[5-10] A Way-Fun Visit and Lots of Pics to Go With It

[HighLeveller]

Here's the first part of a nice, long, photo-laden TR for your enjoyment

This visit was much needed. Things had been rough the past couple months, for several reasons, but now things are now relatively fixed or improved. It's been like being in a mess of dark tunnels and coming out into...a fog. DLR visits weren't a priority then (however it was also blackout period and the busy spring-break time) but afterwards it was a good time to.

The motives of this visit: other than being there, the main one was just to see Celebrate! A Street Party, and some of the recent things at DL and DCA maybe. Weather was downright awesome today. It was an avarage 3/5 on my busy-ness scale; busy but nothing extreme. Another motive: lots of random pictures.


Back in the day I was involved with and part of some very pleasant situations and events that culminated in a visit to Disneyland. I had made a short mix-tape compilation of songs that were associated with all this and associate pretty fundamentally with Disneyland ever since. I'm missing a couple songs, but after getting them I want to put it back together again for listening in the park, like I did back then. (They were recordings from the radio back then.)

After getting off the tram in the Downtown Disney area, something sounded familiar. I listened and got a pleasant surprise: the background-music was playing a song from that compilation. An omen, perhaps? (I don't recall having heard a song in my album collection on the DTD background-music before. To hear an especially relevant one was nice indeed.)





After my usual start to the day (Space Mountain fastpass), I wandered into Buzz--had a blaster that was out of alignment by a country mile--but walked out with a #1 and a new personal best by almost 500,000. Not a bad start to the day; this along with that song I heard outside earlier. (1.7921M/1st)


Orange. Blue was out today too.

Construction walls were up around a small area just outside the boat dock.


I'll let you guess where this is



Off this way...


There were a few groups here when I came by around 11:30. I wouldn't be by again until nighttime, and didn't see how busy it was at peak times.





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999 Happy Haunts



Oooooo--ooooo--ooooooooo--ooooh...


A hasty timelapse

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No-go today, it would seem



In keeping with the latest and finest picture-taking-at-Disneyland traditions:


Then off to...

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Tom Sawyer Island fairly early


Another quick and fairly sloppy pano


The camera I use doesn't like shades of orange very well. Despite the inaccuracy, this works out quite well here: the actual somewhat icky shade of orange shows up as a nice red.


...but what's a neat shade of green is a bit muddy in pictures

The following two are a pretty accurate representation of my net worth:











This lighting used to be a greenish color






[not photo-shopped]

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After being an audience member to singing pirates, I wandered a bit here.



While at the Court of Angels, I heard musicians warming up their instruments coming from somewhere, but couldn't tell at first where from.


Oh, there they are. Curious.

But then, after leaving I looked back and saw Queenie. Oh, good: having not seen the show from the beginning in a long time, I went over to the appropriate location. And of course--that's who those musicians were. And they saw me apparently...


I got picked to do washboard





Unfortunately their signature finale song was pre-empted for a somewhat-disappointing "celebrate"-themed diddy. But at least they played their good song while leaving.

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Some photo-ops from here




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Much, much more coming up. This visit was surprisingly "productive", not to mention a blast. I want to be sure and take enough time completing it so I don't overlook and forget any of the neat stuff I was wanting to add to it.
Upcoming: a not-parade; hotel exploration; furry friends; river works; RDCT techie stuff; culinary delights; droids and more!

[Micoofy Duck]

enjoyable trip report!

[aaronpaulcustoms]

Yay for Trip Reports! It makes me sad my camera broke and therefore cannot conceive any more trip reports. Perhaps an in-vitro trip report?

[penguinsoda]

Great pictures! Glad you got a chance to return to the park after an absence!! Looking forward to seeing the rest of your pictures!

[WheresMickey]

Nice report!

[royaldisneyfan]

Nice TR! Nice HM shots!

[LLCMC]

Great report so far! I was there Sunday as well, and I agree.... I parked in Pumbaa and was expecting it to be very busy.... It was certainly busier than a typical weekday but it was not bad at all. There were plenty of people there but it was not difficult to walk or simply enjoy yourself as it can be at other times. Looking forward to the rest of the report!

[cositaluvsmickey]

Very well done and nice...I love your random shots...I see things that half the time I don't notice while i'm there. all around great

[Legally Brunette]

Way fun indeed. Great pics!

[HighLeveller]

Originally Posted by aaronpaulcustoms

Yay for Trip Reports! It makes me sad my camera broke and therefore cannot conceive any more trip reports. Perhaps an in-vitro trip report?

That's no fun. Maybe you can find one second-hand for the time being, that you wouldn't have to spend too much on. I had a camera quit on me in the middle of a DL trip last summer. Although I got a better one before my next trip, I also found another of the same model as my dead one that was non-working but in a different manner, cannibalized the two, and now I keep that one as a backup.

