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

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

We're still at the MK on November 8.

 

I am taking my second Jingle Cruise ride.

 

They have plenty of holiday props in the queue:

 

 

There's a whole little room decorated here- but you can only get a close look at it from the standby line.  And, nobody wants to go there:

 

 

Here's another clever boat name:

 

 

Hey, even the fake tarantula in the queue has a Santa hat:

 

 

There are some clever signs posted in the queue:

 

 

 

 

Here's my second Skipper.  This young lady killed it.  She told nonstop holiday jokes from when we pulled away from the dock until we returned.  My second ride through the jungle was a totally different experience:

 

 

I took photos of the scenery as we went along so we can later compare Disneyland's version.

 

I didn't realize that there are some scenes that are not common to both rides.

 

Like we have an extra headhunters scene and the ride-through temple. They don't.

 

But, both parks have a gorilla invading camp scene:

 

 

And the lion family scene:

 

 

And the rhino with explorers on the pole scene:

 

 

Only Disney World has the temple- and this scene is unique to WDW:

 

 

It was almost 3 when I finished that second ride.  I figured I'd pop over to Frontierland to see if I could catch FOF.  I cut through the passageway by Aladdin's Flying Carpets, and found a spot near the Country Bears.  It was 3:02 pm when the music for the parade started.  I had made it just in time.  Hey look, A Big Wendy in training:

 

 

This wasn't the best viewing spot, but it wasn't as bad as I expected walking up at the literal last minute:

 

 

 

The Frozen girls were spinning, and we lucked out and got them as they passed:

 

 

The mime did his thing, and didn't bother anyone along the parade route.  That is always a plus:

 

 

I wasn't on the Flynn side, but I got a good look at him anyway:

 

 

That Peter Pan float is tall, but look at how tall that cypress tree along the parade route is.  What a pretty tree:

 

 

Merida:

 

 

The dragon was breathing fire:

 

 

Hey look, I was right outside of the Pecos Bill entrance.  I've been wanting to try the new menu.  I thought now, right before the parade ended, would be the perfect time to duck in there and order.  So I did.  I tried the new rice bowl with chicken.  I helped myself to the topping bar,  Indeed, they have all you care to eat guacamole there.  Crazy. 

 

The rice bowl was excellent.  The guacamole had a very processed texture and taste to it.  It must be blended with something to stretch it out and to keep it from turning brown.  But, it was better than I expected it to be.  I didn't think I'd be saying this, but the new menu is an improvement.  I'm not sure everyone agrees with that, though.

 

I was in here just past three, so that may explain the lack of crowds a bit, but it was a busy day in the park, and I don't think I can recall ever seeing it this empty in Pecos Bill:

 

 

After lunch, I still had FP+'s for Pirates and Jingle Cruise again.  I was going to Pirates next, but Country Bears was right there, so I popped in:

 

 

Look at all of the heads in the audience in front of me.  It was actually a good crowd:

 

 

I know this attraction is very dated.  But, I still love it.  Today's management would never build something like this in a million years.

 

A couple of sights in the Pirates FP+ queue:

 

 

 

Even though I had a FP+, it took near 30 minutes to get on my boat.  The CM at the FP merge was sending regular guests into the FP line as soon as there were any openings in it.  They were doing this at Disneyland when we were last there, but this is the first time I was seeing it done at WDW.  The problem with that is that it loads up the FP+ line, and erases a lot of the advantage of having a FP+.

 

This was my first time riding Pirates after it had been closed for refurbishment all summer.  Supposedly, the robots, lighting and sound all got an upgrade.  I saw no evidence of any of that .  Plus, the smoke screen and the mermaids didn't work.  So, what the heck did they spend all summer fixing?

 

As I was going in to Pirates, there was a long line of guests lined up near Tortuga Tavern to get wristbands for the Christmas party.  That line was pretty much dissipated when I came out:

 

 

This couple was trying to do their own Dapper Day:

 

 

They were the only people I saw dressed up that way.  So, it was just them.

 

I headed over to the Jingle Cruise for my 3rd and 4th rides.  More photos of the decorations:

 

 

 

My 3rd and 4th Skipper were both good.  So, only one of the four was a dud.  Not bad.  By the 4th ride, I didn't hear any new jokes, so I think I heard them all.

 

Just as well, too, as it was time to move on to one last thing before hopping over to DHS.

 

TCD

[Beckers 1,136]

We must have just been missing you on 11/8. We hopped over from Epcot around 2 and were just behind you on what rides you were doing. We left the MK at 6 to head back to the hotel to catch ME home.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

We must have just been missing you on 11/8. We hopped over from Epcot around 2 and were just behind you on what rides you were doing. We left the MK at 6 to head back to the hotel to catch ME home.

 

Now that would have been funny if we ran into each other!  Did you get to all four parks that day?  I was in the MK from around 2 till about 6:45 or so. 

 

Y'all must have been very tired on that flight home!

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Let's get the secret DHS mission trip wrapped up so we can get back to Disneyland.

 

I left off with my third Jingle Cruise ride. And there was a fourth. I had taken enough Jingle Cruise photos by that point, so I just have this last one:

 

 

It was around 5:30 when I finished that last ride.  I knew that tonight was a Christmas Party night, and that the Disney Parks Blog was going to broadcast a live stream of the Castle Lighting Ceremony at 6:15.  You know, that one with my favorite Disney Princesses?  Anna and Elsa?  As much as I hate everything about that, I still needed to see it at least once this season, so I figured as long as I was here and had the time, I may as well get it over with.  So, I headed to the castle.

