Pammer ~ May 19-22, 2012 ~ Anaheim Del Sol Inn ~ Club 33!

[Pammer]

Travel dates: May 19 22, 2012
Travel method: Plane
Resort: Anaheim Del Sol Inn (Off-site)
Accommodations: Standard
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
Disney Resort Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Comments: Club 33!
Cast of characters:

• Pam, 51: trip planner/writer and self-proclaimed Disney Queen
• James, 52: Pams husband

The Planning

Im always planning way ahead for our next Disney vacation and this time was no different! We often go to Disneyland in April before our APs expire on May 1st, but its usually so busy even if we try to avoid the spring break crowds; therefore, I thought about trying to go for a quick trip in May and hope the crowds arent too bad. I knew we needed to avoid the Grad Nites since the students will be able to be in the parks during the day prior to their evening parties, so I checked online for those dates (mostly Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays) and decided our best bet would be to fly down on a Saturday (when we are blocked out anyway) and then just hit the parks Sunday, Monday, & Tuesday before we fly home that evening. So May 19-22 became my target (between Mothers Day and Memorial Day) and the reservations began in earnest!

Lodging: In mid-December, I made reservations at the Anaheim Del Sol Inn on Harbor Blvd. (a 5-minute walk from the parks; total for 3 nights = $275).

Transportation: I booked our airfare on Southwest Airlines from Sacramento to Orange County for $69 each way during a fare sale in mid-February ($315.20 total round-trip for the two of us, including the Early-Bird option). I also made reservations with SuperShuttle for travel to/from the motel ($32 round-trip after applying the Entertainment Card group discount).

Tickets: Our Annual Passes expire on May 1st, so I will mail in our renewal paperwork when the form comes in. Update: I mailed in our renewal paperwork in mid-April but it was never processed; then a price increase was announced the day before we left for all tickets & passes! It looks like we lucked out on our timing and will DEFINITELY be renewing them on Saturday before they go up the following day!

Dining: How lucky are we? There is a contractor at my workplace who has a friend who knows a member of Club 33, and she offered to hook us up so we could eat there! This is an once-in-a-lifetime experience and I am SO looking forward to it! I decided that lunch on Sunday would most likely work best for us & we were confirmed for 12:15pmwhoo-hoo! (Guess I need to find something a bit nicer than my usual summer attire of shorts & tank top to wearLOL!) Other than this reservation, well probably just wing it with counter-service and off-site places.

Disney Visa Rewards Card: I had accumulated a $75.12 rewards balance on my Disney Visa Rewards Card (DVRC) since I had last redeemed rewards for our trip to Disneyland in January so I transferred the moneywhoo-hoo #2!


The Itinerary

The pre-planning was done, and we were ready to go! Here was our planned schedule:

• May 19: Fly down in the early afternoon; check-in to the Del Sol Inn; Disneys Character Warehouse Outlet; renew APs; World of Disney
• May 20: Disneyland/DCA; Club 33 @ 12:15pm
• May 21: Disneyland/DCA
• May 22: Check-out of the Del Sol Inn; Disneyland/DCA; fly home in the evening

Saturday, May 19, 2012 (79^o)
Plan: Fly down in the early afternoon; check-in to the Del Sol Inn; Disneys Character Warehouse Outlet; renew APs; World of Disney

Actual: Yesterday evening I stopped at Subway for a couple of foot-longs (turkey/cheddar for me & a veggie for James; total = $11.72) to bring with us to the airport in case we are running late and dont have time to eat before we fly out. I dropped the key off with our neighbor Steve, who was going to look after our non-diabetic kitty (Sidney) while we were gone (Simon would need to be boarded), and we finished up most of the packing and cleaned up the house a bit; I got to bed about 12:30am with James following about 3amboth very tired!

I got up around 7am and gave our diabetic kitty Simon his morning insulin dose. I woke James up around 7:40am and we both started to get ready. I had hoped to leave around 9am but we were running a bit late so it was actually about 9:45am.

I gave Simon the last of his breakfast right before we left so he would be easier to catch! As soon as he had finished inhaling his last morsel, I grabbed him and put him in his carrier. We said goodbye to Sidney, who had already settled down for his daily nap, and left the house.

I drove south to the Franklin Ranch Pet Hospital & Hotel (Simon cried the whole way!) and checked Simon in for his staypoor baby; I always feel sad to leave him!

Soon we were on our way to the airport and arrived around 10:45am, eating part of our sandwiches along the way. The economy lot was very full and we parked way back in 44F2. A bus came along quickly and we boarded; all of a sudden, we realized that James didnt have his fanny pack with him so he got off at the next stop to walk back to the car and get it. I continued on and got off at Terminal B with the rest of our luggage; it was only a few minutes before James arrived on the next bus.

There was a long line at the Southwest ticket counter, but we had plenty of time so I got in line; if we had been pressed for time, I would have used Skycap. Before too long, I was checking in our large suitcase (37#) and then we went upstairs to catch the tram over to TSA. We had no issues getting through TSA and headed over to Gate 20 about an hour before our flight.

We filled our water bottle and James finished his sandwich while we waited (I still had about left of mine). Before long, our plane arrived and we were lucky to get the extra wide exit row (11 A&C) when we boarded as A 20 & 21. The flight was only about full, which was very nice!

We pushed back on time and were soon airborne; James caught up on the weeks newspapers and I updated my trip notes while listening to my MP3 player. I also re-read my Hidden Mickey book, in hopes to find some new ones during our visit! We enjoyed our usual Coke Zero (me) and ginger ale (James), and the flight attendants gave us a bag of cocktail peanuts and a bag of pretzels apiece!

We landed a couple of minutes early and had to wait a few minutes for our suitcase to arrive, and then we walked down to the Transportation Center to catch our SuperShuttle van. We only had to wait about 5-6mins, and then we left with a full van for Anaheim around 2:20pm. We were the second party off (YAY) and we checked into the Del Sol Inn with Loretta, getting room #237 over the carport as I had requested!

