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Hey Jason that was me that told you about the ride-op on the Calico Mine Ride that told me that I had to remove my sunglasses well the train was still in the station.

 

The only employees in the park that I found to be really friendly were the ones on The Silver Bullet but I guess when your the only one on the ride and it's you 20th lap on it they'll be friendly to anyone.

 

By the time lunch was over I just wanted to get out of the park that I left walked down the street to the shopping mall and walked around their until the bus came back to pick us up. But it was a good thing I did this because they had a Wal-Mart and I needed a new memory card.

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Knott's used to be one of the best parks in the country. Cedar Fair has completely destroyed the place. Between horrible employees, idiotic policies (seriously, the glasses policy here was the worst I've ever experienced), horrible operations, and horrible, HORRIBLE line jumping and other terrible human behavior, this was easily the worst park of the trip. I seriously thought we were going to get stabbed at one point during the day. The crowd at Knott's now reminds me of the sort of crowd that would show up at SFMM in the '90's. I guess Knott's management only cares if people come in the park, and not about how they act once they get there.

 

I have to expound on the glasses policty, which was apparently at the whims of whoever was working a ride at any particular moment. I was told early in the day I could wear my sunglasses (which I need if I'm outside, as due to all the eye surgery I've had I'm almost blind without them in sunlight) if I had a strap. But this policy would vary from ride to ride, totally at random. Sometimes the strap was needed, sometimes not, and sometimes I had to remove them NO MATTER WHAT. The rudeness with which these things were explained to me was amazing. Seriously, you CAN answer a question proposed to you by a park guest without acting like your soul is being destroyed while answering. Hopefully not too many of them needed extensive therapy after having to do their job. At least Kerry was around to help me on rides where I had to remove my glasses. Thanks Kerry!

 

Xcellerator was fun. This was my first time on it, as every other time I've been to the park it's been closed for repairs. And I was smart enough to NOT ride Ghostrider again. So I guess the day wasn't a total loss...

 

dt

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^^^Calm down Elissa. (To quote Rollerman 87) I'm sure you've paid inflated food prices countless times. (By the way, your response to Rollerman87 on the previous page made me laugh-out-loud)

 

I went to Knotts for the first time in years a few months back. I enjoyed most of the rides, but what surprised me was that I felt like I was walking around a flea market. They had an odd bowl assortment to shops and stands to buy from, none of which seem very popular with the guests.

 

But, I'll be back again for the Haunt!

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Sounds like a lot of the employees at Knott's need to learn how to deal with park visitors. It is very annoying to hear that the group got called out by the op for reporting line cutters. And people wonder why others don't want to report line cutting?

 

It's also interesting how things are different at each Cedar Fair park. In 50+ trips to Dorney in the past few seasons I have never had any problems with employees even close to the issues I read in this report (and the few problems I had were very minor).

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God, I must be the only one on these boards to not totally hate Knotts. IDK why, but I've never had a bad experience there, I like the atmosphere, the dispatches seem pretty fast, and I can re ride a lot of the rides there and still have fun. Maybe it's because I never got to experience it in its hay day, or maybe I have very low standards (well I do, I try to not overly analyze parks as that would just detract from my experience), or maybe I just havent experienced a superb coaster park yet, but I really enjoy myself at Knotts.

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Nice update and pictures. It is sad to see that Knotts is allowing their employees to kill what is in my opinion, otherwise a good park. The $8 food is kind of weird too, considering there is normal priced food literally right outside the gate.

 

My only concern is when you mentioned the employee saying something about 'Grumpy coaster enthusiasts.' At risk of annoying some people on this site, I do want to say something about that. I absolutely love the events that Robb and Elissa make happen, but honestly I don't think that employee was too far off.

 

I know how enthusiasts can be. I've been one and going to west coast events for about a decade, and for the most part, I am just one of those guys that blend into the background and enjoy the event. When you have a busload of people that are being hyped up for a let-down, then focusing on every little problem they encounter, I can totally see where the people in the park are coming from! No doubt they got a speech before their shift about dealing with 'our kind.'

