See also:

Disneyland 2007 Flickr Set
California! Part 1: The Arrival
California! Part 2: The Magic Kingdom
California! Part 3: California Adventure
California! Part 4: Mom goes home

Portable Media Expo? Podcast Expo? New Media Expo? A rose by any other name would be just as tedious.

Not entirely tedious; I learned a lot that will help at work with our new podcast. I got some free goodies. I saw some semi-famous faces.

I saw a live recording of The Radio Adventures of Dr Floyd which was lots of fun! Frank Conniff was there as one of the guest stars, so I did a little tiny bit of geeking out. I didn't actually meet him, but I did get to see the show and loved it. I stuck around for a hilarious taping of Technorama; I was a contestant on their game show and won a cool prize. Perhaps they will post the video soon. If not, I'll tell more. Well, what there is to tell--I was distracted by my need to pee and thought I was going to end up having a Fergie moment.

I spotted Dawn, Drew, Nick Starr, and Adam Curry standing around at an evening event. I didn't chat with any of them, but from afar that Dawn has some gorgeous skin. I spotted a few other folks I won't name here, and I probably saw quite a few folks who I wouldn't recognize by face but because they weren't wearing a clearly visible badge or a shirt advertising their show I didn't recognize them.

I did have a minor issue at a social event over the weekend. There is a podcast I love, I've recommended it, and I was in close proximity to this podcaster. I kind of recognized the podcaster and sneaked a look at the badge. Podcaster saw me do this and gave me a "yeah, bitch, it's me" kind of smirk. You know, the kind of look you get from someone who's really full of him/herself? Like Podcaster was too good to talk to a commoner such as myself. I really wanted to talk to Podcaster since it's one of my favorite shows, but no, I was really put off. This has kind of soured me on Podcaster. Podcaster's shows are lined up in my ipod, and I really have no desire to listen to them.

One morning over an overpriced breakfast I heard a familiar NPR voice at a nearby table. Now THIS is what should happen at a podcasting conference--recognizing the voice before the face. No, it wasn't Bob Edwards. You would've seen the news reports if it had been.

I'm glad I went, but I was also glad to leave. I had a layover in Las Vegas and did a tiny bit of bad-odds gambling at the airport slots. the wonderful Kelly Jo picked me up in the wee hours and drove me home.

Next year in Vegas.

Labels: podcast, vacation

See also:

Disneyland 2007 Flickr Set
California! Part 1: The Arrival
California! Part 2: The Magic Kingdom
California! Part 3: California Adventure

California! Part 5: The Expo

I do encourage you to look at the flickr page because there were lots of breakfast pics that I am just not going to publish here.

We started with an early morning breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen! I will spare details, but all you can eat breakfast combined with character interaction is always fun.

THen it was time for mom to leave. We took a slow walk back to our hotel cutting through the Disneyland Hotel and the Paradise Pier. The rose garden was getting prepped for a wedding so it was absolutely lovely, the Paradise Pier is just, eh. I pity the fools who spend money on this hotel when we paid less than half that and were only a quarter mile further.

The big surprise was that my mom was going to ride in a freakin TOWNCAR back to Ontario. I was going to do some cleanup at the parks. I sprinted across W Katella in front of her fancy schmancy transport waving a final goodbye.

Let's see: Tower again, the awful Mulholland Madness (tear that shit down now! why is this ride still there?), It's Tough to be a Bug (always cute), and a quick pic with Miss De Vil

I also spotted some nuns wandering around. I later saw them in line for Nemo.

I went to the Magic Kingdom for a little more cleanup. More pirates of course. I managed to do a lot in Fantasyland as well, including the permanently long lined Peter Pan. I finally figured out why the Matterhorn is so well loved, and in my travels through Tomorrowland I finally ran into Buzz!


I did one last ride on Pirates and said goodbye to the castle. It was time to move across the county to the Doubletree. I did decide to splurge and take a cab back to Stovall's. It was a cheap ride (woo!) and then I waited for the shuttle.

I wish I could remember my Super Shuttle driver's name, but he was chatty. We discussed our costs of living and I though he was going to pass out when I told him the price of my condo.

I made it to the Doubletree. The desk clerk gave me two cookies (I told him that I'd been looking forward to it all day), I ordered room service (first time ever!), and it was bedtime.

