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Disneyland and D23, September 2009

KeithS
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Re: Disneyland and D23, September 2009

Postby KeithS » Wed Oct 28, 2009 5:56 pm

To Disney's credit, they took everyone's name, address and email who didn't make it into the session and said they'd send a gift (although a month later - we've never heard from them, although we didn't really expect it.)
Well, I shouldn't have been to hasty - because in the mail today, I received a letter signed by Kermit the Frog, apologising for the overbooking of the session at the D23 Expo! Along with the letter, I also got a large colour photo of the entire Muppet gang - what a cool surprise!

The Walt Disney Corporation rocks! :D
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Location: Peakhurst Heights, NSW

Re: Disneyland and D23, September 2009

Postby KeithS » Sun Nov 08, 2009 6:57 pm

Day 16 - Disneyland and DCA
It is our last full day in the US and we awake to overcast skies - not to worry though, it is predicted to clear up later on. Our plan today was to head to Disneyland for the morning, then DCA in the afternoon. That way, we could spend all of our last day in Disneyland.

But before we went over the road to the park this morning, we had to make a little detour - you see, it was pretty obvious that there was no way we were going to be able to pack all the goods we'd bought into the two suitcases we had, so we needed to buy another one. We also needed to get some nasal spray for Della who had contracted a cold and wasn't too keen on flying with a blocked nose. We decided to walk down to the new Garden Walk shopping complex, but when we got there, it was pretty much all closed and didn't appear to have a suitcase shop or a drug store. We went into the little Mini-mart at the Tropicana Hotel and found a suitcase at a cheap price ($50) so took it back to the hotel before heading into Disneyland.

We headed up into Fantasyland and Toontown this morning, riding a few of the Fasntasyland darkrides and Roger Rabbit in Toontown - there was also a few last minute shopping items such as a dressable Minnie Mouse, and I got a 75th Anniversary Donald Duck watch. We had arranged to meet Wayne, Jennifer and Gerard at midday, so we headed on down there for the traditional group Castle photo. Gerard's friend Deb was on hand to take to photo, which was a good thing as the usual photopass cast members were no where to be seen! (Thanks Deb!). This was the last day that all of us were together in Anaheim as Wayne and Jennifer were heading to San Diego the next day - so we all said our goodbyes and parted ways.

Jennifer pointed out that she had found three Woozles for sale at the Winnie the Pooh shop in Critter Country, so Della made me head over there to buy all three of the fluffies before heading over to DCA.

At DCA, we headed over to play Toy Story Mania again, followed by a run on Screamin' - while we were in the line for the coaster, Della was feeling a little unwell, so I went solo.

We grabbed a bite to eat at the Farmer's Marketplace - I tried the new Asian counter service restaurant and had Korean spicy chicken which was really tasty, while Della had Fish and Chips.

We then headed over to the Hollywood Backlot and took a ride on Tower of Terror. Della was dying to head back to Turtle Talk, so we went into the Animation building to wait for the next Crush session. While waiting there, Jasmine came out so we got our photos taken with her.

Della has done Crush on a number of occasions yet has never been picked to ask him a question. This time, I made her sit on the aisle and after Crush spoke to a few of the kids on the floor - he finally asked to speak with Della! Or "Deep-sea Diving Della" as he preferred to call her :) She got to ask him a question and then he asked her where she was from. She answered Sydney Australia - so Crush asked if she knew where 42 Wallaby Way was! That was funny. He also brought out a Buzz Lightyear toy and asked her what it was - so Della finally got to speak with Crush - that made her day I think :D

We did a little bit more shopping in the afternoon before leaving the park fairly early and heading over to Tony Roma's for our final dinner (I had the enormous baby-back ribs and it was really tasty!)

