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mystycalchyk
01-03-2005, 09:59 AM
Not a big report but here goes.

Hubby and I pulled into Anaheim around 3AM on Wednesday morning 12/29. We stayed at the Extended Stay on Clementine which is right off of Katella and Harbour so it was really close (in the Anaheim Convention Center Area). It's nothing spectacular but it is new and clean and was nice. Every room has a full sized refrigerator/freezer, a two burner stove, a microwave, a kitchen sink, a toaster and a coffeemaker. Plus pots, pans, eating utensils and so on. Plenty of counter space an cabinets (it's basically a kitchenette) It made it very convenient for us. I had packed most of our food (we only planned on one meal a day in the park). The room has one queen sized bed, a desk with a chair, another table for eating (with another chair) plus the standard TV, dresser closet area, including an iron and an ironing board and it also had a recliner chair. All in all we were very pleased. The room runs $65 a night (even during this, the busiest tourist season)

We got all settled in and crashed. We woke up around 9 and were in the park by 11 on Wednesday morning. We weren't really in a hurry, we just wanted to stroll around. We went first to the gallery on Main Street to drool over the latest Olszewski pieces and then headed over to the Christmas store in NOS to see if there was an ornament that jumped out at us. We buy an ornament every year and have the date put on it. Nothing really thrilled us so we decided to hold off and just kind of cruised around NOS. We poked around all the shops, went on The Haunted Mansion and then Pirates (I managed to get soaked...first time ever I have gotten wet on Pirates - that pretty much set the pace for the rest of the trip...me, wet and cold). After that we headed over to Frontierland. First things first was BTMRR. I DID THE GOAT TRICK!!!! whoohoo :p. After that we caught the players outside of Billy hill show, jumped onto the Pirate Ship Columbia and then immediately caught part 2 of their act out front, then promptly headed in to watch the Billys. I love the Billys and although the "Elvis-ey" Billy always takes a while to grow on me I always end up loving the show. (I prefer the other main Billy to Elvis). After that we did some more window shopping, at twilight we rode the Storyland boat, watched the Snow White show in the FL Theater and decided to call it a night. It was only 8 ish but we didnt want to overdo it.

Day two (Thursday 30th). After a harried beginning we finally made it to Disneyland by 9. <--- which is bad because we were supposed to meet up with some friends for breakfast first thing, and we were an hour late. Had the hubby not decided to pretty much burn the hotel down we may have made it. :rolleyes: Brief synopsis. I got up...fixed a few scrambled eggs and toasted a couple of english muffins for 'scrambled egg sandwiches' for breakfast. There were some eggs left in the pan and I told hubby "Hon, there's some eggs still here, I put a muffin in the toaster so you can have another sandwich" he said OK, I headed to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready. This is where, apparantly, he decided to burn the building down. All of the sudden I hear this shrieking alarm....it's 6:30 in the morning, Im sure our neighbors appreciated being awoken by a fire alarm. *sigh* Somehow the muffin didnt pop up from the toaster (he says, although it had worked perfectly for me already twice that morning) and set the smoke alarm off. I come running out of the bathroom he is frantically waving a pillow toward the smoke detector, the windows are all open and the air conditioner is blowing full blast. He is panicked. I am cracking up...all the while the alarm is screaming full tilt. I tell him he needs to call down to the front and maybe they have to reset the alarm. I go back to take my shower (if we have to evacuate I want to be dressed). Finally after what seems like an eternity the alarm is off. It's sad....I really liked this hotel and now I feel like we should do them a favor and never stay there again. Once we finally got ready and out the door (it was after 8 by then) we noticed that all the doors all over the hotel are shut...the ones leading to the elevators on our floor and on two others are shut. Apparently once an alarm goes off they all automatically shut so that it protects the rest of the building. I have never been so embarrased. Oy vey! So we park and get checked in and finally head to the Carnation Cafe to hopefully still be able to meet our friends, They were still there but had given up hope and had just ordered. No biggie, we ordered and all was well. The four of us then headed to The Matterhorn (FL side) then to IASW. They hadnt done anything yet so they wanted to go to NOS, we headed back there and did the Mansion and Pirates again with them. We took them to the Gallery and asked for a tour (since they had never done one) and asked about our favorite CM and was told she was at the store on Main Street. We headed back that way because we really just wanted to say 'hi' to her. But first we hit the Pooh ride and Splash Mnt (again with the wet and cold) After that we went to Main Street and as we were talking with our CM friend two more of our friends showed up there. (as I have stated a gabillion times before I have a group of people we meet up with every year for NYE...these are part of that group) Our first two friends were pretty hungry by that time and wanted to go to dinner....Hubby and I had dinner to cook back at the hotel so we said our goodbyes and spent the rest of the night with the 2nd two friends.
We went back to FL and rode The Matterhorn again (TL side this time, our favorite) and also to BTMRR (again with the goat trick). We also rode Casey Jr (we got to be in the caboose) yay. :) We went our separate ways after that. They were in it for the night and we were ready for dinner. So back to the hotel to make dinner and head to bed.