 

Here's how things looked at 5:33- not very crowded. I found an open spot on the curb right across from the castle, and figured I could take a 45 minute break and people watch while waiting for the show:

 

 

That was a great plan except for the fact that there was one more of the normal Castle shows to perform, and guests showed up for that, including a brigade of KOS (Kids on Shoulders) dads.  They're the worst:

 

 

At least the KOS dads were off to one side. I just needed to move a bit more to the center and back, and I had a great view of the castle and stage, so all was well.  Bring on the Frozen gals!:

 

 

That show ended, and the KOS dads left.  Or at least got their brats off or their shoulders.  So, at 6:14, I was feeling good about my spot for the show that was to start in one minute:

 

 

But, that minute arrived.

 

And nothing.

 

Well not nothing.

 

Something happened.

 

I looked up at the clock on the castle, and it had been turned back ten minutes!

 

WTF?

 

What kind of witchcraft was this?

 

They just turn the clock back and hope no one notices?

 

What about all the poor blog readers at home waiting for the Live Stream?

 

Were you one of them?

 

Did you notice it was late?

 

It was.

 

And curse the Disney gods for making it late.

 

Because a darned KOS dad weaved his despicable way through the crowd at the very last minute, and hoisted his wild haired brat up in front of all the folks like me who had been nicely waiting her for 45+ minutes.  And, just like that, the views of dozens of guests whom he cut in front of were completely blocked, and the views of anyone in the vicinity were partially blocked:

 

 

But who gives a damn about anyone else?  This little princess got a good view of the whole show!  And, her A-hole dad didn't even have to wait.  Winning!

 

And, of course that gentleman couldn't just pick one spot and stay in it so the less than worthy guests behind him could adjust and still see the show.  Nope, that's not how the KOS dads roll. This D-bag followed the normal practice, and squeezed and elbowed his way to as close to front and center as he possibly could:

 

 

Now, that's what I'm talking about!  Go big or go home!  Nicely done, sir!

 

Oh well,  I guess I can find a video of that live feed and see the parts that I missed.

 

The actual lighting was still breathtaking, as it always has been, even before Anna and Elsa crashed the party:

 

 

The fully lit castle is an impressive sight, and you could see the whole thing in this photo, except that the KOS is blocking a big part of the stage.  But, you can still see Anna and Kristoff to the right of the KOS, and Elsa is over there on the left.  The KOS is blocking the articulated Olaf character, which is a real shame:

 

 

Here's the whole cast, minus Olaf, who is being blocked by the KOS partial eclipse:

 

 

As soon as the show ended, the D-bag dad vanished.  I'm sure he needed to get his gigantic stroller and get to Main Street so he could park right in the middle and check his phone while blocking as much traffic as possible. You have to feel sorry for these D-bags, it's a lot of work to be that inconsiderate.  With the KOS gone, I could finally see the whole castle. Wow!:

 

 

We will be back to Disneyland soon, and you will see that the castle is another reason that Disneyland is inferior to Disney World.  Yes, their castle is nice.  And classic.  But, they still lose.  Big time.

 

With the clock turning back and late lighting show monkey business, it was 6:41 pm before I started to head down Main Street- the party was starting at 7, and us lowlife regular guests needed to be out of there by then.  Had I wanted to, I think I probably could have stayed a good 45 minutes or hour into the party.  There were too many people that they needed to herd out:

 

 

I needed to go, though.  I had my mission to accomplish.

 

As I headed down the street, I ran right into Twin #2's roommate from her College Program last year. This young lady extended her program, and then became a regular CM.  She was dressed in one of the nice MVMCP dresses, and was there to do crowd control for the party.  It was funny that I ran right into her.  She asked what I was doing here, and I told her that I was heading over to DHS to hunt down the Osborne Lights shirts.  She told me that Twin #2 had already contacted her about getting one of those shirts, but that she hadn't had a chance to get over to DHS yet to look.  I told her I was going now, and to not let Twin #2 know that she had seen me, as hopefully I would get the shirts, and get them to the twins by Wednesday of that week.  She said she wouldn't mention it, and I headed on.

 

It wasn't too crazy out in front of the MK- the majority of the party goers were probably already in, and they wouldn't start herding the regular guests out for about 15 more minutes.  The decorations and plantings around the train station look really nice this year:

 

 

I took the bus to Hollywood Studios. I had a rare 15+ minute wait for the bus, which stunk, because when the bus finally arrived, there were more guests in line than could fit on the bus.  I made it, but had to stand on a packed bus.  The guests who didn't make this bus weren't too happy.

 

I didn't know where the shirts I was looking for might be for sale. And, that is such a pain.  I know that CM's try to help, and some of them (like Twin #2) are conscientious and knowledgeable, so I thought that my best strategy would be to stop in the big store on the left as you enter DHS and ask someone in there.  That store is called Mickey's of Hollywood, by the way.  I never knew that until Twin #2 worked there last year.  So, in I went.  It was crowded, and I weaved my way through the crowds looking for a CM I could ask.  About half-way into the store, I found a CM walking around trying to direct traffic in the store, and I asked her about Osborne lights shirts.  She told me that they had a whole stand full of merchandise on the street right there in the middle of the lights, but that they also had some shirts here in this store.  I asked her where those were, and she pointed to a rack right behind me!  And there they were!  The exact shirts I was looking for on a full rack with every size available!

 

Winning!

 

I got the twins' shirts.  And, then I decided to get one for me and my oldest daughter too.  We all love the Osborne Lights, and it's a sad, sad thing that they're ending.

 

The nice CM who helped me then asked if I was ready to check out, and she walked me right past a line of guest waiting for one register to a register that was not being used.  And, she rang me up!  I was able to get a 10% passholder discount on this purchase.  When she saw my pass, the CM pointed out that they had special passholder shirts and ornaments for sale behind the counter:

 

 

I had wanted one of those red shirts when they first put them on sale on-line, but they sold out before I could order one.  I like the red shirt, but I like the long-sleeved green ones I got better.  Still, I may need to go back for a red one.

