2018 Club Trip

[KeithS]

Most people will be hit the area Saturday or Sunday.  Our first official event is lunch on Sunday at Storytellers in the Grand Californian.

[calisota]

Most people will be hit the area Saturday or Sunday.  Our first official event is lunch on Sunday at Storytellers in the Grand Californian.

Bugger, can't make it.

Greg

[DisneyKaren]

I hit DLR on Friday afternoon.

Frozen on Broadway was great, I really enjoyed the additional music and how they altered the order of the scenes just slightly to suit interval.  Anna met Kristoff and borrowed his spare clothes for a short while, then Elsa belt out Let it Go before interval and Oaken had a big (and fun) song and dance number after interval.  They replaced the trolls with forest people which suited the stage format and I love how they did Olaf with a puppeteer.  It's always about the music for me and I am looking forward to getting the soundtrack.  I'll definitely go again when/if it eventually gets to Australia.

Also, I've been impressed by the new Disney stores over here, much more merch for adults so I've already done some shopping!  As I received 2 vouchers for $25, I'll need to see if I can get to Santa Ana mall to spend them (can't use at the parks).  On top of Disney, M&Ms store, clothes stores and purchases in Wyoming, I also made it to an outlet and picked up a Rogue One earhat for a friend for only $6 and got myself an Inside Out lunch bag.  Thankfully still at one checked-in bag, however I have a spare suitcase inside my big one for my Disney Parks shopping!!!

[KeithS]

Awesome - thanks for the update Karen - sounds like you are really hitting the shopping big-time

Good to hear The Disney Store is finally interested in adults again - for a long time they were too child focused!

See you on the weekend!

[KeithS]

One more sleep for Della and I.  I think Wayne and Jennifer have already gone.

See you all in Anaheim on Saturday or Sunday!

[KeithS]

Day 1 – 29 September 2018. Sydney and Anaheim
It was a 5am alarm for us today as we set out on The Longest Day – a 36 hour Saturday ahead! We were already pretty well packed, so we just got the house in order and waited for our 6:30am taxi which came right on time.  Luckily the M5 was quiet this Saturday morning, so we made it okay to the airport.  The airport was crazy busy though – it was the first day of school holidays and there were large groups of kids going to all sorts of places – school groups to south east Asian countries, and of course a whole bunch of dance groups heading to Disneyland! We jumped the queue at check in by going to the Qantas Club line and we got through the security in no time at all as well.  Della took a quick detour through the shops but we got up to the lounge without any major purchases.

We only had to wait an hour for our flight so we just had a drink and sent a few messages to friends before heading to the gate.  There was a slight delay at the secondary security gate but it moved efficiently.  When I got to secondary security, I was selected for a random interview and they pulled us aside. After answering the usual ‘why are you going to the US’ questions, we were allowed to board. Again, the Premium Economy section is worth it by jumping the boarding queue!  We got on our aircraft and had exit row premium economy seats – what a score they were! We could stand and stretch and had no one in front (mental note to get 24A and 24B on future A380 flights!).

The flight was long but uneventful – we had great food and just sat and watched movies or listened to music. As it took off at 10am, it was mainly an awake flight for us – landing around 11:15pm Sydney time (but 6:15am here in Los Angeles – meaning we had to stay awake another whole day – hence the 36 hour Saturday!)

When we got into LA, none of the Smart Gates were working – they were trialling a new system today of facial recognition at the manual gates. It meant we didn’t need the blue customs form or the fingerprinting.  We just went to the customs guy who took our photo, stamped our passport, and let us through – it was much more efficient and quick.  We got to the baggage claim before our bags had appeared – a first for us in the US!

We had three bags checked – one each for Della and I, plus an extra one for the club t-shirts we were bringing.  Each bag came off with about five minute between each one – we thought they’d all be together. Anyhow – they arrived and we headed out the airport without any further checking.  Because the airport was so efficient, we managed to make it to the curb-side with a 30 minute wait for the first Disneyland Express Bus (we didn’t think we’d make it when we first landed.)  While waiting for the bus, one of those previously mentioned dance groups arrived and we thought they’d be getting the bus with us and were worried we wouldn’t get a seat, but they had their own coach booked, so in the end, it was just me and Della, plus one other Australian family on the ride down to Anaheim.

