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View Full Version : A belated trip report



oregontraveler
09-12-2005, 01:39 PM
Cast: Steve (10th trip to DL)
A 2 week road trip to SoCal: Aug 23rd - Sept. 3. Park days Friday 8/26 & Mon-Wed 8/29-31
I started planning this trip after spending last Thanksgiving with relatives in Dana Point. I had a passport so media admission was taken care of. Just had to pick the right time. I wanted to be there in summer with longer hours and hopefully smaller crowds. Right before Labor Day seemed perfect. I love drive-ins so I made stops in Marysville & San Luis Obispo on the way down. Reservations at the Del Sol for the 29th & 30th. ($70 a night) It's 33 miles from DL to DP. I could have saved money driving back each night but I love the convience of a 5 minute walk back to the hotel. 8/25, I had planned on meeting my cousin up in Marina Del Rey for dinner. But that fell thru so on Wednesday made a reservation at Del Sol for Thursday. ($110, :eek: ) I got to the hotel about 6pm and headed over about 6:30. I was going to check out the hotels & DTD. Turns out no blackout date for DLR so I went right in. Automatic bonus time in the park priceless First attraction, the 50th exhibit. The movie was starting soon so I didn't have time to check out all the displays, saw the hidden Walt though. I went thru 4 times total, loved the film, more later. Headed over to Materhorn next, on the FL side. This is my favorite ride in the park, what fun. Back to the Tiki Room. I don't have too many memories of this. Loved the show but only saw it once. It's about 8:15 now and getting hungry. The aroma from Bengal BBQ was calling my name. 1 chicken & 1 beef skewer plus drink (about $10) . I found a good spot in the hub, inner sidewalk across from Frontierland entrance. Was able to sit down for 30 minutes before the fireworks. This is good for seeing the castle & fireworks but when I stood up I realized I couldn't see the Materhorn during the Pirates scene, oh well. An excellent show, I was amazed and enthralled by the whole experience. WOW, double WOW. Afterwards I went on Splash Mt. (gotta love single rider line) On board in 5 minutes. Didn't get too wet and felt great that time of night. A walk-on to Haunted Mansion. I thought the Holiday overlay was over the top, but with the exception of Madame Leota, the ballroom & graveyard scenes in the regular HM. There is alot more to take in for the Christmas stuff, so I guess I like the NBC overlay now instead. The train was coming into NOS so I hopped onboard for a trip back to Main St. I stopped in the Music store to salivate over the 6 CD set, but didn't buy anything that night. I wanted to check out all my options. Made it back to the room by 12:30. It was great to have a head start, getting over the initial rush of coming thru the tunnels and seeing all the new stuff. I was looking forward to Friday...... :fez:

cirquelover
09-12-2005, 02:58 PM
It sounds like a great first evening in the park! I hope the rest of your trip went well also.

