Patty's Disneyland Trip, March 2007--Day 1
Patty Winter
You can see the full report plus links and photos here:
http://www.wintertime.com/OH/Disney/DL/DL2007/DL2007-1.html
======================================
Day 1 (Sunday, March 18)
I got to bed at a reasonable time last night, but woke up for some
reason about 4:00 a.m. It took me a while to get back to sleep,
so I wasn't too thrilled when the radio came on at 7:00. At
least I don't have to get up super early to go to Disneyland,
unlike flying across the country to Walt Disney World. I can take
a midmorning flight and still be at the parks by early afternoon.
Today my cab arrived about 8:10, and I was at San Jose
International, finished with check-in, and through security by
soon after 8:30. I got a banana-nut muffin at Starbucks, settled
into a seat at the Southwest gate, and read the newspaper and
munched on the muffin until my flight was called. We went wheels
up at 10:00 a.m.
I haven't flown Southwest very much, but so far, I've always been
in boarding group A, so I've gotten good seats. This time, I chose
a window seat on the left side of the plane. I had correctly
calculated that by 10:00 a.m., the sun wouldn't be right in my
face on that side, and I find the eastern view more interesting
on the San Jose to southern California route. With luck, I can
even see the Sierra Nevada mountains.
I got a view of my neighborhood just after we took off, Mount
Diablo to the east, and all the way north to Mount Tamalpais in
Marin County. In fact, I may have also seen Mount Saint Helena
in Napa County. As we headed south, I got the usual nice view of
Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton, and I could see the Sierra
through the haze in the distance.
The head flight attendant had that trademark Southwest humor. He
tried to cut down on the cabin crew's workload by repeating softly
over the PA system, "You are getting sleepy...you are getting very
sleepy...." After giving a couple of announcements, he concluded
by saying "Enjoy your nap." It didn't work though--it was, after
all, the middle of the day--so he and his colleagues gave up and
served us drinks and peanuts.
Just as we were passing San Luis Reservoir east of Hollister, the
captain gave us permission to use approved electronic devices,
so I turned on my GPS receiver. The poor little thing took a
long time to get a reading, even though it was receiving several
satellites. I suspect that moving at more than 500 miles an hour
made it hard for the receiver, because as soon as it figured out
where it was, it wasn't there any more. :-) When it finally locked
in, it read 548 mph, and I later saw it go up to 565 mph. Kinda
fun to see three digits in the speed display. :-)
I got some good looks at the Sierras off in the distance, the San
Andreas Fault complex, and the Tehachapi Mountains (they're the
ones that run roughly east-west, dividing central and southern
California). But as soon as we crossed over the Tehachapis, we
were over solid clouds. Specifically, the marine layer coming off
the Pacific Ocean. Below me was an ocean of fog as far as I could
see, all the way east to the San Gabriel mountains at the edge
of the Los Angeles basin. A few minutes later, my GPS receiver
said that we were out over the real ocean, but I couldn't tell
the difference visually from when we'd been over land. So much
for sunny California! Well, at least there was a chance of the
marine layer burning off this afternoon, so maybe I'd get some
sun after all.
As we got closer to Orange County, the head flight attendant
said they'd be making a final swing through the cabin to pick
up trash. Then he added, "We'll also be happy to take any ones,
fives, tens, or twenties you may want to dispose of." Good try!
We landed at John Wayne Airport just after 11:00 a.m. I was out the
door with my luggage about 20 minutes later, just in time to see
a Disneyland Express bus pulling away. When I went to the booth
to get a ticket, the attendant told me there'd be another one in
about 15 minutes, but it turned out to be more like 35. I've only
taken this shuttle once before, and I didn't have to wait nearly
that long the other time. So I don't know whether such delays are
common. I was beginning to wish that I'd stayed with SuperShuttle,
which I used to take before I found out about this other service.
I finally left the airport at noon, arriving at the Candy Cane Inn
(it was the first stop) at 12:30. I asked for--and received--a room
on the second floor of the south wing, which provides good views
of the Disneyland fireworks. Before I left the office, I made a
reservation for a shuttle bus to Knott's Berry Farm for tomorrow.
My assigned room (#236) was almost at the end of that wing, the
farthest away from the office I've ever been, so I'll have to
allow a little extra time to walk to the shuttle bus stop. Nice
view of Tower of Terror, though!
