"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..."
Thursday, January 15, 2015 (78o)
Plan: Fly down in the morning; meet up with Mike; check-in to the Del Sol Inn; Disneyland/DCA; lunch at the Rainforest Cafe; Fitness Expo
Actual: I slept really well until after 5am, which is very good for me these days (I thought for sure it was only 3am or so when I awoke)! I got up to feed Sidney (or else I would be listening to him complaining until I did) and tried to grab another half hour of sleep, but no dice ~ Im going to Disneyland today!!!
I checked out the weather outside (FOG) and got up for good a little after 6am. I made a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches for later and ate a bagel for breakfast, before getting ready to leave. I woke James up around 6:30am and we were out the door just after 7am for the airport.
It was still pretty foggy, but not too bad on the freeways within the city; however, as soon as we got away from downtown and closer to the airport, the fog got really dense! James dropped me off curbside at 7:40am and we said our goodbyes before I went inside to get in the check-in line to check my larger bag. It was short with only about 10 people in front of me, so it only took about 5mins. I checked my bag (17#; I think it was lighter than my carry-on ~ LOL!) and went on to TSA.
I got in the regular line, which was about 1/3 filled in and moving quickly; however, when I got to the front of the line, the TSA agent told me I was actually pre-approved (the notation TSA PRE was listed above my name), which meant that I could have bypassed this line and gone into the shorter line on the other side. She directed me across to that agent, where I was quickly processed. The cool thing about this line is that I did NOT have to remove my shoes, jacket, or liquid-filled Ziploc quart bag; I just had to make sure that all metal was removed from my person before proceeding through the old-fashioned scanner! I removed my pedometer and put it in my backpack before walking through; they didnt even have bins here, just bowls for phones, wallets, keys, etc. (they looked like water/food bowls for dogs!).
The agents are constantly reminding travelers to remove metal, phones, belts, etc. before proceeding through the scanner, yet the older gentlemen in front of me STILL walked through with his cell phone in his pocket! In fact, you will keep hearing announcements in the airport asking people to come back for their phones and other things left at the check-point.
I walked through the scanner and the agent on the other side made some comment about Darth Vader being in the new Star Wars movie (I had a DV shirt on that said It is pointless to resist); I wasnt sure exactly what he had said so I just laughed, gathered my belongings from the conveyor belt, and left the area.
I filled up my water bottle and sat in a quiet part of the airport (NOT the Southwest side!) to call James. I left him a message about my pre-approved status and then snacked on one of my sandwiches. Around 8:40am I headed to my gate (B17), which was just boarding an outgoing flight that had been delayed by the fog. I found a seat and talked to James when he called, before chatting with the couple next to me who were also flying down for the races.
After a while, they switched us to gate B15 and those at that gate were switched to our gate! Since the gates were next to each other, we just stayed where we were and waited to be called for boarding. We finally started boarding at 9:15am and I was able to snag the window seat in the exit row. The flight was pretty full and we pushed back about 5mins late at 9:35am. It was still really foggy when we took off, and it looked like a sea of foam once we climbed above the fog line!
One of the flight attendants (Tony or Tommy) pulled a prank on another FA by hiding her prop oxygen mask during the safety briefing; this made the 3rd FA giggle while she was giving her spiel!
I worked on my trip notes and read the Sky Mall magazine (good thing, since they are going bankrupt now!) during the flight; our snacks were pretzels AND honey-roasted peanuts, and I requested Diet Dr. Pepper for my drink.
They did something special for a young girl (Kylie) who was celebrating her birthday; the FA had everyone close their shades and ring their attendant call buttons so they were all lit up in the semi-darkness, resembling candles on a birthday cake. Then we all sang Happy Birthday to her as she walked down the aisle, blowing out her candles (we would turn off the call button lights row by row as she passed by) ~ it was so cute! I love Southwest Airlines!
We landed on time at 10:55am and I turned on my phone; a text from Mike popped up that he had arrived from FL (he was due in 20mins earlier) and was waiting for me at the John Wayne statue. I stopped in the bathroom to change into my black Sparkle Skirt running skirt (I knew it was going to be too warm for long pants today), picked up my checked bag from the carousel, and headed over to meet Mike. We hugged and I was shocked at that he could carry everything he needed (including for the races) in one carry-on backpack ~ I was SO jealous! Now I DID bring a shaker mug with me, plus I have a bunch of meds & lotions I needed to bring this trip so thats what I told myself was taking up so much room ~ LOL!
We went over to check-in with SuperShuttle and were put onto a waiting van, which left just a few minutes later. We were dropped off at the Del Sol Inn around noon and checked in with Praveed to our respective rooms (#236 for me and #233 for Mike). Both rooms were ready and Praveed gave us our yummy freshly baked chocolate chip cookies before we left the lobby!
Mike helped me carry my heavier bag up the stairs and then we made plans to meet back up at 12:30pm. However, when Mike tried to get into his room, his keys didnt work so he had to go back down and get them re-keyed!
I turned on the A/C and freshened up; I also locked up any valuables that I wasnt carrying with me and met up with Mike when he stopped by at 12:30pm. We headed over to Disney California Adventure (DCA) and Mike activated his ticket at the turnstile. There were a lot of people around but it didnt look too terribly busy yet!
We went to Hollywood Land to do the Disney Visa meet & greet at 12:45pm; there was a longer line than Im usually used to (except during spring break times) and it took us 15mins to get in. I was very excited that our character was Daisy, as I couldnt get the timing right on my last trip to see her! She was very playful with us, and admired my Mickey earrings as well as my pink rubber breast cancer awareness bracelet; she even showed me her purple bracelet too!