We brought our luggage up, put our valuables in the safe, and I changed into shorts before we left the room around 3:10pm for the bus stop. We waited about 7-8mins before it arrived, purchased 2 day passes ($8), and then sat across from a couple of cast members (CMs). One of them noticed my Walt Disney World fanny pack and said I was at the wrong parkLOL! They also were discussing the long lines at the ticket booths todayI guess everyone wanted to buy or renew their APs before the rates go up tomorrow (well be joining them later today)!

After a quick 20min ride, we arrived in Fullerton and stopped at the In-N-Out Burger for dinner. While we were enjoying a couple of hamburgers, fries, and a Diet Coke ($8.89), my cell phone rang. I saw the 714 area code and answered it, correctly guessing it was Club 33 confirming our lunch reservation for tomorrow. It was a bit difficult to hear, but the nice gentleman also asked me if I had any questions, including about dress code. How exciting!

After we were finished eating, we walked over to the Disney Character Warehouse Outlet store across the street. We bought some clothes, gifts, and other miscellaneous items ($112.24 after my 15% discount) and then stopped at the nearby Dollar Tree to buy a couple of gallons of water for the room ($2.20).

We walked back over to the bus stop across the street and waited a couple of minutes for the next bus to arrive. We arrived back at the room around 5:30pm and I called my 84-year-old mother to check in with her and then called to see how Simon was doing (he was not too happy!).

We left the room and headed over to the ticket booths around 6:10pm. I got in line and James went over to check the lines across the esplanade; they were just as long so I stayed put. After about a half hour, they opened up a new line over at the next ticket booth; the CMs blundered and angered a lot of people in the existing line when they allowed a new line to form there (mostly by people from the end of our line) rather than taking guests from our line! Oh wellwhat are you going to do?

Several people in our line were not aware of the looming price increase; they were just annoyed by the long line in general! After about 45mins, I finally made it up to a window. I explained how I had sent my renewal paperwork in a month earlier & showed them the copy of the form; they went ahead and renewed our SoCal passes again ($538) and said that if the paperwork ever DID show up that they wouldnt charge me again since they could see the passes were already renewed.

The CM also gave us blockout tickets for today (SWEET!) so we headed over to Disney California Adventure (DCA) to activate our passes around 7:10pm; we thought it would be less crowded than Disneyland Park (DP), but wowit was still VERY crowded!

James was hungry again so we headed over to Pacific Wharf Caf; the line was out the door so we ended up at Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill. We shared a Carne Asada & Chicken Tamale combo ($11.63 after our 10% AP discount) and discussed our options for the evening. We hadnt expected the blockout tickets and had planned to have an early night tonight in preparation for arriving at the parks at 8am tomorrow, so we just stuck to our original plan.

We exited DCA via the side entrance to the Grand Californian Hotel and then headed over to the Rainforest Caf. We looked around and I ended up buying a hoodie that was on sale ($19.38 after my 10% Landry Club discount). We headed back through a very busy Downtown Disney and saw a lot of young couples dressed formally (prom?) throughout the area. We walked through the World of Disney store, which was also very crowded, but didnt buy anything.

We arrived back at our room around 8:30pm, and I picked up some more McDonalds 10% discount coupons from the lobby on the way. We watched TV while we unpacked and I was in bed around 10:45pm with James following around midnight.

Steps: 11,725


Sunday, May 20, 2012 (86^o)
Plan: Disneyland/DCA; Club 33 @ 12:15pm

Actual: The alarm went off at 6:30am and James went over to get some breakfast from the motels offerings (cereal & juice); he brought me some toast & I also had a protein shake while we got ready. We left the room around 8am and went straight to DP.

James veered over to get some Fastpasses (FPs) for Star Tours (ST; 8:50am) and then met me over in Fantasyland. The queue for Peter Pans Flight was already filled in so we went next door to Mr. Toads Wild Ride (Toady = 5min wait) and then around the corner to ride Alice in Wonderland (pink caterpillar = 5min wait).

Storybook Land Canal Boats had a short line so we waited about 7mins to ride on the Snow White boat with CM Carla, who sang a lot of the narrative to us!

I headed over to ride Space Mountain while James went to pick up more FPs for ST since our window had just re-opened (10:25am). Unfortunately, Space was down so I joined James in line for Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters and we rode together; James got 475,800 and ranked #42 while I only scored 98,500!

We next got in line around 9:15am to ride ST with our first set of FPs; James took some ginger while in the queue and after about a 10min wait, we saw Stormtroopers, the Wookie planet, Master Yoda, and then Naboo!

We headed down Main Street, against the flow of the incoming guests, and headed out of the park. We made it inside of DCA around 9:45am and James went to get FPs for Soarin over California (10:45am). We walked over for rope drop at Paradise Park and shared some Goldfish crackers I had in my bag while we waited.

As soon as the rope dropped, we walked as quickly as possible over to Toy Story Midway Mania (TSMM)! Most of the crowd headed here as well, although several teenagers went straight to California Screamin.

We waited about 15mins and James beat me 171,300 to 145,900. I had re-read the cheat sheets for the attraction to hopefully better my score, but I ended up doing a little worse than usual so Ill just stick to my routine from now on! When we got off, the line was quite long so we elected not to rejoin ita far cry from last January when we rode 3 times within an hour of park opening!

We checked out the Cars Land displays in the Blue Sky Cellar and then headed over for the Disney Visa Card meet & greet. We had to wait about 15mins but soon were posing with Chip & Dale in their dapper attire of hats & ties around 11am.

We headed back to Condor Flats and picked up another pair of FPs for Soarin (4:25pm!), before entering the FP queue, which was completely filled in inside! We waited about 20mins before our flight, since they only had one side operating.

