September '09 Trip Day 4.3

Outside of our breakfast with Minnie Mouse and the half an hour we spent following Peter Pan and the little girl around the park Andrea and I had been off doing our very own thing. She was probably off going on all of the rides that I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole, seeing as I am a chicken. Or, as my high school biology teacher would say during our blood typing lab - "I am a wuss"!! But we did have plans to meet back up later. Obviously we'd have to find each other at some point to watch Fantasmic! but at 3 o'clock we met up with another member of the Disney forums that I am addicted to outside of Pirates of the Caribbean. But not before grabbing one of my all-time favorite treats at Disneyland, a mint julep. I know I have said it before, but I am addicted to them and I need them like air or water when I'm there. I'd been waiting as patiently as I could since we had arrived on Tuesday since they wouldn't be open until the weekend. Or at least until Friday. Which, surprise surprise, it was. Sure, I had one at lunch at the BB, but it just isn't the same.
I love grabbing a mint julep from the Mint Julep Bar. And luckily enough it's behind the French Market near the New Orleans Square Station and I had just enough time to stop by before finding a place to outside of POTC to just relax while I waited for Andrea and what a nice, relaxing, few minutes it turned out to be while I finished off my drink and my co-hort showed up. The funny thing is, as soon as she saw what I was drinking sh had to go and grab one for herself. It was nice to meet someone from the message boards that had been alongside us with all of our planning questions and all and the four of us enjoyed a go on Pirates and chit chatted for a fun little bit.
By the time that we all got off of Pirates and said our goodbyes it was a little too late for us to head back towards Main Street for the Flag Retreat Ceremony which we had a tentative plan to go back for and there was more of that "well, what should we do next" talk that drives me up the wall and is part of why I like to plan things the way that I do and that Andrea has always been very resistant to. So guess what we did again? We split up, of course! I made my way towards Critter Country to take some photos over there and to take a spin on the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Mostly I wanted to go into Pooh's Corner and get some photos of some Tigger Tails, which are a very Disney-fied marshmallow on a stick, and try one for myself.

September Trip Day 2.2

After leaving DCA it was back to Disneyland we went. I had a rather hefty goal for this vacation: to meet and greet as many characters as I possibly could, which also meant getting photos. I mentioned before how much I miss the other Ariel's Grotto that was a meet & greet station for the Little Mermaid herself but has now been turned into a meet & greet for Tinkerbell and her friends called Pixie Hollow. We wanted to see how the line was before we decided if we would go in or not. It looked short enough to us, and we weren't disappointed as we only had to wait about 15 minutes. We got to meet Tinkerbell and Silvermist.



Afterward we had to make our way back over to New Orleans Square for one of our last opportunities to ride the Haunted Mansion, a favorite of ours. On Wednesday, September 10th (coincidentally this was also my birthday) it would be shutting down until the end of September for it's transformation into the Haunted Mansion Holiday so of course we had to get our fix in! Boy did we ever. It was literally a walk on and I just couldn't help myself, I had to go twice in a row. I did make one small detour though. It's common knowledge that outside in the queue for the ride you walk through a pet cemetery that I usually photograph like crazy. But what isn't common knowledge is that there is another pet cemetery to the right of the mansion. So of course I sought after the ones you don't see every day by asking a CM about it before jumping in for the second time in a row. It's small, as much of what had been there was moved to the more visible pet cemetery long ago, but there's still a couple of things to see.



By that point Andrea and I had both went our separate ways to do the some thing solo which proved to make a huge difference for me. I move around a lot easier when I'm by myself, all of that speed walking of mine can get put to good use, and I made my way through some favorites including:

Pirates of the Caribbean

Jungle Cruise



And to leave us off for this installment are a few photos I took in Frontierland before meeting back up with Andrea!

Trip Report Part II

Here you leave today
And enter the world
of yesterday, tomorrow
and fantasy
- Walt Disney
Our first day in the park was just amazing, and a much better all-around experience than we had on our first day back in March. If you haven't heard me tell you the tale of what went down on that not-so-Magical day, you'll have to keep waiting. That is a story for another day.

