The Jedi & Toons Tour: 17 - 25 May 2007
Disneyland and Star Wars Celebration IV
Day 1 – Thursday, May 17, 2007 * Day 2 – Friday, May 18, 2007 * Day 3 – Saturday, 19 May 2007
Day 4 – Sunday, May 20, 2007 * Day 5 – Monday, May 21, 2007 * Day 6 – Tuesday, 22 May 2007
Day 7 – Wednesday, 23 May 2007 * Day 8 – Thursday, 24 May 2007 * Day 9 – Friday, 25 May 2007
Day 10 –Saturday, 26 May 2007 *
Day 11 – Sunday, 27 May 2007
Photos from this trip:
Help me Mickey Mouse...You're My Only Hope - Part 1 * Help me Mickey Mouse...You're My Only Hope - Part 2
Help me Mickey Mouse...You're My Only Hope - Part 3
Day 1 – Thursday, May 17, 2007
We stayed the night before in Indy, so we wouldn’t have to get up quite so early for our morning flight – not too much more expensive than paying for parking. Flew out pretty much on time at 7:15 am Eastern time. The flight was uneventful – a bit of turbulence here & there. I listened to about the first half of the Star Wars Public Radio program from the early 1980’s.
Landed & got our luggage with not much delay, then picked up the rental car & were off to Scott’s aunt & uncle – Skip & Becci’s home out in the Glendale area. Traffic was a little heavy, but it was the tail end of rush hour, so not too bad.
We arrived and visited with Becci for a little while, then her daughter, Laurie came over with her younger son, J.D. The 4 of us drove around for a bit – checking out Griffith Park. Parts of it were still closed off, due to the fire of the previous week. When we got back, Skip had gotten home. Laurie went to pick up her older son, Brett, and take care of some things at home – so the 5 of us went out to dinner at a Mexican place. We were pretty tired by this time, so headed off to bed about 7:30 – 8:00 (closer to 11:00 our time!)
Return to top of Trip Report --- Return to Trip Report ArchiveDay 2 – Friday, May 18, 2007
Not surprisingly, we were up bright & early, since our body clocks were still on Indiana time. We checked e-mail & did a couple of other things before breakfast with Skip & Becci.
Laurie had the day off, so she was kind enough to be our tour guide for the day. We went to the La Brea Tar Pits & museum about 11:00 and spent about 2 hours touring the museum & the grounds. They still have an active excavation site – Pit 91. They work it for about 12 weeks in the summer & spend the rest of the year cleaning & sorting the fossils – including microfossils, such as seeds & plant parts, insects and small amphibian & mammal bones. There were several school groups there, but most of them were at lunch while we toured the museum.
We had lunch at Koo-Koo-Roo – a semi-fast food chain, serving mostly chicken & burgers from Fuddruckers. It was about a block or so from the La Brea park area & a little busy, but not too bad. The food was quite good!
We rode along when Laurie picked up the boys, and we were off to see Shrek the Third. It was a fairly entertaining movie – about the same level as the first two. The three of us got back in time to meet Skip to head out to an Angels & Dodgers game – J.D. stayed home with his grandma, but Brett came along. We picked up Craig, Laurie’s husband from work (downtown LA) and headed out to Anaheim in the middle of rush hour. Yuk. I’m very, very glad I don’t have to drive (or even ride) in that kind of traffic on a regular basis! Skip is definitely a California native when it comes to freeway driving – Laurie joked that he drives his SUV like a sports car…at least I think she was joking…..
We arrived (in one piece) and got a fairly decent parking place… club level seats between home & second base. After we got settled & the game started, Laurie & I went to go get something to eat for everyone. I had soft tacos (messy!) and got Scott a hot dog. Skip (The Dodger fan) was disappointed in the game (they lost by several runs), but Craig & Brett (the Angels fans) were happy. Scott enjoyed the game in general – I’m not a bit sports fan, but it’s fun to go out to a game every once in a while. There were fireworks after the game – not Disney quality, but a nice little show. It got a bit chilly by the end of the game and I was glad to get back in the truck & be headed home. It was a busy day & a late night, but we had a good time!
Return to top of Trip Report --- Return to Trip Report ArchiveDay 3 – Saturday, 19 May 2007
We slept in a bit, since we’d been up so late the night before. After breakfast, Skip and the two of us went to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Open House – I’d found out about it thanks to another Passporter poster & it turned out to only be a few miles from their house.
It was a LOT busier & a LOT bigger than I had imagined! The JPL campus is comparable to Disneyland (according to the shuttle bus driver) – we had to park out in the “North 40” lot & walked over to the main campus. We toured thru the fabrication area & got to see ourselves on a very sensitive infrared camera – they had ice to “paint” your face – it showed up incredibly dark!
Next we went over to the Robo-Dome to see a project on synchronized movement between robots – eventually to be used for a multi-platform telescope. For now, the robots are mounted on what was basically a hovercraft so they could glide almost frictionlessly in 2 dimensions – then on a gimbal to get near 3D movement. The line for the 10-min demo was VERY long – we waited close to an hour. We browsed around some of the outdoor displays – saw a replica of Voyager (which is also celebrating its 30th anniversary) and some other spacecraft. We bought first-day covers for Spirit & Opportunity, and some other souvenirs (t-shirts), then finished the morning with a tour of the Rover building, where we saw some of the other robots in development & on display. We talked for a bit with one of the developers of Phoenix, which is the next mission to Mars.
We spent about 2 hours or so at JPL – the crowds were getting kind of heavy & we didn’t want to spend all our line-waiting patience up too early, so we headed back about 1:00. Spent the afternoon with family and had a wonderful home-cooked dinner that night. Skip and Becci were wonderfully gracious hosts and Laurie was a great tour guide. We definitely have some thank-you cards to write!
We called it a night somewhat early again, as we wanted to get a good start for the next phase of vacation – Disneyland!
