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captain_slinkyOur second day in the park, we took advantage of our "Magic Mornings" option on our 5-day Park Hopper Pass. We were getting in to Disneyland an HOUR EARLY! This was a great plan because it meant we didn't *need* to be there an hour early to have our faces pressed up against the gates waiting for them to let us in (like I normally insist upon), and it gave us a leisurely beginning to our day where we could meet up with Penny, Chris, Brittany and Riley! Penny is my long-term non-romantical Female companion, Chris is her husband, Brittany is my Niece/"Proto-Molly" and Riley is the son of Penny & Chris, age 7.
Penny & Chris were already in the Magic Mornings line when we got there, and sent Brittany & Riley to find us. We greeted, we hugged, we made witty comments and discussed our plans for the day. Despite my pre-trip planning and Penny's obsessive-compulsive penchant for order and planning, we all decided to just play it "Loosey-Goosey" and let things happen as they would. They were heading towards Space Mountain, we were (in theory) heading over to The Jungle Cruise. We said our Goodbyes and split-up a the gate, only to be reunited at Main Street USA for character pictures. We saw Donald and got in line for a picture there when I noticed Mickey Mouse just a few steps away! Molly and Crystal stood in line for DOnald while I saved our place in line for Mickey; I then noticed just a few people ahead of me in line were Brittany and Penny waiting with Chris and Riley. Pictures taken with both characters, then we said goodbye again and off to our prospective destinations!
Despite my urging towards Adventure Land, Molly was most interested in going back to her "Shiny Nina" (which is what she had named her favorite Astro Orbiter rocket ship), so off we went. Extremely short line, I went and got us Buzz Lightyear fast passes while Molly and Crystal rode that shiny spiral of death (I am such a wuss). I got in line for Astro Blasters and held our place while waiting for the Astro Orbiter to land, then we went and blasted the Evil Emperor Zurg for a bit. Came out in to the sunlight to find a text from Penny - "We saw your Stroller at Buzz Lightyear!"
The combination of our red stroller (which had previously been THEIR red stroller when Riley was younger) and cell phone texting really made this trip great. We were able to stay in contact and do Disneyland *together* while also remaining as separate family entities enjoying our own vacations :)
After our early morning expedition in to Tomorrow Land, we decided that we were hungry. We had skipped the Continental Breakfast at our hotel *specifically* so I could get my Mickey Waffle at The Carnation on Main Street and get another opportunity to meet Chef Oscar, whom I had previously snubbed (see earlier posts).
We ordered entirely too much food; a Mickey Waffle AND an Oscar's Special. It was all delicious, and I was indeed able to get my picture taken with Oscar who absolutely *glowed* in his recent bout of minor celebrity status :) Little did I know that I was just about to get an EXTRA SPECIAL dose of Disney Magic at this breakfast!
Crystal went to use the restroom while I stayed behind and paid the bill. The waitress brought the bill, I signed, took my copy and waited for Crystal. As is customary between us, when Crystal came back her first question was "How much did it come to?" and I, as custom dictated said "I dunno" and dug in my pocket for the receipt. Crystal looked at the receipt and said "Uh oh... this is wrong. They over charged us!"
Crystal debated on if she really wanted to be one of "those people"... the people who would waste time at Disneyland complaining about a slight problem rather than just moving on and chalking it up to human error. In the end we decided that we would indeed bring it up to management, if for no other reason than to let them know that we had received and paid for the wrong bill in order to avoid an avalanche of other wrong bills going out and coming back. They apologized and attempted to credit the card back, but since it was an AT&T Rebate Debit Reward Card they were having problems doing this.
Then Chef Oscar got involved.
"Don warree, mah frehn" he said to me with a smile and a wink, "I tay car of you". He got us The Manager and talked with her a bit, occasionally looking my way to give a nod and another wink, and eventually we left the Carnation with a voucher for a Free Meal *AND* a "Front Of The Line" pass for Peter Pan's Flight! All the time Crystal and I continually apologized to the staff saying we really didn't want to be "those people", but they were all so friendly and nice and they really took care of us! But that wasn't the end of the magic...
Walking away from The Carnation and talking about how long that took but also how nice they had been, I looked over to our left at the alleyway seating area outside the Refreshment Corner was MARY POPPINS! It was like NOBODY had known she was there and she was just waiting for us to come by at this exact moment! Had we left The Carnation any sooner we would have missed her!
