Appearing in this report are fellow posters to the newsgroup rec.arts.disney.parks (radp) Andrea McKenna, Pamela Culbreth Teixeira, Laura Gilbreath and Laura Acker. Also joining us were Laura G's husband Lee Zimmerman and Laura A's fiance' Dave Scribellito. Beth Eloheimo, another radp poster, met up with us on Saturday, September 21st.
Day 1, Sunday, September 21, 1997
For an excellent trip report on our first gathering on September 21, visit Laura Gilbreath's page at http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/1975/.
You'll also find quite few neat photos of our adventures.
I really enjoyed meeting Andrea and Beth! We had a great
time and had a heck of a ride on Splash Mountain! Thanks
Beth for getting us the 15% discount at the Blue Bayou
with your Premium Annual Pass. Also, while Laura's
report is really good, it's not *entirely* factual. Much
too much is blamed on me...I am innocent!
Some Additional Pictures
Andrea McKenna The "Hat and Glasses Lady"Lee Zimmerman, Andrea, and Laura Gilbreath
Pam says: Oh, right. Like we're supposed to believe *that*!
LauraG comments: Don't believe him - everything I said was true!
Day 2, Monday, September 22, 1997
Andrea and I had made plans to meet back up in the park today and then planned to have dinner later at one of the resort restaurants. I arrived at the park around 3:45 pm and proceeded to upgrade my regular Annual pass to include parking. We had planned to meet up a 5 pm so I was an hour early. I headed to the camera shop at the end of Main Street to pick up some new batteries for my camera (mine had failed the day before). Two batteries were over $17! I at first thought the CM said $72, so I had stopped breathing there for a second. Whew! Walking by the wait board I noticed a 35 min wait for Indy and 10 minutes for Space, so to Space I went. I first walked through the hub and snapped this shot of Sleeping Beauty's Castle.
To my delight, the wait was only 5 minutes so I
ended up riding 3 times in a row, first in the middle, then
in the back, then finally in the front. If you want to ride
in the front, let the CM know when he/she asks you how many
are in your party. You may have to wait for a short period
but it's well worth it to sit up front in my opinion. I
found sitting in the middle or back lets you see what's
coming ahead too easily thus making the ride seem a bit
more tame.
LauraG comments: Personally, I find the opposite - sitting in the front I can dimly see the track ahead, and anticipate, so I have a better ride in the middle or the back.
Next up was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Again I experimented with positioning on the ride (hey, I'm an engineer, what do you expect?) and found the back to be the best. The reason is the rear of the train actually goes faster around the curves than the front of the train. One of my favorite things to do at DL or the Magic Kingdom in WDW is to ride Big Thunder in the back at night. Woo hoo! After two rounds it was 5 pm so I turned on my cell phone and called Andrea. We met up at the shooting gallery for hugs then proceeded to Splash Mountain. On our ride yesterday, I had sat in front of Andrea and she took advantage of that to tickle and poke me. Well this time, I sat in back and all I can say is that revenge is *sweet*! Woo Hoo!
Next we did the Haunted Mansion (HM) with little wait. Our Cast Member had to be prompted for the right phrases again... ugh! Next was Pirates with a short wait. The Pirates at Disneyland is better in my opinion. I like the serenity of the Bayou part at the beginning and the smells wafting out from the Blue Bayou restaurant are wonderful. We then climbed the stairs outside of Pirates to visit the Gallery. We particularly were interested in the scale model of Space Mountain...it is *too* cool! I recommend that everyone stop by and take a gander at that and the other fine exhibits of past, present and future attractions at DL. The Indiana Jones attraction is right next door to Pirates so it was our next stop. The lack of a line looked very inviting; however, we found after waiting approximately 40 minutes that looks were deceiving. They were only loading one side so what *looked* like a 20 minute wait was twice that long. Still, Indy is worth waiting for!
