It’s Always Sunny in California!..Eh?...L’il Bit! About This Page:

[rhinohunter]

Beautiful hotel and views.

[chezp]

Those theme park view rooms have an amazing view!

[FanOfMickey]

Love the rooms in Paradise pier!! Love the surfboard lamp. The pool does look like a resort pool though, your right about that.

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by rhinohunter

Beautiful hotel and views.

They sure are!

Originally Posted by chezp

Those theme park view rooms have an amazing view!

Yes they do!

Originally Posted by FanOfMickey

Love the rooms in Paradise pier!! Love the surfboard lamp. The pool does look like a resort pool though, your right about that.

It really is a cute place. I wish the pool was better.

[jenseib]

After we explored the pool area we headed back to the lobby to wait for the rest of the group.





Well doesn’t he look familiar? Hello Pop Century Goofy.



See???? Same guy!







Well I had to get my picture with him, so Cass took it. Umm, wow! I look like a freaking bag lady. Note to self…..lose 50 pounds!!!



I took a picture of the mat, but it was upside down from the way I was walking, so I have flipped it over so we can all read it!














And again, outside the resort you can see the backside of the parks….that still just seems so strange to me.



Time to walk back to the Grand now.













We would be touring a few things here as well.



We were taken up to a suite. No need to check out the regular rooms since we were all staying in one already.











A look at the bedroom through the window of the verandah.





Nice view from the balcony!!!!

























As nice as it was touring all these places, we were all getting tired and ready to be done for the day. We headed back down and were supposed to end the tour now, but someone asked if we could look in the kids club. Craig said if someone was in there to let us in, we could, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to get in. I have to admit, I was hoping we couldn’t get in. I just wanted to change into comfy clothes and head to the parks at this point.

[FanOfMickey]

Really like the suite

[pamcarey]

I think that I would be happy to stay at Paradise Pier someday, even though the pool area isn't that great. The rooms have really cute theming, and the theme park views are great!

Did you all get the little bags that some of the ladies are wearing?

[chezp]

We really will have to go back to Paradise Pier on our next trip. I don't remember the last time we were there, maybe 2008? Ever since the Japanese restaurant closed there, there hasn't been the draw to return, although the breakfast at the PCH Grill was pretty good when we ate there a few years ago.

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by FanOfMickey

Really like the suite

It sure is nice

Originally Posted by pamcarey

I think that I would be happy to stay at Paradise Pier someday, even though the pool area isn't that great. The rooms have really cute theming, and the theme park views are great!

Did you all get the little bags that some of the ladies are wearing?

Claire would be happy with any pools, so that wouldn't deter her. LOL!

Yes, we all got those backpacks.

Originally Posted by chezp

We really will have to go back to Paradise Pier on our next trip. I don't remember the last time we were there, maybe 2008? Ever since the Japanese restaurant closed there, there hasn't been the draw to return, although the breakfast at the PCH Grill was pretty good when we ate there a few years ago.

One thing I would like to do is try more of the character meals when we go back.

[jenseib]

We made our way down towards the kids club and no one answered the door and I gave a silent cheer, but then someone opened it up for us. Now I was interested in seeing it, but I was just done for the day. I did however, take a few pictures while in there, but being so tired, most of them came out blurry.





I was really surprised how small it was in here. I expected it to be much bigger.















Finally we were done and allowed to go. We raced back to the room and changed and got ready for some park time.
At some point during the day I had talked to Skip and I had also talked to Claire. It was so funny…because both conversations talked about the bath! Skip says in a disgusted voice “I had to give Claire a bath last night”. I said, good, she needed it and I am sure it wasn’t too hard. But of course he acted like it was the biggest task he had to tackle all day long.
When I talked to Claire she said in an even more disgusted voice “Dad HAD to give me a bath last night”. Again I said, well good at least you are clean and I am sure it was fine. She went on to tell me he had no clue what he was doing. LOL. Of course later when I got home the tune changed and I heard how dad did everything right, from washing her hair much more gently than I do to making her fabulous breakfasts every day. Oh well, no skin off my back. LOL

Disneyland….here we come!!!!



