Chapter 79
Angels in the Outfield

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(Originally posted October 20, 2013)

As we rode around on the Columbia, we liked seeing all the animatronic animals we passed along the route.

Mike Fink: King of the River.

Disneyland Ducks: The Real Kings of the River.

The sunset was just beautiful as we came around one of the last turns.

At some point, we decided to head below deck to explore everything that was down there. That area of the ship is chock full of details.

And finally, we made it back to Frontierland and docked once again.

After disembarking from the ship, we rode Pirates before deciding we were ready for a snack. One of the Disneyland staples we had yet to try were the Mickey-shaped Beignets from the Mint Julep Bar.

These take a while to come out, but they were certainly worth the wait.

The one thing I have to say, however—which totally goes against my assertions that EVERYTHING tastes better when shaped like Mickey Mouse—is that the beignets from Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen Express may have been EVER SO SLIGHTLY better than these… Don’t quote me on that. The jury is still out unless I someday have the opportunity to compare them side-by-side.

We rode the Haunted Mansion and Indiana Jones before calling it a night. We were a little nervous when our car stopped for a few moments on Indy. We remembered Tracy’s parents’ story from many years ago when their car got stuck for 30 minutes but the jerking motion of the vehicle kept going the whole time it was stopped. Talk about a recipe for motion sickness.

Luckily, the car started up again before too long, and we made our way out from Adventureland to the exit.

We didn’t go back to the parks for the rest of the workweek. On Friday evening, however, I got a do-over chance to meet Tracy’s new colleagues because CoolTech organized a group outing to an Angels game. The company rented out a suite, and all employees and their spouses were invited.

We hadn’t been to a baseball game in years, and we were mostly just excited for the free ballpark food we had been promised. We also REALLY hoped the crowd would all flap their angel wings like in Angels in the Outfield, but apparently awesome moments like that only happen in the movies.

The view from the suite was great.

Really, though, there was no reason at all to watch the game. The Angels played DREADFULLY and ended up losing to the Houston Astros 5-0. Luckily, there was plenty to distract us from the game. I met about 60 different people in the span of three hours (and promptly forgot most of their names). It was nice putting faces with the names of the people Tracy worked with more closely, however. Everyone was really nice, and I could definitely understand why Tracy liked her workplace. It seemed like everyone got along and was really happy working there. Plus, who wouldn’t want to work at a company that organized cool outings like this one?

After every Friday night Angels game, they shoot off fireworks at the stadium, so we stayed long enough to watch the show.

It couldn’t rival Disney fireworks because it didn’t have a storyline or anything, but it was still an impressive show. On the whole, it was a fun night—though I don’t think anyone in the company spent more than ten minutes actually watching baseball. Instead, it was a great way to socialize in a unique environment.

April 13-14, 2013

This weekend started out a little bizarrely. Tracy went to the doctor to get a physical, and while she was in the back, I read the news breaking across several Disney sites about how OSHA had shut down several E-Ticket rides at Disneyland. We decided to go to the parks after lunch, and it was crazy realizing that Space Mountain, the Matterhorn, and Soarin’ Over California were all down (in addition to Big Thunder being down for its refurb). The whole park seemed to be bustling with rumors and unhappy guests.

Obviously, we didn’t really care about doing any of the attractions that were down. Instead, we went straight back to The Star Trader to investigate the new Droid Factory.

We played with the parts and put together a few fun ones, but we weren’t in the market to buy a droid this afternoon. I guess you could say those weren’t the droids we were looking for…

While at the shop, we also discovered this new shirt, which made us laugh.

Walking into Fantasyland from Tomorrowland, our path was blocked by thousands of young dancers from Dance the Magic. They were doing a routine down the usual parade route, and it was fun to watch them all thoroughly enjoying themselves. It was also impressive just how many people there were participating. The line of dancers seemed never-ending!

As the pack cleared, we were finally able to cross into Fantasyland and get in line for Casey Jr. While waiting, I noticed these awesome elephant light posts by Dumbo for the first time.

The trees by the attraction were also beautifully in bloom.

And there were columbines at the Casey Jr. exit—the Colorado state flower!

When we finally made it on board the train, we sat in the caboose on the side where you face backwards. It made the ride totally different than we were used to!

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