We were tired by the time we got to the hotel and of course, the room wasn’t ready.  We ran into Wayne and Jennifer in the hotel, and then Gerard and Michelle too. We were going to leave our bags with the hotel, but as we were sorting ourselves out, the girl behind the counter called and said a room was ready, so we were able to go straight to the room which was lucky.  We had a shower and a drink and sorted ourselves out, and then headed across the road to the Esplanade to pick up our Disneyland Park Hopper tickets.

With tickets in hand we went firstly to Downtown Disney to check out the World of Disney Store – it is still under construction so is only half its normal size.  We didn’t buy anything – in fact, it looked pretty safe to me – not a lot of new merchandise!  But next we went to Pandora, and that is never a safe place haha. Della bought a couple of things she was after to get the ball rolling, I’m sure there will be more in the coming days.  After looking all around Downtown, we headed into Disneyland just to get something to eat.  We went to the Plaza Inn and had a salad and drink.  It was nearly 3pm now, and after eating, we were pretty stuffed, so rather than staying in the park, we headed back to the hotel for a two hour snooze. That made us feel a lot better and we were up at 5:30pm. We sorted out the club t-shirts and the other housekeeping stuff, before heading up to McDonalds for a quick bite and then sat and watched Frozen and, Ratatouille on TV before going to bed at 10pm to try and get back on track with sleep. Tomorrow we are having a club lunch at Storytellers Café and the Club Trip really begins at that point.

[Barry McB]

Hi Keith,
Thanks for the updates.
Hope you and Della are having a great time.
Cheers,
Barry & Narelle.

[calisota]

Are you saying that LAX was fast and efficient? I'm not sure I believe you.


Greg

[KeithS]

Thanks Barry and Narelle - glad you are tuning in!

It was efficient for us Greg - but we were lucky.  I'll let you know Wendy and Ashley's experience when they arrive tomorrow morning!

Here is the next part - I'm running a day behind - too busy with everything. Forgive me of any spelling/grammar errors, I haven't proof read it and I'm writing it at 12:40am

Day 2 – 30 September 2018. Anaheim
Today is our first real day of the trip. We headed out for breakfast and ran into Wayne in the laundry. He came to our room and we sorted out the club shirts for distribution later on.  After breakfast (our hotel has a full breakfast at Captain Kidds restaurant next door) we headed over to Disney California Adventure.
 
First thing we did was get a locker – as they are all day accessible in Anaheim, they are worth it if you are shopping etc.  We put all the shirts in one then headed left out of Buena Vista Street into the Hollywood backlot.  No one was in line for Monsters Inc, so we jumped on that – I guess an unusual choice of first attraction for this trip.
 
Once we got off, we headed down to the Guardian’s ride, but it was a 60 standby and the Fastpass return time was during our lunch, so we didn’t ride it.  That part of the park is now a dead end again like pre-Cars Land due to Bugs Land being demolished for the new Avengers Land, so we headed back the way we came and sat in the Animation Building for a while.  We ran into Jan and Les outside that before we headed in, then we ran into Wayne and Jennifer when we left.  We had a quick look around Off the Page too as we love that shop.
 
We then headed into Cars Land which was all dressed for Halloween – in fact, the whole park is well themed to the season – I guess this is a preview of next year when DCA will be the prime Halloween park (to even out the crowds from Star Wars in Disneyland).  Anyway, we looked through the shops and bought a few things before heading back to the locker to get our club shirts.
 
We exited the park via the Grand Californian Hotel exit and went to the Storytellers Café.  Most of the club members were already there, plus a few guests – Dennis Taneda (who designed the DCA Animation building and Fortress Explorations in Tokyo Disneysea); and Eric and Barbara who are old friends of ours from our 2008 trip to Tokyo and 2009 trip to D23 Expo – it was great to catch up again with them after so many years.
 
We handed out the shirts while we waited - it took a while before our tables became available and Della and I eventually got a booth with Karen.  We had a fun lunch which was also a character lunch – the food was strange as it was an all-day breakfast menu but it was great chatting to everyone and interacting with the characters who were all great. We had Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale come around multiple times – it was fun.  We also had Dennis come and sit with us at our table for 30 minutes and talk to us about designing Tokyo and DCA – it was a great opportunity to learn all about Imagineering a new space.
 