I unpacked, then turned on the computer for a few minutes to make
sure that the wi-fi access was working properly. My door was open,
and although the elevators on ToT face away from the Candy Cane,
I could hear riders screaming.
The Candy Cane's shuttle runs every half hour, so I caught the
1:00 p.m. bus to Disneyland. It was actually running late (some
sort of lateness disease hitting all the shuttle buses in Orange
County today? :-) ), but by 1:30, I was walking through the gates
of Disney's California Adventure.
I should explain briefly why I headed for DCA. Partly it was
because I'm growing increasingly fond of that park, but mostly
it was because I wanted to stay away from Disneyland until
later in the day. Today was the 40th anniversary of Pirates of
the Caribbean, and there was a big event happening with some
of the ride's original developers (including Alice Davis, who
did the costumes; Blaine Gibson, who developed the characters;
and X Atencio, who wrote the music), plus memorabilia designers
such as Robert Olszewski and Christopher Radko. I'd seen enough
reports from previous special events to know how crowded they
can make the park-- especially the always-congested New Orleans
Square area--so I decided to avoid the place for a while.
Once in DCA, I headed for Soarin' and picked up a FastPass, which
had a return time of 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Then I doubled back to
the information kiosk in Sunshine Plaza and asked the attendant
about today's schedules for street entertainment. The times guide
I picked up on my way into the park gave me the schedules for the
Miner 49ers bluegrass band and the Mariachi Divas, but I wanted
to know when PUSH the talking trashcan would be around.
The attendant also offered to find out whether the Muppet Mobile
Lab would be here today. This is a brand-new self-propelling
audio-animatronic creation that was at DCA a couple of weeks
before my trip. I'd heard that it was only in the park briefly
for testing, so I didn't really expect to see it. Sure enough,
the CM found out that it was back at Walt Disney Imagineering. She
couldn't find PUSH on her schedule, either, so she called over
to City Hall in Disneyland. They told her that he'd be off until
summer, at which time he'd be back in Tomorrowland. Huh? After
he just moved from Tomorrowland to DCA last year? Oh well...
By now, I hadn't eaten since that half-muffin before my plane
flight, so I decided to try someplace new and chose Cocina
Cucamonga in the Golden State area of DCA. It took me about half
an hour to get my food, which consisted of a chicken burrito with
rice and beans. While I was standing in line waiting and waiting
and waiting, I had plenty of time to enjoy the theming of this
area, including the cute lizards on the pavement indicating the
directions to and from the order and pickup windows.
I finished my burrito just before 2:30 and decided to catch the
Miner 49ers, who were just due to be starting a set. I walked
across the bridge and turned right at Golden Dreams (the building
that looks like the Palace of Fine Arts). I was now on the San
Francisco-themed street that would take me to Highway 49, where
the Miner 49ers perform. As I walked toward the Eureka Gold &
Timber Company's water wheel, I noticed a crowd gathered at
the intersection of the two roads. There was only one reason
I knew of why there would be people standing around that exact
spot. Sure enough, as I got closer, I spotted PUSH. So much for
"he's off until summer and then will be in Tomorrowland"!
I caught about 5-10 minutes of this appearance. After PUSH went
backstage, I had a brief conversation with his handler, who said
that he knew of no plans to move PUSH back to Disneyland. He noted
that there had been some radio interference problems between PUSH
and the Jedi Training Academy. Also, the area around Buzz and Star
Tours is rather constricted; PUSH has more room at DCA. So it was
no wonder that PUSH's handler summarized the situation by saying,
"He's happy here." I guess it was a case of the left hand not
knowing what the right hand is doing, in this case the hands
being Disneyland and DCA.
After my unexpected PUSH encounter, I continued up Highway 49
and caught the last part of the Miner 49ers' set. Then I spent
a few minutes taking photos of the Grand Californian and looking
for the cats that hang out next to Whitewater Snacks in the Grand
Californian. (Highway 49 gets within about 20-30 feet of the hotel,
so I could see the outside seating area for the snack bar without
leaving DCA.) I spotted the pretty calico, who was sunning herself
on a ledge outside the enclosed patio. While I was watching,
a guest at the restaurant put some food onto the ledge for her,
and even managed to pet her a little bit. Tough life. :-)
I also took some photos of the flowers in bloom along Highway
49. I'm particularly fond of columbine, so I was delighted to
see several different colors of them.
