Lori Wagner
A WDW Veteran in King Walt's Court
August 2003

8/10 Sunday
Cast of characters: Lori, Scott, Lisa, Kym, Sean, Pamela

I slept in a bit later than my park opening mornings, and I grabbed some breakfast before heading back to my room. I was going to swim, but I changed my mind. Instead, I just hung around the room watching TV while waiting for Scott, someone I knew from RADP chat, to show up.

Scott works for Disney, and he was nice enough to take me to Company D, the cast member store to shop. I systematically made the rounds of the store quickly and efficiently. I was happy to find a few t- shirts, and I had a pretty respectable amount of purchases before leaving.

It was lunchtime, so Scott and I ate at the Carnation Café, a full service eatery halfway up Main Street. The prices were reasonable, and the food was tasty. We were meeting some other RADP people, Lisa and Kym, at the cannon across from City Hall later. So we shopped a bit. Figment noticed a sign in one of the stores, sitting on a shelf. It touted cures for old-fashioned ailments, like painful menses, dysentery, and such. Yikes! My favorite little find was a mini-snowglobe of the Haunted Mansion, and it played "Grim Grinning Ghosts"…the long version! I had to get it.

We went to the cannons at our meeting time of 2pm, but Lisa and Kym weren't there. We're waiting in the hot sun, and I spotted shade AND a bench across the street at City Hall. Scott and I saw them arrive, but there were others with them. I was surprised to find other RADPers Sean and Pamela were with them, meeting Lisa and Kym by chance. I was very happy to see them, too.

Kym was confined to a wheelchair because of foot surgery, so I helped push her around. We headed to Roger Rabbit, but we couldn't ride, due to issues with Kym's chair. We stood around Toontown, and Sean and Pam left.

Scott, Lisa, Kym and I had fun the rest of the afternoon. I saw Mr. Toad go to hell, and I was able to find out what happens at the Haunted Mansion when guests in wheelchairs ride. We had to wait an inordinately long time, because the cast members could only allow 2 wheelchair guests on at a time, and they thought they had the maximum already riding. While we waited, we saw some other wheelchair guests arrive behind us, but some of them were ambulatory, so they were able to go in and ride. One of them looked like he faked a sprained ankle to rent a wheelchair to avoid lines. Nice.

We finally were able to ride, and I was told to stay in the vehicle inside of leaving at the exit, and that was neat. The cast members mark the cars of the wheelchair guests, so the cast members working the exit know that we could stay in the doom buggy.

The craziest thing is what happens next. You walk back through the picture gallery, back to the stretching room. (Quick note: The picture gallery at WDW occurs during the ride, but at DL, the picture gallery leads to the doom buggy loading area.) So, when we went back into the stretching room elevator, the pictures shrunk, "reverse- stretching". That just amused me to no end.

Since I hadn't seen The Walt Disney Story featuring Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, we did that. The first part is a typical pre- show, and I enjoyed it. I was warned that the next part would be considered Sounds Dangerous with Mr. Lincoln. That's when I saw the rack of headphones. Aha. I figured the "3-D sound" effects would figure prominently. I remember the sound booths from the old "Monster Sound Show" (later "Sounds Dangerous" at MGM, and I wasn't disappointed.

In this show, you are Private Cunningham, waiting to meet President Lincoln. Before that, you encounter some of the staff members. I had started giggling uncontrollably the minute I heard that we were getting a haircut, the staple of the sound booths! I just couldn't stop laughing after that, so I had a great time.

Scott had to leave us, so Lisa and Kym and I hung out. We left to stop by their house for a while, then we stopped at my hotel so I could drop off my souvenirs from earlier that day. We headed back to Disneyland later, where I grabbed a great fried chicken dinner at the French Market, and we rode Pirates of the Caribbean before leaving. We talked for a while as the park was closing, and we kept talking when they dropped me off at my hotel. I said my goodbyes, and tried to get some sleep before having to pack up and leave the next day.

8/11 Monday
Cast of Characters: Lori

When I woke up, I scrambled to get ready, dressed and packed, in order to spend some time in the park before leaving. I finished a little later than I wanted. The previous day, I had the hotel arrange the Super Shuttle pickup, which was set at noon. I went to check out and store my luggage, and I missed the shuttle, so I waited for the next one.

I wanted to ride Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin before I left, as it'd be the last Disneyland exclusive I hadn't ridden. So I managed a fairly short wait, and I noticed the cast member was "stacking", creating a large outside queue to make the wait appear longer than it was. Soon I was waiting for my "cab", and I enjoyed the theming of the garage.

