Lemme just say it was one of the finest meets (er, meats) ever. You never know when one of these is going to be merely loads of fun, or an event for ages ... and of course, I wanted the Lashmeet to be one for the ages (as I'm sure the Lashmeat is).
This exceeded all my expectations. The kind folks at Mice Chat always provide a fun crowd for the noon meet. And when you start with 60 people ... even the constant fall-off which happens from that moment on - - leaves 20 people to close the park 12 hours later!
The Lashes were made Honorary Citizens of Disneyland in a neat ceremony at Walt's statue, followed by a huge group photo in front of the Castle (see if you can find Lashbear hidden demurrerly in the crowd).
A massive lunch at Plaza Inn followed, and a record-breaking fast pass run by Cadaverous Pallor and me (33 fastpasses for Indy).
Another record was shattered when 41 of us raided
Pirates of the Caribbean ... with enough "front-loaders" to sink
two boats. (Actually, we didn't e-stop the ride ... but tsunami-waves, wench-drenchings, bottoming-out flume drops, and walls of water were the order of the day .... was that Not Afraid singing "The Morning After" in the second row??)
The group then circumnavigated the Park aboard the recently-reopened Disneyland Railroad ... the Lashes in high style, esconsced inside the
Lilly Belle for the journey. Left-over 50th Celebrations
Parade of Dreams and the Steve Martin movie were next, followed by an odd flag-retreat ceremony at 4pm while the sun was near its apex in the sky.
We
did manage to sink a boat on
small world ... heheh, the craft crammed with 15 barely made it into the buliding before grinding to a halt ... and castmembers didn't notice until boats had backed up all the way to the loading dock! Five members were selected "at random" to disembark and take the Walk of Shame past all the stranded guests, who undoubtedly were muttering, "so
those are the fat people who got us stuck here in the hot sun for 10 minutes!"
OMG, SCREAMING rides on
Indy, the
Matterhorn (you could hear CoasterMatt banshee-wailing throughout the entire mountain) and
two on
Big Thunder ... where the Lashes were introduced to The Goat Trick, and I found out other people besides me were really terrororized in the Longjohns Tunnel of Death.
TeeHee, I'm still laughing at Gemini Cricket's Indian yell at the end of Ride 1.
A lovely dinner at Cafe Orleans (much vegemite was consumed, to Lashbear's delight). A pleasant Haunted Mansion ride, a trip to Hell with
Mr. Toad, Remember fireworks in sensurround near Dumbo, and a rare and moody cruise aboard the
Columbia to inspect all the Pirates Lair construction by the full moon light.
A post-pyro
Peter Pan flight brought our silly switchback tradition of high-fives to a stunning level of hilarity and madcap fun that likely will never be topped. Being among the first dozen people on a re-opened Pan meant dashing through the switchbacks at high speed ... the queue turns so tight at points that everyone was High-Fiving on
both sides at once! Even the CMs got into the act, as the operator High-Fived the inboard passenger on every departing Pirate Ship. Sailing into the Darling's bedroom, I HighFived a random stranger in the queue ... and Nephy & €uro topped it all by HighFiving each other from crossing Pirate Ships high above Neverland!
Those are some of the highlights I can remember. It was great to have so many Disney friends come out of the woodwork for this one. A wonderful time was had by all, and I believe it will live for the Lash Pair as the great day that fulfilled its promise.
My thanks to everyone who attended, and to all those folks who've put out the welcome wagon for the Lashes ever since they arrived in California. Hahaha, I don't think they've spent a day without guests until
today ... which I understand they will be spending around the pool with their feet up.
BTW, they're in town for the rest of the week, folks. More fun is in store!
.