The Quest...The Quest for Fun 2017

Seabasealpha1

Seabasealpha1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Hey Folks!

So, let me try to explain what we have going on here soon. Or rather what this post is about...

I'm doing something with my family...something most would call...a tad crazy...but we're gonna do this here really soon...

We'll start with a back story. I'm from Indiana. I love Disney. Obviously. And my wife and I and one of our two sons (he's three) managed to pull off a Disney trip to Florida back in 2015. Now, we have two sons ages one and three. And my wife is expecting our third child in November/December. And...we need a vacation. We need a Disney vacation...and this time...we've decided to hit Disneyland. Then, not only that, we've decided to hit Disneyland by taking Amtrak from Indiana to California, with a stop at the Grand Canyon. And it's 2,100 miles and like close to 60 hours of time on the train...

So, this will probably end up being a trip post with some photos. I'll do my best to get some updates on here. This will be our first visit to Disneyland/the Anaheim area.

Also included, are stops at the Willis Tower in Chicago, The Grand Canyon National Park, The Grand Canyon Railway & Hotel, Disney California Adventure, The Orange Empire Railway Museum (I'm a nut for steam engines and the entirety of The Grizzly Flats Railroad that belonged to Ward Kimball is there!), The Queen Mary II, Huntington Beach Pier, and Aquarium of the Pacific are all stops. Then, we shall fly home to Indianapolis from John Wayne Airport.

So...before I get started...thoughts? Comments? (Obviously) Concerns? :)
 
PacNWTigger

PacNWTigger

Well-Known Member
That sounds like an amazing trip! I've never gone quite so far on the train before (generally only from Portland to Seattle for Mariners games), so I will be curious to hear about your accommodations and how your little ones do. I'm looking forward to seeing the pics and following along on your Disney adventure/vacation.
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
I've always wanted to do a trip like this. It sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun.

If you want to do some other things in Southern California and need recommendations, let us know. Hope you're planning to write up a trip report. :)
 
Seabasealpha1

Seabasealpha1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So we're here now...and I must say I'm genuinely happy to be at Disneyland...I've got a boatload of thoughts...

Like...how California Adventure makes even less sense than I thought it might ( even after that overhaul...)

More soon!
 
Seabasealpha1

Seabasealpha1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So...

We didn't get to watch the whole thing, but I did notice there was no sign whatsoever of the huge fire breathing dragon that's famous...did it get removed?

And I promise, I'll get a great trip report going as soon as we get back tonIndiananand I have a computer to type this up on.
 
ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Seabasealpha1 said:
So...

We didn't get to watch the whole thing, but I did notice there was no sign whatsoever of the huge fire breathing dragon that's famous...did it get removed?

And I promise, I'll get a great trip report going as soon as we get back tonIndiananand I have a computer to type this up on.
Click to expand...

Depends on when you watched Fantasmic, like the other night when the Disney Parks Blog did the live stream the dragon wasn't working, but when I saw the show a few weeks ago the dragon was there. I think he still has "stage fright" occasionally. I'm curious about your train trip, how was Amtrack? Did you have a sleeper car for you family or just the regular section. Hubby and I have looked into train travel but we've never pulled the trigger, so I'm wondering if a sleeper car would be worth it.
 
Figments Friend

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
Seabasealpha1 said:
So...

We didn't get to watch the whole thing, but I did notice there was no sign whatsoever of the huge fire breathing dragon that's famous...did it get removed?

And I promise, I'll get a great trip report going as soon as we get back tonIndiananand I have a computer to type this up on.
Click to expand...

Enjoy your time at Disneyland!
:)

Maleficent in her dragon form sometimes has technical issues that force her to not appear during the climatic battle in 'Fantasmic!'.
She is definitely still a part of the show, but sometimes things happen that force her to not appear.
It does happen from time to time.

I highly recommend trying to see another showing as the dragon is absolutely spectacular to see in person.
The size, scope, movements, fire element, staging, and overall spectacle are well worth it and a 'must see'.