oregontraveler
09-13-2005, 01:35 PM
I forgot to mention I saw Fantasmic after the fireworks. The CM's did a good job with crowd control. They cleared the area then let everybody in for the 2nd show, which was amazing. This was my first time seeing it, I had a perfect spot right on the riverbank. All right onto Friday. First stop, some shopping at the AMS warehouse. I had a 20% off coupon & spent about $45, mostly Christmas presents. I made it back to the park about 10:30. I'm in a barbershop chorus back home so I wanted to see the Dapper Dans (DD) as much as possible. Their first set is at 11am in the left hand tunnel. They are wearing vintage striped vests & straw hats for the 50th, good show. I had opted not to do a tour this time and try a character meal instead. I chose the 'new' Princess lunch at Aeriel's. The noon sitting was about half full outside and alot of people made a PS that day, so not much demand yet. I have a 4 yr. old niece, Anna. So for this trip I wanted to get some autographs and pics that I could give to her at Christmas. I bought her a new diary and used the front pages for signing. I will put a picture of the corresponding princess on the back. So I was able to have a nice lunch and get some pics at the same time. I started off with the Boathouse Salad with rasberry vinigrite (too much dressing for me) The salmon BLT though was scrumptious. By then, the princess started coming out. I think the order was: Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora, Belle & Ariel. They moved right along and didn't spend too much time at each table. I loved Ariel's new gown. Dessert was the Rocky Road Brownie & cotton candy. Man, that's alot of food. The outdoor setting was perfect, and at $22.62 plus tip. This was an hour well spent. I went to It's Tough To Be A Bug next, the effects were unexpected but effective. I went back to DL for the 2:30 DD show and grabbed a FP for Space Mt. at 6:30. Time for the 3:15 Parade of Dreams. I was up on the patio across from IASW. It seemed to go by pretty quickly, the Lion King float stopped right in front of us though so that was cool. I knew they were having technical problems and noticed the tow trucks out the next week so I didn't plan on seeing this again. I went on IASW afterwards. The high that day was 95 :eek: so it was nice to cool off for a few minutes. I sotra mosey'ed around abit and caught the 4:30 & 5:30 DD shows on Main St. Time for dinner at Pizza Port, slive of BBQ chicken pizza, side salad & drink (about $11 with discount) I did Space next, about a 10 minute wait with FP, I liked this OK. It sure is darker now and the soundtrack is great. I figure on doing this once a day if I can. Another thing about being here on the weekends are the swing band concerts at Carnation Gardens. I caught the 7pm set of Stompy Jones. I'm glad this tradition is popular as I saw more people coming in. I did notice during the break the hub was starting to fill up. Time for a big decision, stay or watch the fireworks. I went with the latter & grabbed some pavement in front of the castle. It was a long 90 minute wait with people walking in front of us until it got too crowded. I had my video camera this time and it was worth the wait. We had a few folks try to stand up about 9:20 but voices in the back asked them to sit down, not Bob. :p I had to drive back to Dana Point for the weekend so I left after the fireworks. One quick stop in the music store for the 6 CD set & a Mellomen on demand CD. The day was long and very hot, but I seemed to get alot done. Monday can't seem to come soon enough..... :)

rentayenta
09-13-2005, 02:31 PM
I am lovin' your report. Please continue.......

oregontraveler
09-14-2005, 07:21 AM
I am lovin' your report. Please continue.......
(Yoda speak) Conitinue I will...
Monday 9:30am-10pm
After a relaxing weekend on the coast and letting the weather cool off a bit, I hit the road about 8:15 and got to the motel around 9:15, traffic not too bad. I was inside the gates at 9:30. Today was dress-up day for me. My mom's first time here was March '56. We still have the photos from that vacation. It was customary for gentlemen to wear a shirt & tie in the good old days. So I thought I would do the same in honor of the 50th. Also a chance to get a picture with the Dapper Dans. I caught the 10 & 11am sets, with some Main St. rides inbetween: the carriage, fire engine & trolley. I headed over to the Tea Cups to meet Alice at 11:30. She was walking over by the Materhorn for a game of Charades. It was cute to see them interacting with the children as their parents would try to sneak a picture of Alice. She would yell to them (nicely) "get off stage, we're playing a game" I got another autgraph plus a group picture with the Mad Hatter, Tweedle Dee & Alice who popped in at the last second. I saw Mickey climb the Materhorn at noon, I enjoyed it. DD noon show with a photo op afterwards. We stood in front of the flowerbed with the flagpole & train station behind us, it turned out great. I went back to the hotel to change and came back for lunch at the Hungry Bear. The BBQ chicken salad is huge and enough for two people. I also had the Apple Pie poppins' for dessert plus my own water. I sat down below to watch the Mark Twain go by. I hit the canoes about 2:30, quite a workout and a first time ride. I went over to TSI next. Definitely a good place for kids to burn off some energy but I didn't stay too long. Pirates up next, a 5 minute wait. Looking forward to new movie effects when I come back. A quick visit to the gallery, more to see later. I headed over to DCA about 4 for the 4:15 show of Aladdin. Genie had some new jokes but alot of old ones too. I sat on the main floor this time. I saw the Block Party Bash from Sunshine Plaza afterwards. It was OK, I like the dancers bouncing on their trampolines. Back over to DL, more people watching time with a couple rides thrown in. Jungle Cruise, a walk-on. Skipper Adrian was the best. I can't remember the jokes but he was funny. I had a FP for Indy after that. I liked it better the second time although no boulder effect. I decided to watch the fireworks from IASW tonight. This is a great alternative viewing spot. No big crowds, you can see all the 'castle' effects plus you're in the middle of the fireworks. I had this great idea to ride Peter Pan afterwards but they close off the inner courtyard until 10pm to let Main St. clear out. Plan B was Big Thunder. Got a front row seat, this is much better at night though I was unable to do the goat trick. Closing time, I didn't dawdle and went back to hotel for the night. Another great day and the weather was cooperating, crowds were down a liitle too. 2 more days left...... ;)

