I'm thinking I might just skip J. I've been racking my brain for the last week, and the only things that have J in them don't really have anything to do with anything. I could do it on the Jungle Cruise, but I really can't stand that ride. I could do it on January, like Kristin did, but I didn't make it to January on my first program. No one is giving me any ideas, so I'm at a loss. If I still haven't thought of anything for J by Friday, I'm going to move on to K.
Congrats to everyone checking in today! I'm definitely jealous, but not ready to leave. My best friend just came home from Delaware for two months, so I'm trying to spend as much time with her as possible before I have to leave.
036 - 5/13/10
In exactly one month, I will be on a plane headed for Florida! I honestly cannot wait for this month to be over! Do any of you have any ideas for what I should do with J? I'm completely stuck. This ABCs business is way more difficult than I thought. Oddly enough, I've gotten all the crazy letters like Q and Z figured out. Today, however, is the letter I! I apologize that so many of my posts are about food, but I like to eat!
I
In-N-Out
My New Year’s Resolution this year was to stop eating fast food, but In-N-Out is my weakness. If only there were any within a day’s drive from here! Honestly, In-N-Out is hands down, my favorite place to eat. I always get a number two, no tomato - with onions and animal style fries. If you’ve never eaten there, I suggest you try it. If you have eaten there, I’m sure you understand how delicious it is. The closest one to Carnegie is about a ten minute drive, and the area is a little sketchy. I loved going at midnight with a car full of people, but that’s usually when the drive thru lines are the longest. If you’re wondering what I’m even talking about right now, google it. Animal style is the way to go. The menu is simple, but their “not so secret menu” has some pretty good things on it. Boy oh boy do I miss those burgers and fries.
Inn Between
Between Main Street USA and Tomorrowland, there is a large CM eatery known as the Inn Between. I’m assuming it has that name because it is in between the two lands. This is probably the nicest of CM dining options, next to the Eat Ticket (I’ll talk about that when we get to T) of course. The Inn Between seems to have the most variety of food, at least from what I remember. They have a grill, for burgers and such, as well as a salad/wrap station and an always changing menu of specials. There is also a nice selection of quick food, like pre-packaged salads and snack foods. I loved getting the daily special for about $2 I believe. My favorite were the enchiladas. The chicken sandwich was pretty good too. If you’re working in Tomorrowland, Main Street USA, or even the main costuming building, this is probably your best bet for a decent meal. The building has two or three time clocks around it, as well as a really large eating area. There is seating inside, as well as on the porch. Below the porch is more seating, which is usually were the smokers like to hang out. If you look closely at this picture, you can see the Inn Between. It’s slightly to the left of the middle of the picture.
I
In-N-Out
Inn Between
035 - 5/9/10
Happy Mother's Day! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! The weather is slowly getting nice here in Washington, but not nice enough! Tomorrow it's only supposed to be 60 AND it's going to rain. However, by Friday we are supposed to be in the 80s. Anyways, today's letter is H!
H
Hollywood
I’ve been to Hollywood quite a few times prior to DCP, so to me it really isn’t any big deal. However, if you’ve never been, it is definitely worth going. Going to see a movie at El Capitan is a really cool experience. It’s right on Hollywood Boulevard, you can’t miss it. Jaime, my mom, and I saw Bolt there when it was playing. The tickets definitely aren’t cheap, but it’s a fun off-property Disney experience. Toy Story 3 will be running from June 18 - August 29. If you’re there in time, check it out! It’s also fun to see the stars on Hollywood Boulevard. I’m pretty sure Walt Disney has a star, along with a few Disney stars. If you have a car and want a fun adventure, buy a map of the stars’ homes and go on the hunt for a few of your favorite! The maps are about $10-20, but they’re pretty fun.
Haunted Mansion
If you’re doing the fall program, then most of the time your in California the Haunted Mansion will be all decked out in Nightmare Before Christmas attire. Before my DCP, I had never seen the Haunted Mansion Holiday, so it was a really awesome experience. Try to catch it once, before the change over happens in late September/early October. It amazes me how they can transform the Haunted Mansion into a completely different ride, practically overnight. I will say that the fall version is a lot less scary, at least in my opinion. Everything is more colorful, and all the Nightmare Before Christmas characters are hanging out. Another cool feature about the HMH is that every week, for thirteen weeks, a new advent is revealed on a huge advent calendar behind the loading area. Trust me, you can’t miss it!