-
 
Seabasealpha1

Seabasealpha1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
ajrwdwgirl said:
Depends on when you watched Fantasmic, like the other night when the Disney Parks Blog did the live stream the dragon wasn't working, but when I saw the show a few weeks ago the dragon was there. I think he still has "stage fright" occasionally. I'm curious about your train trip, how was Amtrack? Did you have a sleeper car for you family or just the regular section. Hubby and I have looked into train travel but we've never pulled the trigger, so I'm wondering if a sleeper car would be worth it.
Click to expand...
Amtrak was...not horrible. If you're going to go without children (mine are one and three years of age) it will most likely be fine. As for us...it's taken a few days to get back to feeling rested. Amtrak was also four hours late delivering us to the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel (which was a lovely time!) and so we got there at 2 am...and had to be up for breakfast at seven...so...if it's just you and your significant other...go for t...if you have kids...I'd leave them home. We rode coach. The room may have helped this...but at 1400 for the room one way, it's better to fly...

I promise I'll rehash all of this when I get home and get my marbles collected... needless to say, the Disneyland part of this trip has been a soothing remedy for the burn of Amtrak...
 
Figments Friend

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
Taking the train long distance to anywhere is rarely a good time, at least in my experience.
I remember back in the early 90s my Mom and I taking a train trip from Boston to Ohio to attend a small scale music convention.
She always had a 'romanticism' regarding trains and New York City ( must have been her sheltered 'country' upbringing ) and thought it would be a fun experience.
The real appeal was the cost savings compared to flying out at that time, but like they say...'you get what you pay for'!
I found the entire experience of it to not be very fun....

We had a sleep cabin, but it was highly confined space and felt tiny to me.
I didn't sleep a wink that night...as the in-cabin 'private toilet' kept sloshing with every tedious rail bump in the track.
Getting dropped off at a tiny shack of a train station in literally the middle of nowhere and then trying to get transportation to our hotel in town wasn't all that fun either.
Remember, this is 1993...pre-Internet, pre-cell phones.

The return trip back home was equally non-fun.
I swore to never travel by rail long distance again.

Maybe we just 'did it wrong'...but my enthusiasim for riding cross country via train was severely dimmed after that.
I had more fun riding a train from Boston to New York a couple of years ago then the Ohio venture.

-
 
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Seabasealpha1

Seabasealpha1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Figments Friend said:
Taking the train long distance to anywhere is rarely a good time, at least in my experience.
I remember back in the early 90s my Mom and I taking a train trip from Boston to Ohio to attend a small scale music convention.
She always had a 'romanticism' regarding trains and New York City ( must have been her sheltered 'country' upbringing ) and thought it would be a fun experience.
The real appeal was the cost savings compared to flying out at that time, but like they say...'you get what you pay for'!
I found the entire experience of it to not be very fun....

We had a sleep cabin, but it was highly confined space and felt tiny to me.
I didn't sleep a wink that night...as the in-cabin 'private toilet' kept sloshing with every tedious rail bump in the track.
Getting dropped off at a tiny shack of a train station in literally the middle of nowhere and then trying to get transportation to our hotel in town wasn't all that fun either.
Remember, this is 1993...pre-Internet, pre-cell phones.

The return trip back home was equally non-fun.
I swore to never travel by rail long distance again.

Maybe we just 'did it wrong'...but my enthusiasim for riding cross country via train was severely dimmed after that.
I had more fun riding a train from Boston to New York a couple of years ago then the Ohio venture.

-
Click to expand...

No...I think you did it right...I agree...my enthusiasm...is a little dead at the moment...
 
Seabasealpha1

Seabasealpha1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I do want to state that I feel that it's unfortunate that there's not a website as dedicated to Disneyland as this one is to WDW. Just my .02. Though, I appreciate that there is a section here for it... I'll be posting about my trip soon...
 
Phroobar

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
Seabasealpha1 said:
I do want to state that I feel that it's unfortunate that there's not a website as dedicated to Disneyland as this one is to WDW. Just my .02. Though, I appreciate that there is a section here for it... I'll be posting about my trip soon...
Click to expand...
Well there is Micechat but their forums are considered the scum and villainy of Disney message boards. There isn't a lot of interesting conversations there and it is overrun by trolls. Some boards like the Dis Disney Discussion boards are too big and complex for their own good but can be fun. LaughingPlace.com is smaller and the people are nice as long as you stay out of the World Events sub-board. MousePlanet has been a good discussion place in the past. I use to be part of Doombuggies.com but that board is mostly dead probably because it focuses on the Haunted Mansion.
 
