Last month, the Bay Area (or if you prefer, Northern California) alt.disney.disneylanders (or ba-adders for short) got together to watch Hercules in Redwood City. At that time we thought of ideas for our next gathering. After an e-mail discussion (in which we determined we would have a picnic), I volunteered to organize it, and after a little more discussion, I chose the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, which I had not been to since a UC Rally Committee beach trip. As a bonus, one of the ba-adders, (dp) Mike Louie, announced that he had prizes for the Disneyland Trivia contest (so I made up some questions) and also discount coupons worth $4 off the price for an all-day rides wrist band.
One thing I remembered about my last trip to the boardwalk was that traffic could be nasty. I wanted to leave Berkeley by 9:30 so that I could guarantee getting to Santa Cruz with time to spare. I didn't leave until 10, so I booked down 880, cut over to 101 on the Dumbarton Bridge, and then took 85 to 17. As soon as I got to 17, there was the usual backup of cars heading towards the Summit. [For those of you unfamiliar with Bay Area geography, 17 takes you from San Jose over the Santa Cruz Mountains to Santa Cruz] When I got over the Summit, I saw what I had hoped I wouldn't see...fog. It wasn't too thick, so I wasn't that concerned, but it was at that point I had realized I had forgot to pack my blue jeans; Oh well, so I was going to be cold, but as the Haunted Mansion's Ghost Host says "There's no turning back now."
Throughout the drive over the Summit I was looking to see if there were any other ba-adders on the road... I didn't expect to find any, but then I spotted a blonde woman wearing sun glasses. I thought "Could that be Karen O'Mara (whom I had met at Disneyland at the beginning of the month)?" I looked again and saw a girl sitting in the passenger seat; "Could that be Karen's daughter Emily?" Then they passed me and I noticed that the car had a Mickey Mouse antenna ball and a "Disneyland 40 years of adventure" license plate frame; It had to be the Hipsters (Karen and Emily's on-line name). I tried to get Karen's attention by waving my Cal hat. She did kind of wave once. Maybe we should have a.d.d car stickers [I had thought this once before, when I thought I saw another a.d.der, Kaz, on 101 near San Luis Obispo during my drive home at the beginning of the month]
It was good that I saw Karen, because she drove to the parking lot closest to the log ride; I almost ended up in the parking lot on the far side of the boardwalk, except that I pulled to the left at the last minute. (Actually, if I didn't have a bunch of Picnic stuff, I would have looked for on-street parking to avoid paying the $6 they charge for parking.)
Since it had been so long since I had been to the Boardwalk, I asked my friend Kim Rufer-Bach [and since some of you have asked, there's nothing more between us than friendship] to suggest a place to meet...she said:
Make everyone meet by the log ride, since that end of the
Boardwalk is less congested -- tell them on the walkway
under the log ride ... heheh 'cause everyone will stay
entertained trying to dodge the leaks.
Since Karen and Emily parked near my car, we walked to the Boardwalk together. As we walked underneath the log ride I commented that it would have been the perfect spot...and I'll know that for the next time I have a group get together there. I ended up saying to meet near the entrance to the loading area for Logger's Revenge. And as things turned out, I should have brought a Mickey Mouse balloon and staked out a spot on the beach instead.
We got to the spot at noon. Julie Sak and her friend Kristi were waiting for us...at least we knew that we weren't the only ones who made it. Slowly over the next hour, others showed up...Kaz, Ammy Hill and Fred, Steve "DumboTFE" Ng, Paul and his son, Linda Levy. While waiting we started talking about a few Disneyland topics, such as hotels, Disney's California Adventure (DCA), and the like. Eventually we decided to stake out a spot on the beach, and start the picnic.
The picnic was designed as one where you brought something for yourself, and something to share. Items to share ranged from sandwiches to salsa and cream cheese flavored baked Tostitos to soft drinks to strawberries and chocolate dip (mmmm).
As we were picnicing, we noticed that the weather wasn't too bad. It was still a little foggy, but it wasn't too cold. Eventually we got tired of waiting for Mike, and so some went to ride a few rides while the rest of us chatted some more. Then Kaz said it was time for her to go (to the park...where else? ;) which prompted me to hand out my Disneyland Quiz. Here are 8 of the 10 questions:
Question 9 involved a visual aid, and number 10 involved translating a phrase written in the Mara font. The translated phrase generated a few groans, but I won't say what it was because I'll be bringing copies of the quiz with me on my next visit to the park.
