Missouri to DLR - Take 2 - Oct 2013 - Updated: Trip Report Complete
- Thread starter MarbleBob
- Start date
MarbleBob
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2003
On to our second day of the vacation!
We woke up early on Sunday and ate breakfast in the room. Cereal, granola bars, nuts, etc. And then we packed up for the day and headed out for Disneyland!!! Yahoo!!!!
The annual CHOC "Walk in the Park" event was held on this day. It's a fund raiser for the Orange County Children's Hospital. Walkers raise money from friends and sponsors and then do a 5k walk through both parks starting around 6:30am. They had 16,000 walkers participate and they were pouring into the "finish zone" as we arrived in Downtown Disney around 8am. It was a nightmare! It wasn't initially obvious how we were supposed to navigate upstream against the current and we got stuck and had to backtrack. It was crazy crowded people everywhere... both the walkers and their families/friends who were there to cheer them on. It's a good thing none of us are claustrophobic!!!
The good news is that they raised $1.8 million to help support the services that the hospital provides for the region's children. Combine that with the fact that we were finally on our way to Disneyland park, and we were all good. It's the Happiest Place on Earth after all!
Extra Magic Hour was 9am at Disneyland and we made it to the line around 8:20. We had a decent position in line, but we weren't exactly close to the turnstiles.
The background is blurred, but this photo gives you an idea of our position.
But... by 8:45 or so, looking back, the lines got crazy long. Almost all the way to the California Adventure entrance. Yikes!!!
We were in for a very crowded day!
We went straight through the castle...
And right over to Peter Pan's Flight
Even with early entry, we still had a 15-20 minute wait. But we were still happy and very excited!!!
I've been on the WDW version countless times, but I don't recall riding the DL version before. I loved the room with all the stars and the volcano. Too cool!
Next we decided to head over to Dumbo. The sign said 40 minutes, but looking at the line I was like, "no way, 10 minutes max". Luckily enough people were fooled by the sign and moved on. Suckers!! (just kidding) It probably only took about 5 minutes to get on the ride
Pickle staring at all the Dumbos!
Getting ready to ride. Yahoo!!
After that, we decided to work our way over to the Matterhorn with stops on the way.
First stop was the Storybook Canal.
Pickle was in awe of all the little buildings and tiny plants.
So were the rest of us!
It was now about 10am and next up was the Mad Tea Party. We knew that this was the last day before a scheduled refurbishment during the rest of our trip, so this was a must do. We love how the DL version is open aired compared to the WDW version. So cool. And you gotta love all the hanging lanterns!!!
As usual, the girls teamed up...
and then Buddy and I were on our own
We had planned to move on to the Matterhorn next, but it was broke down. Boohoo! Oh well, we're here for a few days, we'll try again later.
So, we moved on to Alice In Wonderland since it was close. I rode with Ninja Potato, and of course, we had to get a selfie
Pickle loved the little house outside of the ride's exit
We decided to work our way over to Tomorrowland for Space Mountain. As we passed the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, it had a posted 20 minute wait, so we decided to have Stephanie fetch fast passes for Space Mtn. and the rest of us got in line for Nemo. Everyone loved it, except for Pickle got a bit scared towards the end.
Looking out the portholes and into the abyss...
Well, I've reached the 25 image limit for this post. Stay tuned for the parts 2 and 3 of our first day in the parks
I'll post again tomorrow.
We woke up early on Sunday and ate breakfast in the room. Cereal, granola bars, nuts, etc. And then we packed up for the day and headed out for Disneyland!!! Yahoo!!!!
The annual CHOC "Walk in the Park" event was held on this day. It's a fund raiser for the Orange County Children's Hospital. Walkers raise money from friends and sponsors and then do a 5k walk through both parks starting around 6:30am. They had 16,000 walkers participate and they were pouring into the "finish zone" as we arrived in Downtown Disney around 8am. It was a nightmare! It wasn't initially obvious how we were supposed to navigate upstream against the current and we got stuck and had to backtrack. It was crazy crowded people everywhere... both the walkers and their families/friends who were there to cheer them on. It's a good thing none of us are claustrophobic!!!
The good news is that they raised $1.8 million to help support the services that the hospital provides for the region's children. Combine that with the fact that we were finally on our way to Disneyland park, and we were all good. It's the Happiest Place on Earth after all!
