PDA

View Full Version : Trip Report May 17-24



Lekta
05-25-2004, 12:40 PM
This will be long winded, so I decided to just post it in segments. If enough are interested by it, I will continue to post it. If not, I'd rather not take up valuable space with my ramblings... :fez:

Here it goes-

TRIP REPORT 5-17 to 5-24
Disneyland, DCA, Universal Studios Hollywood, Knotts Berry Farm, Hollywood, Balboa

WHO: ME, 26
WIFE, 22

It all started on a very early Monday morning, the air thick with building anticipation. The plane, on time and landing at the precise moment as scheduled. The passengers, eager to get off the plane.

As my wife and I wandered over to the rental car company bus pick up, we wondered how quickly we could get to Disneyland. Well, after about 15 minutes of the bus drivers sudden swerving, hard breaking, no look driving, we arrived at the car rental agency. Fox Car Rental is the precise name. We ended up renting a 2004 Ford Focus for a hair over $120 for the week. Not too bad a price!

The first thing that we noticed about this agency is the unprofessional office/waiting room. Not only did ALL of their computers go down, but they all went down TWICE, and that is just in the time that we were there. The second thing (and a biggie in my book), our brand new nifty Ford Focus smelled as though the Witches of Eastwick had performed animal sacrifices with a tamed circus monkey in the back seat. In other words, it smelled like rotting flesh. Now, for the life of me, my wife and I scoured the entire vehicle top to bottom and we could not discover the origin of this smell, which was now dubbed “the hideous odor.”

After discussions with the rental agency, they informed me that it would take about 30-60 minutes to get another car checked out to me. I figured that the odor would go away, as we could not find any reason for it, and we quickly departed, pent up excitement to get to Disneyland boiling out. Suffice to say the smell stayed with the car for the duration.

We arrived at our hotel (Alamo Inn) without incident, checked in, and unloaded the hearse….errr car. After spending approximately 10 minutes in the hotel room, I knew good and well why I had been advised against renting a room here. Three words: Dark, dirty, and depressing. Oh, and the MASSIVE cockroach located behind the front door. I stealthfully asked my wife to get something out of the car (she is horrified by roaches), smashed the creature and disposed of him. Now, in my head I’m a bit upset and plan to talk to the hotel manager, but, I don’t let on to my wife. I don’t want her vacation to start out horribly.

OK, now on to the real reason everyone reads these – DISNEYLAND!! We hurried over to the park at about 1pm. From our vantage point at the hotel, it looked like a hop, skip, and a jump to Disneyland. Well, try a leap, sprint, and a run. It was quite a walk indeed. Mental note, don’t stay at Katella hotels unless training for decathlon.

Upon arrival, we shot straight for the Blue Ribbon Bakery to grab some mocha’s. There isn’t much finer substance on earth then a Blue Ribbon mocha. After drinking our coffee, we wandered over to Pirates, saw a very short line, and hoped aboard. I love the small improvements that they made. Next we got Splash Mt. Fastpasses. We then jumped into line at Indiana Jones, as it was quite short also. I agree with a lot of folks on here regarding the bugs in the headlights… it doesn’t even match up with what headlights would appear as on the wall. They aren’t square. However, it was an enjoyable ride as always. We would have loved to see the snake move though.

Remembering that we still haven’t been over to the Tower, we went there next. Got a fastpass and got into line. The lined moved somewhat quickly and soon enough, we were aboard. One thing I noticed is that they waste no time after seating you and closing the elevator doors, that ride starts immediately. Anther thing I noticed, now, don’t get me wrong, we LOVED it, it is just so darn short. Another drop or two would do wonders, or perhaps another animation/special effects door near the end. At any rate, it got our thumbs up approval. As a side note, my wife loved the way that the picture taken during ToT made her hair look like it had a lot of volume. I only share because I care folks…. =P

Over to our personal favorite, California Screamin. Great ride as always. Next up in the walk around DCA, the Maliboomer. For some reason the Maliboomer has always inspired a deep fear in me, for no apparent reason other then the fact you get shot 1000 feet into the air. I had ridden it once a couple of years back and I remember it not being too bad, so I said what the heck. I was right, it was a piece of cake. More mellow then ToT by far in my book. The only difference is that you can see the ground the whole time. But again, this ride is too short. Why not drop the riders down with the same velocity as they were shot up? It just felt like a really fast ride up and then gently lowered down. Simple.

