Tuesday, June 21, 2005

I spent a good portion of the day away from home today. I went with my friend to Long Beach Memorial Hospital for there monthly free lunch, lecture and a movie. This is something they provide for free to seniors (55 and older). We had a bag lunch that consisted of half a sandwich (turkey with lettuce, tomato, and cheese on whole wheat) and small cup of cole slaw, a nice big red apple, a cookie and choice of beverage (I choose coffee). The lecture was on what is stress and how do you cope with it. Then we had a small break and moved over to a small theater where we which Cheaper By The Dozen (the 2002 versions with Steve Martin). It was a pretty decent sized screen and air conditioned. The battery in my car died so Paul came over and got it started and we switched cars so I could run some errands.

Heard from daughter again and she is keeping busy. She also said she gets to help with designing and painting backdrops. For what, I don't know but her artistic skills will be put to good use and she is real happy about that.

I mentioned I will tell about my trip to Disneyland last Thursday, June 16 so here is that account:

We could not have had a better day. The weather was perfect and everything worked out real well.

We left the house around 8:13 (13 minutes later than I wanted). The traffic was awful on the 91 east of the 605 and on the 5 where you get on off of the 91. But ... I had Jennifer with me so I could use the car pool lane and we just sailed right along. The car pool lane system for Disneyland Drive is fantastic. The off ramp is from the car pool lane and it just takes you right to Disneyland Drive. You stay in the left lane and go right up the ramp and into the parking structure. It was drizzling when we got there but that was fine with me. All day it was overcast and cool. The sun only came out briefly in the mid afternoon and it was hot and humid but it didn't last long. I needed my jacket while we were waiting for Mrs. Smith to come but after we got in the park I put it in the locker and didn't need it again until we left.

So we parked on the Donald level and walked right to the tram which left shortly after we boarded. Got to the area where we were supposed to meet Mrs. Smith at 10 to 9. She wasn't there. I was thinking if she drove alone then she would be caught in that awful traffic. 9 came and went, no Mrs. Smith. I had her cell phone number and we decided to give her until 9:15 and then I would call. She showed up around 9:12 with her daughter and granddaughter in tow. So she got to use the car pool lane, too. We talked for a few minutes and got in line and bingo we were in ... free!!! We thanked her profusely and off we went. Jennifer brought her new digital camera (her birthday gift from us) and took lots of photos. I am in the process of up loading them to my Epson Album. It is a slow process because of our dial up connection. I will link you to my albums at the end of this and you can open it, just click on Disneyland 6/16/05.

Before I go further, the reason the park was closing at 9 was because Grad Night was going on and it is announced on the tram that the tram service will stop at 9:30. But yes we got the parade (at 7 pm which really wasn't dark enough to see the floats lit up and yes they had the fireworks at 8:45).

The E.P. Ripley was out on the tracks. I didn't realize that that was the engine that Jennifer photographed until after we got home and I looked at the picture more closely. So we went and got a locker for the day and I got my coffee at the corner store (save your receipt and you get free refills all day, best deal at the park!). I had told Jennifer this was her day and we would do whatever she wanted. So first we went into Adventureland past the Tiki Room and the torches were lit. Looks soooo good. We decided to see that later, get the rides with the longer lines out of the way first. As we went by the Jungle Cruise, the line was short so we did that first. While waiting I took our tickets to Indie Jones and I got fast passes. Went on cruise, female pilot not so great, and enjoyed everything including the piranhas .... very well done ... nice new effect. Then we went on POC because line was short and moving fast. Always like that and we were right in front so it was nice for picture taking. Also got wet though. After POC we went to try and make reservations for lunch at Blue Bayou but they were full up so went to rest room and then Haunted Mansion. Love how that is all cleaned up and love the new Madame Leota effect. Very well done. Jennifer tried to take a photo but because no flash is allowed it did not turn out. As we were leaving a film crew was talking to people as they came out. Subject, is this your favorite ride at the park? They are making a commercial. So they filmed me ... whether or not they use me is another matter entirely.

By now the time is up on Indie Jones so we go to Splash Mountain and get fast passes for that (working the system). We leave the area on our way to Indie and see the Mark Twain at dock and so run over and get on that. After that we went on Indie Jones and then went over to BTMR. Our time was not quite up on Splash Mountain (only a couple of minutes) and so we waited and then got fast passes for that. Then we went on Splash Mountain and came back to the Golden Horseshoe for lunch and saw Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. Very cute show and we split lunch (fish and chips and a soda). After that we went BTMR. Now this was a mistake for Jennifer to do this after lunch. She has always had a problem with motion sickness and so she was queasy for a long time afterwards.

