kyburg: (Bored now)
kyburg ([personal profile] kyburg) wrote2007-03-26 03:42 pm

Disney Recap -

I've decided I just didn't spend enough money.

I'm not going to blame the large number of LARGE groups of cheerleaders roaming both parks, both days. Nor am I going to blame the one or two parents per group with the big season passes that allowed them to clean out the Fast Pass machines all over the park within a few hours of the parks opening. Not gonna. (Because they got unlimited passes, you could Fast Pass everyone in your party, for every ride in the park, the moment you got there. If you had the big season pass that allowed you to do this.)

We only had the resident's Two-Fer passes. Lowly scum of the 'hood, that's us. I'll blame the company's policy that allows this kind of thing. Not the people who took advantage of it - because, well, it's Orange County and money can always buy you something special there. Preferred parking, preferred seating, preferred - you name it. Fork it over.

Reader signs outside the park warned "Park Very Busy Today" but what are you going to do when that's your window, huh?

I have admit it. I had a better time at California Adventure because it didn't require me to wait in line for rides. [livejournal.com profile] redqueenofevil, we went for the corn and were very happy we did so. I need to see what the reader card at the Boudin bakery exhibit gets me - and I took down ISBN numbers at the bookstores. Frack them. I'd had enough of spending too much for the same damn thing every place we went.

But get on a ride? No.

Even the train was down at Disneyland. You walked everywhere, and waited for the Monorail. I began spacing everything between meals because well - if you didn't reserve, you were at the park's mercy of fried, expensive and awful. No. But the problem with that is you actually had to BE someplace at some time. Wait for a ride? Well, okay - but I just gave up after a while.

You're then moving from meal to meal, and that's no bueno either. I saw a number of people (just pick up your head and gaze, actually) who looked like prisoners of their own bodies at easily 200 pounds or more over what they likely should have been, staggering from place to place behind small children most of the time (painful to watch, you want my honest opinion), so that really didn't make one think about cheesecake on a stick at all. We had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe on Saturday night and if Jim hadn't joined THEIR club, it would have been two hours to wait. As it was, it was 45 minutes. PARTY OF THIRTY. PARTY OF TWENTY TWO. PARTY OF TWENTY....

Notes to self - the IHOP just outside the park on Harbor works so well, I'll bookmark it now. HUGE store, and well, I like the menu. We got seated, served and out the door in record time with perfectly cooked orders on Sunday morning, peak after-church time.

Getting home and soaking in a hot tub Sunday night fixed everything that was wrong with me - I suspect everyone else is still pretty sore. [livejournal.com profile] kiyone made the mad dash from Vegas for Saturday - and [livejournal.com profile] catsonmars and I kept texting back and forth until my phone died on Sunday. Never saw each other. Bah.

Kettlecorn still smells wonderful, and I think the smell is the best part of that snack, thankfully.

I just need to lower my expectations. Until I'm willing to buy the super season pass, I'm not going to be able to do much more than enter the park - I guess that's why they call it 'admissions,' sure as hell can't USE the park for its intended purpose...grumble. Gee, I could have spent $1,600 this past weekend - and got nothing more for it! WHEE.

Just won't spend the money. No...I just can't justify it.

Wish [livejournal.com profile] unclejimbo a happy birthday, folks. Today's the actual day, after all. I think he had a wonderful time - and that's what really counts, right?

[identity profile] redqueenofevil.livejournal.com 2007-03-27 02:39 am (UTC)(link)
Sorry to hear the lines were crazy. When I had my pass, weekends were blacked out days, and since this is around spring break, I'm guessing that's one reason for the lines.

That said, if you ever get a chance to go on a Tuesday or Thursday, those days are ideal, especially while the weather is cool. Fortunately, Disney is more than just rides...

Mmmmmm.... corn...


Oh, yeah. And I didn't renew my pass, because Di$ney does indeed get really pricey- even if you do get fast passes, etc.

[identity profile] sun-berry.livejournal.com 2007-03-27 03:48 am (UTC)(link)
That totally sucks. I have heard Fathers day and Thanksgiving are the lowes populated days. I know when I have gone on Father's day it hasn't been too bad.

[identity profile] poetpaladin.livejournal.com 2007-03-27 05:31 am (UTC)(link)
I've been to the Ihop there. Definitely fast service.

By the way, I weigh over 200 lbs, so the people you're talking about are likely 300 or more.
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[identity profile] kyburg.livejournal.com 2007-03-27 05:59 am (UTC)(link)
"200 lbs over what they should be" - why doesn't that scan past the number?

I'm not talking about 200 lb people. I'm talking about folks who can't be weighed on a scale at home (and maybe not even at their local ER). I've known some folks were definitely light on their feet at over 500 lbs - but it wasn't these guys. I was tired; I can only imagine how exhausted they must have been. It didn't look like any kind of pleasant, and after watching them struggle, really tasty, high calorie treats didn't sound like a good idea at all.

[identity profile] odiedragon.livejournal.com 2007-03-27 12:41 pm (UTC)(link)
That's weird about the FastPasses. I didn't see ones like that back in August, we got several of them just fine. You're only supposed to have one, until your ride window passes, or two hours pass from the last time you got one, whichever comes first. But obviously they make the rules... and if they're going to sell special passes who's going to stop them?
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[identity profile] kyburg.livejournal.com 2007-03-27 02:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Exactly. I think I saw a couple of Dads with everyone's passes - and Fast Passes in one fist. Must have been fifty or more. You only need one, after all. And who the heck is going to ask a cheerleader for her ticket, once she's in the park? Great system - if you have the moxie for it.

For the rest of us? Not so much.

[identity profile] odiedragon.livejournal.com 2007-03-27 02:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Actually, you need one FastPass per person, even little kids... maybe the cheerleader group had some kind of a deal with Disney however. Who knows.