Disneyland morning – day three

Wendy and Karen had to leave at noon to catch their flight, so we headed over to DCA to catch a few more rides before they left.  We all got in line for Soarin’ Over California, but Saffy wasn’t so sure she wanted to go on it.  She was fine until they pulled her out of line to check her height and then she flipped out.  She was NOT going to let that guy measure her.  So I took her out and we found something a little less intimidating for her to ride on.

Disney stock photo of Soarin’ Over California

We met up again over at the Paradise Pier section to go on the new Toy Story ride, Midway Mania.

Mr. Potato Head was really cool, he asked Saffron who her favorite Toy Story character was.  She told him it was Buzz; he was only slightly indignant that it wasn’t him. 

The ride was great fun! You get 3-D glasses and you ride through a colorful Toy Story setup with big screens where you shoot darts at balloons, ring toss at the little green aliens all in 3-D.  It was really entertaining; we all loved it.

     

Saffy went on King Tritan’s Carousel and then we all went on Heimlich’s Chew Chew train over in Bugs Land.  Of course we couldn’t miss the Mission Tortilla factory tour (they have free samples you know – very tasty.)  Then we took a tour of the sour dough bread bakery, they only gave us a little stingy sample, but I went over to the store at the end and bought a fresh loaf and we all shared it.  It was only 5$ which is a quite a bargain for Disneyland, and it was oh so good.

 

It was as very warm day so Karen and Wendy decided they didn’t mind getting wet, so Miles and I went over to Grizzly River Rapids with them.  We put all of our cell phones and cameras in a zip lock bag and we got strapped in.  It’s like your basic raft ride, just on steroids.  It is themed really well, and it has some really steep drops.  We got completely soaked!  But it felt nice since it was such a warm sunny day.  We said goodbye to Wendy and Karen and then checked out the Blue Sky Cellar which had models and sketches of the upcoming extreme makeover of California Adventure.  The Cars Land addition and the Little Mermaid ride look really amazing.

We headed back to the hotel and I had a nice nap.  Ian and Saffron shared a Disneyland lollipop stick.  We were happy that we still had a day and a half left before we had to go home.

I still like skiing

Yesterday I went skiing for the first time this season.  December was too cold and we were busy, then in January I was focused on going to Disneyland, so I didn’t go then either.   But since I’m the one who got Melinda into skiing, she wasn’t going to let me give it up.  We got up to Brighton around 4:30 or 5:00 and it wasn’t cold at all.  The day was beautiful and the snow was great.  I love skiing on nice packed powder.

I remembered to tighten my boots up a little more and I had great fun skiing down the mountain.  Going down the slope I was thinking how much I really like skiing.  I was really enjoying making turns and gliding down the mountain in the cool air. I was impressed watching Miles and Melinda zoom past me making some great turns.  It was so beautiful on the mountain with the all the snow and the green pines and the clean, clear air.

I regrettably cut our skiing day short by twisting my knee when I caught my ski on a bump.  On the bright side, I got a nice ride off the mountain on one of those cool ski toboggans.  Plus, I think I might have a lot of down time for the next couple of weeks, sitting here in bed with my knee brace and ice pack.

Here I am in the Brighton ski resort clinic on the gurney with my leg splinted.

Melinda said I did it just so I could get out of the talk I was supposed to give in church today.  She took my talk, made some notes, changed some stuff around, and added some other stuff, and gave it for me.  What a woman!  She has actually been so nice and patient with me.  I am a very lucky man to have her. 

Hanging around in bed isn’t so hot, but I still like skiing.

La Paisa Grill

This week I’ve been attending a short SharePoint training class in West Valley.  It’s been pretty informative, even though I’ve missed half of the labs.  On Wednesday several of our facilities couldn’t connect to our Internet apps.  So between e-mails, phone calls, and texts, I missed quite a bit.  We didn’t actually figure out the root of the problem until this morning, when more clinics wouldn’t connect.  It turns out our anti-virus program did an update that blocked all secure Internet sites.  We made a few calls, did a bunch of uninstalls and everyone is up and running again.

Yesterday for lunch I drove down Redwood Road looking for someplace to eat when I saw the Latino Mall.  It was awesome!  It felt like I was somewhere in the middle of Mexico.  I bought some Mexican vanilla, dulce de leche, and dulce de membrillo from Ranchos Market.  Then I got a carnitas burrito from La Paisa Grill.  The meat was cooked just right, it had freshly prepared beans, and was wrapped in a fresh homemade tortilla.  ¡Qué rico!  ¡Muy auténtico!  It was so good that today I went there and had tacos and a cold glass of agua jamaica.  I can’t believe we sometimes settle for such low-quality, mass-produced food at places like Taco Bell.  This is place is definitely one of those “best kept secrets.”