Labels: disneyland, vacation

See also:

Disneyland 2007 Flickr Set
California! Part 1: The Arrival
California! Part 2: The Magic Kingdom

California! Part 4: Mom goes home
California! Part 5: The Expo

Having learned our lesson we weren't there too early. Besides, California Adventure never seems to have a line for entry so we did a little moseying. I had to return a shirt to the World of Disney, problem was the dude didn't give me my receipt (even though I specifically asked "receipt in the bag?" and he specifically said "yes") so I got a merchandise credit. Fun fun fun!

It should go without saying, but will not, that our first ride was the Tower of Terror. Our second ride was the Tower of Terror. Listen, I could go on but I think you know what I'm saying. We love the Tower, and on our first ride my mom reached over and grabbed my arm. She sensed that her daughter was in danger. Isn't this sweet? I should've bought the picture. i think she was a little surprised by the first drop.

It was at this time that I bought my new handbag. It's cute, I'm sure you'll see it one day.

Next was Monsters Inc which had some wonderful theming. I've heard the ride isn't so good and it is just another dark ride, but the queue is extremely well themed and the ride is cute. Don't be a hater.

The Animation area is very cool. Last time we got there after everything closed so this time we made a point to check out Turtle Talk. I've heard it's great but this is from people with children, I didn't know how my adult, child-fearing self wouldn't like it as much. Mom was selected to talk with Crush, and I think this was the highlight of our trip. It's interactive and fun, I highly recommend. Then Sorcerer's Workshop which is also a ton of fun! We could've spent forever in the Animation area but we knew this was mom's last day so it was time to move on.

Let's see.

• Waited forever for the Sunwheel. It's fun, but this is probably the last time unless it's a no-line day.


• Mom went crazy about California Screamin. I have to admit it's tons of fun but that many times back to back can not be healthy for children and other living things.


• Soarin' is a lot more fun when you don't wait 20 minutes!


• I love the Tortilla/Sourdough tours. This is the only time you'll get something for free at Disneyland so savor it.


• Nashvillians will get a kick out of the river raft ride in CA: The Grizzly River Run. It's a little more fun than the old Opryland version, but I kept calling it the Grizzly River Rampage. Old habits die hard.

I should also note that I've never seen Golden Dreams, but no big loss. During this time of year it was changed to Golden Screams and outside several villains gather for photo ops. Mom wanted to meet the wicked witch but she was scared.

After the CM did a protection spell the witch decided it was ok and posed.

Golden Screams is a cute show where they have an award show to determine which villain has the best scream. It's a cute show and the tween boy they chose was absolutely mortified.

Having conquered the Adventure we headed back to the Magic Kingdom. We rode the train around the park and saw cute little themed areas that you wouldn't see otherwise. More Pirates, more Space Mountain, more Buzz Lightyear. We had some minor drama with dinner but ended up at the Plaza Inn. It was time to leave so we waited for the Monorail.

Labels: disneyland, vacation

See also:

Disneyland 2007 Flickr Set
California! Part 1: The Arrival

California! Part 3: California Adventure
California! Part 4: Mom goes home
California! Part 5: The Expo

This is going to be long and picture heavy.

We woke up early. We're talking in the 5am hour. Nice, get a jump on the day, right? Not so much, as the park opened at 10am. I figured maybe we could get some breakfast and I could upgrade my ticket since we were up so early. With my gung ho attitude we got there at 7:40 and had to wait until 8:30 for the WDTC to open

because we had purchased 2 day tickets and I decided to stay another day! Meanwhile Lindsay was having some health drama so mom spent time on the phone walking her through it.

I got my ticket sorted out, mom got lindsay to a safe place, we both bought a jamba juice, so we decided might as well wait for regular folks entry.

Then we're in! Tiny castle and all! We head right for Nemo because we've heard SO much about it and that the later in the day the longer the lines and hype hype hype so that's where we go. After about an hour wait (the longest during our trip) we're on! Several minutes later we're off! And unimpressed I might add. It's fine, but the line is too much.

During the line we did get to see the seagulls (MINE! MINE! MINE!) and a little bit of the Jedi training which seemed lame until Mr Darth Vader arrives! The kids kept him at bay so we were safe.

I won't do the big ride by ride, blow by blow trip report, so I'll put in some bullet points here:

• Space Mountain is SO much better here, it's so smooth! The only problem is I don't have a single memory of riding it in 2005. Not a terrible problem, as it was just like the first time, assuming it wasn't the first time.