H
Hollywood
Haunted Mansion
034 - 5/6/10
I told you it would be soon! Today is G!
G
Golden Horseshoe
One place I had never been, until my first College Program, was the Golden Horseshoe. Frontierland is definitely my least favorite land, and I had never really spent any time there. To me, there just didn’t seem to be much to do there. Boy oh boy was I wrong. Not only does the Golden Horseshoe have the best QS food in the entire park (chili cheese fries and chicken strips are my favorite), but they also have an awesome show. I had never taken the time to watch Billy Hill & the Hillbillies until my DCP, and I definitely see now what I was missing! Probably one of the cutest shows in all of Disneyland, and every show is different. I saw the show about four different times, each from a different location, and was blown away each and every time. I was laughing so hard, and I loved the audience interaction!
Grocery Bingo
Probably one of my favorite DCP events. Usually it takes place out in the courtyard on the second floor of Carnegie. I’m sure you’ve heard of it before. Basically, you play bingo and the winners get bags of groceries. The groceries aren’t really anything awesome, but it’s still nice to have! Considering you will have four or five people in your apartment, the odds of you guys getting a bag of groceries at least once are pretty high. In one night, I think that every single person in my apartment got a bag. We were set. It makes cooking for others (which I love to do) much much cheaper.
G
Golden Horseshoe
Grocery Bingo
033 - 5/5/10
I promise, I haven't forgotten about blogging! My life has been really hectic lately, and I'm trying to get all the ABCs figured out. I'd like to have them all done before posting anymore, that way I know I won't get stuck. Some of these letters are really hard to think of ideas for. I promise, I'll have G up in the next week. I literally have a Pages (that's the word processor for Macs) document open, which all kinds of random ramblings about different letters. It's been sitting open on my computer for about a week now. So, it isn't that I'm not thinking about blogging, I just haven't posted anything yet. Do any of you have any ideas for the remaining letters? Things you want to know about in or around Disneyland? Let me know!
032 - 4/28/10
So, today's letter is F. If Katie had it her way, this would be all about Fantasmic. However, considering I've only ever seen it once, I don't think that's enough to blog about. Especially considering it scared me more than anything (that phobia thing, you know how it goes).
F
Food!
So, I'm mainly going to talk about three things: places to get free food in the parks, the Blue Bayou, and Club 33.
First of all, Mission Tortilla Factory at DCA is definitely my favorite place to get free food. Not only do you get a free tortilla when you do the tour, but if you're wearing a birthday button, you get a lovely bag of a dozen tortillas! Talk about a lovely free snack! Whenever my ex and I went to the park with his little girl, I always made sure I took my birthday button so we had a cheap snack for her. The Boudin Bakery right across the walkway also give you samples of bread. If they're slow, you might get a large handful of bread samples instead of just one or two. There also usually isn't a wait for the bread tour, and you don't have to actually watch the tour, which is nice.
My absolute favorite restaurant, hands down, at Disneyland is the Blue Bayou. It may even possibly be my favorite Disney restaurant EVER. Not only do they have a fantastic Monte Cristo, but the restaurant is inside a ride! Does it get any cooler than that? Honestly? I think not. Just a fun little tip for you: if you make the earliest possibly lunch reservation, which I believe is 11:30, you're guaranteed a seat along the river's edge. When I was little, every trip to Disneyland we would eat at the Blue Bayou. Also, you can only get the Monte Cristo for lunch, in case you wanted to try one, which I highly suggest. Some people are crazy about Dole Whips (I'm not a fan of pineapple), but my obsession is the Monte Cristo.
I'm sure most of you have heard of Club 33, but you probably don't know much about it. To be honest, neither do I. However, you can tell who works there because they have really awesome vests with 33 all over them in gold. You'll be surprised by how many people in the park are actually Club members or going with friends that are Club members. I've never been inside, except for the downstairs, which really wasn't that exciting. I've heard stories of CMs sneaking in, and a guy I worked with showed me a bunch of pictures he took. I've heard that the food is amazing, but also extremely expensive. You'll meet people that have connections to get in though, and I highly recommend taking those people up on their offers to take you. Seriously. I only wish I had the chance. One day, right? Oh, and you can cross train into Club 33, but the requirements are really intense.
F
Food!
So, I'm mainly going to talk about three things: places to get free food in the parks, the Blue Bayou, and Club 33.
