Mission: Characters - Halloween 2009 About This Page:

[pixiemom]

you got such amazing photos, i eps. love Pixie Hollow, thanks for sharing!

[Irene]

Amazing photos ---story --- thanks for sharing

[DyanKJ130]

Great updates! Your photos are fabulous! Looks like you had great luck meeting so many characters! Looking forward to more

[Vala]

Yes, I am still around. I got hit with a stomach virus two weeks ago and still feel way worse than I care to. I'm so sleepy most of the time, it really is not funny anymore. This trip report definitely has not been abandoned.

Originally Posted by chezp

Wow, that was an amazing selection of characters at breakfast - I'm really impresed by that.

Yes, this was a way better selection than who we had seen the year before. We only saw Minnie, Tigger, Hook and Chip then - that was it. Pooh and Dale completely ignored us, which was even worse because Andrea was way bigger than me about the Chipmunks back then... Anyway, things improved at least character wise there. And now on to Halloween before I fall asleep at the keyboard.

[Vala]

October 31 – day 4: It’s Halloween!



I wake up and my cough is back – so it’s some more cough drops for breakfast.

Andrea has decided to sleep in, so after another ride on Buzz

I meet up with Allie for Toontown Morning Madness.

Most characters are out already, we meet
Minnie, Chip, Goofy (who somehow likes hugging me) and Pluto.





















Also Dale is making an appearance:



Wonder if this is where they store my pin money?



The little show they do is kind of cute, but really not worth the crazy extra money some people are paying for tickets on Ebay.









After the show Allie lines up to meet Mickey in his house, so I bid good bye to her. On my way out I meet Donald again.



Andrea’s waiting for me at Pixie Hollow. I still haven’t met Rosetta, so we join the line once more. I leave the scooter outside this time and hop around… it’s beginning to make odd noises which really make me lose trust in it.

No luck, it’s Silvermist. At least this time I get a picture where you don’t have to search for the Pixie.





But look… Terence is with Tink again. And Tink remembers me. I’m wearing my “showcase” lanyard with the new Tinker Bell Halloween pins which she immediately points out to Terence. “She always has the best pins.”


This time Andrea tries to take the picture herself, and as one could expect… laughter and cameras don’t mix, so the picture is totally out of focus and I do have to wait for another Photopass shot.



There’s another adult group behind us and no kids in sight, so I decide to risk it and ask Tinker Bell: “Would you mind if I take a picture with Terence alone? My friend’s daughter is a really big fan of him, and she’d love it to have a picture of her auntie with him.” Tink is looking at me wide eyed, but tells me: “Sure!” and steps aside. Terence is beaming with pride. Don’t tell me I was the first person to ask this?





After a ride on Haunted Mansion Holiday we try Frozen Lemonade. It takes us a while to scratch part of it off, and we both don’t like it. Give me a Mickey ice cream bar any day.

I want to check on TSMM again, so we leave for DCA. On the way out there’s Mary Poppins







and Dale’s at Sunshine Plaza.



We take the de-tour via Soaring and have lunch at Taste Pilot’s Grill:

Full Throttle Fries:



Blue Yonder Burger:



TSMM is at a 30 minute wait, still too much for Andrea. So she goes on the carousel again while I go pin hunting.



We meet up at the Sunwheel. Now I hate heights. But Andrea loves ferris wheels. So I told her I’d go with her, but only in a non-moving gondola. Maybe not the best move after lunch, but I was in an adventurous mood.

We’re paired with a lovely couple and their daughter. I notice the husband obviously feels as uncomfortable as me, and when the gondola starts swinging because of a sudden stop we both mutter quite loudly. “Think happy thoughts, you are at Disneyland!” Cue group laughter.

Finally having escaped the Wheel of Death we bump into Goofy.



See, I'm getting hugs before I am even close to him.

I made it on Pirates without falling on the water, so my mission of the day is the Jungle Cruise. We walk back through the stores and collect some more pins on the way to Adventureland. Unfortunately the idea of doing Jungle Cruise is scratched there… no place to park the scooter anywhere. Maybe I should do it to others just like they do to me at Minnie’s and park anywhere as long as I can get rid of the thing. But nope, I still go by “don’t do to others what you don’t want to be done to you.”

Aladdin and Jasmine are at the Oasis for the Meet & Greet, so we go and see them instead. Once again the pins do get a lot of attention.