yellowrosedtxn
09-14-2005, 10:31 AM
It sounds like you had a great time. In a way I would love to go just by myself, do what I want to do, when I want to do it. But I love being there with my dad and my kids to share the experiences with them. One of these days I'll move to CA and be able to do BOTH when I want to. :-)

oregontraveler
09-15-2005, 07:23 AM
my apologies for not posting today. A friend of mine died on Tuesday so my thoughts are elsewhere. :crying: Will try tomorrow.....

cirquelover
09-15-2005, 08:10 AM
I'm sorry to hear about your friend. It's understandable that your thoughts are elsewhere right now.
Thanks for the updates on your trip.

oregontraveler
09-16-2005, 08:22 AM
...the show must go on. Tuesday 8:30am-10pm
I wanted to be part of the rope drop this morning, as I was walking down Main St. I saw Goofy outside the hat shop (next to Opera House) so I got a picture with him. With early entry going on, I decided to do Space later and went on Buzz first. I had no idea the cars spun around so I only got about 25,000 points. This is a great ride, real interactive, I got a fast pass afterwards. Onto Materhorn, did both sides in about 20 minutes. Hit Alice In Wonderland & Tea Cups next, more short lines. Back to Buzz, spiining this time & got 31,000 pts. :cool: I saw DD at 10 in the tunnel again then headed over to DCA. With Screamin' down, I rode TOT twice in 30 minutes. Walking back towards Sunshine Plaza, Drawn To Animation was just starting. I actually liked it, good interaction with the kids and another photo-op afterwards. Went into Crush next, although I miss the Walt Disney movie. The space was put to good use, it seems to be popular. Onto Soarin' with a single pass, I got the bottom row though. Over to Grizzly, I stood in line, only 15 minutes. I got completely soaked, but it felt great. Time for lunch at the Pacific Wharf Cafe, my first time seeing this district. Pretty good theming. I did the bakery tour last Friday and was jonesin' for some sourdough bread. I ended up with the corn chowder bowl, not the greatest summer meal but it was tasty. And becasue I was in DCA, I had a beer too. Hopped over to Golden Dreams next, I like this show and try to see it everytime I vist. But I would like to see something new in there as well. The time was about 2:30 & I was done with DCA at this point and went back to DL for more rides, a walk-on for Star Tours, still fun but outdated. I think I saw Mulan next over by Small World, the parade had ended and she was doing a meet-n-greet up on the patio. Got an autograph for Anna & a pic for me. I also got shots of the old motor boat landing, timed it to get the Monorail overhead. Peter Pan had a decent wait, the line was inside at least. Short waits for Casey Jr. (I got to sit in the caboose) and the carousel. For some reason, I was hungry again and stepped into Village Haus. The cheeseburger combo caught my eye, big mistake, a very dry burger :( I should have had something over at the Saloon since Billy Hill was next. Great music, corny jokes= an entertaining show. Final show of the day for DD at 5:30. Back over to Adventureland. I took more time to visit the Gallery, loved the 50th stuff. Since I'm out of wall space for any new posters, no art on demand (very tempting though) A walk-thru of Tarzan (miss the old treehouse) and a 2nd trip on Jungle Cruise. The skipper wasn't as funny but the new effects were more effective for me since it was still daylight. OK, one more bullet to take, Aladdin's Oasis. Again, I was suprised to see how much space they had back there. Another entertaining show, and packed. Al & Jasmine were very nice at the end. They both held up a photograph of Anna for her diary, :) I probably should have gone to the Tiki Room next but went on Autopia instead. Not good time management here as I had dinner at Pizza Port then stood in standby line for 25 minutes. Should have picked up a FP before. It's 8pm now and time to get a seat for F! More bad luck as no seats on the riverbank left. I found a spot in front of the TSI dock, a good standing spot. I had my video camera this time, but I was standing downwind and got 'misted' on during the show, oh well. I left before the fireworks started but caught up in gridlock thru Adventureland. I needed to pick up 2 coffee mugs for my parents, (at the Crystal store) personalized & with the 50th logo. I enjoyed seeing the show from Main St. You can't see the castle very well, but the fireworks are still awesome. I figured on one more visit to the Opera House before calling it a night. As I was checking out the exhibits, a CM was doing his spiel. A very pleasant baritone voice as I sorta half-listened to him. Then at the end, he's over next to the castle exhibit and says "thanks for coming to the 50th exhibit, if you have any questions, my name's Maynerd, ding ding ding, oh wow, the infamous Maynerd, this is so cool So I watched the film, then came back thru again to talk with Maynerd. They were running the last show and he was closing up. Another CM took some photos for me. We stood in front of the mosaic then moved over to the big map. He told me about how he was 'land-locked' and was no longer doing Tiki, Jungle & HM because of the ad-libbing. We must have talked for about 15-20 minutes. At the end he did a radio comerical that he wrote for a Hawaii station, too cool. That made my day to see him and & a most excellent nightcap. ;) I will try to post Wednesday's report later, might be Monday though. Thanks for reading....