Return to top of Trip Report --- Return to Trip Report ArchiveDay 4 – Sunday, May 20, 2007
Got up relatively early & were on the road about 7:30. We got to the hotel about 8:20 & checked in; they told us our room should be ready after 1:00, so we left our items in the car (tho the hotel has a locked baggage room) and headed across the street to the parks. Literally across the street: the Tropicana is about a half-a block away from the pedestrian walkway that leads to the bus stops & Esplanade (the area between Disneyland & DCA).
We were at the gates about 8:35 – and going under the archway less than 5 min later. We decided our first stop would be Pirates – since we were planning to see the movie (At World’s End) a week later. It was basically a walk-on all the way up to the loading dock. The updates are essentially the same at DL as at WDW; however the original ride itself is so much better .. sigh.
Next stop was next door at the Haunted Mansion – we were looking forward to seeing the updates here as well – the floating Leota head (very impressive) and the renovations in the attic showing the Bride’s multiple husbands – lots of things to look at, making the Mansion even more of a multiple-visit attraction, IMHO.
We worked our way back to Adventureland to experience our first DL-only attraction: Indiana Jones & the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. We had about a 5-10 min wait – minimal for this ride – I enjoyed it immensely, tho Scott feels it jounces around a bit too much. We cut across the park to Fantasyland/Tomorrowland and made it to the Matterhorn about 9:45 – had about a 10 min wait there. This is a fun rollercoaster – nothing too thrilling, but it does shake you around quite a bit, and you’re sitting down pretty much right on the rollers.
We wandered over to Frontierland thru Big Thunder Ranch & took a snack break about 10:10 – got Frontier Fries & sodas. We also caught a show by the Laughing Stock streetmosphere players in front of the Golden Horseshoe – 2 outlaw robbers & the sheriff. We got in a 5-10 min line for Big Thunder Mountain about 10:30 – the ride seems longer here than at WDW & a bit more scenic, especially when you go thru the town at the end of the ride.
We browsed the stores in Frontierland and caught part of another Laughing Stock show before the 11:15 Billy Hill & The Hillbillies show – the mayor wants to marry off his daughter to the sheriff, who pulls 3 men (or 2 men & a boy) out of the audience & has them play The Dating Game. We got seats up on the balcony right center & Scott got a hot fudge sundae for us to share during the show. I really have to recommend this show to anyone spending time at Disneyland – the boys play some fun music & make the audience laugh as well.
Around 11:45, we went over to Tomorrowland and joined a 20-min standby line for Buzz Lightyear – the ride isn’t too different from the WDW version; however, the guns are detatchable (with a couple-foot long cord) and somewhat easier to aim. Scott still beat my score every single time we rode, usually by a factor of 10! About 12:20. we walked over to the Subs lagoon & took some pics, including a countdown sign saying that the ride was “resurfacing in 22 days” J They were running 3 of the subs thru the ride and Scott got some good photos. After this, we went back to Fantasyland and joined the longest line so far – 45 min wait for Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Scott really misses this in WDW & I don’t think he’s convinced that Pooh is a sufficient replacement.
About 1:15 we headed back to the hotel and got our room – 393. It was in the back corner – all the rooms face in & overlook the pool and parking area. The room was comparable to a cross between the value & moderate at WDW: 2 queen beds, a desk with a chair & a small table with 2 stuffed chairs, the TV console with 3 drawers and a sink with a large vanity - the toilet & bathtub/shower were in the bathroom. We also had a large dorm-sized refrigerator and a small microwave. We unpacked a bit, then went out to run some errands.
We headed up Harbor to Orangefair & visited the Disney Character Outlet. I think the Florida ones are a bit better of a deal & have a larger selection – but we still found a few things. We went up to the next street (Orangethorpe?) and found an In & Out Burger for lunch – it’s a pretty basic menu, but those burgers are quite tasty! We got some grocery basics at the Target nearby and headed back to the hotel about 3:30.
We decided to check out DCA, so about 10 after 4, we stopped by Guest services & picked up a birthday button, then went to Monsters Inc: Mike & Sully to the Rescue, which only had about a 5 min wait. We just missed the opening of this attraction on our last trip (December 2005) and were really looking forward to it. The theming of the queue is pretty cool - it’s a Monstropolis Transit Authority station & you’re riding a cab. The ride itself is fun, but not overwhelming – a good dark ride. The personalized comments from Roz at the end are amusing – I wish they could have done a bit more with the AA’s facial movements.
About 4:45 we were going next door to Muppets 3D – the queue and holding room are a bit different, but from all I could tell, the theater & show are the same as WDW. We just caught the end of the preshow, where Rizzo comes out as Mickey Mouse. J
It was about 5 when we wandered over to the Pacific Wharf area & took the Mission Tortilla Factory tour – an the birthday button paid off when we got a bag of about a dozen warm wheat tortillas! They came in handy as snacks during the rest of our trip. We walked around Paradise Pier and decided to try out the Corn Dog Castle for dinner. Scott stood in line, while I scouted out a spot for the Block Party Bash parade. We’d seen it on our last trip & enjoyed it. Good thing I had the camera, as the parade had already come down by us & started the show before Scott got thru the line. The Monsters Inc float stopped in front of where I was – the crowd was pretty scarce, so I got some good pix. Scott brought me the Cheese-on-a-stick – totally unhealthy, but quite yummy! We finished off our meal once the parade passed and followed the crowd out of the park as it closed at 6:00pm.
We went across the way & reentered Disneyland (Park Hoppers are definitely worth the money for this resort!) and saw the crowds preparing for the 6:30 parade. We walked along the right hand side to Tomorrowland – 55 min wait for Space Mountain was a bit much for us, so we continued on around thru Fantasyland to Toontown. The Roger Rabbit Cartoon Spin line wasn’t much shorter – 50 min posted standby, but at least the queue is a little more interesting. We finished our wild ride thru Toontown about 7:10 and looked around the Gag Factory shop – we noticed that just about every store in DL had a display of Disney Crocs, in both child and adult sizes.
We joined the line for it’s a small world about 10 after seven – just as the sun was starting to set. The morning had started out cloudy & bit cool, but the sun came out about 2 and it warmed up some, but was still windy. The evening cooled off a bit as well.