Extra Magic Hour was 9am at Disneyland and we made it to the line around 8:20. We had a decent position in line, but we weren't exactly close to the turnstiles.
The background is blurred, but this photo gives you an idea of our position.
But... by 8:45 or so, looking back, the lines got crazy long. Almost all the way to the California Adventure entrance. Yikes!!!
We were in for a very crowded day!
We went straight through the castle...
And right over to Peter Pan's Flight
Even with early entry, we still had a 15-20 minute wait. But we were still happy and very excited!!!
I've been on the WDW version countless times, but I don't recall riding the DL version before. I loved the room with all the stars and the volcano. Too cool!
Next we decided to head over to Dumbo. The sign said 40 minutes, but looking at the line I was like, "no way, 10 minutes max". Luckily enough people were fooled by the sign and moved on. Suckers!! (just kidding) It probably only took about 5 minutes to get on the ride
Pickle staring at all the Dumbos!
Getting ready to ride. Yahoo!!
After that, we decided to work our way over to the Matterhorn with stops on the way.
First stop was the Storybook Canal.
Pickle was in awe of all the little buildings and tiny plants.
So were the rest of us!
It was now about 10am and next up was the Mad Tea Party. We knew that this was the last day before a scheduled refurbishment during the rest of our trip, so this was a must do. We love how the DL version is open aired compared to the WDW version. So cool. And you gotta love all the hanging lanterns!!!
As usual, the girls teamed up...
and then Buddy and I were on our own
We had planned to move on to the Matterhorn next, but it was broke down. Boohoo! Oh well, we're here for a few days, we'll try again later.
So, we moved on to Alice In Wonderland since it was close. I rode with Ninja Potato, and of course, we had to get a selfie
Pickle loved the little house outside of the ride's exit
We decided to work our way over to Tomorrowland for Space Mountain. As we passed the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, it had a posted 20 minute wait, so we decided to have Stephanie fetch fast passes for Space Mtn. and the rest of us got in line for Nemo. Everyone loved it, except for Pickle got a bit scared towards the end.
Looking out the portholes and into the abyss...
Well, I've reached the 25 image limit for this post. Stay tuned for the parts 2 and 3 of our first day in the parks
I'll post again tomorrow.
EastYorkDisneyFan
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2006
Love the view you had from your room I had a similar one when I Stayed there in 2009.
EastYorkDisneyFan
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2006
Thanks it was stitched together from a few pictures.
MarbleBob
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2003
Did you use Photoshop or something else to stitch it? I'm working on a 360x180 pano of the room based on 8 pictures (6 around, 1 up, and one down). I've been trying to use the free Hugin stitching software (had success with it before) and it's just not working. I can get it to work just fine with the PTGui version of panorama stitching software, but it costs $100 to get a license (and remove the watermarks.) Argh! I'll just have to keep trying 
EastYorkDisneyFan
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2006
Did you use Photoshop or something else to stitch it? I'm working on a 360x180 pano of the room based on 8 pictures (6 around, 1 up, and one down). I've been trying to use the free Hugin stitching software (had success with it before) and it's just not working. I can get it to work just fine with the PTGui version of panorama stitching software, but it costs $100 to get a license (and remove the watermarks.) Argh! I'll just have to keep trying
That one was done with some free software I got with my Nikon point and shot. Unfortunately I can't find it, but have had great success now with a program called Hugin that i found for free.
MarbleBob
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2003
Yeah, I've been working with Hugin too, but it fails on this set of images (need to keep working with the control points.) PTGui works fine with the same images, but I don't want to pay the $100 for something that Hugin should be able to manage for free. Here's an example from PTGui. Not quite there yet, but pretty cool none the less
When finished, I'll be able to load the panorama into a 3d viewer such as Pano2Vr in order to pan around. Here's an example. http://gardengnomesoftware.com/samples/pano2vr_4/burggarten/ Good stuff.
When finished, I'll be able to load the panorama into a 3d viewer such as Pano2Vr in order to pan around. Here's an example. http://gardengnomesoftware.com/samples/pano2vr_4/burggarten/ Good stuff.