After we went over the quiz, Kaz took off, and of course, Mike showed up! Mike brought something special--Mint Juleps, made from the concentrate which you can now purchase from the Mint Julep Bar in Disneyland. Mike then administered his Disneyland quiz (his was better because he had prizes.) Some of the prizes were the new Nestle eggs with Disney figures inside them (some of the figures found were a dalmatian with a head that bobbed as you rolled the figure, Aladdin and carpet, and little Simba)...I kept my egg to share later.
The highlight prize was a collection of the McD's Happy Meal Video Box figures, which ended up going to Emily O. Mike also showed off another special prize, which we told him to save for the next meet (and oooh, it's a very nice prize). In reward for the prizes, I gave Mike a special tape which I had copied...hopefully he enjoyed it.
At the same time, I passed around photos from my last 5 visits to the park (Cathy's birthday, the AP party, Tim's birthday, 4th of July weekend, and DL's birthday). I think I've found my faces photo--the photo of me with Mickey turned out well.
After that, it was time for some rides...I would have bought an all-you-can-ride wrist band, but I had plans to visit Kim (who couldn't make it to the meet because she was recovering from poison oak) later in the day (I wanted to show her the photos and I had a postcard for her Mark Twain collection); instead I bought just enough tickets to ride the Giant Dipper, the Cave Train, and the Carousel and then Steve Ng and I wandered around the boardwalk.
The Giant Dipper was a great ride (as always), though the attendant pulled the lap bar down too much. (I like feeling at least some air on those drops.) I can't believe that DCA's roller coaster is going to be made of metal, yet look like wood. What's the point? I enjoy "rickety" feel you get from wooden coasters.
The Cave Train was a pretty silly ride that just fits in with the Boardwalk.
Aside from rides, we took in the ambiance of the boardwalk. It wasn't too crowded, but as Karen had said in her trip report, visiting the Boardwalk makes one appreciate the cleanliness, theming, quality and energy of Disneyland. Still, it's fun to see all of the different stands selling items. I have to wonder if DCA's Santa Cruzland will be just as campy.
Since my last visit to the boardwalk, they added Neptune's Kingdom so I had to stop in to take a look. Neptune's Kingdom is situated inside an old bathhouse which was originally called The Plunge and is quite spacious. Neptune's Kingdom includes an arcade, a restaurant, pool tables, air hockey, historical displays, and an indoor, two-level miniature golf course. Along one of the walls is a mural which includes a volcano spewing out lava and fiber optic hot coals (and yes, Steve and I thought of the Official Disneyland Light Magic game). I like the theming of the area, and if I had more time, I'd have played a few games and looked around further...oh well, something for the next time I visit.
It was almost time to go, but before my last ride, I wanted to gather as many people together; Ammy had suggested earlier that we all meet and ride the Carousel. We managed to find the Hipsters as they were leaving (it was getting too cold) and then Julie and Kristi, who pointed to Ammy and Fred, who were just about to ride something that made people dizzy. I'll have to see how the photos I took of Ammy and Fred turned out. We all then went to the Carousel, and while we all wanted to ride on the outside (so we could grab for the ring and try to toss it in the clown's mouth), the ride attendant wouldn't let us wait. A few of us did get to sit on the outside.
The Carousel gives you a decent length ride; your reward for actually tossing the ring into the clowns mouth is just the satisfaction that you did it (my closest shot hit the upper lip). I should note that all of the rings are now steel (no brass...darn) and unfortunately they left stains on my hands (ewww).
After that, it was time for me to go. So we said goodbye. I wished Ammy a safe move to LA (she's still going to be an honorary ba-add member, just like Al Lutz) and said "See you in the park sometime." I know I'll see everyone else at the next meet.
If I thought traffic to Scruz was bad, getting out was worse. It took me about 20 minutes to get from the parking lot to the other end of Santa Cruz. I was listening to the Fantasmic soundtrack (yes, I did shout out lines in response :) and by the time I got to Kim's place the last strains of the MSEP music had just finished playing.
After showing Kim the photos from my DL birthday trip and sharing the chocolate egg (which contained a figure of Zeus complete with a lighting bolt) it was time to drive on home.
I often close my letters with "Have a Disney Day!", but it's not often that *I* have one outside of the park...this was one of those rare days.
The next ba-add meet will be a gathering at the Renaisance Faire, you're all invited (hey, you folks in So Cal, how about coming up for a visit!). Details will be posted soon.