It seems this Meet & Greet is a steady location now although I still didn’t see it advertisted. Aladdin has got CMs with him most of the time now in matching costumes, and also there’s usually a Photopass photographer around.

When we leave I notice that the scooter battery is approaching red again. Oh come on! I let it charge for 17 hours, this time it can’t be my fault!

We go back to the hotel, talk to the company and after a minor discussion they grudgingly agree to send a replacement. I mean, really… I know I am a tourist and don’t have much experience with those things, but if 17 hours are not enough, how long am I supposed to let it charge?

Waiting for the scooter means skipping the Halloween party… I don’t feel that well anyway, so this may be for the better. Plus god knows if the new scooter will be charged, I don’t want Allie to push me around as well. My missing pins haven’t arrived either, so I guess I’ll just stay in bed instead of going to see Lady Tremaine again to show off my full costume.

Andrea phones Disney Dining and manages to score a Goofy’s Kitchen reservation for later that day. I look at her skeptical. “Come on, it’s not that far… you can hop that far, right?” I guess I can. She doesn’t ask for too much, so if she wants to go to Goofy’s, I’ll hop to Goofys.

The scooter arrives just before we leave and of course is not completely charged, so we plug it in and I hop on my way to Goofy’s.

It’s not really surprising that the restaurant is almost empty. Minnie is in the photo area this time.





The first character we get to meet is Dale,





And then Gepetto shows up. So typical, I haven’t seen him for three years and now twice in two days!



He’s the one to start scribbling on our tablecloth too:



Aladdin comes out when he’s at our table, and I must have made some happy noise. Gepetto tries to give me a stern look, and you can see what he wrote.

An extremely large party (a Family Reunion of some kind) arrives and is seated in the far corner of the restaurant. Then Goofy comes to our table, scribbles some more…





and remains the last character we get to meet for over an hour.
Chip and Baloo come out, but start at the other corner of the restaurant and get held up by the Family Reunion. Aladdin has been stuck there forever, and Minnie gets called over as well. Seriously, how long can you hog that many characters? Is it really necessary to try how many combinations of family members you can get with different characters?

The family next to us leaves, having met only Dale and Goofy. The other family in our area has two kids and one can tell they are getting antsy too. Father and mother are discussing what to do. Andrea is getting nervous as well. “We should leave, they said we only have 1.5 hours.” I am not going anywhere else until either security carries me out or someone gets that *censored* chipmunk to our table!

I must have said that quite loud because dad from the other table turns around and looks at me. I tell him: “If you want to go and complain I’ll come with you. I’ll be looking for someone anyway.” He nods and off we go. We don’t find any CM looking like a manager type or at least a character handler, so we grab the nearest waiter in sight. (I know it wasn’t really nice to turn to the lowest person in the pecking order, but really… besides the chef at the buffet that place was deserted.)

I quietly tell him that we haven’t seen any characters in over an hour, and we are not happy. The poor guy seems startled. Looks at dad and asks him: “Who are you missing?” (Erm… hello? I was the one doing the conversation before! ) Dad looks at me – you’re really a nice soul, you take your kids to Disney while you don’t know the characters – and tentatively says: “The other chipmunk.” I chime in: “It’s Chip, Gepetto, Goofy, Baloo and Aladdin for them. We’re missing Chip, Baloo and Aladdin.” You can tell the waiter is not comfortable. He asks us to get back to our table and vanishes in the area with the Family Reunion. A few minutes later he comes back, Chip in tow. “There you go.”

Chip tries to interact with the kids, but I am not sure if they’re tired or just fed up… they’re not really interested. So he comes over to our table. I’m pretty sure he notices that I am also really fed up at that point… I think you can even tell on our picture.



He stays forever, even plays Tic Tac Toe with Andrea –







and surprisingly wins.





When he finally leaves I ask Andrea what happened – and she goes off “that *censored* ‘munk cheated!!”

I decide I deserve some extra dessert. I’m half through my blueberry cobbler when Aladdin finally arrives. We show him what Gepetto wrote and he does some additions too.



If it wasn’t for Baloo (he’s her second favorite) Andrea probably would have given up meanwhile. After 10 more minutes he finally makes it to our table.



I’ve always been very vocal in my preference for Goofy’s, but today I did not leave happy at all. Maybe the ghosts of Halloween invaded the restaurant?

To be continued in Day 5: Pin Trading Time!

[chezp]

What a magical Halloween!