 

So, mission accomplished.

 

Now, I needed to see the lights.

 

With the MK closing early for a MVMCP, DHS was very busy.

 

I headed past Star Tours and toward the Sci Fi Diner, hoping to get in that way.

 

No dice.

 

There were CM's there directing people to head all the way around to the other side.  One way traffic only tonight.

 

Dang.

 

Good thing I know a secret way in.

 

I've known it and used it for years.

 

And would have taken this secret to my grave, but this is the last year for the lights, so I'll tell you now.

 

It's your reward for reading this report.

 

But, it's just between you and me, OK?

 

Like a lot of WDW secrets, if too many guests use this one, they'll find a way to shut it down.

 

But, before I get to that, I need to mention a Fiend encounter that happened right there.

 

As I stood outside of the Sci Fi Diner and prepared to execute my trick, I heard someone call out TCD!

 

I looked, and saw a woman who I didn't know.

 

I knew she had to be a Fiend, though.  Because, she called me TCD.

 

She was a nice lady from Ohio who told me her user name here was Crinoline.  At least that's what I thought she said.  And, I'm probably one of the few men on earth who knows that crinoline is at type of fabric, which is how I remembered the name.  When I got to a computer after that night, I looked of Crinoline, and found nothing.  Hmmm.  Well, maybe I heard her wrong.  I looked under the K's, and found a member with three whole posts named Krynnalynn.  That must be her!  Krynnalynn had come to WDW from Ohio to run in the race that took place that weekend.  She admitted to being a lurker.  But, maybe I can get her to post here by giving her a shout-out.  So, what do you say, Krynnalynn?

 

Now, for that secret way into the Osborne Lights. . .

 

You need to head in to the Sci Fi.  They may be on to this, because I had a CM stop me before I got in asking if she could help me.  I was surprised by that, as usually you can just walk in.  I told her that I wanted to use the restroom, which probably wasn't the best excuse I could have given her.  But, it was true.  I did.  I headed in, took a right and used the restroom.  Then, on the way out, I walked past the hostess stand and took a right, to head down a hallway that is straight ahead as you enter the Prime Time- to the left of the hostess stand.  The first door that you come to on your left has a light above it, but is otherwise unmarked.  That door leads in to the Writer's Stop.  You know, where they sell the carrot cake cookies?  So, in I went.  And, since I was here, I got a cookie.  Since it's a merchandise location, passholders get 10% off here.  With cookie in hand (well, actually in bag), I went out the door that leads to the New York Street, and I was in.

 

So, if you want to head straight in to the lights and not do the long walk around, just sneak past the hostess stand at the Sci Fi, and take that side door into the Writer's Stop, and you're in.  Like I said, if too many people do this, all they need to do is tell the hostesses to stop guests from going down that hall, or lock the side door to the Writer's Stop.  But, for now, it works.  Enjoy!

 

And here I was!:

 

 

A benefit of coming in this way, in addition to saving a long walk, is that this part of the lights is the least crowded.  People congregate more near the globe and angels, or the side street with the canopy, and this end is less crowded.  Plus I love being able to take in a view of everything from here:

 

 

The side street with the canopy above it is my favorite:

 

 

This display is near the end of the side street, but it's worth the effort to walk down here:

 

 

This canopy is a huge hit with the TCD gang.  We like to find a spot to sit here on the side street and just enjoy the light show for as many songs as we have time for:

 

 

Everywhere you look there are details that you would miss by taking a quick look.  That's why we like to sit and take it all in:

 

 

When the lights dance, you need to be under this canopy for a few sets.  There is nothing else like it:

 

 

One of the things that we loved about the Osborne Lights is that every time we visited, there would be some cool little detail that we had never noticed before.  I think I've been every year from the beginning, and have never noticed this little detail down a side alley.  It may be new this year, or it could be something that has always been her, but I've never noticed.  Either way, it's cool and special:

 

 

There have already been comments on this board from folks who are not impressed by the Osborne Lights.  I am as jaded a Disney fan as you can find, and that still boggles my mind.  How can anyone stand beneath this globe and host of angels and not be impressed when the Hallelujah Chorus is performed?:

 

 

I don't recall this photo backdrop from previous years. Smoke billows out of the grill, and who doesn't love a nice classic Airstream Trailer?:

 

 

If you're a fan of the Osborne Lights, you have no doubt heard about the black cat.  The story goes that one year, back when the Osborne family had this display at their house, a Halloween decoration got mixed in with their Christmas stuff, so they hid the black cat somewhere in the display, and it was a challenge to try and find it.  Disney has continued that tradition, and "hides" the black cat somewhere.  Some years, it really is hidden, and hard to find.  Other years, it is open and obvious.  This is an open and obvious year, because there's the cat:

 

 

In years past, the location of the cat has changed during the time the lights were on display.  So, the cat may or may not be in this same spot when you go.  Let me know if you see it somewhere else, and I'll do the same.

 

Another thing you need to hunt down every year is the nativity scene.  It's usually somewhere in the area just outside the New York Street, but its location gets moved.  Every year, I kind of expected Jesus and his crew to disappear from the display.  After all, most businesses don't want to offend all the Jesus haters out there.  And there are more every year.  Cough cough Starbucks.  But, to WDW's credit, Jesus has always been included in this spectacle, and he's here this year too:

 

 

Other faiths are represented in the display.  On the main street, they have a Star of David and a dreidel:

 

 

A spot right here near the entrance of the street is another good place to watch the lights dance:

 

 

Over here there's a menorah and up in that window, there's a little Finding Nemo display:

 

 

I then headed back out the way I came in.  Had I wanted to, there was space on the curb for me to sit and enjoy my carrot cake cookie, but I had to get home, so I bid the lights farewell.  I haven't been back to see them again, but I hope to soon.