We headed back to DP around 11:35am; I thought the young lady in front of me at the turnstile was inappropriately dressed until I soon realized it was actually Bat Day! We saw quite an assortment of interesting outfits throughout the day; some were fairly cool but I thought several were inappropriate for the family setting at DP! Either way, they really had to be warm, dressed in all that black and wearing heavy boots today!

We headed over to Space so I could pick up some FPs (12:50pm, with a 30min stand-by wait; it must have just recently opened!), and then headed to the Tomorrowland train station. We just missed the train, so we sat down to wait the 5-6mins for the next one to arrive. Soon the EP Ripley #2 arrived and we rode around to New Orleans Square before disembarking.

We freshened up and then headed over to Club 33 for our 12:15pm reservation! We rang the bell and were greeted by the CM who opened the door. We waited a bit in the foyer and I took a few pictures in the interim; the CM also offered to take a photo of us in front of the lift which was very nice of her! The paneling was in very rich tones & we marveled at how muted the outdoor park noise was.

When they were ready for us, we of course elected to ride the lift up to the second floor! There we were greeted by another young lady who showed us to our table in the main dining room. I was trying to take it all in but I felt overwhelmed by the whole experience! As we walked past the cold buffet, I saw a man who reminded me of Vince Neil (Motley Crue), but Im unsure if it really was him or not!

We had a window table, overlooking the Rivers of America. We were surprised to find that we were located over Caf Orleans; we both had assumed Club 33 was located over the Blue Bayou!

Our water glasses were filled and we looked around the room, admiring all of the furnishings. I took a few photos, feeling like such a tourist, of the menu pages and cover, before Mickey and Pluto stopped by to say hello to us. I was so absent-minded that I forgot to ask for photos with them!

I had read that the lunch dress code was less formal, but we were both surprised by the short shorts the two teenage girls were wearing at the next tableI would have thought they would not have been allowed in but there they were. Their parents were celebrating an anniversary so maybe they were regulars?

Our server, Angela, came by to take our food & drink order. We both ordered Diet Cokes to drink (we dont really drink alcohol) and I ordered the Pan-Seared Chateaubriand, Parsnip Potaro Puree, & Cabernet Demi-Glace while James ordered the Fresh Pasta Three by Three (artichoke & mascarpone ravioli, walnut pesto campanelle, & meatball spaghetti marinara). Angela then instructed us to enjoy the cold buffet so off we went!

The buffet included crab legs, shrimp, fruit, cheese, meats, and salads and across the walkway were the soup urn (I thought it was a coffee urn because the soup cups looked like tiny espresso mugs!), bread & cracker station, and the dessert buffet. I selected cheddar cheese, some deli meats, crackers, & shrimp while James opted for fruit, salads, & shrimp. We also both selected a slice of bread only to find a bread basket on our table when we returned!

James tried a cranberry-type of bread and I tried a more traditional white bread from the basket, plus we ate everything on our plates from the buffet. I think we could have made a meal just from that, but nowe had entrees coming! Angela refilled our sodas and encouraged us to have seconds from the buffet, so of course we had to oblige.

After we finished our second round of food, our entrees arrived. Angela offered to take our photo together for us and then I snapped a couple of pictures of the entrees before we dug inmy filet mignon & potatoes were absolutely delicious and I ate all of it! James liked 2 of the 3 pastas (he didnt care for the pesto dish) and he shared his garlic bread slice with me as well.

At this point, we were pretty full but I can never say no to a dessert buffet! There were about a dozen to choose from and I selected 4 chocolate-based varieties (mousse, clair, mini cupcake, & a Smores-type thing) and James selected the mousse & some other pudding/custard thing. The mousse was pretty good & I enjoyed the cupcake until I found the coconut center (YUCK); I only ate the clair as it tasted a bit boozy but the Smores thing was DELICIOUS!

Angela delivered the bill to us along with a few chocolates, and I asked her if I could get a copy of the menu. She returned with both sides (the story & the menu) along with 2 Club 33 pens! When she told us that she had been with Club 33 for 38 years, James called her a youngster and she said his meal was now freeunfortunately, she was just jokingLOL! We really enjoyed Angelashe took excellent care of us and was very nice and professional.

We settled the bill ($250 with tax & tip); we knew it would be an expensive (to us) meal, but it was truly such a wonderful & one-of-a-kind experience for us! Thanks again to Laura for hooking us up with Debbie!

I took a bunch of pictures (think tourist again) on our way out of the buffets, harpsichord, furniture, phone booth, souvenir cabinet, and various Walt photos on the walls. We also ran into Mickey & Pluto again by the buffets and this time I asked for a photo with them! A couple nearby offered to take the photo for us and then asked us to return the favor which we gladly did.

I went into the ladies restroom and took some more photos; the toilet lid had holes in it & a couple of young ladies who were in there as well were joking between them that the lid was not a strainer and to be sure to lift it up before use! They also said something about having to buy some different sandals because they had flip-flops on and they werent allowedthis made me again wonder about the short shorts policy?

When I emerged, James told me that the mens toilet looked like the one from The Godfather movie, where the tank is located above & has a pull chain. I ended up buying a Club 33 polo shirt & Christmas pin ($86.20) and taking more photos on the way out of the Trophy Room and the old-fashioned phone booth.

It was now about 2pm so we got some FPs for the Indiana Jones Adventure (7:10pm) and then stopped at the Camera Center so we could get our free photo. James took it with him back to the motel for a nap & I went over to ride Space; however, it was DOWN AGAIN!

I went next door and waited a couple of minutes for Captain EO; I always enjoy the music in that show when Michael Jackson was in his prime. Space was still down afterwards so I headed over to the Enchanted Tiki Room; I didnt see CM Maynard and there was still 10mins to the next show at 3pm so I decided to skip it for now.