Disneyland was staying open till 11 – but we were pretty sure we wouldn’t stay quite that late. We did want to see the fireworks show, so a little after 8, we started scouting out a spot in the Hub. We found a bench with only a partially-obstructed view of the castle & a good view of the Matterhorn, so I staked it out while Scott walked around & took some evening/night pix of the park.
Scott came back about a half-hour later with 2 hot cocoas and $3 he’d found on the ground. The drinks were a pretty decent deal - $6 for 16 oz of beverage in a commuter mug. An Australian couple joined us & we chatted for a bit – they had just flown in the day before from Sydney & were spending a couple of days in the LA area before flying out to the East coast to visit with family – now that’s a big trip!
There were a couple of announcements that the fireworks might have to be cancelled due to high winds, but they must’ve tapered off just in time, as the show went as scheduled. It’s basically the same show as the 50th celebration show, with updated beginning narration. Each land & major attraction is represented with music & themed fireworks – I think my favorite is the Pirates section, where a skull & crossbones is projected on the Matterhorn & it and the Castle trade volleys of fireworks, though a close second is the Haunted Mansion’s “is this room really stretching?” followed by flare-type shots surrounding the castle area. The Tomorrowland section is also fun, with lasers & John Williams music.
After the fireworks, we let the crowds die down a bit & decided to try for a couple more attractions, starting with a night ride on BTMRR. That was the chilliest ride in the wilderness that night! We stopped by the Jungle Cruise on our way out about 10 after 10. Our skipper was about average – nothing especially stand-out that I can recall. The cruise is basically the same as WDW, with some segments switched around, along with the 50th celebration updates: the gorillas shooting at the boat & the piranhas.
We made a quick stop at City Hall on the way out to clarify how the Toontown Morning Madness worked, as we wanted to attend the next day, then back to the hotel. We left DL at 10:35 and were back in the room about 10 min later… that’s nice!
Attraction count: 14 between both parks, counting the parade & fireworks – and that’s with about a 2-hour break when we left to go shopping.
Mileage: 12.2 km & 19,41 steps – whew!
Return to top of Trip Report --- Return to Trip Report ArchiveDay 5 – Monday, May 21, 2007
Weather: 58-62 degrees & cloudy in am – warming to mid 70’s & part sunny.
DL opened at 9 am (DCA at 10) & we wanted to attend the Toontown Morning Madness, so we were up by 7:30 & leaving the room about a hour later. We checked out the hospitality lounge on the way. The sweet stuff (muffins & donuts) were complimentary – beverages, cereal & bagels were a dollar each – we were better off with eating breakfast in the room & didn’t go back the rest of our stay.
We were in line by 8:40 – they started letting people in about a quarter til & had rope drop at the end of Main Street just before nine. We cruised right back to Toontown, as we weren’t sure quite when the Morning Madness show started. We had plenty of time – as it was scheduled for 9:20. Scott took pics of the nearly-empty area while we waited; we also got photos with Goofy and Chip & Dale.
Morning Madness starts with a little show – the “Deputy Mayor” comes out & says a few words, then Goofy, Donald, Chip & Dale and finally the First Couple of Toontown, Mickey & Minnie come in. Mickey gives a little speech (after accidentally reading his grocery list first!) and there’s a song & dance. Cute & energetic… they hand out buttons afterwards declaring the attendees as “Honorary Members of Toontown”. J
We still had about a half-hour before this part of the park opened to the public, so we rode Roger Rabbit’s Cartoon Spin as a walk-on, played with Pluto over by the dog pound (very cute photo op!), rode Gadget’s Go-Coaster (very similar to WDW’s Toontown coaster) and had one more spin with Roger before 10:00.
We left Toontown and joined the line for Storybook boats – had about a 15-min wait and rode the Tinkerbell boat. Monstro was having some work done (draped in tarps), but took some good photos of the rest of the ride.
About 10:30 we had a 20-min posted wait for Alice. I’d love to see this ride at WDW – but I don’t think the outside portion would deal well with the daily afternoon rains in the summer! After Alice, Pinocchio’s Daring Adventure, which was a walk on.
We had lunch reservations at Blue Bayou at 11:30, so we headed over to New Orleans Square – listened to the Royal Street Bachelors for a little while & browsed thru the stores. We also met Queenie, one of the NOS streemosphere characters – dressed in a lovely evening gown & feathered hat, she was passing out mardi gras beads & flirting with the jazz combo. J
We checked in at the restaurant about 11:20 and were seated waterside at 11:30 – yay! This was one of our “splurge meals” – Scott got the prime rib (which was melt-in-your-mouth delicious!) and I had a Monte Cristo – I saved half for dinner that night, so we could have the cookie boat dessert! That was just incredible – a thick chunk of chocolate cookie cut in the shape of a boat, 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream drizzled with hot fudge & caramel, and an edible mast & sail. We took several photos before we dug in & brought the sail & mast back as souvenirs. We also got to keep the commemorative Pirates of the Caribbean menus, which were supposedly only available the week before & after the premiere of the third movie. I definitely recommend having at least one meal at the Blue Bayou – it is worth saving up for. The atmosphere is lovely (although quite dark!) and the food is wonderful.
We were done with our meal by about 12:40 (the waitstaff don’t rush you at all!) and, since I had leftovers, decided to take a quick trip back to the hotel. This also gave Scott a chance to download pix from & we rested for just a bit, and were back in the park about 1:30. We stopped by City hall to get anniversary buttons, then browsed a bit thru the Emporium before joining the 20-min line for Star Tours about 1:40.
Next up was Space Mountain got FP’s before doing the 25-min posted wait; we were on the ride by about 2:30. Rode in the back row of our rocket - what a blast! I’m glad they’re back to the “regular” soundtrack (I’m pretty sure it was composed by the same person who did The Incredibles) – the clips I heard of Rockit Mountain didn’t impress me that much, despite kind of liking Red Hot Chili Peppers.
