Day 6 - Another Fun Day Park Hopping
Thursday, October 21, 2004
With the last of the rain behind us, we woke to blue skies and what promised to be another perfect day in the Park. We checked at the Carnation Café and they were able to seat us right away even without priority seating reservations. This was our first time eating at this Café and it was so fun to sit outside and enjoy the nice day. The only drawback was the large number of sparrows that were hanging around waiting for crumbs to drop. It was a little annoying, but didn’t spoil the experience. Of course, we both ordered the Mickey Mouse Waffle which included one waffle and two strips of bacon. We each added an orange juice and a mocha. The mochas at Disneyland are nothing to write home about and do not compare in anyway to Starbucks. The waffles are outstanding though and the whole breakfast was very filling. We were able to save 15% off our bill with Jason’s AP discount. Breakfast at Carnation Café will be a must during any future visits.
After breakfast we headed over to City Hall to see about taking the Walk in Walt’s Footsteps Tour that we had heard about while filling out the customer comment card earlier in the week. We were assisted by a very friendly Cast Member named Debbie, who told us about the tour and expressed disappointment that we hadn’t signed up for today’s tour. Apparently, she was scheduled to lead today’s tour, but because of the weather no one had signed up. Even though she wouldn’t be leading tomorrow’s tour, she knew we would still have a great time. With our AP discount, we were able to get $10 off the price of the tour which made the cost $39 per person. She also encouraged us to come back in a couple of weeks when they would begin the Holiday Tour. We explained that we were from Portland, OR and we wouldn’t be able to return to soon. Our next trip was scheduled for the following October. Before leaving, Debbie made us honorary citizens of Disneyland. We repeated the official oath and received a card recognizing our citizenship. Debbie was perfect for her job. Even though City Hall was rather busy, she never once made us feel rushed. She was enthusiastic and went the extra step to make our visit special.
Our next stop was at the newsstand souvenier stand at the entrance to the park. The day before we noticed these name badges that are the same shape as the ones worn by the Cast Members in the park. However, instead of being white like the Cast Members, we had a choice of either red with Guest of Honor printed on it, or pink with Everyday Princess on it. In addition, they would also engrave your first name on it. We decided to each get one. I’ll let you guess which one we each chose. Jason was able to use his AP discount on this purchase. The name badges turned out to be a really important part of the magic of our trip. We wore our name badges throughout the remainder of our trip, and many of the Cast Members would call us by name, making us feel like a part of the Disney family.
At this point, we didn’t really ride many of the rides but just strolled through the park taking pictures before walking over to DCA. At DCA we visited the Animation building and saw the Drawn to Animation show. There were just a handful of people at this show and it focused on the changes that Mushu went through when they were making Mulan and how he ended up being a dragon. They also gave us a sneak peak at one of the upcoming feature length animated movies.
Next on the agenda was to see the live musical, Aladdin, playing at the Hyperion Theater. We arrived about ½ hour before the performance and were surprised that there seemed to be no crowd of people waiting to see the show. However, as we entered the gate outside the theater we discovered hoards of people waiting in area around the side of the theater. There were three lines; one for orchestra seating, one for mezzanine seating, and one for balcony seating. Since we were nearest the line for mezzanine seating we joined that line. A Cast Member kept urging people to move forward and fill in all the open spaces in the line, so we gradually moved forward until we were pretty close to the front of the line. About 15 minutes before the show started, they let us in the theater. Those in the mezzanine line had to climb up a huge staircase on the outside of the theater. Since I’m afraid of heights, it was a little scary. I just kept my eye on the person in front of me and didn’t look out at my surroundings.
It turns out the mezzanine seating actually provides the best viewing of the show. Those seated in the orchestra section missed out on some of the events that happened above them. The show itself was excellent. The genie was hysterically funny and the special effects were awesome. I was somewhat indifferent about seeing the show initially, but Jason really wanted to go and I’m really glad he did. It was one of the highlights of the trip.
After a short rest back at the hotel, we returned to Disneyland in time to find seats for the Parade of Stars. Since we had about 45 minutes until parade time, we had no trouble claiming a spot on the curb. Jason chose a spot for us that was right next to a trash can, with a tree directly behind us. This prevented people from crowding too close behind us and kept someone from sitting directly next to him. He planned to videotape the parade and didn’t want anyone leaning forward into his shot. To pass the time, we discussed plans for the rest of the evening. We had discovered an El Pollo Loco just around the corner from the hotel and were debating whether or not we would have time after the parade to stop and pick up some dinner and still make it back to the room in time to watch Survivor at 8:00 PM. We decided that it would be calling it too close. We were sitting directly across from the Emporium so we decided to do some souvenier shopping right after the parade, then go pick up dinner and be back to the hotel in time for The Apprentice at 9:00 PM.
It had been a long time since I’d watched on the Disneyland Parades. Previously, it was always more important to ride as many ride as possible and the lines were usually shorter during the parade. This time, we wanted to experience as many of the different events as possible and we were not one bit disappointed in the parade. Some of the guests at the Park were invited to participate in the parade. It would have been fun to be able to do that, although I probably would have been more than a little self-conscious.
As soon as the parade ended, we headed over to the Emporium where Jason purchased four small Pooh and Friends stuffed animals. He was also interested in buying a Jiminy Cricket, but the only one available was $18 and that seemed like a lot to spend. Jiminy Cricket is one of Jason’s favorite characters.
When we finished our shopping, we headed back to the car and over to El Pollo Loco to pick up some chicken and sides. They also had Flan, which we both love. So we had to get some of that too. We decided to eat in Jason’s room and enjoyed our meal while watching The Apprentice. Shortly after the show ended, we called it a night since we had to be at the park by 8:45 to meet our tour group.
