2018 Club Trip

[DisneyKaren]

Mon - Thur


Monday I was on my own most of the day and went into DCA, first off was Sourin’, followed by grabbing a FP to do it again later.  First time I grabbed hold of both arm rests (I had a seat at the front) and the second time just one.  This time I specifically asked if I could have a back row and the understanding cast member was very obliging; helped I was first in line so probably not an issue for him. I’m not good with heights but I love this ride and seeing the feet above me levels my head.  I met Mickey and Goofy in their DCA Halloween outfits, watched Newsies – I love this show – and then bought a bat wings ice-cream and took it to Frozen at the Hyperion.  Like Keith, I really enjoyed the show..…. as well as the ice-cream although it was too much for me and I didn’t get through all the waffle cone.  Checking out the character meet & greets I headed to Judy & Nick and arrived before them so loitered and jumped in line as soon as I saw that tell-tale cast member.  I’d never had a photo with them so I’m really glad I made an effort to be there just before their start time.  Turns out Chip & Dale wander around the kids area so I was happy not to go chase them down.

Finally I made it to Animation Academy which I love.  I drew Miguel and have to say it wasn’t bad considering my limited drawing abilities.  I met Minnie in her DL Halloween outfit, however this time one of the last to be allowed before she went in for a rest.  As I was in the area, I was fortunate to see Newsies again.

Meeting with BRCA at Carthay Circle bar, we had wine and cocktails (ice cream for the kids) and I had amazing chicken tacos from the kids menu.  At sit-down restaurants I do ask cast members if I can order off the kids menu and thankfully, to date, they’ve always been obliging.  We spent some time in cars land, another ride on Luigi’s and we watched the lights come on, gradually down the street, which was fun. 

With a tip from Brad that Ariel’s looked like a quite place for the parade, I spent some time wandering around taking night photos and heading to Bourdins for, yes, a children’s meal, then I went to Ariel’s to find a place for Paint the Night.  Turns out the bins are great, people set up around them, not behind them and it makes a great table for eating, then perfect to rest on.  Honestly, they are probably cleaner than my home bin!  This was the first time I’d seen Paint the Night and it was lots of fun.

My Tuesday morning was pretty much what you’ve read from Keith.  Later in the day I thought it a good idea to go back to my hotel for a bit before the Halloween Party – bad idea!  Arriving back at the parks I suddenly remembered those long lines I saw Friday (I have a short memory).  Thankfully the lines weren’t quite as bad and moved relatively well, possibly due to being mid-week. 
I enjoyed the party.  First I went to Toon Town where the party started early and had a photo with one of the photo frames cast members have, then got in line to meet Daisy as it seemed the shortest.  After my photo I could barely see other characters through the hordes of people, so I navigated through the swelling crowds back to a much calmer Main Street.  Wayne and Jennifer kindly let me join them for the party.  We did some trick or treating and enjoyed going through the cast member walkways behind Main Street, watching the Cadaver Dans on the Rivers of America and of course the fireworks and parade.  We watched the Main Street building projections then found a safe spot sitting at Jolly Holiday for a snack to watch the parade from a distance.  After spilling onto the streets to watch the Castle show and fireworks, we then headed opposite the closed Matterhorn to see the parade up close.   I will say with the number of people, I’m not sure how worth the money it is, however I’ll probably do the Christmas party one year and I’m sure if I’m there at Halloween I’ll go again anyway! 

I won’t recap Wednesday as I’m planning to use Keith’s blog to remind me what I did and saw.

Thursday morning I just made it to the Goofy photo line before it was closed off.  The cast member kept advising people the line was closed as Goofy was down to the bone (for those who weren’t there – he was dressed as a Skelton).  After a large number of people were turned away, Jan and Les came up and jumped in line with me; as the cast member tried to say the line was closed, Jan told him they were with me so he happily let them stay.  Well done Jan!