 

That was Sunday, November 8.

 

On Wednesday, November 11, I was on a plane back to LA.  We will continue this report from there.

 

TCD

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

Great pics of the lights!! I will miss them, but will also really enjoy the new lands that are coming :)

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great pics of the lights!! I will miss them, but will also really enjoy the new lands that are coming :)

 

I am surprised that I am not more upset about the Osborne Lights leaving.  I guess I'm used to nice things leaving WDW, so this is just one more of those things.

 

If they don't replace the Osborne Lights with something cool, then we may start making an annual trek out to California for our Christmas fix.  There's some very cool Christmas traditions out there, as the next part of this report will show.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Now we're fast forwarding to Wednesday, November 11.

 

When Mrs. TCD and I visited the twins in October, our oldest daughter was supposed to join us, but she had a work conflict and couldn't.  She has never been to Disneyland, and I wanted her to get out there while the twins were there, so I told her to check her calendar and let me know when she could go.  She picked four nights beginning with Wednesday, November 11. That sounded good to me- mid-November is a slow time at WDW, and I assumed it would be the same at Disneyland.

 

We got our first red flag about the dates for this trip when the twins went to see if they could get us a discounted hotel room at Disneyland for the trip.  I assumed that they could, as it wasn't supposed to be a busy time, but they couldn't.  Darn.  So, I went on-line and looked for something off site.  A lot of those rooms were booked too.  All the motels on Harbor Drive were booked.  Even the motel Mrs. TCD and I had just stayed at was booked.  And, I was looking several weeks out.  I didn't get it.  Something had to be up.

 

And something was up.  First, November 11 was Veteran's Cay.  And public schools in California have that day off.  And, to add to that, that weekend was the inaugural Run Disney Event- The Avengers Half Marathon.  So, it was a race weekend.  That was bad planning on our part, but those dates were locked in for my oldest daughter, and she wouldn't be able to switch to any other dates, so we either had to go then, or not go at all.  We chose to go then.

 

I booked a room at the Super 8 on Katella, which had not too awful reviews, and was across the street from where we stayed in October- so about 3/4 a mile from the park entrance.  I wasn't happy about it, but we had a room.

 

I couldn't find any good flights into John Wayne airport, so we had to go to LAX.  My daughter would fly in from Miami, and me from Tampa.  I was able to book flights that landed within an hour of each other.  For our return flights on Sunday, the 15th, we had to choose between very early or very late.  I chose very early.  I knew that the twins might have to work that day, so I opted to rent a car for this trip.  For some reason, the cheapest deal I could find was on a minivan from Enterprise.  It was half the price of the next cheapest option.  I wasn't thrilled about driving a minivan, but it would get the job done.  A plus to flying in to LAX was that all of our flights were direct, so hopefully everything would go according to plan.

 

As the dates of our trip drew nearer, I asked the twins to keep checking on a Disney Hotel, and I checked Tripadvisor daily to see if I could find a closer motel.  Finally, just the week before our trip, something came open at the Park Vue Inn, where we stayed last year, and I jumped on that and canceled my Super 8 reservation.  And, then, within a few hours of that, a room at the Grand Californian popped up for one night- November 11.  I wanted my daughter to see it, even if just for one night, so we booked that too.  We kept on checking right up to the day before we left, but nothing else came up.  But, I was much more pleased with these plans than our original ones- we'd spend our first night at the Grand Californian, and then move over to Park Vue for the final three.

 

Our travel day arrived quickly. Thankfully, both of our flights were on time.  Mine actually arrived a few minutes early.  We didn't check luggage, so my daughter and I met up in the airport, and headed off to the rental car shuttle.  All went smoothly, and we were soon tooling down the highway in our Town and Country.

 

The original plan was for one of the twins' roommates to drop them off at the Grand Californian that morning, and they would try to check in.  I thought it would take us much longer to get out of the airport, get the car, and be on our way.  When we called the twins to let them know we were on our way, they were still at their apartment.  So we picked them up there, and headed to the Grand Californian.  The reason we had to be careful with cars is that there is no free parking at the Disney hotels- it's $18 a day for self parking, and that's if you're a registered guest.

 

Even though we flew clear across the country and drove down from LA, and stopped to pick up the twins on the way, it was only 12:30 pm when I snapped this photo in the Grand Californian lobby:

 

 

We checked in, but our room wasn't ready.  So, we had to turn our luggage over to Bell Services, and we headed in to the parks.  That wasn't the plan.  I wanted to get the room first, so I could be a hero and pass out the Osborne Lights shirts I had just purchased and brought all the way here.  That wasn't happening.  So, I came up with plan B.  I told the girls I wanted to change before hitting the parks, so I went into the men's room and put on my shirt.  Then I came out wearing it, and the twins were immediately surprised and jealous.  They didn't know I had gone to DHS.  When I told them that I got them all shirts, they were all super happy.  So, our trip started off on a great note.

 

The plan was to spend our first afternoon and evening in Disneyland park.  I made dinner reservations for Café Orleans, and we planned to see the Paint the Night parade, the fireworks, and then Fantasmic.  All in one night.  One plus to it being Veteran's Day is that Disneyland would be open until midnight.  That also meant it would be crowded.

 

Since we were in the Grand Californian, we headed out into California Adventure through the special hotel entrance, with the plan to cut through there and head across to Disneyland park.