EastYorkDisneyFan
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2006
Yeah, I've been working with Hugin too, but it fails on this set of images (need to keep working with the control points.) PTGui works fine with the same images, but I don't want to pay the $100 for something that Hugin should be able to manage for free. Here's an example from PTGui. Not quite there yet, but pretty cool none the less
When finished, I'll be able to load the panorama into a 3d viewer such as Pano2Vr in order to pan around. Here's an example. http://gardengnomesoftware.com/samples/pano2vr_4/burggarten/ Good stuff.
That's pretty cool I know most of the free panoram makers seem to have issue, with finding points to stitch things. I usually end up cutting the bottom and top off with it after it puts it together so you lose some of the curve to it.
The above is one I did with hugin
MarbleBob
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2003
Day 2 - Sunday, October 13 - Continued...
Picking up from where we left off after riding Nemo's Submarines
At that point it was about 11am and we noticed that the Matterhorn was open, but the line was already wrapping around the south side of the mountain and over to the bathrooms. Not cool, Robert Frost! We decided to come back to it later.
So what else are we going to do until the 12:45 FP return time for Space Mtn? I don't know, but "who wants a corn dog?!?!?!?"
I do, I do!!
Disneyland corn dogs are the best!!!
OK. Now what? I mustache you a question... Do you like cotton candy?
At this point we were ready for a bathroom break. No pictures here please.
We decided to head over to ride It's a Small World. We passed by the churro cart and had to make another treat stop for Buddy and Ninja Potato. Mmm... Churros. We arrived in the Small World line at around noon and got to see the character parade and chiming of the clock tower. Awesome!
Time to start making our way back to Space Mtn. We got in line for Pinocchio's Daring Journey, but they closed it a couple minutes later. Oh well....
We thought about moving on to Snow White, but Pickle said it looked too scary. So we headed over to Space Mtn.
We weren't even going to try and convince Pickle to ride this one!!!
So she and I stayed outside while the others rode it first. Pickle had a blast with the giant stone ball or whatever you call it....
...and I was later informed by Stephanie that you actually call it a Kugel ball. (We have the entire set of "The Science of Disney Imagineering" DVD's and Asa Kalama explains how it works on one of them: Newtons 3 Laws of Motion She has a knack for remembering the names of stuff after she see's reference to it. Me? In one ear and out the other. Next time I visit Disneyland I'll probably forget and call it a stone ball "thingy" again) Awesome video series, by the way!
A little while later, they came back. They liked it, but said it was too scary (the ghost galaxy theming, that is.) So, I was all set to put on my macho face. But, it turns out that it wasn't really scary at all. In fact, I thought it was sort of lame. I much prefer the regular non-Halloween version
Still fun though!!!!
So what now? Hmm... Let's get fast passes for Splash Mtn. We decided to split up because Buddy really wanted to ride the train over to the other side of the park. So, Ninja and I took the scooter and stroller over to Splash and got the fast passes, and then we waited for the others to arrive at New Orleans square. The FP return time was 2:35 and it was only about 1:45 when they arrived. So we went over to ride Winnie the Pooh.
Then we went over to Pooh Corner (or whatever it's called to look at the treats.) Buddy and Stephanie decided to pass, but I got some toffee, Pickle made a sugar straw thingy, and Ninja Potato got a caramel apple. We took them over to the Hungry Bear seating area to eat.
The toffee was really fresh and tasted amazing.
Ninja devoured her apple. Yum!
And Pickle went to town on her sugar
Then it was time to head over to Splash Mtn. This was Pickle's first time to ride it, so we were all excited for her. She loved it!
So, then we decided to mosey over to Matterhorn Bobsleds and give it another try. The line took about 25 minutes (not too bad all things considered). This was Pickle's first time on this ride too, and it was her favorite so far!!
I guess that'll do it for Day 2, Part 2. Day 2, Part 3 is up next. Don't turn that dial!
Picking up from where we left off after riding Nemo's Submarines
At that point it was about 11am and we noticed that the Matterhorn was open, but the line was already wrapping around the south side of the mountain and over to the bathrooms. Not cool, Robert Frost! We decided to come back to it later.
So what else are we going to do until the 12:45 FP return time for Space Mtn? I don't know, but "who wants a corn dog?!?!?!?"
I do, I do!!
Disneyland corn dogs are the best!!!
OK. Now what? I mustache you a question... Do you like cotton candy?
At this point we were ready for a bathroom break. No pictures here please.
We decided to head over to ride It's a Small World. We passed by the churro cart and had to make another treat stop for Buddy and Ninja Potato. Mmm... Churros. We arrived in the Small World line at around noon and got to see the character parade and chiming of the clock tower. Awesome!
