Patty's Disneyland Trip, March 2007--Day 3
Patty Winter
You're invited to read the full report with photos and links at:
http://www.wintertime.com/OH/Disney/DL/DL2007/DL2007-3.html
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Day 3 (Tuesday, March 20)
Today I was expecting Rhonda and Bill to arrive from the
desert. We made plans to meet outside of Disney's California
Adventure at 11:45 a.m., but also gave each other our cell
phone numbers as a backup. I went over to DCA at 9:50 a.m. Even
though the park wasn't scheduled to open until 10:00, I knew
that I could go through the turnstiles to Sunshine Plaza and
wait until the ropes dropped for the rest of the park. To my
surprise, the gate between Sunshine Plaza and Condor Flats was
partway open. I went through it and quickly found myself outside
of Soarin' Over California, where people were already lining up
for the first flights.
Because it's rare for me to get to a theme park at opening,
I wasn't sure what kind of opening ceremony there might be at
DCA, so I asked a CM about it. He said he didn't think there
was really any ceremony at all, so I decided to stay and get
in the single-rider line for Soarin'. I ended up on the first
flight on my side of the building. As a single rider, I was,
of course, at the end of a row. But this time I was on one of
the center aisles, not at the very edge of the theater.
When I got out of Soarin', the whole park was open. I took a few
photos of the little airplane (and the benchmark in front of it)
at Condor Flats, then set off for Highway 49 to get some photos of
the theming there. I was just walking past the Grand Californian
when Rhonda called to say that they were at the Candy Cane already
and would be taking the next shuttle to the park. We agreed
that she would call me again when they arrived. I continued on
to the south end of Highway 49, taking photos of flowers and such.
Then I went up the Grizzly Peak Pass Road. I took a number
of photos along this stretch, which really does look like a
typical road through the Sierra Nevada, with its snow stakes
and hiking-trail signs. I also stopped to take photos of various
parts of Grizzly River Run: the theming behind the loading area,
Frog Jump Falls, and the big drop.
When I left the GRR area, I took my cell phone out of my pocket
and noticed that I had missed a call. I rarely use my cell phone,
and when I do have it on, I keep the alert sound set to a very
quiet clicking noise, so obviously I hadn't heard it over the
noise of the waterfalls. Sure enough, the call had been from
Rhonda. She and Bill were just entering the park, so I told
them to meet me at the benchmark under the Golden Gate Bridge. I
got there a couple of minutes later, and we spent a few minutes
introducing ourselves and exchanging pleasantries.
I suggested that we grab FastPasses for Soarin' and then decide
what to do next. As we left the sheltered area where the FP
machines are, I realized that there were little drops of water
falling from the sky. Uh-oh. I thought the clouds overhead today
were just the standard California marine layer (as I'd seen when
I came in on Sunday), so I hadn't brought any kind of rain gear
with me. I hoped that this would go away soon.
We called Larry and arranged for him to call us when he got to
the park in a couple of hours. Then I made Rhonda use her new
GPS receiver to find a few benchmarks in Condor Flats and along
Highway 49. She got the hang of using the GPS quickly, and she
and Bill found the marks quite easily once the GPS directed them
to the approximate area.
By now it was getting toward lunchtime. I proposed that we eat
at Whitewater Snacks in the Grand Californian rather than taking
time for a sit-down lunch. Bill and Rhonda agreed. But first, we
went to guest services in the hotel to see whether we could get a
reservation for dinner at the Blue Bayou. Nothing was available
until 9:00 p.m., so we made a reservation for lunch tomorrow,
and decided to try Cafe Orleans for dinner tonight. Since that
will put us right on Rue Royale, we can check the BB for openings
before we go into Cafe Orleans. Maybe we'll get lucky!
By the way, I was pleased to see that the carpet in the lobby
of the Grand Californian has finally been replaced. Some of you
may remember that the original one was done in by water damage
when firefighters put out a burning Christmas tree in 2005.
Because the carpet was woven especially for the Grand Californian
--it continues the floral pattern in the adjoining marble--it took
a long time for Disney to get a new one. Meanwhile, they had some
nondescript light-brown carpeting covering the center of the lobby
floor. Much better now!
We then went back to Whitewater Snacks, where we all chose
ready-made sandwiches rather than ordering from the grill. I
prefer to eat outside here, partly to watch the resident cats
and partly to hear the Miner 49ers if they're playing in their
nearby nook on Highway 49. But with the gloomy weather conditions,
we all agreed that we would rather eat indoors today.
I wasn't sure whether Rhonda and Bill had ever seen Grizzly Peak
Pass, so after we finished lunch, I took them up there. Of course,
I kept making them look for benchmarks along the way! By the
time we finished that walk, our FastPasses for Soarin' had become
valid, so we went over there and were on the ride within minutes.
Just as we came out of the Soarin' building and I was getting my
cell phone out of my knapsack to call Larry, I heard someone say,
"I don't think you need that." :-) He knew approximately when
we'd be getting out of Soarin', and had been watching for us
from an outside table at Taste Pilots' Grill.
After a new round of introductions, we decided to head over to
the Hyperion Theatre to see "Aladdin." We had plenty of time until
the next show, so we stopped to find a few benchmarks and take a
few photos on the way. I noticed that the marquee on the fake El
Capitan Theatre is displaying the actual movie that's currently
playing at the real theater.