The next Billy Hill and the Hillbillies show was at 3:15pm so I walked over to The Golden Horseshoe Stage to wait for it. I luckily found a table upstairs and sat down to update my trip notes. I offered to share my table with two nice young cousins from Riverside (Jessica & Brooke); it was a small world when Jessica & I discovered she was originally from Galt, about 30mins south of Sacramento! We had a nice chat while Brooke stood in line to get them some chicken nuggets for a late lunch.

Brooke arrived right before the show, which was terrific! There was a different bass player but I was thrilled when they played Ghost Riders in the Sky, which is a favorite of mine; they also played The Auctioneer Song, which is NOT easy to sing! They always seem to open & close their shows with the same songs, but I dont mind.

After the show, I parted ways from Jessica & Brooke and headed over to check out the single rider line at Splash Mountain. It appeared to be queuing outside, so I decided to skip it (stand-by was 120mins!).

We were now eligible for more FPs, so I went to pick some up at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (BTMR); however, a nice lady gave me two good for 5:15pm since she wouldnt be able to use them herself.

The park was really packed and I stopped to check out the information board; there were huge waits at all the major attractions as expected! Space appeared to be back up but I was tired & hot, so I decided to go back to the room for a break around 4:15pm.

I cranked the A/C and managed to nap for about an hour before updating my trip notes. We finally got up and ready for evening touring (including our night lights) and left about 7:20pm. We headed to DP where it was noticeably cooler and less crowded already! We thought it was funny when a guy stopped us in the Esplanade and asked us where Disney Town was; we assumed he meant Downtown Disney and pointed him in that direction!

We stopped at Rancho del Zocalo where we shared the Carne Asada & Red Chile Enchilada Platter and a Coke Zero ($14.52).

We finished around 8pm and used our FPs for BTMR; James asked for the front row and we were off within 15mins of entering the queue! Still the wildest ride in the wilderness

We headed over to ride Indy with our earlier FPs; I asked the CM about the hidden Eeyore sign, so he used a flashlight to show it to me and now I know where it is! James took some ginger while in the queue; we usually ask for the middle row so its less bumpy for James motion sickness but forgot to do so this time and ended up with the front row (I drove!).

We exited Indy and walked on to the world-famous Jungle Cruise around 8:40pm; we rode the Suwanee Lady with a very funny skipper who neglected to tell us his name so I cant give him proper credit.

We next crossed over to Tomorrowland and James went to ride Buzz while I rode Space with my earlier FP (FINALLY!). I had a fantastic ride and we regrouped at 9:15pm; I found out the Buzz queue was barely moving so James got out of line and missed his ride!

James set up the monopod (like a tripod but with only one leg) and we found a spot at the end of Main Street by the hub to wait for the Magical fireworks that were scheduled for 9:30pm. It was a pretty good spot & I recorded them with our new HD camcorder atop the monopod.

Afterwards, we rushed over to ride ST with our second set of FPs; James took some more ginger while waiting in the queue and this time we saw the Stormtroopers (again), Wookie planet (again), Princess Leia, and Coruscant.

We delivered the rebel spy safely and then split up around 10:15pm; James wanted to leave and I wanted to see Fantasmic! at 10:30pm. I headed over and found a spot on the bridge overlooking the Pirates of the Caribbean entrance; I had a big tree to the right that would block the Columbia & Mark Twain as they approached and also two lightposts directly in front of me but oh well!

This is such a great show & I missed seeing it on our last visit in late January as it was down for rehab; so glad to see it again! The only element missing was the Flotsam & Jetsam jet skiseverything else was working.

When good triumphed evil once again around 11pm, I headed back to the room. I updated my trip notes and we went to bed around 12:30am.

Steps: 21,966


Monday, May 21, 2012 (84^o)
Plan: Disneyland/DCA

Actual: Our alarm went off at 7:30am this morning, and we did the same routine as yesterday morning before leaving the room at 8:50am. Before we left, I called to check on Simon as I had neglected to do so before they closed the night beforehe was hiding behind his litter box but was receptive to the technician when she went to pet him (poor kitty!).

There were long lines at both bag check and the turnstiles, but we managed to find a line near the center that fed two turnstiles and got into DP fairly quickly. It was just after 9am and even though it wasnt early entry today, we figured Peter Pan would already have a long line so we didnt even try. James picked up FPs for ST (9:50am) and went to ride Buzz while I went to ride Space. Unfortunately, there was another HUGE line for Space, all the way out past Pizza Port, and it hardly moved! I gave up after a few minutes and went back to meet up with James. He said he had scored over 550k, but was unable to locate his picture. We decided to ride Buzz again, this time separately, and we scored 831,800 (#3 = James) and 165,100 (#18, a personal best on the ranking for me)!

We left DP and headed over to DCA, as we wanted to get FPs for World of Color. There was a short line at the entrance and then James took our APs to get FPs for Soarin (10:15am) while I headed over to get in line for the WoC FPs; he caught up to me fairly quickly and the FP line was actually pretty short and soon we had blue FPs for the 8:45pm show!

We headed over to Paradise Park to wait for rope drop and then power-walked over to TSMM, where we waited about 7mins to ride. They made us walk the entire queue first and we didnt really stop walking until we were near the loading platform! James beat me again 198,800 vs. 156,400, but we both did better than the day before! We immediately got back in line and waited about 30mins to ride again; the second time James beat me 227,500 (a deer, which was a personal best for James!) vs. 175,400.

It was now about 11am and we were already getting hungry so we headed over to Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta. I had loved the flatbread pizzas on our last trip and wanted another one! James selected the Boardwalk Field Greens salad & I got the cheese flatbread pizza; we shared a Coke Zero ($17.91). Everything was very yummy!

I went back inside and refilled my soda and told the CM on my way out what I had done; she informed me that they werent giving free refills at this location anymore because people had abused the privilege! I was very surprised, as I had been able to do that here in January and also at Rancho del Zocalo yesterday with no issues. Since I had already refilled the soda, she let me by.