About 2:50 we got in line at Autopia – 40 min. We usually skip the WDW equivalent, but the Disneyland version is about twice as long and much more scenic – the signs add a nice touch of humour. We still had about a half-hour before our FP’s for Space Mountain were ready, so we watched most of a Jedi Academy training session. Their Jedi Master was very good with the kids, and Darth Maul was quite menacing! I liked the bits of humor with the stormtroopers – one of the padawans gets to use the “force push” against them, then the Master uses the Jedi Mind trick to have them wish everyone “a nice day”. J We took a Mickey pretzel break after the show (about 4:00) , and caught part of the Trash Can Band performers in front of star traders … similar to the Jammitors at Epcot.
Our FP’s were ready, so back to Space Mountain for another trip thru space – front row this time! Your position in the vehicle doesn’t make quite as much of a difference on this coaster as it does on BTMRR or even RnRC, but it is kind of fun to be in the very front!
Walked over to the monorail about 4:25 – just missed Red, and had a while to wait for the next trip. We chatted with one of the CM’s (who is also a PassPorter - hi Vern!) and learned that Red was the only monorail running at the moment – Green & Yellow (?? not sure) were being upgraded to Mark VII (?) and Purple “had a boo-boo”… when they were dismantling the construction walls around the Lagoon, they thought they’d gotten them all out of the way of the monorail…. well…. not quite. Put quite a gash in the bottom cowling of Purple, so it’s out for repairs for at least the next month. We also got a pretty good look at the subs from the monorail platform – a couple had their hatches open, so we got a bit of a peek down the spiral staircase. Apparently, the subs themselves still aren’t ADA-compliant, but there is “an equivalent experience” for wheelchair users.
Since we’d just missed the cutoff for the last monorail trip – we asked the CM if we could ride in the front – yay! It’s the shorter of the two legs, but still kind of neat to see out ahead of the train during your ride. Finally got on the monorail about 5:10 for a ride to DTD. We looked around the Lego store for a bit, and then headed to World of Disney. Scott’s been pining for the Big Fig statue of Jessica Rabbit for quite some time, so as a belated anniversary present, we finally purchased it. The Disney Visa discount helped, and the tax rebate for having it shipped home pretty much cancelled out the shipping cost. Definitely cheaper than the ones he’d been looking at on eBay!
It was a little after 6, and we decided to go ahead & call it a day. We had laundry to do & had been pretty much on the go since… well… since we arrived in California. We’d gotten a lot done in the park and wanted to be well-rested for early entry the next day.
We went back to the room – Scott ran over to McDonald’s for his dinner & I reheated my Monte Cristo leftovers – not quite as good as fresh, but still yummy! Got down to the laundry room about 7:15. It was kind of small, with 3 washers & 2 dryers - $1 per washer load and $1 for 60 min dry time… not too expensive. We’d forgotten to get detergent during our grocery run, but the mini-mart at the hotel had single-load packages for $1 – and also made change. Ended up with 2 loads in the washer - I hung around to keep an eye on things (just in case – the laundry room wasn’t too far from the street), and to catch up on some reading, while Scott went back to the room to work on the photos. I’m glad we started our laundry when we did, because after 8:00, people stopped by about every 10-15 min, checking to see if the equipment was available. To save money and time, we hung up the shirts in the room & only put socks, undies & jeans in the dryer. The jeans didn’t get all the way dry, so they got hung up as well. Got done about 8:30 and watched some TV before going to bed about 9:30.
As I mentioned above, all the rooms at the Tropicana overlook the parking area & pool – which was kind of busy that night… I think it was the last night for a school group & they were a bit rowdy… but by 10 (the pool closing time), things had quieted down and we were able to get to sleep pretty easily. Other than that, the rooms seemed pretty quiet; however, we were never able to get the room quite cool enough for sleeping under covers, despite it not being all that hot outside. The windows do open & are screened, but I was concerned about extra noise & security, so we didn’t leave them open for long.
Attraction Count: 15 (including performances) – another busy day!
Mileage: 14,415 steps = 9.08km/5.64 miles
Return to top of Trip Report --- Return to Trip Report ArchiveDay 6 – Tuesday, 22 May 2007
Weather: 55 & pt sunny in a.m. – 72 & sunny in p.m.
Early entry to Fantasyland & Tomorrowland this morning – so we were up around 6:30 and leaving the room at 7:30 – by 7:40 we were in line. A chilly morning – so I wore jeans & my Disney denim long-sleeved shirt with a fleece vest over it. The gates opened just after 8am and we were off to Peter Pan, which doesn’t have a FastPass here. The line was only out to the second switchback by the time we arrived for our trip thru NeverNeverLand.
Getting off Peter Pan, I stepped wrong & wrenched my right knee pretty badly. It had been doing better since I’d lost about 20 lbs over the past few months, but whatever I did hurt like crazy & I was having trouble putting weight on it. It scared me for a bit – wheelchairs or even crutches would really put a cramp into the rest of our vacation plans. I slowly limped over to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, where there were maybe only a dozen other guests waiting. They were doing CM ride training this morning, so we eavesdropped a bit on the procedures while we were waiting. I also took advantage of the queue railings to work my knee a bit – the pain was subsiding & it was feeling a bit more sturdy.
We started our jaunt, but only made it to the third room before the ride went 101. At first it was just a temporary stop – “please remain seated and the ride will restart momentarily”… but then the soundtrack stopped and the lights came on. An announcement to wait for a cast member for evacuation played, then a few moments later the same CM in training and her trainer came along. He was talking her thru the evac procedures (keep guests on one side of the track, have them follow in a certain order, etc.), so we wondered if it were an intentional takedown of the ride while it wouldn’t be very busy. We were close to the split between evacuating to the beginning of the ride versus the end, so came back thru Toad Hall to the start of the line. The family in front of us started singing “Follow the Leader” J The CM’s told us if we wanted to wait about 10 minutes, the attraction should be back up & running. We waited (more time for my knee to recover) only about 5 minutes before starting off again on our Wild Ride – made it thru just fine that time, tho if I recall correctly, it was down again later in the day.
