Friday, November 17, 2017

THPOE


Yesterday was spent at Disneyland. For me, mostly at California Adventure since I had never been there before. It is built on what used to be the Disneyland parking lot. We met some friends of Bridget’s oldest son who got us park hopper passes for the day. Very generous of them as they are limited to the number of such passes in any given year. They get them as an employee benefit. We had a wonderful day exploring THPOE aka "The Happiest Place on Earth" and finished the day at the laser/water show (video to be added later). In spite of the crowds, I still enjoy the Disney parks. This one opened in 2001 which shows how long it’s been since I last visited. Actually, I was in the area about four years ago attending an Educause conference but was “strongly encouraged” not to go into the park. I didn’t and just spent an evening exploring Downtown Disney. 

Most of the photos of the day are still on my camera. I'm working on the IPv6 video today so I'll take a look at the pictures later. These photos, including the video, are from the iPhone. This one from the Little Mermaid ride was pretty dark. I was just curious how the phone would do. With the exception of the Cars ride, we mostly went to the less busy attractions. Some other guests clued us in on the "single rider" line for Cars. They seat three to a row and they fill the 3rd seat from the single rider line. Instead of a forty-five-minute wait, it was closer to ten minutes.

The Soaring ride may be my favorite. It was like you were flying over, under, through all of these well-known locations around the world such as Kilimanjaro, the Eifel Tower, the Great Wall, and Monument Valley. A very cool ride made even more interesting by the scents and mist coming out of vents towards you as while traversing the sites. We actually waited the forty minutes for that ride.

For me, the most disturbing part was a sore knee. This has never been an issue in the past even when walking three times the distance. Yesterday was only about nine miles. A distance I used to walk on an almost daily basis.


7 comments:

  1. Getting old, not for the weak RichardM. :)

    The single rider line concept is borrowed from ski lift lines, that's where they stick single skiers onto a partially filled ski lift bench seat. works pretty good, still a CF in terms of crowded conditions in my opinion.

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  2. I am impressed you enjoyed the parks in spite of the crowds. I've never been to any of the Disney parks - the crowds deter me.

    Hope your knee feels better.

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    1. And this was a non-crowded Thursday. And there was still a lot of people. Though the California Adventure side was much lighter...

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  3. The biggest difference between THPOE and MHPOE (My Happiest Place On Earth) is the number of people; give me the woods with no one around. The last time I was at Disneyland was way back in 1981, I remember the parking lot.

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    1. In general, that’s how I feel as well. E.g. Alaska. I had not heard of the acronym “thpoe” until my cousin, who recently retired from there, used it regularly in FB posts.

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  4. I too am surprised you enjoyed Disney! 😀 I grew up 50ish miles from the other Disney and couldn't be less interested. I did go years ago with a friend who worked there and rode the Michael Jackson ride when it first opened. 🤣 That dates my visit, certainly! Glad you had fun!

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