[Vala]

Sunday, November 1 – day 5: Pin Trading Time!

Today’s a short park day: I’m meeting my pin trading friends at 10.30 AM for Breakfast with Lilo & Stitch.

We hit the Fantasyland rides – “Peter Pan always first!” – then ride Buzz a couple of times and go shopping. It’s Gift with Purchase Sunday, that means if you spend $ 30 on pins you get a Gift Pin for free. I at least want to take advantage of that seeing the new Cast Lanyard pins have been released for sale before.

I’m in line to pay at Little Green Men Store when I think I feel something hitting my crutch. I shrug it off as my imagination, but then it happens again. A very heavy hit which almost makes me lose my grip makes me look down. Imagine my surprise when I find a four or five year old boy on the floor, throwing a temper tantrum … and hitting his head and arm against my crutch! His parents are nowhere to be seen.

I smile sweetly and tell him: “Careful honey, you may get hurt.” I mean, what am I supposed to do? I can’t really tell him to stop, and I can’t make my crutches disappear either. Moving out of the way is kind of difficult as well because the kid’s still moving and I am seriously afraid I’ll step on him.

Me addressing the boy suddenly makes his mother disappear out of nowhere. And she starts yelling at me for being in her son’s way. Um…. Hello? Your precious little diamond is throwing a fit on the floor of a very busy store, right next to the checkout line! What do you expect me to do, ask the CMs to open another register so he can throw his tantrum in peace? Andrea drags me away before I can get into a discussion about parenting.

We check some of the Pin Trading locations (some reactions to my Halloween pins are kind of amusing, really...) and ride Haunted Mansion Holiday again, then make our way to Paradise Pier. I hook up the scooter for re-charging and Andrea helps me bring down my pin bags to PCH Grill.

My friends are already waiting. We’re being shuffled in for the obligatory photo… only to find no character at the photo stop. The CM is started for a moment and pauses, he had been right in the middle of the sentence “and you get your photo taken with…” Then he sees Stitch at a nearby table, grabs the poor little guy and finishes his sentence: “Stitch.”

We try to get sorted and Pluto appears… looks like he was supposed to be in the photo area at that point. We wave for him to come over, and thankfully he does.

The Lilo & Stitch breakfast doesn’t have many characters: besides Pluto Stitch and Lilo are around.



I notice Daisy is at the photo area now… *censored *, I haven’t met her yet. :sad: In a quiet moment I hop over and ask the Photopass lady if it was okay if I got to see her again… I’d really even buy another package. She seems surprised, tells me to go ahead and she’ll use my camera – I almost have to force her to take Photopass shorts too.



This is the shot with my camera:


There's quite some switching in that area - when we leave Minnie is out.

Everyone pay several visits to every table. I really like this breakfast and it’s a shame it will be replaced. Hopefully the atmosphere will remain the same, but with Mickey around undoubtedly it will be more busy.

The CM trying to sell the first package comes up to our table… she gets as far as “Hi” and I hand her my credit card. Everyone starts laughing. What? I want a souvenir!

Lilo takes a liking to my friend Doug and has great fun when she starts braiding his hair. When I ask her to sign my book she ignores the pen I have for her, and runs off with the book. Stop it right there young lady, this is the book with my Terence autograph! She’s gone, and we’re completely at a loss what’s happening. She returns with some crayons, starts drawing and motions for me to look away. Okay… guess I’ll discuss with Vicci how hot John Barrowman is. (He’s from the UK TV show Torchwood, you might not know him.)

We’re becoming so involved in the subject that I do not realize that Stitch is standing behind me, and he so does not like being ignored. Finally Jackie taps on my shoulder, tells me to turn around and I find Stitch, tapping his feet.

Ooops… Then Lilo is ready with her drawing and demands my attention. See this picture for the quarrel who I should listen to first.



The CM gets back with the second photo package and I let her talk this time.

The rest of the afternoon is spend chatting and pin trading until it’s time to pick up Andrea who’s been hiding in the room: We have another PS, this time for Ariel’s Grotto.

When I go to pick her up she points to a heap of packages on my bed. They found my pins. The day after Halloween. Not amused.

