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Friday night we went to Rain Forest for dinner. First time there in a while. The Safari club is still a good deal. It turned a 40 person or so line to sign in into a 1 minute wait. Then a 1.5 hour wait for a table into a 30 minute one. So not bad at 6:30 on a Friday... well worth the money. The meal itself was nothing spectacular. I had a hamburger because nothing else peaked my interest. It came undercooked and just did not taste good.. oh well.. add to that the slow service.. seated around 7:00 out at 8:30 for two burgers and a salad.. not like we ate big multicourse meals.

While walking around the park it seemed to me they raised some of their prices, either that or I have been oblvious, which is possible. $7 for a hotdog and bag of chips from a cart.. that seems insane, when for $4.99 you can go to White Water Snacks and get a foot long chili, cheese conney dog with a ton of fries.. still one of the best deals I have found on property.

On Saturday I arrived around 8am to meet some friends. I still do not understand why they penalize the early morning arrivials by making them park outside most of the time. It was a hot day and I would rather of had my car in the shade... One nice thing was no speed bumps and easy in/out though.

We have moved our trip rundowns and mileage reports to our Park Miles section.

Grand Californian:

• Saturday I met some friends who were going to stay at the Grand Californian for a few nights. Upon arrival they were instructed where to park and then pre-registered for check in since it was early. In the afternoon we went back and they formally checked in and got their room. While waiting in the comfortable lobby I had flashbacks to WDW.. ahh vacation... no that's not the point of this note.. I wanted to mention all the CM's they had working the lobby. It was Disney service at its finest. They had nearly all the check in windows open and a couple CMs working the queue of guests to check in, which I never saw get about 2 groups. Great job..
• I was really surprised that they have not integrated the room charge with the room key yet. You get a piece of paper to act as your charge. While your room key is a slightly thinner plastic card(compared to WDW). I did like how it has the hotel on it and not a general resort logo...
• They paid for a standard view and when they made the reseration were informed it was an Anaheim view. Checked in and went up to the room.. it had a great courtyard on the fourth floor with a view overlooking the monorail track and the trees below in the courtyard area.

Disneyland Items:

• The crowds at Disneyland felt like a normal summer crowd and the lines reflected it both days. If you timed things right and used fastpass it was really not overcrowded though and two enjoyable days at the parks. I still cannot believe how dead the mornings are on a Saturday. At Disneyland went in around 8:30 walked on a bunch of Fantasyland, Frontierland, and Critter Country attractions before heading over to DCA around 10 which walked on Soarin, and the Pier rides (I don't call them attractions like Disneyland. One line that was long was Indy, all day both days. At 11pm Friday it was 70 minutes..

• First time on Dumbo in like 5 years, it was nice for a change and a 1 cycle wait was worth it.. still do not get the Astro Orbitor, its exactly like Dumbo.. I liked the old Star Jets, the height really differentiated it..

• I think they were having sew problems on Friday. Several spots around the park plain out stunk. The three that were really bad were just on Main Street, the bathrooms in Fantasyland and by Rancho Del Zoro.

DCA Items:

• Over at DCA the crowds were light as usual. Many of the rides were walkons both days. With GRR gathering a large line in the heat of the day (when it was open). On Friday afternoon cruised through Bugsland and again on Saturday. The longest line read 10 minutes, but they were really walk ons..

• Speaking of GRR. It was open most of Friday afternoon/morning. Upon arrival at park opening Saturday they had a handful of CMs and some security CMs out front with steel fences and a long rope blocking off the entrance and walkway through it. Went on the Sun Wheel and spotted a dozen or so Mechs on the top of the lift hill. The CMs said it was going to be closed all day probably and would reopen Sunday. We watched as they tried to cycle the lift hill and it did not work. Later Saturday afternoon it was open for about an hour or so that we noticed then it was down. I was told Sunday it was up most of the day.

• DCA had the same terrible smells at Disneyland. The area that was worse affected was the Sunshine Plaza and as you head into Condor Flats..

• Caught the BMX Flatland show, or whatever it is called. It basically consists of the old Monsters moving stage with a local band on it and three or four BMX guys that ride around. Overall I thought the first minute of the show was good and then it became repetitive. I had two problems with the show. One is if you do not know BMX you had very little clue what was going on, unlike the other shows where they explain it. The second is the guys on the bikes seemed bored and would just be like ok.. I have to do a trick. I guess a third is the music really had nothing to do with them.. they would ride when they felt like it and sit when they did, nothing really in tune with the music..

• Has anyone ever won or seen anyone win anything at the DCA entrance game? I have gotten a dozen tickets myself and seen several more, and never seen a winner. I have never seen someone scratch one off near the entrance and head to redem the prize... why didn't they make a game with more winners.. even stupid prizes like $1 off a hotdog or drink or something and we would be happy becuase you won something...

   

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