Day 3 (Friday 31st) hmmmmm....well? it was rainy. (wet and cold much?) I got to the park around 6:45 am and was one of the first in line. Hubby had dropped me off while he went to park. We headed to 'the bench' we always sit at for NYE and I parked it. He ran back and forth four times that morning to the car to bring in more beach balls. They are huge and he can only do a few at a time. In the meantime it rained....I sat.
By the time he was done trekking back and forth it was time for the noontime hub meet so I started looking for people standing around aimlessly. I got to meet up with Andrew, Jennifer, Christi and Lisa (plus mysterious blue poncho lady and kids) We chatted a bit and they all headed off their own directions I went back to the bench. I'm sure you will read enough about NYE to know how it is so I will leave it at that. We managed to get back to our hotel around 3am.

Day 4 (Saturday 1st) We awoke from the sleep of the dead around 11:30 (my last coherent thought before crashing the night before had been 'must. set. the. alarm' or who knows what time we would have gotten up) and managed to make it into DCA around 1. Hubby rode ToT (I wasnt excited about it, I did it in Florida and was fine with that) I hung out in the animation building, which to me is perfection. I love just sitting ther watching the scenes and listening to the music. I met up with hubby at Off the page and we headed over to ride Screamin' twice. After that it was 5 and so we were done. We were to meet up with couple #1 from the previous day for dinner at Yamabuki at 6. They are good friends with one of the Sushi chefs there and we always go there with them during this New Years meet. Oh good Lord....that man (his name is Sei) is a genius. The best Sushi EVER! We spent a nice relaxing evening having dinner with good friends. We were done there around 9 and headed over the DLH to The Lost Bar (they are friends with the bartender there as well). We didnt stay long, just talked for a bit then went back to the hotel.

Day 5 (Sunday 2nd) Our last day. :( We got all packed up and checked out of the hotel by 9ish, and were in Disneyland by 10. First thing we did was head to City Hall to get a birthday sticker for hubby (he was 38 yesterday :eek: ) and fill out a few CM Compliment forms. We then headed toward the Star Trader so the hubby could buy a few things (it's his favorite place there, since he's a major Star Wars geek). After that it was time for the Matterhorn again (TL Side) and then we decided it was time to do the jungle Cruise, so we went over that way, and grabbed a fast pass for Indy. The Cruise was temporarily down so we headed back toward main Street to where the pin traders were set up. Hubby is always on the hunt for any Herbie pins. We found one (yay) and went back to cruise the wilds of the African Jungles. Then it was time for lunch, back to NOS for lunch, catch a few tunes and beads and then over to ride Indy. Afterwards we acted like monkeys for a couple of Jungle Cruise boats in the exit queue for Indy. On the way out of the park we went back to the Gallery store on Main Street to pick up the two Olszewski pieces that were being held for us, we also bought our yearly ornament and a cookbook for me. Then we left the happiest place on earth (it was 4:30 AZ time, 3:30 CA time) and finally got into town and bed by 1. Long day but fun.

The only thing we didnt get to do that I really wanted to was Peter Pan, but the lines were too long. There's always next time :)

I had to go to work this morning but hubby has the day off. Oh yeah, it's snowing here. Wet and cold. hmmmmmm notice a trend?

rentayenta
01-03-2005, 11:11 AM
Wet and cold seems to be the DL trend this past week.


How many beach balls do you guys usually have? I think NYE sounds so fun. On NYE when we were watching Regis and they shot to DL, I told my hubby that I knew a girl (you) that was there but I don't know if I saw you as I don't know what you look like.


Dontcha just the love Animation Building? Its so cool.

mystycalchyk
01-03-2005, 11:16 AM
Well hubby and I brought 12 of the 48" ones ourselves...plus another one in our group brought a bunch of small ones.

I doubt you could have seen me, I am at arm pit height to most of the world. :rolleyes: In a crowd the short ones are not easy to find.

And yes I adore the Animation building. I could sit there and soak it up for hours. It's the only place in DCA I feel the Disney magic I crave.

