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Gemini Cricket
12-31-2002, 01:31 PM
So, I have some great news to share.

Ralphie and I took a Xmas Eve road trip down to see his parents in Tehachapi (near Bakersfield, left of nowhere) and decided that afterwards we’d go visit some friends in LA and Long Beach. We had opened our presents early and left. What surprised me was that this year I didn’t get a “big present”. It’s kind of like Elaine’s “big salad” on “Seinfeld”. No “big present”. He usually saves it for last, acts like there’s no other presents and then Bam! “big present”. So, I didn’t think much of it because I got a PS2 for our anniversary in November.

I was recovering from the flu (dagburn flu shot didn’t work) and on Xmas he kept asking me, ‘You feel better yet?’ ‘How’s your cold, you better now?’ I kept saying I was okay because I knew he had something cooking.

So, after Xmas was all done and we had finished meeting with friends and I thought we were heading back, he tells me he has a surprise. We’re going to Disneyland.

He booked the motel already and everything. So, we were going on the 27th to DL. Now, I knew how busy it was going to be, and I was still sick but there was no way anyone was going to stop me from going. Best of all, my Disney muggle partner wanted to go. (He really wanted to see HMH again and that just sweetened the deal for us to go.)

So, it was the first time that I got to go to DL with a date. The last time we were there, his sister and her boyfriend were there… It was great fun but not the same.

We got up at 6:30am, got to the Esplanade at 7:30 and waited for them to open. At this time, the line reached all the way back to DCA’s gates. (If we had all turned around, it would look as if DCA was actually going to have crowds in it. :D)

The park opened and an older gentleman CM told me, ‘It’s going to be busier than heck today.’ The wise old sage was right. It was the most crowded I had seen DL since the day the Main Street Electrical Light Parade “closed”.

First, we got reservations for Blue Bayou (which he wanted us to do) and got a FastPass for Indy. Then we had Mickey Mouse Pancakes (which he said he had to have – it was his Disneyland tradition as a child) at the River Belle.

Now, when Tarzan’s Treehouse has a line that early in the morning, you know it’s going to be a bad day. We rode POTC (it looks great, I noticed that Carlos in the well is looking at the boats now instead of at the pirates in front of him, and that the old man on the porch has gotten a tan – amazing since he’s been in the dark since the ride opened… I got Ralphie a coffin with skulls in it at the Pieces of Eight gift shop, he said he had to have it…), then Indy (everything worked fine, except the music cut out in the dart room, which ruined the effect for me… but it was still a great ride) and Jungle Cruise (per Lost Boy, I looked for the cobra in the queue and found him. He moves and hisses even, it’s great. I pointed it out to some kids. I mean, these Disneyland muggles miss all the details… I even pointed out the queue’s hornbill bird to them, they even missed that! He moves and squawks for crying out loud. :D Ralphie liked all the bottled science stuff and the preserved beetles and scorpions the best. Our tour guide was funny. And cute, might I add… ;)).

We did HMH next. I loved the new additions. The Xmas Scarols were funny. I enjoyed the ride. It was great. However, and I didn’t even try to look for anything bad about this ride, what made me mad was the DoomBuggies are sped up for HMH. It looks like someone took into account the line’s length and sped up the ride. It went way too fast to take everything in. I was quite disappointed by that. Even Ralphie, who hardly notices things like this, noticed this. He even complained to City Hall, but that’s another story…

We walked over to see how the Pooh construction was coming along and broke the news to Ralphie that his beloved Bears were gone. He didn’t know! I was sure I griped about it to him, but I guess I hadn’t… It looks like the Pooh ride will make that area lively. I think it may just be a good thing after all…

Ralphie wanted to do the Tiki Room so we did. He hadn’t seen the pre-show before (with the talking gods) so I pointed it out and we watched it from the beginning. It was our honor to have Tiki Boy (Maynard) as our host. Man, that guy is a wonderful CM. I’ve seen him in HM before but not in the Tiki Room. He danced and sang with the birds and even conducted the audience into singing “Let’s All Sing Like the Birdies Sing” with the birds. It was a wonderful experience. I shook his hand after. He’s the best.

We did the Columbia next. He hadn’t done it before and I wanted to show him the shaman AA. It was a fun thing to do. It was very relaxing. The cabin was no longer on fire… does anyone know why that is? It’s not even on the recording anymore… They also invited everyone below deck but all the hatches were closed… can you still go down? The bear scratching his back needs a haircut.

