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Christiii
01-03-2005, 08:19 AM
ok..so here goes...start the violins..haha!!
Mom and I left on Thursday about 8am..its usually a 5.5 hour drive..this time it was 7!! good times!! We got there about 4...checked and settled in to the beloved Hojo..we were pretty tired from the drive, so we headed to Mimis and had a GREAT dinner and relaxed. Then we walked over to the park, watched the Band of America perform..they were great!! Then we looked around the shops a bit and realized we were too tired to fight the crowds and had a huge day planned for the next day, NYE, so we headed back to take a bubble bath..which as pathetic as it is, is a true luxury to me..since I bought the only house in Lodi without a bathtub! :rolleyes:
Okay, day two...we got to the park about 10am on NYE..and hearing about so many crowds we really were prepared to not go back to the hotel..so we got a locker and put in tons of layers of clothes, boots, blankets etc. We sat on the porch and ended up camping out there...it was so rainy that morning, that it was kind of nice to have a covered spot to watch people. I left mom on the pourch and headed off to meet Andrew, Mystalchic (sp) Dogsmom, a lister in a lepoard jacket and fur lepoard cowboy hat and his WIFE...(she deserves some jewelry from NOS for that!! hehe)and a mysterious lady in a blue poncho with her two ponchoed kids..she never introduced herself, and snuck off before we could ask..so..a shout out to "Blue Poncho Lady, who ever you are!! It was nice kind of meeting you!!
Anyhoo...Mystical was guarding the hub, Andrew and his wife were heading to lunch, so we chatted for about ten minutes and I went back to Camp Porch.
We sat and chatted and people watched for most of the day, it was too crowded to just kind of wander..tho MUCH less crowded than Ive seen it before..there was nothing we HAD to do at that time, so we were afraid to give up the covered seats, since we knew it was going to be a long nite...totally LAME I know!!
When we were hungry I went and foreged for food at the Stagecoach place with the chicken strips..chicken good..mozerella sticks cold and globby (is that a word??)
Eventually I went and got some fast passes for Indy, and when the time came I went to the hub and grabbed dogsmom and we went to Indy and the Matterhorn..really fun!!
Its amazing how quickly time goes by when you are people watching...about 830 pm we headed to the hub to watch the fireworks with Dogsmom, Mysticalchik & the hub club..great group of people!!
After that we decided to head home and go to bed early sice we had to get up at 430 am for the rose parade :eek: ..more later

mystycalchyk
01-03-2005, 08:30 AM
.....[snip]a mysterious lady in a blue poncho with her two ponchoed kids..she never introduced herself, and snuck off before we could ask..so..a shout out to "Blue Poncho Lady, who ever you are!!...[/sni[


yes!!! Who was this mysterious lady???? She said to me "Are you here to meet someone?" And I said (kind of slow) "maybe?" (Like maybe she might be one of the people I was here to meet) And then almost immediately everyone else showed up and then she mysteriously disappeared. :confused:



WHO ARE YOU BLUE PONCHO LADY????????


I had a great time. Your mom was so sweet Christi! I loved seeing her reaction to the fireworks! Glad I'm not the only crybaby out there in the world.

I called Coaster but never heard back...hubby said that Lisa called the next morning but we still hadn't heard anything so he didnt know what to tell her about meeting up. :( We slept in till 11:30 or so the next day since we didnt get back to our hotel till 3AM on NYE. We tried to leave but kept talking to people :p

It was fun meeting with everyone though and I'm glad we did :)

Christiii
01-03-2005, 08:38 AM
Now, I asked BPL (Blue Poncho Lady) if she was there for Mousepad and she said yes...I had even come up to the hub about 15 min early and she was there waiting, but aI wasnt really looking for a mom with kids so I didnt approach her...so she was there for us...BPL..who are you??!!! I hope we wernt too talkative and ran you off...Mystical..it was SOOOOOO great meeting you!! What a sweetheart you are...standing behind you and watching you dance to the fireworks will always be a great memory for me..the cutest thing ever!! :D

the mad hatter
01-03-2005, 08:44 AM
with her two ponchoed kids

is that a scientific term?

