h2odivers...Ray 952 Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Agree with World of Color. It was a good show but not spectacular. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799 Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Loving the land part of this trip too! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Katman1356...Jason 1,140 Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Personally I don't like Fantaic very much but I love World of Color. I could watch that every night and Fantasmis I only see when I have someone with me who wants to see it. Sorry to hear about your room delay. Good to hear they comped you some for it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 We disliked Fantasmic, but World of Color looks like so much fun! Do people sit on the ground to watch it, or do they stand? I was surprised by the Grand Californian. I thought it would be "grander." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Katman1356...Jason 1,140 Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 I know we stiff for the show but I think we sat for a little bit while we were waiting for it. The Grand Californian is similar in some ways to Wilderness Lodge. It was designed to resemble the great lodges of Northern California if I recall correctly. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 The Grand Californian is similar in some ways to Wilderness Lodge. It was designed to resemble the great lodges of Northern California if I recall correctly. That makes sense. I saw the similarities to WL too. Reminds me of one of Walt's quotes: "I don't like formal gardens. I like wild nature. It's just the wilderness instinct in me, I guess." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grumpy and Grandma 739 Posted June 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 We disliked Fantasmic, but World of Color looks like so much fun! Do people sit on the ground to watch it, or do they stand? I was surprised by the Grand Californian. I thought it would be "grander."They stand except in the accessible area there are a few. benches. That is one thing I don' like about it even though the walks are somewhat terraced. I think the hotel would have been "Grander" had Disney not been land locked and also probably under more restrictions on construction since they are in downtown. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Wow, I didn't know you were going to stay at the Grand Californian. Very nice! It seems that the lines at California Adventure weren't bad at all- and you could get a Soarin' FP with just a one hour wait? Nice. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
alexwyattmommy 181 Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Now hold on one cotton pickin minute. California gets Carsland and gets to keep the old fast pass system? How come Florida gets stuck being the test piggy for the magic bands? Sorry for the OT. The land part is turning out to be just as nice as the sea part. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Now hold on one cotton pickin minute. California gets Carsland and gets to keep the old fast pass system? How come Florida gets stuck being the test piggy for the magic bands? Different management teams. The geniuses at WDW decided to spend a Billion dollars on technology that doesn't work. The management at DL decided to spend on attractions for guests to enjoy. We lost big time. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grumpy and Grandma 739 Posted June 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Wow, I didn't know you were going to stay at the Grand Californian. Very nice! It seems that the lines at California Adventure weren't bad at all- and you could get a Soarin' FP with just a one hour wait? Nice. TCDThe GC is very nice, but definitely more compact than WL. The other thing that was nice was our room was on the ground level. Everyt ime we've been to WL it's on the 6th floor. Which for an accessible room does not make sense in my opinion. The only "big" line we noticed was for The Racers. Didn't check the FP time for that since we had no intention of getting on anyway. Different management teams. The geniuses at WDW decided to spend a Billion dollars on technology that doesn't work. The management at DL decided to spend on attractions for guests to enjoy. We lost big time. TCD I will cover it later, but things are not so great at DL when it comes to how it is operated either, at least not in our opinion. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jmaul 65 Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 I thought your outside pics of the Grand Californian looked very nice. And, right next to the park. The room, typical. I'd have no problem staying there....except for the bill. Great update. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grumpy and Grandma 739 Posted June 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Tuesday morning there were Extra Magic Hours at DL so the went down to the QS "White Water Snacks" for breakfast. They actually do all the meals "as ordered", not from a steam table. We both ordered the Amrican Breakfast, it came with eggs, bacon, red bliss seasoned potatoes and toast for $6.99. Linda ordered scrambled and I had over easy, wasn't bad for the price, but the potatoes didn't thrill me. We're waiting for the food to be brought out. They also had an assortment of pastries. After breakfast we head out the door that puts you in DTD and then you just walk over to the DL ticket stantions. This was disappointment #1 Extra magic hours are for ANYBODY with a 3 day or more ticket, even off property, and the line was ridiculous. We get in line and then about 1/2 way thru the line they have signs that say, ECV's and WC use the center entrance. So we head to the center and luckily someone, although reluctanly, let us cut in. Well as it turns out you can go in any turnstile. Why have the d--n signs then. Stopped at Guest Services to mention that there is no reason for the signs since they just confuse things and the CM was about as friendly as the door that I just walked thru. We get on Main Street and the first thing Linda says is "Where is the Castle"? Oh, there it is hiding behind the trees. :roftl6: The crowd wasn't too bad, but you can definitely tell that everything is on a much smaller scale than MK. You can definitely see the difference as Linda stopped for this pic. We head thru the Castle and spotted, Ok it's been many, many years since we've done this one so we head to the accessible entrance and we're the only two in line. (Issue number 2) CM says it will be just a minute, OK no problem so we wait and wait and wait and wait and wait. During this whole time the regular line is moving. I ask again and she said, rather snippy, just another minute or two. So we wait and wait and wait. After 10 minutes we said the h--l with it and left. During the time we're waiting we can see a CM fixing the seat back and seats. #1 Why wasn't this done while the park was closed and #2 why is the regular line moving and we're still waiting? We stop to get a pic of the Tea Cups. Here's Casey Jr's Circus Train. The Story Book Land Canal boats weren't running. We then walk by the Materhorn Bobsleds, long line again, but