Next, we ate lunch at the Blue Bayou. I requested a seat at the water’s edge and got it. It was a great experience. Some kid in a POTC boat passing by asked rudely, “How’s the Monte Cristo sandwiches, everybody?!!” and I replied just as snottily, “Yeah, we haven’t heard that one before…” Everyone near our table laughed. It’s the one downfall of eating there, the POTC ruffians… (I actually had the Monte Cristo sandwich, which was awesome. It was like eating a waffle filled with ham and cheese…)

I really wanted to check out A Bug’s Land so we went to DCA. (Ralphie bought a 3 day park hopper pass. So it was cool with him.) We walked around ABL and I thought it was adequate. The rides are really tchotchky and it’s very congested in there but overall it was okay. Ralphie was bored (like children get :D) so I distracted him by telling him to find the four leaf clover while I looked around. In the end, I had to show him where it was. :D

We went into the Animation Bldg (because it’s DCA’s best thing) and I went into each room this time. The last time, at the MP meet, we couldn’t do much – very crowded. I was Hopper in the Sorcerer’s Workshop. Haha. A villain. Heh heh. I loved looking at all the animation rough sketches and tossed ideas… The Mushu animation demonstration was cool, the CM I had was a pro. I also watched the film on Walt, which made me buy a t-shirt in the gift store with one of his quotes on it. (The shirt that changes color in UV light…)

Then we saw “Aladdin”. I liked it. I think it needs work, but all in all it’s a good show. I don’t know which Jasmine I saw, but she was okay. The Genie rocks. He’s hysterical. There were a couple of things I didn’t understand, like Aladdin leaping into the air and across the stage magically and why he was floating in air in the Cave of Wonders… I wished I had sat in the balcony for the carpet part, but Orchestra was okay. I think the show is a good one, the songs are solid but if they’re going to do the body double thing, it’s a technique that only works if you are at a big, huge theater. The Hyperion, although it seats thousands, is still very intimately set up. The balcony is very close to the stage unlike the Ahmansons in LA so it’s very evident that they’re actually stunt/body doubles… I think it will be a great show once they add on the extra hour to build up the characters. Iago and the Genie were my favorites… (Btw- Where’s Abu? They could do the carpet, why not the monkey?) I’d like to see the show again from the Balcony.

That’s about all we did in DCA. I hate to bash on DCA any more but every second I am there I wish I was across the Esplanade. Truly. It’s like homesickness…

We went to the World of Disney where they made me buy a new baseball cap w/ “Disneyland” on it and a Donald Duck sweatshirt. Honestly, they made me. :D

We went back to DL and disaster occurred. We hit Main Street at about 7:30, and there were wall-to-wall guests standing in the middle of Main Street. Believe it or not, they were standing there to get a good spot to watch Believe at 9:30!!! The only way to go anywhere was to go through the stores, which were strictly monitored by CMs. It took us 20 minutes to get from the Main gate to Plaza Inn. I kid you not. Since we could not move anywhere else, we decided to eat at the Plaza Inn, which was surprisingly not crowded…

Then we went to HISTA (effects were cool, my glasses actually were not scratched and we had absolutely not wait to get in), Innoventions (yuck! It’s just one big commercial for Compaq, At&T etc. Not to mention I got seasick in there, that moving wall made me nauseous…), Space Mtn (no music, but still an awesome friend to visit) and the Gallery (I saw the HM groundskeeper up close, very cool. I also touched his hand: rubbery, cold, but don’t tell anyone. ).

We walked around a lot at looked at the Xmas lights and decorations. It was very romantic. I especially liked the promenade from the Tea Cups to IASW, there are soooo many lights! We didn’t ride a lot but we were the happiest two people on Earth that day. It’s a treat to watch the kids go crazy for Disneyland.

We visited City Hall, asked for a comment form and complimented Maynard and other CMs. Ralphie also wrote about HMH and that DCA isn’t quite worth $45 yet…

The last thing we did was ride the 12:15am sweeper Train around Disneyland. That was romantic, too. It was neat to see the park empty after just having 80,000 guests (can anyone confirm this? I heard one of the bus drivers say this…)in it that day. It was also nice to notice that they didn’t turn off the music, the effects, lights etc early. They wait until everyone is gone. That’s magical, too.

Main Street stayed open until 1am, but we were dead tired and bid a fond farewell to DL.


Sorry for the long post, but I had to share. Ralphie had a good time. I think this muggle is turning around. He said he loves Disneyland now! Can you believe it? Maybe I’ll be able to coax him into an MP meet soon.