PUSH's CM had told me when they'd be back, so I sat down and caught
up on my trip report notes for a while, then went back to the
edge of the Grizzly Peak Recreation Area to see PUSH. I left there
while he was still rolling around and headed to the other side of
the park to see whether I could get into the 4:05 performance of
"Aladdin." If you haven't seen it, this is a delightful 40-minute
version of the Disney movie, with excellent special effects and
a genie who spouts an ever-changing repertoire of anachronistic
and Disney-related jokes.
I had no problem getting into the show. My friends Julie and Larry
tipped me off last year to the advantages of sitting just behind
the crosswise aisle in the orchestra, but I wasn't able to get into
the orchestra line this time. Still, the mezzanine was fine, giving
me a fun eye-level view of the carpet during the flying scenes.
The genie's jokes this time included references to Britney Spears
and Indiana Jones ("Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes?!"), and
even a joke that broke the fourth wall ("Just a street rat? Kid,
your name's on the marquee!").
I got out of Aladdin just after 5:00, and decided to see what
the line was like at Monsters Inc., which I'd only ridden once
before. There was a 40-minute wait for that, so I went into the
Muppets 3D show that was just about to start. The Muppets are
always fun. And so is the queue area, with its poster take-offs
on famous movies (Lawrence of Amphibia, etc.).
After that show ended, I wandered around the Hollywood Pictures
Backlot area for a few minutes, taking photos of the punny
shop names.
Then I browsed through the Greetings from California gift shop
for a while as I waited for my Soarin' FastPass time. I got in
line at Soarin' a few minutes after 6:00, and was off the ride
about 20 minutes later.
By now, I was feeling the need for a Disneyland fix! I figured the
crowds from the Pirates event should have dissipated. I got over
there just as the parade was starting, but managed to make my way
down Main Street and through the hub to Adventureland. (Normally,
I would consider taking the train to New Orleans Square when
Main Street is crowded, but unfortunately, it's currently out
of service.)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye had a 45-minute
wait, so I passed by that. Unexpectedly, Pirates only had a
15-minute wait posted, so I got in line there, under a banner
about the 40th-anniversary celebration. It was actually 20 minutes
before I got on the ride, but that wasn't bad. Luckily, none of
the idiots taking flash photos of Jack Sparrow were in my boat
or the ones right near mine.
Upon emerging from Pirates, I headed for the Bengal Barbecue
to get some dinner. But as I walked past Tarzan's Treehouse,
I realized that I'd still never been in it since it was changed
from its original Swiss Family Robinson theme. So up I went. I
wasn't too impressed; am I correct that the rooms had more
furniture and personal belongings in them previously? I guess
Tarzan wouldn't be expected to have many personal possessions,
but their lack left the rooms seeming rather bare.
After coming down from the treehouse, I picked up a chicken
skewer and a vegetable skewer at Bengal, and took them back to
New Orleans Square, where I found a place to sit overlooking
the river. These skewers are my favorite counter-service food at
Disneyland; they taste good, and they're healthy.
I decided to scope out the situation in Fantasyland, so after
finishing my food, I walked over there via the Big Thunder
Trail. I stopped for a minute to take some photos of one of my
favorite pieces of Disneyland theming. They could have just made
the phone booth on BTT look like an old western shack, but they
went beyond that and painted a lovely mural about the U.S. Cavalry.
The Storybook Land Canal Boats and the Matterhorn both had
pretty long lines, so I kept walking to Main Street and out of
the park. I wanted to get to California Adventure before 8:45 to
see the Electrical Parade. I got to that park about 8:15, bought
a hot-fudge sundae at Bur-r-r Bank Ice Cream, and started walking
toward Paradise Pier, looking for a place to watch the parade.
I found an open spot on a bench below the Vineyard Room. There
were two women from the San Fernando Valley already sitting there,
and we had a nice time chatting while waiting for the parade,
which arrived in our area a little after 9:00 p.m. Maybe it's
just because I've enjoyed this parade at Disneyland for decades
and have an attachment to it, but I really do prefer it over
SpectroMagic at Walt Disney World.
