Winning Disney

Before this September trip, Robin, Frank, and I had agreed upon our approach to the philosophy of trying to "Win Disney". "Winning Disney" means orchestrating every move to maximize the attractions ridden and to cram as much as possible into one day in order to assure we "get our money's worth" to the point of utter stressed out exhaustion.

We had done a pretty good job refraining from the "Win Disney" mentality on Sunday the 15th... taking time to meet characters such as Aurora and Rey... being willing to "waste" time waiting in line to get formal pictures taken in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle and the big Mickey Jack O' Lantern... taking a sit-down break to eat ice cream... dancing with Disney villains rather than shoehorning in one more ride or obligatory parade. Any exhaustion could be attributed to the seemingly boundless energy level of five children age under 7. Granted, there was some FASTPASS™ manipulation in order to minimizing the time in line at the Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain, but on the whole I think we had great restraint even under the mental nagging pressure of "This is the one day we are all here together so we must do it all".

Monday September 16th at Disneyland we further improved on our relaxed attitude. We planned to repeat what we'd liked, with a back-of-the-mind awareness to optionally fill in any gaps of activities we may not have not gotten to the previous day. The morning started off slowly. There had been some Star Wars displays that Jeremy would have liked to dawdle over longer the previous day; two restless on-the-move kiddos would have hampered that browsing. Frank and I told them to go on ahead to the park when it first opened, just the two of them, and we would follow later. Robin in July 2019 had made Jeremy the Stormtrooper top he is wearing. Isaiah has one to match.

While their mom and dad indulged in each other's company a little, exploring the Black Spire Outpost of Star Wars at a leisurely pace, we intended to bring the kiddos to Disneyland for breakfast and eat Mickey Mouse shaped waffles at the Carnation Café on Main Street which brags “Carnation Condensed Milk, the milk from contented cows.”

Not only were the cows contented. Autumn and Isaiah were both content to stay in their pajamas and play on their Kindles and snack on Svenhardt's buns. Besides, Svenhardt buns are not available in Oklahoma so it is kind of a Grandma/Grandpa tradition that we provide them any time we visit, no matter where. We followed Autumn and Isaiah's lead and went with the flow. This decision is a prime example of success in avoiding the lure to "Win Disney". 

We did get to the park eventually and took in the scenes in the storefront windows of the Emporium at the beginning of Main Street, across from the train station. Jeremy and Robin caught up with us there.

Since we did not do a formal breakfast, we crossed the street to the outdoor Main Street Fruit Cart  area and got chips, grapes, and chocolate milk. Autumn and Isaiah made very sure that Grandpa was well protected with spray-on sunscreen. The sidewalk all around where he was kneeling was well protected as well.

Around 11:00 am we boarded the train to ride a full 360° around the park. The night before, we had gotten off before the stretch between Tomorrowland and Main Street and so we'd not been able to see the dinosaur diorama situated there. The train in the day seemed different than the train at night.

The kids loved it and Isaiah especially liked riding it with Grandpa. Here are four scenes that appear in the tunnel shortly after passing by the vistas of the Grand Canyon.

After we got off the train at the Main Street Station, we passed along Main Street and on through Sleeping Beauty's Castle, then to King Arthur's Carrousel, and then on to explore some of the Fantasyland attractions. In retrospect, I think we spent the majority of our day in Fantasyland. Would that life were so generous; there is a reason Disneyland is dubbed the Happiest Place on Earth. Here is a map with black circles (attractions) and squares (food) denoting where we went, a legend with black rectangles around what we visited, and a color-coded list of our activities for Monday in roughly the order we did them. (My fantasy is to be organized.)

      1    Disneyland Railroad

      E   Main Street Fruit Cart

     36   King Arthur Carrousel

     40   Peter Pan's Flight

     45   Storybook Land Canal Boats

     46   it's a small world

     44   Matterhorn Bobsleds

     38   Dumbo the Flying Elephant

     29   Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

      O   French Market Restaurant

      9    Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room

First stop after the railroad-diorama-viewing and fruit-cart-sunscreen-spraying was the carousel. Isaiah is very intent on his ride. Perhaps it is the influence of the Stormtrooper top he is wearing (made by Robin in June of 2019).