oregontraveler
09-16-2005, 01:07 PM
Wednesday 9am-5pm time for more rides
I started off with a FP for Buzz, then got in line for Space Mt. ended up riding twice while lines were short. I was done about 9:30, went over to Buzz, got a high score of 41,000 this time and e-mailed a picture afterwards. Did the Materhorn again, on the TL side. I skipped HISTA & Innoventions this trip. I liked the 'new' TL window display. One land almost done. Over to Main St. for the 11am DD show, then back to the Horseshoe for LaughingStock show out front. I was 'volunteered' for the Hungry bear role, cool. Rode the Columbia for the first time, didn't board the Mark Twain though. Another DD set at noon. Back over to TL for the monorail roundtrip. Over the last 3 days, I had just narrowly missed the golden vehicles for Jungle Boat & Autopia. This time, I was lucky enough to ride in the front. I hope the pictures turned out as we went by the esplanade pretty fast. So now I've done most of the rides I wanted to. Walked around a bit more and then saw the 2:30 DD show. Said my goodbyes to the group, (they are coming up to Eugene next year for our annual show) Did some last minute shopping in the Emporium: Shag playing cards, magnets & the candy tin. I went over to DCA at 3:30 for 3 more rides:
Maliboomer, stationery Sun Wheel & Soarin, finally got the top row :fez:

That's about it. I know I could have done more and been more effecient. I should have seen the Snow White play, only did the Tiki Room once. (although I have the soundtrack now!!!) Could have found cheaper lodging.
But hey, I had a blast while I was there, got to see the 50th festivities.
I have come full circle now. Loved it when I was young, then outgrew it when I went to Magic Mtn. and now I'm back baby. Next year, the Ducks are playing at USC on Nov. 11. A good excuse to fly down for a long weekend.

The rest of my trip was just as fun, had 7 drive-in nights along the way.
Although now it has a tinge of sadness. Bob Golding, my friend, died this past Tuesday. He was the owner of the Marysville drive-in. It was set to close soon for redevelopment :mad: So I changed my plans to see him twice on this trip. I'm glad to have seen him one last time. My final photo of him is by the projector with a big smile.