Big Birthday Trip to Disneyland, Universal and Disney Studios!

[Aladdin]

From July 17th thru the 21st, I had the chance to completely Geek Out in the original Disney Kingdom, and had a side trip to Universal Studios, too!

Everyone knows that July 17th brings the Disney Dorks to DL (and yes, I certainly fit in that category) for DL's Birthday, (and it's a good excuse for me to celebrate my birthday as well!)

I arrived on July 17th, about 1:30pm (unfortunately just missing the noon meet) however I did get a chance to meet up with some of my old friends in the Tiki Room:



We formed our own 3 headed sideways Tiki statue.






Afterwards I checked in at my hotel, refreshed and headed back to DL.

I was able to catch the tail end of the re-dedication ceremony,
which was short and fairly simple, With Mickey, a few of his friends, the "DL Main Street Mayor", and the DL Band. Very similar to the ceremony done the past couple of years, and the one done every day during the 50th. Hopefully for the 55th (in 2010) they will have more hoopla.



After the ceremony, I was able to visit for a while with several Micechatters including Nbodyhome,Disneymouse, aashee, darkbeer,
Light Mouse . . . .

Then I headed to Haunted Mansion, it was verrrrrrrry scarrrrrrrrry



Then to Pirates and over to DCA for a couple of trips to Midway Mania, where I attempted to break the beaver rank ~ unfortuntely, I was not able to go over 150k, YET. Back at DL we checked out the MOO room for the subs. Afterwards, we noticed the Red monorail was operating, and most of us had not been on the new monorail. Interior lighting is beautiful, but a little bizzare that there are lights behind where you sit !







Coming up . . . Day 2

[KeepnLuciferHuntn]

Great TR ! Looks like you guys have a lot of fun. Keep the pictures coming.....

[Craigroy8287]

Great report so far. Can not wait to see the rest

[WheresMickey]

Nice report so far! Can't wait to see more!

[Rocker]

Great pics, Todd! As for TSMM, 150K I think IS the maximum anybody from MC got.

[Aladdin]

July 18th, I headed to DL early, hoping to score some of those "2.3 Million Dreams". Sadly it was not to be. But that's ok, because better things were in store.



While roaming around DL I make sure to grab Fast Passes for later use.





No line for Mr Toad - So I took a detour to H-E double hockey sticks. Then over to Buzz Lightyear to shoot at a few aliens.



I ended up wandering over to Critter Country, and only had about 15 minutes until I was meeting with some friends, SO I decided to endure the undurable to visit my Deer Friend Max, and his co-horts Buff and Melvin. I boarded the front row of my hive, to ensure a good look at my friends, and before the hive moved an inch forward . . . (insert maniacal laugh here) the ride broke down!



Gotta Love that, Pooh must know how much I HATE that he took over the Country Bear's Theater, that Pooh decided to shut it down rather than let me proceed to give my condolences again to Max, Melvin and Buff. Nothing like being walked off a ride before the vehicle even goes anywhere! hahahaha!

So I head over to DCA, to meet some friends at Midway Mania, at park opening. On the way to paradise puddle, I grab a Fast Pass for Soarin and GRR. by the time I get to the Pier ,the line for Midway Mania has stretched pass Catch a Flave. But walking closer to the Entrance of Midway Mania, the ride was not operating, and they were not letting the queue proceed past Mr Potatohead.



Had to stop and watch the potato drop his ear. Yep, he dropped his ear. Then I caught up with my friends and after about a half hour Midway Mania was finally running.

After that it was time for a little Soarin


(don't worry, no flash was used for this picture, but someone else in the room was)

It was time to get the "L" out of DCA,


(and won't it be nice when DCA finally gets the "L" out of there, too! ~ Along with all the rest of those letters!)

We met up at Darkbeer's meet over at HoJo's across the street, where they were showing off their new Pirate Water Play area, which replaced one of the two large pools they had. It really is a rather large play area, some small slides, and one of those large buckets of water that dumps water occasionally. After the meet, I had the opportunity to do a little shopping at Company D, thanks to a friend. Then it was back to DCA, where we ran into Purple Dove. Several in my group were going on Screamin, Purple Dove was going on Midway Mania, and I decided to go with her. We went through the wheel chair entrance, and it was really interesting to see how one of the Midway vehicles was specially constructed, to allow for a wheelchair to be rolled directly on the vehicle! Part of the unit is pulled out completely to allow the wheelchair to be rolled in.

The "gun" on this vehicle is also different, as it has the normal string, BUT also has BUTTON which can be used instead of the string! There was no one waiting in the handicapped line when we got back, so they allowed us to ride through a 2nd time! (Now, this certainly wouldn't be a normal situation, as I can see that the handicapped line could get backed up rather easily with a LONG line.)

