rgoble5972
Are we there yet?
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2001
Dates: December 13-17, 2001
Travel Method: Plane, Super Shuttle
Resort: Grand Californian
Accomodations: Concierge room
Ages: Adult
Experience: Frequent
CAST
Robin/Me - age 38, trip planner
Paula/Sister - age 28
Wes/Brother-in-law (husband of Paula) - age 28
Saturday, December 15, 2001
"You're an idiot!"
Plan: California Adventure, Practically Perfect Tea at 3:00, Downtown Disney
I woke up at 7:45 this morning and, one-by-one we all started to get ready for the day. I must say, my hair does much better here than it does in Florida--not as much humidity I guess. Paula went out on the balcony to check the weather and we were all thrilled to see clear skies and the sun shining. She also marvelled at what a nice view of the mountains we had. I took the video camera out on the balcony to take some pictures of the monorail and the view in the daylight. Paula came out and joined me and asked if I was filming the naked lady. I looked puzzled and she pointed to a balcony a couple of floors down on the north side of the courtyard where--I swear this it the truth--a stark naked woman was standing in front of her sliding glass door!! Honestly, the only thing this woman was wearing was a towel and it was wrapped around her head! Our jaws hit the ground as she opened the glass door and stuck her arm out apparently seeing what the temperature was. Needless to say we were both shocked and tickled at the same time--I'm sure Mickey has some sort of rules about this! We could just hear Mickey say, "Oh Boy, It sure is important to wear your clothing around here!" Wes had been in the shower while all this happened and we were quick to let him know that we had more than one mountain range to view from the balcony!
We left to have breakfast in the lounge at 9:45 and then left for Disney's California Adventure (DCA) at 10:15 (DCA opened at 10:00 this morning and, in fact, every morning we were there). We didn't use the hotel's private entrance into DCA (which puts you out at the Grizzly Peak Recreation Area) because we wanted our first time in the park to be through the front gates so we could get the full effect. So, we walked through Downtown Disney to the main entrance. There was a bit of a line but it moved quickly and we were soon inside the Golden Gateway.
The first order of business was to go counter-clockwise to the Condor Flats area to get a Fast Pass for Soarin' Over California (return time 11:15-12:15). We then continued going counter-clockwise through the Grizzly Peak Recreation Area. Grizzly River Rapids had virtually no line and looked like great fun but none of us really wanted to get wet this early in the day--especially since we had stayed wet all day yesterday! We passed the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail which looked like it would be lots of fun for kids. As we prepared to leave the Grizzly Peak area we noticed a Streetmosphere performer dressed up like a giant vine. She would lean against a lamp post or tree and be perfectly still then suddenly start moving and surprise the people around her. We all found her to be kind of creepy!
We quickly made our way to Paradise Pier and walked past the Golden Zephyr (silver rocket ships like the Astro Orbitor), Jumpin' Jellyfish (a kid's version of the Maliboomer), Mulholland Madness (a mini roller coaster), and the Orange Stinger (a swing ride inside a giant orange--we all agreed that we couldn't handle just going around in circles) before coming to a stop in front of the Maliboomer. The Maliboomer is a giant elevator ride that whisks you 180 feet up into the air and then drops you up and down like a yo-yo for several minutes (kind of like the Tower of Terror outdoors). The ride had big plexiglass screens that dropped down over the riders' heads (I assume so no one sucks a bug up their nose as they drop!) and Wes was quick to point out that he doesn't ride anything that has a puke guard on it! Paula and I both adore Tower of Terror but we decided to pass on this one for now.
We headed instead to the Sun Wheel ferris wheel which only had a five minute wait. This ferris wheel has normal cages on the outside of the wheel but it also has cages that are on a separate track so that they slide as the wheel goes around. Wes doesn't like heights and, as Paula and I wanted to ride in a cage that moved, he declined to accompany us despite Paula's pleading. Riding in the cages that slide is fun but very unsettling. The wheel would be turning and everything would be normal...normal...normal...yikes! suddenly terrifying...as the cage would "slip" along it's track and you would be left rocking like crazy. I think what bothered me most was that there were no seat belts and I don't know what kept you from being thrown to the floor when the cage started to rock!
After the Sun Wheel received thumbs up from Paula and I, we started toward California Screamin', the giant roller coaster. As we walked along Wes said that he overheard a conversation as he was waiting for us to ride the Sun Wheel. He said a family with two young boys were coming from the direction of the Maliboomer. One of the boys said, "Wow, that's a fun ride!" The other brother looked at him for a moment and said, "You're an idiot!"