 

"This show was good, disneyland was better." "This game was good, Knoebels was probably better." "I didn't even ride one of the classic authentic KBF rides." Yeah thats what I love hearing. At WCB there was this one embarrassing couple there yelling at EVERY employee about how angry they were that ERT started 15 minutes late. I eventually told them to 'cool it down,' and they did. Suddenly everybody was more patient and in a better mood.

 

Ok, I think I'm just rambling now, but I really think we sometimes lack the ability to have some humility and realize we are not the center of the world. Yeah, everybody paid a lot of money to be there and by all means the park SHOULD have done better, but I just think it is a little unfair to blow up at EVERY little issue. I'm sure there were problems at other parks that were overlooked because you weren't looking for them. If you set yourself up for disappointment, its no doubt that you will find it. I always seem to have a good time at Knotts because I take it for what it is.

 

This is a fantastic trip report and I really do love reading it, and this rant really isn't focused at you specifically, but I think I needed to get it out and perhaps remind everybody here that we sometimes can be pretty arrogant and I can totally understand how we can have a negative reputation.

 

Chris.

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^I don't believe TPR has a negative reputation. To the contrary. Almost at every park on the WCT, we were told how much they liked our group.

Personally, I don't like being linejumped but I don't think I've ever complained about it. But if somebody makes a remark about that to the ride-op, you wouldn't expect him telling the linejumpers something like that.

We did get 'briefings' on the busride to every park, but even then, I can assure you that most of us, if not everybody, was very excited to be at the park, equally as we were at every other park. And I mean excited in a relaxed way. Although the schedule looked very tight on paper, I was surprised how relaxed everybody on the trip was at the parks.

I didn't experience any employees yelling at me or being rude at Knott's (nor at any other park on the trip) but I indeed witnessed some horrible park operations at Knott's. Sorry if you don't like to hear that.

 

P.S. Great update Jason.

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^^Yeah Chris, I totally understand what you're saying but the TPR Group is VERY different than the 'typical enthusiast group'.

 

On these trips especially, you will not find that 'ACEr' type, or pure credit whores that you may see at our one day events. Mostly because they realize they would NOT fit in with us! The vast majority of us never wore coaster shirts, we did stuff that wasn't coasters, we didn't eat all the food provided, etc. Esentially, there's no way that most employees would even be able to tell we were the 'enthusiast group' there today.

 

Plus I was alone with KT a few times (that certainly would not look like an enthusiast!) and got totally rude answers from employees everywhere (Ops, Food, PHOTO BITCH FROM HELL, etc.)

 

Someone else said it best; "Knotts is now, what SFMM was in the early 2000's." They're headed down a bad path unless they can clean up their act like SFMM did.

 

Also, as for the park briefings we give everyone before visiting a park; we purposely did NOT give a terrible version of Knotts. I didn't even say anything and saved my song for AFTER our visit! We basically let people know that clientel would not be the nicest, Ghostrider would kill you in a wheel seat, several attractions would not open with the park, and if you had been to Knotts before 2002 be prepared to be shocked. Someone on the trip can correct me if wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's all that was said. We didn't think we'd have such rude employees so we didn't prepare people for that.

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I have to expound on the glasses policty, which was apparently at the whims of whoever was working a ride at any particular moment. I was told early in the day I could wear my sunglasses (which I need if I'm outside, as due to all the eye surgery I've had I'm almost blind without them in sunlight) if I had a strap. But this policy would vary from ride to ride, totally at random. Sometimes the strap was needed, sometimes not, and sometimes I had to remove them NO MATTER WHAT.

 

I almost think this sounds like a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Maybe not the policy that glasses are unsafe on certain rides but the inconsistency with which it is enforced. NOT that I am saying Dave is disabled

 

Sigh. I don't know when it will stop, but I get sad every time I read about bad experiences at Knott's.

