July and October reports...and in December, the end of this era

That puts me in mind of drinking a "martuni" as my dad jokingly called them.:goodvibes
 
Just uploaded some pictures.


Eamon and I had a long flight adventure with 3 flights (the middle one was canceled and replaced with a flight almost 2 hours later, but that worked out nicely with just over 2 hours as a layover in two places) and were rather exhausted when we got in. Karmel Shuttle picked us up quickly and got us to BWPPI safely.

Our room was alllll the way towards the back. I mean, allll the way.

We awoke as early as possible the next morning, and faced this daunting walk!

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On the other hand, once we were out of the hotel and onto the sidewalk, we didn't have far to go.

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8 minutes from that first shot to a picture taken in the esplanade (bag check was annoyingly long, especially since we didn't have bags).


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We had to see DCA! Strangely, we must have taken a wrong turn, as DCA has morphed into a less exotic Port of Entry at Islands of Adventure in Universal Orlando. Odd.

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OK I get that it's not a copy. But WOW does it look similar. Good for them! Might as well copy from a great looking place. :cool2:


Oh, thank goodness, we are in DCA afterall.

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Here is E, really figuring out that it is VERY different.

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This is what we faced at 8:01 on a Sunday.

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Oh, le sigh. Why didn't I know about this trip back when I randomly picked a date for the APEEs? We won't be able to get back for the days I picked...

Oh well. In we went!
 
Just want to mention E's clothing.

The only "say" I had in that outfit was when I begged him to change his shirt to something "not red" and he thought it was absolutely hilarious that he was blinding me with his redness, and insisted that he wanted to wear it. I *could* have forced the issue, but I'm sure you can understand that one day in a wild outfit really isn't worth it, LOL.

He did try to wear it the following week, but by then the Dark Knight tragedy had happened, and I felt that wearing a Batman *villain* shirt just wasn't what I wanted him in. So I did insist that he change shirts then.
 
Gosh Molly, E has gotten so tall. He's quite a young man now. I was thinking about you earlier when I put on some Arnica.
 
He is, indeed, rather tall. And when we were at our chiro appt the other day I was looking at his arm and hand, and they are morphing from baby-guy to getting-grown-guy. Sniffle. He's also reminding me more of my brothers (I have 3 in total) when they were around 10. Potty humor, total silliness that Won't Stop, etc etc. (Michele, I'm sure you know this stage) Basically he's approaching the Jim Carrey stage in boy-to-man-hood. :scared:
 
Molly, I know it well. Loren is still going through it. He just turned 16 the other day and he still has the silly bathroom humor. I don't mind, I am not in a great hurry for him to grow up.
 
Oh man I'm in it for a long time, aren't I?

Robert's friends have a phrase, based on his teens and 20s: there's no one wronger than Rob. And it's now being updated for Eamon, because he IS "wronger". :rolleyes2
 
Oh that is funny! Poor Loren is the only boy with two sisters so he only gets away with it is when he has male support. The girls run his life. He is my only non adult child now.:rolleyes2
 
Your Buena Vista Street pictures are making me eager to get back there! I didn't spend nearly as much time on BVS as I would have preferred in June, but I loved it and want to hurry back!

It's funny - I have read at least one other DCA comparison to Port of Entry/IoA, although I cannot recall where I saw the other observation. When you first looked at my pictures from DCA in June - or anyone else's photos of the "reimagined" DCA - did you think it was reminiscent of PoE/IoA at that point, or was it something that hit you when you actually stepped into the park and saw it in person?

You said you used Karmel Shuttle. How is their service these days? I have used them in the distant past for Catalina-oriented trips (rides to the boat terminal, package deals that included the hotel, boat fare and the shuttle ride, etc.), and they used to be semi-reasonably priced but their rates started to soar for the specific kind of service I needed - which is not airport-related service. They used to specialize in shuttling Catalina visitors around. Is their basic airport pick-up service pretty good?

I agree with Michele about E - it's so amazing how fast kids grow! He's not a little child anymore! We were all following along with you on previous trip reports - even just a mere couple of years ago - when E was seemingly half the size that he is now!
 
The similarity is something that hit me when I walked in. It's not something I noticed in pictures. And I don't find it to be a negative, in case it came across as that. After all, I love Port of Entry. :) And it might just be the "stucco" and the details that's doing it.