not for us. Too wild for "old folks". Head over for the Submarine Ride which is now Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. Guess what? Not operating. Guess what is running like "clock work". This one's for Lou. So we hop on for our trip around the area. These cars, although smaller, really seem much better than those used at WDW. Cleaner and much brighter inside. So we tstart our tour, here's Autotopia. Disneyland Hotel. Grand Californian. A look off property. The Materhorn and the Autotopia track. It's a Small World. Oops! Not running. (do you see a pattern here) We start to work over to the other side of the park. The "Partners" statue. We head through Adventure Land on our way to New Orleans Square Tom Sawyer's Island. We get to the Haunted Mansion and waltz right in. Now here the ECV's go in and out the same way. When you leave you come back up on the lift (not really an elevator). Also notice the difference in architecture. We actually like this one better. Here's the line when we come out. The R.R. Station is adjacent to HM so we head over there for our loop around the park. The water tank is a little weathered. Here comes the train. We head out on our adventure. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grumpy and Grandma 739 Posted June 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 The crowd heading into Toon Town. We pass Lou's favorite.(of course it's completely down, not even any water) Our stop in Tomorrow Land and the line for Autotopia. We head into the Grand Canyon diorama, something that has always stayed in my mind since our first visit. I'm always waiting for it as we ride the train at WDW. (pics aren't the best) We pass the turnstyles. I look up and notice we have an extra passenger on the valance. Back at New Orleans Square. As we're leaving the train station Linda says "Let's head over to Pirates". The lady next to us says "It's closed". :banghead: So as we go by Splash Mountain I catch some of the more adventurous. We're looking over at Tom Sawyer's Island and see this sign, so I zoom in. Then I spot something that I've never seen at WDW. Have I just missed them? Next planned stop is the TIKI room. We so to get in line and we're told it will be about 20 minutes before we can let you in. There filming something and limiting the crowd and the ECV is definitley out of the question. That's it, enough BS and to be very honest, not so friendly CM's We decide to head back to our room for a short break. Here's a couple new views. Our patio. The carpet, never noticed this pattern at WL. After a short break we head to DTD for a little souvenir shopping and a look around. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
alexwyattmommy 181 Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Lots of things not working or working right. Hope it got better. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grumpy and Grandma 739 Posted June 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Since Wednesday afternoon we had plans to meet friends from Whitier we go over for the Parade at CA and we found that it starts in Hollywood Land so we head over to get a good spot. Here again they don't really set aside spots for ECV's and wheel-chairs. The CM we talked to showed us where to park so that no one would be in front of us. (she actually parked us in the street right by a concrete joint and said this is where they will tape off the street, right along the seam) Here's the trolley conductor changing the electric pole since the trolley is going to be heading back in the opposite direction. It wasn't long and here comes the parade. You can see the blue tape used to mark the road at the bottom left of the picture. Since I don't know all the characters I'll just post the pics. The only comment is alot of them are armed with water and love to squirt the spectators. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grumpy and Grandma 739 Posted June 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 As we are heading back to our room we spot Pilot Minnie so I had to get some pics and since the line was very very short I jumped in. Tomorow we head back to CA in the morning. Since DTD is right out the door I went over later and we got carry out from Earl of Sandwich so the day was not all lost. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grumpy and Grandma 739 Posted June 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Lots of things not working or working right. Hope it got better.We didn't bother to go back. DL SMB and very disappointing. CA much much better. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jmaul 65 Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Sucks about the rides. Were you informed prior that they were down? Monorail to DTD? Score on the viewing place for the parade. Nice of the CM to show you that area. That parade looks neat. Especially Lightning and Mater. Nice Genie shirt..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grumpy and Grandma 739 Posted June 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Sucks about the rides. Were you informed prior that they were down? "NO" Monorail to DTD? Lou would be proud :rofl2: Score on the viewing place for the parade. Nice of the CM to show you that area. The CM's at CA are much more congenial than DL That parade looks neat. Especially Lightning and Mater. It was fun to watch Nice Genie shirt.....Thanks my only non GRUMPY character shirt Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Katman1356...Jason 1,140 Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Sorry your DL day sucked. We had an awesome time there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beckers 1,136 Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Huge bummer about all the rides being down.The parade looks good, DS would love it.Minnie is adorable. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799 Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 That stinks that so many rides were down. I almost didn't recognize you without a Grumpy shirt. After all the new parade pictures, those floats look small. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Judy in Texas 150 Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 I remember the DL cast members being not very friendly, also. They were especially snippy if WDW was mentioned. Re: the picture taken from the monorail of off-property. I think that building is Mimi's Cafe. There is a McDonald's just after it on the right. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn, right behind Mimi's. Those off-property hotels are really packed in there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Nice update, so sorry you "broke" so many things at DL :) One thing about the early entry and regular ticket holders. Unless they've changed it, each 3 day or more ticket is entitled to only ONE extra magic morning of their 3, 4, or 5 days. So not everyone every day is in there for extra magic morning. We will very hopefully be out there next year some time. Can't wait. However, we'll be staying off property. It is a VERY easy walk to the parks from many off property hotels. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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