I learned a few interesting facts from the King Arthur Carrousel Wikipedia link. And, just in case you were wondering, carousel is spelled with one "r" but King Arthur Carrousel has two.

1) The carousel was built in 1922 and operated at Sunnyside Beach Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, until the park closed. ... 2) Inspired by the Griffith Park carousel, Walt Disney wanted something similar for his new theme park: a carousel consisting of all jumpers. ... 3) Because of the overwhelming popularity of the carousel's single white horse, since 1975 all horses have been painted white. ... 4) Each horse on the carousel has a name; a complete list is available at City Hall on Main Street, U.S.A.

We waited in line to see the Peter Pan's Flight attraction where pirate ships sail in the night-time skies over London; the queue wound in and out of the sun. The heat from the baking sun at mid-day was intermittently intense, and I personally began to wilt. Even after soaring within the serene surroundings of the Peter Pan's Flight, I needed more recuperation time.

So, when the gang suggested we ride the Storybook Land Canal Boats where you, "Cruise through the mouth of Monstro the Whale into a magical land of Disney movie locales—all in miniature," I begged off to find a cool shady place to wait. After all, I reasoned there would be no shade on the water, except when floating under arches during brief respites and initially when entering the mouth of the whale.

But what a chill, gliding in under all those huge teeth at the start. So the question is posed. "Do whales have teeth?" Monstro must not be a baleen whale because he has teeth but in general baleen whales, not toothed whales, are the big ones. So here we have a contradiction. But remember. This is Fantasyland so poetic license is allowed.

I found a comfortable niche nearby tucked away in a shady, cool corner beneath speakers along the wide esplanade leading to It's A Small World. I listened to some Disney melodies until Autumn and Isaiah came to find me and regaled me with their adventures entering the mouth of a whale and touring so many miniature kingdoms!

We then had some frozen lemonade with Smucker's Uncrustables® peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches in my quiet, comfortable hideaway.

Then around 2:15 we were up and off to ride It's a Small World again. It was a favorite from Sunday and today we were able to ride it twice in a row since the lines were so short. Waiting in the sunshine was not at all onerous. In fact you might say that it was even slightly amorous.

The first time I rode in a front row seat with Autumn and Isaiah on either side of me; the second time, Frank rode in a further back row with Isaiah snuggled next to him.

I am not a roller coaster type person but there is one roller coaster type ride at Disneyland that I enjoy, will ride, and am proud of myself when I do so. It is the Matterhorn. After floating along the melodic, colorful, relaxing route in It's a Small World I was invigorated enough for the adventure of the Matterhorn Bobsleds so we went there next. Per Wikipedia

The Matterhorn Bobsleds are a pair of intertwined steel roller coasters at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. It is modelled after the Matterhorn, a mountain in the Alps on the border with Switzerland and Italy. It is the first known tubular steel continuous track roller coaster. Located on the border between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, it employs forced perspective to seem larger. ... 

We were debating if Isaiah should go or not. He made the height requirement but just barely. There was some discussion of the scariness and roughness factor and reasoning that if Grandma was up to it, then surely Isaiah could handle it. Erring on the side of caution, the conclusion was that Isaiah would not go, especially since he was not vehemently proclaiming his desire to do so. Instead Jeremy would wait with him, Robin would go with Autumn, then Jeremy and Robin would trade places and Autumn would be able to go twice in the baby-exchange ride process that Disney has. Frank and I would go together. Once. Only once!

Either the ride was not as I remembered it or I was not as I remembered me. As we plunged into a jolting darkness I initially had two simultaneous thoughts: "Was it really this black for this long last time?" and "I am so glad Isaiah did not ride this!" I did notice that the abominable snowman did not have red eyes as I had remembered them. Per Wikipedia, a 2015 refurbishment of the attraction included an updated, and more "anatomically accurate (?)" audio-animatronic of the abominable Snowman, without those eerie red eyes. By the way, his name is Harold 2. The original Harold had the red eyes.

But what struck me the most was how hard and jerky the ride was. Had they removed all the padding from the seats? My ribs hurt as they rammed into the side of the car; my back jolted as I was flung back and twisted, while rounding a tight curve. We were riding the Fantasyland side, not the Tomorrowland side and one is supposed to be tamer. I held a slim hope that we were riding the rougher side and that every other time I had ridden, it had been the tamer side. Minuscule chance of that... huh. True, I did not experience the nausea that roller coasters often inflict on me and that is probably why I am usually willing to ride this one. But that day was a historic occasion. It was the final, last-ever, never-again time I will be riding the Matterhorn Bobsleds Attraction at Disneyland. They are no longer age appropriate for me. I aged out of them. So convinced was I that the ride had changed, I located a YouTube video, Before and After review of the New Matterhorn and Yeti, from FreshBaked - The Best of Disneyland Every Day. Essentially, the speed and smoothness of the ride was purported to be unchanged. It was all in my mind – or rather all in my body. Sigh. Never again. Ancient history. Not ever even chancing the "other track". On the bright side, nearly 7-yr-old Autumn absolutely loved it – twice in a row!

I found a nice comfortable patio area with tables and chairs not far from the Bobsled loading and just across the way from Edelweiss Snacks (upper right corner of the aerial view). A salty bag of Lays Potato Chips was all that I needed to assuage my feelings of inadequacy after the Matterhorn experience. 

Here in the adjacent waterway, beneath the Monorail tracks, a group of ducks were paddling about being fed popcorn by the guests. Their smooth streamlined wakes were much gentler and more my speed than the contours of those tubular bobsled tracks. Isaiah enjoyed watching them with me. It was a calm, companionable time.

It was shorty after 4:00 PM and Autumn had a FASTPASS™ for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad so off she went to ride that with Jeremy. I did not accompany them and so had no photos.

I googled to get an image of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and found a fascinating article at https://www.livescience.com/56261-kidney-stones-roller-coaster.html. Experiments with a 3D model of a kidney and some sample stones of various sizes were taken along for the ride at the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Florida's Magic Kingdom (concealed in a backpack) and data collected to test the theory that this roller coaster helps people pass kidney stones. I cannot vouch for the veracity of a similar miracle cure on Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad but, at the very least, it is a testimony to the anticipated vibratory signature of the ride. 

When Autumn and Jeremy had rejoined us after their ride on the roller coaster in Frontierland we headed over toward New Orleans Square where we were to have dinner. Before leaving Fantasyland however, we had one last ride on Dumbo, another favorite.

I preferred my picture be taken on the ground and not going around in dizzying circles. See? I am back to smiling and waving!

We walked through Sleeping Beauty Castle again and past the commemorative Disneyland copper statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse holding hands titled Partners.

The plaque below the statue in Disneyland quotes Walt Disney as saying, "I think most of all what I want Disneyland to be is a happy place...where parents and children can have fun...together."

We were having fun as we moved on toward New Orleans Square to get dinner. We arrived at French Market  Restaurant approximately 5:30.

We browsed along a cafeteria style line to pick out our food and went outdoors to eat. A band was playing peppy jazz on a slightly raised podium area; the music was good and made for pleasant listening. I also liked their pink, pale blue, and lilac outfits.

We picked two of their specialty offerings for dessert off the seasonal menu which is based on the theme of the nearby Haunted Mansion at Halloween time, a wedding cake and a blue velvet cake.

Per the Disney Food Blog review of the Hitchhiking Ghost Blue Velvet Cake 

The blue velvet cake is topped with blueberry purée, rice croquette brittle, and a vanilla-blueberry crisp. Soft, gooey, and INCREDIBLE! This cake has us seriously considering becoming the 1,000th happy haunt. The blueberry purée soaks into the blue velvet cake, making the dessert melt in your mouth with every bite. The rice croquette brittle and blueberry crisp add a little bit of crunch to the cake, and the whole blueberries on top provide an extra burst of flavor. This is 100% worth making the res at River Belle, but be aware that your mouth will be blue the rest of the day!!

The blue tones of Autumn's Nightmare Before Christmas print dress matched the blue of her dessert, mouth, lips, teeth, fork...etc

I am kind of glad that I read this review after I enjoyed and shared this next delicious dessert. Per Walt Disney World News Today review of  the Haunted Mansion 50th Anniversary Wedding Cake:

This cake is composed of buttercream frosting, cherries, cream cheese filling and finished with a splatter of cherry sauce. Of all the specialty food offerings we’ve tried, this feels like the most thoughtful of them all. It’s designed to look like a wedding cake splattered with blood.

