Every year, the Cal men's basketball team makes the trip to Los Angeles to play both UCLA and USC. Fortunately, this year's trip to LA landed during the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend. My best friend Andy saw this and said "Let's go watch a game and then go to Disneyland." He also found out that AAA and Holiday Inn had a special "second night free" deal, so he booked us into the Holiday Inn: Anaheim at the Park (at the corner of Ball and Harbor). With the Cal-USC game at 5pm, we could drive down on Saturday and back up on Monday.
At the same time we made plans to meet up with other friends from Cal:
Everyone decided to go to both the Cal-USC game, and Disneyland the next day. We managed to obtain three McDonald's discount coupons for admission to the park (while Tim and I are Annual Passholders, Wit, Tara, and Andy are not.)
Then, I was given a bonus reason for visiting. My friend Liz had called for a meet for the members of alt.disney.disneyland's IRC channel (#ADDisneyland on DALnet) on the very same day I was visiting the park with my friends.
I began my journey by driving to Andy's place on Friday evening. This allowed us to leave his place at 7 on Saturday morning. After an uneventful drive, we reached the intersection of the 5 and 110 at 12:30; With the pre-game luncheon 2 hours away, we decided to drive down to Anaheim and check in to our hotel.
We arrived at the Holiday Inn just after 1pm and got all checked in within ten minutes. We were happy that our room was near the elevator, but then discovered to our dismay, that the elevator was out of order. As we climbed the stairs to the fifth floor I said "consider this as post-driving exercise". The room itself was nice and clean and included a coffee maker, TV, remote, and clock radio. Since the hotel has a pool, restaurant, and bar, it lives up to its three diamond rating. There's only one problem with the hotel -- getting from the hotel to the freeway is not easy. To get to the 5 northbound, we had to drive down Ball Road and make a U-turn one block past Harbor.
We arrived at the Sports Arena at about 2:45. We had purchased tickets through the Alumni Association and our tickets were supposed to be in will call; Unfortunately, Will Call was not yet open. In fact, none of the doors to the arena were open. Another Cal fan spotted us and told us that he was told to try the West entrance. We walked over and saw a door held open by a chair and walked in. After some wandering, we found the luncheon.
The luncheon was pretty nice. It included sandwiches, chips, tasty salsa, chili, cookies, and non-alcoholic drinks. Plus there were a few Cal alumni who I knew. It was great to be able to chat with acquaintances whom I hadn't seen for quite a while.
Eventually it was game time. I actually had to exit the Sports Arena to get our game tickets and re-enter just so we could know where we were supposed to sit. When Andy and I reached our seats, Tim and his dad were already there.
Andy had never seen a Cal basketball team win outside the bay area, while I had never seen the Bears win a game in the Sports Arena. The Sports Arena is a sad place to watch basketball game. There were a couple of thousand fans at the game, and a noticeable number were Cal fans. Most of the Trojan fans were unenthusiastic. About the setting, I'd include the following comments:
During the game, our friend Wit found us, and we arranged to meet outside afterwards. Cal, after keeping things close in the first half, pulled away in the second and won the game easily. What most impressed me about the victory was that at least five Cal players scored in double figures. After Tim, Andy and I sang "Palms of Victory" (the traditional song for all Cal victories), we exited the arena to meet up with Wit, Tara, and another friend.
We were in the mood for a celebratory dinner. Tim, because he was with his dad, couldn't join us, but everyone else could. We were first pondering having dinner in Chinatown. Wit was pretty sure about the restaurant's name and joked "It's a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown." I then joked and said "Gee, that's like saying 'it's a Mexican restaurant on Olvera Street.'" Well, that made everyone decide to go Mexican instead.
Wit, Andy, and I drove to Olvera Street and parked about a block away (who wants to pay for parking) and walked to the Gazebo on one end of Olvera Street. Wit is fascinated by California History, so while we were waiting for everyone else, we looked around the plaza and at a few of the old buildings. Olvera Street is where Los Angeles first began over two-hundred years ago, so there's quite a bit of history. Had we gone in the daytime, we would have been able to take tours of the various buildings. Because it was night, we had to settle for peering in through windows.
