Articles | Disneyland | Walt Disney World
Results 1 to 13 of 13

Thread: July 16, Daily Diamond Sweepstakes Prize!

  1. #1

    July 16, Daily Diamond Sweepstakes Prize!

    July 16

    Hatter, Stu and Tootie and their 3 Kids Mayhem (Birthday Girl 5 years old) and Thing 1 and Thing 2 (Twin Girls) and Gramma visiting from Minnesota and Melody!

    So the plan was to meet in the park no later than 9am and hit some fast passes and Mayhem turned 5 on June 16th and just recently got tall enough to ride RSR and wanted to go on it again. I got a text from Stu at 8 saying the Twins weren't even up yet so I got to work on some projects while drinking coffee. Melody had a job interview and was going to meet us around 1pm. At 9:30 I left Long Beach and arrived at the WOODY PARKING lot around 10. I took a very important phone call and finally got to the DL around 10. It was PACKED. I jumped on the Main St. Horseless Carriage and drove down Main Street. We talked about how exciting is was to see the New Disneyland Band. I was going to do some browsing for a pin to trade since I bought the girls their first Trading Pins and was planning on letting Mayhem pick out a pin for her birthday but they were giving out a DIAMOND PIN and the lines were crazy. SO already my review of the day was not good. I got word that they were finally on their way and the plan was to immediately get a FP for RSRR.....so I got on the Monorail and headed to DTD and walked by the PIN store that had a REALLY ridiculous queue....SO then it was off to the Grand Californian to check out the FP machine. They were finally on the way and close to the park. Then I got notification they were at the MICKEY AND FRIENDS parking garage. Then I saw that the FPs for RSR were at 8:30. Of course they have to start with a STARBUCKS run so I said I would meet them at the Starbucks at BV St. and NO they were at the DTD location. I let them know that the FPs were in the sold out status VERY SOON so they said forget about it it was too late for the little girls.......

    Now I was getting cranky. I had a meeting in Santa Monica at 2:00 and it was almost noon. They were on their way to DCA finally so I walked toward the gates.....and then I got a phone call. I won the daily prize!!!! I had to claim my prize at guest relations at DCA at 1:15. As I was on the phone Stu approaches with he stroller and the twins in it. I tell everyone I won. No one believed me. His wife Tootie was sure I was messing with them. Carol was to arrive at the park at 1pm. The girls wanted Chinese food so we had enough time to get that food for everyone ( I had a mediocre meal at Flo's while waiting for them) so we bought Melody a Turkey Sandwich while she ate it and filled out our paper work. Our prize was 7 hours with a guide called Jazlyn, 260 bucks worth of food vouchers and a VIP viewing of F! or WOC and NONE of us had seen WOC so I chose that.

    More later as I have a busy weekend......

    Last edited by GusMan; 07-22-2015 at 06:24 PM. Reason: Edited date - with info from another post.

  2. # ADS

    Join Date
    Location
    Posts
     

  3. #2

    PART 2

    So the players are all met. Lunch consisted of us just exclaiming how "I can't believe this!"

    We filled out the paper work and took a few pictures with Jazlyn and then set off for DCA first. She just decided to take us around the park and hit every land and see what we wanted to ride on. The tour guide is also your concierge and will try to get you on anything you want with restrictions on certain rides; i.e. some NON FP rides are included but not all attractions are. I immediately asked if we could see Walt's apartment or the Dream Suite. She said that Walt's apartment was being refurbished and someone was staying in the Dream Suite (was this a pat answer? Doesn't matter, the answer was "No".....but at least I asked.) Monsters Inc. was down so we moved on to TofT.......Stu wanted to ride it but the gals (old and young) were all a no......now this was a moment where I felt that we should all stay together but when you are with a big group you sort of have to let everyone get their say......and mind you.......we were all in little kid mode and giddy with excitement.

    Then when we were heading to CARSLAND via BUGSLAND the Twins realllllllly wanted to ride on Heimlich's Chew Chew Train. 3 year olds just do not understand the magic of a FP tour guide so we acquiesced to the request. I didn't ride and chatted with Jazlyn. I took pics too. SO I found out that before the Selfie Stick ban Space Mtn. had gone down 50 times in one month. The newest rides have the most sophisticated sensor devices so when people would put those sticks out they would shut down the entire ride because they were out of the safe zone. Endangering your own life is one thing but endangering someone else's is beyond selfish and horrific. She also told me BTMRR went down 3 times in one day due to that. By the way....I asked these questions as it was so in the news and even my pals in SF post about how they are smacked in the face by these on a daily basis. I am so glad that for MY safety they are gone. Whew. Hooray for Disneyland Resort on that one.

    We rode MATER and then RSR. Gramma refused so Tootie got to ride it for the first time since she is always taking care of the twins. It was a perfect ride except we raced an empty car that took off BEFORE us.....they won but they cheated. He he.