You never know.

Brad

HBTiggerFan
12-31-2002, 02:42 PM
I don't think hes a Muggle anymore! hehahha. You've converted him!

What a wonderful suprise, it made me smile. I could read your happiness in your thread!

Now he needs to get an AP :D

As for the speed in HMH, I am not sure if they did speed it up, it appears they have, but it also appears that the doombuggies are going faster than they have in years past (during non HMH compared to non HMH speed). Or it could be that we are so busy looking at stuff that it seems faster beacause we can't see it all. Who knows :confused: I Bet someone here (not afraid, zapppop) might know :D

MouseWife
12-31-2002, 04:39 PM
Hi, G.C.!!

It does sound like you had a great time. I could get that feeling in your writing, like H.B. said.

Well, I think that good old Ralphie knows that you love Disney and wanted to make you happy.

In the end, he may have realized that he loves Disney, too. :)

Glad to hear you had a great time. :)

Nancy
12-31-2002, 04:39 PM
I had asked a CM, while canoeing around TSI, about the burning house and he said the gas pipes were so rusted that they decided just to shut it down. He mentioned that it will be fixed just as soon as they put the subs back!!:crying:

adriennek
12-31-2002, 07:22 PM
Brad,

What a wonderful romantic surprise! It sounds like you and Ralphie had a wonderful holiday and Disneyland was just the icing on the cake :D

Thanks for sharing!

Adrienne K

Matterhorn Fan
12-31-2002, 08:32 PM
Awwww, I got warm fuzzies all over reading your post, GC. :) I hope this is just the first of many frequent trips to DL for you this year.

P.S. I'm glad I'm not the only one that gets a little seasick inside Innoventions. I know it's not moving fast, I know the center doesn't move, I know the second floor doesn't move, but every time I go in there, all I can think about it "let's find the exit." It's funny, I don't get seasick--I rather like boats.

teri
12-31-2002, 10:52 PM
Wasn't it wonderful this year at Disneyland? We were there on Saturday. :)

I am so glad you had a nice time. Now that Ralphie has that park hopper, you have at least 2 more days coming this year... :D

3894
01-01-2003, 11:40 AM
Oh, I am so jealous I could spit!

mad4mky
01-01-2003, 02:03 PM
Yeah for you GC!!

I think its great that Ralphie is finally coming around to become a Disney fan! (It took me a few years to get my hubby excited about going...he's not a big fanatic like me...but I am still working on it!).

I am glad you had a such a great time with him while there. Being with someone you really love and enjoy spending time with at your favorite place is just the best. I love going to DLR with my kids...but I really, really love going with my hubby...

I enjoyed reading your post, and your and Ralphie's adventure at DLR!

Happy New Year!

(I hope to see ya sometime in Monterey...or at our next No.Cal MousePad meet! ...I hope to have a pool party this summer for us all up this way...and hopefully Ralphie will come with you!)

Gemini Cricket
01-01-2003, 02:10 PM
Thank you guys for all the kind words. It means a lot to me. :)

Now, if we could just find a way to live at Disneyland, that would be great. :D

I'd love to do another MP meet. I mean, I've only used my AP 8 times (6x during the MP meet in August and twice this time - so that's $360.00 worth of usage...) so far. I need to wear that pass out!

:)

innerSpaceman
01-02-2003, 02:58 PM
So glad you and "Ralphie" had a good time, and took in stride your most-crowded-time-of-year visit to DL.

Happy New Year and all that.

Your pass expires in little more than half a year, and there's always the issue of unused days on that 3-Day Parkhopper.

Come on back down afore too long. Zapp and I wanna meet your man.

LibraryGirl
01-02-2003, 05:49 PM
WHOOO!! What a fantastic present from Ralphie!! I'm so glad you had a wonderful time. Any trip to Disneyland is a surprise and I am sure you were thrilled!

Hopefully I'll see you again at the next Nor-Cal MP meet. And possibly a friend and I might be making our way to Monterey soon!! :D

Happy New Year!!

SusanP.
01-02-2003, 07:41 PM
A Disney Muggle! I love that!! I'm stealing that for sure! :~D

Glad you had fun. No matter how sick I am, I can always rally for a trip to the the Park. It always makes me feel better, at least until the next day, when it catches up to me like jet lag.

hawaiimouse
01-03-2003, 12:07 AM
Awwwww....hey GC, that is the sweetest story :)

I think Ralphie's come over from the dark side...you got a great one there!!