Andrea had promised me the day before that she would ride the Teacups with me since Laura G., Beth and Lee were all too wimpy to do it. So, true to her word, off we went to Fantasyland. We first stopped at Snow White, since it seemed never to have a line, then did Mr. Toad. I *love* Mr. Toad at Disneyland! We got on the Teacups next with very little wait and proceeded to twirl ourselves to near nausea! What fun! The Teacups at Disneyland do not have a roof over them, which I think makes them blend into the look of Fantasyland better. It's hard to describe but the overall look of Fantasyland is really superior to the one at WDW. It all seems to fit together so well! It was now getting near park closing so we decided to try Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin in Toontown. I'd never done this ride before, having been scared off by the long lines. Well we got lucky! We got on with no wait! Woo Hoo! I like Roger Rabbit OK, but I wouldn't wait too terribly long to ride it.
We then took the monorail over to the Disneyland Hotel complex. We scouted out possible dining options and settled on Stromboli's. After a 15 minute wait in the nearby bar (we were given a beeper), we were escorted to our table. I liked the look of the place...it felt comfortable to me. We had a bit of a disaster early on. Andrea was given two water glasses in a row that still had lipstick on them---yuck!! Being the Disney expert she is, she didn't let the poor server forget about those glasses during the entire meal. She weaseled another drink out of him as well as coffee after the meal. I fully expected dessert too but I guess she felt sorry for him. Andrea ordered the prime rib, which she seemed to enjoy and I had the lasagna, which I most definitely enjoyed. They served breadsticks and flatbread accompanied by a cheese spread/dip, and a salsa. Both were tasty appetizers. Despite the lipstick on the glasses bobble, I would recommend Stromboli's to anyone. Magic Kingdom Club members are eligible for a 10% discount here too.
Andrea and I then strolled outside and said our goodbyes and exchanged big hugs. I really had fun spending time with Andrea. She's as funny in person as she is in radp, email and on IRC. I'm looking forward to meeting the rest of her family at Disneyworld in December!
Day 3, Friday, September 26, 1997
After a long week working at an aerospace contractor's facility I was *ready* for some Disney fun and relaxation! Unfortunately, the traffic on the Santa Ana Freeway was heavy so what normally takes me about 45 to 50 minutes to drive took twice that. Ughh! I arrived at the Disneyland Pacific (DLP) Hotel at 4 pm and proceeded to check in. This was my first stay at a Disneyland resort so I was especially looking forward to it. Check in was uneventful and efficient. I was booked at the $99/night September special rate which is a considerable discount over the normal rates. A note about persistence. I had made my reservation a few weeks in advance and was only able to get the $99 rate for one of my two nights. The second night, with a Magic Kingdom Club discount, was to be $148. Ouch! I kept calling and was finally able to also book the second night at the $99 rate, but not until the day before I was to arrive. So don't give up!
LauraG comments: And thanks to Al Lutz for putting the special rate info on his web site, and to Pam Teixeira for finding it and telling the rest of us!
Pam says: The DLP is a nice hotel, but the theming is nothing compared to a WDW resort. They have a neat Mickey/Donald/Goofy(?) colorful sculpture and bright Mickey carpeting in the lobby (and Mickey soap & shampoo in the rooms!) but that's about it. But for $99/nite and walking distance to the park, how can we complain?
Parking at the hotel is a separate $10/day charge so take note of that.
Pam says: Andrea and I were given *free* parking...how bout the Laura's? The woman at the front desk, when asked why she was letting me park for free said "Because you seem nice and I feel like it!" :-) (Boy, do I have her fooled!)
LauraG comments: No free parking for us...guess we didn't seem nice enough.
My room was a non-smoking room with two double beds (I had asked for a non-smoking with a king but none were available) on the 8th floor, overlooking the swimming pool. I also noted that the DLP has a whirlpool spa next to the pool. The room had a big stuffed chair, a table with two (I think) chairs, a combination TV cabinet and dresser. Inside the closet is an ironing board and iron. A hairdryer is provided in the bathroom. Adorning the walls were framed pictures of Disney characters, Donald (my favorite) was hanging over my bed. I decided to walk to the park to stretch out my legs, which took about 10 minutes. There is a nice walkway from the DLP to the Disneyland (DL) Hotel complex, where one may either take a tram to the park or ride the monorail.