 

The Red Trolley Newsboys show was going on when we passed by Carthay Circle, so we had to pause and watch that, because it's really good:

 

 

We got to eat at the Carthay Circle restaurant on our last visit, and loved it.  We couldn't get a reservation at a good time for us this time around, so we would have to skip it for this trip.  I highly recommend it, though:

 

 

They have all the Christmas decorations up here- you can see the tree and a snowflake in this photo:

 

 

The thing about the shows here in California is that they feature performers who are actually singing and dancing- we just get lip synching in Florida.  The live performances make a big difference:

 

 

And there they all go, riding in the trolley to the park entrance- which his where we're going too:

 

 

Here we are in the California Adventure entrance area- we were loving the weather today- bright and clear, with barely a cloud in the sky, and temperatures in the mid 70's with no discernible humidity.  So different from the hot and muggy weather we had been enduring since summer in Florida:

 

 

Every day of this trip was like that- blue skies with barely even a single cloud.  It got really cool at night, too.  Jacket weather.

 

You can see here that the whole cast of the trolley show rode the trolley up to the front of the park-even the Big Cheese himself:

 

 

 

Here we are at 1:01 pm- these are lines of guests waiting to go through the turnstiles outside of Disneyland park.  Yikes- it was a busy day:

 

 

After just seeing the WDW train station's Christmas decorations, the lack of decorations here was very obvious:

 

 

This is something cool that they were doing today at Disneyland.  I don't think they had anything special going on for Veteran's Day at WDW:

 

 

Yup, it was busy today.  I didn't get a photo of their Christmas tree as we came in, but I'll have some for you later. In the meantime, look at how un-festive their Main Street looks.  They lost their garland strands this year, but they didn't get the cool big wreaths like MK did:

 

 

That is one puny castle.  But, look at that bright blue sky!:

 

 

Here, you can see the extent of their Christmas decorations-they have small wreaths on the light posts, and some garland strung on the buildings:

 

 

Their hub area is bigger than ours, but has a lot of large trees in it still, which I kind of like:

 

 

The girls wanted to go and take some photos in front of the castle.  I wanted to go and get us some Indiana Jones Fastpasses.  So, I headed to Adventureland, and we would meet up in front of the castle:

 

 

Here is Disneyland's Adventureland sign.  It's so much better than the MK's.  The big difference is they have real fire on torches burning here.  And, that's the Dole Whip stand right there on the left, with the Tiki Room right behind it.  Wow:

 

 

The Tiki Room here is way busier than ours.  I think location has a lot to do with that:

 

 

I snagged our FP's, and headed back to find the girls.  First I needed a photo of their Partners statue:

 

 

I know I sound like a broken record about that blue sky.  But look at it.  So nice.

 

The Matterhorn is such a cool thing they have at Disneyland that we don't.  And, they have robot Yetis that work:

 

 

They had two double-decker buses running, along with a bunch of other Main Street vehicles.  I rarely see ours running, and never in the afternoons anymore:

 

 

Just like the train station, the castle here seems very undecorated.  I think they didn't want the holiday decorations to detract from the 60th anniversary diamond decorations, but they could have done a bit more, I think:

 

 

We had some time to kill until our Indy FP's were good.  The twins had something they needed to go and do- which was a special CM tour of Walt Disney's apartment above the fire house.  The twins let us know that today was the final day that Captain America would be meeting in Disneyland.  That coming Monday, they would be opening their new Super Hero HQ in Tomorrowland, and Spider Man would be meeting there instead of Captain America.  Plus the oldest TCD had never met Thor or Captain America, so we decided to head in to Tomorrowland and do that while the twins toured Walt's apartment.

 

All of the new Star Wars stuff that we are getting at WDW is concentrated in Tomorrowland here.  They already had their Season of the Force signs up:

 

Over there is where the Super Hero HQ will be, and their Star Wars launch bay will be in that same building, on the bottom floor:

 

 

I'm not sure how up to speed you are on Disneyland history, but that big round building is where Carousel of Progress used to be.  That was on the first floor, and then there was a gigantic model of the City of Tomorrow on the second floor.  The Carousel of Progress in Florida was moved there from here.  There is only one COP, and we have it.  We also have parts of the big model of the City of Tomorrow, and those can be seen as you ride the Peoplemover through Space Mountain.

 

Over across the way,  I could see the new sign for Hyperspace Mountain:

 

 

Space Mountain was scheduled to be down the entire time we were there, and would reopen the day after we left, on November 16.  But, there were CM previews of it scheduled for the Friday and Saturday we would be here, and the twins suspected that they might soft open it to the public.  I'll save you the suspense and let you know that the twins were right, and they both got to ride as CM's, but then my older daughter and I were in the first group of regular guests who got to ride it.  That was a couple of days in to our trip, so I'll tell you more about it when we get there.  I'll just say for now that it was one of the highlights of this trip, and I wish we could have it in Florida.

 

Over there is where the Launch Bay entrance will be.  The DHS Launch Bay hasn't opened yet, but Disneyland's opened on November 16:

 

 

There was on line to meet both Thor and Captain America.  It moved slow.  Mainly because the superheroes spent a lot of time with each guest.  Like this girl in a really pretty dress.  Does that dress have anything to do with the Avengers?:

 

 

The line took so long that the twins were done with their apartment tour and came to join us in line, and got to meet Thor with us:

 

 

Since this was the last time in maybe a long time that any of us would get to meet Captain America, we each got an individual shot with him.  Here's mine (note my brand new Osborne Lights shirt) :

 

 

After meeting those Avengers, it was time to hit up Indiana Jones.  What a great first ride for my oldest daughter!  That is such a great ride, and having the FP made it even better.

 

After Indiana Jones, we went to visit a part of the park that will be closed for good beginning in January to make room for their Star Wars land.

 

Then we caught a parade.

 

We'll cover that and more in the next update.

 

TCD

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Glad you found the shirts and in the sizes you needed, that is rare indeed. I can't understand why Disney is taking out the lights. I wonder if it has to do with all the construction that is about to take place? It would be nice if they set them up someplace else rather than tuck them away.