Wes again decided not to ride California Screamin' with us. While we were waiting in line we overheard a lady pleading with her husband, "But, honey, we *have* to ride It's a Small World--it's a *classic*!" The wait was maybe 5 minutes before Paula and I were sitting down and pulling the restraints over our heads. Before I rode this I didn't realize that this roller coaster launches you from 0 to 55mph (much like the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster at MGM in WDW) in less than five seconds. This ride was great. Also like Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, it is very smooth and fast. As we got off the ride, Paula turned to me and said, "Is my hair as fluffy as yours?" It seems that, as we rode, my hair blew around the sides of my restraint turning it into the world's largest hair roller! Maybe they should call it California Stylin'!
It was now time for our Fast Passes to Soarin' Over California. We looped the rest of the park and made our way back to Condor Flats. This ride seems to have a line all day long but with our Fast Passes, we were quickly inside.
Wow! This ride was incredible. You are seated in one of three sections of three rows each. The seats are like those on Star Tours except they are not attached to the floor but are suspended from above. Once everyone is seat-belted in, they lift the rows of seats into the air (with the first row being the highest, the second row below the first, and the third row closest to the floor) and suspend them in front of a giant Imax screen where they show the various regions of California (Palm Springs, Yosemite, San Diego, Las Angeles, Napa Valley, Redwood Forest, Monterey, etc.) as it feel like you are soaring over each area. You can smell the pine trees in Yosemite and the Redwood Forest and the orange groves in Napa Valley. You finally end up over Disneyland (which was decorated for Christmas just like the actual park--a nice touch) in the middle of the night-time fireworks. It was spectacular.
As soon as we got off the ride we immediately got another Fast Pass for later in the day (1:50-2:50 return time). We then decided to get something to eat to tide us over until time for tea. Chinese food sounded good so we headed over to the Lucky Fortune Cookery in the Pacific Wharf area. As we went past the Bountiful Valley Farm we decided to duck into It's Tough to be a Bug first since Wes had never seen it. There was only about a 6 minute wait before we were let into the theater. The theming in the queue is cute. It looks like you are going down into a termite or ant hill (instead of being in the trunk of the Tree of Life as in WDW). The film is just like the one at the Animal Kingdom in WDW. Wes jumped completely off his seat when the bugs exited the room! The only thing I noticed during the film that I'm not sure is in the WDW version was after Claire de Room, the stink bug, does her thing Flik tells her to "lay off the churros!"
The Pacific Wharf area is mostly a large food court. The Mission Tortilla Factory and the Boudin Bakery are there along with several Mexican food places and the Chinese food place. There was a mariachi band made up of five or six older men playing out in the open where all the tables and chairs are. One particularly enthusiastic band member was dancing with the ladies as they walked by and generally shaking his "bon-bon." Paula and I decided that he was almost as disturbing as the naked lady had been earlier this morning!
At the Lucky Fortune Cookery I ordered a Beef Teriyaki Bowl (stir-fried beef and vegetables served over rice) for all of us to share and got myself an order of egg rolls, an order of lemon wontons, and a diet coke ($18.01). Paula and Wes got an order of egg rolls, an order of California rolls (crab and avacado sushi), lemon wontons, and cokes. The food was all very good.
After we finished eating we decided to go to the Hollywood Pictures Backlot. Whose job is it to come up with the names of the shops here? Pizza Oom Mow Mow...Souviner Itch..Award Weiners (best weiner in a Supporting Roll!) Disney must have a team of old Vaudville performers on the payroll just sitting around and thinking of the worst puns they can come up with!
The first place we went in Hollywood was Disney Animation, a large building on the south side of the street just past the ABC Soap Opera Bistro. When you walk in to Disney Animation you find yourself in a cavernous room with at least two dozen giant video screens covering all of the walls. On the screens various scenes and stills from an animated Disney movie are shown while a song from the movie is played. You have to keep turning around to see all of the screens because they keep changing to show interesting illustration sketches and mat paintings and diagrams. I am ashamed to say that Paula and I once again cried while in this room--everything is just so grand and overwhelming. We finally just gave up and sat down to watch all of the movie clips until we had seen all that they were showing and they began to play the ones we had already seen over again.
Also inside Disney Animation are the entrances to four different workshops that deal with the art of animation: Animation Screening Room, Drawn to Animation, The Art of Animation, and Sorcerer's Workshop. We decided to start with the Sorcerer's Workshop.
The first room you enter is styled after Snow White, complete with magic mirror at the end of the room. In this room are strips of paper that you can draw sequential pictures on and then put the paper in a wheel and spin it to animate your drawing. They also have various Disney animations that you can spin and bring to life.
The next room was really neat. It was styled after the library in the Beast's castle from Beauty and the Beast. At one end of the room is a fireplace with a portrait of the young prince before he was changed into the Beast. On the mantle of the fireplace is the single red rose in it's glass case. As you watch the rose it begins to lose it's petals one at a time until the last petal drops. When all the petals have fallen, the room darkens, the fire goes out and the picture of the young prince is slashed by the Beast's claws. After a few minutes, the petals gather up and swirl around to become the whole rose again. The room lightens, the fire re-lights, and the portrait is restored.