After wandering, we made it back to the plaza just as everyone else arrived. We walked around Olvera Street and decided to eat at the restaurant which occupies the oldest brick building in Los Angeles. It was an alright choice. We started off with some margaritas and toasted Cal's victory. When we ordered, we were warned that we would have to wait twenty minutes for our food; Fifty minutes (and several rounds of chips and salsa) later, our meal arrived. Despite the long wait, I enjoyed the chicken in mole sauce with bananas. Everyone else enjoyed their dinners too. Still, we opted not to have dessert.
After we left the restaurant, we finalized our arrangements for Sunday. Wit and Tara would drive down Sunday morning and meet Andy and me at our hotel room by 8 am. As insurance, I asked them to give us a call before they left so we could be ready to go when they arrived. Sure enough, at 7 on Sunday morning, the phone rang, and I heard Tara ask "Good morning. What would you like to do today?" "Why I feel like visiting Disneyland.", I replied. "Funny, so do we. We're on our way.", she answered. They arrived just before 8, and we took their car to the Timon parking lot. We then hopped aboard the waiting tram and soon had our tickets (Tara used the McDonald's coupons and showed her drivers license to get the discount tickets).
We still had ten minutes before the gates opened, so we took a look at the preview center for Disney's California Adventures. Opinions were divided; Wit seems to think that this could appeal to locals, while I have a harder time buying that with other competing parks so close by.
As we exited the preview center, the gates were open, and we walked onto Main Street, USA. Several characters were out and about -- Goofy was conducting the band, Pluto was romping around, Dishonest John (from Pinocchio was signing autographs), and Mickey had the usual crowd of kids forming around him. We managed to bid Mickey "good morning" before he got mobbed. Only one character, Gideon (John's sidekick in Pinocchio) was not mobbed. He quietly sat on a bench. We said "hello" and he waved back.
With rope drop a half-hour away, we stopped for breakfast at the Carnation Cafe. We were quickly seated, and soon had our breakfast. I wasn't really hungry, so I had a Really Big Cinnamon Roll and some coffee (mmmmm) while others had something more substantial.
Aside from the good service and the setting, one of my favorite things about having breakfast at Carnation is that you can people watch. As I was enjoying my cinnamon roll, I spotted two friends who I knew would later be at the IRC meet. I went out and said "hello.", chatted for a minute and then went back to the restaurant. By the time we all finished eating, the rope had been dropped.
For our first stop, we went over to Fantasyland. We walked past Snow White's Grotto, which was looking sad because the waterfall was not running, and the water level was low. Still, Snow White was singing and wishing. Next up was Peter Pan. Peter Pan is my favorite traditional dark ride. Aside from it being cool to fly over London, there are a few things to look for. For example, one set of blocks spells out "PAN". I leave it to you to figure out what the others spell out.
We then wanted to take a journey on Mister Toad's Wild Ride, but sadly, it was down, so we went on a Daring Journey with Pinocchio instead. After our daring journey, we spotted the Disneyland Band and The Mad Hatter boarding the King Arthur Carrousel. We helped the Mad Hatter find the right way to mount his wooden steed, and soon they were off on a grand circle tour of the carrousel. The band played several songs as the Mad Hatter had a lot of fun. As we watched this, we noticed that Mister Toad was running, so we got in line for our journey to nowhere in particular. I asked Wit and Tara to look at the statue of Justice and see if they noticed anything odd about it. After we got back from Hell (which for some strange reason, was not hot) Tara told me what she noticed, and she was right (You'll have to look for yourself).
Our next stop was a Scary Adventure with Snow White. Even though it ends abruptly ("Arggggggg!" "And they lived happily ever after") I still enjoy the ride. We then walked over to Dumbo. Since the line was short, we decided to believe and soar. I enjoy Dumbo since you get to fly over Fantasyland. It's also a fun ride from which to take photos and blow bubbles.
Our last set of rides in Fantasyland were Alice in Wonderland, and the Mad Tea Party. I thought it was funny that everyone guessed tea cup was my favorite. Unfortunately, a little kid snagged it before we had a chance to board. So the four of us crammed into a green tea cup and went for a spin. We decided for a fast start with a slow finish. My last few spins with others have worked out just like that, only those times my spinning partners told me to stop spinning.
