It’s Always Sunny in California!..Eh?...L’il Bit! - Page 18 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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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.
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We had another early morning today! Well to be honest all mornings were early for me. My body just knew the time at home and it had issues sleeping in. I am sure I got up and probably roamed a bit and then we got our showers for the day.
Look at this view from our room. It really was fantastic!
Cass pointed out Paradise Pier Resort to me. I had no idea it was so close as well.
They need to pretty up this roof though.
We had to pack up and leave today, so I tried to get a few last minute photos.
We then hauled our bags down to Bell Services to have them transferred over to the Grand Californian.
They could not give us a guaranteed time of delivery, so Cass and I had both packed out backpacks with clothes we would need for the conference later that day.
We seemed to be making good time with all we had to do this morning and we planned to get out tickets and be at Disneyland in plenty of time for the Extra Magic Hours.
We then headed out through Downtown Disney to make our way over to the Grand.
That’s the Rainforest Café right there.
And here is the entrance to the Grand. I had no clue it was right there and had passed it a few times already during the trip.
Good thing Cass knows where she is going!
A quick picture as we walked in.
And then we waited our turn.
Come on!!!! We need to get in the park!!!
Soon it was our turn and we got Linda. Now Linda was wonderful and thorough! She was the last original CM at the GC from the time it first opened. That is good, because she knew what she was talking about. The bad was she talked about a LOT! She knew exactly what we needed, why we were checking in, and gave us a ton of info on the resort. She was super nice and enthusiastic, but both Cass and I were looking at our watches ever so slightly to watch the time ticking away. We also were extending our stay by 1 night and asked if we could keep the same room. So she did some juggling around and said yes, but it was a downgrade. That was fine with us. She also said we had booked a bunk bed room…that I do not remember doing…and we had a laugh. I still swear that I did not do it. I should go look at my confirmation again and double check, but I know I would never do that intentionally. Since we were downgraded, she did say we would receive a small refund for that extra night. Linda talked away, asked us to find the hidden Mickey in the GC logo and other interesting facts about the resort….it really was all interesting info and she was so nice….but we wanted to get over to DL! I think she finally realized it and we were set free with her telling us we would get a text when our room was ready. I think we had spent 30-40 minutes with her, so yeah, we were running late now!
We did some speed walking and made our way through bag check and over towards DL.
Lots of people had the same idea today.
One thing to note is, with CA, only onsite resort guests get early entry, with DL, those staying offsite at a good neighbor hotel can get an early entry into DL once throughout their trip. I think everyone decided this was the day to use it! It didn’t take us too long to actually get in though, but we had arrived right at 9, so we had some wasted time getting through the line in. We also had new tickets in hand, so they had to have us take our picture once again.
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Great view from your hotel. Sorry about the bunk beds. Hope you were able to get it changed into a real bed. About my TR, just got the pix downloaded from Memory Maker and have started writing the TR. Will be on another trip the week before Memorial Day and hope to get started posting while there. I do have to figure out how to get the pix into the report. I did it several years ago but will have to do some research. What site do you use for your pix?
Sorry it took you so long to get checked in, but it sounds like you got a very thorough Cast Member.
We sure did. She was excellent, but we really wanted to get to the park too, so we were conflicted!
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
It's great that your CM was so nice and knowledgeable, but I would be looking at my watch, too!
2
She really shared some interesting stuff, so we were glad to know it, but we were worrying as the time went by.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhinohunter
Great view from your hotel. Sorry about the bunk beds. Hope you were able to get it changed into a real bed. About my TR, just got the pix downloaded from Memory Maker and have started writing the TR. Will be on another trip the week before Memorial Day and hope to get started posting while there. I do have to figure out how to get the pix into the report. I did it several years ago but will have to do some research. What site do you use for your pix?
I know. I had to laugh about bunk beds, but she got us taken care of!
I use Flickr and have loved it up to recently where they made some changes. It's a little more of a pain to get the pictures I want to post from there now, but they keep making changes because people are complaining and I hope they get it back to closer like it was before. That being said, many of the changes are getting better. I found if I use it with IE, which I have an old version of, it works like the old site since the old version is not compatible with the newest flickr version. I used to use photobucket, but when it changed last year it became a complete pain for me to use. Things kept going out of order no matter how many times I reset my album order. I stil lkeep a cheap subcription there though because many of my old TR's have photos on there as does my blog. With the amount of pictures I have on photobucket from around 2007-2013, it goes into maximmum bandwidth usage in just a few days each month.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FanOfMickey
Nice that you got a nice and knowledgeable Cm even though she did take a bit long. I would find it hard not to keep looking at my watch too.
She did notice that we looked and let us on our way a little after that. LOL
We had a destination in mind! Fantasyland! We had hoped to tackle some of the popular rides in that area.