While we were at lunch, we were hearing from our US friends that they had arrived at LAX and were heading to the resort – and as lunch ended, they were checking in to the Grand Californian Hotel.  So Della, Karen and I headed to the hotel shop and waiting for Brian and Patti to come down.  It was awesome to see them again as it had been 18 months since we toured in China and Japan with them.
 
The five of us headed out into the park, and as Brian and Patti hadn’t eaten – we went to Smoke Jumpers (formerly Taste Pilots) so they could eat.  We then headed to Guardians but again the standby was long and the FP return was the same time as the fireworks tonight, so we didn’t do it again!
 
Following this morning’s path, we headed to Cars Land and went on Mater’s Jamboree which had been re-themed for Halloween.  Karen took photos of us as we rode on the attraction – that ride still makes me laugh, but it does knock you around so I know why Karen stays clear!  Next we headed to Luigis – last time we were here it was the Flying Tyres – now it is a trackless ride which is cute and a lot of fun.  We all went on this and had a good laugh as the cars dance to Luigi’s music.
 
After Luigi’s, we headed to some Cars Land shops and then Karen departed to watch the Pixar Play Parade over at Disneyland.  The four of us stayed on at DCA and went for a walk through Pixar Pier and all the shops before ending up at The Little Mermaid attraction which was a walk on.  We then headed back to Off the Page with Brian and Patti, followed by the Buena Vista St shops.  Della and I wanted to watch the Disneyland fireworks and tonight was the only time they’d be on.  Brian and Patti’s cast member ticket wouldn’t allow them to park hop tonight due to blackout restrictions, so they stayed in DCA while we emptied our locker and headed over to Disneyland.
 
Once in the park, we headed to Coke Corner and just had a hot dog and drink for dinner – we were still stuffed from lunch.  Della then wanted to do more shopping and got sucked into the vortex of the Pandora store on Main St.  She got served by a really nice cast member and she bought some charms.  We got out of there with just 5 minutes to go before the fireworks.  We found a great spot on Main St to watch them and it is still a brilliant show. At present they are showing “Remember, Dreams Come True” which debuted during the 50^th celebrations which we saw on our first visit in 2005 and is still one of my favourites.
 
After the fireworks, the park emptied out and we headed to the shops on the other side of Main Street – we were having fun sending images of merchandise back to Jess in Australia.  We also decided to head into Tomorrowland – the first time in two days we’d gotten past the Disneyland Hub!  We just went to Space Traders for a quick look, but decided to call it a night and go back to the hotel.  It was the end to a great fun day.

[Barry McB]

Wow,
A very full on day.
Thanks,
Barry & Narelle.

[calisota]

Whenever I read your reports I always think that you don't cover as much ground as me but then I see how many shops you go into and realise why.


Greg

[KeithS]

Yeah - it is easier to cover ground as a single male...

Here is yesterday's log

Day 3 – 1 October 2018. Anaheim
Today is a free day, so we decided we were going to attack Disneyland. Karen contacted us in the morning as she was heading over to DCA but we weren’t heading that way today, so we will catch her tomorrow.  We had our breakfast at Captain Kidds, then headed over the road to go to Disneyland.  One thing I didn’t mention is there is now a security bubble around the park, and security is much tighter. The bag checks are very thorough and everyone goes through the metal detectors, but once you do that, you can go to both parks and Downtown Disney without going through security again which is good.
 
Once in the park, we headed to Space Mountain and got a fast pass – it currently has the Ghost Galaxy overlay so we were keen to check it out.  After getting the Fastpass, we hopped in line for Buzz Lightyear (I won) then up to It’s a Small World.  It was hot this morning and that was a nice cool ride to start to the day.
 
We headed into Toontown to see if we could get a glimpse of Star Wars, but you couldn’t really see much – it is well hidden from inside the park at the moment.  We also checked out the Toontown shops before heading back to Tomorrowland for our Space Mountain ride.  I didn’t mind the Ghost Galaxy overlay, although I do like the normal Space Mountain soundtrack better.  I’ll be keen to do this again later.
 
As we came off Space Mountain, we found Brian and Patti waiting for us, so we decided to have lunch on the Tomorrowland Terrace – I had a chicken burger. Brian and Patti had a few gifts for us and they were awesome. After we finished, we headed to our locker to put stuff away and walked through some shops and the Disney Gallery before heading to the Main St Station and a Grand Circle Tour.  We really liked what they had done with the train line that snakes around where they are building Star Wars.
 