After our spin on the tea cups, we went over to Mickey's Toon Town to spin again. This time we went on Roger Rabbit's CarToon Spin. After Roger saved us from the dip with a portable hole, it was time for Classic Princess Storytelling.
We arrived at the Toy Shoppe just as Michael was introducing Belle. When the door opened, I first saw the Beast before Belle, and then Belle walked in and bid farewell to the Beast. There are several factors which influence the storytelling: the assistant storyteller (of which Michael is one of the best), the princess (in this case, Belle), and finally, the audience. Well, this time the audience, or specifically two kids in the audience, played a strong part in the story.
As usually happens, Belle told her own story with the help of Michael. Michael played all of the parts in the story other than Belle's. Sitting close to Belle were two kids who were really into the story. Every so often, they would interject and say things like "Wait! You have to escort her to her room." or "Gaston has to lock you in the cellar." The adults got a lot laughs as the two kids helped with the story. Belle and Michael did a fantastic job handling these enthusiastic kids.
After the storytelling, I thanked Michael for doing such a great job and handed him some photos which I had taken during some previous visits. Since I've done this before, he wasn't surprised. I then asked him if he would pass along some photos to my other favorite assistant storytellers -- Kai and Justin. He said "sure" and I thanked him.
We had a half-hour before the noon meet, so we took a look at Tomorrowland, which Wit and Tara had not seen since the makeover. Unfortunately, everything had long lines except for the monorail. Still, we had just enough time for a round trip and hopped aboard. Wit wanted to get a good view of the sub lagoon, and since the monorail went right over it, he was happy. Upon our return, we stopped at Ariel's grotto to look at the Little Mermaid. Ariel and the kids around her all looked happy.
We then arrived at the hub for the noon meet where Tim would join up with us. Tim was a little late, so Wit and Tara went back to Storytelling. When they came back, they said that the noon story with Cinderella was much calmer (though Belle was still there when they arrived).
After the introductions, it was time to eat. While a few folks went to Cafe Orleans, we joined the main group and went to Big Thunder Barbecue. Andy, Wit, and Tara had combinations while I decided to have a turkey leg. We sat and chatted with Lynn Gufstason who was at our end of the table. Wit and Tara enjoyed the barbecue and after we had finished, we decided to ride some more rides.
Our first stop was Pirates of the Caribbean. Wit and Tara had not seen the new "Politically Correct" Pirates, and after the ride deemed that most of the changes were just silly. Of course, since we had visited Pirates, we had to stop at Pieces of Eight and find out what Fortune Red had to say.
FORTUNE RED has this to say:
'Tis a steady course ye've charted, matey, and ye sails with a fair wind and a friendly sea. I sees dubloons, pieces o' eight and plenty o' good plum duff in your future. Ye likes a bit o' fun, ye does, and ye takes yer fling like a jolly Pirate o' the Caribbean. Aye, but 'tis a rovin' eye ye has and a proper charmer o' the opposite sex. Keep a weather eye open, matey, there be squalls ahead. Mark well me words: As ye brew, so shall ye drink.
After reading Red's words, we took off for the Haunted Mansion, where the Grim Grinning Ghosts entertained us. If a ghost was supposed to follow me home, I might have lost him at the Country Bear Vacation Hoedown. We had to visit the Country Bears since all of us -- Tim, Wit, Tara, Andy, and me -- are California Bears.
After we left the Playhouse, we got to see something you don't see very often -- the doors to the Splash Mountain barn closed. As we were leaving Critter Country, I was surprised by my pager going off (at least it was in vibrate mode). Since I told Liz to call me if she needed to reach me before the IRC meet, I decided to check my messages. One thing I learned, it sure is loud at downstairs of the Hungry Bear during the day. I found out that I was right; Liz had called to say that Jason (her boyfriend) was running late and that they wouldn't arrive until 6. I called her, and we made plans to have everyone meet at Rod's at 6, since that's where all of a.d.d would be meeting.
