Coast-to-Coast Disney 2011 Trip Report: Mme. & M. Bricker's Zany Holiday

WDWFigment · Jul 11, 2011

As we headed back out of Toontown, we noticed that the Teacups had no wait. I wanted to try out my shot idea from the previous day with Sarah, who is decidedly more photogenic than me, and she was a good sport, so we gave it a whirl. The few minutes for the photo (top, below) were well worth it, as the Orange County Register published it, and Popular Photography magazine inquired about publishing it.

Even though it was early, I had been up since early morning, and Sarah is never one to pass up pizza, so we headed over to Pizza Port. Pizza Port is okay, but it’s one place I will readily concede is not that great of Disney Quick Service. I have no clue why we didn’t go to the Village Haus with its new menu, but for whatever reason, we forgot.

The pizza was okay, but it wasn’t really anything special. Next time we’re in Disneyland and get a hankering for pizza, luckily the new DCA Paradise Pier Pizza & Pasta restaurant will be an option. From what we’ve heard, it’s quite a great option!

We didn’t know what to hit next, so we decided to head over to Adventureland to hit some of the classic attractions that typically have short waits to find that Adventureland had become even more of an untraversable mess thanks to the POTC4 premier construction. Not wanting to go all the way back through Frontierland just to get to POTC, we opted for a quick climb-through of Tarzan’s Treehouse.

...

The rest of this update to come later today. As always, you can read it early here: http://www.disneytouristblog.com/disney-trip-reports/part-vii-coast-to-coast-disney-trip-report/

PolynesianPrincess · Jul 11, 2011

WDWFigment said:
When we arrived at Cinderella’s Village, we saw something hilarious. Catzilla! Apparently a stray cat had decided to take a nap in the village, and was lying amongst some of the cottages. For whatever reason, I found (and still find) this absolutely hilarious. It cracks me up just thinking about. I only wish the skipper would have played this up, ad libbing some way of explaining the cat’s enormous size to the kids aboard our ship, but I’m sure Disney wouldn’t appreciate said deviation. [/img]

No picture of the Catzilla?!?

WDWFigment · Jul 11, 2011

derelicte19 said:
No picture of the Catzilla?!?

I had my fisheye lens mounted, so it may not be visible in the shot I got. I will have to take a look when I get home.

barrettismyhero · Jul 11, 2011

WDWFigment said:
Awesome! Can’t wait to see your work with it in a trip report soon(?)

Two potential trips in the works for 2012!

WDWFigment · Jul 12, 2011

The Treehouse was okay. I’m not much of a Tarzan person, so if anything, it made me appreciate the Swiss Family Treehouse at WDW even more. The WDW version may not be my favorite attraction, but I like it better than Tarzan’s Treehouse, for whatever reason. Probably irrational nostalgia, actually.

Crowds were getting bad in Disneyland (probably mostly due to the terrible traffic flow of Adventureland, Frontierland, and New Orleans Square), so we decided to head over to DCA next.

Our first stop was the Tower of Terror, which was great as always. Not really much more to say about it. As you can tell, I’m picking up the pace of this trip report. I’ve already discussed most of the attractions and my opinions thereof, and we still have one day of DLR to report, then a full WDW trip. It would be nice to have this thing finished before October! (Luckily, I have most of the WDW portion of the report written, as I wanted to get that done while D23’s Destination D was still fresh in my mind.)

Next stop, the Toy Story zeotrope! I wasn’t allowed to stay and gawk at it in awe for quite as long as I was the previous time, but I still watched a couple of “performances.” Art of Disney, it’s time for you to start selling these bad boys. I fear the cost would far exceed my $50 budget for such a device, but the more of these there are in the world, the better of a place the world is. Seriously, key to world peace: zeotropes.

While I was gazing at this, Sarah was watching some montages in the main lobby area. These were pretty cool, but nothing overwhelming. We didn’t stick around for long in here, as the next showing of Turtle Talk with Crush was about to start, and we wouldn’t want to miss that.

Anyone who has read my Walt Disney World trip reports knows that we’re huge fans of Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor. We think it’s seriously underrated, and catches way too much flak because it uses a Pixar entity and living character technology. While I don’t like it as much as I liked Timekeeper, I still think it’s a great attraction.

