Uragano Tati - September 2013

Started by Uragano Tati, March 26, 2014, 03:27:04 PM

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Uragano Tati


Thank you Rapunzel1!!


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Then we arrived in front of Annette's where the car plate remembers the opening date of the park.








And finally the Disneyland Hotel, at the entrance of the park!





April 1998: Sequoia Lodge
January 2003: Disneyland Hotel
May 2012: Santa Fe
September 2013: Cheyenne
November 2014: Cheyenne


Uragano Tati


And finally we entered the park!
And we were welcomed by a song I know very well (because it is the ringing tone of my phone, heheh!) "Do you believe in magic and in dreams coming true?".
And how can you not believe in magic and dreams coming true when you are here and the twentieth anniversary train goes by in front of you?








And then Main Street appeared in front of us: what a wonder!





I took a map of the parks at the entrance, but then I realized that I did not need it. I knew where to go. I knew where the attractions were. I knew how to get there. It's nice to feel at home!


First ride: Big Thunder Mountain.
We went to see what was the waiting time and... well, 30 minutes was not bad at all!
Before joining the queue we also took the fastpass, which was for one hour later.


After the first ride on BTM we still had half an hour before the second ride with fastpass.
What could be better then a visit to the Pirates of the Caribbean?!
The waiting time was null! Great!
The swinging pirate did not work, of the two running pairs (pirate who chases the girl and big woman chasing the pirate) there was only the second one, the swordsmen were not there and the splashing water of the cannons did not work (but the smoke yes).
It would have been the same for all 5 days.
After the long closure of the attraction during the winter before I thought it would have been in better conditions, but it didn't matter at all, it is and will always remain one of my favorites! I could stay on it all day long, heheh!!
April 1998: Sequoia Lodge
January 2003: Disneyland Hotel
May 2012: Santa Fe
September 2013: Cheyenne
November 2014: Cheyenne


Uragano Tati


After the second ride on BTM with fastpass, we did a tour around the castle. We could not miss it! I also put it on the hood of my car, hahaha!














This is my car:





And now I have also Big Thunder Mountain on the cover of the gasoline:


April 1998: Sequoia Lodge
January 2003: Disneyland Hotel
May 2012: Santa Fe
September 2013: Cheyenne
November 2014: Cheyenne


Uragano Tati


Another of my favorite is "Le pays des contes de fees", the peaceful boat ride through the thumbnails of fairy tales.
We went to the northern part of Fantasyland and... noooo... it was closed...
What a pity...
It wasn't between the closed attractions...
We passed there for all 5 days but it was always closed.
Oh well, I hope that next time it will be open!


Then we moved to the other park, the Walt Disney Studios.
I could not wait to drop the "Quatrieme dimension" on the Tower of Terror. Too bad to see that the wait time was 50 minutes! How could this be possible?!
Then we noticed that both Nemo and Studio Tram Tour were temporarily stopped. Ok, that's why.
Well, the ToT could wait.
In the meantime, we took a ride on Aladdin's flying carpets and on Slinky Dog.


It was now 14:00 and we started to feel hungry.
So we went to Restaurant Des Stars.
The restaurant wasn't too full, there were several empty tables and no queuing at the entrance. It's a buffet restaurant, so you pay when you enter and then you can eat whatever you want.
Cost for two adults with "eau en caraffe" to drink: 45,98 €.
They also gave us a coupon to get a free drink in the afternoon.


We ate very well and really a lot, heheh!
And when chef Remy came to us he sang for us "La vie en rose"!!





After leaving the restaurant we were really too full and we preferred not going on shaking rides!


So we did "Armageddon", the special effects are always good, and then "CinéMagique". Shortly before the start of the "movie" we noticed a guy sitting in the front rows with a jacket... and a family was sitting right next to him!
I wonder if they had done it on purpose?!


Then some pictures of flowers.





April 1998: Sequoia Lodge
January 2003: Disneyland Hotel
May 2012: Santa Fe
September 2013: Cheyenne
November 2014: Cheyenne


Uragano Tati


We then went back into the main park, to go to Frontierland for a photo with the first Halloween decoration.
In the following days every morning we loved to go around to see what new decorations had appeared during the night!


I was near the totem of Disney pumpkins when a cast member approached to take the picture with me!








