Humphrey Bear…Rob

Super nice to meet some Fiends face to face!  We were in site 32 thinking that on the map it was "close" - turns out it was quite a hike to the 50's!

Definitely will be back!!!   

Pulled pork okay for the potluck?

 

On 9/13/2018 at 10:10 AM, TN22.....Brady said:

^Bump^ Is everyone still going to make it? Did we decide on potluck night theme? Beer exchange? Favorite Bourbon or Scotch?

So a Bourbon and Scotch potluck?

 

we are still in!

Thanks!  Enjoyed this!

 

On 8/3/2018 at 6:38 PM, LONE-STAR said:

You have to make them 11 months in advance.

Yea - got to get my crap together, LOL!

 

We drove thru Topsail, but never seemed to be able to get a reservation -Jelly!    Nice Trip!

20 minutes ago, slices said:

 After dinner, my wife headed over to the meadows and bought me the beer back, so that I would stop drinking her cider.

Priorities!  Glad your beds didn't get wet - great TR!

Wow!  What a great trip!   Awesome panoramic pics!  I wanna go now!

38 minutes ago, keith_h said:

You didn't mention what you are planning to tow with but most people do not realize that the published towing capacity for their truck is a lot less in reality.  

 

Great Advice!   And to Keith's point it's not only what CAN you tow, but what CAN you STOP!!!

42 minutes ago, ImDownWithDisney said:

Buy used. Your first rv is never the right rv. Plus buying used can save you the heartache of the 1st year of problems that most rv's have. 

Amen!    Suggest Jayco or KZ, but dealer support is always important. If you can buy from an individual and know the history of  it (always covered, stored inside, etc) it helps. 

In a used RV hopefully any factory issues have been fixed and the original buyer is taking the 30-50% depreciation hit...NOT YOU.

Any RV over 3 years old will probably need new tires (they aren't always new when they get put on!)

Finally - no matter what you are thinking about - do your research. There are forums for about every brand.  That said - just be aware that the folks that are unhappy will scream louder than the folks that really like their units.  ALL RV's have issues, so don't get too freaked out by some of the complaints.  

Get on the roof and look for any rips, tears, new patches.  Look under seat cushions and in storage places for mold or discolored wood.  If you find any of these STAY AWAY.  New RV's can leak too...but a 3-5 year old will show more damage.    Good Luck and Hope you  find what you are looking for!

7 hours ago, Campingdad said:

the great movie ride was awesome. Still sucks its gone. but maybe something cool will replace

 

Hope springs eternal....

Wow! Great pics!

Magical Safe Spaces LOL!

 

Ok - on to California Adventure!  I really have to admit I liked this park a lot.  It's worth the trip alone.  

 

 

 

Radiator Springs is LIFE SIZED and had some really cool rides for kids of all ages.   If you have kids who are big CARS fans, it's a must see. I was really blown away by the detail ( I know, it's Disney) 

You can see one of the Racers in the back ground of this pic below.

Granted, most of these buildings are gift shops or counter service food, but still cool to see!!

There were 3 big rides in this area, 

Mators Junkyard Jamboree in which you are pulled in a wagon behind rusty tractors - this was more for the younger set, but we had a lot of fun.

Luigi's Rollicking Roadsters - this was pretty cool  You get in a car and it dives all on it's own.  In some instances all the cars are "dancing" together.  Again for the younger set (but I'd ride it again!!)

The BIG ride here is the RACERS ride - think a MUCH longer Test Track and you "race" another car.  You get to see pretty much a replay of the original Cars movie in little scenes as you drive thru - the big truck was really cool.  I didn't get any pics here as it was dark most of the time, but after the "story" part you race out against the back drop of the mountains..really cool!  Here are some pics of the queue.

As you can tell by my DW do' we were going pretty fast!

I got some video, but no pics,  but as the sun goes down all the Neon comes on and they play the cruise music from the movie.  Pretty cool!

 

Tower of Terror  - remade to Guardians of the Galaxy - I have mixed feelings about this one.  The ride was good, but as long as they don't mess with ToT at WDW, I'm fine.  But I really hope this ride isn't changed to be just a glorified movie trailer.  Groot and Starlord even came out to meet and greet.  

 

The ferris wheel in the California part was pretty cool - my advice. RIDE THE CARS THAT ONLY SWING BACK AND FORTH.  We rode the cars that would not only swing, but would travel across a distance and oh my Lord..don't ever want to ride this again. Closest I've ever come to getting ill on a ride...If you look close you will see tracks within the ferris wheel.  These cars will travel in a smaller circle AROUND the circle as it moved.   It was diabolical...  You can see the coasters in the background.  After the ferris wheel, we were done...

 

They had a water show here similar to Fantasmic and we were in an area so close that I was afraid my camera would get wet, so no pics. Pretty cool but SO MANY PEOPLE.  I mean...more crowded that I've ever been at WDW.

And last but not least...guess who we saw...any guesses?

 

 

 

 

 

19 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

 FYI WDW does have a double decker bus and some other antique vehicles that operate in the MK, but not nearly as regularly as they operate them in Disneyland. 