This was one of the better showings of Turtle Talk we’ve seen, with some pretty cool references to Disneyland (specifically, the Nemo subs) and DCA. People can rag on these shows all they want, but we enjoy the humor and the fact that the experience is always (at least somewhat) different. While they will never surpass classics like Haunted Mansion, it’s nice to have some variety, and they are exactly that. I wouldn’t mind Disney creating a few more attractions like this, as long as it does so with a story-first, technology-second mentality. Don’t just force some story to work because you’ve got cool technology to utilize, WDI.

WDWFigment · Jul 12, 2011

We wandered through Golden State before spotting a short line for Duffy the Bear. Duffy the Bear seems to be a divisive issue amongst the fan community, but I really don’t have much of an opinion on him. Yes, he’s heavily marketed, but so is High School Musical and Cars. He seems relatively popular, and it just seems like way too much of an effort to get worked up about him. A lot of people really like him, so that’s reason-enough to justify his existence, in my mind. It’s not like he’s really hurting anything.

Next up it was time for more ice cream! I’ve lost count how many times I consumed ice cream during this trip, but I’m going to hazard a guess that it was more than I eat on all other non-Disney days of the year combined.

With ice cream in hand, our pace slowed considerably. We strolled Paradise Pier yet again, taking in the delightful ambiance. I cannot wait to return and experience Paradise Pier in all of its “Phase 1 Completed” glory, with Ariel’s Adventure and the new dining areas completed (and Goofy’s Sky School, I guess). After we finished the stroll, we headed through the Golden State, to see if Grizzly River Run had a short wait time. Given that it was a warm day in the high 80s, my expectations were not high. Sure enough, it was a 60 minute wait. We stopped in the adjacent gift shop, anyway, and I snapped some photos.

WDWFigment · Jul 12, 2011

From this point, we decided to use some FastPasses we picked up earlier for Soarin. This was probably the fifth time we had picked up FastPasses for Soarin during our two Disneyland trips, but it was the first time we ever used them! Sarah is not a huge fan of the attraction as it riles up her motion sickness, and the wait, even with FastPasses (for WDW’s version, at least) is still somewhat long.

I love Soarin, and this version did not disappoint. The queue was really cool, and the little details to convey the story of the “history” of the building (and Condor Flats in general, I suspect) were interesting. The attraction itself seemed better maintained than the Walt Disney World version (big surprise, right?!), and I didn’t constantly see specs and hairs on the film print taking me out of the experience. And that soundtrack...oh that soundtrack is something else!

WDWFigment · Jul 13, 2011

After Soarin’ we headed over to Disneyland to meet up with the Works for one ride on Space Mountain before they had to leave (our schedules hadn’t really clicked earlier in the day, so we decided to just meet for this one attraction). We had a little time to kill before the meet-up, so we grabbed FastPasses for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, headed into the Golden Horseshoe, and then took another spin aboard Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters. I don’t recall who won, but I can only assume it was me!

It was then time for another ride on Space Mountain with the Works. As we were heading up the entrance ramp, Henry pointed out some egg-looking things scattered amongst the plants. Apparently, these dinosaur-alien egg type things were scattered around during the New Tomorrowland refurbishment. I’m all for little details to give a land dimension and story, but these just seemed odd and ill-conceived. Scant information exists online about these eggs, and I really wish I would have taken photos of them now. I swear that they do exist, and I hope someone can corroborate my story so I don’t seem like one of those crazies who claims to have seen Walt’s frozen head under the Castle bridge.

Oh, did I mention what I saw below the Castle bridge the previous day...?!

After Space Mountain, I set up to take a photo of the Rocket Jets similar to one I had seen in one of the Disneyland books I have. I’m too lazy to scan the photo from the book here, but if you have the book, you should check it out. If you look closely at this photo, you’ll notice it’s actually a composite of several photos. I thought it was a pretty cool idea. Not something I’d post on Flickr as I like to post only original shot ideas there, but still cool, nonetheless.

From here we decided to head back to DCA. It was almost time for the next showing of Aladdin: the Musical, and this was not something we wanted to miss. We had seen it twice on our first trip, and we only spent one day at DCA then! Given how long it takes to see the Musical, you can probably guess that ate a significant chunk of time out of our day. Although we really enjoyed it last time, we resolved ourselves to only seeing it once this trip, despite being in Disneyland longer, as we wanted to experience as many new things as we could.

