Two4Disney’s Bountiful Birthday, Baseball, and Beach Bash--Completed 10/4 - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
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Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
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Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
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Sounds like a great plan... A little bit of everything and some yummy snacking along the way....Don't think there is a better way to celebrate a brithday.
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WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
I'll be there in October so let me know if they are putting thing up for Halloween already and let me know about the hotel.
Will do. I think some attractions like Haunted Mansion will be closed when we're there because they're working on the decorations for Halloween and beyond. So glad we're going back in December so we can catch up with those.
We left our home in Las Vegas about 9:30 a.m. and, after an uneventful drive, arrived at the Disneyland Hotel at 1:30 p.m.
There was a short line at check-in, and soon we were at the counter talking to a friendly CM. I asked if our room was ready and she said that she would find us one that was. Thank goodness they don’t pre-assign rooms here like they do at WDW. Then she said that because we were celebrating my birthday on this trip, she was going to upgrade us. We had booked a standard view room and we were upgraded to a pool view room on the 9th floor of the Dreams tower, the one closest to the parks.
Then she handed me a birthday pin with my name on it and sang the Disney birthday song to me. Everything was starting out so well.
We were in our room about 2:00 p.m. The room had a long entry hallway with a connecting door to the next room, then the bathroom to the right, and then a somewhat small, square, but cozy bedroom area with a king bed, nightstands, armoire, and a desk & chair. There was no sitting area and, although there was a refrigerator, there was no coffee maker. The room was very nice with a great view of the pool. The king bed was comfy although it was very high and took some climbing to get into.
Our first order of business was to get to the pool that was tempting us from our window. It was a beautiful day, sunny and 79 degrees. We grabbed a couple of lounge chairs in the shade and headed for the hot tub. Ahhh … very relaxing. There we chatted with some folks from the San Joaquin Valley who were in town for a wedding. After relaxing on our lounge chairs, it was time for a dip in the pool. The water was a tad bit cool, but we adjusted to it quickly and enjoyed our time there.
At 3:30, we headed back to room to get ready for our foray into Disneyland Park. By 4:30 we were on our way, walking through Downtown Disney, and then through the main gates into Disneyland. We were a little hungry, so we headed to the Tiki Room to get a couple of Dole Whip Floats. Yum! And refreshing too.
Next we headed to Pirates of the Caribbean and it was a walk-on. Because I was wearing my birthday pin, we got the front row of a boat and the only other people in the boat was a couple in the back row. It was great to see Pirates again!
We headed out in the general direction of Fantasyland when we passed Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We decided to get aboard. We hadn’t ridden this since 2000 before the fatal crash here several years ago. We were through the line in about 10 minutes and soon were barreling through the canyons in our train. It was excellent!
Next we strolled to Fantasyland where we wanted to ride Peter Pan, but the line was at least 30 minutes (maybe more) and we didn’t want to wait. So we decided to ride some less popular rides. First up was Pinocchio, then Mr. Toad,
Now we were really hungry. We made our way to New Orleans Square and checked out the menu at Cafe Orleans. But we had PS for Blue Bayou the next day for lunch, so we decided against having the same kind of food two days in a row. So it was off to Rancho del Zocalo.
That is awesome it nice to be at home at Disney, huh? To me it feel like home way from home since I've been there so many time over the course of my life.
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Sounds like things are off to a good start. Question: I know there are differences between Pirates in the two parks (I have actually ridden both), but what about Big Thunder?
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They look the same to me. Except that at WDW splash mountain and thunder Mount. Share the same land scape and the train kinda goes through them. At DL they are really separate.
Sounds like things are off to a good start. Question: I know there are differences between Pirates in the two parks (I have actually ridden both), but what about Big Thunder?
Looking forward to more!
Thanks everyone!
According to disneylandian.com, there are 4 major differences between BTMR at WDW and at DL:
Direction the trains run. At the MK the trains run in a counter-clockwise direction, while at DL they run clockwise.
Time the attraction takes. At the MK it is a 3* minute trip, while at DL it is a 2* minute trip.
Lack of a flash flood scene at DL.
Position of the stations. At the MK the station is located below the actual line. So guests walk down into the station. At DL the station is positioned above the line, and guests walk up to it.
We would add that DL also has the whimsical wild west frontier town left over from the "Mine Train through Nature's Wonderland" attraction at the end of the ride right before you re-enter the station. At night with the sounds of music and dancing and hand clapping coming from the saloon, the ride experience is enhanced.
Plus the theming of BTMR at WDW is modeled after Arizona's Monument Valley and at DL it is modeled after Bryce Canyon in southern Utah.
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A little bit of everything and some yummy snacking along the way....Don't think there is a better way to celebrate a brithday.
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