The music was not the only entertainment. Ducks meandered under and around our table, fascinating and amusing Autumn and Isaiah to no end.

After dinner we browsed a few of the shops along the raised wooden sidewalks of the western town in Frontierland. Robin really wanted a picture of Autumn next to some pumpkins and jack o' lanterns to go with the Nightmare Before Christmas dress she'd sewn for her in May of 2018. I found this hay bale display outside the shops, and it provided the perfect backdrop for a mini-modeling session.

The boulders outside provided another photo op with Grandpa. See the small black velvet bag that Autumn is holding? It contains the souvenir she picked out for herself inside one of the stores – pink, blue and lilac rocks, as many as would fit in the bag. I recall when we visited the Oklahoma Science Museum  in July of 2017 she also picked out a velvet bag of rocks as her gift there as well. Hmmm... I detect a pattern. I am grateful she had no desire to keep the BIG rocks they were sitting on! Oh, never mind. Those were just a dull boring gray.

Just around the corner from Frontierland was Adventureland with its Enchanted Tiki Room. The kids had enjoyed it the day before and wanted to repeat it. After the show – it was about 6:40 pm now –we asked what else would they like to do at the park or did they want to go back to the motel pool and swim. We had a resounding unanimous whoop and holler to go back and swim. So we did just that. Jeremy, Robin, Autumn, and Isaiah had to leave at 6:00 am the next morning for their flight back to Oklahoma so the pool option was a great choice to wind down the day.

The hotel pool was warm and inviting but we did need to keep a close eye out. It was 3 feet to 4 feet deep in the near area by the entry stairs but the depth dropped off rapidly along the line where the corner of the step alcove jutted out. But adults outnumbered the kids two to one, so we did OK with all of us in the water.

With everyone in jammies after the hour or so in the pool, we walked to the end of our hotel breezeway to watch the fireworks from the rooftop terrace. We did not see any (nor hear them). Perhaps the wind had come up and they had been cancelled but no one was disappointed. Bed sounded much more appealing.

The 6:00 am departure came way too soon Tuesday morning. It worked out so well that the rooms adjoined. While Robin and Jeremy did their final packing, Frank and I had some last hugs with Autumn and Isaiah before they left. Frank and I had a later flight and could stay in our room until the 11:00 am checkout time. We were unable to go back to sleep, though we were grateful we could take our time packing and relax by reading some. No. We did not rush off to Downtown Disney in some last moment attempt to "Win Disney". We had already hit the jackpot and were well aware of it and satiated.

Autumn resignedly said good-bye to her Aurora balloon creation, bravely not shedding even one tear. She understood it could not go on the plane and she had lots of photos to remember it by. Before we left, Frank and I gave it to one of the hotel employees who had a little girl and he assured us she would love it.

Once Frank and I had Uber'ed to the John Wayne Airport we looked at the decor to while away the ninety minutes or so before our flight to Oakland. These suspended cranes with maps as their wings were interesting.

Settled in on board and heading home Frank looks much more awake and cheerful.

Once at our home airport of Oakland, I took a photo of this door into the animal rest area. The stylized etched image was so pretty.

Our luggage was not so pretty. It had not faired too well on the 1 hour 20 minute flight. It was a little worn out from the trip but still serviceable – just like Frank and me!

Robin texted us a photo of their safe arrival in Oklahoma. Autumn has a grin on her face but I did not recognize the purple T-shirt with Colorado emblazoned across the front. I asked Robin about it and she told me they'd bought her the top at the Denver airport when they transferred between planes. The child who on Sunday had ridden Hyper Space Mountain and Splash Mountain, and on Monday had had a blast on the Matterhorn Bobsleds twice in a row, followed immediately by a twisting hi-speed plunge on Thunder Mountain Railroad, had difficulty with the turbulence during the landing at Denver. She upchucked and needed a clean top. Go figure. Well, purple is one of her favorite colors and she looks none the worse for wear. 

The entire weekend was a real WIN: Friday and Saturday at Dan's place, Sunday at Disneyland with both Robin and Dan's family, and Monday at Disneyland with Robin's family only.