First on our list was to use the Fastpasses before they expired.







I also decided to go with just the point and shoot camera tonight so I would feel less weighted down.



Our first stop was Indiana Jones. The FP for this is really only good if there is a line outside. The FP entrance just has you merge into the inside line and you still have a wait in there. And tonight there wasn’t much of a wait outside if I remember right, so we really gained next to nothing using them. The ride was great once again though.

After that fun ride, we made our way over to use our next FP. I think on the way we picked up a FP for Roger Rabbit.





We wondered what this area was. It was themed to Small World in structure, but kind of looked like it was an abandoned area now. We did see meet and greets there later in the trip, but my guess is it was used for something else in the past.



We were now heading for Space Mountain!






We got in line and it didn’t take too long to get us through.



WoW!!!!! This ride is soooooo much better than the WDW version. This is smooth too. I could ride it over and over. Well except the one part where it makes me a bit motion sick with the strobe type lights. But this was just such an awesome ride. It makes me never even want to go on WDW version again because this is so much better.

We then headed back over to Toontown to use our Roger Rabbit FP’s. I attempted pictures once again, and once again failed.





I believe we headed over towards the Fantasyland area then to see if we could once again ride a few of the rides in the area. The Storybook Canal boats were closed for the night. I do believe we may have gotten on Alice in Wonderland. It appears I took no pictures of the ride the whole trip, but I do know we rode it once and I think it was at night.

I do know I did not ride these however…no desire to either. LOL



I did take a peek inside the BBB there while we were in the area.







At some point I believe we rode Buzz.



And we may have rode Star Tours this night as well, but if we did, again no pictures.

During the day while we were touring Cass asked if I wanted to go to Steakhouse 55 tonight for dinner. Sure! I’m game on that and I asked if we should make a reservation. She said no, it doesn’t fill up too fast and we should be fine.
Well it was now getting close to park closing time and we were getting hungry, so we decided to make our way over to Steakhouse 55 and see about eating. We decided to take the monorail over. We had quite a lengthy wait to get on. And the queue was right next to the Nemo submarines, which were closed for refurbishment, but we could peak through some of the canvas that was blocking our view and I took a few pictures.







Finally we got on the monorail and it was full. We did cram in and took off. It was dark, so my views were not the best, but it was interesting to see the offsite hotels as we went by and Cass pointed out a few. I also talked a bit with the lady sitting next to me, who was a local.

We arrived at DTD and I attempted a picture as we got off, but this is what I got.



We walked over to Steakhouse 55 and asked if they had anything available. They said it would be like an hour before they could seat us. Honestly, it didn’t look that busy, but what do we know. We debated on waiting, but we were hungry and getting tired. We decided to just head back to White Water Snacks at the GC and find something there instead.

As we headed out, we saw Goofy out at Goofy’s Kitchen and I snapped a quick picture.



They asked if we wanted a picture….heck yeah, so I jumped in and got one.



I had now fulfilled my duty. My friend Janet had told me I couldn’t come home without at least one character picture. I told her it might be hard because I wasn’t with Claire and we were not going to make a point to stop at characters for the most part. I believe I texted her this picture to prove I finally did get one.

I guess we were not thinking, because Goofy’s was practically empty, but they were still open. We could’ve gone there and ate. I heard the next day that several people had walked up and got seated immediately. I guess with our Steakhouse 55 disappointment, we just were depressed and gave up.

We walked over to the GC then.
I have this picture and I assume it’s from our walk back, but not sure. I am thinking it’s from DTD somewhere, but I could be totally wrong.