Positioned around the room are fifteen or so computer stations. The computers are disguised to look like open books and Lumiere appears on the pages and asks if you want to take a short quiz to find out which Disney character your personality most closely matches. With the help of Cogsworth, a picture of you is taken and placed inside the book. Then, Lumiere asks several questions which you answer by touching your selection on the pages of the book. When the quiz is finished Lumiere tells a little about your personality and matches it with a Disney character. We had a good time with this exhibit. I was matched to Lady, Paula was (who else?) Cinderella, and Wes was Jafar. When Wes had his picture taken he gave his most disdainful, raised eye-brow villan look and it matched Jafar's picture perfectly. Even the people behind us remarked at how similar they looked.
The final room in the Sorceror's Workshop section is Ursula's Magic Voices which is themed as an underwater grotto. In this room you can do a voiceover for a scene from a Disney animated movie. There are several stations around the room where you can do this. Ursula appears on a screen in front of you and tells you that she can steal your voice and put it in a Disney movie. You have your choice of acting or singing. Knowing how we all sing, we quickly opted for acting. You then chose from four movie scenes which one you want to insert your voice in. The first time they play the scene the real voices are there and they run the words across the bottom on the screen. The next time, they take out the real voices and just show the words for you to speak. Then, Ursula shows the finished product with your voices instead of the real actors.
We did a couple of acting scenes (Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast) and then decided to throw caution to the wind and try singing. We had even more fun doing the singing! We sang along to Bear Necessities and Hakuna Mata and even managed some decent harmonies. The acoustics must be really good in there.
By this time it was almost 2:30 and we had reservations for tea at 3:00. We hated to leave without seeing the other exhibits but we still had a Fast Pass for Soarin' Over California that we wanted to use on the way out, so we hurried back to Condor Flats and straight on to Soarin'. (I would highly recommend using Fast Pass for this ride as it always had a long line every time we passed it.) We enjoyed our flight even more this second time and picked out details that we had previously missed. By the time we were through with the ride it was 2:50 and we had to hurry. Luckily, Condor Flats is right by the direct entrance to the Grand Californian hotel so we were able to scoot out of the park, through the hotel, and across to the street to the Paradise Pier hotel by 3:00.
We arrived breathless at the Paradise Pier hotel and were directed upstairs for tea. They were just beginning to seat guests for the 3:00 tea. The room was beautifully furnished with antique tables, chairs, couches and china cabinets. There were also a few white wicker pieces. All of the tables were already set for tea with various floral patterns of china and silver. We noticed that there were many more children at this tea than the one Paula and I had done at the Grand Floridian at WDW in May. There were three groups there for birthday parties.
We were seated at our table which was already set with a plate of scones with sweet cream and raspberry jam each. The CM came over and took our order for tea (Darjeeling all around) and soon brought out individual teapots for each of us. I was very impressed with the nerves of steel that these CM's must have to let these tiny little kids, some not more than four years old, pour their own "tea" out of real china pots into real china cups. There were a few spills, but nothing was broken.
After a few minutes Mary Poppins arrived wearing her coat, hat, and scarf and carrying her umbrella and carpetbag. She sang "Spoonful of Sugar," said a few words, and then disappeared into the kitchen to get some tea. The CM playing Mary was wonderful. She had a lovely British accent and singing voice and never broke character. We laughed at how practical and truly "Mary Poppins-like" she was as she bossed around the CM's that were serving, clapping her hand together and saying "spit-spot!"
After a short while, Mary came back out and made her way around the room to each table. She introduced herself, talked a while, and posed for pictures with everyone. She praised Wes for being such a good sport in coming to tea with us. While Mary was going around the room, the CM's brought out plates of finger sandwiches (ham and provolone on white bread, turkey and mango salad on white bread, chicken salad on wheat, and cucumber and watercress on a sea-shell shaped roll--all with the crusts cut off, thank you very much) and a bowl of cream of mushroom soup. The soup was delicious and the sandwiches were all very good. The turkey and mango was my favorite.
After Mary had gone around the room she sang "Chim Chiminee" complete with broom and speck of soot on her nose then quickly left to change clothes while everyone ate. When Mary came back she was dressed in her white dress, hat and boots and spoke a minute about the children telling her to be sure to "bring sweets." On cue, the CM's came out with plates of sweets for everyone (an apple tart, a Mickey Mouse shaped cookie with apricot and raspberry jam, and a white chocolate bar in the shape of a tea pot with "Practically Perfect Tea" written on it).
