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View Full Version : Why Disneyland Makes my Feet Hurt: A Trip Report



ozbeauticn
09-20-2005, 01:43 PM
Who: Karen (21) and Jeannie (22)
Total steps taken: 87,465
Total miles walked: 31.94
Total calories burned: 4189.8 (pedometers are fun)
Total rolls of film used: 16

We were there for 4 long days, Sept. 8-11. We switched hotels three times (so we could stay at Paradise Pier for early entry and still afford a hotel the other nights). The whole things starts to blur but here are some highlights...

Our themes for this trip were garbage cans and cast members. We took our pictures with all the fun garbage cans that we noticed and also as many cast members as we could. We always love how detailed all the different uniforms are and now we have pictures of most of them. :)

Thursday:
GETTING THERE: We started out going to the warehouse to look for some cheap Disneyland stuff. We both got a $14 sweatshirt and were very excited. We got some other cheap stuff and headed for the hotel. We got very lucky on the hotel all 3 times, as we were able to check in to our rooms early each time. We put everything away, lunches in the cooler and headed for Disneyland. We got to Disneyland around 10am and it was already 85*. Coming from Monterey, land of the cold, we knew it would be a hot day for us.

VMK TOUR: The first thing we wanted to do was our VMK quests to go on the tour. We had done them before, so it didn’t take us too long & we wanted to make sure we could still get on the tour that day. Luckily we did and our tour was at 5 that night. It was lucky we brought the print at home Tomorrowland quest or we wouldn’t have been able to take the tour.

So at 5 we came back for our tour. It was interesting, but since neither of us had played the game it was a little over our heads. We knew almost all the trivia about the parks though (except something like what year was this). We each got a lot of cards for us to add to our characters we created.

TOONTOWN: We headed over to Toontown before it got too hot and crowded. We must have hit it just at the right time. Me met Mickey and visited his house without much of a wait at all. This time we met Bandleader Mickey (we’re still hoping for Steamboat Willie). We wanted to meet Minnie but her line was too long in the sun. We split up, Jeannie to get Fastpasses for RR and Karen to go find something in the store. We had brought along walkie-talkies and this was our first chance to test them out. Needless to say, it took about 15 minutes to find each other again because the walkie-talkies were so quiet and we hadn’t yet figured out how to make them ring. We walked right on to Gadget’s Go Coaster and took a quick picture in Chip n Dale’s Treehouse. We went aboard Donald’s boat, but are too old to bounce at Goofy’s. :) We did get to meet Goofy though, the CM said some joke about Karen’s shirt that we didn’t understand, but it had Goofy rolling on the floor laughing. So, we sat down with him for our picture. We also went to visit Pluto and all posed like dogs together. Both Goofy and Pluto had a line instead of a mob. This is always great for us since we feel bad going in front of kids, but also get annoyed when parents push their kids ahead of everyone else…

GOATS: After having a blast in Toontown, we headed over for our necessary visit to the goats. Whenever we are at Disneyland we ALWAYS have to go pet the goats. This time one goat tried to kiss Karen and when Jeannie wanted to take her picture with one, it was too busy trying to eat the wood from the fence. On the way out the fence scraped Karen’s foot pretty bad and it hurt hr though the rest of the weekend. We had fun anyway and got new coloring pages!

ARIEL’S GROTTO: Our next mission was to get over to DCA in time for our reservations at Ariel’s Grotto. We didn’t have to wait long for a table, thankfully because our feet were already tired. We had a fun lunch and got to meet Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, and Belle. They each came to our table, signed our autograph books, and took a picture. We didn’t really like how they were right after each other and only there for such a short time. It made the rest of the hour of lunch pretty dull. The food was good though, and we got to order our dessert off the kids’ menu! We spent the rest of the night on our tour and doing all sorts of rides (no idea now which ones). Then it was off to bed for another busy day.

Friday:
PARADISE PIER HOTEL: We checked out of Anaheim Plaza and checked in to Paradise Pier. Our room was FABULOUS. I'm not sure if it is because we checked in early and that’s all that was ready, or because we were younger girls and the guy thought we were cute. Either way, we paid for a city view cheapo room and got a wonderful view of DCA. We were in the very end also so it was not as noisy as it may have been if surrounded by other rooms and people. Also, we were in a handicap accessible room, so we had a HUGE shower and lots of room to put all of our stuff. We had fun being dorky and taking pictures in our hotel room and of the view we had.

When we came back for lunch we decided to take a swim. We were excited because we knew there was a slide. Unfortunately, we were a little disappointed with the slide and only went on it once. However, the little boys that were there went on it over and over again, so it must have been exciting for them. We thought it was funny that the lifeguard told Jeannie, “since you’re wearing a girl swimsuit, if you lean forward and hold onto your ankles you will go faster.” o.k… After we did our laps and took a quick soak in the hot tub, we were ready to get changed and head back out.

DISNEYLAND HOTEL AND DOWNTOWN DISNEY: We left PPH and headed to the DLH to explore. We took our pictures with the backdrops, waterfalls, and statues. As we were heading toward the DTD exit, we were asked if we wanted to wait in line to buy a limited edition “mystery pin.” That sounded exciting so we got in line. In a couple minutes, the CM came around to show people the pin. It had Mickey and Minnie riding the monorail and said Original Attraction. We decided to spend our $12.95 on something else…

We headed to DTD and the ESPN Zone next to turn in our MVP letter. We got our coolers right away and spent about half an hour using up our points. There is one game where to basically lie down and slide through a tube. It was hard to play and really hurt our backs, as the whole thing shakes and jerks. Everything else was fun though.

