Halloween at Disneyland 2017 Part 3

By Nick

Halloween at Disneyland Part 3 
Sunday, October 29th

Part 1 can be found here, and Part 2 here.

Caution: The following installment contains SPOILERS for the new Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout! attraction at Disney's California Adventure. 

 
Up at 3am. Yep. 3. A. M.

And the headache I had!

It was awful. I looked through all our luggage for headache medication, but, despite over-packing and bringing an entire apothecarie's worth of medication with me, I found no headache remedies. I tried to go back to sleep, but after an hour I gave up and decided to go to the front desk.

The following really happened. I kid you not.

There was one Cast Member (CM) at the front desk. And one guest. I have no idea what this one guest was asking for, but the CM went “backstage” several times during this episode. After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably actually only 10 minutes, I finally asked the guest if I could possibly just ask the cast member for an aspirin or ibuprofen when she returned.
He said “Sure. Late party night?” Or something to that affect, to which I replied “No, I didn’t drink at all. I’m jet-lagged, we flew in from New Jersey yesterday.” To which he replied, “I’m jet lagged too.” “Where did you fly in from?” I asked. “San Francisco.” Before I could say “So you’re tired, because San Francisco is in the same time zone, you realize?” The CM came back out and I asked if I could possibly get something for my (now worse) headache. She explained they couldn’t provide me with medication, but a CM could open the store for me and I could purchase some. Then she asked if I was a guest at the resort. 
I was in my pajama pants and slippers. “Yes.” I moaned, holding my head hoping it wouldn’t explode.
A nice young lady came out and escorted me across the lobby to the shop. She said a guard would be along any moment to unlock it. She asked me what was wrong. “Very bad headache." I said.  "I'm very jet-lagged and can’t sleep, because I am normally awake at this time. In New Jersey it is after 7 o'clock.”
To which she very earnestly asked... “P.M.?”
The security guard arrived as I said, "No, A.M." and I bought Advil which I immediately took upon returning to the room. I lay in bed for another hour, and the headache gradually faded. I gave up trying to get back to sleep, got a shower, and after Barbie took hers, we headed to Starbucks in Downtown Disney.

It was Magic Morning, or Extra Magic Hour (EMH) at Disney’s California Adventure (DCA), I guess what it's called is dependent on the media you use to enter an hour early. EMH at Disneyland Resort (DLR) works differently than at Walt Disney World (WDW), where you get 1 Magic Morning per visit if staying at an on site property. You also get 1 with certain passes.
We used our 4 day park hopper for this visit.

We queued up at 6:30, among the first in line.

Immediately upon opening we headed for Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout, along with a majority of the early risers, and walked right on. (SPOILERS AHEAD)

I had no preconceived expectations as I avoided all videos.

I was blown away from the moment I entered the building, it had so many references to the Marvel Cinematic Universe!

And then there is the ride itself!
The premise is the Collector has added the Guardians of the Galaxy to his collection, but Rocket escapes, and needs us to assist in the rescue of the rest of the Guardians.

As soon as we entered what used to be the old Tower of Terror library, now the Collectors private office, until the end of the ride, you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face! Rocket was THERE! ROCKET!

And Starlord’s Sony Walkman.

 The whole gang appears in the ride. And there are, from what I am told, 6 different songs from the soundtrack, with different scenes for each version! And about 40 drops (slight exaggeration) and tons of air time, lasting up to 40 seconds (maybe more exaggeration)! I didn’t want it too end!

We immediately rode it again and got a different song.

And then rode it again!

LOVE this attraction. If you are a fan of Guardians of the Galaxy, or just a fan of FUN, this is a MUST!
In fact, (and this time I’m not exaggerating) this ride alone was worth the trip to Disneyland Resort!

Whew! After a bumpy and very early start to the day, things are looking up. And down. Get it? Cause it's a drop ride. 
Anyway, please stop back soon for Part 4, as Sunday 10/29 continues!

Halloween at Disneyland 2017 Part 2

By Nick

Halloween at Disneyland 2017 Part 2
Sat. Oct. 28th, continued

Part 1 can be found here.

Following the hour long production of Frozen at the Hyperion Theater at Disney's California Adventure (DCA) we walked back to Cars Land to take in the neon and Halloween lights...

