, the button!
Headed down Main Street which was packed with people and here begins the love/hate with going to Disneyland when the weather is insanely beautiful…everyone decides to come...even locals who haven't been to the park for over a week decide it's time to come. The street was packed. Throngs of people and it was beyond sunny. Temperature predicted to get to 102 today (it did…ugh!). But having weathered the exact opposite in November with torrential rain I'd chose sun over rain any day.
We hadn't had much for breakfast so we picked up some fruit at one of the country stands. Tied us over until lunch
Figured we'd go get a Fastpass for Splash. There was a line for a line. The machines were working "slow" at coughing out tickets, but it's much better than the 65 min standy wait for Splash. Of course all the "water" rides were gonna be popular this weekend.
Cruised through Haunted Mansion. Spooky kitsch as always. Stood in the left elevator chamber (hadn't done that before)
Big Thunder. The goat is back! Tried to do the goat trick but no immediate effect. Still my favorite ride.
Lunch at Blue Bayou. Ah the ambience, the soft sounds of the darkened bayou, the lapping water, crickets and frogs. How can a restaurant be this brilliantly themed. Crab Cakes to start…pretty good. Split the Monte Cristo. At first I was skeptical of this. But then I didn't feel as full and stuffed and sick at having to eat the entire greasy amazing samich. Still the same amount of those amazing potatoes though which comforted me greatly. Since it was Pam's bday we got a free chocolate mousse (which I ate most of). Tons of chocolate doubloons! SCORE!! And all this happened one row off the water.
On the way over to Innoventions I mention to Pam that we need to go see Billy Hill and the Hillbillies this time…I've heard much about it (this is an example of foreshadowing).
Headed over to Innoventions to meet Dave Miller. Working at Microsoft has it's benefits. I arranged a behind the scenes tour (complete with hard hats) of the coming Home of the Future attraction that Microsoft is sponsoring. Surface is one of the technologies the company included. Saw the prototype Surface dining room table and watched the "family" of actors rehearse around it. It's gonna be cool. Walked through the rest of the home. It's in varying stages, some nearly complete, others deep in construction and hard to tell what room it's going to be. But it's coming along nicely. The coolest room will without a doubt be the boys room…just wait. Thanks Dave!
Stopped at First Aid (behind the corndog stand). Pam needed some aspirin to quell an annoying headache (probably the heat and crowds no doubt). First Aid would become our go to place this weekend for band aids (annoying blisters, water refill). Nice touch Disney.
Time to get our wet on. Did Splash. Thank God for FastPass! The line was 1hr 20 mins long otherwise. Got super wet, drenched in fact and I'm sad to report there was a casualty…our faithful wi-fi Kodak Easyshare One camera. It got drenched as well. I pulled it from the bag and water just streamed out of the casing. Ugh!!! Hoping it will dry out but not really confident.
Needed to dry off a tisch so explored the shops on Mainstreet. The advantage of this trip is it was much more chill. An easy pace and not needing to keep the attention of the kiddos.
So we haven't dried off yet and figured we should go back to the hotel to change. Shuttle to the Sheraton. Very nice. The hotel was about a mile from the property. 5 mins and where at the hotel.
Chilled back at the hotel for a few hours and then back at the park. Went to DCA this time in hopes of avoiding crowds and for the most part we did…wasn't nearly as packed.
Stopped at the Golden Vineyard. Had a couple of glasses of wine and a cheese, fruit and cracker plate. Nice way to chill on the balcony and people watch.
Grizzly River Run. Hello? Another water ride? Didn't we just change? Not good ride planning but oh well. Always fun and wet. Didn't get too drenched.
Back to Disneyland. Hopped the train to New Orleans Square. We tried to get on Lilly Belle and waited for the train but moments before it pulled into the station they radioed and said that they closed down the famous caboose for the rest of the evening…drats! Some day…)
Got off at News Orleans station. Caught a bit of Fantasmic. We'll save it for Sautrday.
Pirates of the Caribbean. Got right on. Thank you Fantasmic! My second favorite ride. Such brilliant themeing.
Tried Big Thunder. Always better at night…line was too long due to Fantasmic just getting out.
Off to the Matterhorn. It was closed temporarily (back in 20 mins they said). Ugh. My chiropractor thanks you though.
Quick…to Peter Pan. Stood in line and people watched for about 20 mins. While in line we saw the Evil Queen (from Snow White) in her castle ride window. It's cool at night. Probably not noticeable during the day. Nice catch Pam! Cross that off the list.
Peter Pan. Probably my third most favorite…it's charming and fun in a classic way.
Matterhorn. At night…always cool. But damn if those bobsleds aren't a chiropractors wet dream.
Night starting to wind down. Pretzel and drinks and then shuttle back to the park.
SATURDAY
First off California Adventure. 10am on the dot! Reason being…time to pull the Band Aid. I started the day off with The Tower of Terror. Figured I'd get it over with. As you know faithful reader I'm not a big "ride guy". Getting better though. You know the reasons…my mom, newspaper clippings of ride-related deaths on my 8th grade pillow, etc. don't really need to go much further. But I've grown since. Every trip I cross another "scary ride" of the list. In November it was Space (which I now really enjoy despite the G force tears, really I'm not crying for fear) and this trip was either going to be Tower or Screamin. Neither of which sounded good. I did all the YouTube ride video prep. Both looked awful. After consulting friends and praying daily I netted out that Tower was for me. It had a better theme (Iove me some Rod Serling…Twilight Zone is one of my favorite all-time shows) and as far as I know…no one has died on that particular ride yet (I might be the first casualty of ride war though). So I bit the bullet…ugh. I had gone through the queue themeing previously and dug it, this time I was a little distracted but when it came time to board I didn't take the chicken exit (though the cast member looked at me briefly I think he recognized me from my November exit). I'm not going to go into much detail on the description…it was horrible, frightening, sickening. I was stressed the entire time, didn't open my eyes at all (so I don't know what the ride looked like)…I'll leave it to your interpretation of my experience when you see the photo from the ride…a picture is worth a thousand words and I think you'll agree with that once you see me on this ride (look for me to post that shortly).