We spent a lot of today in DCA since yesterday had been a lot of DL.

Saturday:
EARLY ENTRY: Today we had early entry to Disneyland so we got up early and headed to the park. We were in line waiting at 7 and got in right away. We managed to go on Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Alice, Teacups, and Matterhorn by 7:40. We walked to Space Mountain but couldn't get a fastpass yet so we walked over to wait in line for Adventureland.

THOMAS KINKADE: This was the morning the Thomas Kinkade Painting came out. This painting was the reason we came down for the weekend, so we were excited to be about the 5th group in line for it. We also found one of the cute Nemo characters in a bag lanyard pins while waiting in line. We went through the line and got the painting for Jeannie's mom and were on our way. The line got HUGE but it seemed that there would be more than enough paintings for everyone. The AP discount was great on it also...

TSI & MARK TWAIN: We went over to Tom Sawyer Island. There wasn’t much interesting happening over there, so we took a couple pictures and left. The Mark Twain was loading as we walked by, so we decided we would try and drive it. We got lucky and they asked us to come up. Jeannie had never driven before so she got to see everything new. We talked to the pilot about the Mark Twain in Fantasmic! and lots of other random Disneyland stuff. Afterwards we got our Pilot certificates!

BLOCK PARTY BASH: We headed over to DCA to continue our search for Chicken Little (we kept just missing him), but they told us he wouldn’t be out that day. Boo… BPB had already started, so we headed towards Golden Dreams to sit and watch its other stop. We saw this parade on its first official day in May and weren’t very impressed. However, we decided we would try it again and say closer to the Toy Story section in the front. Maybe it wasn’t as hot, or as crowded, or maybe because the kids around us weren’t that interested in dancing, but we had a blast this time! The guys kept pulling us up to dance and we each got a ball at the end! We were so excited! We’re easily amused I guess… And Little Bo Peep is SCARY!!!

RIDING THE E.P. RIPLEY: When we finally got back over to DL, we decided to see if it was true that we could ride in front of the train. We waited for engine 2 and were allowed on. This was something neither of us had ever done, so we were excited. Let me tell you, this is one of the COOLEST things I have ever done at DL. The 2 conductors told us all about the train and what all the knobs, gauges, and switches do. That fire burns at 300*! Good things it was already getting cold for the night… They were so friendly and knowledgeable about what they do. You could tell that they truly love their job.

Sunday:
NEW THINGS: Today was our day to do everything we hadn't done yet. Jeannie got to do 2 things she had never done before. We rode the canoes and watched Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. Karen has never really liked the canoes as it is more of a workout than a ride, but this time it was pretty fun. Our guide decided to show us a good time and break his old record of number of rules broken. We’re not even really sure what rules he broke but him and the guy in the back kept adding another one at the same times, so it sounded real (?). His record was 16 and his new record is now 17! Boys… We didn’t actually row much because the people in front and back of us were going at different times and kept hitting our paddles. We had fun just laughing the whole way around, and didn’t get that wet either! We though it was funny tat you could tell which canoe CMs actually did the hard work because their butts were wet from sitting on the seats.

We both were getting hungry and wanted chili cheese fried and funnel cake, which we eat every time we’re there (usually we eat chili cheese fried while waiting for DUH). We headed into the Golden Horseshoe and ate while we waited for the show to start. We found a new hidden Mickey under the stage on one of the vents. While sitting there a nice man started to talk to us and asked if we knew anything about the show. Once it started, the Billys called him family, so he must be a big fan or something. He even had the fake teeth! (I hope they were fake). We clapped, sang along, and laughed. It was a great show and gave our feet much needed rest.


That’s all we can think of for now, but may remember more as we get our pictures developed. We aren't digital girls, so pictures will be up when homework is done and they are scanned in…

nvmom
09-20-2005, 02:52 PM
Sounds like a great time... I just luv a good trip report. :)

nvmom

Maus
09-20-2005, 03:33 PM
Great report, thanks for sharing. I loved all the "themed" things you planned. Looking forward to your photos.

FatAl
09-20-2005, 06:47 PM
Thanks for sharing your trip.

You should try the Fish and Chip at Golden Horseshoe the next time; It's delicious.

I sat on the left side, third row from the Captain (I guess whoever in charge of a ship, I meant canoe, is called Cap't), so I had to row. My right palm hurted, and my left elbow was really on vacation at Disneyland afterward.

ozbeauticn
09-21-2005, 09:24 AM
Since we go so often, we always try to find new things we havent done, or new pictures to take. I'm not big on seafood, but Golden Horsehoe's chicken strips are very good... And we definitely lucked out on the canoe, I've had the guys yell at me to keep rowing before, but this guy just seemed out to have fun.

LoveDL
09-21-2005, 10:41 AM
Great trip report! I didn't know that you could ride in the front of the train or in the driving part of the Mark Twain. So if we ask one of the CM's they might let us? How exciting, we go in about 3 weeks so we are looking for different and new things also, these are 2 we haven't done yet.