When Can We Do This Again? A TCD Disneyland Double Dip

[parrothead7368 aka Norm 101]

The day we pulled out, sorry we didn't get a chance to meet you, it would be like my daughter meeting Minnie for the first time.

 

Best Regards,

Norm

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Really enjoying this report.

 

And "in"consistency once again reigns supreme.

 

At 4:24 pm on Halloween, they wouldn't let my husband order a GAG. He had to wait until 4:30.

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

Nothing important to mention right now but wanted to say...

Every time I see the title for this the song starts playing in my head. Lol

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Good to see you made it to the Fort. Those people doing take out pizza are missing out on the awesome Trail's End lunch.

 

It was good to be back at the Fort.  I missed Halloween by just a week.  I'm still bummed about that.

 

I'm sure Trail's End lunch is good, but those folks also saved themselves about $100.

 

You know something I noticed about your TRs? You seem to go to WDW on or around my birthday. I really think you should take me along one of these years. It could be my birthday gift.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

If I ever pass through Alabama on my way to the Fort around your birthday, I promise I'll stop by to get you.  But, that's not real likely.  Sorry.

 

The day we pulled out, sorry we didn't get a chance to meet you, it would be like my daughter meeting Minnie for the first time.

 

Best Regards,

Norm

 

Dang.

 

I knew there were Fiends at the Fort, but truthfully, I didn't know I would even have time to stop there, and I had a mission to complete.

 

As is often the case, I did run into a Fiend on this trip.

 

But she's pretty much a lurker.  Still, she does get credit for stopping me to say hello.  I'll be giving her a shoutout when I get to that part of the report.

 

Really enjoying this report.

 

And "in"consistency once again reigns supreme.

 

At 4:24 pm on Halloween, they wouldn't let my husband order a GAG. He had to wait until 4:30.

 

That's how I thought it went.  God forbid anyone serve a customer before 4:30. 

 

So, how did those people get a pizza at 1:30?  And, it was definitely from Trail's End- I saw the guy carrying out when I stopped to take a photo of the new sign.

 

Nothing important to mention right now but wanted to say...

Every time I see the title for this the song starts playing in my head. Lol

 

I know.  I don't think it's stopped playing in my head since I've been back from the latest trip on Sunday.

 

It's a great song.  I believe that it's from the end credits of Wreck It Ralph of all places.

 

Such a strange choice, but it works so well for the parade.

 

I assume you guys got to see it?

 

How did you like it?

 

TCD

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

It was good to be back at the Fort. I missed Halloween by just a week. I'm still bummed about that.

I'm sure Trail's End lunch is good, but those folks also saved themselves about $100.

If I ever pass through Alabama on my way to the Fort around your birthday, I promise I'll stop by to get you. But, that's not real likely. Sorry.

Dang.

I knew there were Fiends at the Fort, but truthfully, I didn't know I would even have time to stop there, and I had a mission to complete.

As is often the case, I did run into a Fiend on this trip.

But she's pretty much a lurker. Still, she does get credit for stopping me to say hello. I'll be giving her a shoutout when I get to that part of the report.

That's how I thought it went. God forbid anyone serve a customer before 4:30.

So, how did those people get a pizza at 1:30? And, it was definitely from Trail's End- I saw the guy carrying out when I stopped to take a photo of the new sign.

I know. I don't think it's stopped playing in my head since I've been back from the latest trip on Sunday.

It's a great song. I believe that it's from the end credits of Wreck It Ralph of all places.

Such a strange choice, but it works so well for the parade.

I assume you guys got to see it?

How did you like it?

TCD

We loved it. We actually watched from across from Small World. There is some elevated areas there with railings. Grab a spot less than an hour before and you can see over the people who set up right in front of you.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

We loved it. We actually watched from across from Small World. There is some elevated areas there with railings. Grab a spot less than an hour before and you can see over the people who set up right in front of you.

 

There's a great tip.

 

Plus Small World is currently all lit up for Christmas and is absolutely gorgeous.  So, great spot to watch the parade.

 

Did you watch the fireworks from back there?  I heard they show projections on the Small World building, but we always stuck with Main Street, so I'm not sure if that's accurate, or if it's a good fireworks viewing spot.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Hey, I have time for another update.  I think we'd all like to get through this secret mission so we can get back to Disneyland.

 

But, I there are some things I saw that need to be mentioned, so I'm going to.