Across the loading area, a framed picture of what looked like a strange dollar bill amused me. It wasn't a dollar. The picture had a plaque that read, "Our First Simolean". So what I saw was a "simolean", not a dollar. Very cute!

I still had a breakfast in the park voucher, and I wasted time a few ways. First, I wasted time by making some last-minute pin purchases, and then I wasted time by finding out that the restaurant listed on the back of the voucher didn't serve breakfast on Mondays. I had gone to Club Buzz in Tomorrowland, only to find out that I could use my voucher at the River Belle Terrace across the park.

By this time, the lines for breakfast (!) were so long, I didn't have time to get my food, eat, and make it back to the shuttle in time for my pickup. Argh! I gave my voucher to a complete stranger, telling him that he now can have a free breakfast because I have no time to use it! I knew I should have packed the night before!

I decided that my only chance to have any food before my flight would be to grab something at the Blue Ribbon Bakery on Main Street. There was a line, but it was manageable. Hmm, they sold sandwiches, too! I decided to buy a peppered turkey sandwich and a HUGE muffin to take back to the hotel.

So, around 11:15am, I'm at the hotel, and I sit in a lounge near the pool, reading my book and eating the huge sandwich and muffin. I grabbed my luggage out of storage, and waited for my shuttle to the airport. I'm glad I was early, because the shuttle was about 15 minutes early.

We made a stop at the Disneyland Hotel before heading to the airport. It was 12:15pm, and my flight was scheduled for 2 hours later. At least this time, I wasn't randomly selected for the security check, and I found the baggage check in to be much more efficient here than at O'Hare.

While I was waiting, announcements were made, asking for those who had Chicago as our final destinations to volunteer to be bumped for a free ticket. I was ready to volunteer, but someone in line said that we'd have to go to LAX. I didn't want to do that, so I didn't volunteer.

I felt differently when we were then told that the flight would be delayed. The delay was shorter than when they first announced it, and we were soon boarding. What a difference this flight was than my first one! I had nobody sitting in the middle seat next to me, and no fussy babies! The strangest thing was that the same guy with the DVD player on my flight out to CA was on my flight back, in my row again. Are there no such things as coincidences? After an uneventful flight home, I had enough time to get a good night's sleep for my return to work the next morning.

So, what were the highlights of my trip?

Socializing:
I thought meeting with the Internet folks was wonderful. For someone doing a solo trip, the only time I had a day alone was Friday. I still had plenty of time alone to do what I wanted, when I wanted.

Park touring:
The biggest differences I noticed on this trip were the single riders' lines at multiple Fast Pass collecting. I feel that I would not have seen even a fraction of the attractions during high season had I not taken advantage of the single riders' lines, especially. I don't know if all the Walt Disney Travel Company park passes have the multiple Fast Pass perk, but I'd definitely check into it on future trips.

Food:
I was also pleasantly surprised by the high quality of food at the places I've eaten. I had counter service meals and high-end full service meals, as well as a quick sandwich of high quality from the bakery. It was all good. I didn't grab anything off the food carts, which I do regret. But I have to say that I haven't had a bad meal on my Disneyland trip. Well, I think the worst thing I ate was probably the corn dog at DCA, but even that wasn't bad.

Transportation:
The airport transportation at Orange County Airport was astronomically better than Orlando. Yes, it's a smaller airport, but the shuttle service was the quickest I've encountered. It can be a mess in Florida. My trip started on a high note with the Super Shuttle trip to the hotel.

Accommodations:
I didn't know what to expect with the Candy Cane Inn when I booked it. I saw that it had high marks from the Unofficial Guide to Disneyland, and the location was perfect. I knew that I should investigate hotel rates online, and I was able to book a room at $77 a night plus tax during peak season by visiting http://www.candycaneinn.net . The place was a "mom and pop" operation, a small motel with lots of charm and a helluva great continental breakfast included in the price! The rooms were a decent size, and the décor and amenities impressed me. I even had a view of the fireworks from my room! I'd definitely stay there again.

And the only really bad part of my trip was the near 100 degree weather every day. But, even that was manageable, and I made sure I drank plenty of water and cooled off in air conditioning when I could. Other than that, my trip was only lacking nighttime entertainment. The area needs something to hold my interest.

I enjoyed my trip very much, and I hope my next trip (planned for the 50th anniversary in 2005) will be as fun.

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