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I had very mixed views on this day.

 

While ERT waws so much fun, there were several things that weren't so good.

 

The Good:

 

The Calico Glory Hole! Best phrase ever! I was laughing my a$$ off every time I heard it.

 

Fun ride ops! Ok, not all the time. There were some that stuck in my head. One kid named Will had Jenn and I cracking up. He seemed to have fun interacting with the guests and us as well.

 

While this has nothing to do with the park, seeing Allison, Chris, Wagner, and Stephanie again! It was odd not being on a TPR trip with them. Here's to hopefully seeing them on another TPR trip soon.

 

I actually liked Ghostrider I mean, it was rough, but maybe because I was warned so much that it was rough, I was able to brace myself enough to enjoy it. Still, you shouldn't have to brace yourself to enjoy a ride.

 

The Bad:

 

Ride Operations!! I really wanted to ride Perilous Plunge. With only one car and dispatches at every 10 - 15 minutes, it was not worth that long wait.

 

Ride Operators. With the exception of ONE, the ride ops sucked. I have never heard so many F Bombs dropped in my life. Coming from a Customer Service position, I would have never let any of my associates talk like that with a customer. In my department, that would be grounds for immediate termination.

 

Food Prices - Really? I mean it was pretty high. While I always go to a theme park knowing price of food will be high, I never thought that what you would pay as much for nothing. At least at Universal, I can pay $8 for a pizza and drink or something like that.

 

Line Cutters! Seriously, I almost died. While in line for the log flume, the line cutters drove me nuts! I'm just not singling out this park. Disneyland was just as bad!

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The Calico Glory Hole! Best phrase ever! I was laughing my a$$ off every time I heard it.

 

Fun ride ops! Ok, not all the time. There were some that stuck in my head. One kid named Will had Jenn and I cracking up. He seemed to have fun interacting with the guests and us as well.

 

You just made my day I'm Will

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I keep reading all these comments about rude ride operators! Did everyone on the trip ride Supreme Scream while I wasn't on the clock?

 

Great KBF trip report though. It's great to see people are happy with the exhibits and cool things the park has to look at.

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Great pictures!

 

I went to Knott's and SFMM this Summer. I was surprised when I went to Knott's because the operations at SFMM were so much better and the operators were very friendly. The operators at Knotts were very rude. Even this lady working at a sunglasses rack outside yelled at my friend for trying on 2 pairs of glasses saying, "You can't keep trying on glasses if your not going to buy any." I just don't understand what would compel somebody so be rude up front like the employees at Knott's. And with Xcelerator* being down, I have absolutely no desire do visit the park because the employees ruin whatever else the park has to offer.

 

*This was the only ride I went on that had fun and polite operators.

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I keep reading all these comments about rude ride operators! Did everyone on the trip ride Supreme Scream while I wasn't on the clock?

 

Great KBF trip report though. It's great to see people are happy with the exhibits and cool things the park has to look at.

 

Did anyone meet Cody while on their visit to the park? I honestly hope you guys had the chance to meet him during the trip because I can assure you he would make Snoopy damn proud!!!. I guess you can say Cody is Knott's "diamond in the ruff"...

 

Alright Cody enough with my sucking up, send me some Knott's tickets this way!

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As for Knott's itself, the only things the park had to offer were Silver Bullet and Xcelerator. The operations on Bullet weren't too bad, but I guess that's because it's a B&M, the rest of the (coaster)operators operated like they were in a coma. So after the ERT on Bullet and Xcelerator I was simply done with the park and wanted to leave. Thank god that I could kill the time taking some pictures

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Wow, I've never made a post that inspired pointless drama before! Agreeing to agree and/or disagree about the finer points of Knott's, we now move on to our last non-Disney park of the trip: Adventure City.

