Originally Posted By ShivaThDestroyer This was our third trip to the park since we met our clones in December. (Rod & Ruthie)Unfortunately, those two have spoiled Disneyland for us in a small way and we always find ourselves being reminded of them or wishing they were with us. If you don’t have your own clones it’s really hard to explain the sense of not being quite complete. For those of you who might have missed the December post by RAM1984, we met them in Disneyland on our 32nd anniversary. Like us they were celebrating their anniversary and were also wearing the buttons. As we passed them I said, Happy Anniversary, and when Rod looked up he started to say “Thank-you†but when he saw my wife said, “I know you!†instead. Seems that he did know her and that we both lived about 10 minutes apart. We had both made 5 trips to Disneyland in 2006 and every time we were there they were also. I also had worked with Ruthie’s father’s best friend and he was doing a remodel on one of my co-worker’s kitchen. Our son’s are even attending the same university. We ran into them again in the DCA at the Sun Wheel and the similarities kept on coming. We were both carrying fast passes for Soarin' and after that we were pretty much inseparable. We like all of the same attractions, know the same CM’s , like to watch the Christmas fireworks from the same spot near SW and work the parks exactly alike. At one point Ruthie had called her daughter, on her cell phone, to tell her about the couple they had just met. The daughter turned to her husband and said, “Mom and Dad just met themselves in Disneyland!†Recently, we were having a meal at an obscure restaurant in rural Modesto, miles from anywhere. We had just told Rod and Ruthie how great it had been meeting their family and we couldn’t wait to have them meet ours. About twenty seconds later our daughter and her husband come through the door. We wave them over and I introduce our daughter to her “other parentsâ€. The Twilight Zone parallels just keep coming! Kathy and I left our house about 4:00am, the usual time. We have this theory that if we can make it through LA between 9:00-9:30 that traffic will be at a low ebb and we should be in Disneyland around 10:00 to 10:30. Just for the record, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. This was a doesn’t and we arrived around 11:15. Since it was close To noon we decided to try for an early check-in at the hotel. We figured it was a gamble but, if we could get our room early, we would save more time than having to leave the park and come back later. As we pull into the hotel and get out of our car, one of the hotel staff happens to walk by, greets us by name and welcomes us back. (I guess this is a clue that maybe we’ve stayed here before.) We complete the check-in, drop the luggage off in the room and boogie over to the park. It always amazes us that even after forty years or so of going to Disneyland that every trip still has the same excitement as the first. The moment we get out of the car and our feet hit the pavement we feel the magic. This is something that everyone who reads this can identify with. As we get to the tram I become aware that my AP is missing. I head back to the car and can’t find it. I’m even wondering if maybe I didn’t get it back when we were at the parking structure toll booth. The CM had really checked my picture on the card closely because I had on sunglasses, must be due to Grandpa being born in the Mid-East and a few features have followed down the generations. (Don’t worry, the only thing this Shiva is good at destroying is a churro) Bottom-line, I had stuck the AP in my wallet instead of its usual place in my belt pack. It’s back to the tram and then into the park. We roamed around for a while, did JC and then went to the petting zoo. One of our favorite CM’s was working and we got to surprise her. We got the usual hugs and promised to see her again later. We were getting a little hungry but didn’t want a full meal as some friends would be joining us later and we knew we would be having dinner together. We headed back through Fantasyland to Main Street and hitched a ride on one of the cars down Main Street. The driver is also a close friend of ours. He moved from our hometown about 3 years ago. It was his life’s dream to work at Disneyland and when he retired he moved 6 hours south and, in his own words, is now living his dream. A few minutes later we were having ice cream at The Gibson Girls. Isn’t there some way we can convince Disney to bring back Fantasia ice cream? Sometime around 4:30 we met up with our friends, had a great time doing Buzz and the Monorail and then had a wonderful dinner at the Plaza Inn (Pot Roast for me) During dinner we discussed our Disney dreams and wishes. Our friends left shortly after dinner and Kathy and I closed down the park. Two days later we get a phone call from one of our friends. He is a lead mechanic on the Monorail and wants to see us for a few minutes. We meet up with him and after more of the usual hugs he gives my wife a beautiful cast-exclusive Pirates of the Caribbean watch and then hands us two passes to Company D. For those of you who may not be familiar with the name, that is the Disney employee store. We felt like we had just been handed the Holy Grail. The following morning finds us at Company D where we spend about two hours. At one point, a CM sees me eyeing a cast-exclusive trading pin and she informs me that our pass does not allow us to purchase any of the cast-exclusive items, “but maybe if I know a CM…†I chuckled and said, “If I didn’t know a castmember I wouldn’t even be here.†As we were checking out, the CM at the register looks at my wife and I and said, “Boy, you can sure tell you two are relatedâ€. She’s a little surprised and embarrassed when she learns we are married. We gave her the usual, “you know the longer you’re married the more you look like each other†line in hopes of making her feel better about her faux pas. Back to the Disney dreams and wishes. Three days earlier, as we were having dinner, my buddy had again stated his dream of being able to go to Company D and as the passes we had were only good through April and, as we knew Rod and Ruthie would not be able to use them, I called my friend and told him we had a present for him. He met us at the park the following day and almost had tears in his eyes when we handed him the pass and he realized what it was. He spent a couple of hours with us. We did Buzz, Space and the train. The whole time he was with us he never stopped smiling and kept singing the “I’ve Got a Golden Ticket†song from Willie Wonka. He went to Company D the following Saturday and as he was making his purchases the CM gave him another pass to come back one more time. It may take weeks to wipe the smile off of his face. Kathy and I spend another three glorious days in the park, had a blast and saw more of our family of CM friends. At one point we were going through the line at Screamin’ a guest in front of us asked us if we knew the name of Jasmine’s tiger in the animated movie. Since that was one I hadn’t watched and I knew of someone that would know, I used that as an excuse to call Ruthie and, of course, she knew. Rod also called us back shortly afterwards so the clones were with us in spirit even if they couldn’t be there in person. After Screamin’ we did Bug’s Life and as we were leaving found a wallet with credit cards and over $200.00 cash. We made a bee-line to Lost & Found and turned it in. Part of the Disney magic is that I have all faith that 99% of the guests would have done the same thing. I doubt if that would happen much outside the park. We stayed in the park until 7:00pm Thursday night, went back to the parking structure and took quite a few pics from the top level and headed home. Rod called us again on Friday and we confirmed plans to have dinner at Applebee’s on Saturday. That was a perfect ending to our trip. It could have only been better if Ruthie had been there. We may not have been found by any of the Dream Teamer’s but we really felt like many of our dreams had come true.
Originally Posted By ABBY What a fun trip. I really enjoyed your report. That is such a neat story about you, Kathy, Rod and Ruthie ! I agree completely about the fantasia ice cream!!
Originally Posted By RAM1984 Well, I will concur that the only thing that could have made your trip any better would have been me and your other quarter. Hopefully our next trip reports will include how much fun we had togetherD~~
Originally Posted By ShivaThDestroyer Fantasia ice cream is Burgundy Cherry, Pistachio and Banana ice creams all blended into one flavor, it's quite colorful with the bits of candied pineapple in it! It was made just for Disneyland by Carnation Dairies. Having gotten that out of my system (and would rather be getting some into my system) I'm tempted to buy the ingrediants and show up at Rod & Ruthie's home just to see how close we can get. I have no idea what the proportions are but I'm willing to sacrifice my body for science.
Originally Posted By ShivaThDestroyer ABBY, I like your style. I was feeling bad because I closed my last post without inviting you. Consider yourself invited.