I must say that I don't miss the finger scanners they have at WDW at all! My DL annual pass has my photo on it along with a bar code that is scanned at the turnstyle. I arrived just as the Hercules parade was going on so I made my way through the Main Street shops to the wait board at the end of Main Street. Indy's wait was posted at 15 minutes so guess where I went. Actually, the wait was only 8 minutes and that included the 4 minutes it actually took me to get to the end of the queue! I rode again with no wait, stepping over the rope on my way out. There was hardly anyone waiting to ride! They were actually sending out empty cars! I rode again for a third time in less than 30 minutes but this time Indy broke down! I've been on this ride dozens of times but had never been on it when it went down. After a few minutes, the lights were turned on and we were escorted from the vehicles back to the loading area. It was neat to see the attraction with the lights on, including the mechanism that controls which door you go through. Pretty cool!
I was to meet fellow radp'er Pam Culbreth Teixeira, hereafter known as Pam, Pammy, Spammy and a few other names I won't mention, (Pamella_de_Vil on IRC) at the DLP around 6 pm so I decided to head back to the hotel to see if she had arrived. Not a minute after I had gotten there in walks Pammy! Pam is a very good internet friend, however, we had only met briefly the previous Sunday (see Laura Gilbreath's trip report). I was really looking forward to spending time with Pam, Laura G. and Laura A. We had been chatting about this weekend on IRC for weeks!
LauraG comments: Should we tell them the name of the room we were chatting in? :-)
From the looks of things Pam had had no better luck traffic-wise driving up from San Diego. In fact, her drive was even worse and she had that Santa Ana Freeway stressed out look. It looked like she was in serious need of some Disney magic. Pam got checked in and situated (she was first given a room that wasn't yet cleaned).
Pam says: (but I was glad because the first room overlooked the parking lot and road, and the new one had a nice view of the pool!)
We met up later and walked over to the monorail loading station for a ride into the park. The Disneyland monorail is different than those at WDW, they seem smaller, the seating arrangement is different and they travel with the windows down. I believe they only have air conditioning in the front and back cars. The ride into the park was neat...you ultimately are dropped off next to the Submarine Voyage in Tomorrowland.
We were also to meet up with Laura Acker, hereafter known as Laura A. (ldg on IRC), and her fiance' Dave so I turned on my cell phone so they could call us when they arrived. Pam and I began to scout out possible eating places before settling on sandwiches at the Blue Ribbon Bakery on Main Street. I thought the sandwiches were pretty good and Pam appeared to like hers as well.
Pam says: Well, I would have liked mine better if you hadn't finished yours first and then watched me eat even though I repeatedly begged you not to! :-)
After dinner, we checked the wait board only to find Indy still down. We walked to Pirates of the Caribbean and rode it with a 5 minute wait. I like the queue of Pirates at DL better than its counterpart at WDW. It's not that it has better theming, it doesn't, I like it because you can actually see how long the wait is going to be. At WDW, the queue winds around quite a bit on the inside so you can be in for a 20 minute wait and not realize it. I had brought along my buddy Eeyore with me and it was here that Pam took him. I think he enjoyed Pam's company the rest of the evening. Little did he know what she had in store for him the following day. Read on!
It was in the queue for Pirates that I discovered a peculiar thing about my friend Pam. She has this bizarre stop and start shuffle step that invariably caused me to step on her feet repeatedly! She started the weekend with brand new "Mr. Clean" white shoes but by Sunday they looked pretty dingy. Oh well...she couldn't help herself!
Pam says: HEY!!!! Oh sure, blame me. It's your trip report, so there's probably nothing I can do about it. :-) Guess I'll just have to write my own and tell my side of the story. Of course, I'll have to make up some lies of my own. Heh-heh-heh.
Despite Spammy's shortcomings, I still found her to
be excellent company
LauraG comments: And he would be
a good one, too - we enjoyed watching him practice. But you'd have to
shave the mustache, Jeff... :-)
Pam says: Awww, shucks! That's so sweet! Thanks!!! Ditto, babe. :-)
We had a ball in Splash though Pam did get a bit scared
on the "big" drop. I think Eeyore comforted her though. Pam then
dragged me to do the Country Bears, an attraction that I had never
done in Disneyland. The show at DL is considerably different
than its counterpart at WDW and we enjoyed it immensely. We sat
front and center and had a big time clapping and "yee-haaing"
throughout the show.