I've now had 3 experiences with Karmel, and 2 of them have been really good. The other wasn't *bad*, it was just...like the driver was pretending we didn't exist. We got to the airport safely and on time (at least E and I did...the passengers who were flying to Canada at 4:30 and were dropped off at 3+ might not have felt quite the same!), but we just felt like an afterthought. He didn't verify who we were or where we were going, so for part of the trip I was fighting with my phone to get bing/google maps to come up so i could use the GPS to see where we were and if we were heading to LAX, and once we hit the freeway he messed with his ipod to bring up "Bob Marley Radio" and blasted reggae.

The other two experiences were so efficient and extra-nice that the inattention almost stung.

The rates from SNA and to LAX have been totally within our budget, and since Karmel doesn't "troll" the airport for non-booked fares, it has been faster getting from the airport than when I've taken SS (or Grayline DRE).
 
Wow, E is looking so grown up, even in all of his head-to-toe redness!

I would not have recognized DCA from your photos. I have seen photos of Carthay, but I haven't seen photos of anything else (until now) and it looks like I'm going to have major disorientation in a couple of weeks!

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip! :goodvibes
 
Disorientation is exciting. Embrace the confusion. (but warn the kids) :goodvibes



I only got to 8am? Yikes.

Side note: my photobucket account is such a mess. And I can't go back and change things around to different albums, since it says it'll break all the links. Guess I could just forget about the old trip reports and move forward, but I don't know that I like that idea. But man what a discombobulated mess my account is!



Of course, we immediately headed to Cars Land! Gorgeous! Like stepping right into the movie. Not sure why we didn't head straight to RSR, but I do recall that Luigi's line was SO short we couldn't pass it up.

As we waited in line we got to a certain point where the CM showed us how to move the tire. Then it was time to go out onto the "floor"...I felt like Marilyn Monroe! There's air coming up from the grates in the ground, even before the ride starts! So refreshing.


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I was too busy looking and experiencing and taking pictures to realize that people were grabbing up the big balls. In fact I didn't even realize it on that ride! It was later on that I saw people grabbing them so they could throw them at people once the ride started. (not sure the balls will be on the ride forever and ever...)

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It was a fun ride, though frustrating. Just like any bumper car, I suppose.


Moved on!


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Since boy-o is 8, and since he had flown "all by himself" on one of our flights (reminder...he was one row behind me), it was time for our first single rider line! I believe the stated time was 40 minutes, but we started the line before the sign.


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Sneak peak at the finish line
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We were in between a family of adults (I told them they should join up, but they were fine the way they were; two had gotten to the line after we had, and they were fine staying like that) that were all very nice. We were so close to the seating CM, when...ride breakdown. We waited somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes. I am trying to not exaggerate, but I have a feeling I'm *under* estimating. It was good, though, because it gave us time to talk about exiting the ride; where to go, where to stop, where to not go *past*, that sort of thing.

I felt bad for the people sitting in the cars while they worked to get the ride started again!

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It was definitely idle time!
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Looking around from where we were waiting...

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At last the ride was back up and moving and were to the CM! It ended up with E being in a car with two of the people we had waited with, so it was like he was with friends anyway.

My last shot before the ride started...

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And then on the way back in.

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Finding Eamon!
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Finding me! (I'm in the front row, hair pulled back, glasses)

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Great ride!!!!!!!!!!!
 
The guy in the background of the Garage in a Mirage shot...totally looks like Steven Colbert, yes?
 
I loved the wave water thingie, if you guys know what I'm talking about. But this is pretty.


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At that point, we wanted breakfast. And Eamon wanted Mickey pancakes. So we walked (with purpose) over to Disneyland and to RiverBelle Terrace.

As anyone who has gotten those pancakes there knows, they use a maraschino cherry and some sort of raisin or currant, and pineapple for facial features. E likes the pineapple, but knows there are ingredient oddities with maraschinos, and the currants/whatever freak him out, so most of the fruit isn't eaten by him. He really really does not want to deal with those fruits, so this time he asked me to actually cut out the pancake parts that were sullied. (this isn't just pickiness, it's nervousness about the ingredients in these things, especially the cherry, so I'm cool with it)

Well, this results in Zombie Mickey....


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Alternatively called Angry Bat.



As usual, there was much wandering around. :) I know the usual suspects would be Pirates & Pooh. E clamored for Splash and I clamored for Haunted Mansion. Neither of us was successful with our clamoring. Big Thunder was ridden at some point.

But the fun attraction for us, as always (when we're there at the right time), are the Canoes! (obviously I didn't take this shot while paddling)

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Remember that gritting your teeth in anger looks just the same as a big smile, from far away! (thank you, canoes guide, for that tidbit)



I would never eat these (omg the sugar rush), but they are fun to look at!

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It's duckling season!