Following the phone call, we decided to check out Adventureland. Adventureland begins with the Swiss Family Treehouse, so we did a little exploring. I enjoy listening to the organ playing the Swisskapolka, and climbing up to be able to see one of the best views of the entire park. We took in the view for about five minutes and then climbed back down to visit the rest of Adventureland.
Some Disneyland managers are considering turning the treehouse into a meet and greet area for Tarzan characters (since Tarzan is the next animated feature). I can't see how they can turn this into a Tarzan meet and greet. The rooms aren't very large, and I'd be concerned that the items inside them would be damaged.
But back to our story. Both Indy and the Jungle Cruise had lines that were too long. Earlier, Wit was looking around for a shrunken head which he could buy. I guess Trader Sam's business has really been shrinking, because he couldn't find one. In fact, one of the shop stewards said "Yeah, I remember when we used to sell those."
With Adventureland offering slim pickins, we decided to try Tomorrowland again. While in Tomorrowland, I had the chance to meet a cast member who had posted to the newsgroup. No, not Juliet. This was someone who no longer posts. When I spotted her I said "Hello, didn't you used to post to a.d.d?" When she said that she did, I introduced myself and she said "Oh yeah, I remember you." We chatted for about a minute. I asked her why she stopped posting, and she said that she was told that posting was frowned upon. I thought that was too bad, but after a few Rocket Rods CMs had lashed out at the newsgroup, it was understandable.
The lines for Star Tours and Space Mountain were still too long, but Honey, I Shrunk the Audience had a short line. Normally, you would not get me on this attraction, as the novelty has worn off for me. However, being with folks who had never been on it before gave me the chance to at least be entertained by their reactions. In addition, the theatre was jam packed, so we were treated to the full experience. This time, most of the effects worked for me, but my friends did not get to feel anything at their feet. Oh well.
At this point, it was time to head to the IRC meet. I told Andy, Tim, Wit, and Tara to enjoy Tomorrowland while I was at the IRC meet. We agreed to meet at Rod's piano at 6. So, while they dashed off to Space Mountain, I walked over to the hub.
When I reached the hub, Kevin (Liver), Jason (Redd Rocket), and Michelle were already there. Soon, Andrew and Jennifer, OC, Luv, and Kevin Yee arrived and I let them know about the news that Liz was going to be late. As we were chatting, my pager vibrated again; Liz left a message saying that Jason (her bf) still hadn't arrived. Michelle handed me her cell phone, and I called Liz so we could figure out where and when we should meet. Jason (her bf) had just arrived, so she was about to leave. We agreed that 7:15 at the hub would work best.
At that point, folks went there separate ways -- some to Innoventions to sleep, others to the Rod's Piano. I went to Rods and soon the conversation went to "Where should we eat?" Someone suggested Millie's (which is outside the park on Harbor) and others agreed. Others had already arranged to go to the PCH Grill at the Disneyland Pacific Hotel. When 6pm arrived, the folks who were bound for Millie's took off (this was astonishing, most of the time the group waits for stragglers). I waited for Tim, Andy, Wit, and Tara. When stragglers arrived, I let them know where folks had gone. Finally, my waiting was over (they said that Star Tours took them three tries before it actually worked). We weren't hungry, so we opted for rides instead.
By this time, the line to Indy was inside the temple. We got in line so we could point out things about the queue. It was a lot of fun playing "tour guide". Pointing out the Maraglyphics, and other hidden treasures in the queue. Since it was Wit and Tara's first ride on Indy, we went for the front. I took the drivers seat, and played at driving as I usually do when I have the seat. When Indy was closing the portal of doom, I asked "How do we get out?" to which he answered "Take the left passage; it's the only way out." Only one strange thing happened during our ride. When we reached the rat room, the music cut out.
Both Wit and Tara were impressed with the ride (in fact, later that evening, they went back again). As we exited, we waved at a Jungle Cruise boat, and decided to take a little cruise. First, I stopped to look at the new telephone at the exit of Indy. I was impressed when I saw that it used the old two piece style and had a dial! When I spun the dial, I was disappointed to hear a touch-tone tone instead of old fashioned dial clicks. Oh well, you can't have everything.