Pam says:
You claim you don't have a southern accent, but the drawl rears
its ugly head when it comes to shouting out those "yeeeee-hawwwws"!
:-)
We then headed to Fantasyland, which is superior to its
Magic Kingdom counterpart in my opinion, to ride Snow
White (0 wait), Pinocchio (5 min), Mr. Toad (10 min), Alice in
Wonderland (10 min) and the Storybook Canal boats (5 min).
The Blue Fairy effect in Pinocchio is really neat but you
have to pay attention as she doesn't stay long.
Pam says: We covered Eeyore's eyes during the scenes with the caged
donkeys!
Mr. Toad at Disneyland is superior to the Mr. Toad at WDW. The cars
are two person instead of four and the scenes are much more
detailed than at WDW. The "Hell" effect in Disneyland's
Mr. Toad is really good, the heat is awesome. The Storybook
Canal boats were fun to do too. The scenes I think look better
at night than during the day. I tried valiantly to get Pam to
do the Teacups with me but she wimped out. Pitiful!
Pam says: What, did you want me to hurl? :-)
We finished
up the night with a ride on Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin (0 wait).
The neatest thing about this ride is the "hole" effect near the
end of the ride. Roger Rabbit is typically a crowded attraction
with waits often rivaling Space and Splash Mountain. I wouldn't
recommend waiting more than 10 or 15 minutes myself.
Pam and I rode in the back of the monorail to the hotel and
nearly froze our butts off! It seemed like it was 50 deg.
back there!
Pam says: There was frost on the windows! D'oh!
Once at the monorail station back at the Disneyland
Hotel all guests must pass through a "single" turnstyle. This
caused big backups, especially at park closing. Pam and I made
plans to do the character breakfast at the PCH Grill at 7:30 am
and then headed off to our rooms. It was amazing how quickly
the time had passed with Pam's company. We never did hear from
Laura Acker or Dave so we assumed that they had blown us off to
do something romantic. However, after arriving back at the room,
I found a message from Laura on the phone. She had tried to reach
us several times but apparently when we were inside an
attraction where the phone reception was bad. Dang!
Pam says: I'm glad to see you're still sticking with that story. :-)
Pam and I met at the PCH Grill as planned and had an enjoyable
breakfast. Characters on hand were Minnie, Belle and Merlin.
Gaston is supposed to be there as I understand it; however, I
overheard Belle telling someone that he was sick that day.
Poor Gaston! Pam was seriously disappointed! This character
breakfast differed from those I had been to at WDW. At WDW,
a single price, $12.95 to $14.95 is charged for a buffet-type
(like Grand Floridian) or served sit-down (Cinderella's Royal Table)
type breakfast. At the PCH, one could have the buffet ($14.95)
or order items such as cereal or eggs from a menu for a much cheaper
price. Pam and I, both starving, opted for the buffet. We were
visited by the characters as we ate and were entertained by Merlin's
magic act. Pam and I agreed that Merlin was very good and that
Belle was a major babe...woo hoo!
Pam says:
Merlin was hysterical. He was dressed in a long purple robe, purple wizard
hat, purple pointy shoes, and long white hair/beard/mustache. He made an
announcement during breakfast: "I just want to make one thing
absolutely clear:
I am **NOT** Barney!!"
What was neat about the character breakfast (CB) here was that the
characters performed while you were eating, instead of just coming around to each table for pictures and autographs like they do at most of the CBs I've been to at WDW. Merlin did magic tricks, invited some of the kids to
come up and help him out, and sang songs with Minnie. Then Belle
came out and she and Merlin sang "Be Our Guest" as all the waiters
passed by Belle showing her the food they had on their trays.
It was really cute!
The buffet was well stocked with fruit, cereals, bread, Mickey
waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, among other things.
Also, there was a cook there to prepare made-to-order omelettes.
I had a ham and cheese omelette, sausage, bacon and some Mickey
waffles. Pam had cereal, fruit and Mickey waffles. Our
waiter kept our coffee and juice glasses filled consistently.
All in all, I thought the breakfast was good and well worth
the price.
We rode the monorail over to the park and arrived at 8:30 am.
We had planned to meet Laura A., Dave, Laura G. and Lee at the
hub at 9 am so we decided that we had time to ride Peter Pan.
