Chapter 122
Tour Guides

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(Originally posted December 12, 2013)

August 1-4, 2013

Now, it probably wasn’t that noticeable in the pictures from the end of July, but Tracy had gotten slightly addicted to home hair dye kits this summer. At first, she had just added a few highlights, but at the beginning of August, she decided to do a major transformation and go blond.

We started off August with a couple CoolTech-related events. Tracy’s coworker/friend Anna was having her baby shower that Saturday, so several people had flown in from the Colorado offices to go to that. One group of four gals from CO had rented a house for a few days, and on Friday night, they invited all the CoolTech folks who were interested to come to a party at their rental. It was a lot of fun (if a little rowdy), and the next morning, we dragged ourselves out of bed to get ready for the baby shower.

Since most of Anna’s coworkers at CoolTech were male, she decided to have a coed baby shower. It was the first baby shower I’d ever been to, and it was actually pretty fun. Anna relied on Tracy and I to help decorate before the event actually started. She had gotten several ideas from Pinterest (when is that ever a good idea?), so it was our task to try to recreate them. I think we actually did a decent job with this hanging centerpiece/cake table.

The shower itself went off pretty much without a hitch. I think Anna had over 100 people come (which is CRAZY!). She was supposed to be on bed-rest, so she broke the rules a bit being up and around as much as she was, but I know she enjoyed herself. Here’s she and Tracy with the gift we gave her.

After the shower, we were actually going to be heading to Disneyland with a few of the gals visiting from Colorado. We’d signed on to be their tour guides as they enjoyed a night of Disney.

We arrived a short while after they did, and they were stuck in a long line at the Finding Nemo Subs, so Tracy and I decided to get a Mickey Pretzel while we waited for them.

It was delicious as always, of course!

After eating, they still hadn’t made much progress in the line, so Tracy and I went and rode Alice in Wonderland. At that point, we just went back to wait for the gals on the curb by the Subs. I wasn’t feeling too great after having been on my feet for a good portion of the day, but I was trying to last as well as possible to be a good Disneyland guide.

Finally, the three gals—Kara, Ali, and Katie—emerged from their trip with Nemo. They’d enjoyed the ride, though they were a little scared by how long that one line had been. I still had the GAC, so I knew we would be able to do a few more attractions than they would have done otherwise, but my GAC was a little more limited, so we couldn’t do everything.

We started off going to Indiana Jones, which they all really enjoyed. We followed that up with Pirates—which didn’t have a line at all because Fantasmic! was going on. I still wasn’t feeling great up until Pirates, but I started to feel a better after it, so we went to Splash Mountain next. I think everyone was more scared of getting wet on this slightly chilly evening than they were of the actual attraction, but we all enjoyed it.

Everyone was interested in riding the Matterhorn next, but my GAC wasn’t eligible for that ride and the standby line was way too long for me to wait in so we tried Space Mountain but found the GAC line for that was way too long as well. We ended up settling on Star Tours, which everyone enjoyed.

The gals had pretty much exhausted themselves by this point, and they had never actually eaten dinner, so they were starving. We decided to stop at the Little Red Wagon for some Corn Dogs. The line took forever even though there were only a few people in front of us, but while we were waiting, we spotted a Disneyland Cat lurking in the seating area at Plaza Inn.

After we ordered, I wanted to get us cups of water, so I went to the Refreshment Corner while Tracy and the others sat down to eat. When I got back, they regaled me with a story of all the action I had missed while I was gone. Apparently, the cat had reappeared, and this time, he figured out a way to jump up onto the roof of the Plaza Inn—ricocheting off of several tables and other obstacles in doing so. Tracy knew I would have appreciated seeing that feat more than anyone, but I’d had the camera, so she couldn’t even get a picture… I also didn’t get a picture of our Corn Dog, but it was quite delicious.

After our late-night snack, we all headed down Main Street. We stopped at the Emporium so the gals could do some shopping. Tracy found this sweet chef’s hat and tried it on.

While we were just loitering in the Emporium waiting for the others to pick out their souvenirs, Tracy and I found ourselves looking up and around for the first time. We liked these cool sconces meant to simulate oil lamps.

We’d also never noticed all the moving animatronics up above. This one is a barber and his customer.

After everyone had finished their shopping, we all parted and went our separate ways. I know the CoolTech gals had enjoyed Disneyland even more than they’d expected to. They began making plans to return the next time they came to California. Tracy and I headed home, exhausted after a couple long days.

August 5-8, 2013

The next workweek went by relatively quickly, especially because we didn’t even make it to the parks until Thursday evening. Once we finished with work on Thursday, however, it was the start of one of the most exciting long weekends we’ve ever had as Disney fans. The D23 Expo was happening in Anaheim, and Tracy and I would be attending.

Originally, our plans for going to the Expo had been hard to firm up. The general admission tickets were SO expensive, and Guy had told us a few months earlier about how cast members can get you a major discount if you have one of them buy tickets for you.

We didn’t REALLY know any cast members, but Anna’s husband’s cousin works for the Mouse, and we were able to sway her to buy our tickets for us. She charged us a pretty hefty “finder’s fee” on top of the price she had to pay, but we were still able to get tickets for Tracy and I to go to the Expo on both Friday and Saturday for a grand total of $120—a steal compared to the $200 we would have had to pay otherwise.

Tickets in hand as of Anna’s baby shower, we were all set for Expo weekend to begin. Obviously, Tracy was taking Friday off—finally using her first actual vacation day—and the events really started Thursday evening.

Nicole (@SparklyNicole on Twitter) was having a meet-up at the Fiddler, Fifer, and Practical Café in DCA on Thursday evening, and Tracy and I headed over after dinner. We got to the park at about 7:00, which was right when the meet was set to start. As we headed through Trolley Treats and toward Starbucks, we noticed that the first signs of Halloween merchandise had already shown up since our last visit.

The meet itself was really fun! We got to meet so many people who we followed on Twitter and/or Instagram as well as meeting a whole slew of other Disney fans. In addition to the Selgas (@guyselga and @girlselga)—who we’d already met at several Touring Plans events—and Scott Otis (@otisney), who we’d gotten to meet at WDW last spring, we met Suzannah (@zannaland), Caitlyn (@caitlynnoel), Theresa (@GertieTheDino89), Jim (@jimdoyle), Tim (@timweston) and Annie (@AnnieMcBeth). Also, Nicole, of course, who was hosting the event. And those were just the people whose Twitter names I caught. In total, there were probably about 30 people who came and went throughout the meet.

It’s always great getting to know Disney people and to immediately have something to talk about. Obviously, the main topic of conversation this evening was the Expo. Tracy and I realized we were woefully unprepared for what the next couple days would bring. We had done next to nothing to prepare for the Expo (though there’s not really all that much you CAN do in preparation). Mostly, we had tried to stay ignorant rather than reading too in-depth about previous Expos because we wanted to be surprised. We did gain some valuable information talking to some veterans of the last two Expos, however, so we felt like we were as ready as we’d ever be when the next morning came.

After the meet came to an end, we realized we should probably head home and get some sleep. The next two days were going to be BUSY, and we wanted to make sure we were as well-rested as possible!

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