After we got off the train, we headed back out to Frontierland to get a Fastpass for Big Thunder Mountain.  We then walked up the trail into Fantasyland and went straight on Casey Junior.  We saw Wayne and Jennifer passing by as we waited for our ride.  After the ride, we headed down to the ice cream store in Main St and I ordered the choc-mint which was great.  We ate them on the balcony of the Jolly Holiday bakery.  Our seats gave us a view of the Pixar Play Parade as it came into the Hub.  We had seen that parade many times in the past at DCA so were in no rush for a close up viewing.
 
After the parade, our Big Thunder Fastpass came due, so we headed up there for the wildest ride in the wilderness!  After that, Brian and Patti left to catch up with a retired Disney friend and we hit the shops in Critter Country.  From there we went back to Main St for more shopping.  We had seen some Princess pens earlier in the day – Anna, Elsa and Ariel – but when we got there, Ariel was sold out – they had a stack in the morning.  Della said to check all the other pen bins for her on the rack in case someone put one back in the wrong spot – and we found one…good call Della.
 
We decided to have dinner at the Jolly Holiday bakery – we both got turkey sandwiches and we sat there for a while until Brian and Patti came back to the park.  They had arranged VIP seating for us at Fantasmic, so we headed to New Orleans Square.  Although the old dessert seating option was gone, they still set up that seating area and we got front row seats. No one is quite sure how to get those seats now and quite a few remained empty, but they were prime position for us!  The show had been updated a lot since last time – the effects were amazing, but I’m not sure if I liked it better or not…
 
After Fantasmic, we went straight onto Pirates – all I can say about this is “We wants the Redhead”…  And followed up Pirates with Haunted Mansion Holiday which is still a great overlay which we really enjoyed – again it had been improved over the version we last saw in 2006.
 
It was near closing time now, so we decided to head to the exit – only to remember we also had a locker to empty, so we ran back, got our goods, and then headed to the hotel – it was another great day.
 
 Tomorrow, we are having a club breakfast at the Plaza Inn which should be fun as well as Mickey’s Halloween Party.

[Barry McB]

Hi Keith,

How do you reserve the setting for Fantasmic?

As the new seating arrangements are a shocker.

Just saw your Plaza Inn breakfast photos on Facebook   \8-/

Thanks for the updates.

Say Hi to Della for us.

Barry & Narelle.

[KeithS]

Hi Barry - I don't think you can get those seats anymore. Our friend Patti got them through her Anaheim cast member connections.  Even she doesn't know how those seats are allocated - I don't believe there is a process for general public to get them now - I think it is a VIP arrangement only.

[KeithS]

Day 4 – 2 October 2018. Anaheim
Today is another club day and we start out first thing with a character breakfast at 8am.  Della and I head over to the park and I thought it would be busy as we were getting there before rope drop, but the security and gate queue was non-existent, so we breezed into the park and headed to the Plaza Inn via the lockers.  When we got to the Plaza Inn, we found out the Brad and Rebecca’s kids had been chosen to open the park which was awesome!  They got to press the button that starts the day’s opening spiel and signals the cast to drop the rope, so that was a nice special thing.
 
Once all the club members had arrived (and our special guest Terri Hardin who was an imagineer and puppeteer) – we lined up on the steps for a group photo with Minnie Mouse, which was photobombed by Dale which was hilarious.
 
After the photo, we proceeded to get breakfast – we had a table of me and Della, Karen, and Brian and Patti.  There was a big mix of characters including Rafiki, Hook, Fairy Godmother, Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Chip and Dale, and Minnie.  During the breakfast, Terri came and sat with us and told us of her career at Imagineering and in the motion picture industry which was very interesting – she had a lot of stories and loved to tell them.
 
After breakfast, Karen, Della and I headed to our locker to drop stuff off, then the three of us headed up to Buzz Lightyear – we wanted to take Karen on rides she hadn’t done before.  After Buzz, we saw the queue for Nemo was unusually short, so we took advantage of that and jumped on.  Next up, we saw Storybook Canal Boats was also short, so we rode that together too.  Karen hadn’t been on teacups, so I convinced her to ride as long as I didn’t spin too hard – and I was very gentle for once.
 