Mary then invited each table up one at a time to dress up in hats and feather boas (top hats for the men) and have their picture made with her by the Christmas tree. We were the first table to go and then we settled back down to eat our sweets. We enjoyed watching Mary interact with all of the guests. Quite a few of the little girls were wearing their princess dresses--Snow White, Cinderella, Belle,etc. Mary was placing several children on a couch so they could get their picture taken and she addressed one of the little girls as "Belle." The girl asked how Mary knew she was Belle and Mary replied, "My dear, your picture is on your dress!" Perfectly practical and completely in character.
We decided that it's a good thing tea has caffiene in it, otherwise we would all be asleep at the table--it has a very calming effect. The CM's brought around the checks ($82.50 including gratuity/$22.50 per person) and then Mary sang "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and had us all sing along. Then it was time for Mary and us to go.
We left for the Grand Californian very full and very sleepy. On the way across the street I saw a yellow and red fire hydrant that for a moment looked exactly like Winnie the Pooh. Great! Now I'm hallucinating. I wonder what they put in that tea. One piece of advice--never drink four cups and tea and then try to walk anywhere without first going to the bathroom! It was a very close call getting back to the room! On the way into the hotel we noticed that the Grand Californian logo has a hidden Mickey in the tree right where the trunk goes into the leaves. Duh! We'd been looking at the logo for three days and had just now noticed it. Once we saw it, we couldn't imagine why we didn't see it all along.
We were back in our room by 5:00 and I quickly ran down to the lounge to get a diet coke to clear the cobwebs in my head. We called housekeeping to get some more bath soap (the oatmeal and sea kelp scrubby soap) and they were at our door in five minutes with three bars of bath soap and three bars of facial soap! Woo hoo! Stocking stuffers for everyone! We also got one of the sewing kits every day so we were able to take those home to our mom and other sister. Wes napped, I updated my notes, and Paula decided she had better start taking notes too as she would never remember everything that we did to tell her friends. I called home and we rested until 7:00.
We decided to walk to the monorail station in Downtown Disney and take the monorail to Disneyland. I took my video camera with me in order to take some pictures of the fireworks and the outside of It's a Small World at night. We discovered that the monorails are smaller (shorter) than the ones at WDW. Also, there is no recording that says "por favor mantangense alejado de las puertas." We also decided that it was much faster to walk as we didn't get to Tomorrowland until 8:00.
We started towards It's a Small World but decided that we couldn't get there because the parade had started and was headed that way. So, we decided to go to Space Mountain instead. Paula and Wes rode while I looked around in the shops. They were out by 8:45 and we headed to the Haunted Mansion to get Fast Passes for later (return time 11:05-12:00). We took some video tape of the Christmas decorations in New Orleans Square and then headed back towards It's a Small World.
We couldn't get to It's a Small World for the crowds of people waiting for the fireworks so we decided to wait it out since they were scheduled to start in 5 minutes (9:30). We could see the outside of It's a Small World from where we were standing and it looked amazing. I can't even begin to speculate on the number of lights they had covering the outside of the building in every color imaginable. It was gorgeous and we quickly took some video tape of it.
In just a few minutes the Believe...in Holiday Magic firework show began and it was incredible also. I love watching fireworks with an appreciative crowd--the "Ooohs" and "Aaaahs" being said in unison. Paula and I shed a few more tears and wondered how they ever get the timing so perfect that the fireworks explode in synch with the Christmas music. Suddenly, "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" began to play and snow started to drift down upon the crowd. What a magical, magical sight.
After the snowing stopped it became clear to us that there was no way that we were going to get to It's a Small World tonight--everybody seemed headed in that direction so we quickly decided to go the other way and get something for supper (we thought a warm bowl of soup in a bread bowl sounded good). On the way we passed the Plaza Gardens Stage where they were having swing dancing to the tunes of a big band. It was now 10:00 so we went back to New Orleans square and found some soup at the Cafe Orleans. Paula and I got steak gumbo and Wes got the clam chowder. We all had soft drinks and the total bill was around $29 (Paula paid so I don't have the receipt). After we finished eating we looked around in some of the gifts shops and Paula made some pressed quarters with the Nightmare Before Christmas characters on them.
After a bit of shopping it was time to use our Fast Passes for Haunted Mansion. This time through instead of wishing us a "Merry Christmas," the audioanimatronic Jack asked if we wanted some fruitcake and bragged to Zero that he had outdone himself! We were through the ride at 11:45 and we made our way to Main Street to do some shopping. We found the window on Main Street that has a light always burning in it for Walt.
As we made our way down Main Street and back to the hotel, Paula remarked that we had each developed our own special limp! Everyone chose the limp of your choice. Paula began to do a Planet of the Apes walk, swinging her arms above her head and we all got very tickled. We were back in the room by 12:45. And I was in bed by 1:30.