I like the Peter Pan at WDW better. We then walked through
Sleeping Beauty's castle. If it were not for Pammy, I'd have
never known you could do this. Thanks Pam! We then headed
to the hub to wait for our friends. Soon Laura A. and Dave
walked up. I *loved* Laura's "Joizy" accent! I wish
I'd had a Southern accent to share with her but I don't...
hehehe.
Pam says: Yeah, right. See above. I've already told you that you sound
like Elvis!
LauraG comments: Yeah, and you should hear "Elvis" sing: "It's a small
world after all..."
We stood around and chatted while waiting for
Laura G. and Lee. We waited, and waited, and waited....
FINALLY, they came sauntering up Main Street and greeted us
as we all stared at our watches. After listening to lame
excuses about traffic and parking we, exchanged greetings,
handshakes and hugs.
Pam says: You forgot to mention the cool Air Force One hat that Lee gave
you! :-)
LauraG comments: Yes, you *did* forget that! Boy, there's gratitude for
you... :-) And it *did* take us 15 minutes to get through the parking
kiosks and get parked...it wasn't our fault! Really!
Pam says: I'll get you my pretty...and your little donkey too! :-)
I normally have my arms up on the big drop at Splash
but I was threatened with bodily harm if I did that this time.
I kept them down and it was actually a good thing. We took
the most wonderful Splash Mountain picture I've ever seen!
Poor Eeyore made the mistake of riding with his buddy Pam
(donkeys, like tiggers, aren't especially smart) and she
placed him on the front of the log! The poor thing got
absolutely soaked! As we finished out the ride Pam tried
to make it up to Eeyore by helping him to dry out. Unfortunately,
she used the "wring" method which was a bit painful to poor
Eeyore. The picture was so good we decided that we had to
buy it. As we were waiting in line, one of the CMs noticed
poor soaked Eeyore and took pity on him. He pulled out his
pocket comb and tried to groom him a bit, which did help.
After he finished, I took Eeyore and sat him in the sun to
further dry off. I don't know if this is routine or not, but
we found out that if you purchase the Splash picture with your
American Express card you can get a second picture for free!
LauraG comments: It *is* a really cool picture! And Eeyore looked
really cute with that wet spikey hair do... :-)
After picking up our pictures we decided to ride the Haunted
Mansion. Lee, acting as group leader, guided us all
to the HM gate only to stop dead in his tracks and let a
huge tour group go in front of us. We were shocked and
amazed! Our group quickly decided that Lee was much too nice
to be leader so he was unceremoniously demoted to group
caboose. While waiting for the tour group to enjoy HM, we
stopped by the horse-drawn hearse to let Tig Jr. play. Soon,
we were ushered in by a vertically challenged Cast Member.
Maybe it's just me but I want the HM CMs to be tall like Lurch
on the Munsters! However, we did finally get a CM that hit
all the right phrases without being prompted. "Move along
bodies...step lively bodies", "Move to the dead center of the
room bodies"...ahhh, you gotta love it!
LauraG comments: Does anyone else think that Jeff enjoys HM maybe a
little *too* much?
During the ride our doom buggy stopped so I took the opportunity
to bang on the buggy in front of us trying to scare Laura G. and
Lee. However, at the end of the ride we found out that Lee and
Laura G. weren't in the car! It was some poor woman riding by
herself and Lee and Laura G. had also knocked on her buggy
thinking it was us! Sorry lady! Next we rode Pirates of the
Caribbean. When the CM asked how many we had in our party we
told him 6 people and 3 animals. He thought that was really
funny, so much so that he had us tell a co-worker the same
thing. I guess sometimes it gets a bit boring for those
folks and any change of pace is a welcome one. We then walked
through the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse.
LauraG comments: This, unfortunately, was a recurring theme during
the day - Laura and Dave had NEVER ridden Indy, and were really looking
forward to trying it, but every time we checked it was still down. Like
Jeff, we had never had problems with Indy breaking down either, before this.
After a quick snack at the Bengal BBQ, we headed to one of my
all time favorites - Big Thunder Mountain Railroad! I only
have one complaint about DL's Big Thunder and that is the
uncovered wait queue is brutal on a hot sunny day! Man it
was hot!
