Easiest Marathon I Have Been a Part Of or, Reading is FUN-demental

Where did I leave off yesterday? Um, let's see... hot, Splash Mountain, Billy Hill, Cove, ska, my best friend Jesus, FSL not feeling well... Oh yeah, the illiteracy epidemic! I have heard a few times that people want to see my blog, but they don't like to read(I just assume they can't read) so I will try to write in short simple sentences for them.

Disneyland was fun.

I went on Star Tours

I saw Iron Man.

We stayed at HoJo.

We went to an Annual Passholder Event

We went home.

Now for you non-non-readers. Woke up at like three in the morning and couldn't go back to sleep. Heard a baby in the next room wailing, but it wasn't too bad. I stand by my recommendation of staying at Paradise Pier.

FSL was feeling better, we packed, she left for her meeting and I went up to the Beachcomber Club to grab some breakfast. It was straight up continental... Pastries, cereal, coffee and bagels, but whatever, it was freeish so I grabbed a bagel(which took for ever to toast), a Diet Coke and an orange juice... I feel like one of those Twitter or Facebook users that waaaay over posts their status... I mean do you really care what I had for breakfast? Probably not, but part of me doesn't care...

Headed to Downtown Disney because there was a pin release and FSL wanted a pin that was coming out. I was traveling light because I would be in a movie theater most of the day, so I had no pins and my go bag was in Tustin in the trunk of our car. Got the pin I was looking for. I had to wait in line for a bit but it was a pretty easy process.

After I got that taken care of I went to the AMC Box Office to pick up my ticket for the Marathon and get another ticket for FSL. I figured it would be good to have one so she could join us whenever she got back.

I have Two Tickets to Paradise by Eddie Money in my head right now. Weird.

I had a few hours to kill before the movies so I walked down to Disneyland. I was solo in the park! I was dodging strollers, spin-moving around groups of people that would suddenly stop for no apparent reason or suddenly change directions right in front of me, and weaving in and around the family walking five abreast at the speed of a sloth. We usually skip Star Tours because the wait is too long and the ride isn't worth than 20 minutes in line, but it was only 10 minutes and I was hoping to be the Rebel Spy, so I figured what the hell?

G2-4T robot talks with a poor Patrick Warburton impression, but apparently, it IS Patrick Warburton doing the voice... so, yeeah.... Is he becoming a cartoon of himself? This robot was also part of America Sings... stripped down and with a new head... And the voice of The Tick...


Got up to the front of the queue and the people getting off the ride ahead of us went the wrong direction and it took to long to get into our seats so I missed being Rebel Spy... Jerks... If I see them again I will smite them! Am I even allowed to smite someone? Let me do some googling here... Yep! Turns out I can smite someone! Whoot!

The ride is fun and worth a ten minute wait, maybe 15, but anything more than twenty I would say move on to something shorter, but that is just me... but I am awesome, so it should be you too...

After that I walked around a bit. Watched the monorail... ate a pretzel... Made a GIF.

Struck the the brilliance I am used to on a day to day basis, I figured what better way to prepare myself for an Iron Man Marathon than checking out the Iron Man Tech: Presented by Stark Industries exhibit at Innoventions. I was in the first group that entered the relic, it is a big space, but I could see them turning the whole thing into a Stark Industries thing. I just worry that they would have too much room. I think they should just make Innoventions into a Marvel attraction and keep Autopia but referb the cars to electric(the CM's get paid a little extra to work the car ride... gas fumes and all). Here are some pictures of some Iron Man tech...

Mark I? Just a guess.

I will use all my scientific deductions to say... Mark II

Mark III

God, I hope this is Mark IV... I am sure the internet will let me know if I am wrong.

I think this one is the Mark... Paul Gosslaar

Makers Mark... Err Mark VI

If my count is correct, this one is Iron Man Mark Vee Eye Eye

This is Mark 42 or for you Romans, Mark XLII

Some other Iron Man crap

Mark III

What a perfect segue to the Iron Man Marathon. I headed back to Downtown Disney to the AMC. FSL was meeting me sometime during the day so I picked up both of our Arc Reactor lanyards and special edition 3-D glasses(I got the Iron Man and Iron Patriot ones), that way I could go get her at any time and we could just walk back in.