The line for the Jungle Cruise was short, and we ended up being at the front for the next boat. The cast member who was handling the front loading was literally sparkling. She had glitter on her face. We chatted for a while and she then asked if we would like some glitter. Sure! Why not? And soon we were all sparkling. Because of her gift, I decided to giver her something in return. I opened my bag and handed her a small bubble wand and some bubbles. This way she could be bubbly in addition to glittering. She said the she wished we could be on her boat, and we said that we wished we could be on hers. Maybe we'll catch her next time. (Oh yes, we didn't forget to stop at City Hall and compliment her.) Actually, I really did wish that we had her as our skipper. The guy we ended up with was average as skippers go.
Following our cruise, we walked over to the hub, where Liz, Jason, Liver, Michelle, and OC were waiting for us. Naturally the first thing folks said was "Sean! You're sparkling." I said that Light Magic had returned to the Jungle Cruise and we had been showered with pixie dust. We then went through introductions and then Luv and Kevin Yee arrived. Once again, I had to explain the sparkles.
I figured that Tim, Andy, Wit, and Tara could handle the rest of the evening on their own, and they understood my desire to visit with other friends who I rarely see. We agreed to try and meet at Rods for closing, but if not, I could get back to the hotel either by a shuttle or get a ride.
After bidding farewell to Tim, Andy, Wit, and Tara, we decided to get a photo. A nice custodial CM took our cameras, snapped some photos, and then handed us back our cameras. Our next stop was the ride board to see how the lines were. Splash was still down, but pirates had a five minute line. We opted for Pirates, and it was fun. We walked on!
After our journey through the Spanish Main, I decided to visit Fortune Red again, to see if he had anything more to say. Sure enough...
FORTUNE RED has this to say:
Becalmed ye be with money problems, matey. Like an old hulk on a lee shore. Aye, but I feels a change in the wind. I sees merriment and a jolly hornpipe when ye drops anchor at New Orleans Square in the happiest land o' them all. There be countless treasures -- baubles and trinkets to tickle yer fancy. Aye, choose wisely, matey, and mark well me words: Riches serve a wise man, but command a fool.
While I was getting my fortune, other folks decided to play around with the various toys, especially the swords, in the store. This brought about at least one hilarious photo (which I haven't seen yet, since I didn't finish the roll) of Liz and Jason.
We next decided to visit the Haunted Mansion. Liz, who goes by the nickname of QueenBunny on IRC, wanted to get a photo of her petting the bunny in the pet cemetery. It looked like it should be a cute photo. While we took a journey into the boundless realm of the supernatural, Luv and Kevin Yee went to Space Mountain. Our journey through the spirit world was only interrupted at the end, when I got to exit my doom buggy and other addicts couldn't. This was a great opportunity for a photo, which I didn't pass up. Soon, the playful spooks had stopped, and everyone else's journey was able to continue.
Even though Little Leotta urged us to "Hurry Back", a different sound attracted our attention; Splash Mountain was cycling logs! We dashed over to the queue only to find a cast member who told us that they had been cycling for three hours, but still hadn't worked out the problem. Oh well, with no sound on Space Mountain, and the Matterhorn down for its annual refurbishment, it was a bad day for the mountains. We decided to try our luck with the Bug Thunder Mountain Railroad. Wouldn't you know it? It went down as we entered the queue. I guess someone was saying "No Mountains for YOU!"
As we left the Big Thunder Queue, we encountered Andy, Tim, Wit, and Tara again. They decided to wait for Big Thunder to come back up and then ride the Rocket Rods to finish the evening. Liz, on the other hand, wanted to get a photo of herself and Jason in front of the new McDonald's Fry Wagon which has the words "Westward Ho" emblazoned on the side. As I was taking the photo, Liz told me "Be sure to get the entire sign in the photo."
Luv and Kevin said that they would meet us in Fantasyland, so we stopped there next. We pondered riding Casey Jr, but that decision was made for us...Casey Jr was closed. We didn't see Luv or Kevin, so we decided to ride the Monorail and snag a ride in the tailcone. As we went up the speed ramp, we could hear the bad Tomorrowland Terrace cover band playing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" We endured as monorail blue arrived. Unfortunately, blue's tail cone was occupied by some people who were taking a round trip from the hotel (yes, you can purchase a round trip ride on the monorail without entering the park). The nice CM said "I'll make sure you get the next one."