With week legs we mosied over to the River Belle Terrace for some breakfast. Pam got her Mickey Mouse pancakes.
Hit the Canoes to burn off some of that food.
Time for a Dole Whip Float. Ah the creamy Dole Whip spiked with pineapple…perfection on a hot day. While we were chilling in the hub enjoying our Doles, Taylor from the Dream Squad approached. YES!!! Finally. We were about to win something. The Dream Suite perhaps, a Disney Cruise? Wait…it's only one guy…those big prizes require additional cast members be present…ugh. Oh well. He offered us a front row table to see Billy Hill and the Hillbillies at the Golden Horseshoe.
Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. This was a blast. It was a fun country/swing tinged music/comedy show. We, along with two other tables sat front row enter at white tableclothed affairs to take in the 30 min show. Great entertainers, good music, laughs. Billy Hill plays to the crowd and when he donned his redneck buck teeth and wished Pam Happy Birthday…it was awesome.
Splash for the second time. Not as wet this time. The music redeems the steep down everytime. How can you not love this music.
Lunchtime…corndogs and sodas behind in the cart near the Plaza Inn…it's a quiet oasis from the Main Street chaos.
Time to get our Buzz on. Made it to level 4…I was 7K away from level 5, dammit all! We also got stopped for two lengthy periods which allowed us to rack up points and still didn't get to level 5…Emily I need strategy…help me Obi Wan you're my only hope.
Stopped over at DCA to pick up a Soarin fastpass and then caught some High School Musical 2. "We're champions we know it!"
Back to the hotel. We were gonna swim to cool off but instead just chilled out for a couple of hours instead.
Returned to DCA. Dinner at the Vineyard Room. Three course with wine. Great view of DCA. The food was quite tasty. What is strange though is the menu felt like it was ripped from the Autumn menu, steak, potatoes, parsnip soup, etc. Oh well, it was still very good. It's not exactly Napa Rose, but it's nice.
Soarin with our FastPass. Such a brilliant ride!
Over to Disneyland for the fireworks. Man the crowds!!!
An iced mocha (they desparately need a Starbucks here) and a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie.
Big Thunder at night!!! This ride improves with night. You miss the bat and such in the caves during the daylight.
Space Mountain. Fast. Fun and thrilling. Teared up (what causes that exactly)?
Picked up a Steamboat Willie B&W pin and an E Ticket back issue. Left the park with 10 mins to spare. A very good day indeed.
SUNDAY
Our last day. Checked out early. Hit the park around 9:45am. It was bittersweet as we walked through the tunnel onto Main Street. Butterflies nonetheless!
Oh it's hot. Again. Predicted to get to 100 again. Ugh!
Breakfast at Café Orleans. Cross that off the list…had never been before. Had the 3-cheese Monte Cristo. Good but not the same as the BB Monte. A tisch lighter though that was nice in terms of starting off the morn. Pam got the powdered sugar with the beignets (seriously…there was so much sugar on those things)
Picked up FastPass to Indy. Yes Indy. Can't wait!!
Headed over DCA to avoid some of the crowds. Plus it was hot and we figured we do some indoor stuff.
Hit the Flea Market Pin Trader and scored a few pins for the boys. Thought hard about picking up the 2008 Annual Passholder pin (it looked cool, but it's big, not something I'd ever wear on my geeky lanyard)
Sat around in the shade in DCA…coffee, drinks, stayed well hydrated and shaded.
Approached by a Dream Squad member but he just wanted to chat…I just wanted a prize so we both cancelled each other out.
Cruised through the Animation Building. Chilled in the main room soaking up the clips and music. Went to the Sorceerers Academy and Pam VOed some music to Unbirthday from Alice in Wonderland.
More airconditioned fun at Muppets 3-D. I love Muppets and Sam Eagle is always the best!
Then to the Candy Store. Picked up some Tiger Butter fudge. Found a shaded nook outside and watched High School Musical 2 again. "What time is"
Back to Disneyland. Picked up our PhotoPass CD. We loaded it with 60 photos…we made those photographers work over the past 3 days!
Attempted Indy but just as we approached the FastPass line they announced technical difficulties and closed it. Dammit all! As we exited Frontierland we stopped at the ride wait kiosk and noticed that Peter Pan, Indy, Buzz and some others were shut down. Picked a good time to leave I guess.
Took the monorail to Downtown Disney. Did some shopping. Legos for the boys. World of Disney for last minute items.
Lunch at Panera Bread. Sat on the patio and peoplewatched. You know it's not only tough to be a bug but it's also tough to be a goth at Disneyland…I feel sorry for the black clad Goths and their thick soled biker boots and makeup…ugh.
Got to the quaint Long Beach airport early and then proceeded to wait and wait and wait (on plane, off plane, on plane). Technical difficulties prevented us from getting to home until 2am last night. Ugh. Get ready for an email Alaska!
And that faithful reader is a birthday weekend fit for a Queen (in this case my lovely bride, Pam!). Happy Birthday sweety!