Christiii
01-03-2005, 09:48 AM
OK, New Years day...we got up at 4:30 and left about 5..the drive was quick with no traffic..we found out parking garage pretty quickly, and walked the 10 blocks to our grandstand..now the seating people told ust o be there no later than 7..so we thought we arrived about 6:30..just us and some nice eople behind us that weretold the same stupid thing..everyone else in out stands knew better, and arrived about 8 or 8:30 since the parade reached us about 9. Oh well, so we coulda slept another 2 hours..whats the big dral about a 430 wake up call for no reason..hehe. So, that parade was, well, eh! okay....Ive actually decided tht he only good seats are if you truly do sleep on the streets, because the grandstand seats are about the view you get on the TV, the the TV has GREAT closeup shots...We met some nice people in the grandstands, tho one lady in red about 4 rows down, stood up EVERY time I tried to take a picture..which is a no no in the Grandstand Bible...I finally had to try and guess what floats she didnt like..there was also a guy right in front of us from Costa Rica with a Costa Rica flag flying attached to his hat..nice huh?? I could never get a pic from that angle without the Costa Rica colors flying high in the shot...any time anything remotely to do with Costa Rica happened..he stood up and screamed COOOOSTTAAA RIIIIICA about a million times..who knew there were so many Costa Rican things in the parade?? Toooo FUNNY!!!!
Oh Yeah, before the parade, my mom decides she hungry, great...so I go and get her a friggin muffin..and Im SERIOUSLY gone an hour...you could walk maybe about 1 inch every few minutes..the crowd was not a Disney, happy crowd either, since most of the sidewalk was taken up by refugee camps...I really hope my mom truly enjoyed her muffin..the funny thing is...she requested Banna Nut, and they actually had one..I about died..since the street vendor selection was pretty slim.
Okay, parades finally over, and I have tix for the After Float viewing, but there is no instruction and where the heck to go for it..so we start heading to the parking garage..this is when the fun really starts...
I swear to you all, that the streets after the parade looked like a Distaster Film...the Day After or something..there was SO MUCH garbage and old food and just awful stuff from the campers, it was bizarre..and just tons of people wandering around in the filth...it looks so pretty on TV where they film from, but where we were was a pretty ugly part of town which didnt help. I just cant imagine those 1000's of people not picking up their garbage..it was just bizarre..it seriously looked like a bomb had gone off, and the survivors were just wandering around dazed..we were two of them.
We finally made it to our arking garage, where, lucky for us..was the shuttle for the Viewing..tho there wer NO SIGNS and no people telling you this..the shuttles just said "Pasadena College", after getting on with our tix and a non english speaking bus driver..some other people on the bus told us we had to have wrist bands to be on there?? huh?? Wa?? So we stagger off the buss to get the stupid wristbands from a white tent, also with no signs as to what it was..I guess you have to buy wristbands for the shuttle trip..who knew?? We sat on the shuttle for about 45 min..which was kind of entertaining to watch all the people on the street trying to figure out what the heck to do and wlak back and forth a million times with confused and growing anger on their faces...I guess I could have gone out and directed everyone.. but I was so tired!! Its now about 12, and we are fading..our bus finally takes off and we literally were in traffic for over an hour for a 7 minute ride...out driver missed the turn, there were people directing traffic which did NOT help, and everyone on the bus was getting REALLY upset because all the cars on either side of us were moving freely..finally at one stop, some people bailed out..they just couldnt take it anymore..
We finally arrived at the float viewing which was pretty cool since you can really see them upclose. The rain was starting to come in, so we only looked at about 10 floats and left..I wanted to have time to rest a bit before meeting CC..
So, my advice for all you parade lovers, watch the parade on tv..then just get tix for the after float viewing..its $7 and well worth it!! I told my mom to make her next dream have something to do with a spa or massage or pampering..we both agreed that rather than be fun, it was more like something we were proud to have survived..but we always would have wondered, since it looks so pretty on tv!!
We got back to the hotel about 4 and I had a message from CC on my cell..saying that her cell was dying, so to call her on her sisters. So I called, and felt like an idiot asking for Coaster, and I was told, sorry you have the wrong number..click!! Okaaaay...so I called DisneylandForever to get CCs real name, and his phone cut out..wierd..so I tried to take a nap..tho I cant really sleep during the day. CC called about 20 min later, and was so sweet but I could tell she was really busy with family and I didnt want to intrude. I told her to get settled and call me in an hour, but she never called back so she must have really been busy..Im so sorry I didnt get to meet you CC!!
My mom and I were really tired, so we ordered in from Mimi's..YUM...and watched the parade on TV..suuuuure looked different than what we saw, the magic of tv....hehehe.
We werr supposed to stay another day, but the news was forcasting a HUGE storm..so we headed home early the next morning :crying: what a bummer....I guess its good tho, because this morning ai heard that the grapevine was closed due to snow..and its supposed to snow there all week...we dont have chains so we woulda been stuck...I hated to go home, since we basically didnt get to do anything at the park, I just kept thinking I would do it all on a relaxing day on Sun, since it was also my mom's bd...oh well...thats my lame excuse for a trip report...

mystycalchyk
01-03-2005, 10:19 AM
Yay! It was your moms birthday on Sunday? It was also my hubby's :D

Christiii
01-03-2005, 10:33 AM
yep!! I had big plans for her BD in DL..darn!!! instead we had In and Out drive thru on the way home...totally sucked for a birthday, but we never would have made it home over the Grapevine today..Im so glad you guys stayed to enjoy everything!!

rentayenta
01-03-2005, 11:06 AM
Sorry the weather wasn't cooperating :( Sitting and saving the porch bench all day is so something I would do too.

Were the Rose parade floats just fantastic up close? I have always wanted to see the parade up close and personal but I will take your advice and keep watching it from the tube.