As we were walking toward the Grand Californian, to meet the rest of the group at Whitewater Snacks, the Pixar Play Parade was just starting, so we stopped to watch the show, and it appears that they upped the water factor again. (And when it's already hot and humid, water doesn't make you feel cooler, it only makes you feel like your sweating more!



I love this kid's superpowers!



Are guys making fun of how short chef Skinner is? They really need Skinner running around them like a mad frenchman









Squirt swimmin' in a different big ol' blue!









TWO ants carrying all the weight on this side of the float ~



COME TO THINK ABOUT IT, there isn't a heck of a lot of playing in this parade. There was a lot more in Block Party Bash, maybe they should rename this parade, and change that last sign. Either that or give ALL of us water guns so WE CAN PLAY with them!


The construction walls around this water wheel are finally down. To bad the wheel wasn't working


Coming up next Day 3 at Universal Studios!

[drumbum67]

I love your first pic of the castle with the bridge and all the greenery!

[aashee]

Great so far! Keep it up!

[Aladdin]

Day 3 ~ July 19th

It's been several years since my last trip to Universal Studios. The last time I was there, ET was in it's last year of operation. Not until the Simposon's opened to rave reviews, did I have a desire to go back. After several California trips this year, I FINALLY made it back to Universal.



There was quite a bit of a back up for parking. They directed me to the ET Parking lot, which was an uncovered parking lot. No one was directing traffic in the lot, and cars were parked all over the place. It has to be a major headache for Universal dealing with parking, even though they have a fairly large parking ramp, they also have a few other separate lots.




This sign did have the parking fee, must have changed just as I was taking the photo ~ $12, or was it $13 for parking.



The "Real" King Kong may be gone, but signs were all over the place



I crossed this bridge from the ET lot, over to City Walk



City Walk is SO MUCH MORE interesting than Downtown Disney





and King Kong is still in City Walk







It's always fun "playing games" with coupons to find the best deal.
I brought an $8 off Coupon and a $10 off coupon for California Resident.
The regular one day pass was $64, I ended up buying an annual pass with no block out dates for $74. Then I decided to try one of the all you can eat passes, regual price is about $25, I got it for about $21 since I have the annual pass. I did have a coupon for that too, but the AP discount was better deal for the all you can eat.

I had arrived shortly after noon, and Universal was open until 9pm, so I figured I could eat twice, maybe a 3rd time.



Ok, with that out of the way, I was almost there!



I was really surprised by all the characters they had on their main stretch

Crash Bandicoot?


Fivel ~ good grief, I thought this mouse died years ago.
I doubt any kids know who it is.


Woody Woodpecker and Winnie(?) Even older character who haven't been on tv in eons.


Ok, Finally, someone with some notability ~ The Spongeworthy One!
He was dancing to some Ricky Martin Song! HAHAHHAAHA!


Shrek was near his 3/4-d Movie


The first attraction I did was the Tram Tour, and I went on it Twice, so I'm placing those photos a little further down in the report. After the 1st Tram Tour, I stopped at Doc Brown's Chicken for my 1st meal, I got the Chicken Strips, Cole Slaw, Side Salad, and a Large hunk of Watermelon!





The Simpsons had a crowd of people lined up for photos, near their new attraction. The new Simpsons ride was one of 3 main things I planned for the day, and that was next!







I don't have pictures from the main part of the Old Back to the Future ride, but the queue was entertaining







I'm sure these gals used to be based in Sun City Arizona








There is a LARGE "Krustyland Map" with a list of all the rides. Too bad Universal doesn't have a poster like this available for sale. Here are a few close ups of it









This room had 4 different video screens, each character was on a video screen, doing various things.




I was sad to see Back to the Future go, as I loved all three movies, but the Simpsons is really an improvement, the vehicles have a different feel, even though it is still a motion simulator. For me, BTTF film was too grainy, and I didn't like how it jumped from Dinosaurs to the Futures. Simpsons is still chaotic, but it somehow all fits together much better. The only thing that is somewhat disappointing is the room immediately before you go into the vehicle. They used to have such detailed items in the display cases. Now it looks like they just painted over them. Overall, the attraction is a plus for Universal

up next, the Tram Tour and the rest of the day at Universal

[DisneyPro]

Bravo! Keep the Photos Comin'!

[DisneyIPresume]

Great report!

[ghosty4]

Originally Posted by Aladdin

Fivel ~ good grief, I thought this mouse died years ago.
I doubt any kids know who it is.

That was pretty much what I said when I saw Fivel at Universal in October!

[royaldisneyfan]

Great photos so far! Can't wait for some Tram Tour pics!

[WheresMickey]

Great report so far!

[astrologic]

great TR! I love the picture of Fivel, haha!