Travel Method: Plane, Super Shuttle
Resort: Grand Californian
Accomodations: Concierge room
Ages: Adult
Experience: Frequent
CAST
Robin/Me - age 38, trip planner
Paula/Sister - age 28
Wes/Brother-in-law (husband of Paula) - age 28
Saturday, December 15, 2001
"You're an idiot!"
Plan: California Adventure, Practically Perfect Tea at 3:00, Downtown Disney
I woke up at 7:45 this morning and, one-by-one we all started to get ready for the day. I must say, my hair does much better here than it does in Florida--not as much humidity I guess. Paula went out on the balcony to check the weather and we were all thrilled to see clear skies and the sun shining. She also marvelled at what a nice view of the mountains we had. I took the video camera out on the balcony to take some pictures of the monorail and the view in the daylight. Paula came out and joined me and asked if I was filming the naked lady. I looked puzzled and she pointed to a balcony a couple of floors down on the north side of the courtyard where--I swear this it the truth--a stark naked woman was standing in front of her sliding glass door!! Honestly, the only thing this woman was wearing was a towel and it was wrapped around her head! Our jaws hit the ground as she opened the glass door and stuck her arm out apparently seeing what the temperature was. Needless to say we were both shocked and tickled at the same time--I'm sure Mickey has some sort of rules about this! We could just hear Mickey say, "Oh Boy, It sure is important to wear your clothing around here!" Wes had been in the shower while all this happened and we were quick to let him know that we had more than one mountain range to view from the balcony!
We left to have breakfast in the lounge at 9:45 and then left for Disney's California Adventure (DCA) at 10:15 (DCA opened at 10:00 this morning and, in fact, every morning we were there). We didn't use the hotel's private entrance into DCA (which puts you out at the Grizzly Peak Recreation Area) because we wanted our first time in the park to be through the front gates so we could get the full effect. So, we walked through Downtown Disney to the main entrance. There was a bit of a line but it moved quickly and we were soon inside the Golden Gateway.
The first order of business was to go counter-clockwise to the Condor Flats area to get a Fast Pass for Soarin' Over California (return time 11:15-12:15). We then continued going counter-clockwise through the Grizzly Peak Recreation Area. Grizzly River Rapids had virtually no line and looked like great fun but none of us really wanted to get wet this early in the day--especially since we had stayed wet all day yesterday! We passed the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail which looked like it would be lots of fun for kids. As we prepared to leave the Grizzly Peak area we noticed a Streetmosphere performer dressed up like a giant vine. She would lean against a lamp post or tree and be perfectly still then suddenly start moving and surprise the people around her. We all found her to be kind of creepy!
We quickly made our way to Paradise Pier and walked past the Golden Zephyr (silver rocket ships like the Astro Orbitor), Jumpin' Jellyfish (a kid's version of the Maliboomer), Mulholland Madness (a mini roller coaster), and the Orange Stinger (a swing ride inside a giant orange--we all agreed that we couldn't handle just going around in circles) before coming to a stop in front of the Maliboomer. The Maliboomer is a giant elevator ride that whisks you 180 feet up into the air and then drops you up and down like a yo-yo for several minutes (kind of like the Tower of Terror outdoors). The ride had big plexiglass screens that dropped down over the riders' heads (I assume so no one sucks a bug up their nose as they drop!) and Wes was quick to point out that he doesn't ride anything that has a puke guard on it! Paula and I both adore Tower of Terror but we decided to pass on this one for now.
We headed instead to the Sun Wheel ferris wheel which only had a five minute wait. This ferris wheel has normal cages on the outside of the wheel but it also has cages that are on a separate track so that they slide as the wheel goes around. Wes doesn't like heights and, as Paula and I wanted to ride in a cage that moved, he declined to accompany us despite Paula's pleading. Riding in the cages that slide is fun but very unsettling. The wheel would be turning and everything would be normal...normal...normal...yikes! suddenly terrifying...as the cage would "slip" along it's track and you would be left rocking like crazy. I think what bothered me most was that there were no seat belts and I don't know what kept you from being thrown to the floor when the cage started to rock!
After the Sun Wheel received thumbs up from Paula and I, we started toward California Screamin', the giant roller coaster. As we walked along Wes said that he overheard a conversation as he was waiting for us to ride the Sun Wheel. He said a family with two young boys were coming from the direction of the Maliboomer. One of the boys said, "Wow, that's a fun ride!" The other brother looked at him for a moment and said, "You're an idiot!"