Phroobar

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
Seabasealpha1

Seabasealpha1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Ok, so, I'm sorry this has taken so long to get posted...We basically went from working full time 40 hour weeks to vacation and straight back into 40 hour work weeks...which means, I'm STILL sorting through everything...I've not even had a full amount of time to analyze some of my feelings about the trip...but I'll start with another explanation of the trip here...maybe it'll be clearer...and I'll be honest...enough crazy/great things happened that I'm half serious about writing a published book...

Prologue:

I'm a big Disney fan...primarily the theme parks. Moreover, I'm a sucker for classic Disneyland/WDW and all things Walt and Co. I genuinely love being in the parks as I do believe they are my favorite place to be. Period. Through my love of Disney and through the study of the history of the parks, I've come to enjoy some of the same things that Walt enjoyed...namely here...trains. So, here's a little of where this trip idea began. My wife, wanted to take two big trips this year. We were going to go out west (like Wyoming, South Dakota, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, Deadwood etc...) and see that part of the country as my mother in law was a missionary out west when she was my wife's age on the native American reservations out there...then, we were going to make our first visit to Disneyland later this year (like October as my birthday is October 31st-Halloween, and we were going to take the kids to the Halloween events at Disneyland to trick-or-treat)...

Fast forward a few months into planning/saving up the coin...we find out that we're going to have our third child. Well. Shoot. Two trips might be a little much...So, first order of business was to move the trip up a few months (this made it an August trip, so, hot, but not "Florida Hot" as we were told...) my wife would be ~5 months along...

(In case you didn't know by the way, we're from Indiana, and we consider ourselves "decent" at doing the Disney thing down in Florida. And we didn't figure that California should be that much different...)

So, then I get it into my head after some research that we could still see the country with our two sons (ages 1 and 3) without having to drive...if we take Amtrak across country. It'd be our first trip by rail to ANY destination in the United States. We generally fly...and most of the time on any train has been at Magic Kingdom or the Ft. Wayne Zoo...

Now, my wife greatly enjoys Disney...but not to the nut-bar obsessive level I do...so, I wanted to be sure that I could include plenty of non-Disney related aspects to the trip...So, I started researching what would be along our path across country to Disneyland/California...

So, the final "roster" of places on the trip included Chicago-Willis Tower and Union Station, Grand Canyon National Park, The Grand Canyon Railway Hotel, Los Angeles Union Station, Disney California Adventure, Disneyland (for three days), The Queen Mary, The Aquarium of the Pacific, Davey's Locker whale watching (I booked this as a surprise for the wife and kids),the Orange Empire Railway Museum (to see Ward Kimball's engines Chloe and Emma Nevada), and of course all the little places in-between...

I saved and pinched pennies and got everything booked ahead and paid for...and we had our plan...of course, at one point in all of this, my wife had a brief moment of mutiny about a week before we were to catch the train to start this trip...I assured her that it'd all be fine (this may have been in error on my part). And this is really funny as she had dubbed my the "Clark W. Griswold" of our household. (Little did I know that some of the same kinds of "crazy" and "unfortunate" would happen...but... you'll find out...)

So, this is the premise of the trip...we would leave on a Saturday, and return ten days later...three days of this would be spent just trying to get there...with a stop in the middle to see the Grand Canyon, then overnight to Anaheim and then on to the "meat" of the trip...

More to come. I'll do this a day at a time so I can give you as much detail as I can...hopefully this story will help anyone of a similar set of ideas make good choices, or maybe this'll give you some idea as to what you may encounter...
 
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George Lucas on a Bench

George Lucas on a Bench

Well-Known Member
phruby said:
I'm surprised that @Kira Nerys doesn't know about Doombuggies.com. It was the ultimate site for the Haunted Mansion. You can even get an email address of you@hauntedmansion.com
http://hauntedmansion.mail.everyone.net/email/scripts/serviceMenu.pl?user=new&EV1=15041905038047894

Too bad the site looks so dead. It even still uses Adobe Flash.
Click to expand...

Of course I know about it. I haven't been on it in years, I think since they released a photo of the original ghost with hat box.
 

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