Mary Poppins was Molly's VERY FIRST favorite movie, ever. She still loves it, and this was an awesome opportunity :) Molly did her best to say "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" to her and Mary Poppins told her that was very nice and then instructed her on how to say it BACKWARDS! Excellent memories and excellent pictures to go with :)
Then it was off to The Jungle Cruise where we had the worst Jungle Cruise Skipper *ever*. He was doing the straight show with very minimal jokes and lots of pent-up frustration behind it, but Molly was properly impressed by the animatronics and I think that if your first experience on The Jungle Cruise is kind of dry that just makes all your subsequent trips with brilliantly witty skippers that much better :)
Then we went up The Swiss Tarzan Family Treehouse, which Molly adored and had to come back to a few times during the trip. There were some great views from up there :)
Then, since it was just *right there*, we of course went on Pirates of The Caribbean again :)
Then we hopped a train over to Toon Town where we checked out Minnie's house and then went to meet Mickey out back of his house in the Movie Barn (that was nifty) and then Molly wanted me to ride Gadget's Go-Coaster. I... kind of have a... a *thing* about roller coasters, but decided that I could be big and brave for my little girl while riding the easiest roller coaster in all of Disneyland.
HOWEVER, after just a few moment of standing in line and seeing others scream and how fast the coaster went and how it tilted and it was basically a shiny death trap of doom, I started to hastily text Crystal to PLEASE come save me because I was seriously freaking out. So Crystal came and saved me and I felt silly but they had fun anyways :)
After that, we headed over to Disney's California Adventure because we had a Dinner Date over there! Penny and Chris had very generously offered to buy us dinner at The Wine Country Trattoria (read: "Fancy-Schmancy Food What Don't Come On A Stick") so we could all be in the "Preferred Seating Area" for the World of Color show!
If you ever have the chance? Yeah... Preferred Seating. Dead center, plenty of space to just mill around and be comfortable yet not so close that you get wet. Compared to the sardines that were packed in to the seating areas around us? WE WERE ROYALTY.
So what can I say about World of Color? It's really the first Disney-level thing that has been done at Disneyland since the birth of Fantasmic, and is really worth the time and effort it takes to see it ESPECIALLY if you're a fan of the "Newer" Disney Classics. It's a show dedicated to the generation of Disney Fans that had The Little Mermaid as their first movie theater experience :)
It was during this show that I realized the phrase that best sums-up the California Disney Resort Parks; If Disneyland is Walt Disney's long running "Wonderful World Of Disney" TV show, then Disney's California Adventure is The Disney Channel. Trust me... there's a lot of zen and truth in that there statement :)
As amazing as World of Color was, though, it was only the third best group spectacle outdoor show we saw during this trip (more on that in the next few installments).
It should also be noted that Penny and Chris were THE reason we were able to do this trip so cheaply this year, even though we hadn't planned on it. At some time during this day in the park (I forget exactly when), Penny sent us a text saying "Hey you guys want to have lunch at The Blue Bayou tomorrow, our treat?" and then when we were at dinner with them we were also invited to take advantage of their 40% employee discount on merchandise and whatnot at the park! This directly lead to one of Molly's greatest Birthday present EVER, which you won't get to read about till Part 5 :)
Next up in Part 4, however? California Adventure, Churros, Fireworks and Elvis Part 1
Penny & Chris were already in the Magic Mornings line when we got there, and sent Brittany & Riley to find us. We greeted, we hugged, we made witty comments and discussed our plans for the day. Despite my pre-trip planning and Penny's obsessive-compulsive penchant for order and planning, we all decided to just play it "Loosey-Goosey" and let things happen as they would. They were heading towards Space Mountain, we were (in theory) heading over to The Jungle Cruise. We said our Goodbyes and split-up a the gate, only to be reunited at Main Street USA for character pictures. We saw Donald and got in line for a picture there when I noticed Mickey Mouse just a few steps away! Molly and Crystal stood in line for DOnald while I saved our place in line for Mickey; I then noticed just a few people ahead of me in line were Brittany and Penny waiting with Chris and Riley. Pictures taken with both characters, then we said goodbye again and off to our prospective destinations!
Despite my urging towards Adventure Land, Molly was most interested in going back to her "Shiny Nina" (which is what she had named her favorite Astro Orbiter rocket ship), so off we went. Extremely short line, I went and got us Buzz Lightyear fast passes while Molly and Crystal rode that shiny spiral of death (I am such a wuss). I got in line for Astro Blasters and held our place while waiting for the Astro Orbiter to land, then we went and blasted the Evil Emperor Zurg for a bit. Came out in to the sunlight to find a text from Penny - "We saw your Stroller at Buzz Lightyear!"
The combination of our red stroller (which had previously been THEIR red stroller when Riley was younger) and cell phone texting really made this trip great. We were able to stay in contact and do Disneyland *together* while also remaining as separate family entities enjoying our own vacations :)
After our early morning expedition in to Tomorrow Land, we decided that we were hungry. We had skipped the Continental Breakfast at our hotel *specifically* so I could get my Mickey Waffle at The Carnation on Main Street and get another opportunity to meet Chef Oscar, whom I had previously snubbed (see earlier posts).
We ordered entirely too much food; a Mickey Waffle AND an Oscar's Special. It was all delicious, and I was indeed able to get my picture taken with Oscar who absolutely *glowed* in his recent bout of minor celebrity status :) Little did I know that I was just about to get an EXTRA SPECIAL dose of Disney Magic at this breakfast!