It was about 8:30 – we decided to go on Snow White (a walk on) and then over to Casey Jr’s for about a 10-min wait before riding through Storybookland. We’re a bit too big for the wild animal cage, so rode in one of the sleds instead.
A little after 9, we headed over to Big Thunder Mountain, which was basically a walk-on; we rode the second train of the day, I think. Pirates was a walk on about 9:20, then over to Haunted Mansion about 20 min later. You get a much closer look at the Captain Jack Sparrow AA in the treasure room here & IMHO, it loses a bit of the magic. I think the dunking scene AA is the most realistic looking in both versions of the attraction. I’m hoping that since the WDW Haunted Mansion is down for refurbs, that they’ll add some of the special effects from the DL version – I really like the redo of the attic that makes the Bride a better fit (and much more spooky!). I’d just be happy to get the audio working well in all the doombuggies & the scrim in the graveyard repaired!
We continued around to Critter Country and visited The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. (Splash Mountain was 101 & besides, it was a bit cool to get wet!) I think I like the ride vehicles here (6-person beehives vs 4-person honeypots) a bit better, even if they Country Bears got the boot to put Pooh in their place. At least Max, Buff & Melvin are still there –as you exit the Heffalumps & Woozels room – they’re above the archway behind you. Around ten o’clock, we were ready for a little smackerel – The Honey Spot has lots of yummy treats – I got a rice krispie treat big enough for a family of 4 (I saved half of it for later) and Scott got a cookie, I think.
We headed over to Adventureland and I joined the 15-min standby for Indy while Scott took a cruise thru the jungle next door. We met back up about 10:55, just in time for the 11:00 Tiki Bird Show – we missed most of the tiki god pre-show, tho L I really hope they keep this version of the show here in Disneyland - while I don’t mind Iago & Zazu too much, the “Under New Management” version at WDW got dated very quickly, due to using “current” pop music.
We decided to head over to DCA for lunch – got FP’s for Soarin’ and had lunch at the Taste Pilot’s Grill – unfortunately, they took out the cool self-serve order & pay machines – guess the technology wasn’t as efficient as they wanted it to be. It wasn’t very crowded at all – I had a salad and Scott got a burger & we sat outside to enjoy the warming temps & sun. After lunch, we still had about 15 min before our 12:20 FP’s were ready, so we looked around the store a bit, then walked down to the Grizzly River Rapids area – since the temps were still only in the 60’s, the ride only had about a 5 min wait! Headed back to Soarin’, where we sat front row on the left side. I really enjoy this attraction at both parks… tho I wonder if/when they’re going to update the film in Epcot.
After Soarin’ we headed over to the Pacific Wharf area for another tour thru the sourdough & tortilla factories – got corn tortillas this time… I think I like the flour a bit better. Around 1:00, we visited Flik’s Fun Fair, which we’d skipped the last time we visited Disneyland. We rode Heimlich’s Chew Chew (RIP, Joe Ranft), Tuck & Roll Bumper Buggies and Flik’s Flyers. Cute little rides – pretty much the equivalent of Fantasyland rides.
We took another snack break around 1:40 – Mickey bar for Scott & frozen banana for me – and walked back across DCA to Hollywood Boulevard for a no-line tour thru Monstropolis. We then went over to the Animation Pavilion to see when the next Turtle Talk was – we had about a 20 min wait, but thanks to Scott’s sharp eyes, we went in anyways & found a Dream Team CM passing out YoaMD ears! We were both quite thrilled to get a Dream on this trip – we had seen quite a few folks with Dream FastPasses or Dream Ears, but hadn’t seen the Dream Team out very much.
Crush gave an excellent presentation as always – when asked if he’d ever seen Jack Sparrow, he replied… “Uhhh… I’ve seen pelicans and seagulls, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sparrow” J After Turtle Talk, we browsed thru the stores again (yes, we do a lot of window shopping!) and decided to return to Disneyland. Got stopped by one of the survey CM’s on the way out & took a fairly extensive survey – glad to help Disney improve the magic!
It was a little after 3 when we decided to browse thru Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years and watched the movie… I really like the diorama of the original DL layout. We then went over to Tomorrowland for another spin with Buzz – 10-15 min line. Yet another snack break around 4:00 – Scott got a pretzel and I finished off my krispie treat from earlier. The sun had come out for good about 2:30 and the temps were getting quite comfortable.
We headed over to Fantasyland – I took a turn on the teacups, while Scott went to the Mad Hatter’s to get personalized Mickey ears for our niece & nephews. We then went over to New Orleans Square and browsed the Gallery – I splurged on a really neat print to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. Around five o’clock, we left the park to take our purchases back to the hotel & figure out what we to do about dinner. I wanted to try the Bengal BBQ, as I’d heard rumors that it would be closing soon for a refurb/menu change, so we headed back to Disneyland about quarter after six. There was a fairly long like at the BBQ – so I waited while Scott got himself a snack from somewhere else; he wasn’t very hungry. I got the sweet & sour beef, but the veggie skewers were tastier and IMHO, a better deal. I should have gotten the chicken instead, looking at what others had ordered. Oh well – it was something new!
Got in a fairly short line at the Haunted Mansion around 6:50 – then rode Pirates again before heading over for a cruise thru the jungle around dusk. If I recall correctly, this was the skipper who told us that the Bengal tiger was “guarding the world’s largest animal cracker” J. We wanted to ride Matterhorn in the evening as well, so made that our next stop, as the park was closing at 8. We got in line with about 15 min to spare… got some neat views of the park & the dark corners of the ride were a bit easier to see, as well.
We left the park about 8, slowly meandering down a crowded Main Street, then heading over to DTD. World of Disney was VERY busy – I found myself wishing we’d done our big shopping during the day instead! We finally got checked out about 9, then walked back to the hotel. We were both kind of hungry again by this time (it’s all the walking, really!), so ordered a pizza from the hotel snack shop. It took about 15-20 min & was about what you can expect from convenience-store pizza, but it took care of our grumbly tummies & we had enough left over for lunch the next day. We watched part of Pirates 1 while eating & got to bed about 10:30.