Saratoga75
01-03-2005, 11:24 AM
"mystycalchyk" sounds like you had fun time. Thought about staying at Extended Stay on Clementine a while back, may have to try it next time. You refered to AZ time so im persuming you live in Arizona, what part??

mystycalchyk
01-03-2005, 11:26 AM
I'm in Flagstaff. *looks outside* and it's snowing like crazy :D I am so thankful that we came home when the roads were clear and it didnt start snowing till after we got home.

Saratoga75
01-03-2005, 11:30 AM
Yes, lucky you that you made it home before the snow!!! Curious how long did it take you to get from Flagstaff to Anaheim???

mystycalchyk
01-03-2005, 11:39 AM
It's about 7 hours in good weather. Not bad at all

Saratoga75
01-03-2005, 11:45 AM
Thanks!! 7 hours thats not bad. I was just asking, because in a few years may make a move out to Arizona to the Phoenix area, probably Peoria or Glendale. I was hearing from there 5-6 hour drive to Anaheim, it would definately be a diffrence of the hour drive from here in Northridge, however it's bearable. How did NYE go for you? we tried it last year, and it was packed i keep hearing it was less so this year. Btw, snow!! lucky you all we got here right now is rain :mad:

mystycalchyk
01-03-2005, 11:59 AM
5 or so hours sounds about right. We are two hours from Phoenix.

NYE was awesome. It always is, was last year the only year you've tried NYE there? This was our 7th year. I can't bear the thought of not being there. It was less crowded because of the rain than usual but the rain was over by mid afternoon so it wasnt bad at all.

Moving to Phoenix eh? It's hotter than hades down there, but you'll get used to it Im sure. Most people do. I couldnt take it but then again I love Flag too much. I love the snow :)

Saratoga75
01-03-2005, 12:16 PM
I agree NYE at Dland is definately awesome. No, last year wasnt the first NYE at dland, my family would rotate every NYE between Vegas and DLAND. It was suppose to be Vegas this year, but plans fell through in the end, which was alright. wow 7th year for NYE!! then im sure i passed by you at one point or another over the past few years. 5 days at DL!! whow havent done that in a long time. What that right amount of time for you? Last time i've gone more than 2 days was back in 01.

Yea, considering phoenix in a few years. :) I here you about the heat! I've had to deal with my share of it in the summers here in the San Fernando Valley. I would miss this great weather out here though, it really is the best.

disney jones
01-03-2005, 12:19 PM
great report. my wife also kids me about almost burning our house down so it brings back memories (it was a very small fire, in the garage no less.)

Down in Phoenix it's just rained all day. From my house on the east side, we can make it in 5 hours if we hurry, 5.5 hrs average, and 6 if we take our time. From the West side (Glendale and Peoria), you can easily make it in 5 hrs. It was nice to pick up Zoe from from school at 3 pm and then make it in time to see the fireworks at 925 pm, just as we were getting off the Monorail. And in winter we shave an hour off the time due to our daylight savings abberation. Having three people in the car makes the 91 a breeze.

I should have put the Animation Building in 'my top 10 things i've learned at MP' thread. I finally went in there Dec 23rd - the animation was spectacular and 3 yr old Sydney got to see a few princesses and Peter Pan. I definitely need to spend more time in there next trip and explore that whole building.

Saratoga75
01-03-2005, 12:37 PM
Thanks disneydude. Yea if i had to move anywhere outside CA it definately would be AZ!! Just cause of its short distance to Socal (dland, as well as family in Los Angeles and Ventura). So you liked the Animation Building, huh? yes it is impressive.

disney jones
01-03-2005, 12:44 PM
Next time at the Animation Building, we'll explore all of it including the show. I'm not sure about how much the girls will appreciate the animation process show, but my 6 yr old missed it entirely since she went with her aunt on Soarin' while Sydney and I went in there. And you just can't top the Princess encounters for the two girls and their Pa.

I grew up in Palm Springs so I've always had the heat - you get used to it - the first summer is always the hardest, and then it gets easier each year. Late Sept and Oct is always hard though as you are expecting it to cool down, but it remains over 100 F even to mid Oct (but i think this is the first year ever it didn't top 100 in Oct.

So the rain today is very nice.

pisces
01-03-2005, 03:16 PM
Mysty: I thought about you, but I wanted to sit NYE out.

The priority was taking full advantage of line-free rides that morning into the afternoon, and so I was a bit tired.

At about 9:00 pm, I went back to my room for some quiet time and sleep, and I don't regret it. By the time I woke back up and reentered the Park, it was 1:00 am. So, I was there, technically, but not really there-there, if ya get my drift.

I'm just thrilled that I had a room to go back to when things got hectic at about 9:00 pm ish.