When monorail purple pulled into the station, the CM directed us to the tailcone, and we entered. For some reason we purple sat in the station for a long time. We watched as people at Tomorrowland Terrace tried to mosh and pogo. There were some girls who really seemed to want some of the lead singer, who was wearing what Liz called "Sporty Spice" pants. Then we heard the PA announce "Monorail One, clear for dispatch" and we were off to the hotel.
During our quick jaunt to the hotel, someone asked if there was a camera in the tailcone. "No" I replied, "The only camera was mounted on the outside and was designed so that the driver could run the monorail backwards." We also noted where the emergency exit and emergency equipment (rope, extinguisher, etc) as OC shared some monorail tail cone memories.
OC left us at the hotel to go home, and the rest of us returned to the park. To commemorate our ride, we took several photos (and none would be required to appear on an 18-or-older website, so get your minds out of the gutter).
When we exited the monorail, the Terrace band was still playing. While going down the speedramp it suddenly hit me that they were playing U2's "Desire". I just had to laugh since Liz and Jason are both huge U2 fans. As I laughed, Liz and Jason also recognized the song, and took off for the stage. Liver and Michelle weren't interested in the band, so I bid them farewell and joined Liz and Jason at the terrace stage.
The band was obviously in its final number, since the lead singer did a little improv by including a few lines of "I Want Candy" into the song and then said "Thank you for making our first visit to Disneyland memorable." Little did he know how memorable it would be, for after he said that, he went back into the song and moved to the front of the stage. The girls, who I said seemed to want some of him, grabbed his pants. He stepped back, and his pants unsnapped! For a minute I thought I was watching The Full Monty because he was not wearing underwear. His hands quickly covered his crotch, and he managed to grab his torn pants and turn tail and hide in the back of the stage. All we could see was his ass, but it was still damned funny. Everyone was in hysterics. Soon, the stage started its descent as the band played on. At the same time, an entertainment lead, who looked quite pissed off, dashed past us to an area next to the stage. I wonder if this band will ever return to Disneyland.
After that excitement, we had no idea what we could do to top it. One thing for sure was that we weren't going to ride the Rocket Rods. We watched people walk along the Rocket Rods' track towards the old Circlevision building. Obviously, the Rods were down. At the same time, there was a chance that Andy, Tim, Wit, and Tara might be waiting for me at Rod's piano. So, I bid goodbye to Liz and Jason as they got in the line for the Astro Orbiter. They were treated to hearing Maynard handle the announcements.
I arrived at Rod's in the middle of the tap number, so I pulled out a quarter, and started tapping. Soon Rod played his finale and then Disneyland's voice of God boomed out over the PA to tell us that Disneyland's operating day was over, but that Main Street would be open for an additional hour for our shopping convenience. Upon hearing that, we went over to Snow White's Grotto for the traditional coin toss. Most of the a.d.ders hadn't seen that the water was turned off until we arrived. With the well almost empty of water, people weren't sure if they could tell if their coin hit the grate. I haven't found any correlation to wishes coming true if my coin hits the grate or not, so I didn't care. I made a wish for a couple of friends, and tossed my coin.
We then went over to the Astro Orbiter to see if Liz and Jason were still there. Sure enough, they were next in line to board. This gave them a chance to meet other a.d.ders and gave me a chance to get a photo of them in Liz's favorite rocket -- Cancer. I snapped a couple of photos, and Andrew even got one with his Mavica. After their ride, we got a photo of Andrew, Liz, Jason, and me.
We then bid goodbye to everyone and took off. When I saw that Andy, Tim, Wit, and Tara weren't at Rods, I asked Liz and Jason for a ride back to my hotel. "No problem" they said. We then walked down Main Street towards the exit. Then, all of a sudden, I remembered that I needed to buy a card at the Disneyana shop. Another friend had celebrated her birthday, and I wanted to send her the right card. Liz and Jason enjoyed looking around the store (and Liz asked if they will have a Matterhorn attraction poster) as I found the card. I guess other a.d.ders wanted to visit Disneyana, since they entered the store while we were there. After I bought the card I wanted (an "it's a small world" card), we again said goodbye to everyone and left the store.