...and then made our way over to Disneyland, where we planned to catch the 9:30 fireworks.

My wife Barbie, me, and our friend Nicole

Being as it was an absolutely gorgeous Saturday night, and the last weekend before Halloween, and this is a locals park, it was absolutely jammed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen lines for photos and food like the ones I’ve seen here! It's sort of hard to see in the photo below, but there seemed to be a half hour line to get pictures in front of the Partners Statue of Walt and Mickey!

In case you’re wondering what that is on top of Sleeping Beauty Castle, it’s snow. Yep. More on that on a future installment.

We made our way to New Orleans Square where we planned on waiting in the relatively short 45 minute line for Pirates of the Caribbean, (Haunted Mansion was 100 minutes) and arrived just as Cast Members were telling guests it was down. So we thought we’d go and get beignets and mint juleps at the Mint Julep Bar.

That line seemed longer than the Haunted Mansion line!

Hop on the Disneyland Railroad? The crowd to get on that was 10 people deep.

Ooookay. We were tired, jet-lagged, and getting crankier by the moment. We made an executive decision to skip the fireworks.

We meandered through the New Orleans Square shops, checking out the decorations as we made our way out.

As we passed Pirates I noticed a stream of people walking through the queue quickly. It was opened, and uncrowded! We got on in 10 minutes, thus salvaging what had been a pretty rough evening!
In case you are unaware, Pirates in Disneyland is longer than in Walt Disney World (WDW) with several more scenes.

After getting back to DCA, we headed to the Cozy Cone for snacks, picking up a couple of Halloween themed Macaroons, with marshmallow stuffing and candy corns. It was good, especially if you like sugar. Pure sugar.

Barbie and I were crashing fast, so we said goodnight to Nicole and turned in for the night.

Stop back Friday for Part 3!

To hear me discuss this vacation, please check out The Disney Exchange Podcast Episode 152!

Nick at Disneyland - Episode 152 of The Disney Exchange Podcast

The Disney Exchange is Lisa, Dave and me, Nick 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download  

Lisa checks in from a Dream. The Disney Dream Cruise Ship! She tries to take over the show, but I shut that down! Why?!

Because this show is about ME! More specifically, my recent trip to Disneyland!

Lisa asks all the right questions, while, apparently, Dave was playing on his phone, or napping, or both.

We met Groot!

I talk extensively about my new favorite Disney attraction, Guardians of the Galaxy- Mission: Breakout!

My favorite meal!

Mr. Toad.

One thing I forgot to mention was lunch with friends Amy and Matt and their wonderful children at Trader Sams! Hi Amy and Matt!

The Wheel of Distiny topic this week: Have you seen Thor: Ragnarok?
Only one of us have seen it, guess who! She (need another clue?) asks our listeners for their thoughts on it!

Please reach out with show suggestions, comment on the show, tell me how great I am we are, submit Wheel of Distiny topics, or request a listener number on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedisneyexchange, Twitter: https://twitter.com/disneyexchange  

If you would be so kind as to leave us a 5 star review on any of the social media sites, such as Facebook or iTunes, we’d really appreciate it. Thank you!

Halloween at Disneyland 2017 Part 1

By Nick


Halloween at Disneyland 2017
Sat. Oct. 28th Part 1 

My wife Barbie and I flew in from Philadelphia with a plane change in Vegas. That is a loooong flight, but we had our friend Nicole picking us up at the Long Beach Airport to look forward to at least.

Nicole dropped us off at the front of The Grand Californian and went to find parking while we checked in.

I’d requested a high floor in the block of rooms I knew faced the Paradise Pier section of Disney’s California Adventure (DCA). Of course room selections are not guaranteed. And, indeed, we did not get our request. In fact it was about as far away from the request as possible, a view of a mound of dirt with some shrubbery on the 1st floor. Ah well, we were fortunate enough to have the themepark view twice in the past, so it was someone else’s turn.

At least our room was ready, which is always a plus, so we dropped off our bags and headed to DCA, meeting back up with Nicole in Cars Land.

 Barbie, me, and Nicole

This area was all decked out for Halloween for the first time since it opened, and it was awesome. Luigi’s and Mater’s ride even had Halloween themed music substituting the regular songs! 