We went into White Water Snacks and tried to decide what to eat. I decided on the chicken nachos because Craig, our tour guide from the day had mentioned they had the best nachos ever. Cass decided she would get those too. We made our orders and sat down to wait. We had thought we would eat right there, but we noticed the other orders being brought out were in to-go bags. We also then noticed them locking the doors. I think it was only around 9 PM at this point. Wow, things close early at DLR.
I also had bought a rice crispy for a snack later, but I think I ended up bringing it home for Claire.



We chatted as we waited, but now both of us were pretty darn hungry.





Finally our food arrived and we were let out and we cut through the pool area to get to our room.
I was starving and forgot to take a picture. I just dug right in once we got to the room, so I never took a picture of them.
Cass was a little more restrained and did get one, so I am stealing her picture to post.



These things were soooooo awesome!!!! I still crave them here at home, and I know Cass does too.
Did you notice they have guacamole on them? Remember how Cass said she never had avocado before earlier in the trip at Storytellers Café? Well I thought she just meant plain, but surely she has had guac before, right? Nope, this was a first for her too and she loved it. I was just amazed she had never tried it before now.
We devoured our food, but the portion is huge and there is just no way we could eat it all. This would be a great thing to share with family members.
I don’t think we hit the hot tubs tonight. I think we just chilled in the room, caught up on emails, and we turned the TV on, which was pointless as we kept talking over it anyways.
Eventually we went to sleep and once again I knew I would be up in a L’il bit because my body was still on East Coast time…eh?

[chezp]

Wow, you certainly packed a lot in after you finished touring - and there was me, thinking you were bushed at the end of the touring?

I hope you did get to eat at Steakhouse 55, as we absolutely loved our meal there. If not, you'll have to be sure to try and get in there when you go back.

[pamcarey]

I can totally understand you wanting to skip touring the kids' club and just get to the parks. When you have limited time, you want to make the most of it!

[Katie]

I can't tell you how many golden opportunities I have passed up.
Once at AK, EE had shut down while we were in line, we found a bench to sit at while I contemplated what to do next. Two cast members walked by and asked if we were going to be here later, I responded no we were going to try to ride EE, but probably was a little short/snappy because they said ok and went to the next bench of people and asked them if they wanted to be in the parade (if they were going to be in the park later) . At least your nachos made up for it !

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by chezp

Wow, you certainly packed a lot in after you finished touring - and there was me, thinking you were bushed at the end of the touring?

I hope you did get to eat at Steakhouse 55, as we absolutely loved our meal there. If not, you'll have to be sure to try and get in there when you go back.

Of course going to the parks gives you new energy!
We do make it there eventually and it was fabulous!

Originally Posted by pamcarey

I can totally understand you wanting to skip touring the kids' club and just get to the parks. When you have limited time, you want to make the most of it!

The parks closed at 8, so with getting done with the conference around 4 or 5 really gave us very limited time to do much of anything.

Originally Posted by Katie

I can't tell you how many golden opportunities I have passed up.
Once at AK, EE had shut down while we were in line, we found a bench to sit at while I contemplated what to do next. Two cast members walked by and asked if we were going to be here later, I responded no we were going to try to ride EE, but probably was a little short/snappy because they said ok and went to the next bench of people and asked them if they wanted to be in the parade (if they were going to be in the park later) . At least your nachos made up for it !

UGH!!!! I would love to be in a parade too. And now the AK parade is ending, which totally depresses me.

[jenseib]

Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014

As I started every other day, I was up early. Today was another full conference day though, so I was soon getting myself ready for another day and heading over to the conference area. Oddly though, our conference was scheduled at the Paradise Pier today. Our guess is that the conference was thrown together so last minute that they couldn’t get space in the GC for every day, but honestly, who knows for sure.

We walked over and once again they had a breakfast buffet out for us.





The food was similar to what we had the day before with a few variations.







It was all very good. I was very impressed with it. Usually buffet eggs can be iffy, but they seemed to know the trick and they were moist, yet not runny.