 

We'll get there eventually.

 

For now, we're still on the boat to the MK.

 

We left off with the Shoe Tree.  It's a bumper crop this year:

 

 

 

Seriously, there are a lot more shoes here now than there have been in ages.  Plus a tetherball for good measure:

 

 

It's a good thing the TCD dog, Rocky, isn't allowed on the boats. He'd have to go and see about that tetherball.

 

I'm telling you, the thought of them ripping these trees down for a DVC resort makes me sick:

 

 

Hey look- you can see some of the old remains of River Country over there:

 

 

 

If they have their way, someday there will be some rich guy sitting in a cabana over there sipping his Chablis with his pinky extended.  I know I shouldn't hate DIT for being rich, but I'm not sure I will be able to take that.

 

There's something interesting docked at the cast dock, all the way to the right:

 

 

Canoe see those green things parked there?:

 

 

No?

 

Look again:

 

 

 

There are two big green canoes parked there.

 

Why?

 

Has anyone seen them in use?

 

While we can hope that the Fort Wilderness shoreline will somehow not be ruined by development, the folks over at the Wilderness Lodge have no such hope. The plans have been filed and approved, and work has already started on them obliterating this shore line with a bunch of $2000+ a night bungalows for the 1%ers to park their rich butts:

 

 

Yup, that shoreline right there is going to have a bunch of shacks with private decks and plunge pools lined up along it.  To heck with Wilderness.  It's overrated:

 

 

The original visionaries who planned and built Walt Disney World valued this shoreline, and designed the original development to preserve it.  But that was 45 years ago, and there's a buck to be made now off of these DVC folks, so break out the chainsaws!:

 

 

The boat service was operating perfectly today.  Another boat was heading to the Fort as we headed to the MK:

 

 

There's the Contemporary:

 

 

True confession time.

 

I wasn't really interested in taking photos of the Contemporary.

 

I was just pretending so I could try to get a picture of this angry teen in the Mouse ears:

 

 

She had a blue streak in her hair, and blue lipstick, and ripped pants.  She was trying to be a rebel.  But, those Mouse ears.  Poor kid.  I miss my teenagers.  Life was simple then.

 

Here's a bunch of photos of the new bumpers they installed to protect the monorail support here (the big round things in the water are new) :

 

 

 

 

 

 I guess they don't care if a boat rams the water bridge- it didn't get any new bumpers:

 

 

On this small patch of land just past the water bridge, I noticed a whole bunch of survey markers:

 

 

 

Look at them all- all kinds of pretty colors.  This has to mean something, right?:

 

 

The only thing I can guess, and it's a safe one, is that there's another DVC being planned for this spot. 

 

What else could it be?

 

There's the once beautiful shoreline of the Polynesian Resort.  Now, it's just a bunch of shacks on stilts:

 

 

I haven't heard any talk of them building waterfront bungalows at the Grand Floridian yet, but it's only a matter of time:

 

 

That little construction dock where they loaded those big bumpers for the monorail support onto the barge is over there, just below where the express monorail is about to pass.  All I can see over there now is a Port Potty:

 

 

Here we are at the MK.  Look to the left of the Fire Station, and you can see the top of the MK Christmas tree.  On November 8th.  Just a week before, they were hosting the last Halloween Party.  And, just like that it's Christmas:

 

 

Yup, it's more than beginning to look a lot like Christmas:

 

 

That's 30 photos.

 

So we need to stop.

 

But, we're just getting to the MK.

 

And, I'll be here for a few hours.

 

Plenty of time for a couple of MK updates before we head over to DHS.

 

TCD

[parrothead7368 aka Norm 101]

Hey a question, the smaller Contemporary buildings on the shore line that you pass on the boat, about 3 stories high I think, are they part of the Contemporary and are they regular rooms? Thanks

 

Best Regards,

Norm

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Hey a question, the smaller Contemporary buildings on the shore line that you pass on the boat, about 3 stories high I think, are they part of the Contemporary and are they regular rooms? Thanks

 

Best Regards,

Norm

 

Yeah, those are what they call the Garden Wings.  The rooms in the tower are called Tower Rooms. They're all Contemporary Resort rooms.  There used to be a set of these low level buildings on either side of the tower, but they ripped down the other set to build Bay Lake Tower.

 

We stayed in the now torn down wing once, the rooms were identical in size and finish to the rooms in the tower, and I imagine the current rooms are as well. They're a little less expensive, since you're not in the tower.