Time to start making our way back to Space Mtn. We got in line for Pinocchio's Daring Journey, but they closed it a couple minutes later. Oh well....
We thought about moving on to Snow White, but Pickle said it looked too scary. So we headed over to Space Mtn.
We weren't even going to try and convince Pickle to ride this one!!!
So she and I stayed outside while the others rode it first. Pickle had a blast with the giant stone ball or whatever you call it....
...and I was later informed by Stephanie that you actually call it a Kugel ball. (We have the entire set of "The Science of Disney Imagineering" DVD's and Asa Kalama explains how it works on one of them: Newtons 3 Laws of Motion She has a knack for remembering the names of stuff after she see's reference to it. Me? In one ear and out the other. Next time I visit Disneyland I'll probably forget and call it a stone ball "thingy" again
) Awesome video series, by the way!A little while later, they came back. They liked it, but said it was too scary (the ghost galaxy theming, that is.) So, I was all set to put on my macho face. But, it turns out that it wasn't really scary at all. In fact, I thought it was sort of lame. I much prefer the regular non-Halloween version
Still fun though!!!!So what now? Hmm... Let's get fast passes for Splash Mtn. We decided to split up because Buddy really wanted to ride the train over to the other side of the park. So, Ninja and I took the scooter and stroller over to Splash and got the fast passes, and then we waited for the others to arrive at New Orleans square. The FP return time was 2:35 and it was only about 1:45 when they arrived. So we went over to ride Winnie the Pooh.
Then we went over to Pooh Corner (or whatever it's called to look at the treats.) Buddy and Stephanie decided to pass, but I got some toffee, Pickle made a sugar straw thingy, and Ninja Potato got a caramel apple. We took them over to the Hungry Bear seating area to eat.
The toffee was really fresh and tasted amazing.
Ninja devoured her apple. Yum!
And Pickle went to town on her sugar
Then it was time to head over to Splash Mtn. This was Pickle's first time to ride it, so we were all excited for her. She loved it!
So, then we decided to mosey over to Matterhorn Bobsleds and give it another try. The line took about 25 minutes (not too bad all things considered). This was Pickle's first time on this ride too, and it was her favorite so far!!
I guess that'll do it for Day 2, Part 2. Day 2, Part 3 is up next. Don't turn that dial!
PrincessInOz
Thanks for my avatar, Mary Jo!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2010
Great couple of updates! Love the pics. The fisheye looks awesome. The ones of your kids are fantastic. I bet you're pleased with them.
MarbleBob
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2003
Day 2 - Sunday, October 13 - Part 3 of 3
...Continuing from when we got off the Matterhorn bobsleds...
OK. Let's go try Pinocchio again... probably 20 or 30 minute wait. Not too bad considering how crowded it was that day. Sort of a fun ride, but not as cool as so many of the others.
At this point, it was about 5pm and we decided to eat a little early in order to beat the rush. Hmm... Village Haus is close, let's try that? OK, sure why not? ("Because they are super slow and the food isn't that good." That's what I'd tell myself if I could have gone back in time 45 minutes.)
The theming of the restaurant was awesome.
We looked at the menu and made our choices... And then waited, and waited, and waited, and waited....
Finally it came out and we were all happy. Except for the food was mediocre at best.
I went with the Chicken Sausage Sandwich on a pretzel bun. I probably had the best item in the group. It was good, but not great.
Stephanie had the BLT Flatbread. She didn't really care for it and only ate about half.
Guess what pickle had? Yeah, you guessed it. Another mini hamburger. Nom, nom, nom...
Ninja decided that she was still full from her caramel apple and just wanted some french fries.
And Buddy, I forgot to get a picture. Just kidding, he had the pepperoni pizza. Except for he took one bite and refused to continue. He said it was nasty. That must be saying a lot because he loves pizza, even Little Caesars, which the rest of us think is pretty gross. I asked him to rate it on a scale of 1 to 10 and he said negative 1,866. Oh well, we're on vacation, you can get a churro or something later....
At this point, the park was packed like sardines and crazy as all get out, so we decided to head back to the room early.
Ninja Potato agreed to watch Pickle and Buddy in the room while Stephanie and I went down to have a couple drinks at Trader Sam's. We forgot to get a "1st Visit" button for Pickle earlier, so we stopped at the lobby first.