Attraction count: 25… I think that’s our record! We made the most of the Early entry, getting 10 attractions done before noon.
Mileage: 17,482 steps = 11.01km/6.84 miles
Return to top of Trip Report --- Return to Trip Report ArchiveDay 7 – Wednesday, 23 May 2007
Weather: 62 & cloudy a.m. – 75 & sunny pm
Regular opening time for Disneyland, so we slept in a bit (7:30) and left the room about an hour later – did a bit of packing up, as this was our last Disney day. We joined the line in the Esplanade just as the gates opened at 8:40 – went to the Blue Ribbon Bakery for a cinnamon roll & browsed Main Street til rope drop.
We joined the mad rush to Space Mountain, grabbing FastPasses on the way. The line was starting to form right where the FP line & Standby lines start, but kept moving at a brisk pace until we reached the main boarding room. This version of Space Mountain loses by a very thin margin to Expedition Everest as my favorite Disney thrill ride.
About 9:15, we checked out Star Tours again with a minimal wait – Scott found a great t-shirt at Star Traders.. the front says “Judge me by my size, will you?” and on the back, you see Yoda, with Mickey ears on & holding a Mickey bar, looking up at one of the height yardsticks… he’s just under the minimum for the ride. J
Walked into Buzz around 9:40 – Scott once again winning by a huge margin. We went to use our FastPasses to zoom around thru Space again, but didn’t even need them, as standby was only about 5-10 min at most. We were going to pass them along later in the day but forgot… guess they’ll go in the scrapbook instead!
We headed over to DCA about 10:15 – we wanted to make sure to get our free Disney Visa photo at Ariel’s Grotto, which is only available the first hour after the park opens. Chip and Dale in their sailor suits were waiting to see us – they looked adorable! We had picked up FP’s for Soarin on our way over to the Pacific Wharf, so while we were waiting for our ride window, we wandered back over to the Hollywood Studios area and rode thru Monstropolis again around 10:45. Around 11:00 we stopped for snacks – I got a yummy pineapple spear from a fruit stand. We saw Elastigirl out for a Meet & Greet (didn’t notice if she was doing autographs) and we also listened for a bit to the Delta Daddy-o’s – a doo-wop streetmosphere group. They were very good & encouraged the crowd to come sing & take photos with them. 3 teenagers did an improv dance routine to “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay”!
About 11:20 we went Soarin’ again … love this ride! The temps were finally warming up enough to make a Grizzy River Rapids ride worthwhile – so we got a freebie locker about 11:55 and ended up going on the ride twice, as there was hardly any line. I was thankful I had my Disney Crocs on (tho less thankful to be wearing jeans!) Between both trips – we got pretty wet, so we squished our way back to the hotel to change clothes & finish off the pizza from the night before. It was warm enough for me to change into shorts, finally!
We got back to DCA just a bit after 1:00 – wanted to make sure to catch the 1:50 showing of Aladdin, so we headed that way pretty quickly. We decided to use our Preferred Seating coupon from the Disney Travel Company – which put us at the orchestra level, at the back of the front section of seats I think I prefer the show from the balcony, as you get a much better view of the flying carpet scene; however, on the floor, you get a good look at the elephant from the “Prince Ali” number. This is a really good show – Broadway tour quality with regular updates to Genie’s schtick based on current pop culture.
It was about 2:45 when we left the Hyperion theater; I was hungry for some lunch, so we returned to Disneyland and headed for New Orleans Square. I picked up a bowl of steak gumbo from the Royal Street Veranda and we sat under the stairs to the Disney Gallery, right next to the Pirates line. Scott had eaten more of the pizza than I did earlier, so was content with a Mickey bar. We rested & people-watched for a bit, then were back on our way about half past three, joining the Pirates line for another visit with the scurvy swabs.
We cut thru New Orleans Square on our way over to the Mansion – and Scott found a $10 bill on the ground! To alleviate our conscience a bit, we checked in at the nearest storefront to see if anyone had reported losing any money.. noone had. Bonus! Haunted Mansion had about a 10-min wait – the “cold running chills” felt good after being out in the sun!
We walked around the Rivers of America after leaving our ghostly pals, and boarded the Columbia. She wouldn’t be sailing again until Pirates’ Lair at Tom Sawyer Island reopened (the next weekend), but guests were welcome to look around above and below the deck.
About 4:30 we joined a 20-min line for Big Thunder Mountain – whee! We were getting a bit hungry again, so we stopped at the Village Haus in Fantasyland about 5:00. Scott got a pepperoni pizza; I was still fairly full from the gumbo & bread bowl, so I just got a churro from a cart across the way. About a quarter after five, we wandered over to Toontown and checked out Minnie & Mickey’s homes, then went to meet Mickey. I enjoy the “screening room” area, where you watch clips from various MM shorts, interspersed with commentary from Goofy & Donald.
We left Toontown about 5:45 – I wanted to go for a round-trip ride on the monorail, since we’d only gone one-way to DTD the previous trip. Again, since only one train was running, it was a fairly long wait. We got to check out the subs again from the monorail platform; a couple of the subs in dock had their hatches open & we could see the narrow, twisty set of stairs descending into the vehicle. We finally got on the monorail about 6:20 – didn’t ask to ride up front this time – and rode to DTD and back in about 25 min.
Scott wanted to help Buzz defeat Zurg one more time, then we crossed Main Street just before the parade started so we would be on the Adventureland/Frontierland side. We did a bit of shopping in the Emporium for our nephew’s birthday, then watched a bit of the parade from the seating area outside the Refreshment Corner.
We beat the post-parade rush to Jungle Cruise about 7:35, then decided to squeeze in another visit to the Enchanted Tiki Room before the park closed. I had time to order a Dole Whip (you can take food & drink into this version of the attraction!) before the show started. We missed about half of the pre-show… which I like much better than the WDW version (sorry, Phil & Don!).