Thanks a bunch everyone--glad you like it. After I get my thoughts together on Celebrate! A Street Party, part 2 of 3 will go live.

[aaronpaulcustoms]

Cant wait!!!!

[HighLeveller]

You don't have to wait any more

Part 2
Back to the Hub area for some Coke Corner goings-on. I'm starting to miss how all the troupe used to come to the party, like they did around this time last year.


Afterwards, cashed in my Space Mountain fastpass, and got another for later.



And then it was time for:

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Celebrate! A Street Party

I saw it from outside Small World, getting there just before showtime and not in the best place for TR-worthy pictures

















Overall, I enjoyed it. Although it's not going to be a must-see on every visit, it's still worthwhile. As has been said many times already, the CMs do a superb job putting the show on. The floats were so-so; the soundtrack is all right but not really memorable. Some of the costuming elements are especially noteworthy, and it's nice seeing all the characters too.

(As an aside, I gotta wonder about those who try to see this not-parade from those areas where there isn't a show stop, especially kids whose parents don't know any better and end up missing out. I didn't look and see if there were CMs in those areas (such as along "Matterhorn Way") educating the foolish, but I imagine there were.)

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Immediately after, Small World round one of two occurred. Having photo-documented it pretty thoroughly by now, I just enjoyed the sights. Afterward, I waffled a bit: go to Toontown and see Minnie (which I hadn't before and didn't find out until recently you could, having been to Minnie's House only when the meet-and-greet was closed), or get an early start on the next thing I had planned. I chose the latter.


So this awning is getting a proper repair. Good.

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Outside for a while
There was some exploration outside the parks I had been wanting to do for a long time. Yes indeed, the Grand Californian Hotel:

This lobby is GIMORMOUS. In pictures I'd seen--and even most of these pictures--it looks no bigger than three stories in height, at most four. In fact it's six, and this is the narrower side.


Window detail


Better shot. The stone pillars aren't the sides of a gargantuan fireplace like I originally thought. Rather, there's a smaller more cozy room in between, and the actual fireplace is inside there.


EARTHQUAKE! (OK, I tease. But this is California...)

Thanks to all the pictures and trip reports that have mentioned it, I had a main motive for coming here. I didn't know where it was, but ended up going directly there anyway. On the way, I saw more places I'd always heard about. Getting right to the point:


Oh, yes: I've now received the official White Water Snacks indoctrination.
Like the GCH lobby, this is bigger than it looks in the picture. These are probably the best "fulled-up" deal I've found in the parks so far. The chips seem to be made of those extra-thick gordita shells and are "heavy-duty". The guac is restaurant-quality, and there's salsa on the side. If these were done in the oven restaurant-style with real cheese and beans and such, you'd have the PERFECT nachos.


Also, thanks to trip reports, I had another motive: try and meet a "resident" here. I didn't have to wait long:


My first Disney Kitty meet-and-greet: visited for a second, and then wandered off to see others maybe.


The back side of Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. The music loop reached here just enough to be a nice background.






This gives a better sense of scale. You can see all six levels.


5th-to-6th stairway




At the end of this courtyard, I could hear a band of sorts playing a pop arrangement of the Phantom of the Opera theme, followed by "My Heart Will Go On". I investigated and saw they were outside at DTD, and after leaving and going around I looked and had an impression this band's work is based on cover versions. Not likely to interest me.


DVC wing (This was taken from Redwood Creek Challenge Trail)

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DCA
I missed Pixar Play Parade in favor of more time at GCH and wandering around.

Bacause water works are fascinating...

...I took a closer look at all this at Grizzly River Run for the first time


All the current seems to come over to this end


Most of this is probably for show, and at any rate is very cool


This is the end of the "river", under the conveyor




Nosy, nosy...




The waterfall rejoins the main current here




There are obviously intakes in this area. It looks like they might be here.


Time-lapse averages out the water surface and makes things more visible


Another angle.

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My first in-person look at Mickey's Fun Wheel. Although skeptical at first whether it'd look good, it's already grown on me.




Some new infrastructure here, for the terrace below Silly Symphony Swings no doubt











Spent some time at a "comfort spot" of mine (the Animation Academy), browsed some stores and then called it a day at DCA.

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Up next: back to DL. Fireworks and more... (Part 3 will be up tomorrow, to give you something to look forward to. I'm kinda fatigued, and think I'll enjoy a movie and relax.)

[Oswald the Rabbitt]

Wonderful photos

[Dan - Tasmic!]

Excellent, can't wait for more. Hurry up................

Originally Posted by HighLeveller

It looks like you caught Wendy flying a little bit with a little bit of pixie dust!

[GregC]

Looks like my old jazz teacher Rusty was singing a song at one point in that picture set up there, {he's the trumpeter} and the best job in the world...one of these days you guys may see me up there playing tuba. Can you imagine playing a few hours each day in NOS and getting PAID while seeing all the happy people and children walk by? Those guys put on a great show.