The man behind the counter was like, "1st visit button? No problem, but I saw Mickey in the back a few minutes ago. Let me go see if he's still there and I'll get him to sign a picture for her too."
Awesome!!
(The button was covering her name)
We arrived at Trader Sam's around 8:45pm and it was packed. Luckily we only had to wait a couple minutes before two seats at the bar opened up. Neither of us are big drinkers, but we were excited to visit Trader Sam's because of the theming and reputation (plus we are both big fans of Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily who helped design the place.) Stephanie decided to try the Piranha Pool (Strawberry Vodka blended with Pineapple Juice, Cream of Coconut, Strawberry Puree, and Blue Curacao.) She thought was amazing. I went for the Krakatoa Punch (Reserve and Spiced Rums, Tropical Juices, Orgeat (Almond) Syrup, Sam's Gorilla Grog, and Hibiscus Grenadine) also delish!!! (The punch normally comes in a tiki mug, but they were all out. It did have a glowing red "lava" cube in it though
)
I really wish that I was at Trader Sam's right now
Stephanie was good with her one drink, but I wanted to try something else, so I went with a HippopotoMai-Tai (Light and Dark Rums, Orange Curacao, Orgeat (Almond) Syrup, Organic Agave Nectar, and Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice.) It was also tasty, but I enjoyed the Krakatoa Punch a little bit more It was strong, as the bottle of rum ran out half way through the pour and the bar tender started over with a new bottle. I wasn't complaining 
The atmosphere was festive and bustling. Everyone having a good time. It was the best when someone ordered a special drink. For example, when I ordered my Krakatoa punch, the lights went dim, the building rumbled, and the volcano in the fake window erupted. So cool!!!! When someone ordered a "Shipwreck on the Rocks", there was a thunderstorm sound, flashing lights for lightning, and they squirted water everywhere from behind the bar to simulate rain. Finally, when somone ordered the "Uh Oa!" they had tiki gods (or whatever) chanting similar to Tiki Room while they brought the flaming drink out. So cool. And so fun!! We went back for lunch with the kids later in the week, and I'll share more photos of the bar later in that post.
Finally after a fun time at Trader Sam's, we were feeling pretty good and decided to go out and sit by the fire for a little while. Perfect, it had started to cool off outside and the fire was nice and toasty. After that, we went for a stroll through Downtown Disney and window shipped for a little while.
It was a lot of fun having some alone time with my lovely wife. Thanks Ninja Potato!
At that point, it was around 10pm, so we decided to head back to the room. Luckily, Ninja handled it well and they had a fine time in the room. Pickle and Buddy were actually asleep and Ninja was messing around on her iPad. After an incredibly awesome day, the rest of us turned in for the night too. Good night moon!
...Continuing from when we got off the Matterhorn bobsleds...
OK. Let's go try Pinocchio again... probably 20 or 30 minute wait. Not too bad considering how crowded it was that day. Sort of a fun ride, but not as cool as so many of the others.
At this point, it was about 5pm and we decided to eat a little early in order to beat the rush. Hmm... Village Haus is close, let's try that? OK, sure why not? ("Because they are super slow and the food isn't that good." That's what I'd tell myself if I could have gone back in time 45 minutes.)
The theming of the restaurant was awesome.
We looked at the menu and made our choices... And then waited, and waited, and waited, and waited....
Finally it came out and we were all happy. Except for the food was mediocre at best.
I went with the Chicken Sausage Sandwich on a pretzel bun. I probably had the best item in the group. It was good, but not great.
Stephanie had the BLT Flatbread. She didn't really care for it and only ate about half.
Guess what pickle had? Yeah, you guessed it. Another mini hamburger. Nom, nom, nom...
Ninja decided that she was still full from her caramel apple and just wanted some french fries.
And Buddy, I forgot to get a picture. Just kidding, he had the pepperoni pizza. Except for he took one bite and refused to continue. He said it was nasty. That must be saying a lot because he loves pizza, even Little Caesars, which the rest of us think is pretty gross. I asked him to rate it on a scale of 1 to 10 and he said negative 1,866. Oh well, we're on vacation, you can get a churro or something later....
At this point, the park was packed like sardines and crazy as all get out, so we decided to head back to the room early.