Fail on the blocked view of the castle lighting. Like I said in my TR, I just don't understand the rudeness of some people.

Your second Jungle Cruise gal was the same skipper we had on our adventure. I remember really enjoying her normal jokes. I would love to hear the Jingle Cruse jokes.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

TCD, we just got home from our 30-day trip.  Must get necessities unloaded because it's going to be below freezing here tonight.  Looking forward to starting to read your TR tomorrow!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Glad you found the shirts and in the sizes you needed, that is rare indeed. I can't understand why Disney is taking out the lights. I wonder if it has to do with all the construction that is about to take place? It would be nice if they set them up someplace else rather than tuck them away.

Fail on the blocked view of the castle lighting. Like I said in my TR, I just don't understand the rudeness of some people.

Your second Jungle Cruise gal was the same skipper we had on our adventure. I remember really enjoying her normal jokes. I would love to hear the Jingle Cruse jokes.

 

I think the upcoming Star Wars land construction is the reason the lights won't be back.  I think they'll be some light display someplace next year.  It's way cheaper than building an attraction, and it will draw people to the park.  So, I think there will be some kind of new holiday display.

 

I'm sorry you didn't get to ride Jingle Cruise with that Skipper.  She's the second best Jingle Cruise Skipper I've heard (so far).

 

I have come to expect rudeness-especially the KOS's.  I wish Disney would make a rule banning KOS's.  It's annoying, and it's dangerous for the kids. Especially those who end up on a drunk dad's shoulders in one of the parks that serve alcohol.

 

TCD, we just got home from our 30-day trip.  Must get necessities unloaded because it's going to be below freezing here tonight.  Looking forward to starting to read your TR tomorrow!

 

Wow, that's a shock to they system, I'll bet.

 

You had nice warm weather for your trip this year. 

 

I hope there is a trip report coming from you.

 

TCD

[ependydad...Doug 176]

And something was up.  First, November 11 was Veteran's Cay.  And public schools in California have that day off.  And, to add to that, that weekend was the inaugural Run Disney Event- The Avengers Half Marathon.  So, it was a race weekend.  That was bad planning on our part, but those dates were locked in for my oldest daughter, and she wouldn't be able to switch to any other dates, so we either had to go then, or not go at all.  We chose to go then.

 

I got caught by Veteran's Day with trying to get a site in Death Valley. Everything was booked from like Wed-Fri, surprisingly.

 

I'm loving the Disneyland TR. We head there next Tuesday and I'm looking forward to it. We surprisingly know little about it- not even where to eat!

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

 

Wow, that's a shock to they system, I'll bet.

 

You had nice warm weather for your trip this year. 

 

I hope there is a trip report coming from you.

 

TCD

 

Yes, a real shock.  It's going to be way below freezing here at home tonight.  My arthritis has kicked in really bad.

 

A trip report will be forthcoming.  Probably an abbreviated report.  It will be awhile before I can start it.  I took less than 2,000 pictures in 4 weeks.  Shock, shock!  Last year I took 5,000 in three weeks.    But it was hard to find shadows/angles I hadn't taken before.

[Dalspot ... Karen 21]

I seriously could sit for hours and watch the lighting on the castle! 

 

The actual lighting was still breathtaking, as it always has been, even before Anna and Elsa crashed the party:

 

 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I got caught by Veteran's Day with trying to get a site in Death Valley. Everything was booked from like Wed-Fri, surprisingly.

 

I'm loving the Disneyland TR. We head there next Tuesday and I'm looking forward to it. We surprisingly know little about it- not even where to eat!

 

Ack!  I'm not going to have this TR nearly done by next Tuesday.

 

For where to eat -the great thing about Disneyland is that they don't have the stinkin' Dining Plan, so there is so much more variety than at WDW.

 

Quick serve places we love:

 

The Plaza in Disneyland (it's in the same place as the plaza at WDW but it's a quick serve- the fried chicken is awesome).

 

Smokejumpers and Flo's V8 café in California Adventure.

 

There are several places that serve soup in a bread bowl.  The bread is baked in CA and is awesome.

 

Full serve- Carthay Circle in CA, and Blue Bayou in Disneyland (way cool because it's in the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction).

 

Character Breakfast:

 

Storyteller Café in the Grand Californian hotel

 

Plaza restaurant on Main Street (characters for breakfast only).

 

Snacks-

 

Bengal BBQ in Adventureland.

 

Corn Dog stands in both parks.

 

Cozy Cone stands in Cars Land.

 

Yes, a real shock.  It's going to be way below freezing here at home tonight.  My arthritis has kicked in really bad.

 

A trip report will be forthcoming.  Probably an abbreviated report.  It will be awhile before I can start it.  I took less than 2,000 pictures in 4 weeks.  Shock, shock!  Last year I took 5,000 in three weeks.    But it was hard to find shadows/angles I hadn't taken before.

 

I hope less photos means you were having more fun.

 

I'm sorry you had to come home to that much of a shock weather-wise.

 

You really need to move here!

 

I seriously could sit for hours and watch the lighting on the castle! 

 

Me too.

 

They don't have those in Disneyland either.

 

So we win that small battle.

 

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

 

I hope less photos means you were having more fun.

 

I'm sorry you had to come home to that much of a shock weather-wise.

 

You really need to move here!

 

 

More fun but serious problems ... my TR will reveal.

 

Shock weather-wise ... I'm sorry too!

 

I've been trying to get David to move to FL for over 40 years.    At least he's seriously considering snowbirding there now.  

[keith_h 420]

TCD, we just got home from our 30-day trip.  Must get necessities unloaded because it's going to be below freezing here tonight.  Looking forward to starting to read your TR tomorrow!

 

We only had a week but it is a shock isn't it. I don't mind winter but I'm not ready for it yet. Especially after the 80's we had in Orlando. 