    Then we rode the LITTLE MERMAID (which actually had quite the queue at this point) Then off to MIDWAY MANIA which is one of Melody's favorites. The girls loved shooting but even Mayhem had a hard time with the aiming. I jus shot my cannon on her side of the screen and I think she thought that she was shooting those. She liked it.....not her favorite though. The girls are ALL too short for Goofy's Sky School and GRR so we headed for DL (Looking back we meant to got to SOARIN' as Gramma would have loved it but the day was getting on)

    Now in all of this we had a hard time getting a dinner reservation for 7:00 because Jazlyn was done at 7 and we had a WOC reservation at 9. The only option we had was CARNATION CAFE at 7:10 so we took it.

    Now Disneyland.....it was HOT. It was CROWDED so we went straight for a surprise Jazlyn had called in. WE got to the front of the PRINCESS FANTASY FAIRE and I had never been. The Birthday Girl's favorite was Cinderella and there she was. Thing 2 adores Belle and she was the second Princess. Thing 1 adores Tiana and she was not there.....it was Snow White.....they were all amazing and the air conditioning was GLORIOUS.

    Even with FPs a crowded park is hard to negotiate. And here is the feeling of pressure.....you still need to sit and eat and relax but with a human FP and guide you WANT to rush to every ride. Also we had 3 little ones and that really slows things down too. SO choices need to be made. We decided a respite was in order and a treat before it got too late. SO we opted for the TIKI ROOM and Dole Whips.....remember I hadn't even spent ANY of my 260 vouchers. So while Stu and Melody waited to buy 5 floats and 3 Whips for the girls.....I took Mayhem to the Pin Trader in Frontierland to buy her birthday present. She told me she saw the Princesses on a heart and THAT was what we wanted. The pin was a shield though and she said quite assuredly that no that was not it . She was sure it was across the way at the other store. But they don't have pins?? It was actually a key chain. I explained she didn't need that, did she? So she IMMEDIATLEY picked a pink leather bracelet with all the princesses on it and they put her name on it. It was really cool and fit great. Dang that girl knows what she wanted. By the time we got back they were still in line but the show had started. SO we just ate our DOLE WHIP and then got back to the park. More later.....


  4. #3

    PART 3

    So now we decided to go to SPLASH since Mayhem had never ridden that ride and could actually ride it. Then we would be able to ALL ride HM and POC as the twins were now big enough to not be afraid. Hopefully we could sneak BTMRR or Dumbo. They made me ride in front and I was soaked. She of course loved it and we waved at the twins and Gramma and Melody (she won't ride Splash or ToT) Then the HM was great fun but stopped a lot. Then we got stuck on PoC after I was joking to Mayhem we would have to live in the dungeon. We were right next to the Dog With the Keys scene. It took us about 15 minutes of waiting before it started up. So therefore we didn't have enough time to do another attraction.

    We went for to CARNATION and said good-bye to Jazlyn. Gosh , were we spoiled and were gonna miss her. Now Stu has had some hearing problems and wears a hearing aid. He stopped to buy Mayhem a balloon.....that was what she wanted for her ONE present at DLR.......she was sure and Tootie told her ONLY ONE present and a balloon wouldn't last. So I said to Stu we are going over to check in right there.....and even pointed at the Carnation Cafe which was just yards away and he nodded and said sure sure.......after about ten minutes we wondered where he was. Melody went to look and Tootie texted him. He went to DCA. He had been listening to me and Jazlyn making dinner reservations. We wanted WINE COUNTRY TRATTORIA but it was booked so he must have gotten into his head that DCA is where we were to be. HE arrived back JUST as they buzzed us for reservations.

    We had a good meal. I had the Pasta in Cream Sauce with shrimp. It was fine but not as good as WCT in DCA. The fried pickles were a hit but a bit $$$ if you didn't have dinner on Disney. The cast brought out ice cream with a candle for Mayhem which was amazing. The vouchers were good for TIP which was included for large parties but the gang pitched in for extra because the service was GREAT! I had one voucher left for 10 bucks. It was just 8 :15 but moving a big group over to DCA was going to be tough as everyone was waiting for the PAINT THE NIGHT parade. So we jammed and decided to use bathrooms over that way. Sure enough......meandering between the parks was difficult but we weren't hurrying and we were all pretty tired.

    It took us a while to find our VIP place but it was smack in the centre between the BLUE and GREEN sections. There were benches for handicapped folk and we had a roped off smallish area but there were only 5 other people there so we had a great big area with 15 people only. I was so tired I sat down and could still see over everyone heads. I remained seated the whole show and even Mayhem never asked to be on someone's shoulders. I think this is the best WOC ever and will tell you why in the next time I post.