There was a short line for Jumpin Jellyfish so we bypassed it as we were pressed for time. Ariels Undersea Adventure had a short line so we elected to join itwe like the new do & animation!

We next hurried over to do the Disney Visa meet & greet; this time with Pluto who touched noses with me! We again waited about 15mins; I heard the CM saying that they plan to switch out the characters next month to Stitch and Minniethat would be cool since they havent switched them in quite a few years!

We went next door to ride Monsters Inc., with about a 3min wait. At the end of the ride, Roz asked me if James was my husband and that I needed to keep an eye on him because he was winking at her!

Next we looked through Off the Page, where I bought a couple of Disney gift cards with $5 loaded on each of them from CM Nick. He asked me if I collected them and I said yes; he said he could tell by the small amount I loaded on them! He also asked me how many I have (at least 40 right now) & told me he collects Goofy pins. I wasnt sure if I could use my Disney Visa Redemption Card to pay for the gift cards since I was really just exchanging one form of cash for another, but the system let me do it!

We walked over to ride Soarin with our earlier FPs around 12:30pm; we waited about 15mins but at least they had both sides open today! We got row B1 without even asking, which is James favorite row.

We picked up new FPs for Soarin (2:20pm) and James headed over to the motel for a break while I went back to DP. I again found a line that was feeding two turnstiles so I was in pretty quickly!

I headed over to Space to get FPs (4:55pm) and was surprised that the Space standby queue was longer than the ST queue by 10mins! ST FPs were also only for 4:10pm; apparently all of the school groups that were in the park were riding Space more than ST.

I headed over to see the next Billy Hill show at 1:30pm; it was pretty crowded and I waited about 8mins for an empty table upstairs (I felt like a hawk looking for prey!). Later, a family of 3 adults with a newborn asked if they could sit with me and I said of course! They were very gracious: a couple with their 3-week-old daughter and the wifes father who had come up from Mexico to help with the baby and had never been to DP before!

Another great show with the same cast that I had seen as yesterday; the two different songs this time were both from their CD: Ticket to Ride and Barefoot Nellie. Elvis Billy (Kirk) had a lot of fun during his prosteethis segment with a couple of young boys sitting in the front side booth; it was quite funny to watch!

Towards the end of the show, I felt my cell phone vibrating in my fanny pack; I waited until I was outside to check and saw that I had 4 missed calls from James! I walked over by the Mark Twain dock to call him back, but he didnt pick up (tried twice).

I decided to check out the single rider line at Splash and headed in that direction. I realized when I got there that the long queue I had seen yesterday was actually the disabled queue rather than the single rider queue! I actually was kind of torn on riding; I wasnt really in the mood to get wet and decided to use my poncho. I knew Id probably get ridiculed but oh well!

As I headed up the exit, trying to don my poncho along the way, a young teen darted around me heading in the same direction. He apparently was with a group of other students (looked like maybe 8th graders) all planning on riding via the single rider line (standby was about 60mins); they were all behind me as we stood in line together. A couple of the girls wanted to know why I was wearing a poncho since the point of this ride is to GET wet, so I had to explain it to them that I just want to experience the attraction without getting soaked.

So now I have about 30 people in front of me in this single rider line, AND I had to spend the next 30mins listening to this Spencer shouting to his friends behind me and fidgeting all over the place, checking his phone & running his mouth. OMG, I am so glad Im not a teenager anymore! I think he should have gone back to stand with them behind me since he had essentially cut around me as we all were walking up the exit, but NOOOOOO

At one point, a couple of his peers who were holding hands cut around me to stand with him on the bridge overlooking the log boats! I kept giving them the stink-eye, as there was NO WAY I was going to let them stay in front of me. As our line finally started to move again down a staircase, I stepped in front of them as they were looking backwards at the approaching logs and stood with one hand on the left rail and the other hand on the right railblocking them from staying in front of me with Spencer.

By the time I finally was assigned to a log, I had gritted my teeth for almost 30mins and was getting a headache! I was placed in the first seat with some fun older teens who cracked me up during the ride. We all got pretty wet, and I was very happy to have deflected the worst of it with my poncho! I put a surprised look on my face for the photo and was soon on my way.

I stopped to get FPs for Indy around 3pm (6:25pm) and then checked on the wait for the Tiki Room; another 10mins until the next show so I skipped it again. I stopped for our free photo at the camera center, where the CM had to try 3 different terminals before finding one that worked for her.

I walked back to the Hub to get a Mickey ice cream sandwich and my cell phone rang again; I just missed the call so I immediately tried to call James back and again no answervery strange! I bought the sandwich ($4.25) and headed back to the room around 3:30pm.

My room card wouldnt work so James let me in; he asked why I didnt answer my phone and I said why didnt he? It actually was on silent mode and he never heard it vibrate! So apparently, they had put the wrong check-out date on our room cards so thats why he was calling me; they werent working anymore and James had gotten new cards for us to use.

And then after hed gotten settled for his nap, his neck spasmed on him so he was in a bit of pain when I arrived! He finally was able to fall asleep & I worked on my trip notes while restinglooks like tonights plans may change if he doesnt feel better soon!

Around 5pm, I started watching the local news and thinking of options for tonight. James woke up about 35mins later and felt much better, so we discussed getting dinner; he suggested McDonalds and I suggested Pizza Port because he can eat at McDonalds anytimePizza Port won! We freshened up and left for DP just before 6pm.

We headed over to Pizza Port and got a slice of cheese pizza, Asian chicken salad, large Coke Zero, and this yummy chocolate pudding parfait dessert (which was my real motive for eating here!) for $22.75. I should have just stuck to the dessert because I was SO full afterwards!

After we were done eating around 6:30pm, I went to ride Space with one of my FPs and was on within 10minsLOVED IT!!!

