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KrisAnne Warren -- March 2000 -- Disneyland
So I'm back from 3 lovely days at Disneyland. Those visiting were my friends Rebecca and Monika (34 and 29) and me (32). We were scheduled to fly out on Alaska Airlines at 7:15 Friday morning. At about 6:00 Thursday night I get a call from Alaska telling me our flight has been cancelled and they need to make other arrangements for us. I scrambled to get a hold of both Rebecca and Monika and try to rework our plans. Alaska was very accommodating and put us on an American flight at 7am. They also let us change our return from Sunday evening to Monday morning which I had wanted to do, but wasn't able to previously because of the type of tickets we had. Day One We arrived in Orange County with no further problems and hopped right on our shuttle to the Candy Cane Inn. We all liked the CCI. We had a deluxe room and were able to get a AAA discount so the price was $82/night. There's a nice fountain out front and lots of flowers. The room was nicely decorated. There was a free breakfast included with the room consisting of all you could eat bagels, muffins, toast, cereal, fruit, juice and coffee. We took full advantage of this, filling up before hitting the park! We were in the park by 11am on Friday, earlier than we had expected. This was Monika's first Disney park and it was fun watching her reaction to everything. The first ride we took her on was Space Mountain. There was very little line and the music was working. I love this ride! We did a couple more then realized we were really hungry so we headed over to the Big Thunder Bar-B-Que. I had never eaten there before and I loved it! I had the BBQ Beef sandwich and expected the meat to be a little tough, but it wasn't at all. It was so good I wanted to get another one, but we had a big slice of chocolate cake to share among us so I didn't. I had planned on meeting up with Beth, Kim and Brian at 3pm outside of PoC. We headed over there and Beth immediately saw my RADP pin and headed over. She explained that there were some problems a LAX that day and that Kim and Brian hadn't shown up yet (I never did get to meet them). Beth joined us for a ride on PoC where there were some very annoying women sitting behind us. Do we care about some stranger's bladder infection?? No! We then headed over to Indiana Jones. As we were exiting the ride I heard, "Which one of you is KrisAnne?" I knew I was famous! It was Vully, she had seen our pins and figured I had to be one of the pin wearers! We introduced ourselves then said goodbye until Sunday, when we planned to meet up with Ping. Beth went to look for Kim and Brian again and we headed over to get seats for Animaizement. When we got there we realized the 45th Anniversary Parade was just about to start so we got a good spot along the Small World promenade to watch it before the final showing of Animaizement. All three of us really liked the parade. I thought I would hate Pomp and Circumstance as the music, but while I didn't really like it, it wasn't too bad. I was able to overlook the music and enjoy the costumes and the floats. The costumes were gorgeous, especially the princesses' and some of the supporting characters. There was a dandelion and sealife (seaweed, sea urchin, coral) that were very clever. This was the only time I was able to see Tarzan since it was so cold out. He looked quite good straddling Tantor in his loincloth. His LIB registration should be good for another 6 months or so. After the parade we met up with Beth again an watched Animaizement. We all liked the show. It started to rain soon after this. We got so cold that Monika and I had to buy sweatshirts. We went to get some dinner and while we were eating the storm really kicked in. The sky was lit up with lighting, thunder pounded and the rain was really coming down. We were all pretty tired and cold so we called it a night and headed back to the hotel early. The storm continued to rage with the thunder so loud it was setting off car alarms. We went to bed, hoping Saturday might be a little better weatherwise. Day Two I forgot to mention one thing about our first day at DL. Soon after we arrived we went to get in line for Splash Mountain. We had just gotten into line when some guys came up to us and said they had some extra Fast Passes and did we want them? They had three of them so we said sure. We ran right around to the FP line and were on the ride in about ten minutes. It was great! A nice little bonus from some nice strangers at the park. So, Saturday morning looked promising. It wasn't raining and there was a hint of blue sky. We did early entry and were in the park a few minutes after 7:30am. It was very empty and we decided to do the Fantasyland rides. There was no wait for any of the rides and we got all of them in and were in line for Rocket Rods before the official opening. We had one of our more amusing moments this morning on Mr. Toad. Rebecca and Monika got in the first car and then I got into the car behind them. As I got in the CM, a man in his 40's or so, said "You three must be Charlie's Angels." "Yes, I'm surprised you recognized us after all these years!" I was chuckling to myself throughout the ride. I get to the end and R&M are waiting for me. As my car stops the CM announces on the intercom, "Folks, we've got Charlie's Angels riding with us today." and points to us. All the people in line whip around to look then stand there with these "what the h*!!?" looks on their faces. It was so funny! I waved and called out, "please, no autographs!" We three were all very amused though I'm sure no one else was. Rebecca then said, "I'm Kate Smith!" I started laughing and said, "Well, you eat like Kate Smith, but you look more like Kate Jackson!" Rebecca is all of a size 6 and she eats like a horse! The rest of the trip was full of Charlie's Angels and Kate Smith jokes. We waited about 25 minutes for Rocket Rods, I wouldn't wait much longer. It's an OK ride, but nothing too spectacular. We went back to the Big Thunder