It was close to 9:30 by the time the last float passed our
position. I thought about heading over to Disneyland to see the
fireworks, but they started just as I reached Sunshine Plaza. I
took one look at the hundreds of other people going out the
exits of DCA, and realized there was no way I could get over
to Disneyland any time soon. So I turned toward the Hollywood
Pictures Backlot to check out the line at Monsters Inc. That
ride was nearly a walk-on. I came out just in time to catch the
final bursts of the fireworks between the towers of the Golden
Gate Bridge. (But not, unfortunately, in time to dig my camera
out of my knapsack. Note to self: get a photo of this next time!)
By now, the crowds leaving DCA had dissipated, so I headed back to
DL. While unpacking earlier today, I had noticed that although I
successfully remembered to bring just about every possible type
of electronic device and all the accessories for them, I had
neglected to pack any pajamas! Well, it wouldn't be the first
time I'd slept in a t-shirt, but I thought I'd see whether any
of the local stores had adult-sized nightwear.
I asked in one shop and was directed to Disney Clothiers, which,
sure enough, had women's PJs in several colors. None of the colors
were ones I would normally select, but I figured I'd rather have
real nightclothes than quibble about style, so I settled on some
Thumper-themed pajamas. Knowing that the Main Street shops would
be open until the bitter end of Disneyland's operating hours,
I decided to buy the PJs on my way out of the park later instead
of having to carry them with me.
My travel yeti, Grogs Chung Skra Can ("Small Hairy Friend") was
still pining for a bobsled ride on the Matterhorn to see his cousin
the Abominable Snowman, so I walked down Main Street and took the
turnoff just before the castle. There was still about a 30-minute
wait, so once again, I postponed my Matterhorn plans. (See my
January, 2007 WDW trip report for the story of my new travel yeti.)
A quick walk over to Small World revealed a very short line, so
I went on that. After surviving Small World, I checked out the
line for Peter Pan; long as always. By now it was approaching
10:30 p.m., so I decided to leave for the night. I did stop at
Disney Clothiers to get the pajamas I'd seen earlier. I think
from now on, I'll keep them in my suitcase for future trips so
that I don't have to go through this again!
I made it out to the bus stop in time for the 10:45 p.m. shuttle
to the Candy Cane Inn. I downloaded today's photos from my camera
to my MacBook, read my email, and snuggled into bed in my new
Thumper PJs just before midnight.
Sandi Femino
pat...@sonic.net (Patty Winter) wrote:
> You can see the full report plus links and photos here:
>
> http://www.wintertime.com/OH/Disney/DL/DL2007/DL2007-1.html
Thanks for doing this, Patty. Always a pleasure to read your TRs,
especially accompanied by photos!
Glad to hear good things about Candy Cane.
--
Sandi
Unknown
Sandi Femino <fem...@NOSPAMcomcast.net> wrote:
>
>Thanks for doing this, Patty. Always a pleasure to read your TRs,
>especially accompanied by photos!
Thanks, Sandi!
>Glad to hear good things about Candy Cane.
Yeah, it's one of those places that if no one told you differently,
you'd think from the name that it was one of those uber-kitschy motels
left over from the '50s, like the Alpine Inn around the corner. Maybe
it was originally (anyone here know, or got old photos?), but it's
long since been turned into the tastefully decorated wrought-iron-
and-bougainvilleas inn that one sees today. And free wi-fi! :-)
Patty
Sandi Femino
Patty Winter (pat...@wintertime.com) wrote:
We had it booked for the CA/DL trip we had to cancel Feb./ March of '06.
Still figuring on combining it one of these days with a visit to DD,
coffee with you, a trip down the the PCHighway and a visit to DL!
--
Sandi
Anne - EZ Fun Guide to WDW
> In article <femino-FC83F5.09012623052...@comcast.dca.giganews.com>,
Hi, Patty,
Love your report! I'm so glad that I visited DL and DCA last November
so I can follow along now.
Also glad to hear about the Candy Cane Inn. I'll put it on my list of
hotels to check out.
Happy day,
Anne
EZ Fun Guide to Walt Disney World: www.ez-wdw.com
Also available on Amazon.com
Tip Blog: www.ez-wdw.com/tip-blog
Anne - EZ Fun Guide to WDW
Hi, Patty,
Anne - EZ Fun Guide to WDW
Hi, Patty,