 

 

After getting some photos we headed back to Radiator Springs Racers and only waited about 10 minutes in the single rider line. Nicole and I wound up in the same car with Barbie getting a car almost immediately after.

Because Nicole is an Annual Pass Holder we were able to get some fun pictures of us posing with some of the decorations.

We had a so-so dinner at Flo's, traditionally our go-to spot (on our last trip we had 5 meals here). The pot pie was heavy on rosemary, a spice which made it’s presence known REPEATedly throughout the evening.

After dinner we walked through the Animation Academy before making our way to the Hyperion Theater for the live Frozen show, which was absolutely terrific. The performers were tremendously talented, and the staging amazing.

Please stop back Monday for Part 2, when we leave DCA and head over to an overwhelmingly crowded Disneyland!

The 2017 Vacation That Never Was

By Shendl Rewitszky

The 2017 Vacation that never was… 

I had planned and planned for this vacation and I had felt strangely unexcited about its arrival, which for me is very unusual, as I only get to WDW very rarely! I just had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that something was going to happen to affect this vacation…… and boy was I right…Enter HURRICANE IRMA!

The week before I was due to fly from South Africa to Orlando, a Hurricane named Irma made her appearance in the Atlantic Ocean on a path to Florida. I watched and watched the path all the time knowing that there was nothing I could do until I had the advisories from Disney and my airline.
I phoned Emirates twice on Thursday 7th September to find out if they were cancelling flights as by this time Irma was headed directly into Florida, they said they had not heard anything from Orlando International Airport so we accepted that we would be going. Thursday night at Midnight, I receive an email telling me that my flights have been cancelled and to call the booking office to find out more.  Early Friday Morning I phoned Emirates and they said we can definitely arrive on the 12th September instead of the 10th September as originally booked. (I still had a feeling in my stomach at this point).
We take our dogs to the kennels, arrange that the housesitter must still arrive and fly to Cape Town where my sister lives. Our first plan was to spend one night with her and then board our flight, but Irma forced all that to change. We had to spend 3 nights in Cape Town and find inexpensive things to occupy our time, All the time watching the facebook updates on Irma from the weather page I found to follow.
Sunday evening while I am packing our luggage and making sure I have everything, I get an email from Emirates, telling me that our flights have been cancelled again! At this point, I was just ready to go HOME! I could change my flights again but there was no assurance that we would get there on the 13th September, so we asked them for a refund and contacted my awesome Disney Travel Pixie to sort out our booking with Disney. 

We ended up rescheduling from Sept 2017 to Nov 2018. I was not taking the chance with Hurricane season again. I am very glad that we did not go this time though….we had a family bereavement on 17th Sept and I was just so thankful that we were not overseas when it happened. That would have been dreadful and would have ruined our vacation further.
I now get to plan for a different season and I get to show my Husband the Christmas Decorations for the first time.
I guess things always work out in the end and it just shows you that they Always Happen for a Reason!

Thanksgiving Dinner at Walt Disney World - Episode 151 of The Disney Exchange Podcast

The Disney Exchange is Lisa, Dave, and me, Nick

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Dear listeners, this show has a major flaw for which I apologize. The flaw being I am not in it.

Lisa and David talk about this list of places to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner at Walt Disney World.

Yes, I took this photo. The bag is from our recent (2 days ago as of the recording of this show) and the Spam is... well, don't ask.

The Wheel of Distiny topic is from listener and friend of the show, Gaylin : What is the most expensive thing or experience you've had at Walt Disney World?

 Please reach out with show suggestions, comment on the show, tell me how great I am we are, submit Wheel of Distiny topics, or request a listener number on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedisneyexchange, Twitter: https://twitter.com/disneyexchange  

If you would be so kind as to leave us a 5 star review on any of the social media sites, such as Facebook or iTunes, we’d really appreciate it. Thank you!

Changes Through the Years at Walt Disney World - Episode 150 of The Disney Exchange Podcast

The Disney Exchange is Lisa, Dave, and me, Nick

Podcast: Play in new window | Download 

After news we get into our main topic, submitted by listener Paul.

Paul asks how our experiences at Walt Disney World have changed over the years, accounting for crowds, cost, demeanor of other guests, etc., are things improving, deteriorating or about the same?