We’re a little early, so I ask where to best park the scooter. I vaguely recall seeing a stroller parking area, but we seem to have hit the first seating of the day and I don’t see any strollers. The CMs tell me to take the scooter down in the restaurant, they have an elevator. Sounds kind of odd to me, but hey, if they insist…

We’re being called. I take the elevator and Andrea the stairs. I want my picture with Ariel, so we wait in line. Just to have the family after us called. And the next one. And the third one. When the fourth one is called I hop up to the podium and ask why we got skipped. Turns out that somehow on the way downstairs our “call sheet” disappeared. You really want to ruin the great impression we got last year, do you? I get a half-hearted apology and they assure me they’ll call me next. “Next” means after two more groups… nice – not!

The picture does turn out nice though.




We wait quite some time for our starters, but I don’t mind much, I like the restaurant setting.



The starters arrive



and we dig in, only to have our main courses being served less than 10 minutes later. I’m having 2007 deja vus! That worked so much better last year.

Andrea has the Pasta Malfalde which she likes, but they’re quite spicy for her taste:



I decide on the tri tip, medium. Granted it wasn’t as bad as the 2007 food, but after the rave reviews here I expected more. Way too much pepper in the mashed potatoes and the meat is totally dry.



At least the dessert platter makes up for it.



This is the dessert that they give out for birthdays:



We meet Cinderella,



Belle,



Sleeping Beauty



and Snow White.



After the meal we head over to Disneyland. We have the Fantasmic dessert package booked, too.

Main Street is packed already. I like making new friends, but not that way. Last night of the Halloween fireworks and looks like everyone is jumping on the chance. Adventureland and New Orleans Square are pretty busy too, so we decide we may as well start the line for Check In. It’s 6.30 PM now, and we are first in line. The CMs have everyone line up in the direction of the Churro Cart again which causes a bit of confusion.

At 7 PM there’s about 10 people in line. Guess everyone’s on Main Street staking out a spot for the fireworks. The CMs are trying to be funny and try to get us to buy Churros while we are blocking access to the cart anyway.

At 7.30 PM the line has grown to about 40 people when I start smelling smoke. Are there some idiots smoking at the Haunted Mansion fence again? No, the smell seems to come from the Rivers of America. Another park visitor rushes up to the CM at the check in podium and tells her someone set a trash can on fire. What???

The fire is extinguished and the CMs start check in a little early… looks like the area is getting too crowded. So we score the prime seats in the first row of the center seating area.

When we arrive at the center seating area (which is difficult anyway because of the one way traffic) it turns out there’s stairs down, no way to go down with the ECV? Uhm… maybe someone could have mentioned that to us? I was in line with Andrea, on the scooter. It’s not that I’ve been hiding somewhere. We were specifically directed to go to that area.

The CM tells us to go back to the other entrance area, they’d lead us over. Easier said than done… remember what I said about one way traffic?

After almost 15 minutes we finally make it, I get to park and squeeze through the already seated people in the area at the Haunted Mansion. Thank you very much CM doing Check In!

The dessert package – we took most of it to the hotel and put it in the fridge.



The upper area is self-explanatory I guess. The goodies in the lower half are (from left to right) Key Lemon Lime cake, some chocolate cake like thing that was filled with chocolate mousse, cheesecake (the one with the Mickey head), a macaroon and the big thing is a cookie with raspberry filling.

The show is great… some measly attempts at getting pictures:







I really like the one I got of Murphy though.

We’re lucky, the fireworks don’t get cancelled either.





They project the castle show on the Fantasmic screens too – great idea. You can see part of the projection of Oogie Boogie on one of the photos:



We even see Zero fly from the distance.

The view may not be perfect, but as an added bonus to the dessert seating it is absolutely okay.

Please forgive the picture quality, I only took my point and shoot camera that night to test the fireworks mode.

To be continued in Day 6: This is not a parade, this is a nightmare!

[chezp]

Oh wow, what a day - a lot of it good, but my goodness, I can't believe the kid throwing the tantrum and the trash can being set on fire.

[Vala]

I must admit I wasn't really surprised by the trash can being set on fire. Almost every time we walked through that area someone was smoking there, most of the time near the Haunted Mansion fence. Sadly the smoking area isn't even a two minute walk away.

Our guess was someone accidentally set the trash can on fire by throwing in a still glowing cigarette butt. Going from the CM's reaction it didn't seem like this was the first time this happened.

[Vala]

November 2 – day 6: That’s not a parade, that’s a nightmare!

We begin the day with breakfast at Storytellers which has been Andrea’s favorite meal last year.
The meal is in Storytellers Café in the GC hotel:



Kenai and Rafiki are in the lobby taking pictures.





