Amy and F1gment's return to Disneyland 2013

[ImagineerWannabe]

Nice photos Amy! Well worth the wait for the continuation of the report. I didn't know there was an Alice ride at Disneyland. Looking forward to the rest of the trip

[Amy]

Thanks ImagineerWannabe ~ it was the perfect storm for a few days ~ the computer cooperated, the photo hosting site cooperated, I had the time. The computer crashed then this morning right after I sent out a work email
The Alice attraction is really cute. You should watch a ride through of it online if you have the time ~ I think it was recently refurbished too.

[cy1229]

I'm loving all the photos! Makes me get all giddy excited-like inside, anticipating what we are (likely, hopefully) to encounter!

[Amy]

I'm loving all the photos! Makes me get all giddy excited-like inside, anticipating what we are (likely, hopefully) to encounter!

Thanks You are going to have a blast out there! And I already told Figment we need to go back ~ without Dirk ~ because we like to spend a little more time in the parks and then I can take more photos!

[cy1229]

I'm loving all the photos! Makes me get all giddy excited-like inside, anticipating what we are (likely, hopefully) to encounter!

Thanks You are going to have a blast out there! And I already told Figment we need to go back ~ without Dirk ~ because we like to spend a little more time in the parks and then I can take more photos!

That's one of the things that Jeff and I are looking forward to. My parents and sister are all about rides, rides, rides. We want to be able to absorb the atmosphere as much as go on rides, especially the ones not at WDW. I'm not going to be heartbroken if we don't go on something that I've experienced at WDW, but I will be sad if we don't do things that are ONLY at DLR. And, I just want to look at things, at least attempt to look at things, through Walt's eyes. What did he see when he was there? It's something I always try to do when encountering an historical place or document. Some would totally at me calling DLR historical, but it is. The man was a genius, and to be able to crawl into his imagination and mind even a little bit for a little while would be a great thing.

[Amy]

I completely understand what you are saying. The first time we went to DL I remember thinking that I was finally in the place that Walt originally dreamed and planned and built and walked through. It was a neat feeling for sure. DCA wasn't open then so we had one day at DL with my brother, sister-in-law and their two children, and then we went back for one more day later in the trip with just my brother and took the Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour which was very good. My brother is an engineer and really enjoyed the tour looking at the park from a different angle.

[wewantsdaredhead]

I'm just...
I dont know what to say..........
Another TR update from the Queen of Procrastinators?

Well, I think it was MindFlipper that said it best...a TR is like a fine wine, it just gets better with age. (or something close to that...)
If thats the case, this one is almost ready for a fancy French winehouse!!

Regardless, thanks for the update--another classic.
And boooo--no more Disney pics..

(as if we'd ever see them even if you did )

Just picking Amy!
thanks for reviving this TR.

[Amy]

I'm just...
I dont know what to say..........
Another TR update from the Queen of Procrastinators?

Well, I think it was MindFlipper that said it best...a TR is like a fine wine, it just gets better with age. (or something close to that...)
If thats the case, this one is almost ready for a fancy French winehouse!!

Regardless, thanks for the update--another classic.
And boooo--no more Disney pics..

(as if we'd ever see them even if you did )

Just picking Amy!
thanks for reviving this TR.

Harumpf! (although I deserve it) There shall be a few more Disney pics ~ from the Disney Family Museum in San Fran

[NaCler]

WOW... How have I gone a whole year without reading this report Amy??? It's been really cool reading through it and seeing all of your pics and looking back at my pics and noticing that we took a lot of the same ones! Thank you for all the wonderful pics of momma. I think her and Jack Skellington with her surprised face is the greatest picture I have ever seen! Excellent job and you have inspired me to work even harder to finish mine.

[Amy]

WOW... How have I gone a whole year without reading this report Amy??? It's been really cool reading through it and seeing all of your pics and looking back at my pics and noticing that we took a lot of the same ones! Thank you for all the wonderful pics of momma. I think her and Jack Skellington with her surprised face is the greatest picture I have ever seen! Excellent job and you have inspired me to work even harder to finish mine.

Thanks NaCler ~ shame on you for not reading this for so long ~ it's been here for ages! Actually you and H (and cy1229 and a few others) have been goading me into working on mine. I've had time, I just forget and do other things, and the computer does stop me a bit as it just still randomly shuts down. If I couldn't use Mom's computer, I'm sure I would be in more of a hurry to fix mine. When you and H returned from Cali, I knew I had to start making some progress soon! Figment really is photogenic isn't she?

[Amy]

Ok, in the spirit of letting things go until the last moment, here is the conclusion of the trip report from our DL trip. Not as much left as I thought so....on with the show!

A pretty rainbow on the way back from dashing to the airport to deliver my brother Dirk to his earlier than expected flight. It was changed through the night so it truly was a mad dash. Luckily traffic was very light that early in the morning. It is also the only time I remember literally going 90 miles an hour when not in an ambulance or fire truck...and I can't honestly remember going that fast in those in my career. Ever.



One last look out the glass elevator in our B&B. I wouldn't mind seeing this every day!


Arrived at the Presidio at the Walt Disney Family Museum ~ much later in the day than I would have chosen, but my sister-in-law insisted we would have plenty of time if we went in the early afternoon.