Ninja Potato agreed to watch Pickle and Buddy in the room while Stephanie and I went down to have a couple drinks at Trader Sam's. We forgot to get a "1st Visit" button for Pickle earlier, so we stopped at the lobby first.
The man behind the counter was like, "1st visit button? No problem, but I saw Mickey in the back a few minutes ago. Let me go see if he's still there and I'll get him to sign a picture for her too."
Awesome!!
(The button was covering her name)
We arrived at Trader Sam's around 8:45pm and it was packed. Luckily we only had to wait a couple minutes before two seats at the bar opened up. Neither of us are big drinkers, but we were excited to visit Trader Sam's because of the theming and reputation (plus we are both big fans of Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily who helped design the place.) Stephanie decided to try the Piranha Pool (Strawberry Vodka blended with Pineapple Juice, Cream of Coconut, Strawberry Puree, and Blue Curacao.) She thought was amazing. I went for the Krakatoa Punch (Reserve and Spiced Rums, Tropical Juices, Orgeat (Almond) Syrup, Sam's Gorilla Grog, and Hibiscus Grenadine) also delish!!! (The punch normally comes in a tiki mug, but they were all out. It did have a glowing red "lava" cube in it though
)I really wish that I was at Trader Sam's right now
Stephanie was good with her one drink, but I wanted to try something else, so I went with a HippopotoMai-Tai (Light and Dark Rums, Orange Curacao, Orgeat (Almond) Syrup, Organic Agave Nectar, and Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice.) It was also tasty, but I enjoyed the Krakatoa Punch a little bit more
It was strong, as the bottle of rum ran out half way through the pour and the bar tender started over with a new bottle. I wasn't complaining The atmosphere was festive and bustling. Everyone having a good time. It was the best when someone ordered a special drink. For example, when I ordered my Krakatoa punch, the lights went dim, the building rumbled, and the volcano in the fake window erupted. So cool!!!! When someone ordered a "Shipwreck on the Rocks", there was a thunderstorm sound, flashing lights for lightning, and they squirted water everywhere from behind the bar to simulate rain. Finally, when somone ordered the "Uh Oa!" they had tiki gods (or whatever) chanting similar to Tiki Room while they brought the flaming drink out. So cool. And so fun!! We went back for lunch with the kids later in the week, and I'll share more photos of the bar later in that post.
Finally after a fun time at Trader Sam's, we were feeling pretty good and decided to go out and sit by the fire for a little while. Perfect, it had started to cool off outside and the fire was nice and toasty. After that, we went for a stroll through Downtown Disney and window shipped for a little while.
It was a lot of fun having some alone time with my lovely wife. Thanks Ninja Potato!
At that point, it was around 10pm, so we decided to head back to the room. Luckily, Ninja handled it well and they had a fine time in the room. Pickle and Buddy were actually asleep and Ninja was messing around on her iPad. After an incredibly awesome day, the rest of us turned in for the night too. Good night moon!
PrincessInOz
Thanks for my avatar, Mary Jo!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2010
Hmmmm.....mediocre food at Disney? Who would have thought??? 
Another great update. Looks like you and DW had a blast at Trader Sam's. I'm not a big drinker; so we tend to avoid the bar areas. I think I need to address this oversight next time. Sounds like a great place to hang out.
Another great update. Looks like you and DW had a blast at Trader Sam's. I'm not a big drinker; so we tend to avoid the bar areas. I think I need to address this oversight next time. Sounds like a great place to hang out.
MarbleBob
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2003
You most definitely should visit Trader Sam's on your next trip!!!! The ambiance and atmosphere is amazing. Lots of good energy in there. They have non-alcoholic concoctions too. We aren't big drinkers either, and Stephanie usually never finishes a drink if/when she has one. Not a drop left in her drink this time. Good stuff!!! 
tksbaskets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2002
I'm really enjoying your trip report. I've just crossed that CS place by Pinoccio off our list.
How nice that you and your wife got to sneak away for some adult time. Thanks for sharing the magical moment when the cast member had Mickey sign the picture for your little one.
Looking forward to more
How nice that you and your wife got to sneak away for some adult time. Thanks for sharing the magical moment when the cast member had Mickey sign the picture for your little one.