Tomorrow is my last day of training.  Hopefully things will be quiet at work so I can concentrate a little better on SharePoint instead of putting out fires.  I think I might just have to make another visit my new favorite little taco shop, too.

Kevin’s Birthday

 

Today Kevin took matters into his own hands and organized a birthday party for himself.  Sometimes a mans gotta do what a mans gotta to do.  He invited us over for a nice spaghetti dinner at Grandma and Grandpa’s . 

 

Brian and Dejah came, and so did Nate, Lindsay and baby Craig.  Kevin can still blow out the candles with one breath.  Karen and Wendy were here as well.

Lisette, Ian, and Saffron with spaghetti.

 

Marsha was here and so was photophobic Connie.  Scott came up for the long weekend and took the role of executive pasta chef.  We had a great time.

Disneyland 1989

Eric gave me rights to post on his blog, so I'll give it a try. I'm sorry folks, but this will be another Disneyland post.

In 1989, when I was 17, my family made our first trip to Disneyland. (Actually that was the only time I went to Disneyland with my family, until Wendy and Karen joined us this time.)

Digging through my stuff yesterday, I found some old Disneyland tickets and a list of the rides we went on our second day there. We went for two days for $38.25 if you can believe it. (A child two-day ticket was $29.25.)

Trisha joined us for that original trip to Disneyland, and I thought that she (and maybe some others of you) would enjoy seeing what we did our second day there.

Pirates of the Caribbean- looked at Splash Mountain, wondered (Apparently the lines were too long.)
Thunder Mountain - took Kevy, took Kevy back, granola break
Peter Pan
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Mad Tea Party
Skyway to Tomorrowland
People Mover
Mission to Mars
Captain EO- bathroom, granola break
Monorail - started back, bought ice cream
Saw Snow White Grotto - waited for Karen, Trisha looked in shop
Sleeping Beauty's Castle
Saw Penny Arcade
Main Street Cinema
Walt Disney Story and Mr. Lincoln - back to motel, swim, nap, met Daddy and Eddie
Disneyland Railroad
Haunted Mansion -bumbled around
perfume shop, dog biscuit, fritter
Country Bear Playhouse
Disney Art Gallery
Swiss Family Treehouse - 2 times, Amy lost
Jungle Cruise
glimpse of Electric Parade
Enchanted Tiki Room
Matterhorn Bobsleds (watched fireworks in line)
a little time debating
Circle Vision American Journeys - rested a moment
Space Mountain
Rocket Jets
Tomorrowland Autopia
Submarine Voyage
Motor Boat Cruise

I wish I had a list of what we did that first day, just for comparison. I remember rushing the first day to Splash Mountain. It was the new ride at the time.

I also remember being lost with Scottie, unable to go on any rides (of interest to me) with a two year old in a stroller. I eventually met up with some others though, and all turned out well I think.

Disneyland evening – day two

Our favorite hotel to stay at is the Anaheim Desert Inn and Suites, which is right across the street from Disneyland.  The rooms are nice, the price is great, and most of all, it’s a short easy walk to the main entrance.  It’s perfect for catching an early afternoon nap.  After our siesta today we headed over to Disney’s California Dentures.  We took Karen and Wendy over to the Hollywood Tower Hotel, which is our second favorite hotel.  We would stay there but the elevators are too unpredictable, and Lisette is scared we will get sucked into a vortex or something.  Where does she get such silly ideas?  She must watch too many old TV shows from the early 60’s.  No more late night Twilight Zone episodes for her!

 

We stayed and the California Misadventure park to catch the Pixar Play Parade.  It was pretty entertaining, and Melinda saved us a great spot at the start of the parade route, since she stayed behind with Saffy who doesn’t appreciate creepy old hotels.

 

We headed back to Disneyland and enjoyed the lights come on Main Street USA.

I missed going on Big Thunder Mountain yesterday, so we got in line for it again tonight.  Lisette, Miles, and Ian really love Big Thunder, and it’s especially fun at night when the tunnels are all dark.