Genie, as always, was the star of the show. The way he captivates the audience is incredible. Fusing pop culture references with the story in a tasteful, albeit slightly over-the-top way, his style and delivery are perfect. All the while, the audience just eats it up, playing into everything so perfectly. Whomever “thought up” the Genie character for the Musical really deserves some high praise. Without Genie, it would just be an above-average musical, with him, it alone justifies the cost of admission to DCA.

WDWFigment · Jul 13, 2011

Evening was starting come, and we decided that now would make a good time to make a pit stop at our hotel to get some things we’d need for the evening. Right as we were arriving at Desert Inn, I got a call from Gregg Cooper, who informed me that he and Ryan Pastorino, two notable Disneyland photographers, were approaching Disneyland and wanted to meet up with us.

We met up with them, and I told the tales of my encounters with my new nemesis, and they were surprised that security had acted in such a manner. We had dinner at Rancho Del Zocalo, something we had both wanted to do for a while, as the restaurant looks gorgeous at night (although we ate a little early to see the brilliant nighttime lighting, we did still see the place during the golden hour, which was impressive).

I’m hardly a connoisseur of Mexican cuisine, but it seemed like pretty good, though somewhat tame, take on Mexican quick service cuisine. For the price and our portion size, I was quite pleased with the food, but as I said before, I’m not the best judge of whether more discerning Mexican foodies would appreciate it. My suggestion, to those folks who are “discerning” “foodies” is to not eat at a fast food place in the first place if you expect some expertly prepared cuisine.

Photo courtesy Ryan Pastorino

Disneyland was surprisingly light in crowds at this point, which I surmise was a result of it being a Sunday evening at the end of Spring Break. We were able to hit several attractions with Gregg and Ryan in record time for this time of day, as we did Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Matterhorn, Space Mountain, and Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters.

BTMRR and Matterhorn were great as we got awesome sunset views while riding, and Space and Astro Blasters were fun, well, just because they’re fun. The sunset wasn’t really applicable since they’re indoors!

At this point Ryan had to leave so he could make it back to San Diego that night, but the rest of us chugged on to hit Astro Orbiter for the sole purpose of getting some cool photos. If we were in Walt Disney World, I would say we did it for the view, too, but the Astro Orbiter out west is on the ground for some reason. I know the Observatron is serving all sorts of useful purposes doing nothing on top of the former Rocket Rods load area, but it sure would be awesome to have it up there, where it could offer stunning vistas. Plus, I think sweeping lines and a more ‘grandiose’ entrance are a plus for Tomorrowland. The moon rocks and congestion look aren’t working so great, in my opinion.

WDWFigment · Jul 13, 2011

Another update later this evening or tomorrow morning. The next update includes RDCT (again) and World of Color! If you want to read it early, visit: http://www.disneytouristblog.com/disney-trip-reports/part-viii-coast-to-coast-disney-trip-report/

todd23 · Jul 13, 2011

No, I didn’t mention how/why we managed to dine there. Unfortunately, I can’t say. Sorry.

Hope you enjoy the rest of the TR to come. I’ve already written most of it (and obviously experienced all of it!), and I think it’s pretty good!

Some mystery added to the TR! Regardless of why/how you were able to dine at Club 33, it sounds like you had a great time. We can't wait to read the rest of your trip report.

WDWFigment · Jul 14, 2011

Dusk had fallen, and it was the perfect time to do some early nighttime tripod shooting off the beaten path so we could get the shots out of the way before our good friend in security made us put the dreaded devices away after closing.

We first headed to Innoventions, only to find that it closed early. While this was bad news for our photo endeavors, it was great news for casual tourists, who were now precluded from making the grave error of accidentally stumbling into that dreaded place. Overall, even though it negatively impacted us, I’d say it was a net benefit in the horrors that it saved other innocent tourists from witnessing. Sort of like how every time a TV network chooses to air some other show instead of reruns of “the Nanny.” It stinks for the people who were a part of that show, as they don’t get any royalties that may be due to them, but it’s great news for the rest of society. Thus, overall, a win.

Our second stop was the monorail station. I pulled out my tripod and prepared to screw in my mounting plate to my camera. I usually carry two of these in case I lose one. I dug through my bag, and come to find out, I had left both in our hotel room. This was about the third time I had forgotten something in the hotel room during the trip, and I think knowing that our room was so close had made me a little sloppy in my morning ritual of double-checking what I brought.

I was really disappointed, as this meant that we would have to immediately run back to our room, then run back to Disneyland to get spots for the Remember...Dreams Come True fireworks. We got back about 30 minutes before the show, and I had no idea from where I wanted to shoot them. This is something I do way too often--winging it when it comes to a desired fireworks location, wasting precious minutes and having slots that were originally open fill up as my indecisiveness kills us. And kill us it did.

Despite this “death,” I was ultimately pleased with our decision to watch the shot from about mid-way back on Main Street. While it was a poor choice to use my ultra-wide angle lens this far back (remember, my 30mm was out of commission as was my neutral density filter), I didn’t even think of using Sarah’s 18-200mm lens, which was most definitely the best option. As a result, these photos have been severely cropped, and aren’t all that impressive.

Yes, I realize all these fireworks photos are terrible.

Photographing the fireworks wasn’t the top priority this evening, though. Experiencing them again, in all of their awesome glory, was top priority. I knew the photos weren't going to turn out well due to the lens I was forced to use, so I sort of just let the camera do its thing, triggering the shutter when necessary to start a new shot sequence. The fireworks were even better than I remembered, as I paid special attention to each of the attractions featured this time around. I also paid close attention to the projections and other special effects that really made Remember...Dreams Come True an emersive experience.

Once the fireworks ended, I realized why the spot that was so far back on Main Street was a good choice: because we needed to high tail it over to Disney California Adventure after the fireworks to get there in time to use our World of Color FastPasses. (My spot-choice was totally inadvertent, even if I would like to take credit for choosing it on purpose!)

We raced over to Disney California Adventure, certain we’d be too late to catch the FastPass line. We were. Then, we asked a Cast Member in the vicinity when it had left, and she told us we could still catch the tail end of it if we hurried “that way” (sort of tough to point in a trip report, but obviously she pointed the way it was moving towards Paradise Pier).

We caught up to the line, and made it to Paradise Pier Bay just in time to be admitted with the FastPass group. As we made our way down the steps, I was a bit bummed, as the front two-thirds of the viewing area were completely full. I had heard the show is totally different from the front, and we were a bit underwhelmed by it last time. Suffice to say, I was disappointed. I had even brought my camera poncho in case we got front row seats.

Then, something truly magical happened. If it wasn’t magic, I don’t know how else to explain it. As we were jockeying for position for better seats, a Cast Member opened up a seating area and asked us, and several people behind us, if we wanted to move to the front row. To someone looking on, I believe the scene probably resembled a cartoon: I became a blur as speed lines filled the void where I once stood, and the Cast Member’s hat spun around three times as he had a ‘gee schucks’ look on his face wondering why on earth I moved so quickly at the offer from some a chance to stand in the “You May Get...Very...Wet” viewing area.

Yep, we had a “front row” spot for the show.

As I set up my tripod and camera right at the water’s edge, a small boy came up to me and politely told me that my camera was going to get ruined by the water. To thank him for his useful information, for some reason, I quickly racked my brain for some fanciful story to tell him. Perhaps something about the camera being made of waterproof whale blubber (seriously--for some reason one of my favorite things to do is tell children elaborate, but totally harmless, stories that, while plausible, are ridiculous).

However, it turns out that the truth was just as questionable to this boy. “I have a poncho for my camera,” I told him. He looked at me like he was too old to be fed such nonsense, so I pulled out the poncho and showed it to him. “Wow, that’s really cool!” he exclaimed. I thanked him anyway for his advice, and then engaged him and his family in conversation about how they were enjoying their vacation thus far. I may seem like an old curmudgeon sometimes in written prose, but I can actually relate to kids quite well. Perhaps because we have many common interests!

After chatting for a while, the show was set to begin.

WDWFigment · Jul 14, 2011

It’s actually somewhat ironic. On our first trip to Disneyland, last August, we were overwhelmed by California Adventure as a whole, the park that many locals trash, but underwhelmed by World of Color, the nighttime spectacular that many have anointed as the park's redeeming attraction. My initial impression of the show was that, while technically impressive, it was little more than a quick Disney montage show.

When describing it to Walt Disney World fans, the most apt comparison I could previously make was to PhilharMagic. By contrast, however, I thought PhilharMagic works really well because the montages (if you can even call them that since they're basically new "footage") are entwined with one another with a central storyline. World of Color's montages are not.

For additional World of Color photos, please check out our World of Color guide!

That said, seeing it again totally changed both of our opinions of the show. Without a doubt, this was because of the front-row viewing area. We were, quite simply, blown away by the show. It gave me goosebumps. I don’t think I’ve ever done quite such a complete 180 on a Disney attraction.

Suffice to say, It was well-worth getting wet to have this vantage. While the show still is a bit montage-ish in nature, the opening and conclusion tie the show together pretty nicely. Plus, from the front, the grandeur of the show really does compensate for any storytelling shortcomings.

It's difficult to articulate why our opinions of the show changed so much, but I guess I would now compare the show to Wishes! Both are truly emotive. Standing alone, Wishes! would be a mediocre show, as it's just simple montages of characters wishing. However, taken as a whole, with the montages, Cinderella Castle, and fireworks exploding overhead, it's something magical.

After World of Color, the park was closed, so we made quick work of getting photos in the areas we could (I still don’t have a nighttime shot of Disney California Adventure’s Tower of Terror!), as I apprehensively did some photographing. I swear I didn’t have my tin foil hat on, but I kept thinking I saw my favorite security guard, and I would anxiously walk to the other side of a walkway when this seemed to be the case. I doubt he was actually there, but he was certainly in my head!

echovictor · Jul 14, 2011

The picture of Sarah in the tea cup made me want to throw up!
:hurl:
And I mean that as a sincere compliment! I get motion sick (can't ride the tea cups myself) and to my eyes, that picture was literally spinning. I had to close my eyes and advance the report to keep from feeling queasy.

You are one talented fella!

WDWFigment · Jul 19, 2011

^Ha, thanks! Glad you "enjoyed"(?) it!

...

We spent only a few minutes taking pictures at Disney California Adventure before heading back to Disneyland. Time for more attractions--but first, we saw the cat from Pinocchio (Gideon)! We had never seen him before! It was a little embarrassing, as neither of us knew his name, and normally we like to interact with the character rather than just use them for a photo prop, so we had to improvise a bit.

It was almost time for the park to close, so we headed to the Adventureland side of the park to hit Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and finally, Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye. Once done with Indy, the park was closed. We had decided prior to this that we would avoid Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, as that seemed to be our “friend’s” stomping grounds. Instead, we asked a Cast Member if we could set up for some shots within the Indy queue. He said “absolutely!” so we had some fun with that.

After, we made our way to Main Street, did some more shooting, and called it a night. No incidents whatsoever this evening, which was a huge relief for me. It was a good feeling having good taste in my mouth for the last night of shooting at Disneyland. I would never wish ill upon even my worst enemy (and this guy would be up there on the list), but I really hope he retires or takes a position with a different employer before our next visit to Disneyland.

Our shooting on Main Street concluded, we headed out. Not really tired for once, but fully energized and excited after a ridiculously awesome night in the parks. I cannot emphasize-enough how great of an evening it was: seeing Remember...Dreams Come True and World of Color in the same night, seeing World of Color from the front row, being allowed to take “up close” shots of the Temple of the Forbidden Eye in Indiana Jones Adventure, AND having a peaceful night of shooting in Disneyland. What a great night!

WDWFigment · Jul 25, 2011

Our last day at Disneyland was a short one and not all that exciting from a trip report perspective (seriously, if you’re starting to get tired of reading what I write, skip this installment and resume reading at the Walt Disney World portion of the Coast-to-Coast trip; I promise a 347% increase in awesome over this installment!). We started out the morning pretty early, as we wanted to get to the park right for rope drop. While Sarah was getting ready, I headed out around the Desert Inn to get some photos and video for TouringPlans.com.

Unlike a Disney hotel, Desert Inn is more “utilitarian” and not really that aesthetically impressive. This became abundantly clear as I photographed it. It’s one of those places you stay at not because you want a pretty hotel, but because you want a hotel with a nice location and...beds. That’s about it. Why Disney hasn’t purchased it and other properties on Harbor is beyond me, as I would think these properties would have much more value to Disney than any other entity. I suppose they have to be willing to sell, but why wouldn’t they be?

Once Sarah was ready and I was done with my photo-tour, we were off to the races! We didn’t arrive quite as early as I had the previous day (because we actually knew what time the park opened on this particular day), but we were still there about 20 minutes before park opening, and were pretty far forward in the rope drop holding area.

As soon as the rope “dropped” we were off for Peter Pan’s Flight! If you’re keeping score at home, you might notice this was like the 3rd morning in a row that I had headed for Peter Pan’s Flight. It was, however, the first morning for Sarah.

