Katherine's 11th Birthday Dapper Day trip with Club 33!!!

Funny photos of Victoria on Space - almost identical shots! And LOVING those BTMRR shots, especially out the front of the train and the goat!

 

May I ask how you were able to go to Club 33 without being a member? You mentioned a host and I am assuming it was a friend who had a membership? Thanks for any tips and advice on this. I have been once but before the refurb and it was a work related dinner which they set up a special option through someone at Disney, not sure who but the person who did is no longer with the company.

 

Well, Katherine just presses the button, gives our party information, and they let us in.

Over the course of the past 6 years I've had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of several members. Two of those members have been kind enough to make reservations for the club upon my behalf, or accompany me in when they are visiting. I've been truly blessed to meet such generous individuals.

Ask everybody you know. You never know who might know someone who knows someone.

 

On the west side of the park and it being now 9AM, we were feeling our usual morning hunger. To New Orleans Square it is for our usual. On the way, we took a glimpse up at where we had dined, wondering when if ever we will be back.





Mickey Beignets... Oh how I wish they would serve something a little bit more in line with what Ralph Brennan's serves, but alas, the Mickey beignets are our usual Disneyland morning treat.



Katherine looking way too grown up.



Tori LOVES that Marie!!



Powdered sugar... everywhere..



What next? Why MaxPassing Haunted Mansion Holiday.



Bows... bows everywhere!!!







Love this chandelier.



The HMH stained glass are cool, but I'm a stretching portrait purist.



Scary Teddy trying to scare us with a spider on a pole!!



One of my favorite sections of the overlay.







Scary Teddy at it again... with a hammer.



Man... I'm botching all these gingerbread shots. I need to give myself a tutorial on shooting through the railing apparently.



The creepy tree is awesome as always.



And the Monkey Bride!!! Hidden way in back off to the left.



Great portrait of Jack and Zero



This was a bit hard to get... gotta go ultra-wide and then the two hats are hiding in the periphery. Hat box is collecting hats... Oogie Boogie's AND Santa's..



LOVE the snowflake projections on the scrim!!



Jack welcoming us to the graveyard.



Sally longingly staring at Jack. Such a great addition.





All for of the grim grinning ghosts are often hard to get. I especially love how the bowler hat protrudes from the jack-o-lantern.



This shot just has so much awesome going on.



One of the creepiest of all the 999 happy haunts... he doesn't look too happy though.



Went wide to get the whole crypt crew.



Love this guy bricking himself up.



Oogie looking great.



Got a good shot of both the pop-up and projection in one shot.

 

Given it was time to do a non-MaxPass attraction, we hopped in queue for Pirates and while we waited... planned our next MaxPass which would be ready when we finished our trip down the Spanish Main.



Just love the bayou..



I always get goose bumps after the first drop... the roots of the trees above protruding into the underworld..



The skull and crossbones projection was a nice touch.



Queen takes knight..



Where I normally go long with closely cropped pics of the Captain, this trip was all about going wiiiide.



The ship rigging isn't something I really paid much attention to previously.







There is sooo much going on in the treasure cave.







OK, this didn't turn out, but I snap a few shutters at the noose on every time through the attraction. Absent a complete halt of the boat, I'm not sure how to ever get a decent exposure here.



Yet another wide shot on an iconic scene





And now I pay homage to the Red Head!!! This classic scene will be ruined by idiotic management by my next trip.









There's a lot of chickens in this attraction..



The whole town is on fire!!



That dog is NEVER going to move.



This collapsing timber portion used to frighten me in my youth.



This is the weenie that pulls the people waiting in the queue in.



Love the rustic pier which is Lafite's Landing.

 

At 10:10, it was time for the older girls and I to enter the Indy queue using our MaxPass. This installment will be as much about the queue as the attraction itself. This is HANDS DOWN the best queue in all of the DLR, and quite possibly with the exception of Pirates in Disneyland Paris, one of the best queues in ANY Disney park.

Since we bypass the outside queue with Fastpass, I'll save that for the end and we'll start off after being rushed through the first half of the queue till we find ourselves in the Mara Rotunda. This room is AMAZING. SO much to take in, so many little details. I just love it.



And as all older sisters do, Katherine is being less than nice to her younger sister.



The painting on top of the cap stone is so cool, but so hard to photograph.



Unfortunately a fair amount of the interactive elements of this queue (the active ones, not the passive ones) are usually not working, but this one is pretty much always functional. Katherine just LOVES ignoring rules...



I'm that annoying guy who's always looking up, back, around corners, weird angles, etc. How many people miss the awesome bamboo scaffolding in the projection room?



The Mara tablets. The passive interaction (deciphering the Mara script) is a fun past time and even better than the Celestial script in GOTG.