    I was so tired I decided to excuse myself with Melody and we went to buy cookies with my vouchers. She loves the peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies. There wasn't a HUGE queue so I picked out three and when I got to the front of the line they didn't accept vouchers because this was a merchandise section???? The vouchers were good for FOOD CARTS though. I still bought the cookies as I took a road trip to Phoenix and the cookies were our driving treat. I picked up a VITAMIN WATER and a loaf of Mickey Sourdough for a host gift. Bread is food. Cookies are not. All good though. I ain't complaining. A most magical day indeed.


  5. #4

    What an exciting and memorable day! Thanks for sharing with us!


  6. #5

    You are welcome t42!

    I was so very pleased with the WOC. I think the elements of PETER PAN and STEAMBOAT WILLIE on the Mark Twain in Fantastic bring an amazing human element that always makes me gasp and warms the cockles of my heart. The fact that WOC has no human element makes it a bit trickier. I felt that the pacing on the debut show of WOC was really plodding and it seemed that there was no build. Just song. Another song. Another song. It didn't feel like a piece with movements and I feel that this is what the new WOC show achieved.

    One of the great things about it was the human element of having Neil Patrick Harris narrate the beginning. He appears and even sings which is great because it is Disney and people sing in Disney and then the show gets swept over to 3 distinct movements. Movement one could easily be called "It all started with a mouse" And then Movement two is about "The creation of the first (popular ) animated feature" with a finale montage of ALL features with an encore of "Let it Go." I personally don't think that film will stand the test of time but now it is white HOT (get it? It's called Frozen) Mayhem sang along without missing a beat. A perfect performance.....give the audience what they want.....Then the 3rd movement is a tribute to the LAND"with a finale being a tribute to Walt....

    There is only so much you can do with water so the content is what is important and boy do they nail the build. MOUSE, FEATURE LENGTHS, DISNEYLAND RESORT and a denouement with the man himself. Great rise and great build. And the fountains though a bit redundant move the story along. When you combine the three ring circus element with DIFFERENT projections on the water and on the FUN WHEEL and on the COASTER....you also develop repeat visitors. I just didn't know where to look fast enough. Also it is something for everyone. My favorite thing is definitely the parks so that OF COURSE was my favorite part. Mayhem....it was FROZEN. Other people?? Other things....we all walk away happy. Thumbs up. I look forward to seeing this again. Enthusiastic thumbs up....of course....you do know that I am mad!


  7. #6

    I'm so happy that someone from Mouseplanet won so that I could vicariously experience this! I hope your meeting was too upset that you bailed on them. Now I really want to see the updated World of Color.


  8. #7
    Self-Proclaimed Disney Queen! Pammer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Sacramento, CA

    What a great experience for you & your friends!

    Question...do the vouchers have to be used that day only or can you use them over multiple days?

    Pam
    DL trips: too many to remember actual dates, but they began in the 60s!
    WDW trips: 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2021



  9. #8

    They are dated for that day only and must be used before the park closes. I was left with only ten bucks but like I said.....aparently the bakeries/candy palace are retail. Huh? You can get a churro for the food voucher but not a caramel apple.

    OH!!! And NO change is allowed on vouchers. So if the item costs 8 bucks then you give up a TEN DOLLAR VOUCHER.


  10. #9

    WOW! What an awesome night. Good for you. Thanks so much for letting us be a small part of your day and night.
    Ellen


  11. #10

    You were ALL with me!


  12. #11
    Self-Proclaimed Disney Queen! Pammer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Sacramento, CA
    Quote Originally Posted by MadasaHatter View Post
    They are dated for that day only and must be used before the park closes. I was left with only ten bucks but like I said.....aparently the bakeries/candy palace are retail. Huh? You can get a churro for the food voucher but not a caramel apple.

    OH!!! And NO change is allowed on vouchers. So if the item costs 8 bucks then you give up a TEN DOLLAR VOUCHER.
    Good to know - thanks!
    Pam
    DL trips: too many to remember actual dates, but they began in the 60s!
    WDW trips: 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2021



  13. #12
    Disneyphiles Janis and Aaron's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    36 miles from Disneyland

    Sounds like it was an amazing day! Glad someone from MousePlanet won

    Team "Club 34" - NOW MASTERS!
    1st place Family in MouseAdventure Ready Player One (Spring 2015)
    2nd place Family in MouseAdventure Card Games: Deuces Wild (Spring 2014)
    1st place Family in MouseAdventure 365 (Fall 2013)
    1st place Family in MouseAdventure Musical (Spring 2013) - top score in all of Basic!

  14. #13

    Congratulations, MadasaHatter! The fact that it was Mayhem's 5th birthday (and my husband's, just sayin') is truly a pixie-dusted miracle. Thanks so very much for sharing an experience the rest of us will most likely never have.


Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •