Post by alleinesein on Jan 29, 2018 17:34:10 GMT -5
I've been all over Germany on my own and had no issues aside from some minor language stuff in former East German cities. I did meet up with friends a few times but spent most of the trip alone. I was there to go to a bunch of concerts so I was out late at night and sometimes in parts of the city that were industrial and deserted at night.
London is super easy to do solo but it is a great city to explore with another person.
Post by alleinesein on Jan 29, 2018 16:32:26 GMT -5
*shrugs* I live in San Diego and we usually have some of the highest gas prices in the US. Prices are always fluctuating so I only notice if they creep up near $4 a gallon.
Post by alleinesein on Jan 27, 2018 1:57:00 GMT -5
My KA stand mixer is still in the box and I got it 9 years ago. I've used my mom's once. I prefer the hand mixer because the stand mixer is a total PITA to deal with and clean.
Post by alleinesein on Jan 26, 2018 16:21:57 GMT -5
If you want a new car and can afford it just get it.
I need a new car but I am not in a financial position to get one; no one is going to finance a vehicle for someone with no income. My car is 17 years old and had has over $4000 in work done to it in the past year just replacing original parts that have worn out (and new tires). It has all been wear and tear maintenance because shit just eventually wears out and needs to be replaced. The one upside of having all this work done is that I have been able to test drive 7 different BMW models for days at a time so I know exactly what I want when I finally get to replace my current little car. I am beginning to think that my service rep is telling the techs to take as long as they want to fix my car so I can cruise around town in a new car for a few extra days.
Post by alleinesein on Jan 21, 2018 4:11:52 GMT -5
Sounds like they have phased out the old school paper system and are slowly integrating a system similar to the DAP. They were having so many issues with FP scanners last weekend that most of the CMs were having to scan each one with their handheld scanners.
Post by alleinesein on Jan 19, 2018 17:37:50 GMT -5
I'll get to see if the CA DMV has their shit together. They aren't even doing Real ID appointments until Jan 22nd and I get to deal with the idiots at the DMV on the 23rd to renew my license. Nothing that they sent me for license renewal indicates what I need to bring to be Real ID compliant; based on the requirements listed on the DMV site I will not be able to get one because I live with family and all of the bills/mortgage/etc are in their name.
Post by alleinesein on Jan 19, 2018 1:26:46 GMT -5
If you are on FB I highly suggest joining some Disney pin groups. They will be able to tell you who the reputable sellers are on ebay and a lot of them also sell pins (hidden mickeys, extras from starter packs, mystery pin duplicates, etc). Most of the pins you find on ebay for cheap are going to be scrappers (fakes or discarded factory seconds) and you can tell the difference if you have seen the real pin. Most of them have telltale signs that they are fake; the colors are off, the enamel/paint dips into the pin, etc.
-88F *cries* I wonder what that physically feels like. The coldest I've personally experienced was -18F and it hurt.
It hurts to breathe. I've experienced wind chills in the -60F range (I think it got down to -68F) in Iowa many years ago. It was so cold and windy that they had to board our flight out of DSM one person at a time so that no one had to stand on the jet ramp. Just getting from the house to the car and then the car to the terminal was brutal and even with the heat cranked up in the terminal you could still see your breath if you were near the windows or the jet ramps.
Does It's a Small World have Fast Passes? My H found a list and I don't see it on there, but it looks like it has it in the app. It closes Monday, so we want to hit it up on Sunday, but are starting the day in DCA since they have EMH that morning.
Yes and no. They added it as a FP attraction for Holiday Time at Disneyland. Hit it up on sunday afternoon/early evening. The park should start to clear out by midday and since it is the off season it shouldn't be too crowded.
Get to DCA early for EMH. They let us in about 10-15 minutes before the EMH time and the CM's did rope drop about 5 minutes early on friday so we were walking onto Toy Story Mania right before 7am. They did not have GoTG open during EMH last week and at 7:45am the line stretched from the entrance to the ride all the way down the street. As soon as the park opened at 8am it was mobbed and the standby time was 50 minutes.
Just spent 4 days up at Disneyland and have some more tips/info for your trips.
They were letting us get Fast Passes during Extra Magic Hour so if you don't have access to EMH the FPs that are available when the park opens might be for later times. Our Space Mountain FPs that we got shortly after 7am were good for 8am-9am; once the park opened up to everyone the FP return times changed to after 9am.
Fantasyland will be a zoo when the park opens if you go on an EMH morning. Even during EMH the line for Peter Pan was a good 25-30 minute wait. We were able to walk onto Alice and the rest of the rides in Fantasyland were just a few minutes for standby. I would recommend hitting up Disneyland on a non EMH morning and getting to the park at least 15-30 minutes prior to opening. Head straight to Fantasyland and if Peter Pan is a priority do that first and then hit everything else.
Main Street is a bit of a mess right now. They are repaving it and putting in new tracks. Currently the hub in front of castle and the main square are blocked off. This is will probably change by the time you visit since they are doing it in stages.
They usually run a free shipping and $20-$25 off your first order for new customers.
Are you staying in a DVC Villa or a regular hotel room? If you are in a regular hotel room or a DVC studio you will only have a small fridge with no freezer.
I was just able to see the movie today. I skimmed this thread so apologies if I repeat anything:
- Nice to see Yoda back (as a puppet no less). Also nice to see Maz Kanata. - Leia floating around in space was so, so corny - annoying that Poe kept going against Holdo but I kind of figured he’d eventually show that she knew what she was doing and Poe would realize he should’ve obeyed - Hux reminded me of Eric Trump - I didn’t remember the significance of the gold dice. They were Han’s I suppose? - Saw it coming when Kylo Ren sliced Snoke in half but it was still satisfying and exciting - I gasped out loud at the visuals/silence in the scene when Holdo shot through the First Order ship at light speed - I laughed whenever Chewy got frustrated at something and threw up his arms. Sad when he was eating the rotisserie and that last little porg was crying at him - I absolutely didn’t see it coming that the Luke at the end was his projection. Laughed and said WOW out loud in the theater. Very, very well done. (I suppose he was able to give Leia a kiss because they have the Force/family connection?)
Was there any kind of post credits scene or Carrie Fischer tribute? We both really really had to pee so we left when the credits started.
If I can get a babysitter (my cousin) is world of color worth it??
Yes. Try to book a WOC dining package. The current one is similar to the original with a few updates. I saw it last night and i liked the new enhancements.
We are going Feb 14-16 (so right before Presidents Day weekend), and we have 3 day Park Hoppers.
We figured out the dining and we have breakfast with Minnie. We are going as a group of 6 adults and 2 young kids. My sons only MUST DO is the Cars stuff-RSR. I'm honestly just hoping we have fun going on a few kid rides and seeing as much as we can.
Here is a good plan of attack for RSR and Toy Story if you end up doing both of them. I do agree with a PP that mentioned that TSM is a bit jerky and if the kids aren't old enough to understand what they need to do in the ride they probably wont like it.
Go to DCA on a morning that isn't EMH. They have been pretty good about letting people into the park 15 minutes prior to opening time. They will hold you right in front of Cathay Circle. Give your fastest walker/jogger everyone's tickets and have them bolt for the RSR FPs as soon as the rope drops; the rest of your party can walk at a normal pace to TSM. While you are walking towards the back of the park the person grabbing the FPs can meet up with you after they get everyone's fast passes. Usually if you are able to grab a FP right when the park opens it will be for 8:10/8:15-9:10/9:15. You can then ride TSM and then hit up RSR and grab another FP when you are done. FYI the FP location for RSR is not in Carsland. It is at Its Tough to Be a Bug on the left when you are walking towards the entrance to Carsland; if you aren't paying attention you will walk right by it.
Definitely do not miss riding Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. It is a cute ride that is a lot of fun.
They have been letting people get FPs during EMH lately (we snagged ones for Space Mountain last month during EMH) but it isn't a thing that they always do. I've seen them make people stand in line for an hour at DCA during EMH when they want to get FPs for RSR and GoTG. So it is hit or miss; I will scope it out tomorrow morning when I hit up DCA for EMH and report back.
I really liked having the max pass. When we did DCA we got a RSR pass immediately. Went and did GOTG and then RSR. While in line we then got Toy Story but I’m guessing that will be closed because it’s on the pier. We then did RSR fastpass again.
I was shocked when we went that Anna and Elsa had hardly any wait. My DD saw them 5 times...in a row.
Also, with the max pass I loved that I could see what rides had a late fastpass time so I knew to grab those before the ran out.
I haven’t done WDW in over 20 years but I love DL and how easy it was.
Toy Story and King Tritons carousel are still open. Toy Story doesnt need to be rethemed.
Post by alleinesein on Jan 11, 2018 17:43:01 GMT -5
I lost two of my best friends in the span of a year so I can relate. It sucks and it hurts and it gets lonely.
Get tickets to the Bon Jovi concert and go alone if you have to. You will probably ugly cry and want to just leave but if music was one of your things you need to do this. One of my friends that I lost was part of a larger music family and this past fall we took her on tour with us; we all had lanyards with her photo that we wore and at the last LA concert one of our friends put her picture on stage during her favorite song. It was part of our healing process and there were many tears shed.
The hurt isn't going to ever go away but eventually the good memories and good times will start to replace the sadness.
Post by alleinesein on Jan 11, 2018 15:30:36 GMT -5
Ok. On my laptop now so I can use a real keyboard
Just a few quick questions 1. When is your trip? Disneyland does have a slow season but it does not coincide with the slow season at WDW. There are over 1 million DLR APs and it is a locals park so even during the slow season the park can be insanely busy on the weekends. 2. Are you staying on property? If you are there are some perks you can take advantage of to make your trip a bit more enjoyable.
Generic Disneyland Info:
Dining- Most dining can be booked 60 days out but some dining packages (Fantasmic and WOC) can only be booked 30-45 days out once the entertainment schedule is finalized. We only have a few character meals and they are mostly for breakfast. There is only one character meal in the parks- Breakfast with Minnie and Friends at the Plaza Inn in Disneyland. All 3 of the resort hotels have a character breakfast: Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel (best variety of food), Surf's Up at Paradise Pier, and Breakfast with Chip and Dale at Storytellers Cafe at the Grand Californian (Woodland creatures- Brother Bear, Song of the South, etc). Goofy's Kitchen has characters for most of the day since it is an all day buffet. Dining packages are a good way to kill two birds with one stone- you have to eat so you might as well get in a nice meal and get a FP for one of nighttime shows. Some of the packages offer a lunch option; it is cheaper and you tend to get a FP for the early show of WOC or Fantasmic.
Fast Passes- We only have a handful of rides in each park that have the FP option. If you are bringing young kids you are in for a big surprise because nothing in Fantasyland (except Matterhorn) have FPs. Small World has one during the christmas season but the rest of the year it doesn't. Roger Rabbits Carton Spin in Toontown offers one. Our FPs are mainly for the thrill rides. Be prepared to stand in line if you want to ride anything in Fantasyland. Some FPs go really fast; it is common to see all the FPs for RSR in DCA gone by noon. Be smart about your FPs; if you want to ride Indiana Jones, Haunted Mansion and Pirates grab a FP for Indy and ride HM and Pirates while you wait for your Indy FP time. Grab the FP on your way to the back of the park/land and then work your way forward. It saves you from having to run all over the park.
MaxPass- This is $10 per person per day and it gives you the ability to book your FP on your Disneyland app (not the same as MDE) and it also gives you unlimited photopass downloads for the day. It is worth it for the photopass downloads but it is not worth it if your kids cant ride any of the FP rides; check the height requirements for the rides that have FPs. You cannot book a FP in advance with this feature; you have to be physically in the park with your admission media scanned at the main gate in order to book a FP. I've used MaxPass and it does not save me any time and I already have unlimited photopass downloads with my AP. The only "advantage" it has is that you can get a FP without having to walk to the ride and you can get a FP after 90 minutes IF you end up with a FP for a later time (if you grab a FP at 10am for a return time of 3pm you can get another FP after 90 minutes/11:30am). It does not give you any advantage if the ride has already run out of FPs for the day.
Extra Magic Hour- if you are staying on property OR if you purchase a 3 day (or more) park hopper pass you will be able to take advantage of EMH. My word of advice- GET YOUR BUTT UP EARLY AND DO IT! I cannot stress this enough. You can get so much stuff done in the first few hours if you are willing to drag yourself out of bed. If you get EMH because of a park hopper ticket you will only be able to use it at Disneyland. If you stay on property you will be able to go to either park for EMH (Disneyland is Sat, Tues and Thurs. DCA is Sun, Mon, Wed, Fri). For Disneyland the only areas open are Tomorrowland and Fantasyland so plan accordingly. I can do everything in Tomorrowland (Space, Buzz, Star Tours) during EMH and then be in place for rope drop to hit up BTMRR, etc. DCA has most of the park open and the best strategy is to start at the back and work your way forward- head straight to Toy Story Mania and then work your way to the front of the park. When I was up there last month we did TSM x2, Screamin, RSR, and GoTG in 1 hour and 15 minutes; we got into the park at 7am and we were walking off GoTG at 8:15. There was no need to grab a FP for anything.
Both parks are currently undergoing some major renovations. DCA has almost all of Paradie Pier closed for the next few months while they change it into Pixar Pier. Disneyland just started a massive repaving project on Main Street this week so those picturesque views of the castle from Main Street are currently obstructed by construction walls.
Disneyland does not do fireworks every night nor do they have a nighttime parade. Rumor has it that there will be no nighttime fireworks until April when the new Pixar celebration kicks off. Fireworks are hit or miss anyway because of the wind and the fact that SoCal is highly flammable. Come with no expectations of seeing fireworks and be pleasantly surprised if they do have them.
Do not compare DLR and WDW. They are 2 separate entities and if you try to compare them you will end up being disappointed. Disneyland is the original park that Walt built. Also keep in mind that while DLR is smaller than WDW we have more attractions in the 2 CA parks than all of the 4 parks combined at WDW. So while we are smaller we have way more things to do, see and ride. Make sure to check out the things that are unique to our parks; we have attractions that they dont have in WDW so you don't want to miss those. Some parts of the park are better experienced at night- Carsland is so colorful once the sun sets and A Bugs land takes on an entirely different feel at night.
If you are coming out in February they will have a Lunar New Year celebration going on in DCA. The Food and Wine Festival starts in March and goes until early April. A lot of rides will be down for refurb in the next few months; some are down b/c of holiday decor removal and others for yearly maintenance.
I will be up at the park all weekend so if you have any specific questions let me know.
Post by alleinesein on Jan 10, 2018 16:28:39 GMT -5
Rocky Chavez was seen pulling papers to run for Issa's spot. He is (unfortunately) a fairly moderate republican who is well liked in North County and also has ties to the military. He definitely poses a threat to Doug Applegate's campaign and with the dem support being fractured between SD and the OC (Levine in OC and Doug in SD) it could be a really close race. Best case scenario is that we end up with 2 dems fighting it out in November but the republicans have a few months to campaign and even though this part of the county is slowly turning blue it is still predominantly republican; people just hated Issa so much that they voted dem in 2016 for the 49th but still voted R for everything else.
Post by alleinesein on Jan 8, 2018 14:23:03 GMT -5
My favorite hotel is the Taj Campton Place. I also like the Fairmont if you can get a room in the main building. The Taj occasionally runs room specials and you might be able to snag something for under $300 a night. It is in a great location and the hotel is quiet.
Things to do: Muir Woods (go early b/c parking can be a bear), Disney Family Museum, California Academy of Science, Ferry Building (grab ice cream at Humphry Slocombe), Alcatraz tour, Chinatown.