The left tablet states: THE OBSERVATORY OF THE FUTURE - BEHOLD THE AMULET OF MARA AND YOU SHALL SEE VISIONS OF THE FUTURE BUT BEWARE THE EYES OF MARA

The middle tablet states: THE CHAMBER OF EARTHLY RICHES - WEALTH BEYOND YOUR WILDEST IMAGINATION LIES WITHIN AND IS YOURS FOR THE TAKING BUT BEWARE THE EYES OF MARA

The right tablet states: THE FOUNTAIN OF ETERNAL YOUTH - ONE SIP FROM THE ETERNAL SPRING SHALL RENEW VIGOR AND YOUTHFUL SPIRIT BUT BEWARE THE EYES OF MARA



Here we have something of a continuity riddle... Nang Tao (not Toa) Airport was the airport Indy, Short Round, and Willie fled to after leaving Club Obi Wan in Temple of Doom, however the number 9906753 was the number of the crate which housed the Ark of the Covenant from Raiders. Temple of Doom occurred one year prior (1935) to the events which occurred in Raiders (1936). We know the crate was still at area 51 in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (1957) so while I appreciate the references from the film, a little bit of additional thought would have been appreciated for a mega-fan like myself when lacing the queue with Easter eggs.



So this is pretty neat. A carving depicting all three of the treasures, the Observatory of the Future, the Chamber of Earthly Riches, and the Fountain of Eternal Youth.



Just some relics and bits of kit.



This loading area is so amazing. It is BEYOND immersive.



I've never noticed the control room before.



I've never heard the backstory/had this explained, but I assume they are covering the eyes of any "Mara" they find and they are intending to use the mirrors in an attempt to NOT look into the eyes directly?



While switching the rooms via projection is easier, I much preferred the previous practical effect that didn't always have you taking the middle door. Nowadays, you ALWAYS take the middle door... the door just changes to a different of the three treasures... it's just not the same. Honestly, that effect could NOT Have been difficult to properly maintain and operate. It frustrates me.



Main Mara projections are pretty decent.



The lightening effects are still pretty good..





I wish they had figured how to maintain the falling ceiling where Mara's energy beams hits the ceiling.



Who's driving that other troop transport? They are coming right at us!!



Everybody has heard of the Backside of Water. I give you... the Backside of Mara!!



This is honestly the best indoor attraction theming ever. It's so realistic and amazing in every way!! I've never seen better lava.



So.... on the way OUT they tell you about what you might face if you glance Mara's direction. BEWARE THE EYE OF MARA. ONE LOOK WILL LEAD THROUGH THE TUNNEL OF TORMENT TO THE GATES OF DOOM. Snakes... Undead Warriors...Beetles!! Sheesh..wish I had known this on the way IN.



Appreciating the rotunda on the way out of the queue.



One of these days I need to go by myself and take my time going through the queue letting others pass getting some good shots of all the warnings sprinkled throughout the queue you get rushed through.



Its a real shame you never get to spend any time in the outdoor lower queue. The sun dappling through the jungle canopy just themes the queue so darn well. My hat goes off to whomever designed this queue and attraction.



The supposed truck from Raiders which housed the Ark as they fled Cairo. Its not but they did a good job making it appear to be. Also... continuity...(Actions in the Temple of the Forbidden Eye take place in 1935 which is pre-Raiders).

 

After the kids and I got back to the Bazaar, Amy took them back for a second round and I took Vic. Agreed to meet them over in Fantasyland for Alice. Vic was NOT happy being stuck with father.. I decided to head that way via Big Thunder Trail to check out the new entrances to SWL. On the way I JUST MISSED the band playing from the second floor of the Golden Horseshoe



Here's the first entrance... you actually venture under the train trestle here and they have a cool little Post office off to your right.





On the next entrance, they have a Wilderness Expeditions and Delivery Stage Coach.



Love the little plaque. Going to have to get one made up for myself.



This is the face of a 5-year-old stuck with Father. It reminds me of that show Dinosaurs. The baby was always saying "Not the mama!"







Amy and the girls caught up to us while we were still at the back of the queue, so we were all able to take a spin together.





WHO...R....U....???



Now you see me...



Now you don't..



The addition of the Painting the Roses Red part of the attraction with the projection of the splattering paint is GENIUS.



Just be glad you aren't a flamingo..



Would be cool to go as an Alice Halloween Party. Amy could be the Queen, Char could be Alice, Katherine would be Cheshire cat, and Vic could be the White Rabbit. I would of course be the Queen's Executioner...



Love the tea garden.

 

I LOVE your photos. I was inspired to take my Canon Rebel with me on our latest trip. My photos didn't turn out half as good as yours, but I got some decent shots here and there.