On to Grizzly. We have only ridden this one time in all our ventures for the simple reason that we don’t like to be wet while we walk around. We thought, oh well, it is a nice day out and some people don’t get soaked. I guess we just hoped we would be the lucky ones. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I could have tried, but I would have failed. We got absolutely, 100% SOAKED. The reason being the geyser. Now, we had watched others go through the geyser prior to us getting on. Every time the geyser shut off before they got to it. Well, wouldn’t you know, it just so happened to not shut off for us. Not only was there not a single item of clothing on either of us not soaked, but our passes got soaked too, thus forcing us to get a Fastpass card from guest services each and every remaining day on our 5 day pass, per park as the barcode was unreadable….=( However soaked we got, we thought the ride was fun, minus the geyser

mrs_toad
05-25-2004, 12:54 PM
Hi Lekta~

I just looked at the calendar this morning and was wondering how your trip was and when you would begin to post again.

I'm enjoying this very much so far...keep on going! Note to self, *remember -to stay away from- The Alamo*. :eek:

~mrs_toad

GreenDragon
05-25-2004, 01:05 PM
Well, I'm enjoying your trip report. Can't wait for the next installment.

Pat-n-Eil
05-25-2004, 01:06 PM
Lekta, I like the trip report so far and I like your writing style. I eagerly await the next chapter..

Lekta
05-25-2004, 06:15 PM
CONTINUED

Immediately following the through drenching and amid the squashing damp sneaker sounds, we proceeded to use our earlier attained ToT fastpass. Again, great ride.

By this time we had developed a voracious appetite that only a sourdough clam chowder bowl could subside. We even managed to capture a seat in the sunlight, to my wife’s glee.

On to Splash Mountain. It is a well known fact that this ride is great. Much could be said about the consistent line wrapped about the watery mountain at all hours. Generally this fast pass is for several hours after attaining it, as was the case this time. We sped past all the poor saps in the standby line =P (must have been around 60-75 minute standby), and nearly all the way to the front. Fastpasses are great, huh?

I recall reading on boards about the increased speed of the ride. Boy was that an understatement. If it gets any faster, you will have to be secured to the log by some type of safety harness. You only have time to briefly glimpse the characters as they are sped past you at such an alarming rate that you begin to think that animals might actually be just one large animal/beast, scrolling as you pass, as your head swims with intermingled shrieks of music. You go through each “area” so quickly that you cannot even relate the music to the figures anymore. It is just a blurry musical now… but, the drops are just as fun!

In natural progression, the Haunted Mansion would be next. However, it was still down for maintenance on the 17th so we rode ToT again before leaving for the night.

Not to boast about the great hotel again, but, after having a pleasant dinner at CoCo’s (on Katella) my wife decided to take a shower. Out she comes screaming from the bathroom with nothing but a towel on (which I enjoyed a little too much=P). A roach the size of a small cat was running around in the bathtub like a oiled penguin. I bravely fought that roach for a good 20-30 minutes (truly lasted 30 seconds, but, in the face of grave danger, time moves very slowly), finally, either I wore out or I just flat out got scared but I left the bathroom and closed the door, barricaded it, and promptly ran with fright… err walked nonchalantly to the office.

My wife demanded that we get a refund. However, I knew that would be impossible without incurring a LARGE fee for canceling, so I demanded a upgraded room without roaches. The hotel clerk causually snickered at that comment. I wonder if he has to deal with this situation daily? I think he must with the size of roach they breed there. I mean, they could literally strap saddles on the back of these beasts and offer shuttle service to the park they’re so big. I heard that California’s roaches were big, but I never expected them to be that large.

Next day – KNOTTS--
….More to come….

CarlieB
05-25-2004, 06:31 PM
Lekta, I'm really enjoying your trip report. Just one question - when did they speed up Splash Mountain? Just wondering if it was already faster when we last rode it (last November)?

SoCalDisneyLover
05-26-2004, 12:31 AM
No offense, but when you stay at a "motel" called the Alamo Inn, you shouldn't expect very much. I'm not sure what you paid, but I'm sure you could find a name brand hotel of decent quality for around $60-$80 within walking distance to the park. Sorry you had a bad experience. Have you been back in the bathroom since the roach incident?

"Remember The Alamo!"

Hakuna Makarla
05-26-2004, 04:41 AM
I am truly sorry about the cocroaches, that would be horrible. And of course we never do know what the motels are like until we get one right? I sure am glad you wrote about it though, that will hopfully keep others from experiencing that to. I enjoyed your reports, and I do hope you get over the fright of those darn bugs.I would havefainted over them!! Tell us more!! and you got pictures right? I must see themmmmmmm !