My absolute favorite restaurant, hands down, at Disneyland is the Blue Bayou. It may even possibly be my favorite Disney restaurant EVER. Not only do they have a fantastic Monte Cristo, but the restaurant is inside a ride! Does it get any cooler than that? Honestly? I think not. Just a fun little tip for you: if you make the earliest possibly lunch reservation, which I believe is 11:30, you're guaranteed a seat along the river's edge. When I was little, every trip to Disneyland we would eat at the Blue Bayou. Also, you can only get the Monte Cristo for lunch, in case you wanted to try one, which I highly suggest. Some people are crazy about Dole Whips (I'm not a fan of pineapple), but my obsession is the Monte Cristo.
I'm sure most of you have heard of Club 33, but you probably don't know much about it. To be honest, neither do I. However, you can tell who works there because they have really awesome vests with 33 all over them in gold. You'll be surprised by how many people in the park are actually Club members or going with friends that are Club members. I've never been inside, except for the downstairs, which really wasn't that exciting. I've heard stories of CMs sneaking in, and a guy I worked with showed me a bunch of pictures he took. I've heard that the food is amazing, but also extremely expensive. You'll meet people that have connections to get in though, and I highly recommend taking those people up on their offers to take you. Seriously. I only wish I had the chance. One day, right? Oh, and you can cross train into Club 33, but the requirements are really intense.
031 - 4/26/10
Today's letter is only going to have one thing. I've been putting off blogging because I'm getting stuck on letters!
E
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
If there is only one non-Disney thing you do during your program, GO SEE ELLEN! Honestly, it was the most amazing experience ever. Originally I had gotten tickets for November, but I was termed before I was actually able to go. Instead, my friends Katie and Jaime went, but were only in the riff-raff room. The day in November that they went, David Archuleta was there, which I was really OK not seeing. However, they did get his CD, which I guess is better than nothing. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but somehow Katie won tickets to come back for the Twelve Days of Giveaways. If you don't know what that is, just Google it. Anyways, she called me, and asked if I wanted to come down and go with her. Of COURSE I said yes. For Christmas, my mom bought me a plane ticket to go down for a few days.
On December 9, 2008, Katie and I arrived at Warner Brothers Studios relatively early, as we wanted to make sure we got good seats. We checked in and got our tickets, and then walked to Subway and got lunch. The process of getting into the studio is long and relatively uneventful. We were told before we got in that groups might be split up, depending on where the director wanted us to sit. We were probably in the first ten people or so. Once we got into the studio, they sat us on an aisle seat. That enough was exciting, but we were in the row Ellen dances down! We were so excited! Ellen is so pretty, and tiny! Of course, it gets even better. Although we didn't really care about who was there that day, we were excited about the giveaways! In the end, Katie and I each walked out with $100 Visa Giftcard, a Wave skateboard (we gave those away), a pair of $300 sunglasses by Karl Lagerfeld, a $400 pearl necklace, a $1000 watch (the brand name is escaping me because I gave mine to my grandpa), about $200 of Tocca gifts (candles, perfume, soap), and I feel like there was something else, but I can't remember to save my life. Anyways, all in all it was an AMAZING experience. I would highly suggest going. If not to Ellen, then some other talk show or game show in the LA area. They're easy to find and really really fun.
Anyways, that's it for today.
E
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
On December 9, 2008, Katie and I arrived at Warner Brothers Studios relatively early, as we wanted to make sure we got good seats. We checked in and got our tickets, and then walked to Subway and got lunch. The process of getting into the studio is long and relatively uneventful. We were told before we got in that groups might be split up, depending on where the director wanted us to sit. We were probably in the first ten people or so. Once we got into the studio, they sat us on an aisle seat. That enough was exciting, but we were in the row Ellen dances down! We were so excited! Ellen is so pretty, and tiny! Of course, it gets even better. Although we didn't really care about who was there that day, we were excited about the giveaways! In the end, Katie and I each walked out with $100 Visa Giftcard, a Wave skateboard (we gave those away), a pair of $300 sunglasses by Karl Lagerfeld, a $400 pearl necklace, a $1000 watch (the brand name is escaping me because I gave mine to my grandpa), about $200 of Tocca gifts (candles, perfume, soap), and I feel like there was something else, but I can't remember to save my life. Anyways, all in all it was an AMAZING experience. I would highly suggest going. If not to Ellen, then some other talk show or game show in the LA area. They're easy to find and really really fun.
Anyways, that's it for today.