Disneyland Trip Reports
Topic: AMAZING STORY!!!!!!!!

#	Author	Message
1	RAM1984 Mon 12/11/2006 3:57p	I am skipping over the beginning of this trip to tell the tale of Rod, Ruth, Gary and Kathy. We had been having a lovely time in Sunny Anaheim just enjoying our favorite place. It was Friday, the 3rd of a 5 day trip. We had gotten Happy Anniversary badges at City Hall and they play and important part in this adventure. Rod and I had gotten to the parks early to donate to Toys for Tots. That was a story in itself as no one seemed to know when or where this would take place. We were about 8th in line at the gates and I said, "We are not giving up this spot. We will take the toys in and come back out later." It turned out that the family chosen to "let ‘em in" were in our line so that made us 2nd and 3rd. We did our usual of Fantasyland starting with Peter and moving on. Did it all in less than 30 minutes. We picked up FP's for Indy and went out to donate our toys. We got a really cool pin. Then we did HMH and Pooh 2x. When we returned to Indy it was down. (Everything we did and didn't do plays a vital role in the timing here.) We decided to go to our hotel for a lie down and lunch in a restaurant we like there. We were heading down Main Street and saw a CM saying, "free cookies.." We knew it was for kids so we walked on past. Then I got jealous (of the kids) and said, "Maybe if we whine that it's our anniversary they will let us join." We turned around and went back. The CM did tell us no but she told us Happy Anniversary and we chatted a bit. Enter two strangers wearing Happy Anniversary badges as well. The man says, "Happy Anniversary. How long?" We told him and he told us we had 2 years on them. The first of many freaky facts. DH said that he recognized the lady. (He always does this and is usually wrong.) Turns out she works at a book store we frequent. So we chatted some more. They said they had been at DL in October. So had we. Last July 17. So had we. Last Holiday Season, so had we. "Where do you live?" About 10 minutes from each other. And so it went. He had even worked with a man who was my father's very best friend. By then we saw on the board that Indy was up so we decided we would do that. We exchanged phone #s and emails. And continued to talk. For over and hour. By the time we parted company we had made reservations for the next morning at the Plaza Inn character breakfast. We went ahead and rode Indy and went back for our lunch and rest. When we went back we went to DCA and rode Screamin' then headed for the Sunwheel. (Which DH hates but rides to appease me.) I even offered to do Red Gondola but he said no. (Remember what I said about the timing thing.) (Little side note. We noticed Darkbeer on the ride just before us. Didn't get the chance to catch his attention. But wouldn't it have been fun if I could have posted a candid shot of him for a change?) Back on topic: We are in a swinging gondola and we look down and see our new friends in the Red Gondola line. So we waited at the exit. We chatted a bit and I told them we had FP's for Soarin'. Gary asked at what time and I said 6:20; theirs were for 6:15. So we went together. I wanted to be at SW for fireworks by 8:00. They asked if we wanted to do ToT, we did it twice. We went to see Turtle Talk but the show was 30 minutes away so we headed to Disneyland. By then we were all sucking cough drops because we were getting hoarse. We got a great spot for the fireworks. I had called my daughter after the first encounter so took the opportunity to fill her in on the latest. She turned to her husband and said, "My parents have met themselves in Disneyland." After White Christmas we were wondering how to avoid the crowd and Gary said, "How about Space." Off we went. The line was 50 minutes and we just brushed that off knowing we had plenty to talk about. (Gary and Rod are the same height/weight, each has a knee that required surgery. Their son just finished UOP, ours is there now. We have several friends in common.) The list just kept growing. I spent a good part of the time showing Kathy pictures of my kids and grandkids. After space we were all leaving but noticed a 5 min. wait on Buzz. Big surprise, we all love Buzz. Then we all headed out. The next morning (Saturday) we got together for the breakfast which they had never done. I think Gary filled a disk with pictures. It was during breakfast that we found out both the guys are left handed. We were also all wearing the Santa Mickey ears from last year. When we were done I said that we wanted to go get our pictures taken with Santa. (Timing again as we had tried the day before and Santa went on a long break while we were in line so we had left.) Gary said, "Oh great, let's all get our pictures together."( I am so happy that the real Santa chooses Disneyland for his photo ops.) We had to part company as they had friends to meet and we had our mini meet. (That story will be told on another thread.) But after that DH was like, "What do we do now?" I said we could rest our vocal chords. It was about 4:00 and I think we did Jungle Cruise and then decided to wait for the Aladdin and Jasmine show. Hubby was unenthusiastic about it but I wanted to ride Splash. We had brought in our ponchos. So we did it. As we were leaving we were trying to call G+K and they were right behind us. Gary wanted to ride Splash too; on it we went. (They were packing ponchos as well.) For some reason, a CM said it could be a lost hat stuck in the flume, we were getting a huge wall of water at the bottom of the drop. Our pic did not turn out as well as I wanted and they were up to going again and I asked for front seats so no one could block our image and the CM said he would arrange the boat so it was just us. I took the front and my hair and face were as wet as if I had dived in. That wall of water was still there. After Splash we did Pooh looking for hidden Mickeys and the moose heads. I wanted to see the fireworks from the train station so we went there. We only had about a 20 minute wait this time. I knew they were leaving the next day and asked if they would be coming to the parks in the morning. You should have seen the, "How can you even ask?!?" look I got. Our plan had been to get out ahead