On arriving at the Hyperion Theater--oops! Turns out that yours
truly had read the printed schedule wrong, and there were no
performances of "Aladdin" today. Okay, what now? Well, how
about Disneyland? That's always a good idea!
We walked across the plaza, entered Disneyland and walked down
Main Street. Before we turned left to enter Adventureland,
we stopped to admire the gorgeous view of the pink-and-blue
Sleeping Beauty Castle framed by bright pink tabebuia trees in
full bloom. I don't recall ever having been here at the right
time to see them bloom before; they were really spectacular.
We got FastPasses for the Indiana Jones Adventure, then
continued on to New Orleans Square to check again about the
Blue Bayou. Still nothing open there, but we were able to make
a reservation at Cafe Orleans for a little before 6:00, which
would allow Larry's wife Julie enough time to get here after work.
We had about an hour until our FastPasses for Indiana Jones
would be usable, so we went on Pirates of the Caribbean, which
Rhonda and Bill hadn't seen since last year's makeover. We all
agreed that the additions of Jack Sparrow, Capt. Barbossa, and
Davy Jones were well done, adding atmosphere to the ride rather
than looking like a marketing ploy to promote the movies.
When we came out of Pirates, we saw the Columbia at the dock,
so we scooted over there to catch it. Turns out we needn't have
hurried, because it wasn't going anywhere. It was open for people
to explore, but wasn't cruising Rivers of America. We were told
that it wasn't operating during the day because of construction
on Tom Sawyer Island (they're adding a pirate-themed area). Larry
and I both guessed that this was an aesthetic rather than safety
issue: that is, Disney doesn't want to diminish the guest
experience by having us going past construction areas during
work hours. (The Mark Twain is out of service for a few months,
so only the Columbia is running now.) The situation was very
different at Knott's Berry Farm yesterday, when I had clear
views of people working on the tracks for the Calico Railroad
and the construction area for the new Sierra Sidewinder coaster.
After we looked around the deck and below-deck areas of the
Columbia for a little while, we walked back to New Orleans
Square and went into Haunted Mansion, without any wait. By
now, our FastPass time for Indy had arrived, so we went there
next. Larry didn't go on the ride because he's been having
some back problems; when we met up with him outside the River
Belle Terrace, he informed us that we had just missed a rain
shower. Perfect timing being inside that long Indy queue and on
the ride itself when the rain came through!
We still had some time before our dinner reservation, and had
Rhonda mentioned that she really likes Star Tours, so we walked
over to Tomorrowland to do that. Because of his back problems,
Larry decided to skip this ride, too. Julie was due to arrive soon
anyway, so Bill, Rhonda, and I made plans to meet the two of them
at the Plaza Inn in a little while. Sure enough, they were both
there when we got out of Star Tours. After introducing Julie to
Bill and Rhonda and chatting for a few minutes, we all walked
back to New Orleans Square and checked in for our reservation
at Cafe Orleans.
I made one final run up to the Blue Bayou, but there still weren't
any cancellations, so we went ahead and ate at Cafe Orleans. Not
that I should make that sound like a bad thing, because it's
a very nice sit-down restaurant now. Larry and Julie and I ate
here with some other friends last September, and I was looking
forward to another opportunity to try their new menu.
This time, I got a house salad and the Creole Ratatouille.
Everyone else got French Onion Soup plus either a crepe or
a salad. Although we were inside (some hardy souls were eating
outside), it was still a bit cool, so we all ended up ordering
hot tea as well. After our entrees, we shared a plate of Mickey-
shaped beignets and a big slice of Dream Cake. The latter is a
new dessert in honor of The Year of a Million Dreams. It has
five layers of chocolate; I didn't catch our server's entire
description, but I know it included chocolate cake, chocolate
mousse, and chocolate ganache.
We discovered that Disney has instituted a new series of pins for
annual pass holders who spend at least $30 at certain Disneyland
Resort restaurants. Last year, there was a series honoring
bygone Disneyland restaurants. The new pins promote the character
dining locations; the current one features Sebastian the crab,
representing Ariel's Grotto in California Adventure. As a "Little
Mermaid" fan, I was delighted by this unexpected treat! Our total
bill tonight entitled us to three pins, so Larry and Julie took
one, then gave one to Bill and Rhonda and one to me. Our waitress
also brought us a slew of chocolate doubloons, so we split those
up, too. (These were originally only available at the Blue Bayou,
but they are now handed out at Cafe Orleans, too. I think that
began last year when Cafe Orleans became a sit-down restaurant.)
We finished dinner just after 7:00, then scooted over to the
hub to see the Parade of Dreams. After that, Larry and Julie
decided to call it an evening. Bill, Rhonda, and I went on
Buzz Lightyear, then caught the 8:15 shuttle back to the Candy
Cane Inn. Their room hadn't been ready when they arrived this
morning, so they checked in and took a few minutes to settle
in to their room before coming over to visit me for a couple of
hours. We wanted to toss around some ideas for a business project
we're doing together, and I also needed to interview them for a
magazine article I'm writing. After they left, I downloaded the
day's photos to my MacBook and caught up on these trip notes
(which I hadn't been doing much during the day). Bedtime was
just before midnight.