We meandered down Main Street with the crowds, and headed over to DTD to Build a Bear – our office had a silent auction a month before our trip and I bid on a $20 gift certificate for this store. It was pretty crowded, but after about 40 min, we were the proud “best friends” of Elias – a puppy dog decked out in a Disneyland t-shirt, Mickey ears and white gloves!
We got back to our room about 9:15 – packed up most of the rest of our stuff before heading off to dreamland.
Attraction Count: 18 (includes meet & greet and Aladdin show) between both parks
Mileage: 19,844 steps = 12.50 km/7.76 miles
Return to top of Trip Report --- Return to Trip Report ArchiveDay 8 – Thursday, 24 May 2007
Weather: hi 50’s & sunny a.m. – mid 70’s & sunny pm
Had an early breakfast ressie – so were up at 6am and walking to Paradise Pier by 6:45. It took us about 20 min to walk from the Tropicana to Paradise Pier – we cut thru the Grand Californian. Beautiful hotel – tho I’m not sure it’s personally worth the big bucks to stay there. Our resv was for 7:30, but since we arrived just a little after 7am, they let us in early.
There were only about half-a-dozen other families there in the 2 big rooms of the restaurant. We sat in the second room, closer to the windows and had a delicious breakfast. Since there were so few people (check out the photos), we plenty of character time with Lilo, Stitch, Minnie and Pluto. We watched Stitch and a couple of kids play “musical islands” with cutouts of the Hawaiian islands. They played music & when it stopped, you had to jump on an island – of course, each time, one island was removed. It was a cute game! Minnie & Stitch also had a dance party to an Elvis tune – I forget which one.
We spent about an hour eating and watching the festivities – quickly browsed thru the gift shop at PP and walked back to our hotel. We finished packing & got everything taken out to the car…. well, almost everything. We left the spare camera battery and charging station in the room & didn’t discover that it was missing til much later that day. L
We were on our way to downtown LA by 8:45… we knew we’d be catching the tail end of rush hour and on reflection, perhaps could have spent some more time in DTD waiting for the traffic to taper off, as it took us nearly 2 hours to get from Anaheim to our new hotel – the Kawada hotel on Bell street. We checked in, but our room wasn’t ready, so we stored our luggage & had the valet park our car (the only option at $15/day! :yuk: ) We decided to take the Metro from the hotel to the Convention center – the Civic Center stop was only about a block and a half from the hotel – and Pico Station was only about a block from the Convention center. We’re pretty much newbies to public transportation – but figured out the system pretty quickly, having done our research online ahead of time.
We got to the convention center – picked up our goodie bags & tickets to see Carrie Fisher (separate ticketed event) – the Fan Club day started at noon: it was only about 11, but lines were already forming at the 2 main entrances. In fact, lines were one of the major themes of the weekend… I’m sure we spent 2-3 times longer in queue at the convention than we did at Disneyland! At least it was (mostly) inside & you could usually sit down, as the lines usually formed long before the events.
Once we got into the convention center, we spent the next couple of hours exploring the smaller exhibits – such as the Droid Builder Room – the Helmet Art display and the vendor and exhibitor areas. We didn’t really run into any large crowds until we reached the vendor area – that was just a mass of people ALL weekend. I was starting to get a headache – so we stopped & got burgers at the concession stand, in hopes it was just a hungry headache.
We left the Conv center about 3, as that was the posted check in time. The first room (yes, first room!) was TINY – two double beds, a desk & chair (which bumped right into the edge of one bed) with the TV on the desk, a built-in kitchenette & bathroom – that was about it. We were planning on getting unpacked, making a grocery run & then returning to the convention in time to catch the Fan Club showing of “One Man Star Wars” at 6. Well…. the refrigerator wasn’t working & my headache was getting worse. I took some pain relievers and napped a bit while we waited on maintenance… and waited, and waited, calling the desk about every half-hour. 3 phone calls later, the manager shows up with keys for a new room down the hall. It was bigger (still only about ¾ the size of a WDW value room) and the fridge was working. Finally!
It was almost 4:45 by this time - we still had to find groceries & my headache wasn’t any better (starting to make me nauseated). This was also about the time we discovered the missing battery & charger. We called over to the Tropicana & left a note for housekeeping to check their lost & found in the morning – they’d left for the day & all found items were under lock & key. We scrapped plans to go back to the convention & drove much farther than we thought we’d have to in order to find a grocery store! Ordered pizza when we got back – I was feeling too icky to eat (got sick later on), so made an early night of it.
Mileage: 9,841 steps = 6.19 km/3.84 miles.
Return to top of Trip Report --- Return to Trip Report ArchiveDay 9 – Friday, 25 May 2007
We got up about 6:15 - we wanted to be at the Conv center early, since the Post Office was releasing the Star Wars stamp collection at 8am and we expected both long lines & possibly running out of some of the limited edition stuff. We had 2 friends that had “placed orders” with us for the first day covers & some other material that had been advertised on the website. We also had a “fast pass” for the Celebration store that was good from 9a-11a that morning. After standing in line for at least 3 – 3 ½ hours for the store at the previous 2 Celebrations, we were looking forward to using the “fast pass”.
We left the hotel about 7:10 – saw several fellow conventioneers waiting on the free shuttle, so we decided to wait with them & save the Metro fare. The bus came fairly quickly and we were at the Center and in line for the stamps by 7:25. The line moved pretty quickly once the Post Office tent opened – they had passed out price lists to the crowd ahead of time & had most of the selections in a separate display – which made it easier to decide what to buy ahead of time. We got the color first day issue set, a set of postcards – I think that was it for ourselves.
We walked around the Conv center to the store entrance – the place was deserted! Again, we had a shopping list from a couple of fellow SW fans – ended up spending about $250 total and had it all shipped home – including the programs (duh!) They had handed out a basic schedule/program in the “freebie bag” – but the full color/detailed story program would have been handy to refer to throughout the weekend.
