It was such a great feeling to be diving head first back into vacation season. I had just gotten a taste for 2010 travel when Denise and I had headed up to Chicago for the weekend just a couple of weeks earlier…but now I was ready to begin my first of five full-week vacations with a bang. I was going to England for my very first time. Like the Guatemala trip from 2009, this was chartered with the A.C.T. tour group which left out of Los Angeles – so as silly as it seems to head to the western United States to head east to Europe, that was exactly what I had to do.
I decided to make the most of this detour by planning a couple of fun things to do in California before my Sunday night departure that weekend. And what could be more fun than a day at Disneyland? Well, I’ll tell you. How about lunch at Club 33, arranged by my good friend Rick Greene? How about inviting Cassidy, my most excellent friend and great-granddaughter of Stan Laurel, and her kids to come along? How about extending an invitation to Adam Sadowsky, who starred in my all-time favorite sitcom It’s Your Move and had since become a friend of mine?
Naturally, I had invited all of the other regulars – Jimmy & Ellen, the elder Wileys, Bob, David, and Stacey – to go along as well, but for one reason or another, all declined. Heidi even thought about meeting up with me, but royally botched it. So the group we ended up with was Cassidy and her twins Tommy and Lucy, Adam and his girlfriend Lori, Rick, and me. Lunch was booked for 1:15, and along with the booking came a park hopper pass for Disneyland and California Adventure.
But first, I have to back up and get there. I left work a couple of hours early on Friday, March 26, and headed over to my Dad’s house in Brookville, parking the car in his driveway in a most fatal location. I had just enough time to change clothes and we were on our way to the Dayton airport where I caught the 6:55pm flight to Dallas next to a large fat man. I arrived there at 8:35pm (gaining one hour) and then reboarded at 9:35 for LAX in Los Angeles. Gaining two more hours, I arrived 11pm, where I met Jimmy who kindly picked me up and took me back to his place, where I exhaustedly enjoyed some Goldfish snack crackers – as per tradition, then hit the sack.
As per usual, Goldfish on Jimmy’s couch
On Saturday, he drove me to Disneyland – but unfortunately couldn’t stay with me that day because he needed to pick out his wedding ring and do other wedding prep stuff with Ellen. He’s getting married, you see. So I met up with Rick at the entrance after he had claimed our passes for the day. Cassidy phoned that she would be a little late, so the two of us went on in a little after 9am.
Getting ready to enter the Happiest Place on Earth
We kicked off the day of rides with the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, the Disneyland equivalent to Disney World’s Space Ranger Spin. Not my favorite attraction - but the wait time of 0 minutes made it a bit more attractive. Incidentally, I creamed Rick with my score of 178,000 to 20,700. This put me in the Space Ranger First Class range.
Cassidy arrived just after this so we met her at the gate and headed to Tomorrowland, where we boarded Space Mountain, which had a bit of a wait. Being Spring Break in California promised that the park would be relatively crowded. Since its refurbishment, the roller coaster has never looked better.
Cassidy, Tommy, and Lucy are ready for some careening through space
Cassidy and me on Space Mountain. Rick looks on unassumingly.
The official portrait of our journey
It was around 11am when we queued up to check out the Captain Eo Tribute attraction. I hadn’t seen this 3-D movie starring Michael Jackson since the late 80′s and early 90′s when it was playing with Epcot. It re-opened this year with some enhanced effects (including the entire theater pulsating to the beat of the music, yielding an amusing effect when one looked back at the bobbing heads of the audience) at four of the Disney parks following the death of Michael Jackson. It’s still not that great of a movie; in fact it is as cheesy as hell. But it manages to be fun.
Michael Jackson 3eeeeee-Deeeeee!!
Tommy and Lucy visit the third dimension
We then hit the Matterhorn Bobsleds in Fantasyland and while we were there, Adam called to say that he had arrived. After we finished up on the ride, Rick and I headed to the front of the park to meet up with him and his girlfriend Lori and pass off the passes. Cassidy took the kids and met us near Club 33. We stopped at guest services and obtained a handicap pass that enabled up to six of us to get to the front of most of the ride lines. Awesome.
Hey, I found a cannon on Main Street while waiting for our special pass
At 1:15pm, it was time for me to enter Club 33 for the second time. It was October 8, 2008, when I had first seen the inside of this relatively secret Disney society. (More info about the nature of Club 33 can be found here.) The only snag we encountered was that Cassidy was wearing flip-flops, which for one reason or another, are expressly forbidden. T-shirts? OK. Shorts? OK. But flip-flops…God forbid. She took Lucy and Lori with her and actually had to go buy some sandals – which actually exposed more foot than the flip-flops had. Her headache and undercooked salmon detracted from her Club 33 experience a little bit more.
This time, I opted to order the $72 Chateaubriand, parsnip-cipollini onion puree, and cabernet demi as my main course. In other words, a big fat juicy steak. The appetizer and dessert bar were top-notch as always and I over-endulged in the cheese as usual. I capped the lunch off with a nice $8.50 White Russian to once again prove that I, unlike most park-goers, could order some hard alcohol. Overall, it was another great experience and it was especially great to get to know Lori and chat more with Adam. Cassidy returned her new sandals after lunch.
Me, Rick, Cassidy, Lori, Adam, Tommy, and Lucy get ready to enter the place where almost no one goes
The same group, now inside the lobby
Yep, I’m here…and I’ve got my White Russian with me
Cas, Tommy, Lucy – and the infamous Jack Sparrow sword, which would be flailed about, stolen later that day, then replaced once again
Lori and Adam finally make it inside Club 33. Forget It’s Your Move. Forget the OK Go video. Now they are of the elite!
My array of appetizers
Chateaubriand and company
Our Club 33 table
After dinner tales: Adam tells his ping-pong ball shaggy dog story
Perhaps the most surreal moment of my life: drinking $10 Lemon Drop shots in Club 33 with Adam Sadowsky and Cassidy Cook
Cas gets ready to return the magical sandals
Rick took off after lunch at Club 33 to go meet up with his son. This left the six of us, the exact number that could get to the fronts of the lines. We tried this out on the two tried-and-true classic rides in New Orleans Square: the Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. We then moved over to Frontierland and hit Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Adam got to ride with the two kids and I was forced to be sandwiched between the lovely ladies.
My traditional snapshot of Carl and the Pirates
Adam and the kids on Big Thunder Mountain
A Brad sandwich with Cassidy and Lori bread
It was nearing 6:00pm as we ventured into Mickey’s Toontown and rode the only dark ride there, Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin. It’s not the most exciting ride, but it was fun to ride it with little Lucy, who along with her brother has been making some recent appearances performing magic tricks on The Bonnie Hunt Show.
With little Lucy on the Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin
We hit it’s a small world while we were in the Fantasyland vicinity again – and I gave Erin, a friend from South Carolina, a ride-thru via cell phone. We then decided to leave Disneyland and head over to California Adventure. On the way out we hit Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln at the head of Main Street USA. This had just been re-opened in December 2009 under the new banner The Disneyland Story: Featuring Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln. The attraction, which had been a staple since 1965, had been shut down since 2005. Cassidy and Lucy got stuck outside in the lobby as the doors shut, but Tommy made it into the theater in the nick of time.
Taking Erin on a magical boat ride
We got to California Adventure a little bit after 7pm. Although we headed over to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride, we learned that more people in our party did not want to ride it that those who did. So we turned toward Paradise Pier to hit up two of the major attractions there. Each of these rides had significant wait times and our handicap pass was rendered virtually useless.
Still it is always a huge treat to ride the Toy Story Midway Mania ride. For the record, I edged out Cassidy 116,800 to 110,300. My record now stands at 2-1. But most fun was that I really began to notice how well all of the good folks in our party had bonded so seamlessly as we stood in line playing with the kids. In fact, when Tommy decided that he wanted to ride Toy Story again, it was Adam and Lori who took him. Cassidy, Lucy, and I opted for the thrills of California Screamin’.
Me, Adam, and our alter ego
Tommy tries to kill Adam in the Midway Mania line
He merely tries to decapitate me
Little kids attack grown-up kids
Men in Black glasses fire away in Midway Mania
Lucy, Cassidy, and me zoomin’ on California Screamin’. Lucy nearly had second thoughts as the ride was about to depart.
After these two biggies, we decided to call it a night in the parks and made our way to the Downtown Disney area for a late dinner. Jimmy and David joined us at the Jazz Kitchen, where we slaphappily discussed the new video that Adam had helped create for the song This Too Shall Pass by OK Go - and spoke in over-the-top Italian chef accents. I had some Creole Onion soup and a nice Seasonal Salad.
A great dinner after an exhausting day. Friends don’t get much better than these.
It was after 10:30 when we all headed out and said our goodbyes, reflecting on one of the greatest days ever spent at Disneyland. Jimmy drove me back to his place, where we arrived not long after midnight, with just enough time for a few Goldfish crackers and an episode of Wings. There would be more adventures the next day, including a flight that would span the Atlantic.
Next up: From LA to London…
Now you have to come back to Midway Mania. We changed the games! Bo Peep is gone and each game has something new! My score was low today,288,400. Still working on the extra points in the new game…..
Raul Moreno
May 24th, 2010
Manifestation overload!!!! -xo
StaceySoleil
February 16th, 2011