After the group photo and a fun Jungle Cruise, I took a ride on the Mark Twain with BRCA and saw more of the Star Wars land.  While not a Star Wars fan, I’m looking forward to the land all the same.  I may wait a while though before going to see it. Actually once it opens, may be a good time to head to WDW and get into Pandora at AK in the hope the crowds are at the newer lands.
Rebecca and Lauren had made bookings for Lamplight Lounge.  For some reason we couldn’t get a table for 7 so they each made bookings 5mins apart and we just asked when we arrived to sit together.  Of course the cast easily arranged this.  I was nearly running late as …yes..... big news …. Coco Ears are in stock!!!!  My new ears in hand, I joined BRCA, Lauren and Matthew at Lamplight Lounge.   It’s totally worth the visit, those Disney Imagineers missed nothing.  From the artwork on the walls and a few of the chairs, the replica Pixar boardroom, right down to the kitchen one-way doors with ‘Inside’ (with a picture of Joy) on one and ‘Out’ (picture of Sadness) on the other.  I’ll try to upload some photos as I think they show it far better than words.  Again I ordered from the kids menu and had a non-alcoholic cocktail, the ‘2319’ – strawberry puree, cream of coconut, pineapple juice and coca-cola – really good.  My decision for non-alcoholic was partly I hadn’t eaten enough and may have been partly swayed by the Pixar straw I could buy with the non-alcoholic ones – it appears I now collect Pixar straws, I don’t know why but there you go.  Cast members were great and had no hesitation in bringing extra coasters so we could take them home.  Hopefully I’ll go back again next visit and I’m sure I’ll notice more and more with each visit ……. and collect more straws and coasters of course.

A trip to Target with BRCA for some nice, as well as affordable, Halloween decorations and I was back in my room leaving the huge pile of shopping bags to deal with later.  In the evening it was another visit to Animation Academy, this time with BRCA and drawing Dante.  I can honestly say mine resembled Dante far more than 2yr old Audrey’s drawing and possibly better than 4yr old Charlotte, however that’s not really a compliment for my poor Dante who could easily be mistaken for a slightly crazy dinosaur.  Brad did a great job, especially considering he spent a lot of the time picking up Audrey’s pencil from the floor. Rebecca’s drawing was fantastic!

Finding a decent piece of ground we sat and waited for Paint the Night while eating Ghirardelli sundaes.  With time on our hands we also did a quick trip through Ariel’s undersea adventure.  I think I did this ride 3 times this visit but I can’t remember all the rides I did and when, I should take a quick photo at the entrance to remind me later.  This time I saw Paint the Night from the opposite side which was nice and I enjoyed seeing it again.  I would love to live nearby and come every night to watch the different parades and fireworks.  Leaving via quite a few shops, I bid farewell and then ran into a few people at another shop as I was leaving. Back at my room I contemplate packing, however I just couldn’t face the thought of it, so pretended packing would be easy on the last night and went to bed.

[DisneyKaren]

Fri - Sat

Up early and ready to use my Magic Morning.  Clearly I had not bothered to notice that Magic Morning is only for DL on it's EMH days, which was not a Friday at DCA.  Instead I wandered through Downtown Disney as someone had mentioned World of Disney looked ready to open, it wasn’t yet but still a nice walk.  Finally I could go back to DCA for the actual opening and took some photos before it got too busy.  Quietly minding my own business setting up a photo and Keith and Della came by as we had agreed to meet up.  Keith’s blog has all the rest written far better than I could.  Only a few things – I loved seeing Mickey & the Magical Map again, I saw it in 2014 but it does seem to have changed; cool to photograph Keith and Della with their plaque and was fun photographing Della under the Casa Della Tyres sign.

While I would love to have stayed longer, I did want to get to the Disney Store at Santa Ana as I had a couple of vouchers to use (these couldn’t be used until after I arrived at Disney so couldn’t use them early in my trip).  Ran into Elissa and group at the store and had lunch with them before leaving.  Just missing a bus in both directions meant I was gone a little longer than I would have preferred so I left all the bags in my room and headed back to the parks.  This time lines were pretty long and slow due to being a Friday and Halloween party night.  Thankfully I got in the right line which was being split in two up the top so we moved faster than most.  Also saw the best family Coco outfits of Miguel with his great-grandparents.  Really well done.  