A little after nine, we joined the general admission line – the convention opened at ten. I realized that the Post Office was doing date stamps on the postcards & thought that would be a neat souvenir – so got back in line to get the postcard pack & date stamps. We were back in the building by 10:05 – the first event we wanted to see was Charlie Ross’ One Man Star Wars Trilogy - one (very active!) guy acts out the key scenes of the original trilogy in about an hour, no props, just hand/body gestures and voices. We’d seen him at Celebration III (and maybe C2) and were really looking forward to see him again.
The line to get into the 11:30 show was already forming (outside), so we joined it. At least it was against a wall & it wasn’t very warm outside. While we waited – I called over to the Tropicana & made sure they’d found our camera battery & charger. We made arrangements to come pick them up later in the day.
We were next to a Princess Leia in queue – we got talking about the stamps (couldn’t show them, as we’d had then shipped home as well) & she asked if we’d hold her space & watch her stuff while she went to take a look. She didn’t make it back until they were already letting us into the hall – so Scott went to get good seats & I waited outside the door until she got back – she seemed quite relieved to see me with her bag! The show itself was amazing – he’d be a great asset to the Star Wars Weekends!
About 12:45 we headed up to the Fan Club Lounge – another perq of being a Star Wars fan club member. They had sandwiches, sodas & snacks for sale at about the same price as the other concession stands – so we got cold subs for lunch & relaxed a while. The fan club folks had a couple of different activities going on in the room, including a trivia challenge – we both answered a few (padawan-level) questions & got some trading cards as a prize. J
We went over to the Star Wars in Popular Culture room for awhile – a continuous showing of TV specials, commercials, news stories etc. all relating to any of the six movies. Unfortunately, they were having trouble with the equipment on & off all weekend – the DVD would get stuck or skip.
We decided to check out the sneak preview of Fanboys – an indie film made with the cooperation of LucasFilms: the story of a group of 20-somethings who, as a last hurrah before adulthood, decide to break into Skywalker Ranch to see the rough cut of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. We joined the line about 1:30 for the 3:00 screening. Yes – the lines were like this all weekend (except for the store). Most of the time the organizers had set up a queue in an adjoining room or a designated queue area along the side of a hallway – and people would usually sit or lie down while they waited – saw lots of handheld games & books being brought along to pass the time. Scott brought his GBA along the last 2 days of the convention, and I listened to my iPod. The Fanboys sneak peek presentation was a lot of fun – they showed about 45 minutes’ worth of clips and had a good Q&A. They’re still looking for a distributor and hope to have the movie in limited release sometime in 2008.
We braved the vendor area/exhibit hall after the show – that place was mobbed all weekend. I’ve got a pretty high tolerance for crowds, but this was starting to make me feel agoraphobic! We browsed around & picked up all the freebie handouts we could find, then headed back out to the shuttle stop about 4:30.
Got back to the hotel about 5:15, decided to wait out rush hour for a bit, so noshed on the leftover pizza and watched TV for about an hour before heading back to Anaheim. Took us about 45 min to get over there – had no problem picking up our stuff. Stopped by a grocery for some more snacks (that we ended up not having time to eat) and got another pizza for dinner on the way back to the hotel. We’d been on the go all day & knew we’d be out late the next two days, so decided to make it an early night of it.
Return to top of Trip Report --- Return to Trip Report ArchiveDay 10 – Saturday, 26 May 2007
Took the free shuttle again & spent most of this day going to the Star Wars: Robot Chicken events - a preview/Q&A with Seth Green and Matt Senreich, a writer's panel and a props panel. We're fans of the show and were looking forward to seeing the Robot Chicken take on the saga.
Took pix at the informal costumer gathering in one of the lobby areas at the convention -- some folks take their costumes very seriously - there's a national fan club called the 501st - they dress in Stormtrooper or other Imperial costumes & do a lot of fundraising & appearances. Others have a more humourous take on things... we saw more than one guy in a Slave Leia outfit, a Mexican Wrestler Stormtrooper - fun stuff!
Speaking of humour, we also attended a "Hilarious Star Wars Collectibles" slide show - with photos of some of the more ... unusual ... SW offerings over the last 30 years. The recent Disney crossovers were included: Stitch Emperor & Goofy Vader were the crowd favorites, I think.
We wrapped up this day with "An Evening with Carrie Fisher" (separate ticketed event). She spoke for about an hour about her involvement with the Star Wars trilogy and then took questions for almost another hour. She was a delight to listen to - seemed genuinely happy to be speaking to the gathering & very gracious to the questioners. We even saw her "space-themed" tattoo!
Return to top of Trip Report --- Return to Trip Report Archive
Day 11 – Sunday, 27 May 2007
Back to the Convention via the Metro - caught another live performance: Star Wars in 30 Minutes - a theater troupe of about a dozen college-age folks performing the first trilogy with creative props (flashlights for lightsabers, folding chairs for X-wings & TIE fighters). Another excellent, and funny show!
Next up was "An Hour with Anthony Daniels" - we'd seen him at a Star Wars Weekend at WDW a couple of years ago. He's another entertaining speaker who seems appreciative of his role in the saga and willing to share his recollections. He had some fun with the audience, too; he asked everyone if they remembered that the Ewoks treated C3PO as a god & wanted us to bow & chant to him as well... 
All in good fun!
We attended the second of the two costume contests being held that weekend - the kids' category was a lot of fun - and some of the adult costumes were just incredible - the Gowns category & Hardware were probably my favorites. Best in Show award went to an amazing Chewbacca costume - handmade from artificial hair bought from a local beauty salon.
We wrapped up our California trip with a visit to the El Capitan theater to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End during opening weekend. We took the Metro over & had a quick meal at the Disney Soda Fountain next door about a half-hour before show time. We'd bought VIP tickets ahead of time & had front row middle balcony seats - sweet! The theater was all done up in a pirate/nautical theme & the organist was playing an appropriately-themed Disney medley when we arrived. (I recorded some of it on my phone, but haven't figured out how to get the file back off it yet!) We really enjoyed the movie, even more so in such a great setting! It was a late night getting back - but very worth it!