Melinda again saved us a great spot to view Fantasmic!  I didn’t get very good pictures, but it was a great show.  It had Mickey, fireworks, movie clips projected on water screens, barges with princesses and screeching monkeys (on separate barges).  Although, thinking about it, it might be more entertaining to put the screeching monkeys on the same barge with the princesses.  Hmm…  Oh yeah, it also had Peter Pan fighting Hook on a pirate ship, a giant fire breathing dragon, witches, fire on the water, and a grand finale with all the Disney characters waving from the Mark Twain.  Oh yeah, more fireworks. Pretty fun stuff.

Disneyland morning – day two

Today (Tuesday February 3rd) we woke up bright and early and crossed the drawbridge, passed through Sleeping Beauty’s Castle to Fantasyland.

Saffy refused to go on Peter Pan’s Flight once she saw King Arthur’s Carousel, so I went with our eager equestrian while everyone else flew over the rooftops of London to Neverland. Saffy and I had the whole carousel to ourselves, so she selected the special stallion the princesses always ride.

We all met up again and took our magic feathers and soared in the sky with Dumbo. Wendy and Ian led the way and Miles and Melinda followed.

Saffron and Ian knocked on the White Rabbit’s cottage, but he was late for something. Ian and I spun madly out of control at the hatter’s party, while the girls took a more relaxing cup of tea.

Wendy and Karen took Lisette, Miles, and Ian through the Storybook Canal and enjoyed the Lilliputian villages. Melinda, Saffy and took a ride on “the little train who could”; Casey Junior’s Circus Train.

After a wild ride with Toad we headed to Toon Town for a crazy spin with Roger Rabbit.

After exploring Mickey Mouse’s house and Donald Duck’s Boat we took the train over to New Orleans Square to catch some hot jazz, and then we made our way to Adventureland to brave the dangers of the Jungle Cruise.

Whew! What a morning! Back to the hotel for some chow and a little R&R.

Disney geek celebrities

It has been about a year and a half since I started this blog. I was inspired to start blogging after seeing Amy’s blog, and since then I have had a lot of fun posting pictures, writing random things, and connecting with family. This has been a great creative resource for me, and it has the side benefit of allowing my to open up more.

I think it’s healthy to share things in your life with other people, though it doesn’t come naturally for me. Now I’m working on writing up our Disneyland vacation, but I’m afraid that now I will be officially “outed” as a Disney geek. They only reason it hasn’t come up before is that our last trip to Disneyland was before I started this blog. Now that my dark, dirty secret is out I hope you can all somehow find a way to still respect me.

I was really enamored with Disneyland as a kid and I always had fond memories of going there with my parents. I even visited twice with my family after I got home from my mission. But after I had kids for a few years, my long repressed obsession with Disneyland reemerged with a vengeance. I’ll skip the most of the sordid details, but I now have a Disneyland section on the bookcase, I know an obscene amount of Disneyland trivia, and I regularly check Disneyland news sites (yes, I know it sounds implausible, but they do exist).

The restaurants at Disneyland are very pricey, and since this was a budget trip for us, we just planned on eating sandwiches and canned soup at the hotel. But for years I have been talking about getting a famous Monte Cristo sandwich, so Melinda graciously got a reservation for us at Cafe Orleans for our last day at Disneyland.

Earlier that day they had a special re-opening of the “It’s a Small World” attraction for the press and for annual passholders (more on that later). I didn’t think they would let us on, but the initial throng of invitees had mostly gone, so they were letting other people on as well. At the end of the ride I recognized Brett Garret, who is a photographer for the Disneyland fan site Visions Fantastic, (how’s that for geeky?) and I talked to him for a minute. Melinda was of course embarrassed for me, but I enjoyed talking to him, and he seemed to be glad to hear from someone who enjoyed his photos. It was cool to meet him, but little did I know I would later meet some major Disney geek celebrities.

We enjoyed our Monte Cristo sandwiches at Cafe Orleans. Then just as we finished paying our check and were leaving the restaurant Tony Baxter and John Lasseter arrived with some other Disney executives for lunch. I thought about asking to have my picture taken with them, but I didn’t want them to feel like a Disney character, and Melinda would have been mortified. So I just went over and quickly introduced myself and told them I was a big fan, and how much I enjoyed their work. They were very gracious and both stood up and shook my hand and we talked for a minute. It was so cool to meet them; they were really nice, down to earth people. It was a major highlight of our vacation for this Disney geek.

Tony Baxter and John Lasseter at last years opening of the “Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage” attraction. Photo by Brett Garrett.

However, tonight as Saffy was going to bed and I told her I had to go to work tomorrow, she said, “But I will miss you, Daddy!” She gave me a big hug and I thought about how the best thing on our vacation was being with my family all day for a whole week.