While Andrea was busy changing into something that wasn't sequin-color-contaminated, me and my own two legs walked along Harbor Blvd. just enjoying the sights and sounds that took me closer to Disneyland inch by inch, step by step. I'm a fast walker so I would venture a guess that the walk from the hotel to the park gates takes me just about 5 minutes (or longer if I decide to slow it down which is not very often). I am a speed-walking fiend I tell you!

Here's an awesome image that I found that shows you the very simple and straightforward walk from that I have made more times than I can count this year:


The best (and really the only entertaining) part about the walk is all the little hints that you are getting closer and closer to Disneyland. The lamp posts proudly display banners advertising the latest and greatest that Disneyland has to offer. Back in March they were the same "Celebrate Today" images that were used with this year's "What Will You Celebrate" promotion (that included the free admission on your birthday) and matched the park hoppers (a.k.a. tickets) we held in our hand. The lamp posts were sporting a different look this time around, advertising the D23 Expo that would be taking place at the Anaheim Convention Center from September 10th - 13th.


Do I really need to tell you that just seeing them put the spring right back in my step?

It would have been awesome to be able to attend the Expo. I keep in touch with a few people who went to different events throughout the weekend and it just seemed like so much fun, and there was so much Disney history to be found there, along with exciting new announcements (and a preview of The Princess & the Frog that I would have loved to see). Heck, Johnny Depp even made an appearance decked out in full Captain Jack Sparrow attire. You had better believe I would have done anything to be there if I could have. Did you know that they are making a 4th Pirates of the Caribbean movie? Well, you do now.

The most important part of the walk however, is when you reach that turning point and get ready to cross Harbor Blvd. (without getting hit by a swiftly moving vehicle, which is why we have traffic lights). For any Disney fanatic, this is a beautiful sight:


The plan was for me to get their first since I am the faster walker between the two of us and stake out spots in line to get ready for the glorious moment that they start letting non-Magic Morning regular entrance folks like ourselves in through those green gates with that wand waving sound that tells us we've been granted a Magical day (if you have no idea what I mean by Magical Morning, you will in due course, I promise you this). Of course if I had remembered that they start letting people onto Main Street en masse 30 minutes prior to the rope drop that will open up all of the different Lands of Disney we may have reworked our strategy somewhat. So I was into the parks before Andre managed to meet me there, which was all fine and dandy. I needed to swing by City Hall to get that all-important birthday badge to let everyone know exactly what I was celebrating!


Once my birthday badge (which sported my naickname, Jazz, because it's just so much fun) was securely in place and visible for all it was time to start off the real Disneyland adventure.

First we would venture into the world of yesterday and the 1950's exotic adventure of Adventureland! There I met up with Andre outside the entrance to the world famous Jungle Cruise. It's tradition that this ride always be our first stop. Always. And no matter how many times I have heard the jokes I think I will always love this ride. They are so full of cheese, but that's why we love it. Our Skipper wasn't the best that I've had, but she wasn't the worst either. But I was expecting a little more from her first cruise out on the day.






Shh! You're supposed to attack the next boat!!


There's old Trader Sam, head salesman of the area. Business has been shrinking lately, so this week only, Sam's offering a two-for-one special: two of his, for one of yours! Either way you slice, you always come out ahead.
Going back even further into yesterday, we made our way into what is hands down our favorite 'land' to just chill in: New Orleans Square. What is there in New Orleans Square that we don't love? Pirates of the Caribbean? Love it! Blue Bayou? Love it! Haunted Mansion? Love it! Do you know what else we love? The Jambalaya Jazz Band! And they certainly got a kick out of my beloved nickname. It would be a memorable one for Cast Members all over the park.


And let that photo just go to show you just how bright it was that morning. There was so much sunlight everywhere! We got some Mardi Gras beads out of the deal. I wish we could have stayed to watch them perform a little while longer because they're awesome, but we were on a mission to get our Haunted Mansion fix in before they closed it on the 10th for the Haunted Mansion Holiday that opens up just in time for the Halloween season.










Coming up: We have a lunch date on the Bayou