We ducked into the Mad Hatter for a quick look then decided to head over to Haunted Mansion, but as we were walking past Pirates of the Caribbean, I saw Wendy, Ashley and Hannah in the queue, so we ran after them and caught up.  They had just arrived this morning from Australia and had hit the parks straight away.  We all rode Pirates together, and then decided to head to Adventureland to get some Dole Whip which we then ate at the tables near the Jolly Holiday.  We sat and chatted for a while and shared photos and texts with Jess back home before Wendy, Hannah and Ash decided they were heading back to the hotel.
 
Karen, Della and I headed to Main St shops for a bit – with Della buying a headband for the Halloween Party.  Soon it was time for Della and I to meet Brian and Patti at the Blue Bayou, so we said goodbye to Karen and we’d catch up with her later. We went to the restaurant (passing Wayne and Jennifer on the way) and got seated right on the water’s edge.  Della had the chicken, and I got the Monte Cristo sandwich – that was a new experience!  Our friends really enjoy those, but I guess there is a limit to our tastebuds because I found the deep frying of a turkey, ham and cheese sandwich a little too much for me (but I can’t complain, after all, we eat vegemite haha).
 
After our late lunch, we looked to check in for the Halloween Party and went to the front of the park – only to discover check in was at the Starcade in Tomorrowland – whoops.  I gave Brian and Patti their tickets as they were going to their hotel to get changed, and Della and I headed to Starcade.  We checked in and got our wristbands and ran into Wayne and Jennifer again.  I wasn’t feeling great, so I sat down for a bit and didn’t end up going to the club meet up at 6pm.  But within 30 minutes or so, I was feeling good again and we caught up with Brian and Patti and hit Star Tours – that’s one ride that’ll make you feel better haha.  We saw the new sequences too, which made it all the more awesome.
 
After Star Tours, we headed up to Fantasyland – we were going to Trick or Treat through the candy stations but were distracted by a short queue for Alice in Wonderland and so we rode that.  We then headed toward the Big Thunder Trail and all the candy stations there – which were very generous with their handouts.  From Big Thunder, we carried on along the Rivers of America to the Hungry Bear, collecting candy as we went.  We ran into Gerard and Michelle along the way too.
 
After getting a fill of candy, we ducked into Pirates again as it was a walk on, and we follow that with Indy.  Patti didn’t come along and stayed with our bags while Brian, Della and I went for the ride.  After Indy, we walked down to Jungle Cruise for a night time adventure and our skipper was really quick with his banter.
 
Next, we headed to Main St to get a spot to watch the parade and headless horseman.  We found a great spot opposite the Crystal Arcade with a fun group of people around us who we talked to.  A guy with a kid even made room to allow Della a spot on the gutter and I had an unobstructed standing spot – it was great.  The headless horseman came down the street at a slow trot with other characters including Ichabod Crane and a story narration which was great.  I liked that more than the fast pass-by of the horse in WDW.  Next up was the parade itself which was a lot of fun with modern floats.  It wasn’t as big as Boo to You, but it was a good quality parade. It was nice to see something new in Disneyland.
 
After the parade, we stepped out into the street and moved closer to the castle to watch the Halloween fireworks, which were a lot of fun and had some amazing building projections right down Main Street as well as a great laser display.  As soon as the fireworks finished, we planned to duck right into the shops and then head towards Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain/Ghost Galaxy.  Of course, so did thousands more, but the line was only 30 minutes when we got there and Brian hadn’t been on it before.  So we queued up (again Patti held our bags) and then rode the ride.  Della and I got front seats and I loved it much more this second time – it was great when you see what is happening.
 
After that, we decided to try for Haunted Mansion again, and this time it was a walk on! Straight into the Stretching Room for us.  When we came out, Disneyland had closed so it was time for us to leave. We took a leisurely stroll to the lockers and headed out of the park and back to the hotel.
 
We really enjoyed this party – the last Mickey’s Not So Scary we attended at WDW in 2016 was a bit disappointing due to the overcrowding.  We couldn’t get on rides, get much candy, get close to parades or meet characters, but this Disneyland party was much better – rides were walk ons and the parade crowds manageable. In general, I think the crowds here have been much better here than at WDW recently – they seem more respectful of others – less kids on shoulders or tablets held high to photograph things! So overall the feeling of this trip has been great.
 
Tomorrow – a bit of a break from the usual with a bus tour of LA and surrounds.