Wes again decided not to ride California Screamin' with us. While we were waiting in line we overheard a lady pleading with her husband, "But, honey, we *have* to ride It's a Small World--it's a *classic*!" The wait was maybe 5 minutes before Paula and I were sitting down and pulling the restraints over our heads. Before I rode this I didn't realize that this roller coaster launches you from 0 to 55mph (much like the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster at MGM in WDW) in less than five seconds. This ride was great. Also like Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, it is very smooth and fast. As we got off the ride, Paula turned to me and said, "Is my hair as fluffy as yours?" It seems that, as we rode, my hair blew around the sides of my restraint turning it into the world's largest hair roller! Maybe they should call it California Stylin'!
It was now time for our Fast Passes to Soarin' Over California. We looped the rest of the park and made our way back to Condor Flats. This ride seems to have a line all day long but with our Fast Passes, we were quickly inside.
Wow! This ride was incredible. You are seated in one of three sections of three rows each. The seats are like those on Star Tours except they are not attached to the floor but are suspended from above. Once everyone is seat-belted in, they lift the rows of seats into the air (with the first row being the highest, the second row below the first, and the third row closest to the floor) and suspend them in front of a giant Imax screen where they show the various regions of California (Palm Springs, Yosemite, San Diego, Las Angeles, Napa Valley, Redwood Forest, Monterey, etc.) as it feel like you are soaring over each area. You can smell the pine trees in Yosemite and the Redwood Forest and the orange groves in Napa Valley. You finally end up over Disneyland (which was decorated for Christmas just like the actual park--a nice touch) in the middle of the night-time fireworks. It was spectacular.
As soon as we got off the ride we immediately got another Fast Pass for later in the day (1:50-2:50 return time). We then decided to get something to eat to tide us over until time for tea. Chinese food sounded good so we headed over to the Lucky Fortune Cookery in the Pacific Wharf area. As we went past the Bountiful Valley Farm we decided to duck into It's Tough to be a Bug first since Wes had never seen it. There was only about a 6 minute wait before we were let into the theater. The theming in the queue is cute. It looks like you are going down into a termite or ant hill (instead of being in the trunk of the Tree of Life as in WDW). The film is just like the one at the Animal Kingdom in WDW. Wes jumped completely off his seat when the bugs exited the room! The only thing I noticed during the film that I'm not sure is in the WDW version was after Claire de Room, the stink bug, does her thing Flik tells her to "lay off the churros!"
The Pacific Wharf area is mostly a large food court. The Mission Tortilla Factory and the Boudin Bakery are there along with several Mexican food places and the Chinese food place. There was a mariachi band made up of five or six older men playing out in the open where all the tables and chairs are. One particularly enthusiastic band member was dancing with the ladies as they walked by and generally shaking his "bon-bon." Paula and I decided that he was almost as disturbing as the naked lady had been earlier this morning!
At the Lucky Fortune Cookery I ordered a Beef Teriyaki Bowl (stir-fried beef and vegetables served over rice) for all of us to share and got myself an order of egg rolls, an order of lemon wontons, and a diet coke ($18.01). Paula and Wes got an order of egg rolls, an order of California rolls (crab and avacado sushi), lemon wontons, and cokes. The food was all very good.
After we finished eating we decided to go to the Hollywood Pictures Backlot. Whose job is it to come up with the names of the shops here? Pizza Oom Mow Mow...Souviner Itch..Award Weiners (best weiner in a Supporting Roll!) Disney must have a team of old Vaudville performers on the payroll just sitting around and thinking of the worst puns they can come up with!
The first place we went in Hollywood was Disney Animation, a large building on the south side of the street just past the ABC Soap Opera Bistro. When you walk in to Disney Animation you find yourself in a cavernous room with at least two dozen giant video screens covering all of the walls. On the screens various scenes and stills from an animated Disney movie are shown while a song from the movie is played. You have to keep turning around to see all of the screens because they keep changing to show interesting illustration sketches and mat paintings and diagrams. I am ashamed to say that Paula and I once again cried while in this room--everything is just so grand and overwhelming. We finally just gave up and sat down to watch all of the movie clips until we had seen all that they were showing and they began to play the ones we had already seen over again.
Also inside Disney Animation are the entrances to four different workshops that deal with the art of animation: Animation Screening Room, Drawn to Animation, The Art of Animation, and Sorcerer's Workshop. We decided to start with the Sorcerer's Workshop.
The first room you enter is styled after Snow White, complete with magic mirror at the end of the room. In this room are strips of paper that you can draw sequential pictures on and then put the paper in a wheel and spin it to animate your drawing. They also have various Disney animations that you can spin and bring to life.
The next room was really neat. It was styled after the library in the Beast's castle from Beauty and the Beast. At one end of the room is a fireplace with a portrait of the young prince before he was changed into the Beast. On the mantle of the fireplace is the single red rose in it's glass case. As you watch the rose it begins to lose it's petals one at a time until the last petal drops. When all the petals have fallen, the room darkens, the fire goes out and the picture of the young prince is slashed by the Beast's claws. After a few minutes, the petals gather up and swirl around to become the whole rose again. The room lightens, the fire re-lights, and the portrait is restored.