James had gone to ride Buzz but it was down so he went over to check out Innoventions. We regrouped around 6:50pm and went to ride ST with our earlier FPs. James took some ginger while in the queue, which was a good thing since we got Darth Vader, Hoth, Master Yoda, and the asteroid field (which collectively make for a shakier ride!).

We got off around 7:10pm and headed over to DCA, where there was a short line at the entrance. We had planned to use our earlier FPs at Soarin but the line was pretty long so we went to Muppet*Vision 3D instead. We hadnt seen this in a while here nor had we seen the FL version last fall when we were at Walt Disney World, so we knew it would be a nice cool & relaxing place to sit for a while! We missed the first third of the preshow and noticed that they werent counting down the minutes until the next show for some reason.

After the show got out around 8pm, the park was technically closed so we headed over to the World of Color viewing area. We found a spot along the bridge next to some graduating seniors who were all sprawled along the rail and waited for the show (thats the toughest part for me & my backthe standing before and during the show).

The show began around 8:45pm and was terrific as always! The only downside was the teenagers next to me singing the songsLOL!

After the show was done around 9:20pm, we stopped at Guest Relations to pick up some buttons: two Just Graduated buttons for our niece Sarah (bachelors degree) and my best friends oldest daughter Ashley (high school), three 1st Visit buttons for a co-worker who will be visiting in mid-June, and two Just Married buttons for our cat-sitter Steves daughter whos getting married in early June and planning a honeymoon to the Happiest Place on Earth!

DP was due to close in a half hour, so we just walked back to our room; I updated my trip notes while watching the final Harry Potter movie on HBO and went to bed around 11:45pm (James followed about hour later).

Steps: 20,300


Tuesday, May 22, 2012 (78^o)
Plan: Check-out of the Del Sol Inn; Disneyland/DCA; fly home in the evening

Actual: The alarm went off at 7am today, but we were both already awake beforehand. We got up, had our usual breakfast, and packed up. James took our small bags over to the lockers next door at the Anaheim Desert Inn and I checked us out ($274.21 for 3 nights). The desk clerk remembered me as doing the Never Land 5k back in January so that was fun for me! I left our big suitcase with him and regrouped with James to head over to DP around 8:50am.

It was another busy day at the parks (darn it); James went to get FPs for ST (10am) once they let us into the park and I went to ride Space. I was so annoyed to find it down AGAIN, two out of the three mornings of our trip! I hung out for about 10mins just in case it came up but finally gave up and went over to Buzz, where James had ridden and ranked #12 with 724,200.

We decided to ride one more time (in separate cars again) and the scores were all screwed up: the wrong scores were on James picture (WAY off) and there were no scores on my picture at all! Oh wellI emailed the photos home anyway.

We headed over to DCA around 9:35am and James picked up FPs for Soarin (10:20am) before meeting me in Paradise Park for rope drop. We again headed straight over to TSMM and walked nearly the entire queue before stopping ~ SWEET! James beat me 205,700 to 154,400 and we got back in line to ride again. We waited about 30mins and this time James beat me 207,200 to 187,300! When we were in line I saw a young man wearing a Tulare Western High School t-shirt and found out that he was from my hometown cool!

We left the area and stopped on the bridge to take some daytime pictures of where we had viewed World of Color last night, and then went to get lunch at Pacific Wharf Caf. James LOVES their Vallejo vegetarian chili here so we got that for him, a turkey/cheddar sandwich for me, and we shared a large Coke Zero (total = $20.87)everything was yummy as always!

After we were done eating, we picked up FPs for The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (12:30pm) around 11:35am and went to the meet & greet with Pluto. We had another short wait here and then I was asking Pluto if he minded that I had a picture of Marie on my shirt since she was a kitty and he was a dog!

Next we went to ride Soarin with our FPs (15min wait) before hurrying over to see the 12:40pm performance of Aladdin. We asked if we could sit in the orchestra level and the CM paused a LONG time trying to decide, before acquiescing and letting us through! We were able to find two seats in the lower section on the far right and enjoyed a fine show as always. We think that Aladdin was new to us, but Jasmine, Genie, & Jafar all looked familiar!

As soon as the show ended, we hurried over to ToT to use our FPs around 1:30pm; the FP queue was quite long and grew even longer behind us. We had to go upstairs and enjoyed a fun ride, even with the loud & obnoxious young teens on board!

We left DCA around 2pm and headed back over to DP; we took some more daytime positioning photos in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle (fireworks) and Rivers of America (Fantasmic!) and then I got another Mickey ice cream sandwich ($4.25) at the cart in the Hub again.

We walked over to Tomorrowland Terrace where the Jedi Training Academy was in session; both the Jedi Master and his assistant looked familiar to us and he was very good with the ad libs!

After the fall of the Dark Side, we went over to ride Monorail Orange, currently known as Mona Monorail, full circle. We took several photos during the journey and also from the monorail platform afterwards. We noticed the sea gulls were missing from their platform in the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage lake and missed hearing Mine, Mine, Mine!

We noted that Buzz was down as we passed by on our way to ride ST with our earlier FPs; after about a 15min wait we experienced Stormtroopers (again), the Wookie planet (again), Master Yoda (again), and Naboo (again)!

Buzz was now back up so we decided to end our vacation on James favorite attraction! We rode separately again and James got a great score with 956,400 (ranking = 25). I also got a pretty good score but my picture didnt come up! That might have been because I was goofing around with the guns for the photo and making a silly face. What was so cool is that somehow I scored 50k in that room with the second gun without even aiming so I was bummed I didnt end up with a photo to show my scores! My real score was over 180k too

We stopped to pick up our free photo and then walked through the Emporium. I called goodbye to Walt when we walked past his window above the Fire Station and said that we would see him real soon!

We stopped for photos in front of the floral Mickey and then left the park around 4:15pm. We collected our luggage from both the Desert Inn and the Del Sol Inn and then waited for our shuttle to arrive. We figured that since we were early that they would be late, and we were right! They were supposed to pick us up 4:45-5pm, and I got an automatic voice-mail right at 5pm that said our driver would be arriving in a couple of minutes.