I have no memory of taking this next picture and I even said to Cass later in the trip that I would like to find BBB and look at it. She told me that I had already taken a picture of the sign in Fantasyland. LOL. I guess when you are walking fast and clicking you tend to forget things.
We checked out Peter Pan and sadly the line was already insanely long….and we never did ride it this trip. We checked many times and it was always just crazy long.
We headed to Pinocchio then. This is not at WDW and on my to do list!
This is when we really noticed how narrow the queue lines are. At WDW, in most lines you can walk side by side or at least have lots of room around you. At DL, they are very narrow and wider people like myself basically just fit without knocking the chains as we walk. Cass also pointed out how the ride operators are basically right on the ride track here. It was kind of weird to see it. They sat right next to the loading vehicle and did it all.
The ride was very cute, and I know Claire would enjoy it.
We exited the ride and went in search for another classic.
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.
In that last picture off to the right you can see the ride operator and how close she is to the loading vehicle.
I always enjoyed this ride at WDW and I do remember there was a big fuss when it was closed to make room for Pooh.
It was another fun ride and if memory serves me right, it was pretty close to the one WDW had so many years ago.
Off we went again!
We had the Matterhorn calling our name.
It was running today and the single rider line was open, so we got in! It still was not a very fast moving line.
Cass got on first and then a little while later I did. The thing that annoyed me about how slow this loaded was that the CM was going down the line looking for groups of 2 to fill up the cars rather than take 2 single rider people. He would go fairly far back and to me this took more time than just taking 2 single riders.
I believe I was in the very last seat of our car. I was excited….this is the classic Matterhorn. Everyone wants to ride this right? As soon as we took off I groaned. It felt like my rear was being dragged across rocks on a thin board. What the heck, this is awful…surely it will get better…right?
We start the ride and it only got worse. They have a small bag pouch in front of you and my knees basically hit the attachment spot for this dumb pouch the whole time. It doesn’t sound super bad, except for the fact that your rear is still dragging and you are bouncing all around hitting these pouch attachments the whole entire ride!!!! And to top that off, my knees also were getting banged into the seat in front of me head on. Oh and my spine felt like it was being crunched every few minutes as well. I screamed on this ride, but not because of fun…because I just wanted off and free from the pain. I was so disappointed in the ride. I really wanted to love it, but nothing about it was fun. I can barely tell you what I even saw on it because it was just awful. Finally it was over…Thank the LORD!!!! I find Cass waiting for me and she asks me what I thought. Horrible! And she goes on to say it was the worse ride ever and her and the lady in front of her kept saying they just want off of it. Cass and I both had bruises on our knees…and not the kinds that heal in a few days….we had these bruises for over a month!!!! This ride had been refurbished not too long ago and I guess everyone is complaining about it. It’s rougher and it now seats one person per row instead of 2 now. Reports I have read tell me it was smoother back then. Also we did not realize this, but I guess it has 2 tracks…. only 1 was running this morning….and the other side is a bit smoother supposedly.
I was now pretty hungry. I am one who needs to eat something in the morning or I get a little grumpy, so we went in search of something.
I think I tried 3 place before I found something. Most places we just not open yet.
Finally the Jolly Holiday provided me with a few options.
I went with the cinnamon roll. It was much bigger than I needed, but the options were few and I just decided that looked best and dug right in. Cass was just walking around on her own a bit while I was eating my roll.
She met up with me as I finished and we set off once again.
Darn, the Dole whip line is low now, I should’ve went there!
I have never had a desire to ride the Matterhorn, but if, by chance I would ever get a desire to ride it, your description completely took it away. I detest rides like that. Yuck! The rest of Fantasyland looks great. I really like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. My son was convinced he had steered us to safety at the end.
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I can tell you that whenever we rode the Matterhorn (I can't remember which trip, but it was some years ago...), we had exactly the same experience as you, so I don't think the rehab has changed anything. We will never ride it again!
Sorry you got dragged across The Matterhorn, but at least you had an awesome cinnamon roll afterwards! Those things are my favorite (as long as its drowning in frosting!)
It's been about 24 years since I ride the Matterhorn, so I don't remember much about it, but I've certainly never heard a good review. I hope a yummy cinnamon roll helped you to feel a little better.
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Wow, guess when we ever do make it out to DL, my DH will not be riding Materhorn, with his back issues, it sounds like that would just smack him into bed for days if not weeks!
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The Matterhorn used to be my fave, when my brain was young and my butt was supple...I loved the feeling of the icey fiberglass-scented air blasting down and the clackata clackata sound of the rails. The lines were always long on my most recent trip and I didn't care at all. I'm actually not a space mountain fan either now-a-days. I like a smooooth ride.
The Matterhorn sounds like a ride to do one time just to say you have done it. Not sure my ancient bones, etc. would be able to stand all of the jostling and as you put it dragging my butt on the rails. Would love to go to DLP someday but not so sure that I will be able to get that accomplished.
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