Bar-B-Que to catch my favorite, Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. I just love Billy! I think he's totally hot! Sadly, it started to rain and they had to cut their show short. We were headed back through Fantasyland when Monika said, "I don't remember seeing that yesterday." and pointed to the Matterhorn. Goofy was standing on top and Mickey was climbing up!! Yippee! I didn't think we'd get to see that since the Matterhorn was being rehabbed. It was another nice little surprise. The Monorail was up and running again so we took it to the DL Hotel where we had lunch reservations at Goofy's Kitchen. The new Monorail station at the hotel was very nice looking. I think the Downtown Disney area is going to be great once they get it done. We had booked a late lunch at the Goofy's Kitchen Buffet. I was excited to see the Mad Hatter was there as I don't have any pictures with him. We were seated and the Mad Hatter was just two tables away! But then he left and went into a different part of the restaurant :( The buffet was pretty good. There was some very good roast beef and I liked the bbq chicken pizza. As we ate Pluto, Goofy and Baloo came by our table. We could tell the restaurant was closing down from lunch and I still hadn't seen the Mad Hatter so I asked our server about him. He had already left! I was so disappointed. Monika and I finished eating, but Rebecca (who is a stick girl) was far from done. She had a few more trips through the buffet and then they asked if they could put away the salad bar. She finally was ready to go, but then was annoyed because she had wanted one more trip through the dessert bar. I swear the girl has a tape worm. It started to rain again and when we got back to the park people were pouring out of the exits. Good! So we thought. Despite all the people leaving the park was still packed! It was really raining hard now too. I had my Mickey poncho with me but I still was pretty wet. We couldn't believe all the people still there. We rode some rides then went for dinner at the Plaza Inn. We weren't super hungry after the buffet lunch so we all three split the chicken dinner. Yummy! It was really good and it was so big that we all could share it. We also got a piece of carrot cake which was quite tasty. The rain stopped after dinner just in time for the new fireworks show. And what a show! All the rave reviews about it were not exaggerating. It was a really good show. I hope they keep this one running for awhile. The park was open until midnight, but again we were pretty tired (man I'm getting old!) so we headed back to our hotel after the fireworks. Only one day left... Day Three Finally I'm able to complete this! So, Lisa and Vully were going to meet up with us on Sunday, but the weather was so miserable they had to cancel. I was disappointed I wouldn't get to see them, but I don't blame them, it was nasty out! Sunday morning we awoke to pouring rain. We bundled up and headed to the park for opening. It was quite empty thankfully. Rebecca and Monika gave in and bought Mickey ponchos as their rain coats weren't doing the trick. After this we headed straight to Blue Bayou to make a lunch reservation then to find Pooh. We had seen Pooh earlier, but had decided to come back for pictures later. I was afraid we wouldn't find him again with the weather as it was. We asked around and were told he was in the Country Bear waiting area. And so he was! And no one was paying any attention to him! We got our pictures then headed to the Golden Horseshoe for the new Woody's Round Up Show. I always liked being able to sit down and have a little smackeral of something at the GH, but they've changed it for this new show. They no longer serve food or drinks and the seats are lined up theatre style. I suppose it is to get guests in and out quickly between shows, but I much preferred the old way. The show was quite cute and funny. Afterwards we found it had actually stopped raining and we were finally able to do some outside rides. We hit BTMM then the Mark Twain. As we were riding the MT I realized that I was missing the a.d.d. meet so I never did get to meet Kim or Brian. It was now time for lunch at the Blue Bayou. We checked in and requested a water side table. We were seated 5 minutes after our reservation time water side as requested. I think our server was new because he was so very, very slow and he would only carry two things out at a time instead of using a tray as the other servers did. Lunch was quite long because of this, and we stuffed ourselves full. When we left we found it was actually sunny! But then we head a CM saying that they had decided to close the park 2 hours earlier (at 7pm) due to the weather. Hmmm... We spent the rest of the afternoon riding the train, Small World, visiting Mickey. We hoped to see the parade a second time, but it started to hail and though it only lasted a couple of minutes they cancelled the parade. Instead they announced Mickey's Rainy Day Character Cavalcade. Quite an anti-climactic procession! A car with Mickey and Minnie followed by a bus with a number of other characters driving down the parade route. Yee haw. We were getting near closing time and were bummed because it was actually turning out to be a nice evening. It was clear and not too cold, no rain! This had to be the night they closed early. We did a final run on Indiana Jones, Splash and PoC. We had just enough time for one more ride and headed for BTMM. We did the goat trick which is totally fun. We got off and found we had time to run back around and take one more turn on BTMM. Back on we went! We were laughing so hard on this turn that we could barely walk off. The park was now closing. We made our way slowly down Main Street and said goodbye to the park that Walt built. Despite the weather we had such a good time. Monika is now a convert and wants to go to WDW with me. Do I get a toaster oven for bringing her into the fold? KrisAnne Warren KPWarren@webtv.net Mail a Comment to KrisAnne Warren |
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