 

TCD

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

There's a great tip.

Plus Small World is currently all lit up for Christmas and is absolutely gorgeous. So, great spot to watch the parade.

Did you watch the fireworks from back there? I heard they show projections on the Small World building, but we always stuck with Main Street, so I'm not sure if that's accurate, or if it's a good fireworks viewing spot.

TCD

. We did. Good spot for the big ones but the ones by the castle are behind you and you don't get some of the effects from Main Street but they do project the same things on Small World.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

. We did. Good spot for the big ones but the ones by the castle are behind you and you don't get some of the effects from Main Street but they do project the same things on Small World.

 

Could you see Tinkerbell (or the other flying character which I was surprised to see and won't mention to save the surprise for others)?

 

TCD

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

I am so glad you got to see Tinkerbell truly fly!! When I saw it back in 2008, I was completely blown away. I was really disappointed that we got Disneyland "lite" for our trip in April. Really poor, poor planning on our parts, but it fit our personal "life". Sometimes real life and Disney's event calendar don't match

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I am so glad you got to see Tinkerbell truly fly!! When I saw it back in 2008, I was completely blown away. I was really disappointed that we got Disneyland "lite" for our trip in April. Really poor, poor planning on our parts, but it fit our personal "life". Sometimes real life and Disney's event calendar don't match

 

I'm glad too,  And, it's not just Tinkerbell who flies. And, it's not Dumbo if that's what you're thinking.  I LOVED the Disneyland Forever fireworks.  The use of the projections puts them up at the very top of the best fireworks shows I've seen in any of the Disney parks.

 

I hear you about the calendar.  It ended up that we timed our November trip poorly, and ran into huge crowds for a reason we didn't find out about until it was too late.  Plus we missed the new Star Wars stuff opening by just one day.  (well, not all of it actually, but I need to save that tidbit for when the appropriate time comes in the report).  But, we still had fun, as I'm sure you did.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Well, guys, the weekend is upon us, and your know that means no more updates until Monday.

 

But, I wanted to share two more photos, which may help you, or which may scare you.

 

After entering the MK on November 8, I headed over to the Candy Cane garden to see if the countdown to
Christmas had started yet:

 

 

It had.

 

On November 8, there were 47 days until Christmas:

 

 

That's plenty of time.

 

Nothing to worry about.

 

Except that was almost two weeks ago.  Come this Sunday, it will have been two weeks.

 

And that means there will only be 33 days left until Christmas.

 

Time to get busy people.

 

TCD

[DaveInTN 3,247]

 

If they have their way, someday there will be some rich guy sitting in a cabana over there sipping his Chablis with his pinky extended.  I know I shouldn't hate DIT for being rich, but I'm not sure I will be able to take that.

 

 

Oh please.  

 

You really got this one wrong.  

 

No way....and I mean NO WAY....would you catch me sitting in some cabana sipping Chablis.  

 

It would be scotch.  

 

I figured you'd know that by now.  

 

But you're right about the pinky.  

[bhall 115]

Do you mean the guy in the lab coat?  Or someone else?

 

The guy in front of "Finn" from Adventure time.  In the fedora &  long striped red/brown sweater.

[disney4dan 68]

It's been a while since I logged into FF, and just in time for a fresh TCD trip report!  SCORE! Must have been calling to me to come home to FF.  Back to read some more!

 

[caveat lector 181]

TCD, you mentioned flying into John Wayne airport. Many years ago, I did a bit of business travel to CA. I believe it was that airport that I almost swore off flying. If it was that airport, they had a noise abatement zone at the end of our takeoff runway. Any plane over xx in size had to "hop" out to the ocean, so as to not upset any of the snootians with ocean front property. Hopping involves nailing the gas while climbing, then backing off, and repeating. The sensation of "falling" backwards then hammering the gas could outdo Mission:Space. Wondered if you experienced that thrill ride. Maybe a different airport. Nice TR btw. Really enjoying it.

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

TCD, you mentioned flying into John Wayne airport. Many years ago, I did a bit of business travel to CA. I believe it was that airport that I almost swore off flying. If it was that airport, they had a noise abatement zone at the end of our takeoff runway. Any plane over xx in size had to "hop" out to the ocean, so as to not upset any of the snootians with ocean front property. Hopping involves nailing the gas while climbing, then backing off, and repeating. The sensation of "falling" backwards then hammering the gas could outdo Mission:Space. Wondered if you experienced that thrill ride. Maybe a different airport. Nice TR btw. Really enjoying it.

cl that sounds so scary!  Don't know if you'd get me back on a plane again after that.