When Andrea gets her food Terk shows up at my table… is this going to be a pattern for the next days?

One of the CMs is nice enough to take even two pictures, but again both are blurry. I’m beginning to think that the “beginner safe” camera isn’t that safe after all.

The cast besides Terk this morning are Chip



Meeko



Dale



and Kenai and Rafiki who is happy to pose for another shot.



We hang out until Terk comes back, and when I explain about the camera hiccup I get a nice picture this time. :goodvibes



I’m really too lazy to go back to Paradise Pier again, so we head for the Disneyland entrance and are second in line at Rope Drop. We walk to Nemo and do the accessible experience – that Marine Outpost thing is really a great alternative.

I know it’s early on the day, but hey… I got a Top Ten score on Buzz too! Unfortunately the picture transfer didn't work.

We still haven’t ridden any rides in Adventureland, so the new plan is to try for Jungle Cruise and of course one of my favorites, the Tiki Room. Andrea doesn’t look too pleased, I guess she was hoping I’d forget about my favorite birds.

However, the plan quickly changes when we see that there’s only 5 people in line at Pixie Hollow. Whoa… can one ever have enough pictures with Tinker Bell?

Iridessa is out again.



Pity… I was really hoping for either Rosetta or a backup shoot with Fawn. (Yes, I know that technically you can ask a CM. But while some at Pixie Hollow have been really obliging and even gave estimates “you can join the line now and you should make it through just in time for the switch”) others only gave extremely cryptic answers.



Also Terence is joining Miss Tink again.



We head to Critter Country… I’m still secretly hoping to find Piglet one day.

Assorted pictures taken along our way:









We finally make it on the Jungle Cruise – if you are even temporarily handicapped, do yourself a favor and use the exit… I tried to go through the entrance and regretted it.

Pooh and Eeyore are out in Critter Country.





This is the first time ever I have seen the second character in line having a Photopass photographer too. I am getting nice borders for my Eeyore photo there… finally.

We leisurely stroll back to Toontown, taking more Photopass shots along the way.

In Toontown we meet Goofy, who has chosen the car in front of his house as location for a photo shoot. (Don’t ask me where I am looking there… I was thinking a Photopass photographer’s camera, but the photo is not on the disc and they could not find it.)



The Hollywood Backlot area had been pretty empty the last days, but with Halloween season now over we decide to check again if any characters are out.

We get delayed a little in Town Square thanks to

Mickey & Pluto





Donald (last time we saw him)



and Chip and Dale.





In DCA the Snow White backdrop is still sitting at the Animation Academy. Snow White is just leaving when we arrive, but Dopey is still there.



Goofy and



Mulan



also hang out there. First time I ever saw a Princess in that area. Sleeping Beauty also was just leaving when we arrived.

Another round for pin trading and the daily check up on Toy Story Mania…

Andrea still doesn’t like the line. But this time Jesse is hanging out near the ride and I get my picture taken with her.



Lucky Fortune Cookery had always been closed on our prior visits, and I have been dying to eat there. Sorry, again no pictures… the hunger beat the camera.



We go back to Disneyland for the parade – sorry, the “street party”.

Again this is something I was very sceptic about. I love my parades, I only missed two last year during the whole trip. This year almost a whole week without parades is a warning sign.

I swear I tried to like it. I really did try. But the whole thing left me completely untouched… and this is the person writing that randomly started bawling when she saw the Beauty and the Beast float last year. So normally I am very, very easily touched.

But Celebrate… I’m really just kind of glad when the whole thing is over.









My camera flash is breaking down after half of the parade and I have like 10 pictures that are acceptable, but I really, really don’t care at the moment. I just want to get out. Even Andrea is looking a little startled and nods heavily when I start complaining: “I want Parade of Dreams back!”

The only moment where I was a little “that’s cool” was when Dale saw my camera and waved at me.



Andrea tries her approved distraction tactic again and asks me if we could go to Café Orleans again tomorrow… says she wants to have the Monte Cristo again. I call Disney Dining and get a 12.30 PS.

TBC in Day 7: Another Day, another Parade.

[Vala]

November 3 – day 7: Stroller Racing.

Magic Morning Day. We wake up way too early and are third in line when the entrances open.

Dale is hanging out on Town Square,



So are Donald & Pluto. Donald and Pluto?! Now that’s a combination.



And I finally get a really decent high score on Buzz too after they stole my new record from me.