Crystal went to use the restroom while I stayed behind and paid the bill. The waitress brought the bill, I signed, took my copy and waited for Crystal. As is customary between us, when Crystal came back her first question was "How much did it come to?" and I, as custom dictated said "I dunno" and dug in my pocket for the receipt. Crystal looked at the receipt and said "Uh oh... this is wrong. They over charged us!"
Crystal debated on if she really wanted to be one of "those people"... the people who would waste time at Disneyland complaining about a slight problem rather than just moving on and chalking it up to human error. In the end we decided that we would indeed bring it up to management, if for no other reason than to let them know that we had received and paid for the wrong bill in order to avoid an avalanche of other wrong bills going out and coming back. They apologized and attempted to credit the card back, but since it was an AT&T Rebate Debit Reward Card they were having problems doing this.
Then Chef Oscar got involved.
"Don warree, mah frehn" he said to me with a smile and a wink, "I tay car of you". He got us The Manager and talked with her a bit, occasionally looking my way to give a nod and another wink, and eventually we left the Carnation with a voucher for a Free Meal *AND* a "Front Of The Line" pass for Peter Pan's Flight! All the time Crystal and I continually apologized to the staff saying we really didn't want to be "those people", but they were all so friendly and nice and they really took care of us! But that wasn't the end of the magic...
Walking away from The Carnation and talking about how long that took but also how nice they had been, I looked over to our left at the alleyway seating area outside the Refreshment Corner was MARY POPPINS! It was like NOBODY had known she was there and she was just waiting for us to come by at this exact moment! Had we left The Carnation any sooner we would have missed her!
Mary Poppins was Molly's VERY FIRST favorite movie, ever. She still loves it, and this was an awesome opportunity :) Molly did her best to say "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" to her and Mary Poppins told her that was very nice and then instructed her on how to say it BACKWARDS! Excellent memories and excellent pictures to go with :)
Then it was off to The Jungle Cruise where we had the worst Jungle Cruise Skipper *ever*. He was doing the straight show with very minimal jokes and lots of pent-up frustration behind it, but Molly was properly impressed by the animatronics and I think that if your first experience on The Jungle Cruise is kind of dry that just makes all your subsequent trips with brilliantly witty skippers that much better :)
Then we went up The Swiss Tarzan Family Treehouse, which Molly adored and had to come back to a few times during the trip. There were some great views from up there :)
Then, since it was just *right there*, we of course went on Pirates of The Caribbean again :)
Then we hopped a train over to Toon Town where we checked out Minnie's house and then went to meet Mickey out back of his house in the Movie Barn (that was nifty) and then Molly wanted me to ride Gadget's Go-Coaster. I... kind of have a... a *thing* about roller coasters, but decided that I could be big and brave for my little girl while riding the easiest roller coaster in all of Disneyland.
HOWEVER, after just a few moment of standing in line and seeing others scream and how fast the coaster went and how it tilted and it was basically a shiny death trap of doom, I started to hastily text Crystal to PLEASE come save me because I was seriously freaking out. So Crystal came and saved me and I felt silly but they had fun anyways :)
After that, we headed over to Disney's California Adventure because we had a Dinner Date over there! Penny and Chris had very generously offered to buy us dinner at The Wine Country Trattoria (read: "Fancy-Schmancy Food What Don't Come On A Stick") so we could all be in the "Preferred Seating Area" for the World of Color show!
If you ever have the chance? Yeah... Preferred Seating. Dead center, plenty of space to just mill around and be comfortable yet not so close that you get wet. Compared to the sardines that were packed in to the seating areas around us? WE WERE ROYALTY.
So what can I say about World of Color? It's really the first Disney-level thing that has been done at Disneyland since the birth of Fantasmic, and is really worth the time and effort it takes to see it ESPECIALLY if you're a fan of the "Newer" Disney Classics. It's a show dedicated to the generation of Disney Fans that had The Little Mermaid as their first movie theater experience :)
It was during this show that I realized the phrase that best sums-up the California Disney Resort Parks; If Disneyland is Walt Disney's long running "Wonderful World Of Disney" TV show, then Disney's California Adventure is The Disney Channel. Trust me... there's a lot of zen and truth in that there statement :)
As amazing as World of Color was, though, it was only the third best group spectacle outdoor show we saw during this trip (more on that in the next few installments).
It should also be noted that Penny and Chris were THE reason we were able to do this trip so cheaply this year, even though we hadn't planned on it. At some time during this day in the park (I forget exactly when), Penny sent us a text saying "Hey you guys want to have lunch at The Blue Bayou tomorrow, our treat?" and then when we were at dinner with them we were also invited to take advantage of their 40% employee discount on merchandise and whatnot at the park! This directly lead to one of Molly's greatest Birthday present EVER, which you won't get to read about till Part 5 :)
Next up in Part 4, however? California Adventure, Churros, Fireworks and Elvis Part 1