Lekta
05-26-2004, 07:25 AM
Lekta, I'm really enjoying your trip report. Just one question - when did they speed up Splash Mountain? Just wondering if it was already faster when we last rode it (last November)?

I have just recently heard about the speed of the ride being increased on the boards. It must have been within the last couple of months.

Lekta
05-26-2004, 07:26 AM
No offense, but when you stay at a "motel" called the Alamo Inn, you shouldn't expect very much. I'm not sure what you paid, but I'm sure you could find a name brand hotel of decent quality for around $60-$80 within walking distance to the park. Sorry you had a bad experience. Have you been back in the bathroom since the roach incident?

"Remember The Alamo!"


Yeah, it was all about budget at the time of booking it. Unfortunately, we could not change our reservations after making them, because we came into a bit more money and could have afforded a nicer hotel that was closer.

Lekta
05-26-2004, 07:31 AM
I am truly sorry about the cocroaches, that would be horrible. And of course we never do know what the motels are like until we get one right? I sure am glad you wrote about it though, that will hopfully keep others from experiencing that to. I enjoyed your reports, and I do hope you get over the fright of those darn bugs.I would havefainted over them!! Tell us more!! and you got pictures right? I must see themmmmmmm !

I do of course have pictures, however, I have never posted them online before and am unsure as to how this is done. If anyone has done this, could I ask for a little help?

Thank you

Zigen
05-26-2004, 09:50 AM
I do of course have pictures, however, I have never posted them online before and am unsure as to how this is done. If anyone has done this, could I ask for a little help?

Thank you

You can go to one of the many web photo print sites and upload you pictures to them, then put a link here. Don't know which one is the best to do this, maybe someone here knows.

Hakuna Makarla
05-26-2004, 11:14 AM
its free( for limited space) and I like it because you can make your folders( pictures for public or family only. Here is the link. http://signup.fotki.com/

very easy and ( I can see them pictures faster!!
-----------------------------------------------------
I forgot tosay, you can view other peoples photo's to. I love seeing the pictures from far off places where the ocean is beautiful!

Lekta
05-26-2004, 04:17 PM
I'll have my wife upload the pictures when she gets home.

CONTINUED-
TUESDAY the 18th


The next morning began at about 8:30 am in our nifty newly upgraded room, yawned, stretched, dressed, drank coffee, and we were out the door by 9:30, headed to the beautiful city of Buena Park =)…

Upon our arrival, we noticed that enormous amount of school children. Wave after wave of schools unloaded, each uniformly dressed in their schools shade and logo. Now, I can remember my school days from about 1st or 2nd grade on and I never, nope never got to go on a field trip to an amusement park. Don’t get me wrong, I love to see kids happy and gleeful. It is the most innocent amusement around, but, why would Knotts’ be the destination of so many schools?

OK, on to the park. Well, although the park appeared pretty busy, it really wasn’t and we, for the most part, had free reign of the rides. To my dismay, the Xcelerator was up and running. It hadn’t been running on any of our previous visits, which was just fine with me. I don’t know if you guys have seen this thing. It is a extremely fast rollercoaster that has a most unusual hill climb/descent. You start out from the gate going 80 mph and immediately shoot basically straight up into the air and basically go straight back down again with the same velocity. My thinking was that after the initial 10 seconds it would be toast, which was actually true. It looks worse then it is, or maybe it was because my eyes were closed for the entire ride? Or… errr.. I mean dust I got in my eyes when we took off (wife might read this, can’t ruin my manly chest puffing act =P).

After our harrowing escape from the Xcelerator, we began to shop. Not exactly the most exciting thing to do, but, what can I say, my wife loves it and I love her (are you reading =) ? ) We ended up getting a old western style picture taken of us in the old western style photo place… I am getting more and more descriptive as this goes along, huh? =P

One of the attendants told us that Kobe Bryant was there with his wife. Now, before anyone says anything about his case, innocent until proven guilty in my eyes. If he is guilty, he is slime and should rot in jail. If he is innocent, he goes on being my sports idol. SO.. obviously I was excited that I might get to see him. Turned out he didn’t stay long and he just stayed in the kiddie portion with his daughter and wife.

We rode a couple more rides and decided to go eat at the Knotts restaurant. Good meal as always. Great chicken and fantastic jelly! We finished up the day by a bit more shopping and headed back to The Alamo!

CoasterMatt
05-26-2004, 04:24 PM
Knott's has a lot of educational programs for schoolkids.