The Wheel of Distiny topic: Disneyland is building a new resort. Do you think there will be a DVC section announced? 

Please reach out with show suggestions, comment on the show, tell me how great I am we are, submit Wheel of Distiny topics, or request a listener number on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedisneyexchange, Twitter: https://twitter.com/disneyexchange  

If you would be so kind as to leave us a 5 star review on any of the social media sites, such as Facebook or iTunes, we’d really appreciate it. Thank you

Is That Ride Worth the Wait at Walt Disney World? - Episode 149 of The Disney Exhange Podcast

The Disney Exchange is Lisa, Dave and me, Nick

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This week we'd like to thank the Podfather himself, Curt Stone of the Geekin' on WDW Podcast, which recently celebrated it's 200th episode!

Lisa is on Episode 201, so please check it out:

http://geekinonwdw.com/super-geek-roundtable-with-4-of-our-very-first-guests-and-our-wdw-favorites-ep-201/

This leads into our main topic, a discussion of this list of the attractions at Walt Disney World that are a waste of time per The Culture Cheat Sheet and our opinions of the validity of the listed rides.

Stitch's Great Escape

Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress
Prince Charming's Regal Carousel
Primeval Whirl
Swiss Family Treehouse
Journey Into Imagination with Figment
Magic Carpets of Aladdin
Gran Fiesta Tour starring the Three Caballeros
TriceraTop Spin
Tomorrowland Speedway

The Wheel of Distiny topic this week: What is your opinion of Disney allowing guests to bring their dogs to stay at several Walt Disney World resorts?

Does anyone actually read this next bit? Or any of this? Please, let me know I'm not wasting my time!

Please reach out with show suggestions, comment on the show, tell me how great I am we are, submit Wheel of Distiny topics, or request a listener number on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedisneyexchange, Twitter: https://twitter.com/disneyexchange  

If you would be so kind as to leave us a 5 star review on any of the social media sites, such as Facebook or iTunes, we’d really appreciate it. Thank you!

Catching Up - Episode 148 of The Disney Exchange Podcast

The Disney Exchange is Lisa, Dave, and me Nick

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

It's the first show we've done together in several weeks.

We did several pre-recorded shows to accommodate Dave's moving to Texas. And Dave discusses his new Texas surroundings, as well as the differences in a Six Flags to a Disney park.

We talk DVC Annual Passes and my experience with renewals.

Lisa and I talk about upcoming Disney trips and we thank our listener(s?).

I ask an opinion on Star Wars Galactic Nights at Disney's Hollywood Studios. 

We hope everyone who was affected by the natural disasters that have been afflicting the United States are safe.

Moana Tiki Room overlay coming? We shall see!

Prices at Disney keep going up. FYI.

The Wheel of Distiny topic this week: Did you see the new Star Wars The Last Jedi trailer?!

Please reach out with show suggestions, comment on the show, tell me how great I am we are, submit Wheel of Distiny topics, or request a listener number on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedisneyexchange, Twitter: https://twitter.com/disneyexchange  

If you would be so kind as to leave us a 5 star review on any of the social media sites, such as Facebook or iTunes, we’d really appreciate it. Thank you!

Epcot Table Service Restaurant Roundup - Episode 147 of The Disney Exchange Podcast

The Disney Exchange is Lisa, Dave and me, Nick 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download  

Before I begin, I would like to say sorry for being rough on Lisa in last week's show notes. Please forgive me Lisa?

We jump right into our main topic this week, and as the title implies, we are talking Table Service at Epcot. More specifically, we share our experiences and thoughts on the dining all around the park. 

The show is dominated by me. You are welcome.

You can check out our roundup on the Quick Service at Epcot here: http://disneymusings.blogspot.com/2017/09/epcot-quick-serve-restaurant-roundup.html

The Wheel of Distiny topic: How do you stay hydrated while at the parks? 

Please reach out with show suggestions, comment on the show, tell me how great I am we are, submit Wheel of Distiny topics, or request a listener number on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedisneyexchange, Twitter: https://twitter.com/disneyexchange  

If you would be so kind as to leave us a 5 star review on any of the social media sites, such as Facebook or iTunes, we’d really appreciate it. Thank you!