Positioned around the room are fifteen or so computer stations. The computers are disguised to look like open books and Lumiere appears on the pages and asks if you want to take a short quiz to find out which Disney character your personality most closely matches. With the help of Cogsworth, a picture of you is taken and placed inside the book. Then, Lumiere asks several questions which you answer by touching your selection on the pages of the book. When the quiz is finished Lumiere tells a little about your personality and matches it with a Disney character. We had a good time with this exhibit. I was matched to Lady, Paula was (who else?) Cinderella, and Wes was Jafar. When Wes had his picture taken he gave his most disdainful, raised eye-brow villan look and it matched Jafar's picture perfectly. Even the people behind us remarked at how similar they looked.
The final room in the Sorceror's Workshop section is Ursula's Magic Voices which is themed as an underwater grotto. In this room you can do a voiceover for a scene from a Disney animated movie. There are several stations around the room where you can do this. Ursula appears on a screen in front of you and tells you that she can steal your voice and put it in a Disney movie. You have your choice of acting or singing. Knowing how we all sing, we quickly opted for acting. You then chose from four movie scenes which one you want to insert your voice in. The first time they play the scene the real voices are there and they run the words across the bottom on the screen. The next time, they take out the real voices and just show the words for you to speak. Then, Ursula shows the finished product with your voices instead of the real actors.
We did a couple of acting scenes (Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast) and then decided to throw caution to the wind and try singing. We had even more fun doing the singing! We sang along to Bear Necessities and Hakuna Mata and even managed some decent harmonies. The acoustics must be really good in there.
By this time it was almost 2:30 and we had reservations for tea at 3:00. We hated to leave without seeing the other exhibits but we still had a Fast Pass for Soarin' Over California that we wanted to use on the way out, so we hurried back to Condor Flats and straight on to Soarin'. (I would highly recommend using Fast Pass for this ride as it always had a long line every time we passed it.) We enjoyed our flight even more this second time and picked out details that we had previously missed. By the time we were through with the ride it was 2:50 and we had to hurry. Luckily, Condor Flats is right by the direct entrance to the Grand Californian hotel so we were able to scoot out of the park, through the hotel, and across to the street to the Paradise Pier hotel by 3:00.
We arrived breathless at the Paradise Pier hotel and were directed upstairs for tea. They were just beginning to seat guests for the 3:00 tea. The room was beautifully furnished with antique tables, chairs, couches and china cabinets. There were also a few white wicker pieces. All of the tables were already set for tea with various floral patterns of china and silver. We noticed that there were many more children at this tea than the one Paula and I had done at the Grand Floridian at WDW in May. There were three groups there for birthday parties.
We were seated at our table which was already set with a plate of scones with sweet cream and raspberry jam each. The CM came over and took our order for tea (Darjeeling all around) and soon brought out individual teapots for each of us. I was very impressed with the nerves of steel that these CM's must have to let these tiny little kids, some not more than four years old, pour their own "tea" out of real china pots into real china cups. There were a few spills, but nothing was broken.
After a few minutes Mary Poppins arrived wearing her coat, hat, and scarf and carrying her umbrella and carpetbag. She sang "Spoonful of Sugar," said a few words, and then disappeared into the kitchen to get some tea. The CM playing Mary was wonderful. She had a lovely British accent and singing voice and never broke character. We laughed at how practical and truly "Mary Poppins-like" she was as she bossed around the CM's that were serving, clapping her hand together and saying "spit-spot!"
After a short while, Mary came back out and made her way around the room to each table. She introduced herself, talked a while, and posed for pictures with everyone. She praised Wes for being such a good sport in coming to tea with us. While Mary was going around the room, the CM's brought out plates of finger sandwiches (ham and provolone on white bread, turkey and mango salad on white bread, chicken salad on wheat, and cucumber and watercress on a sea-shell shaped roll--all with the crusts cut off, thank you very much) and a bowl of cream of mushroom soup. The soup was delicious and the sandwiches were all very good. The turkey and mango was my favorite.
After Mary had gone around the room she sang "Chim Chiminee" complete with broom and speck of soot on her nose then quickly left to change clothes while everyone ate. When Mary came back she was dressed in her white dress, hat and boots and spoke a minute about the children telling her to be sure to "bring sweets." On cue, the CM's came out with plates of sweets for everyone (an apple tart, a Mickey Mouse shaped cookie with apricot and raspberry jam, and a white chocolate bar in the shape of a tea pot with "Practically Perfect Tea" written on it).