• I absolutely hate the stupid Haunted Mansion Holiday. For those of you who don't know every year Disneyland puts this huge Nightmare Before Christmas overlay on the Haunted Mansion. It's a classic and they've f'ed it up. I am not happy. I've never been on the Haunted Mansion as GOD intended it.


• Tom Sawyer Island is now the Pirates' Lair. Not too much of a difference, except some of the dioramas in the tunnels (they've added the chest holding Davy Jones's heart!) and a pirate themed band that performs sailor songs. Yes, I stopped and listened to music at Disneyland.


• Didn't there used to be a golden apple at Snow White? It wasn't there. The book was, though, and we stuck around long enough to see the wicked stepmother pop in and out


• Storybookland Canal Boats were closed (insert sad face here)


• We stopped at the Rancho del Zocalo, we were pleasantly surprised! And a little nervous for our stomachs since Big Thunder was to be next.

Too much text. Time for a picture.

Mary and Burt! Not an easy couple of face characters to find, and when you do and there's no line YOU ARE THERE. Those ears light up, by the way. Cute, right?

We were very happy with the addition of Jack Sparrow to Pirates of the Caribbean. It works and the animatronic fits in very well. Again, Pirates CA PWNS Pirates FL.

Toontown closes earlier than the rest of the park but we decided to see if it was still open, and yes, it was! This land is so much fun, so much interactive stuff: talking water fountains, rigged doors, crazy doorbells. We enjoyed Minnie's house

so we decided to check out Mickey's house. Now, we did know that Mickey's house is the place to meet Mickey, but we decided to go through just because it's cute and fun. Imagine our suprise when there we were, face to face with the Mouse.

Having done most of the rides we decided to wait for the parade. We'd seen this parade before but Mom likes them so we waited. It was cute, but again, seen it!

I put my hat down for this picture and when I picked it up I realized tht I had put it down in a puddle. This caused some hat-based issues and it didn't dry out until the next day.

It was time to leave. Dinner at the Jazz Kitchen, mom had her first hurricane, and then we decided to do our shopping at World of Disney.

Then the long walk back. By long I mean a mile or so. So nice being close!

Labels: disneyland, vacation

See also:

Disneyland 2007 Flickr Set

California! Part 2: The Magic Kingdom
California! Part 3: California Adventure
California! Part 4: Mom goes home
California! Part 5: The Expo

Delayed flights! Killer blisters! Cocky podcasters! Free gifts!

I've been back nearly two weeks, but I think I can remember much of what happened. All pictures completely out of order found here on flickr.

Let's start the day before we left, Sunday, September 23. Our Music City Rhythm and Bruisers took on the Tragic City Rollers. I rode the bus with some of the team, coming back in the wee hours of Monday, September 24. Even though we lost it was good times.

Maybe we should go back further. Friday, September 21 I went to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Belcourt. Not the film, the stage production presented by the People's Branch Theatre. It was wonderful, but the point here is that I barely had time to pack but did a fine job. I also barely got a minute of sleep. Sleep is for the little people and I would take advantage of the super long flight for sleeping.

Easier said than done. I put in a half day at work and my father picked us up at work. We got to the airport a little early to find out that our plane was delayed.


This is us waiting for the plane at the first gate. Yes, we moved gates three times. We'd get a great seat in the Southwest line and then be forced to move. Two hours late we were on the plane! I did some sleeping! The sort of sleeping where your mouth is hanging open and your mom would take pictures but getting to the camera wasn't easy. It was the first flight I'd been on in a while where there were empty seats--usually every single flight I'm on is packed. We get there, it's windy and nice but a little chillier than we thought! Ontario has a cute little airport but I think next time I'll fly into SNA or, gasp, LAX. We took our shuttle to the Best Western Stovall's Inn over on W Katella and had a lovely room on the first floor near the front. Near the front is important because the closer to the front the closer to Disneyland!

We were hungry. We'd had snack packs on the airplane and pizza at BNA but that was hours ago! We debated on whether or not to walk to Downtown Disney but instead opted for the chain next door, Coco's. The food was good, they had wines (we passed), and a PIE SALE. We called it an early night. We were still running on central time, after all!

Labels: disneyland, vacation