 

I think this was the park Robb described as "one of those places you wish had been around when you were a kid." Nothing major, but fun for the little ones. He and Elissa also told us Adventure City was locked in a perpetual land battle, and as soon as the housing market rebounded, the park likely would be replaced by condos (boo!).

 

While there wasn't much here for adults, per se, I'm glad I can say I visited the park while it still existed and even happier that I got to ride the Wild Mouse of Death and lived to tell the tale! Details below.

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"Now kids, before you get on this coaster, remember not to stare at all the big people who are riding it with you. It's not polite to judge others, no matter how 'different' they may be."

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The park's other credit, the Freeway Coaster, may not have been fancy... but at least it didn't seem like it was going to fall apart in mid-ride!

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The beam's not *that* low, Roxy!

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"When you get to the beam on the last drop, duck. You see it? It's... well, you'll see it!"

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For a better idea of how this looked when the car was on its way down, grab your monitor and shake!

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Treetop Racers is themed to look like a coaster built out of items from a scrap yard by a pair of 10-year-olds. To complete the illusion, they asked a pair of 10-year-olds to build the coaster with items they found in a scrap yard!

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And thus we come to Near Death: The Ride.

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Ain't no party like a Party Tree party 'cause a Party Tree party's in a tree!

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Llamas need lovin's, too.

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"Pet me! I dare you!"

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One last fire truck-turned-gift shop!

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Um... is it just me, or aren't crains supposed to be designed *not* to drop things?

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They had these awesome handcars like Idlewild!

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Oh, Crazy Bus... you so crazy!

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Stupid sun ruining my stupid shot of the stupid balloons....

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OMG! Monster truck police cars!

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This Ferris wheel looks just a little too happy to see us.

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Is this what they mean by "pony play"?

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He's totally hot for this antique-looking kiddie train.

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Our final in-park Thomas of the trip!

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Apparently most adventures happen in clouds. Or maybe it's just that George Lucas already trademarked the name "Cloud City."

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I made one final purchase before heading back to the bus. These are still in my cupboard. Anyone know the expiration on crickets and worms?

 

Next stop: Disneyland (followed by Disneyland and then another full day at Disneyland)!

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Inside, the owner "astounded" us with some card tricks!

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After I found some good deals at Hobby City's baseball card store, I joined some of the others at the magic shop.

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Only in California could an amusement park share its parking lot with... a gun shop!

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Having conquered Adventure City, many of us spent the balance of our time across the parking lot at Hobby City, which included this half-scale replica of the White House.

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The last time I was at Knotts the park was filled with screaming, rowdy throngs of tweens and teens, probably with season passes. We figured out a way to keep them from cutting in the line for the log ride: link arms and block. They have to figure out a way to control unruly guests...the main problem with Knotts is the location.

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I really, really like Adventure City and the neighboring Hobby City. I do hope the park survives and is around for many years. Much better than Chuck E Cheese or some other "kids birthday party options."

 

And while I do agree the coaster is deadly, it's also INSANE! I really love the old Miler mouse coasters! Too bad there's not more of them around.

 

Another great update!

 

--Robb

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Honestly (and this may be because I'm smaller - in most ways - than the average TPR'er), I LOVED that mouse; in fact, it may be one of, if not my favourite mice. The seats were the most comfortable seats I've ever sat in on a 'coaster, and I don't remember it being as rough as others say. But then, I also love Rattlesnake at Chessington WoA, so go figure.

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I was really pleasantly surprised at how awesome Adventure City was. It was "Ghetto" but "awesome" at the same time. Sure Treetop racers almost killed us, it was an awesome ride, just thinking "am I really going to come off this alive" whilst riding is always fun, and talk about the head chopper, but I suppose if the coaster's for kids, they aren't too tall anyway.

 

It was also pretty cool to ride the balloon ride, I haven't been on one of those in years, it was good to re-live some nostalgic moments.