[Seals 111]

I just realized that 2 years ago tonight was the first, and now I guess the last, time I saw the Osborne Lights. I'd thought we would get back to WDW this year during  Thanksgiving week to see them again but it wasn't in the cards.  I'm a big fan of lights and color and I thought they were wonderful. Luckily we spent a long time just enjoying them that night so I have great memories, and your pictures reminded me of that experience. 

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

All caught up.  Too much to comment on.  Wish I'd known those green Osborne Lights shirts were for sale.  Would definitely have bought one.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

More fun but serious problems ... my TR will reveal.

 

Shock weather-wise ... I'm sorry too!

 

I've been trying to get David to move to FL for over 40 years.    At least he's seriously considering snowbirding there now.  

 

Serious problems?  I'm sorry to hear that.  You've had enough of those.

 

We only had a week but it is a shock isn't it. I don't mind winter but I'm not ready for it yet. Especially after the 80's we had in Orlando. 

 

If it makes you feel any better, we have had a few cool days in Central Florida this week- the coolest its been since last March.

 

I just realized that 2 years ago tonight was the first, and now I guess the last, time I saw the Osborne Lights. I'd thought we would get back to WDW this year during  Thanksgiving week to see them again but it wasn't in the cards.  I'm a big fan of lights and color and I thought they were wonderful. Luckily we spent a long time just enjoying them that night so I have great memories, and your pictures reminded me of that experience. 

 

I'm sorry you won't get one last look at the lights, but it's nice that you have great memories.  Those won't change.

 

All caught up.  Too much to comment on.  Wish I'd known those green Osborne Lights shirts were for sale.  Would definitely have bought one.

 

I'm not sure if the green shirts are still in stock.  With this much time before the end of the lights, I would think they are.  You can probably fine one on-line.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

It looks like I have time for one update today.

 

Then, I'll have to shut this report down until after Thanksgiving.

 

Sorry about the poor timing.

 

But, it will give you something to look forward to after the holiday.

 

We left off with us meeting Captain America and Thor.

 

In Tomorrowland.

 

Which should be renamed Star Wars Land, because just about everything in there right now has some kind of Star Wars thing going on.

 

I have a few more Tomorrowland photos to share, and then we will move on to another part of the park which is also going to be very much affected by the Star Wars franchise.

 

There are all kinds of fruit trees growing in Disneyland's Tomorrowland.  This dates back to something called "Agrifuture,' which was supposed to show that edible plants could be grown in urban environments.  I'm sure they can, but how practical is that?

 

Anyway, here's one of the fruit trees, which was adjacent to the queue for Thor and the Captain:

 

 

Do you see the fruit?

 

How about now?:

 

 

If you visit Disney World, I'm sure you've seen the occasional guest Disney Bounding, but they take that to a new level here in California.  Check out this lady in a Captain America dress- complete with a little shield there around her waist:

 

 

After our stop in Tomorrowland, the touring plan called for us to head over toward the Matterhorn or Small World for a possible ride, and then on to Big Thunder Ranch, and to that side of the park.

 

The Matterhorn line was crazy, so we decided to save that for a rope drop day:

 

 

The wait for Small World was also in excess of 40 minutes, and there was no way we could or would do that.

 

So, it was on to Big Thunder Ranch.  This was a place that the oldest TCD DD specifically requested to visit.  She had seen photos and videos, and liked the whole idea of it. This daughter grew up with the Fort Wilderness petting zoo, and was probably its biggest fan.  She had also learned, as we all had, that Big Thunder Ranch at Disneyland will be closing forever in January.  This part of the park is going to be leveled and turned into Star Wars Land.  I think it's a terrible idea.  Disneyland does not need Star Wars Land.  Their Tomorrowland is pretty lame.  Just fix up the stuff there, and maybe squeeze in a new Star Wars attraction or two, and they would be fine.  Disneyland was designed and created by Walt Disney.  He chose what lands it would include.  It makes zero sense to me for them to add a whole new land to this park with a theme that is identical to Tomorrowland's.  It's just wrong.

 

But nobody asked me.

 

We like Big Thunder Ranch.  A CM with a goat greeted us as we entered.  We wanted to pet the goat, but that hippie over there was giving us the stinkeye:

 

 

I gave him the stinkeye back.

 

And he left to go smoke some of his hippie lettuce.

 

That gave the oldest TCD DD a chance to meet Bianca:

 

 

Bianca gave her a kiss.

 

That was a highlight of the trip.

 

I wanted a goat kiss too, so I got one:

 

 

 

I am eternally grateful for the alert CM holding Bianca's leash.  She noticed that Bianca was about to bite my ear, and she pulled her back just in time.  That could have been bad.  I mean goats eat cans and stuff, right?  That goat probably would have bit off a chunk of my ear.  Imagine the paperwork.

 

We also paid our respects to the sheep, who were wearing red, white and blue bandanas as a salute to our veterans:

 

 

They have an area here where they serve an all you can eat barbecue, and provide live entertainment.  We have talked about doing that, but we didn't want to take the time to do it on this trip, and at this point have probably lost our chance:

 

 

Too bad, it looks like fun.

 

They had the ranch decorated for this last Christmas it will be open:

 

 

I guess Woody will have a new meet and greet location come January:

 

 

After our visit to the ranch, we headed toward New Orleans Square.  It would soon be time for our Indy FP return, and I wanted to snag some Haunted Mansion FP's before we headed there.  On the way, we stopped and pulled FP's for the 2nd Fantasmic show that night.  Those FP's are available on top of any other FP's you might be holding, so there is no reason not to get them.  They hadn't started the FP seating when we were here the previous December, and wanted to see how it worked.

