Disneyland/NASCAR - Terri & Cheryl - FINISHED 3/25 About This Page:

[LizardCop]

Fantastic Update!!

[MegglesMom]

Great update Terri!

[loobyoxlip]

Your pictures are great, Terri. thanks for the update

[DebiDebiDebi]

WONDERFUL!

[DrDolphin]

Day 3 - Part 3

After a wee bit of relaxation, we decided to head back to Downtown Disney to look for our sweatshirts at World of Disney one last time. Unfortunately – no luck again. I was looking for a nice, embroidered sweatshirt with the Disneyland Logo – no characters, etc, like my WDW sweatshirt that I wear ALL the time. And all I could find was cheap silk-screening that I knew would crack after a few washes. So, we headed to the Disneyland Hotel for our character dinner at Goofy’s kitchen. One thing I noted, unlike the resorts at WDW, DL Hotel and Paradise Pier Hotel both remind me of regular convention hotels – just like the Hilton. Very little theming. Only the Grand Californian seems to break that mold.

We sat at the bar in the DL hotel for a while debating about whether we really wanted to go to a character meal. It was VERY noisy and seemed crowded. We checked at Granville’s (the steakhouse next to the bar) and they had a 45-60 minute wait… never mind. We opted for Goofy instead. We checked in and paid up front, including tax and tip… now I don’t know about you – but I prefer to decide how much tip to give my server at a restaurant. Not have it dictated to me. Dinner for each of us was $35.00 (inlcuded tax and tip). That is the most expensive character meal I have ever eaten.

Characters that were present – Belle (who completely ignored us – twice); Aurora and Phillip (we saw them walk through the restaurant since we were seated by the character escape door – never saw them again); Goofy, Max (who was called “Goofy’s son” – I thought he was his nephew, if Goofy is married and has a son – where is his wife? Or was this an out of wedlock conception??? ); Chip, Dale and Pluto. We had a great time with the characters that did stop to see us (we were seated across an aisle from a ton of kids – no reason to ignore us!) – especially Goofy, Max, Chip and Dale – I accidentally called Dale “Chip” (oops) and was sat on as a result!!!











The food was ugh – definitely not worth $35.00 each – I think we ate mainly chips and guacamole…. Which is such a disappointment since it is Disney. Looks like Goofy’s kitchen and 1900 Park Fare are about on the same level when it comes to food.

We left Goofy’s kitchen, walked back thorough DTD to the monorail station and monorailed to the Magic Kingdom, where we walked to Fantasyland. We wanted to ride Peter Pan and Snow White. While these are both at WDW – I have heard they are different… Peter Pan’s line was RIDICULOUS!!!! It was showing a 60+ minute wait. So we decided NOT to ride Peter Pan. We did ride Snow White – and the end of the story is COMPLETELY MISSING??? Where is the Prince, the glass coffin, the kiss, its like the 2nd half of the story is completely missing!! How WEIRD!!!

We made our way over the Indiana Jones (good thing we had Fast Passes) and I noted that this is the LONGEST walking que at Disney I have ever seen!! But – WOW – what a great ride!! I know it has the same track as Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom – but I preferred this completely!! It would be great if they brought this to WDW!

After IJ – we were tired. We decided to skip Toon Town and Roger Rabbit (between that and all the things that were closed – I now have a reason to return, someday) and find a spot to sit and see Fantasmic!. We ended up in front of Pirates of the Caribbean near some railing by one of the light towers that they shine spotlights from. We got there one hour in advance – and it was a good thing we did. The crowds began to build majorly. We got pushed, crunched, and shoved, but I DID NOT MOVE. I was a rock! We did overhead a CM say that they have been extremely busy when normally this time of year they are “dead” and that “if I was coming to DL – I would not come till after the 50th! It is going to be a complete zoo!” Surprising to hear a CM say something like that to a guest. If Feb is usually dead and this was “not too crowded” – I would hate to see what crowded looks like.


CM operating the light stand from inside the “rock”

Fantastmic here is great – although I was told some things were missing. I really enjoyed it – Esp the Peter Pan scene – beats the Pocohantas seen at WDW any day of the week!! We also heard that there would be no fireworks at DL until May – and that they are using Fantasmic! As a fill-in.

After Fantastmic – we shopped. We had that 20% off certificate burning a hole in our pockets… and so we stopped at one of the clothing stores and I think I tried on every sweatshirt they had in the place… and ended up with a jacket, as did Cheryl. I also bought Scott a pair of Grumpy boxer shorts...2nd piece of Disney gear for Boyfriend, both with Grumpy. What would Freud have said?



After Fastasmic and shopping – we were completely beat!!! We caught the shuttle back to the Hilton and were asleep within moments of hitting the bed!!!

Next – NASCAR - California Speedway!!!

[Phoebe_Cates]

NASCAR

Terri and I woke up early Sunday morning, found the car in the garage, programmed the never lost system, pulled out the maps, and made our way to the California Speedway in Fontana, CA. We actually made pretty good time and pulled into the speedway parking lot around 9am or so. It was a mad house! I have never seen so many trucks in my life! Folks were tailgating in empty spaces; drinking and eating from the grill already; and basically looking as if they’d been there for awhile. Parking attendants pointed us to an appropriate spot and once parked we made our way to the main gate. The first line of business was finding driver trailers, scanner pick-up, and general merchandising (Imagine my surprise when I saw Disney gear there!) After which, we headed up the bleachers to our “primo” seats (Thank you Stacy from Hurricane Duty!). On the way up, I noticed that the bathrooms and food were located on the bottom level. That’s when I decided that I was just going to “hold it” the entire time and wait in line for the first food station no matter if I liked the food or not.