Mary then invited each table up one at a time to dress up in hats and feather boas (top hats for the men) and have their picture made with her by the Christmas tree. We were the first table to go and then we settled back down to eat our sweets. We enjoyed watching Mary interact with all of the guests. Quite a few of the little girls were wearing their princess dresses--Snow White, Cinderella, Belle,etc. Mary was placing several children on a couch so they could get their picture taken and she addressed one of the little girls as "Belle." The girl asked how Mary knew she was Belle and Mary replied, "My dear, your picture is on your dress!" Perfectly practical and completely in character.
We decided that it's a good thing tea has caffiene in it, otherwise we would all be asleep at the table--it has a very calming effect. The CM's brought around the checks ($82.50 including gratuity/$22.50 per person) and then Mary sang "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and had us all sing along. Then it was time for Mary and us to go.
We left for the Grand Californian very full and very sleepy. On the way across the street I saw a yellow and red fire hydrant that for a moment looked exactly like Winnie the Pooh. Great! Now I'm hallucinating. I wonder what they put in that tea. One piece of advice--never drink four cups and tea and then try to walk anywhere without first going to the bathroom! It was a very close call getting back to the room! On the way into the hotel we noticed that the Grand Californian logo has a hidden Mickey in the tree right where the trunk goes into the leaves. Duh! We'd been looking at the logo for three days and had just now noticed it. Once we saw it, we couldn't imagine why we didn't see it all along.
We were back in our room by 5:00 and I quickly ran down to the lounge to get a diet coke to clear the cobwebs in my head. We called housekeeping to get some more bath soap (the oatmeal and sea kelp scrubby soap) and they were at our door in five minutes with three bars of bath soap and three bars of facial soap! Woo hoo! Stocking stuffers for everyone! We also got one of the sewing kits every day so we were able to take those home to our mom and other sister. Wes napped, I updated my notes, and Paula decided she had better start taking notes too as she would never remember everything that we did to tell her friends. I called home and we rested until 7:00.
We decided to walk to the monorail station in Downtown Disney and take the monorail to Disneyland. I took my video camera with me in order to take some pictures of the fireworks and the outside of It's a Small World at night. We discovered that the monorails are smaller (shorter) than the ones at WDW. Also, there is no recording that says "por favor mantangense alejado de las puertas." We also decided that it was much faster to walk as we didn't get to Tomorrowland until 8:00.
We started towards It's a Small World but decided that we couldn't get there because the parade had started and was headed that way. So, we decided to go to Space Mountain instead. Paula and Wes rode while I looked around in the shops. They were out by 8:45 and we headed to the Haunted Mansion to get Fast Passes for later (return time 11:05-12:00). We took some video tape of the Christmas decorations in New Orleans Square and then headed back towards It's a Small World.
We couldn't get to It's a Small World for the crowds of people waiting for the fireworks so we decided to wait it out since they were scheduled to start in 5 minutes (9:30). We could see the outside of It's a Small World from where we were standing and it looked amazing. I can't even begin to speculate on the number of lights they had covering the outside of the building in every color imaginable. It was gorgeous and we quickly took some video tape of it.
In just a few minutes the Believe...in Holiday Magic firework show began and it was incredible also. I love watching fireworks with an appreciative crowd--the "Ooohs" and "Aaaahs" being said in unison. Paula and I shed a few more tears and wondered how they ever get the timing so perfect that the fireworks explode in synch with the Christmas music. Suddenly, "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" began to play and snow started to drift down upon the crowd. What a magical, magical sight.
After the snowing stopped it became clear to us that there was no way that we were going to get to It's a Small World tonight--everybody seemed headed in that direction so we quickly decided to go the other way and get something for supper (we thought a warm bowl of soup in a bread bowl sounded good). On the way we passed the Plaza Gardens Stage where they were having swing dancing to the tunes of a big band. It was now 10:00 so we went back to New Orleans square and found some soup at the Cafe Orleans. Paula and I got steak gumbo and Wes got the clam chowder. We all had soft drinks and the total bill was around $29 (Paula paid so I don't have the receipt). After we finished eating we looked around in some of the gifts shops and Paula made some pressed quarters with the Nightmare Before Christmas characters on them.
After a bit of shopping it was time to use our Fast Passes for Haunted Mansion. This time through instead of wishing us a "Merry Christmas," the audioanimatronic Jack asked if we wanted some fruitcake and bragged to Zero that he had outdone himself! We were through the ride at 11:45 and we made our way to Main Street to do some shopping. We found the window on Main Street that has a light always burning in it for Walt.
As we made our way down Main Street and back to the hotel, Paula remarked that we had each developed our own special limp! Everyone chose the limp of your choice. Paula began to do a Planet of the Apes walk, swinging her arms above her head and we all got very tickled. We were back in the room by 12:45. And I was in bed by 1:30.