 

Here here to adventure city, as we all said after the park, soooo much better than Knotts

 

edit: For those who don't know, apparently Treetop Racers is an ex Australian Carnival ride. More details here - http://www.allbusiness.com/services/amusement-recreation-services/4587417-1.html

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After spending most of the day at Knott's, it was nice to get back to Disneyland (though as some of us discovered, Knott's has more in common with Disneyland than we thought--most notably "legal" line jumping).

 

Because I had been to Disneyland more than a dozen times before, I wasn't in as much of a rush to get things done as some of the rest of the group. Instead, I spent most of the evening taking my time and enjoying some old favorite attractions. I also began limiting my picture-taking around this time because a) I already have plenty of Disneyland photos, and b) I was starting to run out of disc space with two full days of TPR craziness left!

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And with that, I headed back to the hotel for the evening. More Disneyland and our first day at Disney's California Adventure coming up!

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Sure, these confections look cool and all... but do you really want to eat a candy apple that represents Minnie Mouse's lower half?

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I rounded out the night with a quick spin on Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. Sorry, no awesome cue pics because a) I have plenty already and b) there was no line, so I just zoomed right through with nary a thought of photos anyway.

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Ah, now this should draw the ladies to this TR! Also, the next attraction I rode was Pirates of the Caribbean. Which seems kind of counter-productive considering I literally dined right next to it before jetting halfway across the park to Small World. But that's just the way I roll.

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So... when did they move the Eiffel Tower to the U.K.?

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Ah, traditional Small World figures, circa 1964.

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I thought the Woody and Jessie figures were pretty cool... though I know plenty of Disney "purists" who disagree.

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Hi, Natalie! Actually, I found Lilo and Stitch to be the most obtrusive of all the Disney characters added to the ride... but since the attraction strangely treats Hawaii as a "foreign" country in the first place, I guess I can forgive this.

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This one had a special meaning. Ariel is Lauryn's favorite "princess," and I promised I would bring back plenty of pictures of her.

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The addition of the Disney characters were, for the most part, not as intrusive as I had feared. And I'm a "Three Cabilleros" fan, anyway.

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I've always liked this logo.

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I was kind of in a trance as I walked across the park to It's a Small World after that phone call. I'd like to say that I hoped listening to that song over and over and over again would brainwash me into not thinking about Lauryn, but truth be told, I kind of like Disneyland's Small World, and I hadn't seen it since the Disney characters were added, so I was actually looking forward to it.

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Had I been spending my "own" money, I probably would have stopped there. However, since I was paying for all non-TPR essentials with the Disney credit card rewards points I accumulated after having skipped my annual Disneyland trip last year to attend the Behemoth/Flyer Trip, I splurged on a monte cristo, as well.

 

Just as I was finishing dinner, I got a text from my girlfriend that the vacation she and her 5-year-old daughter, Lauryn, were scheduled to embark on that evening had been postponed, and Lauryn was instead in the emergency room with what we feared at the time was swine flu. I paid my bill and ducked into the Court of Angels, one of the very few public places in Disneyland where you can be almost totally alone (I myself never would have known it was there had I not taken the Walk in Walt's Footsteps Tour a few years ago) to talk to her while they waited for test results. It was the only time during the trip that I wished I was home.

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If there is anything in this world better than a mint julep and pomme frites at Cafe Orleans, I don't want to know what it is.

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...and the other! I actually unintentionally stayed long enough to have a rail-side seat for Fantasmic! that evening.

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This was the view from one side of my table...

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While waiting for my table, I also spotted this Lasster wine "Easter egg" in the window. Little did I know it would end up as part of the official TPR scavenger hunt.

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Looks like it's time to call the exterminator at this place....

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I began my second evening at Disneyland at my favorite "land," New Orleans Square. While I would have loved to have dined at the Blue Bayou, I was actually waiting for my table at my favorite Disneyland restaurant, Cafe Orleans.

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