TCD 

See - I knew somebody would know!

 Before I jump into California Adventure Park, I must give a nod to Toontown at Disneyland. Done very well - since we don't have little kids (Grandbaby coming in January tho'!) we didn't go here until very late in the day and the sun was going down when we got there.  I've always loved Roger Rabbit and it was nice to see these characters again. 

The Roger Rabbit Car Toonspin brought the movie back and although most young folks don't remember it, this old Toddler really enjoyed it!

 

Overall they did a great job at Disneyland to "keep the illusion", but they weren't not quite as successful as WDW.

But they did have some cool fake hills to hide the outside world.  Overall you still feel like it's Disney!!

Not as many rides here as there were in long since closed ToonTown Fair at WDW, but the area was pretty small.  

33 minutes ago, DaveInTN said:

Next time have her stay off site.   Like Cleveland.  

Ohio...not TN.  Although it may not be much cooler up there....

Tent camping definitely separates the die-hards from the rest of the pack, but you've got AC!!  

Hope things all work out...

I loved the Car's ride and Radiator springs too...my favorite part of the whole trip!!

Ok, Imgur to the rescue...

Continuing with DisneyLand

 

I think there is only about 15-20 acres in difference between the Magic Kingdom and DLand, but seemed so much smaller...the scale of everything as you can see above just seemed about half of WDW.   

Space Mountain has been refurbished much more recently here than DWorld and the "Shuttles" are much larger and hold 2 folks side by side and the ride was MUCH smoother. 

As you can see,  my son was moderately excited, I was having a good time, and my wife's picked the best time to check to make sure her phone didn't go flying out of her...pocket.

 

Mr Toad!!!  I miss Mr. Toad greatly from WDW - actually much more detailed that what I remember.  

 

 

 

They have an updated version of the submarine ride - very much Nemo'ed out.  I couldn't get any got pics down underwater, although in the confined space in the SoCal Heat, the olfactory sensation reminded me that maybe I don't miss this that much...

I don't recall seeing one of these at WDW...but somebody can correct me...I'm sure.

 

The StoryBook Canal Boats were down when we were there...bummer.  Pretty cool pic of Monstro tho'.   We just got a new Motorhome and I'm leaning towards naming it Monstro....or "The Redhead's Revenge" - you guys decide!!

 

Two rides that I do think beat out WDW....Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion.  Both seemed longer and a touch more elaborate.  Although I do like the HM queue at WDW better.

Haunted Mansion

I didn't get a good pic of the Pirates queue, but here is some booty from that line.....ladies..please...yoga pants aren't always the best attire....thats mah pirate face....Arrrgh! 😎

 

The Teacups were pretty cool - lots of greenery for shade, but no enclosure

 

And finally for today, DW got to see her favorite parade one last time...

 

On to California Adventure next!!!

 

 

transferring photos to Imgur...what a pain. Please hold....

 

 

 

 

I''ve been a bit...okay completely scarce  on FF for about the past year - reason being I've being working in LA and commuting back and forth to TN each week.  Needless to say, travel alone has eaten up about 20 hours a week.  Anyhoo...since I was in the land of Disneyland, I did get to stay over one weekend and have my DW and youngest son fly out.  We stayed at the Marriott that just across the street from the entrance and it was a short walk to get to the parks.  I actually had to WORK a few days while they were out there, but managed to get a few days in the parks.  

This is the view from the hotel balcony -

 

For anyone who hasn't been to Disneyland before (which we hadn't), it was a bit of a surprise to see the workers coming and going in the same streets outside since we are so used to not seeing anyone due to the hidden tunnels they use in DWorld.  You come out to a large courtyard and Disneyland is on one side and California Adventure is on the other. If you walk a bit further across the courtyard you get to a much smaller version of Downtown Disney.   In the photo's below, I literally just turned around....

 

I'm not going to rehash things that are the "same", but for Disneyland first, there were some things I really really liked and some that were..meh.

Castle.....meh.  Tiny...now know why they have castle envy...

Matterhorn - I've always wanted to ride this since I was a little kid. Pretty cool that you can actually "race" each other as they let two go at the same time.  If you are over 6', it is a bit painful. I guess these rides built in the fifties were made for much smaller...ah Svelter folks.   DW and Son:

 

My wife LOVES  It's a Small World (as much as I hate it..)  I'll have to admit, DLand wins the Small world wars...did that come out right?  It's huge! and there are disney characters in each room.  The entrance is all outside (no rain or not much in SoCal..)

 

 

 to be continued...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love the Panhandle! Looks like you guys had fun!

In late!  Enjoying your report!  

 

5 minutes ago, YENSIDCAMPER said:

Looking forward to meeting you.  Glad to see another new fiend at this annual GG. 

We really should take some time to thank our ELDERS, Bob and Dave for starting this GG.  I mean they started this thing when they young(er).

 

Does that mean gifts of strong drink must be proffered to the wise elders??

Us too - probably near-ish TN22

We are coming!  Site 32