Met up with our friends and found some seats... kinda close to the front, but still good. They made announcements... we could come and go throughout the day, about twenty minutes between movies, etc. yadda-yadda, so on and so forth. I kept a seat next to me open just in case my wife got there early. I was ready to fight if someone tried to steal it. I had two tickets damnit! I get two seats! But in the end, no smiting(yep, that is my use of the day) had to be done. The first Iron Man is always great. That opening scene is awesome. Iron Man 2 was entertaining-ish... Avengers in 3-D was as amazing as the first time I saw it. It was so cool watching it with 240 other nerds(most more nerdy than I am) who cheered and clapped at the same parts I did. It was oddly... comforting. FSL got to Downtown Disney mid-way through the Avengers and met up with some work friends at UVA Bar(good burger, mediocre cocktails). I swung by to pick her up between movies and we raced went back for Iron Man 3! I am so glad it worked out that we were able to watch the last movie together. I scored us all better seats(It was actually a thing of beauty... It's a story I will tell drunkly at a family reunion when I recount my "glory days"... maybe I am slightly overselling it.). The movie was great! We were in the middle of a fun group of people so that made it even better. About a quarter way through the movie it dawned on me that either the 3-D was so amazing you didn't even notice OR it wasn't being shown in 3-D. They screwed up, we got passes to come back so it was kind of a win/win for all of us... except the theatre, more of a lose/tie/lose for them. Good day and night.

FSL thought we should spend the night again because we would be getting home late and the plumbers were coming early. Based on a suggestion from MouseWait we scored a room at the HoJo. We checked in around 12:30, so not too late. The place looked like a haunted hotel. Not a soul in sight. The front desk people were awesome. We chatted it up and they knocked fifty bucks off our bill(The combined awesomeness of FSL and I is... well, awesome). First impressions... It was old... and creepy being so silent and empty(although the hotel was full). The room was hot and small... and outdated... real outdated. We were thinking we were going to be burned by yet another MouseWait recommendation(burgers at Carnation, breakfast burrito in Tomorrowland, I could go on). We got the AC kicking, so at least... there was that. I realized I hadn't eaten dinner and I was starving so I rooted around and came up with a high quality dinner.

Cheese Puffs and sparkling pinot grigio from a paper cup... with ice.

Despite my initial reaction to the HoJo... It was pretty cool... quiet, clean and the bed was amazingly comfortable!

Holy shit! I just start rattling on and I tend to get a little verbose... I will wrap this up quick because some of you don't "like" reading... aka don't know how to read... This is awesome stuff I am putting out here... spend three minutes reading and enjoying me!

Went to the parks on Friday. Did some stuff. The second celebrity we saw was actor/comedian Regan Burns walking with his daughter. Trust me. You have seen him in a ton of things.

We also went to an AP event Walt Disney Presents The Worlds Fair

The bright amorphous shape is Stacia Martin, Disney artist and historian, giving a brief history on Disney and its part in the 1964 New York Worlds Fair. Learned some cool things... Mickey's favorite cookie... Fig Newton. Boom! Face! The Unisphere from that Fair was also in Iron Man 2! Double Face! It was also the birth place of Small World and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, they went from California to New York and then back to California where they still sit. The Carousel of Progress also went back to California but relocated to WDW in 1973. The Worlds Fair was instrumental in Walt getting a foot hold in the East Coast to help pave the way to get Walt Disney World build in Orlando.

Okay. I will stop there.

Stay Dorky!

-J

P.S. You realize that the picture of me and Brian Klemm was the first time I have shown my actual face on the blog? I always thought a little anonymity would be cool so I could call people out and stuff and stir some controversy up, but whatever. I didn't go to great lengths to hide my identity anyway... maybe I am a fame whore... but in my case it is a

P.P.S. Who wants another contest?

P.P.P.S. And feel free to follow by email... I only have 7 followers and I am one of them... and so is my wife... so really only 5.