With the last of the rain behind us, we woke to blue skies and what promised to be another perfect day in the Park. We checked at the Carnation Café and they were able to seat us right away even without priority seating reservations. This was our first time eating at this Café and it was so fun to sit outside and enjoy the nice day. The only drawback was the large number of sparrows that were hanging around waiting for crumbs to drop. It was a little annoying, but didn’t spoil the experience. Of course, we both ordered the Mickey Mouse Waffle which included one waffle and two strips of bacon. We each added an orange juice and a mocha. The mochas at Disneyland are nothing to write home about and do not compare in anyway to Starbucks. The waffles are outstanding though and the whole breakfast was very filling. We were able to save 15% off our bill with Jason’s AP discount. Breakfast at Carnation Café will be a must during any future visits.
After breakfast we headed over to City Hall to see about taking the Walk in Walt’s Footsteps Tour that we had heard about while filling out the customer comment card earlier in the week. We were assisted by a very friendly Cast Member named Debbie, who told us about the tour and expressed disappointment that we hadn’t signed up for today’s tour. Apparently, she was scheduled to lead today’s tour, but because of the weather no one had signed up. Even though she wouldn’t be leading tomorrow’s tour, she knew we would still have a great time. With our AP discount, we were able to get $10 off the price of the tour which made the cost $39 per person. She also encouraged us to come back in a couple of weeks when they would begin the Holiday Tour. We explained that we were from Portland, OR and we wouldn’t be able to return to soon. Our next trip was scheduled for the following October. Before leaving, Debbie made us honorary citizens of Disneyland. We repeated the official oath and received a card recognizing our citizenship. Debbie was perfect for her job. Even though City Hall was rather busy, she never once made us feel rushed. She was enthusiastic and went the extra step to make our visit special.
Our next stop was at the newsstand souvenier stand at the entrance to the park. The day before we noticed these name badges that are the same shape as the ones worn by the Cast Members in the park. However, instead of being white like the Cast Members, we had a choice of either red with Guest of Honor printed on it, or pink with Everyday Princess on it. In addition, they would also engrave your first name on it. We decided to each get one. I’ll let you guess which one we each chose. Jason was able to use his AP discount on this purchase. The name badges turned out to be a really important part of the magic of our trip. We wore our name badges throughout the remainder of our trip, and many of the Cast Members would call us by name, making us feel like a part of the Disney family.
At this point, we didn’t really ride many of the rides but just strolled through the park taking pictures before walking over to DCA. At DCA we visited the Animation building and saw the Drawn to Animation show. There were just a handful of people at this show and it focused on the changes that Mushu went through when they were making Mulan and how he ended up being a dragon. They also gave us a sneak peak at one of the upcoming feature length animated movies.
Next on the agenda was to see the live musical, Aladdin, playing at the Hyperion Theater. We arrived about ½ hour before the performance and were surprised that there seemed to be no crowd of people waiting to see the show. However, as we entered the gate outside the theater we discovered hoards of people waiting in area around the side of the theater. There were three lines; one for orchestra seating, one for mezzanine seating, and one for balcony seating. Since we were nearest the line for mezzanine seating we joined that line. A Cast Member kept urging people to move forward and fill in all the open spaces in the line, so we gradually moved forward until we were pretty close to the front of the line. About 15 minutes before the show started, they let us in the theater. Those in the mezzanine line had to climb up a huge staircase on the outside of the theater. Since I’m afraid of heights, it was a little scary. I just kept my eye on the person in front of me and didn’t look out at my surroundings.
It turns out the mezzanine seating actually provides the best viewing of the show. Those seated in the orchestra section missed out on some of the events that happened above them. The show itself was excellent. The genie was hysterically funny and the special effects were awesome. I was somewhat indifferent about seeing the show initially, but Jason really wanted to go and I’m really glad he did. It was one of the highlights of the trip.
After a short rest back at the hotel, we returned to Disneyland in time to find seats for the Parade of Stars. Since we had about 45 minutes until parade time, we had no trouble claiming a spot on the curb. Jason chose a spot for us that was right next to a trash can, with a tree directly behind us. This prevented people from crowding too close behind us and kept someone from sitting directly next to him. He planned to videotape the parade and didn’t want anyone leaning forward into his shot. To pass the time, we discussed plans for the rest of the evening. We had discovered an El Pollo Loco just around the corner from the hotel and were debating whether or not we would have time after the parade to stop and pick up some dinner and still make it back to the room in time to watch Survivor at 8:00 PM. We decided that it would be calling it too close. We were sitting directly across from the Emporium so we decided to do some souvenier shopping right after the parade, then go pick up dinner and be back to the hotel in time for The Apprentice at 9:00 PM.
It had been a long time since I’d watched on the Disneyland Parades. Previously, it was always more important to ride as many ride as possible and the lines were usually shorter during the parade. This time, we wanted to experience as many of the different events as possible and we were not one bit disappointed in the parade. Some of the guests at the Park were invited to participate in the parade. It would have been fun to be able to do that, although I probably would have been more than a little self-conscious.
As soon as the parade ended, we headed over to the Emporium where Jason purchased four small Pooh and Friends stuffed animals. He was also interested in buying a Jiminy Cricket, but the only one available was $18 and that seemed like a lot to spend. Jiminy Cricket is one of Jason’s favorite characters.
When we finished our shopping, we headed back to the car and over to El Pollo Loco to pick up some chicken and sides. They also had Flan, which we both love. So we had to get some of that too. We decided to eat in Jason’s room and enjoyed our meal while watching The Apprentice. Shortly after the show ended, we called it a night since we had to be at the park by 8:45 to meet our tour group.
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