After this we went over to the Tiki Room and we are really impressed by everything. So nice and clean and everything working. We went over to Toon Town because one of the guys at our church now works there. But we had no idea where he would be and it was crowded. So we went into Mickys house because Jennifer wanted a picture with Mickey. But the line was long and moving slowly so we left. As we were leaving, there was Steve! He had to do something but then came back. I noticed the little coaster was down and asked him what the problem was. He told us because of the earthquake they had done a shut down and they were checking things out, mandatory precautions. Earthquake? What earthquake? The one about an hour ago. OK. We did not feel it but in talking to others during the day, they had. Also all the big rides were shut down to be checked, but that never effected us.

So we talked to Steve but he needed to go to lunch so we went over to Star Tours. Jennifer was still not feeling so hot but she really wanted to go on this ride and take photos. We did have to wait about 45 minutes but that was OK. The parade was going on and getting around was a problem so being on the ride was fine. Did Star Tours and then went over to DCA so Jennifer could go on TOT. Big slow line getting into DCA. Guess everyone had the same idea and the parade had just ended in Disneyland so everyone headed over there. Finally got in (stupid people in line w/o tickets, asking ticket person questions, that's what slowed things up). Saw Mickey and Minnie and Jennifer thought, here's my chance to get my picture when they were taken away. Saw Goofy "this his is last picture for now" and he got taken away. Later saw Sulley and he was mobbed so no chance for a photo. Poor Jennifer, she never got her picture with a character. Anyway head to TOT and noticed the doors were not opening so I asked the bell man and he said the ride was operating. So we went to get in line and a recording came on saying that only one elevator was operating today and the wait would be 70 minutes! Well, she wasn't feeling good anyway and did not want to wait. We checked over at Fast Pass but the return time was much too late for us. So we went over to get a fresh warm tortilla and then headed back to Disneyland.

We went into the 50th display in the Opera House. That is very nice and I really like the layout of the park on opening day. Jennifer got some good photos of that and other things in there. The film with Steve Martin is really good. Left there and went to the locker so Jennifer could change her shoes. I got a free coffee refill. It is now 5:45 and people are lining up for the parade on Main Street. I ask a cast member what time the parade is, 7 pm. OK.... So we start thinking about dinner. Jennifer is feeling better :) We go to Plaza Pavilion but decide to wait, she's not that hungry yet. So we head toward Small World and she sees a Churro cart and she decides to get one. I notice there is a small place to sit along the railing and so we sit there from 6:16 until 7:15 when the parade gets to our area. It wasn't dark enough to really enjoy the look of it at night but it is a fabulous parade. I got to talking to man from Scotland (Glasgow) and he is there with his family and he has a nice, new digital camcorder. It was a nice way to spend the time. I also gave him some advice about where to be for the fireworks and other things about the park because they were coming back the next day.

So we decide to eat and then find a place for the fireworks. Well, as we came around the castle we saw everything filling up fast. We went over to Plaza Pavilion and they were closed. So we found a spot to sit in the street in front of the castle and I went over to the Haus place in Fantasyland and got us two chicken nugget kids meals with child size drinks. So I make my way back to Jen (an interesting feat) and we sit and eat our dinner and wait. When I went over to throw our trash away (again interesting feat, tiptoeing my way around people) I notice a spot right next to the trash can and a bench. So I go back and tell Jen that's where I will be (because I just can't sit on the ground). So I stood right behind the trash can, sometimes sitting on the railing and I had an excellent view of everything. That show brought me to tears. It is the best thing I have ever seen. It is so well done. I got to talking to some people around me. They go a lot. One lady came after work and had been sitting on the bench since 6. Two guys (a father and son) are members of LaughingPlace and so we had a nice talk about the sites. They have also seen the show a number of times. Obviously these folks are annual pass holders.

So now Disneyland is closing and the herd of people leaving is something. We hang back and wait around and then walk through Frontierland to Rivers of America (almost deserted now) and out through Adventureland. We go to our locker and get our stuff and leave. Even though it is now after 9:30 the trams are still running but we decide to walk back because the crowds are still huge to get on the trams. So we walk back to the parking structure which is quite the hike I must say. When we get near our car I notice that some people one row over are upset. I can't figure out what is going on, are they mad at each other? Has their car been broken into? Then I notice something that made we walk over and here is a young girl threatening to commit suicide by jumping off the top railing of the parking structure down into the traffic moving below. It is obvious that she is distraught but also doesn't seem to really want to do it. She is talking to someone but from our angle we can not see if it is a security guard, officer, boyfriend, what. We do see two officers off to her right aways. At one point she sits on the railing but almost immediately stands again and clutches the light fixture. She keeps putting her leg out but pulls it back in. We decide to leave. As we are coming around to take the normal exit out I'm thinking this isn't a good idea and a security car pulls up and blocks the exit. So we are about 5 cars back and I just shut off the engine. A security man walks along apologizing and saying they are getting parking structure personnel up here to redirect us out. This takes about 5 minutes and then we are rerouted out the normal "in" entrances. This ends up taking us to the driveway that normally is the exit area for the hotel and Downtown Disney. That is OK with me because I am familiar with that exit. So we don't know what happened. I tried looking at todays online OC Register but there was nothing in it. A rather bad ending to an otherwise good day.


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