Persistent Illusion » 2004 » September

On The Road | Reviews by Judy @ 5:43 pm PDT

We didn’t really have any plans for the second day, and I’m not one of those vacationers who tries to wring every penny out of my surroundings. So I let #1 Son sleep in while I took a shower — wicker basket for the used towels, another nice touch — and read the paper over a pot of coffee.

When #1 Son woke up, we headed out to find some lunch (he sleeps late) and decided to try Storyteller’s Cafe, the in-house “family” cafe that serves the character breakfast earlier in the day.
Mom’s take on Storyteller’s Cafe: What can I say? The decor was a rather strange mixture of cowboy and fairytale. The food was overpriced for what it was — typical family fair, a la Denny’s. The service was slow. Bottom line: There are better places to eat in the area. Go to Storyteller’s Cafe only if you can’t stand to miss the character breakfast.

The Grand Californian has two other places to eat: Napa Rose, a “fine dining” establishment serving Californian cuisine for dinner, and White Water Snacks, a deli and snacks shop near the pool that’s open all day. We ate at neither, so I can’t comment on them.

After lunch, we headed over to Disney’s California Adventure. I remember reading about it before it was built. The concept of going to a theme park in order to experience California seemed strange to me. If you want to see San Francisco or the Napa Valley, why not just go there? But various areas of California turned out to be just vague themes rather than real experiences. Farming in California, for example, appeared to be represented mostly by a 3D film and various rides around the A Bug’s Life theme. Hollywood and the film industry were represented by a Trompe L’Oeil street scene, a Disney Animation Museum and the Hollywood Tower Of Terror thrill ride.

There were several attractions and several fast-food type eateries that were closed. I’m guessing it was because of the time of year. Crowds were thin, and we never waited more than 15 minutes for an attraction. Most rides we just walked directly on. The fastpass times were actually slower than the ride lines. So as far as that goes, it was definitely the right time of year to come.

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There were a lot of things to see and do. The souvenir shops were strategically placed and carried an interesting assortment. There was a snack-and-drink cart about every 50 feet, although I still cringe at having to pay $3 for a small bottle of water. We found a coffee cart not too far from Pardise Pier, and the prices there were a little more reasonable — not more than 1/3 again more than Starbucks or Kobos. A large plain coffee was only $1.50, which is pretty reasonable anywhere. The open area by Pardise Pier also turned out to be a good place to sit an people watch for awhile. #1 Son got the requisite number of stares, but since the ‘hawk is gone, he gets fewer comments. One lady said that she loved his look.

We didn’t go down in the Pardise Pier area. From afar, it looked like a few thrill rides, souvenir shops and arcades.

Note: I’m an Oregonian, no doubt. I hate paying sales tax, and I never really get used to having the total on the till more than the amount on the tag. This makes souvenir shopping something of an ordeal.

Of Disney’s California Adventure, I most enjoyed Soaring Over California, a simulated-flying ride combined with and Omnimax film that was actually quite cool. My only problem was that, with my feet off the floor, my sandals kept slipping. Next time, I’ll stow my sandals with my purse in the below-seat cargo net.

Mom’s take on Disney’s California Adventure: as a general theme park, one more because it’s Disney, incredibly clean, and all of the cast members are amazingly nice, cheerful and helpful. And a fifth because we were smart and went when the lines were short and the weather (disregarding the smog) was perfect.

We headed over to Downtown Disney to House Of Blues for dinner. Like the rides, the restaurants were similarly unbusy. We were seated right away. The ambience was funky, with lots of folk art decor combined with various blues memorabilia and videos. Service was attentive and the food was good. I had a great jambalaya. Pricing was typical resort levels. #1 Son was in heaven as soon as he saw Key Lime Pie on the desert menu.

House Of Blues has live shows in their theater most nights, some of which are all-ages. While waiting for our dinner, we checked out the entertainment coming up in September. They have some great, and not so great, acts play there. That night, it was American Hi-Fi, who #1 Son described as a one-hit-wonder in the worst KNRK sense. So of course he wanted to see them. I didn’t mind a quiet evening, either. Conveniently enough, we finished desert just in time for the show. #1 Son headed off to American Hi-Fi, and Mom headed back to the room. I wasn’t worried about #1 Son going off by himself, because this was, after all, Disneyland.

Mom’s take on House Of Blues: Dan Aykroyd, Jim Belushi and the other founders had a great idea. Good food. Good music. Key Lime Pie. What more could you ask for?

I had a nice quiet evening reading my book and watching a little TV. #1 Son came back about 10:30 or so. Neither of us could get very interested in what was on TV. We needed to meet the LA Tour bus out front at 8:30, so I ordered room-service breakfast for the next day and we turned in by 11:30 or so.

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