We then did Pinnochio to see the beautiful Blue
Fairy. Here's an odd coincidence for you. Both Laura G.
and Pammy *both* played the Blue Fairy in school plays!
Woo hoo! I want pictures!
Pam says:
Even wishing on a star isn't going to get you what you want. :-)
Continuing to enjoy Fantasyland,
we next rode the Storybookland Canal Boats. Our boat
driver Jeff (another coincidence) dubbed us his boat of
the day! The poor folks that rode with us wondered what
planet we were from I'm sure but we had a good time! The
CMs seem to feed on the energy of their riders. I find this
to be true often on the Jungle Cruise too.
Pam says:
Woo Hoo! We were named the B.O.D.! Sam, are ya listening? :-)
LauraG comments: We had a blast. The animals (Eeyore, Tig Jr. and
Baby Pegasus) rode on the front of the boat, and the rest of us screamed
"We're all gonna die" as we entered Monstro's mouth, and we answered Jeff's
questions, and generally gave him a bad time. It was lots of fun. :-)
A cute ride, too - something that I don't ever remember doing before.
Laura G. then demanded that we ride It's a Small World (IASW),
her favorite ride, or else! Not really wanting to find out
what the "or else" entailed, we appeased her and got in line.
You can see by the photos that she was thrilled to be there!
Laura G. really does a fine job singing IASW too. It almost
brings tears to my eyes even now just thinking about that
Disney moment.
Space Mountain was next after a 35 minute
wait. I normally don't like waits so long but the company
made the time fly by. It was Eeyore's first ride on Space
and he really enjoyed it. Nearly falling out twice only
added to his excitement. He obviously needs lessons from
Tig Jr. on holding on.
LauraG comments: It also helps to have a non-engineer holding on to you -
one that *isn't* trying to experiment with the properties of gravity and
the friction relationship between plush animal fur and vinyl.
I re-watched the parade the next day and the Aphrodite was a different
woman.
And from your, um, description, she was probably the same one you saw
the previous week. Oh, and by the way, she didn't make eyes at me either.
:-) (not that there would be anything wrong with that!)
And you didn't mention how much fun Pegasus Jr. had at the parade
watching himself as a grown up flying around. I had to hold him up over all the people in front of me so he could get a better view.
It was *really* hot outside and we nearly cooked ourselves
in the short time we were standing there waiting for the
parade. Laura G. suggested that we *again* ride IASW, she
claimed for the air-conditioning, but we all knew the *real*
reason.
LauraG comments: I don't recall hearing *any* dissenting votes to
the air-conditioning plan. I think Lee and Jeff both took naps.
We made our way back to the DLP hotel for a quick break
before dinner at Stromboli's. We all met up at the
restaurant at 5:30 pm, all except...you guessed it...Laura G.
and Lee! Does anyone else see a pattern here?
LauraG comments: It wasn't our fault! Unlike the rest of you, we hadn't
stayed there Friday night, so we still needed to check in. It took them
three attempts to find us a room that was 1) clean and 2) unoccupied.
We finally did get a non-smoking room with a king bed (the first two had two
queen beds). But by that point we barely had time to take a quick shower
and hustle over to the Disneyland Hotel for dinner. And, when we got there,
Jeff and Pam were no where to be found, though we found Laura and Dave. They
showed up a couple minutes later, and Jeff had a beer in his hand, so we knew
where *they* had been...
We were
seated shortly after they arrived (and after I'd made my way
to the little bar next door).
LauraG comments: I don't know how she did it, but Laura scored us a terrific
table overlooking the little lake/marina.
I'm not sure what everyone
had but I had the fettucine alfredo with "jumbo" shrimp. If
these were their jumbo shrimp, one would need tweezers to
eat their popcorn shrimp. The fettucine was pretty good but
I've had better in many places. I'd give it 6 on a scale of
1 to 10. We finished our meal and walked back over to the
park intending on catching the final Hunchback of Notre
Dame "Festival of Fools" show at 7:45 pm. We made it in
plenty of time for the show but way too late to get a real
seat, having instead to sit on the concrete. For those that
haven't seen this show, there is a gazebo structure in the
center of the area with stages and building facades along
periphery. The action moves constantly so to help the
audience keep up with what's going on, there are performers
who carry and wave red flags to help you know where to look.