 

Late to the TCD report but glad I'm in now.  Good and interesting report as usual TCD!  Thanks.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

TCD, you mentioned flying into John Wayne airport. Many years ago, I did a bit of business travel to CA. I believe it was that airport that I almost swore off flying. If it was that airport, they had a noise abatement zone at the end of our takeoff runway. Any plane over xx in size had to "hop" out to the ocean, so as to not upset any of the snootians with ocean front property. Hopping involves nailing the gas while climbing, then backing off, and repeating. The sensation of "falling" backwards then hammering the gas could outdo Mission:Space. Wondered if you experienced that thrill ride. Maybe a different airport. Nice TR btw. Really enjoying it.

 

They still have noise ordinances.  My first time flying out of there I thought the plane had stalled.  The engines quieted down and we stopped climbing.  Kind of freaky.  But in the handful of times I've flown out of that airport I don't recall anything as bad as you described.  Maybe your pilot was a bit of a daredevil.  :D

[Dalspot ... Karen 21]

Better late than never. Yay a new trip report!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Oh please.  

 

You really got this one wrong.  

 

No way....and I mean NO WAY....would you catch me sitting in some cabana sipping Chablis.  

 

It would be scotch.  

 

I figured you'd know that by now.  

 

But you're right about the pinky.  

 

My bad.  I thought maybe you'd have a little wine before hitting the scotch.

 

The guy in front of "Finn" from Adventure time.  In the fedora &  long striped red/brown sweater.

 

Oh, I see him now.  I'm not sure what is going on there.  Freddy Krueger could be right.

 

It's been a while since I logged into FF, and just in time for a fresh TCD trip report!  SCORE! Must have been calling to me to come home to FF.  Back to read some more!

 

Well, it's good to see a post from you.  Hope all is well with you and the family.

 

TCD, you mentioned flying into John Wayne airport. Many years ago, I did a bit of business travel to CA. I believe it was that airport that I almost swore off flying. If it was that airport, they had a noise abatement zone at the end of our takeoff runway. Any plane over xx in size had to "hop" out to the ocean, so as to not upset any of the snootians with ocean front property. Hopping involves nailing the gas while climbing, then backing off, and repeating. The sensation of "falling" backwards then hammering the gas could outdo Mission:Space. Wondered if you experienced that thrill ride. Maybe a different airport. Nice TR btw. Really enjoying it.

 

Now that you mention it- we did have that happen on take off.  Our flight was the only one delayed that morning, and I was worried about making the connecting flight in Phoenix.  I had forgotten all about the weird take off until you mentioned it.  It wasn't as extreme as you described, but something definitely seemed off.  I never thought about it after that.

 

cl that sounds so scary!  Don't know if you'd get me back on a plane again after that.

 

Late to the TCD report but glad I'm in now.  Good and interesting report as usual TCD!  Thanks.

 

I'm glad you're reading along, Gretchen.

 

They still have noise ordinances.  My first time flying out of there I thought the plane had stalled.  The engines quieted down and we stopped climbing.  Kind of freaky.  But in the handful of times I've flown out of that airport I don't recall anything as bad as you described.  Maybe your pilot was a bit of a daredevil.   :D

 

Yes, there was a strange sensation like the engines had stalled.  It was strange.  The engines were roaring on take off, and then suddenly were very quiet.  I don't fly as much as you do, so I didn't know that was that unusual.

 

One thing I didn't mention about the John Wayne airport was that there were almost no direct flights there from Tampa.  We had to change planes both ways on that trip.  It worked out fine, but it added a bit of stress to our trip home.  For the next Disneyland visit, we flew direct into LAX again.

 

Better late than never. Yay a new trip report!

 

Late? Shoot, this report is just getting started.  Glad that you're reading along.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Let's continue on with my one day visit to WDW on November 8.