Looking forward to more
MarbleBob
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2003
Day 3 - Monday, October 15 - California Adventure
Extra Magic Hour was for California Adventure at 8am on Monday. We got up early and ate cereal, bagels, nuts, etc. in the room again and then headed out towards the parks. We arrived at the bag check around 7:15am. They were holding people there until around 7:30 or so, so we just waited in that line for a while. When they let us through, we headed towards the middle turnstiles. We were about 5th or 6th in line at first, but when they finally opened up the gate, the first family went to the left and we ended up first in line for the right side. Cool!
OK. So are we ready for this "wide right" stuff? I don't know but let's go!! It was crazy, people were running down Buena Vista Street. I'm glad I had that scooter, because there was no way that I could have kept up with everyone on my bum foot!!! We did our best to keep right, but since we had a stroller and a scooter, it was hard to keep up. You need to keep a safety "zone" in front of you in case the person ahead of you chooses to stop unexpectedly. People kept on stepping into that buffer space, which was a bit frustrating. Oh well, I'm at Carsland, who cares?!?!?! We finally made it through town and down to Radiator Springs Racers. We ditched the scooter and stroller in front of Ramone's shop. And then made our way through the line.
I've got to say, RSR was seriously cool! One of my new favorite rides!!! Everyone loved it!
Next we decided to head over to Luigi's Flying Tires. The theming of the tire shop and the queuing area was really cool! The ride was fun, but not something I'd ride over and over. Ninja Potato thought it was sort of lame.
Next stop was the Maters Junkyard Jamboree. Except for, hey look, theres Mater himself, and there isnt any line. Lets go see him!!
OK. How can we be at these cool Cozy Cone snack stands and not get anything? Churro bites anyone?
Yummy!
OK. Time for the Mater ride
We all loved this one! It was fun to hear Mater sing songs while we zoomed around on the tractors. Too cool!
At this point, the Extra Magic Hour was coming to an end and the non-resort guests would be arriving soon. We decided to split up, so that Stephanie and Pickle could go grab World of Color Fast Passes, and the rest of us went over to ride California Scream'n. This is Buddy's favorite ride in all of Disney (with Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom being a close second.)
Except for it was closed... They said it would open later in the day. Oh well, we'll try again later!!!!
So, let's go ride Toy Story while we wait for Stephanie and Pickle!
They arrived back at California Screamin' with the Fast Passes and called us to find out that we were on Toy Story. They road King Tritan's courosel to pass the time.
And then, Stephanie noticed that Screamin' was open now, so she called us and we went straight over to ride it. They rode the carousel again and grabbed 5 Screamin fast passes with our tickets.
Then we decided to head over to the fun wheel, but it was closed
We decided to continue working our way around the pier. Next stop were the swings. Awesome, but Pickle chickened out at the last minute and Steph waited behind with her.
Next stop was the Jelly Fish ride. It looked like a short line, but it wasn't as they had only one tower going. And then when we got all buckled in, they said it was malfunctioning and they had us get off. They started up the second one and sent us over there. Short ride for such a long wait, but Pickle was very happy!
The line for Goofy's Sky School was getting long, so we grabbed fast passes for it, and decided to head back over to California Screamin'. Stephanie rode with the older two this time, and I rode the caoursel with Pickle. Then the Ninja/Buddy rode it again with the remaining fast passes while Steph and I took Pickle to meet Jessie.
Then we headed back and rode Goofy. The ride is a bit jerky, but it's fun!
OK. Time for lunch!!!
Stephanie and I wanted to eat at the Garden Grill. Buddy and Pickle wanted corn dogs again, so Steph took them over there first. Ninja and I went to scope out the Garden Grill options and Ninja decided she didn't want anything from there, so we called Steph to grab her a corn dog too. Then Steph and I got our meals.
She got the beef gyro with couscous. She really liked it. I had a bite and liked it too. Good stuff Maynard!!
I went with the beef shish kabob and rice. Oh my goodness, that was really good!!!
This was probably the best counter service meal that we ate the whole week. (A gazillion times better than Village Haus the evening before!) Really tasty stuff!!!
Stay tuned... Next post(s) will cover our afternoon and World of Color. In the mean time, Game 2 starts in 30 minutes, let's try this again, Go Cards!!!!