They arrived and loaded us up, then we stopped at two more places (no one got on at the last placewere they just caught up in having fun at the resort and forgot?) before heading to the airport. I chatted with another rider who was a big Disney fan like me and had stayed next door to us at the Best Western Anaheim Inn. She was from Fremont and liked my Marie shirt (The Aristocats).

We arrived at the airport quickly and in one piece; we checked our big suitcase in (now weighing 40#) and got our boarding passes (A 26 & 28). We got through the TSA line pretty quickly; the lady agent was pretty thorough in her checking of the boarding passI wonder if she was new?

James somehow forgot his drivers license at the checkpoint and they brought it to us where we were putting our shoes back on, then we stopped at Carls Jr. for dinner. I got a plain Famous Star and James tried the Santa Fe turkey burger combo, with us sharing the drink and fries ($10.74).

After we ate, I changed into jeans and we walked over to sit at Gate 17 around 6:40pm. James wanted something lo-cal for dessert and went exploring in the terminal. He stopped at Pinkberry for some banana & Dutch chocolate yogurt ($2.32), and brought it back to the gate area to eat it.

The plane arrived and we boarded a very full flight, sitting again in the exit row 11 (A&B). I asked James to lift my carry-on up into the overhead compartment, which prompted the flight attendant to question my ability to open the door in the case of an emergency. We explained it was just a hand-off and that I was very capable of doing it (in fact, I had lifted it up on the flight down) so she left us alone. I know it was just her job, but its practically a moot point on this particular aircraft where all you do is pull the handle and the door opens up & out...very simple!

James noticed that former Congressman Gary Condit was in the row behind and across the aisle from us; Mr. Condit was notorious for having an affair with intern Chandra Levy back in 2001 when she disappeared and was later found murdered. He wasnt guilty of the murder but he wasnt forthcoming about the affair at the time and the scandal reportedly ruined his political career.

Anyway, we pushed back at 7:25pm (5mins late) and were airborne about 10mins later. We ordered our usual drinks (Coke Zero and ginger ale) and the flight attendants gave us two packages of cocktail peanuts apiece for our snack. James again read old newspapers and I updated my trip notes while listening to my MP3 player.

We landed at 8:45pm and Mr. Condit helped me get my bag down since James forgot to unbuckle his seatbelt and was still seated when it was time to get off! We collected our bag, caught a bus to the economy lot (parking = $40), and was home by 10pm. Sidney was very happy to see us & I will pick up Simon tomorrow morning.

Steps: 15,924


Up Next: I was already planning a trip in mid-September to see the new Cars Land after the schools were back in session when we found out my second cousin is getting married in Santa Barbara over Labor Day weekend. We discussed our options and then decided to fly down to Anaheim on 8/30 and hit the parks that night & Friday before renting a car on Saturday and driving up for the wedding and back that night. Well return the car on Sunday and just do our usual shopping that day since our passes will be blocked out (and hopefully avoid the Disneyland Half Marathon crowds that day as well!). Well go to the parks Labor Day, Tuesday, and Wednesday before flying home that evening.


Summary

What a joy to see Club 33 in person; that experience will be with us always! Otherwise, it was a bit more crowded than I expected with the unsupervised school groups so I think well skip May on future trips!


Highlights include:

• Celebrating our delicious lunch at Club 33
• Getting a blue section FP for World of Color!
• Hearing Billy Hill & the Hillbillies sing Ghost Riders in the Sky

Lowlights include:

• WAY too crowded (darn school trips!)
• Space Mountain being down 2 of the 3 mornings and only getting to ride it twice!
• Missing several favorites, including Peter Pans Flight, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Sailing Ship Columbia, Mark Twain Riverboat, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Enchanted Tiki Room, Its Tough to be a Bug, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, its a small world, Jumpin Jellyfish, and all of Mickeys Toontown
• Price increases!

[EJ4Disney]

YEA!!!! A trip report from Pam. It's a good day!! I always look so forward to yours and James trips.

Thanks so much for sharing.
Ellen

[Pammer]

Ellen, you are always so sweet to say so; I hope you enjoy it!

[SigalTchelet]

Excellent as always, Pam!!!

[Pammer]

Thanks Siggy...I appreciate your nice comments too!

[QueenofHearts]

Pam - what a great trip report! I really enjoyed reading all of the great details.
Can you tell me more about James' ginger? I get motion sickness easily as well and don't like taking dramamine because it makes me sleepy (the last thing you want at Disneyland!). He takes it while in line and it works that quickly? Multiple times per day? Thanks!!

[Pammer]

Thanks ~ I love writing about all the details as well!

James takes over-the-counter ginger pills (the ones we currently have are 550mg) about 10mins before the ride by opening the capsule up and putting it directly on his tongue; he says to be sure to have plenty of water on hand because it should burn! Also, be sure the pills haven't expired because then they aren't as potent (no burn!). Lastly, he also says you can take the capsules anytime, even after the ride, to relieve nausea.

He usually will take ginger before riding Star Tours, Indy, Tower or Terror, and BTMR (possibly Car Toon Spin, if you spin the cars); other rides that you probably could still take it would be Space, Matterhorn, Tea Cups, & Screamin', but he doesn't care for those rides in general anyway! Try it & let us know if it works for you!

[QueenofHearts]

Thanks so much Pam - I'll buy some to try during out trip in July and report back!

[tea4two]

Trader Joes, Whole Foods, and Cost Plus World Market all carry ginger candies (hard and chewy, I think the label is Ginger People) that we keep handy. I do take the ginger capsules, but sometimes I need a little something sweet to calm my stomach (and too many capsules can give me heartburn). The candies are convenient to keep in my bag and the hard ones can be used to sweeten hot tea, for more stomach soothing.