We decide to do another first: PFF when they open.

The CMs keep everyone back a little distance before IASW, then signal for us to walk to PFF at park opening. I swear I have never seen that many people with strollers running (no chance that this could be called “walking with purpose”!) in my life.

Up the hill at PFF is… another rope. Cool, do we get rope drop after all?
Apparently we do. A CM comes over, distributes Photo Pass cards and tells us PFF will be open soon.

The family next to us has two kids and the kids are getting antsy after 10 minutes. Completely understandable… they walked past the Fantasyland rides, and now are being forced to stand at a rope in an area where all they see is the wall hiding the Enchanted Cottage. Finally the mom tells the boy: “We’ll get this out of the way, then we’ll do the fun stuff.” Forgive my ignorance, but isn’t Disneyland about actually doing the fun stuff?

The rope drops, and the stroller race begins again. I mean, seriously… I know the line gets long, but there’s kids all over the place. No doubt I could be fastest if I’d set the scooter on high speed, but is it really necessary that you risk to hit someone just to get to see a Princess 5 minutes earlier?

I end up being 5th in line.
First Princess I meet is Aurora, who cheerily greets me. “It’s so good to see you again!” Hmm?? Am I seriously leaving an impression with Princesses now? (Check the Ariel’s Grotto photos and you’ll see why she remembered me… took me a while to notice as well. )



Second Princess is Snow White



and last Cinderella. Who also again remembers me from the Halloween party and starts asking about my trip.



Pixie Hollow is dead again,



and I am still searching for Rosetta. No luck, Iridessa and Tink again.





Leaving the area I finally cave and buy the new Terence plush they sell.

When we pass the entrance there’s a new CM out and I ask about Rosetta. He checks a schedule, looks at the line and tells me “If you line up now you should get to see her.” Andrea just waves me in and tells me “you go, I’ll wait and guard the scooter.”

This time it does work and I finally get to meet Rosetta and have my last picture signed.



The CMs find my Terence plush highly amusing… I will fully admit that I did not realize that they are using the same body for both Tink and Terence.

Tink plays with the plush doll as well, tells me: “A shame Terence is not here now, he would have liked to see this.” and decides that we’ll just pose with the doll instead.



It’s time to head for our lunch at Café Orleans. Thankfully the area is not that crammed with people this time.

Andrea orders the Monte Cristo again, and I get the three cheese version too after a short fight if to try the Mardi Gras chicken sandwich or not. In the end the Monte Cristo wins… the Mardi Gras sandwich would have to be a special order because it contains some stuff I am allergic too, and I am too hungry to wait for a special order.



I’m almost ashamed to admit it, but somehow I again eat the whole thing! (I was hungry and didn’t have breakfast, but still… I don’t even have the excuse that we did lots of walking.)



We both had been eyeing the St. Charles Mixed-Berry Crepe, so we shared one as a dessert. We didn’t eat much of it though, we both didn’t really care for it. The fruit were very refreshing, but the crepe itself was very dry. I’m living near the French border, and here the crepes are more fluffy, or at least the filling contains something to make up for the dryness.



In Critter Country Pooh is on a break and Tigger is at the first photo stop. Nice, so I finally have some Photopass shoots of him too.



Eeyore is also out.



On the way back it’s beginning to get really warm and we decide to ride Haunted Mansion Holiday to cool off a bit… and find ourselves stuck in the séance room for over 5 minutes.

Finally I realize I do at least have my small camera with me and decide to take some photos (without flash of course). I think I got a quite cool shot of Leota here.



Aladdin is at the Oasis too, but this time on his own… like I said, seems to be a regular Meet & Greet now.



Our plan of the afternoon is to go and see the Pixar Play Parade, so we head over to DCA. Chip and Dale are taking pictures at the firehouse on the way out.



I can’t walk past the ‘munks, can I?

We do some more pin trading in the Paradise Pier area. I get two of the new tea cup pins from a CM and he tells me “oh thank you for taking them. I had those for two days, normally they are gone within minutes.” I explain to him why the pins are so unpopular… they were sold prior. Total news to him.

Then we head for the Hyperion Theatre. Mickey is taking pictures on Sunshine Plaza.



Lots of characters are out on Hollywood Boulevard again.



Like Pocahontas:



Sully’s line is already closed. The CM tells me he’s coming back in half an hour – yeah, sure. It’s almost 4.30 PM now and the parade starts at 5 PM!