Extra Magic Hour was for California Adventure at 8am on Monday. We got up early and ate cereal, bagels, nuts, etc. in the room again and then headed out towards the parks. We arrived at the bag check around 7:15am. They were holding people there until around 7:30 or so, so we just waited in that line for a while. When they let us through, we headed towards the middle turnstiles. We were about 5th or 6th in line at first, but when they finally opened up the gate, the first family went to the left and we ended up first in line for the right side. Cool!
OK. So are we ready for this "wide right" stuff? I don't know but let's go!! It was crazy, people were running down Buena Vista Street. I'm glad I had that scooter, because there was no way that I could have kept up with everyone on my bum foot!!! We did our best to keep right, but since we had a stroller and a scooter, it was hard to keep up. You need to keep a safety "zone" in front of you in case the person ahead of you chooses to stop unexpectedly. People kept on stepping into that buffer space, which was a bit frustrating. Oh well, I'm at Carsland, who cares?!?!?! We finally made it through town and down to Radiator Springs Racers. We ditched the scooter and stroller in front of Ramone's shop. And then made our way through the line.
I've got to say, RSR was seriously cool! One of my new favorite rides!!! Everyone loved it!
Next we decided to head over to Luigi's Flying Tires. The theming of the tire shop and the queuing area was really cool! The ride was fun, but not something I'd ride over and over. Ninja Potato thought it was sort of lame.
Next stop was the Maters Junkyard Jamboree. Except for, hey look, theres Mater himself, and there isnt any line. Lets go see him!!
OK. How can we be at these cool Cozy Cone snack stands and not get anything? Churro bites anyone?
Yummy!
OK. Time for the Mater ride
We all loved this one! It was fun to hear Mater sing songs while we zoomed around on the tractors. Too cool!
At this point, the Extra Magic Hour was coming to an end and the non-resort guests would be arriving soon. We decided to split up, so that Stephanie and Pickle could go grab World of Color Fast Passes, and the rest of us went over to ride California Scream'n. This is Buddy's favorite ride in all of Disney (with Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom being a close second.)
Except for it was closed... They said it would open later in the day. Oh well, we'll try again later!!!!
So, let's go ride Toy Story while we wait for Stephanie and Pickle!
They arrived back at California Screamin' with the Fast Passes and called us to find out that we were on Toy Story. They road King Tritan's courosel to pass the time.
And then, Stephanie noticed that Screamin' was open now, so she called us and we went straight over to ride it. They rode the carousel again and grabbed 5 Screamin fast passes with our tickets.
Then we decided to head over to the fun wheel, but it was closed
We decided to continue working our way around the pier. Next stop were the swings. Awesome, but Pickle chickened out at the last minute and Steph waited behind with her.
Next stop was the Jelly Fish ride. It looked like a short line, but it wasn't as they had only one tower going. And then when we got all buckled in, they said it was malfunctioning and they had us get off. They started up the second one and sent us over there. Short ride for such a long wait, but Pickle was very happy!
The line for Goofy's Sky School was getting long, so we grabbed fast passes for it, and decided to head back over to California Screamin'. Stephanie rode with the older two this time, and I rode the caoursel with Pickle. Then the Ninja/Buddy rode it again with the remaining fast passes while Steph and I took Pickle to meet Jessie.
Then we headed back and rode Goofy. The ride is a bit jerky, but it's fun!
OK. Time for lunch!!!
Stephanie and I wanted to eat at the Garden Grill. Buddy and Pickle wanted corn dogs again, so Steph took them over there first. Ninja and I went to scope out the Garden Grill options and Ninja decided she didn't want anything from there, so we called Steph to grab her a corn dog too. Then Steph and I got our meals.
She got the beef gyro with couscous. She really liked it. I had a bite and liked it too. Good stuff Maynard!!
I went with the beef shish kabob and rice. Oh my goodness, that was really good!!!
This was probably the best counter service meal that we ate the whole week. (A gazillion times better than Village Haus the evening before!) Really tasty stuff!!!
Stay tuned... Next post(s) will cover our afternoon and World of Color. In the mean time, Game 2 starts in 30 minutes, let's try this again, Go Cards!!!!
Share this page
-
We Are Learning to Draw Two Princess & The Frog Characters!
-
Which Pixar Character Are You? We Took the D23 Quiz!
-
We Are 'Goin' Down The Bayou' With Two Disneyland Recipes!
-
New Donald Duck + Disney Munchling Merch Coming to Disney Parks
-
5 Steps to Completing Your Character Autograph Book in Disney Parks
GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