Once we found our seats in front of pit row high enough to see the entire track, we got comfortable and made small talk with the folks around us until we got hungry enough to venture downstairs again. The first food station was hamburgers and fries, so we grabbed that and headed back up the bleachers again. It wasn’t the best food I ever had, but then again event food never is. Once we got settled again (there was barely any room to move), we carefully ate our lunch and waited for the driver introductions to start. Unfortunately for me, Tony missed his convertible. Opps! I cheered at the empty car that drove by anyway! The “Governator” was there in the flesh as well as Magic Johnson, who was responsible for the famous line “Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!”.

As with any event, you can probably see more sitting in the comfort of you home. However, we weren’t there for comfort! We were there to experience the race – feel the cars, smell the smoke, etc. Terri and I didn’t talk much b/c we were both glued to our scanner channels switching between drivers and the radio broadcast. What I noticed was that the drivers seemed more talkative during car problems, wrecks, and when they went into pit row. It was cool! In the end, everyone was on their feet waiting to see who would pass the finish line first. I’m afraid to say that it wasn’t Tony, Jr, or Jeff – although he did have the best chance at it.

When the race was officially over, we filed down the bleachers and made our way through the crowd to the parking lot. This took awhile, but we eventually made it back to the car and proceeded to inch along thanks to parking personnel. Once out of the Fontana area, we made pretty good time back to Anaheim and decided to rest a bit at the hotel before venturing out again. A couple of hours later, we bought another ART day pass and caught the next trolley back to Disney’s California Adventure, where we immediately got in the stand-by line for the Tower of Terror. I was really looking forward to this b/c I had no idea what the changes would be. It was GREAT! I loved seeing my reflection before the drop even though I was too afraid to let go of the handle to wave to myself. After the TOT, Terri and I headed over to Napa Rose (a.k.a. Artists Point) at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel (a.k.a. Wilderness Lodge). I enjoyed dinner even though I thought I was going to fall asleep on my plate. Afterwards, we walked back though Downtown Disney to the transportation depot, got on the next ART trolley, and made our way back to the hotel to pack.

Next Stop: Back to the Airport … Is THAT the security line?

[DrDolphin]

Correction - TOT was the day before the race, not the day of the race - tells you how tired Cheryl was!!!

[Tink and co.]

Thanks for the great update! I debated over buying that same jacket on my trip last year, but I got a sweatshirt (embroidered with no characters, like you wanted) instead. I had to search all over for the sweatshirt, and I only found one in my size. I wonder if they're running out of stuff because there will be all new for the 50th? Good theory anyway! I think Peter Pan needs a fastpass! We usually make a bee-line there one day, just for me.

[DrDolphin]

Day 4 - the Race at Fontana

Auto Club 500

Cheryl did such a great job of describing the day that I thought I would just throw in the photos. Of course, we all know how the day ended. Of the 3 drivers we were watching (Jeff - me; Tony - Cheryl; and Jr - Scott) Tony was on top of the tree at the end of the day; Jeff was out with a blown motor and JR has a bad day with 3 blown left tires.


Entrance to California Speedway, Fontana, CA


Kasey Kahne's car -- I took this for Melissa (Mjoygirl)


Cheryl in front of one of Tony's trailers


Cheryl and a mock up of Tony's car


Jeff during Driver Introductions (drat pole)


Jeff (#24) on Pit Road


Coming to the Start


Our view of turn #1


Listening to our favorite drivers


A very happy moment for Terri (#24 in second and gaining) right before tradgedy of a blown motor!!

I will say I had a great time at the race - but I can't see doing this every sunday!! I like being able to run to my potty or fridge when I need something... although I can see myself doing this again - this time with garage access.

Next - Napa Rose

[Fantasmic! kid]

Another great update! I know it seemed like the PP hotel wasn't themed, but inside it's wonderfully themed to the PP section of DCA. The guest rooms are probably themed the most, with lamps looking like light houses and mirrors looking like the face of the sun wheel.

I don't get Nascar, but it looked like it's allot of fun to go there and see the cars and everything!

[mestitch]

[ QUOTE ]



Kasey Kahne's car -- I took this for Melissa (Mjoygirl)



[/ QUOTE ]
WHOA!! How Terri!! I never even think to check this thread b/c I'm always in the WDW mode not DL mode But thank you thank you for thinking of me! (I can hear DH now, did Terri get a pic of him spinning out and hitting the wall ) I'll be seeing him in May here in Charlotte

[katspjs]

Great update!

[debsta922]

Great race pictures Terri! Thanks!

[zacksmom_1993]

Terri and Cheryl,

I've always loved hearing about your Disney World experiences, so I'm thrilled that you got to Disneyland. I'm so disappointed that everything was closed for you on your first trip. I was there on President's Day Weekend for a little bit, but knew I'd be back for more trips later this year. My son and I felt so bad for people who were taking their big vacation with so much closed.

I guess there's a good excuse to come back, though! Thanks so much for taking the time to write this report.

Karen

[loobyoxlip]

That picture of Dale sitting on you is hilarious.

I hear ya on that walk to Indy. It is ridiculously LOOOONGG! But it's worth it - great ride!