[Pammer]

Oh that's good to know too! I will pass it on to my hubby...

[tea4two]

We also keep the candies in the glove compartment of both cars -- so handy! Especially when there isn't any water readily available.

[TamiJean]

Hi Pammer,
Have loved your reports over the years...
We are planning a trip in Sept and bringing another family with us. We have reservations at the Del Sol Inn, but have never stayed there before. Would you recommend it? We have school age kids - the other family has school age kids as well as a baby. What is the breakfast like? How about the pool? Any details you have would be great!
Thanks!

[Pammer]

Hi Pammer,
Have loved your reports over the years...
We are planning a trip in Sept and bringing another family with us. We have reservations at the Del Sol Inn, but have never stayed there before. Would you recommend it? We have school age kids - the other family has school age kids as well as a baby. What is the breakfast like? How about the pool? Any details you have would be great!
Thanks!

Thanks TamiJean...I'm glad you like the reports!

I know the Del Sol gets mixed reviews on this board, but we've stayed there 2-4 times/year since we discovered it 10 years ago and haven't had a bad experience yet! It's 100% non-smoking, which we love, and they have recently remodeled the rooms with shutters on the windows, stone counter-tops, and flat-screen TVs!

The continental breakfast is served 7-9am every day; they have coffee, milk, juice, two types of cereal, fruit (usually oranges or apples) white & wheat bread with 2 toasters, & pastries (usually mini-muffins & danishes). They just changed the tables in the little breakfast room which allows more people to sit in there; a sign asks you not to take the food back to your room, but we do it from time to time.

They have a refrigerator and microwave in the rooms...great for keeping drinks cold & microwaving popcorn for a snack!

The pool is toward the back, away from the lobby (the motel is U-shaped, so back would be the "bottom" of the U) and they have a small hot-tub as well. We've never used the pool and it's been a few years since we used the hot tub. I'm not sure if the pool is heated, but it won't matter in September! We haven't seen it be too busy so it will probably suit your needs for a break or if you return to your rooms early.

They unfortunately charge parking fees now ($8/day), but that's the norm for a lot of the properties on Harbor now.

We always ask for a room over the carport (on the left side) towards the front of the resort; it's closer when you're tired (and you don't have anyone above or below you) plus we had a noisy group the one time we stayed at the back corner who were extremely loud when they returned from the parks on a Saturday night and woke us up. Hopefully you won't have any teen/young adult groups there when you are...they tend to be the ones who don't realize (or don't care) that they should be quieter in the common areas after 10pm! However, that is really a guest issue and not the motel's fault (unless they ignore the problem!)

I also like the fact that the people at the desk seem to remember me (in a good way - LOL!)!

It's a small mid-grade motel and you get what you pay for; however, the location is fantastic!

I hope you have a great visit!

[Lvdisney]

Thanks for another great trip report! So jealous that you got to have lunch at Club 33.Looking forward to your next trip report.

[Pammer]

Thanks for another great trip report! So jealous that you got to have lunch at Club 33.Looking forward to your next trip report.

Thank you!

I was so surprised how I lucked out with meeting Laura at work and then finding out that she had a contact in for Club 33! I never thought I would get the chance to see it for myself and I'm thrilled that we did!

[MickeyDogMom]

Our server, Angela, came by to take our food & drink order. We both ordered Diet Cokes to drink (we don’t really drink alcohol) and I ordered the Pan-Seared Chateaubriand, Parsnip Potaro Puree, & Cabernet Demi-Glace while James ordered the Fresh Pasta Three by Three (artichoke & mascarpone ravioli, walnut pesto campanelle, & meatball spaghetti marinara). Angela then instructed us to enjoy the cold buffet so off we went!

Sounds like you guys had fun! Your trip report is so detailed.

I think I had Angela as a server the first time I went to the club too! She's great and made it memorable. I have a different favorite server now. Those are my two favorite meals there too! Well, next to the potato corn dog, so delicious...

[Escape2Disney]

I loved your report! Very detailed ~ I felt like I was walking in the parks as I read along. I hope you enjoy your upcoming Labor Day trip!

[Pammer]

Sounds like you guys had fun! Your trip report is so detailed.

I think I had Angela as a server the first time I went to the club too! She's great and made it memorable. I have a different favorite server now. Those are my two favorite meals there too! Well, next to the potato corn dog, so delicious...

LOL...yeah, my hubby says I am very "wordy", but I write them as a kind of journal of my experiences!

I don't remember anything about a potato corn dog...that sounds interesting!

[Pammer]

I loved your report! Very detailed ~ I felt like I was walking in the parks as I read along. I hope you enjoy your upcoming Labor Day trip!

Thanks; I'm already looking forward to it!

[candles71]

Nice trip report as usual. Love it new Visa characters. We didn't think they would be open during the party so didn't try, and friday we didn't even try to go near DCA (grand re opening and all that ) Can't wait to find out if this is true, although A will be upset if she can't find Chip readily. We didn't see him at all during our quick 2 day jaunt and she mentioned it.

[Pammer]

Nice trip report as usual. Love it new Visa characters. We didn't think they would be open during the party so didn't try, and friday we didn't even try to go near DCA (grand re opening and all that ) Can't wait to find out if this is true, although A will be upset if she can't find Chip readily. We didn't see him at all during our quick 2 day jaunt and she mentioned it.

Thanks! Yeah, we're hoping for some new characters; I wish they would change them out more often but beggars can't be choosers!

You might have to check with City Hall to find out where to find C&D in the future if they do disappear from the Visa location.

[Pammer]

I'm going to try to post some Club 33 pictures:

The famous French lift:
P5202577small.jpg

[Pammer]

The Trophy Room:
P5202629small.jpg

[Pammer]

The menu:
P5202583small.jpg

[Pammer]

Not sure why they are so small (I made them 400x400) because they previewed bigger than this!

Anyway, here is my steak:
P5202591small.jpg