Into Cars Land for some photos and as it got later and busier, I noticed there weren’t many people at the entrance to Cars Land getting photos with the car so I asked a kind stranger to take my photo.  All posed and ready ….. a family walked in front of me to the sign to get their photo.  Uhm, ok.  The lady taking my photo was great and when someone else tried it she quickly stepped in and asked them to wait.  It was after here the crowds started to get to me so I found some solace in the Animation Academy building and checked the times for when characters were being drawn.  I was keen to try drawing Olaf and/or Halloween Mickey at 10:30 and 11:00pm respectively.   Bravely leaving here I found walking anywhere was hard work and lines were long for everything.  As I was working out whether I should get a glass of wine and just relax or perhaps head back and start the arduous task of packing, Keith messaged that they were at their lockers.  What a great night it turned out to be.  A drink at the Wine Country Trattoria before Paint the Night parade started.  While our view was slightly obstructed, it was great to see it from higher up and really, just to see it again and listen to the music.  I’d definitely do this again, especially on a busy night when it’s great to at least be at the park but out of the general crowds.

My thoughts of trying a third animation quickly faded as I remembered I’d completely unpacked my clothes into the wardrobe, all the shopping was in bags and the 2 mostly empty suitcases were waiting to be filled. Time to pack so I bid farewell to Keith, Della, Brian and Patti.  Turns it packing doesn’t do itself – who knew!  All done by 1:30am and as I finalise my hand luggage – my passport’s not there!  Unpacking half of both suitcases I locate it and then repack.  Very unusual for me as usually I know exactly where it is.  Never mind, all was done and eventually I managed a few short hours of sleep.

The last day was hard, as often it is for me (and many travellers I’m sure). First up I tried to take a quick snap of the train station between the tourists as I headed into the park. A photo pass photographer kept standing in front of me and then turned and advised I wasn’t allowed to take any photos of the train station at all unless I lined up.   I just kept moving as it was Magic Morning and I wanted to get some rides in.  FYI don’t use your Magic Morning on a Saturday especially what was apparently a long weekend!!   It was busy, but I still managed a few rides including Dumbo, Tea cups (no spinning) and beat my score on Buzz.  Finding the Monorail proved harder than it should have been and I admit I did have to ask a cast member for assistance.  As I hadn’t done the Monorail this trip, I thought it the perfect way to get to Disneyland Hotel for the breakfast.

The breakfast was fantastic.  A number of people were talking about getting back to the park for their final day and my brain kicked into that gear so I left as well.  I apologised to the MC on our way out and thanked her and she asked us to wait then sent someone else off to get our gifts.  We all received our clocks and while I’m not sure where it’ll go or if it’ll even suit my house, it’s kind of a cool souvenir.  Later I wondered why I left early, as I had been so looking forward to the breakfast and I did enjoy it.  Just that last day craziness, plus it’s easy for me to go into overdrive and can’t focus.   Either way I did really enjoy my last visit to each park and it was nice to spend a little by myself taking it all in and most of it with Rebecca, Brad and kids. Some last shopping, waffle fries for lunch and then over to DL. I was thinking of watching the parade one last time and maybe Mickey & the Magical Map, however crowds were crazy so we headed to Pooh’s Honey Hunt which had a nice 20min wait, compared to the 1.5-3.5hr line for many rides throughout both parks.  While I usually don’t mind going on a ride myself, it was nice to share this ride with Charlotte who’s happy chattering helped keep my waning spirits up a little.

After a final walk in Disneyland taking photos, I forced myself to leave and get my luggage from the hotel. My shuttle was early but with Michelle and Gerard on board I had company right up to heading to my departure gate, which is lovely when you’re travelling on your own and your emotions are going on a downward spiral.  Having company (and that glass of wine in the lounge) was much needed by that time of the trip, thank you for inviting me to join you.

I know I did far more rides than I’ve included, I can’t remember the order of them all.  I think I should take more photos of meals and ride entrances to remind me more of the little things I do on trips.  As per most visits I did the Storybook Canal Boats and Casey Jnr Train, they are both cute and relaxing.  Small World was twice and while I love this ride I think my favourite is at Christmas when they alternate the song with a Christmas Carol.  I’ve done Monster’s Inc ride before and enjoyed it even though I hadn’t seen the movie.  Now I’ve seen it and done the ride twice more, I do wonder how much sense it made to me the first time.  I think I notched up about 4 rides on Sourin’ and by the end wasn’t holding on to the armrests at all!