Earlier, you mentioned:

What is this 21 Royal you speak of? And happy pre-birthday! My, and my kids' are all in October, and my youngest just turned 11 this past October, so I feel your conflict - she needs to stay my baby, and stop growing up so fast.... until she does something annoying, in which case, just get over that part! LOL

 

Thanks! I love taking the pics, helps me remember the trips.

Exclusive 10-course dining experience for you and 11 of your closest friends. A mere $15k and you get that a bartender in the patio of the dream suite, your roaming of the suite between courses, that 10-course meal, and watching Fantasmic from the dream suite balcony.

 

Enjoyed all your updates! I hate missing out and having to comment at the end of a bunch, because I can never remember all the things I want to comment on, but my life is not organized enough minute-to-minute that I'm any good at going back through or making reminders of the things I want to say... ;-)
Amazing pictures, as always! I remember I loved your Space Mountain family pics - those are great! I'd love to do a 7 AM MM or EMH someday, but it would almost have to be a solo trip. Even with the time change, it would be rough getting my whole crew there in time. The grumpy 5-year-old is hilarious. Thanks for all the fun detail shots so we can all appreciate them, too! There is so much to see, and so much going on, I often miss out on the details!

 

So we just need to get 10 more people together, at the same time, with $1250 plus tip (USD for those of us who get to pay an extra 30%), and we can do this!? I'm in.

 

I've been remiss in getting this TR moved along due to hectic work/life.

Thanks! I really love attraction photos. I'm waiting for them to install one on BTMRR.

It's doable. With everything in life, you just have to practice/prep.

All my girls are momma's girls. Irritating.

That's the one thing about me. While I love the big picture, what I really love is all the little details.

I'm totally down. $2500 for me since I'm bringing two. Gratuity BETTER be included at that price. Let's get a group together and do it!!

 

Just wanted to say I'm happy to see you back and writing again. I understand about life getting crazy, but I missed the updates1

 

Once this trip report is done, I have one in progress to finish up from Summer of 2016, my 10-day trip from 2015 and my 2015 Christmast solo trip. And.... my upcoming trip is going to be crazy, so that will be a herculean effort. So much to balance.

 

Being in the North East portion of the park, we decided to take a walk up to Toon Town to get some of the attractions there in. First stop... Minnie's House. Vic was beside herself.

She REALLY wanted this mailbox. I kept telling her that we live in an older neighborhood and that all the mailboxes are on the house, not out by the curb.



Having the Christmas tree up in the front yard was a great treat.





Its almost as if they like each other.





Of course Vic had to try out EVERY piece of furniture.





And she LOVES that darn Marie we bought her to death.



My heart skipped a beat here. I was hoping the Incredible VicHulk didn't just rip that thing off the floor. She's a BRUTE.



Katherine can look so poised and proper sometimes. (cameo photobomb courtesy of the top half of Vic's head)



I LOVE all the little details in both Minnie and Mickey's houses. Loved these bookends. So clever.





It was makeup time.







Meanwhile, Katherine was hacking into her computer. Obviously she's checking out Scrooge McDuck's profile.



As much as the common area and dressing area are awesome, the kitchen is where the mega-magic resides.

Vic checking out the cookies



Loved all the little notes pinned to Minnie's Fridge.









I think Minnie may have be a cheeseaholic. We many need an intervention.



I'm embarrassed to say I have ZERO clue as to the significance of this little green... thing. If anybody knows, please chime in.



More clever items on her shelves.



Vic was on cloud nine. She was pointing to everything saying I want that and that and that. I also was told that I WILL be repainting her play kitchen to match Minnie's and that I needed to take pictures of the cabinets for reference.



Also not quite getting the reference to Disney here. What does an actual book about the life of Elvis have to do with Disneyland or Mickey. There has to be one though. Anybody know?



Just more of all the great details..



For those who haven't been, the oven bakes a cake, and the dishwasher washes the dishes. So cool for the kiddos to play with.





My blender needs these settings. LOL at "MUCH TOO HIGH"



And finally we got to meet Minnie. To say Vic loves her is an understatement

[VIDEO]







A few pics outside while we waited to meet some of our Disney friends!!!

 

I love the Christmas tree in the front yard! We never did go into Minnie's house in Toontown on our visit last November, since we met Mickey outside his house, but not Minnie. Those are so fun to check out! I know some people couldn't care less about Toontown, but I will be really sad if they ever get rid of it!
I remember the other thing I was going to say - I have the same purple Mickey head shirt as Amy. Did she get it at the outlet at Mills mall, or actually at Disneyland?

 

Agree. I wish it had more shade (easily remedied with some trees), but it is full of so many details/interactive things. Such a good time.

The Disney outlet down at AZ Mills.