I don’t think they had the cute little bottles of ketchup here today…but never fear. At one point in our trip, Cass and I were walking down the hall of the GC and we saw a room service cart sitting out in the hall waiting to be taken away. They had little bottles of ketchup, Mayo and Dijon mustard left on it that they had not opened or used. Cass told me I should take them, and who am I to argue. LOL. We kept laughing about it and she shared with me that her first little bottles she had taken were off a room service cart too!

After we filled our bellies, it was time to get started once again.





Another productive meeting and then we took a break.

I guess I stepped outside during the break because I have this picture.





I had to make a potty stop too and the one downstairs was full, so I ran to the one upstairs and this guy was working and I thought it looked funny.





Now, before my trip, I was talking about it to one of my friends and she told me that she found out, quite by accident, that DL resorts have free tampons in the machines in the bathrooms. We had laughed over this, because Disney charges and arm and a leg for everything, but this little item is free.
Of course I checked this out and found this to be true. I grabbed a couple and the night before I whipped one out of my bag and said to Cass “Guess what? Free Tampons” (You don’t know how badly I wanted to use that as my TR title. LOL) Cass died laughing and told me a story how another friend had done almost the exact same thing to her on another trip. Yes, it doesn’t take much to amuse us, and we had a lot of fun with this.
So of course, I had to take a picture.



I then posted this to my company’s social facebook page. (We are all girls, with the exception of one guy who is good spirited) This became such a funny joke. Questions were asked and we just kept laughing over the topic. It has since been a running joke at our company and when each of us travel, we now look for free tampons and post when we find it.
Just a tip, I knew from a previous trip, that the Disney Magic also has free tampons, when my friend Lisa and I just played with the machine and they came pouring out. LOL…and I did investigate in March and it is still true. You will see that I find a few others on my March trip when I post that TR.

Ok, enough of the silliness!!! I headed back downstairs and took a couple of pictures on my way.





Next up for the morning was a vendor fair. The nice thing about vendor fairs…..free stuff! Cass and I went to all the booths and everyone gave out something. Some were better than others….we liked the ones that gave candy out the best. And of course those were little treats to take home to our girls. Some gave out bags, magnets, pads of paper, pens and a few other odd things. We loaded up a bag each. We wondered if we put on glasses if we could go back to the candy ones and get more. LOL.



After we were finished with the vendor fair we headed yet to another conference room where lunch was being served. And I did not take a single picture. This lunch was very good. They had this big pan of steaks. You know when steaks are in bulk like that, they usually are not very good, but I took one anyways, along with many other yummy options. Wow, was I ever wrong. This steak was fabulous! Very thick and tender, and cooked the way I like it.
Cass and I tend to be loners more. We did mingle with the others at the conference, but when it came to sitting down to eat, we preferred to be at our own table, or with just a few people. We found a corner table and sat down. After a bit, 2 of the vendors sat down with us and they were so nice and friendly and we had a good time with them. They found out that Cass had never had avocado before and were just amazed. I think they thought because she lived in Canada that she just didn’t have access to it, but it really was because she never just had an urge to try them.
It was also funny, because one of the girls asked what our profession was. She said she was just told to do a vendor fair that morning and had no clue who she was selling to. LOL.
We also had some big wig guy sit with us and I believe Rita sat with us once again too. We did talk a little bit of business, but we enjoyed talking to the other girls more.
Lunch eventually ended and it was time to move on once again. Today we would be doing more touring, but this time we were heading offsite.

We had a bus to take us around today, so we all loaded up and set off. I swear we only went just around the corner and we already had reached our destination, The Annabella Hotel.



We were dropped off at the corner and walked the rest of the way.









We had to wait a few minutes once we entered, so I took a few pictures.







I spotted the pool out the window. It looked so pretty.








We broke up into 3 or 4 small groups and soon were heading off with a tour guide.









And we made our way right to the pool.









They also had a small workout room.







We also toured a few rooms.



Housekeeping!