A nice tribute right inside the front of the museum to Diane who had passed away not long prior to our visit.


The infamous multi-plane camera


They had a nice little section all about Mary Blair and her contributions to the park, and the floor near the restrooms definitely reminded me of her style




Inside the first section of the museum were several collections of Walt Disney, as well as awards he and the company had won.






At the top of the museum, there is a glass hallway where you are treated to a beautiful view of the San Francisco Bay. Alcatraz wasn't on the list to visit on this short trip, but I would love to go back. Such an interesting place...but I digress.




The rest of the museum was all about Disneyland! I really wish I had known about this setup sooner as I would have lingered a bit less lot less on the early history and had a chance to look a little more closely in this section.


The centerpiece in the room ~ which has a sparkling, spiraling ramp down from the top floor to the bottom ~ is the 14 foot in diameter highly detailed scale model of Disneyland. So many details to take in ~ I was fascinated by it! I'll post just a few overview and close-up shots though.




The only thing I found a bit jarring about the model was the characters from the attractions that were placed by the attractions were way out of scale in proportion. But I'm sure that was on purpose so people could spot different characters and attractions more easily.











Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln bust


One of my favorites ~ Carousel of Progress. It was all tiny and looked like it had gone through the Adventures from Inner Space shrink ray







And that is the end of the Disney portion of our trip. If you'd like to see a few more photos, stick around as I'm going to include just a few from when we were visiting my brother.

This statue ~ Harvest of Progress ~ was erected the week-ish before we arrived. It is in the little roundabout right outside the salon where my sister-in-law Becky works. Here is a link if you are interested in reading a little more about it. http://bramanswanderings.com/2013/12/23 ... -progress/


My brother now works for Ericsson and when we visited they were still situated on the Microsoft Campus because Ericsson had just bought that arm of the company. This is one of the antennas he does something with that is communication/satellite related. This is actually his first job as an electronics engineer I sort of understand, but obviously not entirely I know these dishes were, or are in the process of, being relocated to their new campus which just recently finished up construction. Having their own campus and buildings makes Ward and his co-workers very, very happy ~ and very, very busy as they are still in the process of moving and getting all set up.


Behaving in the backseat as we did when we were kids...although no one ended up crying this time. Must have been Dirk that caused all the problems!


Fixing the tesla coil quick-like before my sister-in-law Becky had a houseful of guests for their Bunco party that evening. She really hates when he takes over the dining room table. In fact he had just had to move the 3-D printer off of it earlier that morning.


In any case, we connected it to the electronic piano, and then the computer, to make the tesla coil sing and spit out pretty electricity. It was pretty fun. The first few guests got to see it, and then we had to put it away


My brother always has a million projects going, but one of his ongoing ones is making rings for making chain maille. This is a tunic and hat(?) he made a long time ago and he was taking a picture for some trading card thing they were doing at work. Completely normal right?


I didn't like the chain maille hat ~ too heavy and grabbed way too many of my hairs but I did find this hat pretty fetching!


And finally, two photos that show what a fun relationship my brother and his youngest have. In the first Arron was pretending to be shorter than Ward...which hasn't been the case for many years. And the second which looks more real-life-like




And that's a wrap on the Disneyland TR of December 2013. Phew!
Thanks for reading along and I hope you enjoyed this rather lengthy, drawn out, photo-filled report. I really will try to do better on the upcoming WDW TR. Honest! I may or may not need a few reminders and prodding...sigh

[cy1229]

Thanks, Amy! I hope I get to go to the Disney family museum some day. Looks really cool. Those models you showed reminded me of something - the end of the Alice in Wonderland ride, winds back and forth outside for seemingly no reason and I found it really, really strange. Does anyone else think that's weird?

I loved your brother in his chain maille plus khakis and sneakers. SO AUTHENTIC. Gave me a good chuckle.

[Amy]

Thanks, Amy! I hope I get to go to the Disney family museum some day. Looks really cool. Those models you showed reminded me of something - the end of the Alice in Wonderland ride, winds back and forth outside for seemingly no reason and I found it really, really strange. Does anyone else think that's weird?

I loved your brother in his chain maille plus khakis and sneakers. SO AUTHENTIC. Gave me a good chuckle.

The museum is definitely worth a visit. I would recommend starting early in the day so you can really take in all you want to see, and maybe get outside and enjoy some of the Presidio while it is light out.
I'm thinking the end of the Alice ride is zig zaggy in order to provide a more gentle slope back to the ground level? I don't know, but it's fun!
Yeah, I'm pretty sure he was just having his torso on his trading card. I'll have to ask him if they ever got those made!

[cy1229]

...Those models you showed reminded me of something - the end of the Alice in Wonderland ride, winds back and forth outside for seemingly no reason and I found it really, really strange. Does anyone else think that's weird?...

...I'm thinking the end of the Alice ride is zig zaggy in order to provide a more gentle slope back to the ground level? I don't know, but it's fun!...

Oh yeah I hadn't thought about that. Good call.

[ImagineerWannabe]

Thanks for the finale to the report. That model of Disneyland is so cool! I can imagine wanting to stare at that for hours. Just seeing all the devices on the table would have given away your brother's occupation. That lightning is awesome!