 

We had a couple of minutes to kill before we could pull the Haunted Mansion FP's so I snapped a few Disneyland RR photos at the New Orleans Square Train Station:

 

 

 

Then it was time for Indy.

 

We love that ride.

 

After that, the plan was to catch the afternoon parade, which is called Soundsational.  This would be the last day it would be performed before the Christmas parade replaced it, and the twins wanted to see it, as it would not be back during their remaining time in California.

 

On the way to Main Street, we stopped at the Jungle Cruise, which had been closed for the past week to ten days as they installed the Jingle Cruise decorations.  There's the new sign:

 

 

And big sister and Twin #1:

 

 

Twin #1 told us how she has still been working while the ride was down.  They use the Skippers to drive Imagineers out into the Jungle so they can install and check on decorations and special effects.  These folks in black are some of the Imagineers:

 

 

 

 

We found a spot on Main Street and waited for the parade.  We could hear the audio for the special Flag Retreat ceremony that was going on further down the street, and it sounded really nice, with lots of patriotic music.

 

A few people down from us, we spotted a girl with a selfie stick:

 

 

In case you haven't heard, selfie sticks are banned from all Disney Parks. They are supposed to be confiscated at bag check, but the Disneyland bag check had gotten really lax and superficial.  The bag checkers barely peeked into our bags when we came in.  Note that this was November 11- just a few days before the terrorist attacks in Paris which took place on November 13.  This guest was able to come in with her selfie stick.

 

Twin #2 told us that it would get ugly when a CM saw that.  She said she had to confront a guest with one on the Jungle Cruise.  And CM's cannot simply tell the guest to put it away.  They have to walk the guest all the way to the front of the park so they can turn in the selfie stick at Guest Services for safekeeping.  As you can imagine, guests are less than thrilled by that.  And some of them aren't very nice to the poor CM's.

 

Well, we were disappointed.  At least a dozen CM's who were in charge of crowd control walked right past that girl, who had her selfie stick out in the open, and every one of them didn't notice it.  Or, more likely, chose not to notice it.  So, there was no confrontation and no scene.

 

That Photo Shop over there is in the place where the Plaza Ice Cream store is on the MK Main Street.  The Plaza restaurant is the building with the awnings you see in the background to the left of this photo:

 

 

It was always a strange sensation to see stuff in the 'wrong" place in Disneyland.

 

Soon enough, the parade started.

 

The beginning isn't all that impressive, and the drummers costumes look kind of worn-out and not up to typical Disney standards:

 

 

 

Unlike a lot of parades you see at Disney, Mickey and Minnie were on the first float in the parade:

 

 

Mickey is set up with a big drum set, which he actually plays.  Which is interesting:

 

 

The next float looked kind of old and worn.  Which is the vibe that this parade was giving off:

 

 

The Genie walked by, and then we had this float.  Interesting:

 

 

Of course there was a float full of princesses.  I would have liked a photo of it without this lady's big fat head in the way, but she had to scoot into the street so she could take her shot with her fancy camera.  She was using her flash, too.  That's how you know she was a pro:

 

 

Actually, the fact that this woman was using her flash told us that she was your typical idiot with an expensive camera who doesn't know how to use it.  Twin #1 is a pretty good photographer, and it is a point of pride with her to be able to take photos by using proper camera settings rather than a flash.

 

That princess float looked newer and nicer than the ones that began the parade:

 

 

Oh, and look at the selfie stick lady on the other side of us going to town here:

 

 

Boy, there was a lot to see here. And a parade too!

 

We'll finish up with the Soundsational parade in the next update, and then move on to our evening.

 

We had gotten a text that our room was ready, and hoped to get by there to see it.  But we had a lot to do, and it didn't look like that would be happening.

 

TCD

[Beckers 1,136]

Funny you mentioned ratty costumes. I noticed that a lot in Disney. Mainly on the princesses.

[wendinator 109]

There are all kinds of fruit trees growing in Disneyland's Tomorrowland.  This dates back to something called "Agrifuture,' which was supposed to show that edible plants could be grown in urban environments.  I'm sure they can, but how practical is that?

 

I live in a big city (Toronto, population 2.6 million) and we have an organization called Not Far From the Tree that harvests fruit from urban trees. This year they picked over 36,000 lbs of fruit from Toronto trees! If you have something fruit-bearing on your property you can register with them and their volunteers pick the fruit and split it three ways between the homeowner, the volunteers, and local food banks, shelters and community kitchens.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Funny you mentioned ratty costumes. I noticed that a lot in Disney. Mainly on the princesses.

 

I haven't noticed it at Disney World, but did at Disneyland.

 

But, overall, they do a very good job.  Think of the thousands of costumes they have to keep clean and maintained.

 

I live in a big city (Toronto, population 2.6 million) and we have an organization called Not Far From the Tree that harvests fruit from urban trees. This year they picked over 36,000 lbs of fruit from Toronto trees! If you have something fruit-bearing on your property you can register with them and their volunteers pick the fruit and split it three ways between the homeowner, the volunteers, and local food banks, shelters and community kitchens.

 

Wow, now there's a great idea.  Those hippies running that outfit ought to contact Disneyland about picking their fruit.

 

TCD

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

The advantage of being behind is I can read a huge chunk of trip report at one sitting. But it took me all afternoon!

Great TR TCD!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Lol on the goat kisses. Interesting fact on goats, they have no upper teeth just gum. They have teeth on the bottom jaw and molars in the back which they use to chew their cud. Rub a goat on the top of the head with the palm of your hand. If they enjoy it they will lift their upper lip and smile with a toothless grin. You seemed very fascinated by the goats at DL. I own dairy goats and find them very entertaining as well.

The DL goat stampede is neat but I imagine required a lot of training. Goats are like two year olds and get into everything. To let them run free back to their pen takes some guts. My guess is there is some serious incentive for them back in the stall.