Back at the hotel, we decided it was time to pack - but not before doing our traditional loot photo. That's where we get everything we bought in Anaheim, put it on the bed, then take a photo of it. We love taking loot photo - it really shows how crazy we are!
Image

Once that was completed, it was time to begin packing...and it wasn't too long before I thought it was obvious that we couldn't fit everything into three suitcases. Della was arguing that she could do it - but by the size of the pile remaining on the bed, it was pretty obvious that another suitcase was required. I headed back down to the Tropicana Mini-Mart and picked up another suitcase (it was that guy's lucky day, but I guess with all the Aussie tourists in the area, every day is his lucky day!)

We got back to packing and re-shuffling and eventually ended up with a decent distribution of stuff (in fact - all four suitcases were almost exactly 20kgs each, pretty good going!).

Happy that we could get all the stuff home without any bother, we went to bed for the last time in the US.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Location: Peakhurst Heights, NSW

Re: Disneyland and D23, September 2009

Postby KeithS » Sun Nov 08, 2009 7:15 pm

Day 17 - Disneyland and flight home
We awake to an absolutely glorious morning - blue sky and cooler temperatures.

We head over to Disneyland and get in line for gate opening. We arrive about 45 minutes before opening and are about six people from the front of the queue. We imagine we won't have to wait long as they would let us into Main Street early to prepare for the rope drop. About twenty minutes later and we were walking down Main Street and were first in line at the drop of the rope at 10am.

We headed to the left because we wanted to ride Indiana Jones - everytime this holiday, it had a massive crowd, so we wanted to be there early to ride it...and as we got the Indy...it was shut :( !!

So we headed to Fantasyland, rode the teacups, the carousel and Small World before heading to Tomorrowland as we wanted to ride on Finding Nemo again (mainly because I wanted to see it with my sunglasses off!). We get in line and were able to get submarine seats on the right hand side this time, looking into the lagoon. As Beth mentioned recently at a meeting, the view from the right hand side is MUCH better - so if you can, get on the sub by loading in the rear hatch.

We did the other Tomorrowland rides, only missing out on HISTA (yuck) and Space Mountain (shut). We really wanted to do Star Tours because it would be our last opportunity before it becomes Star Tours II.

Back to Indy and we got in line, but it wasn't moving, so we grabbed a Fastpass and did some shopping for an hour. We returned, used our Fastpass, and walked right up to the Indy load station - the Fastpass was much better this year for Indy than previous years.

That done, we headed to the Hub and had our traditional last day lunch at the Plaza Inn - Della always has the Cobb Salad, and I get the Garden Salad - don't know why, it is just our tradition! We usually sit there for an hour listening to the music and watching people walk on by - we love that last day lunch!

After lunch, we went out to Tom Sawyer's Island to check out the Pirate's Lair for an hour or so. We then grabbed our traditional Pineapple Dole Whip which we ate in the hub before grabbing the horse drawn carriage down Main Street. Our final ride is always the Disneyland Railroad, so we did the grand circle tour, talking the whole way to the conductor who was really nice. At the end, we stood on the railway station, watching everyone walking around Town Square before deciding it was time for us to leave. We made that slow walk to the front gate, reluctant as always to depart this happy place, headed under the archway and out into the Esplanade and back to reality.

We said a quick goodbye to our brick in the Esplanade and walked back to the hotel to get changed, grab our bags, and await the bus. All too quickly, the time passed and we had to drag our four large suitcases, two small cabin bags, two small shoulder bags, and Franky (our Whatnot) to the curbside to await the bus (not an easy feat - let me tell you!)

As the sun set in the west, the bus came up South Harbor Blvd, and we piled on-board and waved goodbye (for now) to the Disneyland Resort...
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

sandie
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Re: Disneyland and D23, September 2009

Postby sandie » Sun Nov 08, 2009 7:55 pm

I've got to ask...... how many bedrooms at Della's house are storage for fluffies?
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KeithS
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Location: Peakhurst Heights, NSW

Re: Disneyland and D23, September 2009

Postby KeithS » Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:53 pm

I've got to ask...... how many bedrooms at Della's house are storage for fluffies?
Pretty much all of them...and the study downstairs :D
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015


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