Then some pictures at Phantom Manor which was closed.


I knew it would be closed, at the end of September it is always closed because they need to prepare it at its best fot the Halloween season.








And the Molly Brown.





Meanwhile, Claudio had his Nescafe.


April 1998: Sequoia Lodge
January 2003: Disneyland Hotel
May 2012: Santa Fe
September 2013: Cheyenne
November 2014: Cheyenne


Uragano Tati


A few more pictures in Frontierland...











Another ride on Big Thunder Mountain and then we went to Adventureland.











April 1998: Sequoia Lodge
January 2003: Disneyland Hotel
May 2012: Santa Fe
September 2013: Cheyenne
November 2014: Cheyenne


Uragano Tati


The same river as seen from the side of Adventureland:





And from the side of Fantasyland:





It was all day that me and a friend, Marcella, known on an Italian forum, exchanged sms to try to meet, but we always missed out!
The problem is that it is often difficult to hear the ring tone of the messages in a place where there are jingles everywhere!
We then agreed to meet in front of the Pirates of the Caribbean and finally we found us!
We went together on the Pirates and on Dumbo.
Then we said goodbye.
We all stayed at the Hotel Cheyenne so it would be easy to see each other again, especially after being able to associate a face to the name!


It was sunny and really hot, so with the coupon for a free drink we decided to take a cold drink from Casey's Corner instead of something hot!





The park closed at 20:30, so at 19:30 we went to take a place to see Dreams.
We sat on the ground in front of the castle, in the fourth or fifth row, quite in the center.





April 1998: Sequoia Lodge
January 2003: Disneyland Hotel
May 2012: Santa Fe
September 2013: Cheyenne
November 2014: Cheyenne


Uragano Tati


The show, well, it was spectacular!
And the new scenes left me literally speechless.


I had seen the new version with the Lion King and Merida scenes on youtube, but watching it live is million times better!
I was afraid I would regret the deleted scenes, the Jungle Book and Mary Poppins, because it was the original version, it was as I watched it the very first time the year before, and I loved it soooo much!


But I must admit that the new version is even better!
The part of the Lion King is funny and colorful.
The part with Merida is amazing: the fountains and the lasers make water and light effects that left me breathless. Not to mention the arrow that reaches the Plaza Gardens!
Fantastic.


Claudio said "Wow!" at the end. And he said that every evening at the end of the show!








We left the park and I had a mission.
I had to buy some pins for some girls of the Italian forum.


During the day I gave a look in some shops, but I didn't see anything. Now I had all the time to go into all the shops in the Village, and also in the hotels shops if needed, looking for the pins, heheh!


The first store was the brand new World of Disney.


We walked in, we looked a bit around, then I went directly to ask at the Cast Member at the pay desk.


It was so much fun! It was almost like being in a spy movie!
The cast member at the pay desk called another cast member who spoke to someone else through a walky talky.
All under the curious gaze of other customers.
A few minutes later came the positive response: the pins were still available! They were limited edition pins, so it was not sure at all that I would find them. But luckily yes!!
After a while, another cast member came with the pins and so the mission was officially done!!
It was also easier than I expected.
We found them all in the very first shop!


It was not too late so we went looking around in all other shops!





To go back to the hotel we walked down the promenade along the river.
And the next day was my birthday and we were at Disneyland! Yeeee!!
April 1998: Sequoia Lodge
January 2003: Disneyland Hotel
May 2012: Santa Fe
September 2013: Cheyenne
November 2014: Cheyenne


Uragano Tati


Day 4 (second in the park) - Tuesday, September 24th


Wake up at 7:15, we settled us just a little and we went to have breakfast in the hotel restaurant, the Chuck Wagon Cafe.


And who we met there? Marcella and her family!
And so we had breakfast together.


We had a lot of croissants and sandwiches with ham and Nutella.
It was my birthday and in the afternoon we were going to eat at the Rainforest Cafe the huge Volcano, so I didn't take some sandwiches for the day.
The Volcano was enough, heheh!


After breakfast we returned to our room to finish preparing for the day.
Then we went to take the shuttle to the park.
It was 10:00 and we went to the Studios.


As soon as we entered the park Claudio told me: "Let's go on the Tower of Terror".
"What?"
"Come on, let's go on the Tower!"
"But are you sure?"
"Yes, if I wait and think about it I'm not coming anymore!"
Ok, we headed to the ToT.
A little introduction.
Claudio and I have been together for more than 16 years and we live together since I don't know how many years. Sometimes he asks me "when do we get married?", and I always reply that I won't marry him!
The year before, after coming back from the park I started to tell him that I would marry him only if he would ask me that on the Tower of Terror.
Of course I was joking. He suffers from vertigo and he really hates steep falls, so I did not want to force him to do something he did not want.
But he regretted not doing the ToT. "The Twilight Zone" was one of his favorite tv series.
The wait time was only 5 minutes. Claudio was a little less sure of doing it than a few minutes before!
Anyway, we joined the queue.
I told him he did not need to come on ToT, I would have married him alike! But he wanted to try.


After few minutes we were in the little room with the TV set that explained the story.
And then in the basement of the hotel.


This was his face just before getting on the elevator:





The cast member at the elevator was spectacular. Hilarious.
Then they closed the doors and Claudio was able to ask me to marry him before the up and down started!
For him, it was pretty traumatic. He liked a lot the first part with the special effects, but then....
However he survived. He will never ride it again, but he did at least once in his life!


We stopped a few minutes on the benches outside the exit, just to make him feel better. It was a beautiful sunny day. Fortunately I had with me the high protection sun lotion, heheh!


Then he surprised me again... No, he didn't want to ride the Tower again, hahaha!
But he asked me to go on Rock'n'Roller Coaster...
I had never been on Rock'n'Roller Coaster and even Claudio.
I thought it was similar to Space Mountain where we went the year before.


Even here there were only 5 minutes wait.
And the coaster has pleasantly surprised us. It's very thrill, the music of Aerosmith in the ears gives a lot of charge and all the lights and lasers along the way are very beautiful!
Claudio also loved it and said that before returning home we had to do it again!


At the exit of Rock'n'Roller Coaster there was the throne of Narnia:





Then Claudio surprised me for the third time in an hour: he suggested to go on Nemo.


Nemo had a wait time of 45 minutes.
The real waiting time is often a bit shorter and after half an hour we were on our turtle ready to be shaked in the Australian current!


Once out we really needed something quieter.
Three thrilling attractions in a row are a bit too much!
April 1998: Sequoia Lodge
January 2003: Disneyland Hotel
May 2012: Santa Fe
September 2013: Cheyenne
November 2014: Cheyenne


Uragano Tati


So we went to the Disneyland Park.
First we stopped at City Hall to take the birthday sticker that now is in the frame with my engineering degree!





While we were there the cast member gave me the phone: it was Mickey who said me happy birthday and wished me to spend a beautiful day in the park!
Just out from City Hall there was the twentieth anniversary train that was passing...
And Claudio asked me how could Mickey be there on the train if just few seconds before he was on the phone with me...


We then proceeded to Discoveryland.
We went on Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast which had very short wait time.
And Claudio got a good score:





Then to go on with some quiet attraction we went on "It's a Small World" and "Pirates of the Caribbean", both walk on.
We also saw the "time signal" on the building of It's a Small World.


Then while strolling around the castle...





I received a sms from Beatrice, a cast member who is on the Italian forum, and she said that at around 14:00 the talking trash would come out in the Studios...
What?! What is "talking trash"?!
Claudio and I have started thinking about what movie had talking trash, but the only one that came to mind with garbage was Wall-E, but there were no talking trash...


Ok, I wrote her that we were going to come and see it even though we had no idea of what it was!!
I also sent a sms to Marcella but she said they would not be able to reach us.


And so we went back to the Studios.
We met with Beatrice near the throne and there was the talking trash, hahaha!
It is one of those trash bins that you can see all around the parks, except that it moves and speaks!
It was great fun.
Push (this is the name of the trash bin) wishes me happy birthday!!


I have the video. I posted it on facebook and this is the link: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=755197267880081
April 1998: Sequoia Lodge
January 2003: Disneyland Hotel
May 2012: Santa Fe
September 2013: Cheyenne
November 2014: Cheyenne


Uragano Tati


After this funny thing, we spent the afternoon with Beatrice.
We went back in the main park and we bumped into Tappo! I don't know his English name.








Then we strolled around, we went together on the Pirates and on Peter Pan and we chatted so much!
Claudio had never been on Peter Pan.
I know it is an unforgivable miss, but last year there were always more than 60 minutes wait!
This year, they were just 20!
He has also loved it so much! Especially the "lava" inside volcanoes, heheh!

Beatrice is really nice and friendly! She is the perfect cast member!
Then we went together to the Rainforest for our legendary Volcano!


Claudio pulled out his phone to take a picture but since there were less than 30 degrees the screen was not working...
Yes, the screen of his phone when the temperature was less than 30 degrees didn't work. We had to keep it in a warm place and then usually it resumed work. Now he has a new one.
He took a photo without seeing exactly what was being framed and this is the result!





We are slightly cut off, but you can see through the dark the background!
The place is very nice. It seems to be in the middle of the jungle.


Because the phone did not want to work, we used the camera.





April 1998: Sequoia Lodge
January 2003: Disneyland Hotel
May 2012: Santa Fe
September 2013: Cheyenne
November 2014: Cheyenne


Uragano Tati


And finally here is the Volcano!











There were four huge balls of ice cream (very good ice cream), with all around many pieces of chocolate cake (brownie), all covered by a mountain of whipped cream!!


However, it was not too hard to finish it all, hahaha!


Leaving the Rainforest we said goodbye to Beatrice who had to go, and we returned to the park.


It was around 19:30, and there was already some people who were sitting down waiting for Dreams.
But thinking about it, we did not even had a ride on Big Thunder Mountain all day... We had to!
So we went to Frontierland and the wait time for BTM was just 15 minutes!
Perfect!
And for the first and only time we saw the waterfall works!
Towards the end of the first climb there is a small waterfall and the train goes through it! Of course we didn't get wet, the water passes just to the sides of the train, but it was very nice. Too bad it's always off!
But at least I can say I have seen it working once, overall on my birthday, heheh!
Then we went back to Central Plaza, but at that point there was already a lot of people in front of the castle. So we decided to try a different spot.
We sat right in the middle of Central Plaza .
Too bad that when the show started a lot of people on the left got up...
In doing that, however, they also moved far ahead of us and not prevented our view, so we remained seated.
Only Peter Pan was covered by that people, we could see all other things pretty good.


Even from this distance it was magnificent.
Of course, you can't see the images projected on the castle very clearly, but you can appreciate a lot more the fireworks and the lasers over your head!


When the show finished we saw Marcella who was just ahead of us!
So we walked back to the hotel along the Village, the lake and the river.


What can I say, it was just a wonderful birthday, heheh!
April 1998: Sequoia Lodge
January 2003: Disneyland Hotel
May 2012: Santa Fe
September 2013: Cheyenne
November 2014: Cheyenne


polar vixen


Loving your trip report, I'm very tempted by that dessert, can you go in the rainforest café just for a dessert?
Might try to squeeze it in on our next trip if so,.

Uragano Tati

Thank you Polar Vixen!!
Yes, we had only that! But we went in the afternoon, it was around 16:30-17:00 and when entering we asked if we could have only the dessert and they say it was ok.
Maybe at lunch or dinner time, when the restaurant is busy they would let in only people that would have a complete meal.
April 1998: Sequoia Lodge
January 2003: Disneyland Hotel
May 2012: Santa Fe
September 2013: Cheyenne
November 2014: Cheyenne


Uragano Tati


Day 5 (third in the park) - Wednesday, September 25th


Wake up again at 7:15 and breakfast at 7:30.
And who was there again? Marcella & family! Heheh!


As usual we filled ourselves with croissants and sandwiches!
We planned to eat at Earl Of Sandwiches in the afternoon, so I made a couple of sandwiches with Nutella to eat while we waited Dreams in the evening.


After breakfast we returned to the room to get ready and we made a few more photos of the hotel that is truly beautiful! And undoubtedly it became our favorite!
I believe that we will be back there many more times, heheh!





The common areas inside:














April 1998: Sequoia Lodge
January 2003: Disneyland Hotel
May 2012: Santa Fe
September 2013: Cheyenne
November 2014: Cheyenne