The Cast Member who was assisting the PhotoPass photographer at the time said he enjoyed it when guests had fun with the characters, and we certainly did!
We next headed over to Cars Land via a bugs land and entered the Single Rider queue for Radiator Springs Racers; we had about a 15min wait before riding in separate cars. As I was stepping into my car, my sunglasses slipped off of their lanyard and fell onto the ground; I picked them up and managed to climb into the back seat of my assigned car right before it moved forward. I quickly worked to fix the loose lanyard, rather than fastening my seatbelt, so that I was still struggling to get it fastened when we arrived at the checkpoint! The CM joked about maybe they should first make sure all seatbelts were actually FASTENED before asking guests to pull on the yellow straps as confirmation ~ LOL!
My car got a nifty new paint job thanks to Ramone and we won our race! I made it to the picture area, found my photo, and then I watched the monitors looking for Mike. After a couple rounds of photos came and went with no Mike, I headed out and later found him at the exit ~ somehow he had boarded a car that got ahead of mine!
I had noticed when I walked out that the SR line was even shorter than it had been before, so I suggested we ride again; this time we only waited about 5mins before being assigned to our cars. This ride Guido gave my car snazzy new tires and we again won the race ~ whoo-hoo!
We met up at the photo monitors and headed out of the attraction around 2pm. I suggested we ride Maters Junkyard Jamboree since the line was so short and we were on in just a couple of rotations. Mike didnt remember riding this in 2013 and we enjoyed it a lot (I apologized beforehand for me sliding into him during the ride, as I knew I would!).
We walked over to Kingswell Camera Shop and picked out our free photo, before heading out of the park. We walked through Downtown Disney and stopped at the Rainforest Cafe. I checked in at the elephant with my Landry Select Card and was told it would be about a 15min wait (standby was running about 35mins). We walked around the retail store and then James called; I stepped outside to find a quiet(er) spot to return his call, as music was playing both inside and outside the restaurant.
It had been 15mins by the time I finished my call, so I stopped back at the elephant to see if they had called my name while I was outside; the hostess said that the waterfall inside had overflowed and they were moving guests to a different part of the restaurant and it would be a little while longer. However, a table opened up in the bar at that exact time so I took it and tried to locate Mike, who was wandering around the store; I spotted him a minute later and we sat down to look at our menus.
I asked Mike if he preferred separate checks or did he want to pay cash; he wanted to do separate checks so he could use his credit card. I ordered the chicken tenders appetizer with ranch dressing and a Diet Coke, and said that fries were fine with them; I was surprised to see they charged me extra for them when I got the bill ~ if I knew that, I wouldnt have ordered them as the tenders were filling enough for me!
Mike ordered the Natural burger with a side salad and water, and we both ate quickly as we were pretty hungry by now! We settled our bills (mine = $24) and headed over to the fitness expo around 4pm.
We checked in and got our bibs for the applicable races, and I also got the 5K pin I had pre-ordered. I also stopped to pick up the Star Wars race jacket I had pre-ordered (sight-unseen) and really liked the design! However, it fit a bit more snug than I would have liked so I tried the next size on and decided to swap them out.
I was taken to the next booth (Dooney & Burke purses), since they had a register, and the CM there took care of the exchange. He asked me if I had an Annual Pass and I was able to get the 10% discount ($8.64) as a credit from the transaction! (If I had thought about it, I could have asked him to exchange the 5K pin to get that AP discount as well, but no worries!)
We headed upstairs and picked up our race shirts, and then I stopped at the Sparkle Skirts booth to check out their latest merchandise. I ended up buying their Salute Blue (navy with black shorts) tech skirt ($80.25) and chatted a few minutes with Tom and Leah since they both remembered me from previous expos!
My next stop was Lasting Commemoratives to pick up the expo artwork bookmark I had requested from them and then we checked out the event merchandise. They had a good amount of stuff still on the racks, even though it was extremely busy in there; at least there werent lines wrapped around the event center like there was in 2013 for the Dumbo Double Dare merchandise!
I picked up a t-shirt, tech shirt, and two magnets for $78.54 after the 10% AP discount, and Mike purchased the same tech shirt design for himself to wear in the race on Sunday. As we headed out we noticed the short line for the photo backdrop and stopped to take pictures with it before stopping in the Disneyland Hotel lobby so I could show Mike the cool lighted map they have in there!
I also pointed out the Monorail pool slides through the evenings twilight before we headed back through Downtown Disney.
I had to stop for a rest about halfway back, so Mike tried on his shirts while I sat on the bench. After several minutes we continued on and decided to walk through the World of Disney. I ended up buying a gift card (The Incredibles) with $15 loaded on it (the new minimum amount) and then 2 ornaments with the premium throw as well ($53.52 after the 10% AP discount).
We walked through the esplanade and stopped at the Mickey & Me Outlet located at the Park Vue Inn. I bought 2 liter-bottles of water ($5.59) and Mike bought the same plus two bottles of Power Ade. We lugged all of our purchases back to the Del Sol and I stopped at the lobby to visit with Loretta around 6:30pm. I said good night to Mike, with plans to meet tomorrow morning around 7:30am after his 5K, and he continued back to his room as his long day had finally caught up with him!
I visited with Loretta for about 45mins and then headed up to my room; however, my room keys didnt work so I had to lug everything back downstairs to get them rekeyed and then back upstairs again ~ I was very tired by the time I got back in my room around 7:20pm!
I looked through my purchases, took a quick shower, and watched The Biggest Loser and Two and a Half Men before chatting with James around 9:30pm. I took my meds and was asleep around 10:30pm with a very achy body!
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