Liz was parked in Timon, so we caught the Lion King Tram. I had remembered where Tara had parked in the morning, and I wasn't sure if her car was still there, but there was a car in about the same spot I remembered we had parked. I looked at my watch; It was 10:35; They had to have left by now. We then reached Liz's car and were soon at my hotel. I again said goodbye to Liz and Jason when, as I was about to walk away, Liz saw that there was a fruit juice vending machine in the hotel lobby and asked if I could get something "preferably cranberry, but definitely not banana". She handed me some change, and I returned with a Strawberry-Passion Fruitopia (if they could drive me to my hotel, I could walk and get some fruit juice). This time I bid them both goodbye for one last time.
When I reached my hotel room, I was surprised. Andy was not back yet. I guess that WAS Tara's car I saw. Oh well. He arrived a little later and told me about riding Thunder and getting in line for Rocket Rods, only to have it go down. With the park almost closing, they went for one last ride on Indy.
The next morning it was time to drive home, but we wanted to get one more Disney moment in. After checking out, we drove to the Disneyland Pacific hotel to have breakfast with Minnie Mouse, Merlin, Belle, and Gaston. I had been to this breakfast before, and really enjoyed it each time. Minnie, Merlin, Belle, and Gaston perform musical numbers about every half hour and spend the rest of the time going from table to table. The breakfast itself includes an optional buffet which has omelettes, cereal, fresh fruit, waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, and Japanese breakfast offerings (steamed rice, grilled salmon, miso soup, tofu, cucumber salad, and steamed dumplings). All drinks (juice, milk, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate) are included with the buffet, making it a pretty good deal at less than $15 per person.
As we enjoyed our breakfast, Minnie was the first character to visit our table. She gave me a kiss, and I asked her to sign the birthday card I had brought. Minnie was more than happy to sign my friend's card, as was Belle, who stopped by later. The highlight though was when Gaston reached our table. Gaston said "Gee, your name is Laura? That's a funny name. Hey Belle! Did you know this guy's name is Laura?" He had us laughing a long time. When he signed the card, he wrote "So sorry you couldn't meet me."
After that, he went to the next table, where a couple of NFFC members had Belle sign a valentine (which happened to have Belle on it). Gaston said "How come I don't have a Valentine?" I can't remember what Belle said in answer to that.
Still, they did a great job playing off of each other. "Are you ready for the wedding tomorrow?" "What was that Gaston?" "I said are you ready to go sledding tomorrow?" "Sledding? Why there's no snow!" "Merlin could whip up a snow storm for us." "If there's snow, I think the Beast would want to have a snowball fight, and you know what happened the last time." "Oh yeah, he makes BIG snowballs." As she was talking, Belle showed the perfect look of distaste on her face. The couple next to us wanted some photos of Belle and Gaston, and for some reason, when they were about to snap the photo, Belle would put on a happy face. I wanted one with Belle in character, so I waited for her to put on her distasteful face, and then snapped a photo.
The last character to visit us was Merlin, who treated us to a few slight of hand tricks. With that, I had my last signature, and we were ready to go.
Actually, I still had a couple of things to show Andy. He wanted to take a look at the tea room, and I wanted to show him a hidden Mickey. We hopped on the elevator and went to the top floor of the hotel. Andy had no idea why we were there until we walked to the south fire exit and stood on the balcony. Then he saw the hidden Mickey in the landscaping along West Street. We then took the elevator down to the second floor to visit the tea room. Fortunately for us, the room was open, and Andy saw how elegant a setting it is.
After that, it was time to leave. The drive home was uneventful, and we arrived at Andy's home at about 5pm. I drove on home, and was in Berkeley by 7 (damned traffic).
I was glad I made the trip. It had a lot of fun memories, and no painful ones, which made it very easy to write about. I'd like to thank the following: