Tweet
Here's a rather late TR for your enjoyment--this was actually from almost a month ago and just now finished it.
At last I finally was able to get back to the parks. I'm still sort-of around, but use a borrowed computer for net access (I do have mine but it isn't online for the time being) and unfortunately this forum is somewhat painful to use without all my normal security protocols and client-side filters, enhancements and augments. But I do read a little here and there on a regular basis to keep up with things.
Unfortunately all this is because I was out of work for a couple months, and couldn't really justify DLR trips and ended up missing the official Summer Nightastic. But I mainly was interested in Magical (and Dumbo), the Pixie Hollow area at night, and the Fantasmic revamps. All three I did get to see. You could say the "celebrating" was of "de-unemployment", although I became "de-unemployed" over a month prior. As another consequence I'm no longer a SoCaler and am in between residences for a while, but not too far away (Bay area).
Not a lot went on that was noteworthy; just a no-nonsense fun day at Disneyland, barring a few closed attractions. So here are some pictures mainly.
Attraction/show tally:
Indy (2)
Tarzan's Treehouse (2: in the day and at night)
Pirates
Tom Sawyer Island
Thunder Mountain
Small World (2)
Matterhorn (2: once each side--one at night)
Teacups (2)
Buzz (2: around 1.2M each time but the score didn't show up on the ride photo either time AND my old email seems to have gone kaput anyway--I don't care that much anymore really so no big deal)
Star Tours
Shows:
Magical *
Jedi Training Academy (most of it)
A few minutes of Celebrate: A Street Party
Fantasmic! (first time since February)
DCA:
Monsters, Inc.
Mulholland Madness *
Blue Sky Cellar
Shows:
Drawn to the Magic *
Pixar Play Parade
(* = first time for these)
Today rated no more than a 2+ on my 1-5 busy-ness scale, aside from the usual Friday-night after-work/fireworks/Fantasmic crowd. It was kinda hot and annoyingly humid, but I didn't mind too much because it got a good deal nicer later in the day.
Midway Mania (presumably) still being promoted here
Good to be back (even though it's been only four months)
Geeky pic
Boooo hoooo...
This new part looks nice
I don't recall reading what this was for. The repaving, maybe
It's been a while since the last one of these
Waaaaaaaah
To compensate for this and Space Mountain being closed, I spent more time on Indy. I think this was my first visit during which I rode more than once. Although it's a supremely great ride, I have to confess it doesn't capture my interest quite as much as some of the other big E's, and I haven't been on it a huge number of times like the others.
Say "Aaaaargh"
----------------
DCA
Lucky Fortune Cookery was another minor motive for this visit. Overall I thought it was pretty decent going by average park food. This is alongside a 32oz drink for size comparison.
This is tofu with Thai coconut curry. My reaction is mixed:
Anytime tofu is being used in the same manner as you would a meat of some sort, I'm really of the belief it should be the extra-firm variety, both because it will have an appropriate texture and will hold up better. Unfortunately this was more of a silken variety, which I was afraid of. In past experience, specifically with "tofu with garlic sauce" at the otherwise-great chinese fast-food joint I used to frequent before moving, that normally used firm variety, it was a very unpleasant goopy/"undercooked" texture and was outright inedible. This wasn't a problem here though, fortunately, and was certainly edible, although I'd still prefer firm or extra-firm.
The veggies were so-so; the carrots (as has been reported before) under-done a bit and the others possibly overdone, but not bad. The rice was so-so as well but no worse than I anticipated.
The sauce was good, with enough for everything after mixing it all up. I don't have any practical exposure to what it "should" be like or what generally would pass for appropriate quality, but in and of itself I liked it quite a lot. I've noticed, through descriptions and reports, that the sauce choices are all of a sweet variety: teriyaki, sweet-and-sour variants, etc. It would be wise for them to add at least one savory variety, because not everybody likes sweet dishes of this sort. (I do like sweet sauces and want to try the others. Also I thought there were five sauce choices, but only remember seeing four and don't recall what the fifth was.)
The takeout-container presentation I've heard both good and bad about. It's cute and all, but not exactly the best impression. A normal full-size dinner plate would be a more appealing presentation I believe. (And it would be a plateful too: you get a nice quantity that makes for a good meal. Those who don't eat a lot or want a light meal could split one.) I'd also suggest losing the chopsticks and making them available at the takeout window for those who actually want them instead. I'm imagining most of them simply being chucked and wasted.
Overall, I hope this sticks around: it's a good addition to the park's dining options. Just the recommendations: extra-firm tofu, a savory sauce selection, maybe ditch the takeout containers.
----------------
Drawn to the Magic: my first time seeing this
----------------
But look more closely...
Everybody up in the "terrace seating" cheers on Jack
----------------
Meh-holland Madness. A ride of this concept has far more potential than what was realized here
----------------
----------------
----------------
Magical. Yes, I saw Dumbo: very cool. I did get a few pictures but they're very dark and not too TR-worthy.
----------------
Fantasmic!
Camera in one hand + Main Street Mocha Sundae in the other + crowded conditions = pretty bad results. But I got the ones that counted. Well, most of them--missed the croc (ended up with an action shot of that console w/the tech stuf instead for the effort). Next time...
I didn't learn until here at the forum afterward that Murphy had gotten stuck. Didn't even notice actually. He didn't breathe fire this time, but big deal: he way WAY cool.
That was it for the pics. The rest of the day was the usual end-of-day rides and going to stores. Next visit, dunno: I'm about 6-1/2 hours away so it's not practical to come as often. Come less often and stay longer each time will probably be the plan from now on. Candlelight Processional weekend for sure; maybe the end of October because there's a Halloween event in the LA area I might want to go to if possible.
At last I finally was able to get back to the parks. I'm still sort-of around, but use a borrowed computer for net access (I do have mine but it isn't online for the time being) and unfortunately this forum is somewhat painful to use without all my normal security protocols and client-side filters, enhancements and augments. But I do read a little here and there on a regular basis to keep up with things.
Unfortunately all this is because I was out of work for a couple months, and couldn't really justify DLR trips and ended up missing the official Summer Nightastic. But I mainly was interested in Magical (and Dumbo), the Pixie Hollow area at night, and the Fantasmic revamps. All three I did get to see. You could say the "celebrating" was of "de-unemployment", although I became "de-unemployed" over a month prior. As another consequence I'm no longer a SoCaler and am in between residences for a while, but not too far away (Bay area).
Not a lot went on that was noteworthy; just a no-nonsense fun day at Disneyland, barring a few closed attractions. So here are some pictures mainly.
Attraction/show tally:
Indy (2)
Tarzan's Treehouse (2: in the day and at night)
Pirates
Tom Sawyer Island
Thunder Mountain
Small World (2)
Matterhorn (2: once each side--one at night)
Teacups (2)
Buzz (2: around 1.2M each time but the score didn't show up on the ride photo either time AND my old email seems to have gone kaput anyway--I don't care that much anymore really so no big deal)
Star Tours
Shows:
Magical *
Jedi Training Academy (most of it)
A few minutes of Celebrate: A Street Party
Fantasmic! (first time since February)
DCA:
Monsters, Inc.
Mulholland Madness *
Blue Sky Cellar
Shows:
Drawn to the Magic *
Pixar Play Parade
(* = first time for these)
Today rated no more than a 2+ on my 1-5 busy-ness scale, aside from the usual Friday-night after-work/fireworks/Fantasmic crowd. It was kinda hot and annoyingly humid, but I didn't mind too much because it got a good deal nicer later in the day.
Midway Mania (presumably) still being promoted here
Good to be back (even though it's been only four months)
Geeky pic
Boooo hoooo...
This new part looks nice
I don't recall reading what this was for. The repaving, maybe
It's been a while since the last one of these
Waaaaaaaah
To compensate for this and Space Mountain being closed, I spent more time on Indy. I think this was my first visit during which I rode more than once. Although it's a supremely great ride, I have to confess it doesn't capture my interest quite as much as some of the other big E's, and I haven't been on it a huge number of times like the others.
Say "Aaaaargh"
----------------
DCA
Lucky Fortune Cookery was another minor motive for this visit. Overall I thought it was pretty decent going by average park food. This is alongside a 32oz drink for size comparison.
This is tofu with Thai coconut curry. My reaction is mixed:
Anytime tofu is being used in the same manner as you would a meat of some sort, I'm really of the belief it should be the extra-firm variety, both because it will have an appropriate texture and will hold up better. Unfortunately this was more of a silken variety, which I was afraid of. In past experience, specifically with "tofu with garlic sauce" at the otherwise-great chinese fast-food joint I used to frequent before moving, that normally used firm variety, it was a very unpleasant goopy/"undercooked" texture and was outright inedible. This wasn't a problem here though, fortunately, and was certainly edible, although I'd still prefer firm or extra-firm.
The veggies were so-so; the carrots (as has been reported before) under-done a bit and the others possibly overdone, but not bad. The rice was so-so as well but no worse than I anticipated.
The sauce was good, with enough for everything after mixing it all up. I don't have any practical exposure to what it "should" be like or what generally would pass for appropriate quality, but in and of itself I liked it quite a lot. I've noticed, through descriptions and reports, that the sauce choices are all of a sweet variety: teriyaki, sweet-and-sour variants, etc. It would be wise for them to add at least one savory variety, because not everybody likes sweet dishes of this sort. (I do like sweet sauces and want to try the others. Also I thought there were five sauce choices, but only remember seeing four and don't recall what the fifth was.)
The takeout-container presentation I've heard both good and bad about. It's cute and all, but not exactly the best impression. A normal full-size dinner plate would be a more appealing presentation I believe. (And it would be a plateful too: you get a nice quantity that makes for a good meal. Those who don't eat a lot or want a light meal could split one.) I'd also suggest losing the chopsticks and making them available at the takeout window for those who actually want them instead. I'm imagining most of them simply being chucked and wasted.
Overall, I hope this sticks around: it's a good addition to the park's dining options. Just the recommendations: extra-firm tofu, a savory sauce selection, maybe ditch the takeout containers.
----------------
Drawn to the Magic: my first time seeing this
----------------
But look more closely...
Everybody up in the "terrace seating" cheers on Jack
----------------
Meh-holland Madness. A ride of this concept has far more potential than what was realized here
----------------
----------------
----------------
Magical. Yes, I saw Dumbo: very cool. I did get a few pictures but they're very dark and not too TR-worthy.
----------------
Fantasmic!
Camera in one hand + Main Street Mocha Sundae in the other + crowded conditions = pretty bad results. But I got the ones that counted.
Well, most of them--missed the croc (ended up with an action shot of that console w/the tech stuf instead for the effort). Next time...I didn't learn until here at the forum afterward that Murphy had gotten stuck. Didn't even notice actually. He didn't breathe fire this time, but big deal: he way WAY cool.
That was it for the pics. The rest of the day was the usual end-of-day rides and going to stores. Next visit, dunno: I'm about 6-1/2 hours away so it's not practical to come as often. Come less often and stay longer each time will probably be the plan from now on. Candlelight Processional weekend for sure; maybe the end of October because there's a Halloween event in the LA area I might want to go to if possible.
Comment