 

It was weird to see the Magic Kingdom Christmas tree up this early.  For as long as I can remember, it always has gone up much later in December.  They never wanted it up until after they taped the Christmas parade.  But, times have changed:

 

 

The MK train was not operating- it was down for some kind of issue.  But the train station was decorated, and I decided to take a look:

 

 

Hmm, that tree blocks the view of the castle, and also messes up the parade viewing from up here:

 

 

That goes for both sides of the platform:

 

 

I like all the soldiers on guard around the flag pole:

 

 

The train station is nicely decorated:

 

 

They even have a couple of small Christmas trees up here:

 

 

Now, we're on Main Street.  I miss the garland.  But, guess what? (SPOILER ALERT).  Disneyland lost its garland this year too.  I hadn't heard that before we went back, but it's true.  Some of the Paint the Night floats are too tall, so Disneyland no longer has its garland strung across Main Street:

 

 

And, Disneyland didn't get these nice giant wreath brackets like we have:

 

 

Do you see the time?  It was 2:13 pm, and there were still good curb spots available for the 3:00 Festival of Fantasy parade.  I was tempted.  But, I had some FP+ reservations to use at Jingle Cruise, and that was a bigger priority for me.  I figured I could ride Jingle Cruise at least twice, and then find a spot to watch the parade in Frontierland if I really wanted to.  So, I kept on.

 

Look how everyone was dressed- it was 80+ degrees.  Several heat records were set in Florida this month:

 

 

After almost two long years, they seen to be finally wrapping up all the Hub construction.  I really like the spacious feeling they've created:

 

 

Those new turrets for the castle turned out nice:

 

 

This is the first Christmas with this new Hub stuff being open, and they have some new decorations out here:

 

 

This bed of poinsettias is nice:

 

 

Thinking back to all of those darned walls and the confined spaces they created, this is such a welcome sight:

 

 

I sure hope this means there won't be anymore of those episodes of gridlock that happened so often last holiday season.

 

On to Adventureland:

 

 

Our Adventureland entrance could use some work.  Disneyland's is so much better:

 

 

Here's the old Verandah restaurant.  It's supposed to become the Skipper Canteen Restaurant, and allegedly open by the end of the year.  I'm not so sure about that:

 

 

I still object to them moving the Sunshine Tree Terrace to Aloha Isle's spot, but what can I do?:

 

 

Here we are:

 

 

The Jingle Cruise wasn't open at Disneyland yet, and wouldn't open for almost another week. They do a lot more decorating there.  Here at WDW, the decorating gets done in one night, and they're back in business.  It's a good thing I had those FP+'s, as it was kind of busy here:

 

 

Some of the small changes made to make the Jungle into Jingle included slapping new signs on the boats:

 

 

The skippers also have new hats, and they play a new holiday soundtrack in the queue.  I didn't pay a lot of attention to the music, but I should have.  Twin #1 told me that the Skippers in Disneyland recorded it last year, and it features the Skippers as radio DJ's introducing the songs.  I'll need to go back an pay attention to that.

 

The hut across from the dock is decorated:

 

 

There's a Skipper modeling the Christmas hat:

 

 

And here's another look at the hut:

 

 

A burlap snow man:

 

 

Jungle All the Way.  Get it?:

 

 

My first Skipper today was this young man.  He stuck to the normal spiel and added only a couple of special Jingle Cruise jokes.  It is amazing how different the experience can be depending on your Skipper.  This first ride wasn't much different from a normal Jungle Cruise ride.  Which means I would need to ride again for research purposes:

 

 

The gorillas had a lot of special props and decorations, but our Skipper made no mention of them:

 

 

Trader Samta is back:

 

 

Right after I finished that ride, I swapped out my Magic Band, and headed back for another FP+ ride.  This time, things went a bit better.  I'll start out with that in the next update.

 

TCD

[jmaul 65]

There's the Contemporary:

 

 

 

True confession time.

 

I wasn't really interested in taking photos of the Contemporary.

 

I was just pretending so I could try to get a picture of this angry teen in the Mouse ears:

 

 

She had a blue streak in her hair, and blue lipstick, and ripped pants.  She was trying to be a rebel.  But, those Mouse ears.  Poor kid.  I miss my teenagers.  Life was simple then.

 

 

 

 

 

That's a perfect example of my 14 year old daughter

 

Except she has red hair.  Every.  Single.  Strand.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

That's a perfect example of my 14 year old daughter

 

Except she has red hair.  Every.  Single.  Strand.

 

This, too, shall pass.

 

It's tough to be a teen these days.  Give her some space, and some hair dye, and wait for it to pass. 

 

It will.

 

TCD