Christiii
01-03-2005, 11:13 AM
yeah, the floats were really amazing..I saw the TOT float at DCA last year, so I kind of had an idea...they say it takes about two hours to view them all, but after seeing 10 or so, you get the idea..plus it was cooooold and the crowds were...lets say..not Disney crowds...thru the whole day I kept saying thst you could sure tell the Disney was not running this...not even people PRETENDING to be happy :D

Hakuna Makarla
01-03-2005, 11:20 AM
Wow totally hectic girl!
I loved reading your report LOL! you are so funny ( friggin muffin LOL) thank you for giving me a good laugh today. Good to see you back!!!

Christiii
01-03-2005, 11:56 AM
yeah, it was toooo funny!! I kept asking her if she wanted anything, but she said no..so by the time she was hungry the stands were FULL. You just gotta love my mom!! haha..I would do anything for her, and I guess this proves it, tho ai wish her timing was a bit better....now you should have seen the faces of the people around me when I tried to go by them..I finally said..look..we are going to get very up close and personal so dont worry about it...I was completely MASHED into this one huge guy for about 2 minutes of manuvering around..everyo ne has to stand up and just about topple over when you try to get by..good times!! I can either laugh or kill myself, and I still had Disneyland looming in my furture...or so I thought :D
I was starving during our quest to the parking lot, and there were lots of what looked like homeless people cooking hotdogs and selling them..I was like..NO WAAAAAY, but after passing about the third one and smelling it, I bought one and downed it in about a second..it was wrapped in bacon and onions and about the best thing Ive ever had..or at least I thought so at the time...it was too funny because my hands were so full of blankets and crap, that I could barely shove it in my mouth and no way could I wipe so...so thaaaaat was attractive..I told my mom as we were schleping along..Look,I cant wipe my mouth so just deal with it...she looked away and kept trudging...ahhhh the memories!!!

CoasterChickie
01-03-2005, 12:51 PM
I am so bummed that I didn't get to meet Mysty, Christii, Andrew or Lisa. My cell phone battery died about two minutes into the trip and I had no way to charge it in the car because I forgot the adapter. It was a whirlwind trip for me and pretty hectic since I was traveling with Disney "novices." Even though we got to the hotel at 3 we didn't get into the park until 5 and then I spent about an hour waiting for my brother and his kids to show up at the "C" in California. We did very little while we were there, but it was still worth it. I'm sure I'll meet up with all of you some time! I'm glad you all had fun trips!!!

Deogge's Mom
01-03-2005, 06:03 PM
Christi, I'm glad you made it over the Grapevine before it closed. :)
I was at DL again Sat night and ran into another family from Lodi, I hope they made it back ok.

Mystycalchyk - It was great meeting you and hubby. I will always be grateful for you accepting me and doing your best to save room on the hub for everyone (Even if I did get stuck in the crowd and missed the NYE countdown). I'm sorry we didn't manage to get together again on Saturday.

Coasterchickie - I was really looking forward to meeting you Sat along with seeing Mystycalchyk and Christi again.

I hope we can eventually all get together. I'll go to DL anytime.

Christiii
01-03-2005, 06:48 PM
Christi, I'm glad you made it over the Grapevine before it closed. :)
I was at DL again Sat night and ran into another family from Lodi, I hope they made it back ok.

Mystycalchyk - It was great meeting you and hubby. I will always be grateful for you accepting me and doing your best to save room on the hub for everyone (Even if I did get stuck in the crowd and missed the NYE countdown). I'm sorry we didn't manage to get together again on Saturday.

Coasterchickie - I was really looking forward to meeting you Sat along with seeing Mystycalchyk and Christi again.

I hope we can eventually all get together. I'll go to DL anytime.
hey girl!! Im sooo glad you posted!! Welcome!! Im so glad I met you!! Im sorry we didnt get together either..but Im sure we will soon.....now post a bunch so we can get to know ya better!!

Wesley815
01-03-2005, 07:18 PM
I agree about the Rose Parade. I went one year and what a complete waste of time and HUGE headache trying to get in/out of the area. Nothing is directed correctly... maybe they should take a few pointers from Disney guest control? hehe, but seriously, the parade looks a billion times better on TV and you don't see the nasty idiots who leave trash everywhere which you have to walk through smashed with a million other people. Plus most of the action on any of the floats is just for the small TV camera block area, after that it's not quite as good.

So overall it's really not worth it IMO, unless you go to the float viewing area afterwards.

disneyguy247
01-03-2005, 09:41 PM
excuse me, but my dad and i go every year and we have an awsome time! we leave our house at 8 am, go to the end of the route, and sit in the back row near some grandstands, so that the vbands will play. We just stand up when the floats go by, and we can see everything perfectly. We get home around noon, and usually end up waking every1 else in the house up!

CoasterChickie
01-03-2005, 09:51 PM
I think I need some advice from the experts here at the board on how to plan a successful meet with other padders. The hub at noon on Friday sounds like it worked out pretty well. Where do people meet at night?


I feel really sad that I missed Christii and the others and I don't want that to happen again.

Hmmm....maybe I should start another thread with these questions!