of the crowd and get a good night's sleep for storming the gates on our last day. And then it started to really rain. People were heading out like rats on a sinking ship. After the fireworks stopped (no snow due to the rain) we decided it was too late to beat the crowds. We asked if they liked the 50 Magical Years movie. They loved it. No surprise by now that we liked the same things. So we ducked in to get out of the rain and wait for the mass exodus to thin out. When we came out it was raining HARD. Out came our ponchos. Guess what? We all love Disneyland in the rain. We decided to do a "few" attractions before leaving. I asked if anyone would give me odds on our being there til closing. No one took the bet. We started with the Tiki Room. And yes, both of our new friends sang along too. We went on the Jungle Cruise and got right next to the skipper. She asked my name and I said Joanne, just being silly. Gary told her my name was Ruth and everything we encountered she had something to say about "Joanne Ruth." Then she said she wished she really knew my name and I said Suzanne. So I became Joanne Ruth Suazanne the whole trip. When we got to the crocodiles she said, "Don't worry, they only attack people with three first names." This went on and on and was probably my best ride ever on JC. Then we did Indy, Pirates and HMH. Then we headed for Fantasyland but got waylaid by BTM. In fact, we got waylaid twice. As we were entering FL the announcer said DL was closing it's day. I was sure they were closing early due to the rain but it was actually midnight. I couldn't believe it. So we took the long walk to the trams and not too long a wait because of so many rain chickens. Sunday: In spite of our late night we got to Disneyland by 8:30. There was still only 5 minutes at Space so we did that. Had another go at Buzz. We had wanted to do Star Tours but it was down. By that time it was time to head for DCA as we had only been there for a couple of hours. We were not leaving it up to serendipity this day. We called and they were just getting off the tram. We met them and headed in. I said that we had no particular game plan. Gary took charge and said, "How about FP's for Soarin' and then a go on Screamin?" Sounded good all ‘round. CS was down so we went on the Sunwheel, all in a Red Gondola this time. I asked if they Mallaboomered and they said we sure do. So we did that and made our way around to MMadness and by then our FP's were ready. I asked for B1 and we got it. Absolutely wonderful. They had managed to do Crush already but were willing to go again. Then, he was on the phone with a friend of his and I heard him say, "We met clones of ourselves." All over the park we were telling people that we had only just met and no one would believe us. People standing close to us in line would think we were family. Then another go on ToT. By then we were past our leaving time but could not resist heading over to the Circle D as one of the CM's there is known by all of us. We wanted to surprise him by all being together. He wasn't working but another CM there is a good friend of theirs and we talked to her for quite a while. We really needed to leave and they insisted on walking us to the hub. Even though we already had plans for dinner at Applebees in a week we had a hard time saying goodbye. It was all so unbelievable. I do not think something like this could come together anywhere but Disneyland and at Christmastime. Little P.S.: I was surprised they were not LPERS but they are both familiar with it and have lurked.
2	RAM1984 Mon 12/11/2006 4:13p	Sorry, a couple of my ands should read "an". I left out that when we got off of Soarin' on Sunday Gary whispered, "We even like Heimlich." I told him we often do chew chew even when we do not have the grandchildren as an excuse. So we did that and Tough to be a bug. THEN we went to Turtle Talk. I want to thank anyone who goes to the trouble to read this long post. Just think how long it took me to type it.LOL It was just to wonderful and exciting not to get it all.
3	Disney_or_bust Mon 12/11/2006 5:54p	That has to be the greatest trip report ever! :) So neat to meet your clones!!
4	TinkerbellPatten Mon 12/11/2006 7:24p	Joanne Ruth Suzanne! This was a fantastic trip report! It's not too long, I loved every bit of it. It's like a dream that I wish would happen to me. Finding new best friends at the happiest place on earth... Do you suppose it's some "Disney Magic"? It's so nice that you live near each other and can spend time together often. I bet you will plan another trip to DL.
5	Pollyana Mon 12/11/2006 9:01p	Disney Magic? You betcha! And there's plenty more where that came from. Nice report. I hope that kind of magic is in store for us when we go in January.
6	RAM1984 Mon 12/11/2006 9:11p	^^I just got an email saying the next trip will probably be in March. It was signed, "Your Disney clones." I already have the picture of the 4 of us with Santa as my new wallpaper.
7	melekalikimaka Mon 12/11/2006 9:13p	That is so neat!
8	amazedncal2 Wed 12/13/2006 9:50a	>>> She turned to her husband and said, "My parents have met themselves in Disneyland." <<< ^^that is just hysterical :) What a fun report :):)
9	LPFan22 Wed 12/13/2006 12:14p	I loved reading this. What a magical thing to have met your 'clones' the way you did. I think Disneyland will always be that much more special for you and your new friends. I have goosebumps! Such a nice thing to happen. Thank you so much for sharing. =)
10	ShivaThDestroyer Thu 12/14/2006 10:41p	Ruthie (aka Joanne Ruth Suzanne), if I wasn't there I wouldn't have believed it. You and Rod made this visit special for us. Kathy and I still can't believe that there is another couple so much like us in their love of The Park and all the same things we do and the ways that we do them. I can't remember the last time that we had so much fun. I still get a kick out of your daughters remark, "My parents have met themselves in Disneyland." We haven't compared blood types yet but I'm sure there's a bit of pixie dust flowing in all our veins. Disney is always better when shared and there's no other couple we'd rather share it with. See you at Applebees. Until then, beware of crocodiles that only eat people with three first names. ºo º

All times are Pacific Time (US)

Note: Information on the discussion boards is sometimes based on rumors or incorrect information and should not be assumed true. Messages do not necessarily reflect the opinion of LaughingPlace.com or its editors.

More messages:

1-10

11-20

21-30

31-36

< Previous Topic

Next Topic >

You must be a registered user to post messages.
Click here to register.
After registration you will automatically be brought back to this topic

Laughing Place Podcast
This week on the LPP - Disney's 2008 Thea awards, Disney's Imax and 3D announcements, Bolt walkarounds and the crew's favorite Animal Kingdom attractions plus reader mail, Brent's Corner, the Captain's Challenge, Stump the Crew and 50 words or less on the new Bond.

What's on
The Latest
Group RCI and Disney Vacation Club Members to Receive Benefit of New Multi-Year Relationship
NetDragon and Disney to Launch First MMORPG 'Disney Fantasy Online'
Disneyland Thanksgiving Day Parade pictures
New Disneyland Resort Video and Audio podcasts available
Video of dogs visiting Santa Paws at WDW's Downtown Disney
Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea Schedule for Fiscal Year 2009
TCM Presents: The Family Classics With All-New Original Special and Nostalgic Holiday Festival
Kids go free to Disney on Broadway
Innoventions Dream Home featured on MSN.com
Disney Store Responds to Inaccurate Information in Widely Circulating Email

Click here for The Latest