Either people had managed to elude the security guards en masse and arrive in Fantasyland well before rope drop, or it was a Magical Morning, as Peter Pan’s Flight already had a 10 minute wait when we arrived. Not too bad, and our only shot (err...Sarah’s only shot) at experiencing it, so we waited in the line.

Sarah didn’t seem to be as impressed by Disneyland’s Peter Pan’s Flight as me, and I was beginning to think less of it, too. I guess the novelty of it being so different from Walt Disney World’s had worn off. At this point, I still thought it was better, but nothing earth-shattering.

Next, it was on to Matterhorn where we would experience our last ride on one of our favorite coasters before Tony Baxter is set to step in and say, “enough is enough, I won’t have the family jewels smashed in Fantasyland, anymore!” and demanded that some sort of restraints be put in the attraction. Okay, maybe that’s not Tony Baxter’s area of expertise, but I really look forward to riding the Matterhorn without worrying about accidentally saying Sarah and I are together.

We continued on, noticing that the crowds were pretty light compared to our previous days. We referenced the Crowd Calendar, and come to find out, the crowds were by far the lowest they’d be on our trip! Too bad we had only a few hours in the park.

Although it’s not Sarah’s favorite attraction due to the space constraints, she humored me and we rode the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage again. This is something I could ride multiple times per day. I love really long attractions, and the fact that it has a nice tranquil score and involves water gives it great appeal for me. I still haven’t had much success photographing the attraction--hopefully this changes next trip when my 30mm is actually working on one of our daytime voyages.

WDWFigment · Jul 25, 2011

We were both getting pretty hungry by this point, and we didn’t want to wait for Hungry Bear (our inevitable lunch choice) to open, so we decided to stop at Tomorrowland Terrace for a quick snack.

Quick snack turned into ‘largest breakfast of the trip’ as we both were, apparently, really hungry. For some reason, I ordered the breakfast burrito, despite it looking overpriced and not all that great when I had seen Henry get it earlier in the trip. My assumptions about it were correct, as it was mediocre at best.

While the breakfast burrito was not that great, I was shocked at how good the “cooler case” Chocolate Parfait tasted! I normally avoid ordering these pre-made cooler case items, but I couldn’t resist. Plus, what’s better for breakfast than a delicious parfait?!

After that, we headed for Alice in Wonderland. Not really much new to report here, except that it was enjoyable as always. More wandering around Fantasyland after Alice, trying to strike the balance between soaking in as much of Disneyland as possible and running around like crazy lunatics from attraction to attraction, trying to (again) experience as much as possible. We’re pretty good with this balance, I think.

We then headed through the hub and towards Adventureland, finally having an opportunity to wander the place a little more freely without being hit in the ankles by strollers or being run into by sweaty older gentlemen in tank-tops (Disney, I applaud your efforts to ‘ban’ obscene clothing from the parks, but I wouldn’t mind if you took it a step further) as a 30 foot wide walkway narrowed to 10 feet in the Pirates of the Caribbean area.

WDWFigment · Jul 25, 2011

In Adventureland, the waits were surprisingly short. Indiana Jones Adventure only had a 10 minute wait, so we did standby, but still didn’t get to see the full queue during the day! After Indy, we headed over to Pirates of the Caribbeam, where the wait was slightly longer. You know we’ve been on both of these attractions too many times in one trip if the best I can muster is a description of the lines.

Haunted Mansion was next on the agenda, but upon consulting our watches (more like “watch app” or whatever the clock on the phone is called), we decided to nix this. The Haunted Mansion is better at Walt Disney World anyway, and we just didn’t have the time for it.

This was probably partially motivated by our desire to eat again as soon as possible (surprisingly, a $6.50 breakfast burrito is not all that filling), so we headed to Hungry Bear. We had spent a lot of time here on this trip thanks to the ambiance, and this was something I really wanted to capture. The shots may not be gorgeous, but they take me right back to those gorgeous days, and put a smile on my face. In that regard, they’re some of my favorite shots from the trip.

Although these shots aren’t necessarily some of my favorites, they do feature those dysfunctional Country Bears, who are some of my favorite original Disney theme park characters. Plus, I like photographing restroom signs. I mean...errr...I like bears. Yes, that’s it.

We both ordered items we had earlier in the trip, so there’s little point revisiting our thoughts on the Hungry Bear cuisine. If you missed our thoughts earlier in the trip report and you’re really curious, just read our review of Hungry Bear Restaurant in Disneyland’s Critter Country.