Before the show begins, CMs assigned to each section of the
audience teach their sections when to cheer and when to
boo during the show. For example, when Frollo comes out
everyone is supposed to boo loudly. There are various cheers
that are also appropriate during the show. Anyway, there was
this lady in the audience sitting next to us that *really* got
into this thing. She had this yell that sounded something like
"ayei-ayei-ayei-ayei-ayei-ayei-ayei-EEEEEEEEEEE" and it was
*really* loud! At first I thought Spammy was doing it so I
began thinking of ways that we could disassociate ourselves
from her but then found out it was the lady next to her.
Whew!! After that walking problem of hers I didn't know if
I could take that howling thing too!
LauraG comments: Pam definitely scored the "line of the day" at this
point - she looked at the woman and asked, "Come here often?" I
thought Laura was going to bust her side laughing.
We strolled by Big Thunder and saw a huge line, which is
common after they let out a Hunchback show, and proceeded
to Splash Mountain.
LauraG comments: Actually, I believe this is the time when Indy
was *finally* running, and we got to use Laura's "Head of the Line"
pass to bypass the 1 hour line. Woo hoo!!!! Laura and Dave loved
it, and of course it was already a favorite of the rest of us.
By this time, the crowds were amassed
for the first showing of Fantasmic! so we expected the line
for Splash to be reasonable. It likely would have been but
we discovered upon arriving that Splash was down! Dang! We
visited Country Bears instead. It was funny to hear Laura
A.'s Joizy-accented version of a "yeeehawww". Fantasmic!
was finishing up just as we exited the Country Bears show.
We had great difficulty getting through the exiting crowd,
in fact, we came to a complete standstill at one time. It
was the worst job of crowd management that I'd ever seen
the Fantasmic crowd control CMs ever do...it was terrible!
Finally, the log jam broke and we made our way to Toontown.
Laura comments:
We actually intended to ride BTMR at night, but it too was down - don't
know if both it and Splash being down was a result of the same problem or
just a coincidence. It was frustrating, though.
I stopped off in Fantasyland to visit the Tinkerbell shop to
pick up a headband for a fellow radp'er while the others
went to Toontown. We really didn't have much time as we
had to get back and find a spot for the 10:30 pm showing of
Fantasmic.
Our spot, a pretty good one considering we got it just a
few minutes before the show started, was on the side of
the walkway between Frontierland and Adventureland. I
won't try to describe Fantasmic, but suffice it to say
it's the best show that Disney does in my opinion.
Laura G., Lee, Laura A. and Dave decided to try to ride
Indy again but Pam and I were totally worn out so we
begged off and instead rode the monorail back to the hotel.
LauraG comments: Jeff was so tired he actually left without
Eeyore - I was carrying all three animals at the time. But I'm sure Eeyore
had more fun with us, anyways.
We got in line for Indy, and it broke down several minutes later.
We were NOT having very good luck with rides that day. We decided to
stick it out, though - the line was still moving as people got out of
line, and we thought that, if nothing else, we could maybe get another
"Head of the Line" pass out of it. Fortunately they were able to restart
it, and we waited about the same time we would have had the ride not
broken down. Laura and Dave still loved it. :-)
We had time for one more ride, so we made our way over the BTMR, and
almost walked right onto the train. It's so much more fun at night.
By then it was a little after midnight, and the park was closing.
Lee and I wanted to do a little shopping before heading back to the
hotel, so we said goodbye to Laura and Dave and arranged to meet them
in the morning, and Laura said she would call Jeff and Pam and let them
know.
We had all agreed to meet up for breakfast at the Monorail
Cafe (MC) at 8:30 am in the morning. I, for some unknown
reason, woke up early so I finished packing, verified my
express check-out bill was correct, and took my bags down
to the rental car. I scoured the hotel shops for a cool
Donald Duck shirt but couldn't find one. Why doesn't Disney
make more Donald merchandise? I ended up buying a Tigger
shirt instead.
Laura comments: Tigger rules!!! :-)
Soon, Laura A. and Dave too walked up. We waited and waited
for Pam...and waited some more. Suspecting a mix-up, I walked
back to the DLP to find Pam in the lobby looking for us!