We do meet Mr. Incredible though



and watch the parade.















Unfortunately Andrea’s favorite float (Ratatouille) is missing again. Shame, I had read online that it was back at least temporarily.

I take some night photos while we head for Paradise Pier, using the secret entrance at GCH.





We do the Tortilla Factory Tour and get a really questionable tortilla – tastes almost like biting into paper. (Anyone know if they changed the recipe? We did the tour three times and twice god the odd version.)









Andrea isn’t feeling well, and we are meeting Allie to have a try at the Kitchen Sink Sundae at PCH Grill.

When we arrive at the hotel Andrea decides she’s not hungry and feeling too sick
to eat, so I head down to meet Allie alone.

We do try the Cheddar Cheese fries before the ice cream because I still have a sore throat, and Allie is off worse than me. So warm food should help a bit.



And this is the monster… forgive me, Sundae.







We failed miserably and didn’t even finish half of it.

To be continued in Day 8: In the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room!

[chezp]

Wonderful updates with great character meets. Sorry about the parade. I actually really like the look of Paradise Pier at night, much more than I thought I would.

[Vala]

I saw videos and kind of feared I'd hate Celebrate!, but normally I am all for giving second chances. At least now I know I won't bother when I go again this fall.

Paradise Pier is a really nice area, even throughout the day. But it gets really beautiful throughout the night. I think a lot of visitors underestimate it because it's "only" in California Adventure.

[Vala]

Day 8 - November 4: In the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room!

We have a PS for Goofy’s Breakfast. I will admit that after what happened on Halloween I was very close to cancelling it, but Andrea begged me not to. “This is our last time there for a year!” In the end I give in.

Pluto is at the photo stop.



The other characters we meet are Chip,



Alice (Wonderful… now I have a decent photo!),



Dale,



Goofy (who starts yet another drawing),



I can’t remember where we got this second one… either I forgot to note it on our first night, or somewhere along the way a tablecloth got signed twice.





Baloo,



and Jasmine.



This is what they give me for my birthday:



My actual birthday isn’t in November. I’ve been born prematurely, so my family has been celebrating the day my parents finally took me home as my second birthday when I was younger. This year I spent the day they took me home at Disneyland… I figured that entitled me to wearing the button that day.

That’s the window of the Fantasia shop in DLH. I just love this one:



World of Disney is just opening when we head for the parks. I need to do some shopping, and the emptier the better. We pass the rack with books I freeze. That looks like the Evil Queen on the cover there… I pretty much squeal: “Andrea, I think I found the book!” And indeed it is “Fairest of all.” At long last!

The parks are pretty empty that day. When we stroll along Main Street I see Aladdin heading for the Oasis… I never saw him wearing the matching cloak to the costume before.

When we’re heading for Jungle Cruise again Aladdin is just about to open the Oasis on his own. He waves at us, I wave back. We walk past, but I tell Andrea: “He’s looking kind of lost, doesn’t he.” She laughs. “You want another photo, right?” I admit I do, and we turn around. Aladdin grins. “Thanks for coming back.”



While we’re there… I guess it’s Tiki Room time now. Andrea groans.



Andrea really likes Jungle Cruise though, so I brave the entrance from hell again.









Drawn to the Magic is showing today, and that show was quite cute last year. The show times are coming up in the afternoon, so it means we are switching parks again. Pictures from along the way:







At Sunshine Plaza Andrea casually mentions: “Oh, there’s Stitch.”

WHERE??? I need to take photos of him for my friend Lori!

We get in line, I get my picture with him and he also poses for a shot for Lori.





Lots of characters are out again at Hollywood Boulevard.

I meet Mr & Mrs Incredible



Sleeping Beauty



and Max.



Drawn to the Magic is still quite cute, here’s a few shots from the show.







Three characters are performing, and with a little planning (never go for the Princess first) you can easily see all three.

This performance has Mickey in Sorcerer outfit



Woody and



Cinderella taking part.



After the show we hang around for a little longer, I’m hoping Sulley will show up. Instead Chip and Dale come out! They stroll around the area along with Goofy.



Never thought I’d have a picture with Chip with that background. Some others are even lucky enough to get a picture with all three of them. But there’s no real crowd control, so I need to be careful with my scooter as to not hit anyone.





Somehow along the way Dale gets separated from Goofy and Chip and they start looking for each other. Dale heads to Tower of Terror, ignoring me trying to point him in the right direction. He does pose for a photo though.