Sarah had to visit Trixie after lunch, so I wandered around taking more photos. I noticed no trains had passed for a while, so I headed up to the edge the restaurant and waited. And waited. Sarah showed up, and told me to keep waiting, warning me that a train would pass as soon as I left. Finally, almost as if to send me a message, a huge pine-comb fell and hit me on the head!

This was a little discouraging, but we continued to wait. Just as I was about to give up, a train passed, and I snapped a couple of photos of it. One of these will show up on Flickr or DisneyTouristBlog.com as a “Photo of the Day” at some point, but don’t get too excited, as they’re certainly not “wait 5 minutes for this photo” level good. Oh well, I guess.

WDWFigment · Jul 25, 2011

It was Sarah’s last chance to ride the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and she had obliged me and experienced the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, so I did likewise (luckily my “compromise” only lasted like 4 minutes versus...however much longer the Subs last). From there, we wandered Critter Country a bit. I’ve said it once in this report but I’ll say it again: that land is so tranquil without Splash Mountain operating.

Thanks to another short wait, we were able to visit Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for the first time during the day. We rode behind a humorous, yet a bit over the top young Australian couple. I don’t know if she was putting on a show or if she was truly scared, but the woman was screaming and “informing” the man that she was going home after that ride because it was too intense.

All the while, the man was filming them and the attraction. I guess if you’re going to film an attraction, you might as well film your experience to give the video a unique angle differentiating it from one of the countless other videos you can find on YouTube. (I know, ironic that I say this as someone who takes so many photos, but I’d like to think my photos are unique and not something you could find hundreds of via a Google Image Search.)

We noticed a lot of differences between the two coasts that we hadn’t previously noticed. I really think it’s one of those attractions that’s quite similar, yet quite different at the same time. The queue was dramatically different, as were some (most? all?) of the gags scattered throughout the attraction. While I really enjoy thrills, I honestly don’t go to Disneyland with that goal in mind. I’d much rather Big Thunder Mountain Railroad be a slower ride-through, showcasing the details and storyline of Tumbleweed.

The differences you see all depend upon what level of detail you perceive. I really enjoyed the town at the end of Disneyland’s version, and I could probably take hundreds of rides aboard Big Thunder without picking up all of the details there.

WDWFigment · Jul 25, 2011

The trip was winding down, a fact that was becoming clearer and clearer with each passing hour. We drudged our way through the hub, into Tomorrowland, as we closed in on the “one hour mark” of our vacation.

We had Space Mountain FastPasses to use, so we headed that way. Of course, it was a great experience. The dinosaur eggs had not yet hatched, something about which we were pretty relieved. I haven’t heard reports of them hatching yet, either, so maybe the California heat has cooked them. I’m no expert in dinosaur eggs, so I won’t speculate as to that.

Naturally, whenever our vacation is over, we try to drag out leaving as long as posssible, first by trying to cram in one last ride (and then one ride turns into two, turns into three, and so on). Normally, this isn’t too “dangerous,” as we finish our days in Florida on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover. However, in California, all of our favorite rides are a little more popular.

We decided to settle for one last ride on Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters. We originally determined we’d leave Disneyland right around the time we queued up for this attraction, but we still have plenty of time, so why not.

Then, the ride took longer than expected. We hurried out, still having 25 minutes before our shuttle was to arrive, and most of our packing done. As we approached the tunnel under the train station, we noticed Aladdin was standing there, all by himself. Naturally, Sarah had to get a photo. After that, we hurried on, still having around 15 minutes when we approached Harbor.

No big deal, Sarah would check out while I packed. However, when we got to the Desert Inn, our shuttle was already there. Aren’t these things “supposed” to run late?!? I told the driver we’d be just a minute, and the mad dash was on. John Williams’ score from the airport scene in Home Alone started playing in my head, as we rushed around, throwing things in our room every which way hoping most of it would land in suitcases. In 3 minutes time we did packing that would normally take 15. We both hoped we had everything, and left the room.

Drenched in sweat, we peered over the edge of the staircase to see (somewhat to our surprise) that the shuttle was still there. Things only got depressing from there as we headed to the airport, and that’s where this portion of the trip report concludes. We wouldn’t be sad for too long, though, as we’d soon be off for Florida!

Coast-to-Coast Disney 2011 Trip Report: Mme. & M. Bricker's Zany Holiday

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