In all fairness to Pam (and I'm always fair and completely
truthful), we both were told the time and place of breakfast
via a phone call from Laura A. waaay after we'd both gone
to sleep. You ever have one of those late night calls
where after you put the receiver down and think to yourself
"what did they just say?". Laura's call was definitely one
of those calls.
LauraG comments: I think Lee rues the day that I met Andrea McKenna -
she has elevated butt-pinching to an art, and I learned a few things that
Lee wishes I hadn't. :-) I had a wonderful time delivering all the
hugs, though.
Lee says: I think she enjoyed delivering the hugs a bit too much
In summary, I had a wonderful time! I've come away from
the trip with some wonderful memories.
I look forward to continuing and building on the friendships
that I have with Andrea, Laura G., Laura A. and Pam.
Pam says: Me too! I had a great time with all of you!
LauraG comments: We had a terrific time with everyone, too. Now
don't be strangers, y'all! (Don't you like that word "y'all"? I learned
it from Jeff...)
Lee says: Humph! I notice that Jeff only wants to be friends with the
women in this group...despite the fact that I've spent as much time
with him at DL as my wife has. I had a great time with EVERYONE
(even Laura's fiance Dave who doesn't do netnews or IRC) and hope to
see them again soon.
Jeff replies: Sorry Lee! You are right, and I really have enjoyed
getting to know you too over the last several months. Thanks for the Air Force One hat! Dave, I'm look forward to seeing you again in the
future.
We strolled next door to Splash Mountain (15-20 min wait). Pam and
I continued to get to know one another in the queue, she's a very
funny lady. I felt like I was with an old friend that I had known
a long time.
Day 4, Saturday, September 27th
We made an executive decision to first do Splash Mountain
and headed in that direction. Again, Pam perplexed me with her
stop and start shuffle but I decided to just grin and bear
it. It's amazing sometimes what one tolerates to get along.
Spammy was brutal
here with her stopping and starting! Those shoes just kept
getting dirtier and dirtier. Laura A. and Dave produced a
no wait pass for 6 guests to Indy, received the night before
when Indy broke down, so we walked next door to ride. We were
disappointed to find that Indy was *still* down.
LauraG comments: Brings tears to my eyes, too, but not at all for the
same reason. Argh. Am I going to plagued with this particular vicious
rumor for the rest of my days??? Beth Eloheimo reminded me that I *did* think
IASW was a cool ride - but that's only because of the air conditioning!
It was now 2:15 pm, so we headed back
to Fantasyland to watch the 2:30 Hercules parade. Lee and
I were going to determine once and for all who Aphrodite
was making eyes at the previous Sunday. The parade was
great, much better than its counterpart at MGM Studios.
As for Aphrodite, well to be honest, she didn't look at
either of us this time...women can be so fickle!
Pam says:
Actually, wasn't it a different Aphrodite than the one you saw last
Sunday?
Having satiated Laura, we decided a afternoon break
might be in order so we began heading towards Main Street.
We stopped along the way at the Blue Ribbon Bakery to get
a snack and some sodas then decided to visit the Walt Disney
Story featuring Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln (GMwML). I'd
never been in this attraction so I quickly became enthralled
in the various Walt-related papers, furniture, etc. After
a few minutes we were ushered into the GMwML show. I really
enjoyed this show, but I'm the patriotic type so my opinion
may not be shared by all. There were elements common between
this show and the American Adventure at Epcot. The song,
"Golden Dream" is common as is the story of the two
brothers in the Civil War, one fighting for the North, the
other for the South. Anyway, an outstanding show!
Day 5, Sunday, September 28th
Anyway, we had a nice breakfast and visited with one another
some more, but too soon I had to leave to catch my 11:35 am
flight back to Huntsville, AL. We exchanged hugs and
handshakes once again and said our farewells. I need to
report too that Laura G. was very diligent in delivering all
the hugs and butt pinches that she had collected from fellow
radp'ers on #radp-friends. Frankly, I was shocked that she
had the nerve to actually do the pinches! However, it's
obvious that she's had some practice in that area...you
might want to take note of that Lee!