Meanwhile Goofy and Chip are searching for Dale near Monsters Inc. There’s one of the bands performing near Animation Academy, so we get to see an impromptu dance performance.



I also get another photo with Goofy… and a quite scary moment when he climbs on the back of my scooter, pretends to drive it and actually starts the thing by accident. Thankfully nobody is in the way.



It’s getting quite hot… that means it’s the Animation Academy building to cool off.

Andrea strictly refuses to do Turtle Talk with Crush, so we check out the Beast’s Library – I am still like Lady Tremaine apparently… maybe I shouldn’t have spent that much time with her! – and do some voice overs in Ursula’s Grotto.

We never did attend the actual Animation Academy before. Andrea tells me she doesn’t care as long as we can sit. The next lesson is about to start and we decide to give it a try.

I like this wall decoration… dragons throughout the years.



We’re drawing Donald. I must say I am quite happy with my drawing… not bad for someone who failed Arts Class with an F, isn’t it?



I read online that you can ask the animator if you can get his drawing. I decide to try, quite sure someone will beat me to it because I have to hop down the stairs. But no, I’m first and get to keep the drawing. The artist is even kind enough to sign it for me.



I’ve tasted blood now and we stay for the next lesson, which is Goofy. The artist that is doing the lesson now has assisted in the lesson before. He spots us, grins and welcomes “the repeat students.”



I really don’t want to be greedy, but in the end I get to keep the artists drawing as well. Normally I wouldn’t have asked again, but it would have been a shame to toss it out and nobody else asked.



Andrea is not happy at all with her drawing this time and tells me she wants to try again now… hey, I don’t have a problem with it!

Our third character is Dopey… which is good because he’s Andrea’s second favorite after Grumpy.



She takes my lead and asks for the artists drawing.



It’s such a neat souvenir, I don’t know why nobody asks for them.

The next lesson of the day is Jack Skellington. The only drawing I am not really happy with.



We still haven’t ridden TSMM. Andrea gives in when I beg her to check again.

We do some pin trading along the way, and when we arrive at Paradise Pier the wait time sign finally says 25 minutes, the least we saw so far. I look at Andrea pleadingly and beg: “Please… I want a second opinion. I still like Buzz better, but everyone says how cool this ride is.” Andrea sighs. “Alright, alright.” We get in line and board 20 minutes later. Not that bad.

I don’t even remember our scores… it was nothing to write home about. I score a little better than Andrea, but her accuracy is way better than mine. My way of shooting has always been "fire enough bullets and hope you hit the target." When we leave she tells me: “You’re right, Buzz is better.”

She wants to ride the carousel again. I tell her I’ll check the area for pin lanyards and hop off. I really need to move a bit more, those two Monte Cristo servings are giving me a bad conscience.

Pictures from Christmas decorations at Ariel's Grotto, taken from TSMM area:





I trade with some store CMs and the CM at the entrance of the SunWheel before hopping back. On the way I spot a hip lanyard with the CM at the TSMM entrance that I did not see before. I approach her and am just about to ask: “May I see your pins?” when she beats me to saying something and asks: “How many in your party?” “Erm… two.” Why on earth are you asking me that? She scribbles something on a slip of paper and hands me this:



Has anyone ever seen this or heard of this before?

This was total news to me, and I really almost fell over my own crutches when I realized what she had given me there.

I rush back to the carousel where Andrea is just getting off. The poor soul is utterly confused why I am one step short of a nervous breakdown.

It’s an about 20 minute wait before our time comes up, and Woody’s out at the character stop across the carousel. So I get my picture taken with Woody.



When we go up to the side entrance as directed I really kind of expect the CM to tell me “Go away, this is a fake.” But he takes the ticket, opens the door and lets us board the next available vehicle, which is the second to next one because he wants to spare me the stairs. We board within 3 minutes. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this, but I guess “yay me!”

I finally get a new animal for my score too, the bunny. I can’t remember scores, but before I always got the beaver.

Andrea looks at me and tells me “I’m hungry now.” We’ve been zooming all over the place, and I don’t exactly trust the scooter battery any more. Taste Pilot’s Grill is probably closest to the shortcut, so we head there again.

B-2 BBQ Chicken Sandwich and Aer-O-Space Onion Rings:





TBC in Day 9: What exactly are they doing up there?

[Hugmonster]

Loving your updates. Someday I have to try the orginal!