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While refilling water at Zocalo:

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Wandered all the way back behind Big Thunder. Ew, the petting zoo area stinks when it's hot. Came out into Fantasyland, and could not get the actual shocking RED color of these flowers to translate to the camera!

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I think there was Toad and possibly Alice (though that seems unlikely), but I *needed* a hat. The cotton hat I bought at WDW is adorable, but when I started sweating it's just disgusting and embarrassing! Might as well just dump water on the cap and be done with it (actually that probably would have been wonderful). So I wanted a "technical" fabric hat. And I found one, the white one with a pink D (that apparently looks gold from a distance...Robert saw it as gold twice, which is odd).

Eamon, however, got distracted.

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Don't look now, but a whale is eating the tourists!

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What a job!

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He still loves the Carrousel, which I think is nice. I rode it too (unusual for me), so no picture!


Oh, wait. One picture.

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The ONLY thing I'm going to say about this picture is....did anyone else enjoy watching the Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg digital shorts on Saturday Night Live? If so, this is for you.



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For the rest of you...yeah, uh, cute plush, eh? Nothing odd or funny about it at all. :cool2:
 
The ONLY thing I'm going to say about this picture is....did anyone else enjoy watching the Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg digital shorts on Saturday Night Live? If so, this is for you.



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For the rest of you...yeah, uh, cute plush, eh? Nothing odd or funny about it at all. :cool2:

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:lmao:
 
Wow! Great update! The Luigi ride doesn't look like something that interests me but I do want to ride the racers.


The fountain is beautiful!


Love zombie Mickey!:rotfl:


I believe that red plant is a lipstick plant, and I can just imagine the color. We used to have them in our yard. I love the Disney gardens.
 
That man does sort of look like Stephen Colbert.

I agree about the apples - I wouldn't eat them. I never eat them. I only eat regular, non-caramel, non-candied apples. But the ones at DLR are practically works of art, which only get more creative and more interesting with each passing year so I love looking at them.

The bed of red flowers is just stunning. If I recall correctly, those same types of flowers are the ones that were in a vibrant flower bed in Town Square when I was at DLR in June for Cars Land - except those were almost rainbow-colored flowers, and yours are straight crimson.

I love your Cars Land pictures - you got quite a few shots and saw a few things that I didn't see in June, because you actually went on the rides (whereas I did not) and got to enjoy the queues!

I loved almost all of the Digital Shorts Andy Samberg did (in fact, I don't know what SNL is going to do, now that it has lost both Kristin Wiig and Andy Samberg), and I know what you are getting at. So I will just say...no comment.;);)

You know, seeing your Mickey pancake zombie picture and reading KCmike's comments about River Belle Terrace reminds me that I really should eat at RBT for breakfast more often. (I ate there for lunch in October, but it wasn't the same thing!) I've thought about RBT on recent trips, like when I've been solo, and have just not made it over there. But eating at RBT is one of the most vivid memories for me of my early Disneyland-going years, as a young'un. We would always, always start the day by eating there - and the strong smell of pancakes and syrup would hit me when we walked in the door.

I looked forward to those Mickey pancakes all year as a kid - and back in the days of old, RBT offered the option of getting a big brick of ice cream plunked down on the pancake as well (something they haven't done for ages and ages), so that it would seamlessly melt in with the syrup. Oh it was a pure heart attack on a plate, but wow...a big brick of ice cream on a Mickey Mouse pancake, sprinkled with powdered sugar - with bits of fruit for facial features - has got to be one of the best breakfasts EVER!:rotfl2:
 
Glad that birthday Mickey is gettin' some appreciation. I nearly fell on the floor laughing when I saw it, and that is NOT the kind of thing one can explain to the 8 year old wondering what just happened!


Lipstick plants? Fun name, and very accurate!


Sherry, they used to put ice cream on them? Wow! We realized this time that the butter is sweetened, so they seem to be working our way back towards ice cream on pancakes, but in the form of butter, LOL. We don't even use the syrup, and it's all just SO sweet. But we usually (and did this time too) get the potatoes and eggs platter (Mark Twain?), so the eggs help with the sugar. Alas I really disliked the eggs this time, but that gave more to Eamon. The potatoes were ridiculously tasty, so that made up for the eggs. :)

I don't know what SNL is going to do, either. (did Sudeikis leave, too? what will I do without his dimples? and his sports announcing with horrible product placements at women's events?) Then again, I've felt that way before, but I have just about always loved SNL. (though frankly I was getting tired of the one expression Wiig was making for every character)
 
I'm always excited by a new cast on SNL. It means there is a whole new batch of funny and talented people out there for us to watch.
 

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