even more soapy fun

i'm fully expecting you to make fun of me for this, but not only did i attend the official general hospital convention this summer, but i also happily attended the official general hospital fan club weekend.  while the show turned 60 years old this year, the fan club also celebrated a milestone...45 years.  i'd only ever attended one fan club event before, and this was my first time coming to the weekend extravaganza.  it's structured a bit differently from the convention - there's a main cast event which is the centerpiece of the weekend, and then various cast members host their own separate events.  these are smaller, more intimate gatherings where fans get to spend a little bit of actual quality time with the actors vs. the paid photo ops at the convention that last all of about ten seconds. 

i arrived at the hotel on friday afternoon with just enough time to check in and find a seat in the meeting room for my first event - with tabyana ali, who plays trina robinson.  it was a fairly popular event, and i found an aisle seat near the back of the room that still gave me a great view of the podium.  as we waited, i spied a familiar face - kin shriner, who plays scotty baldwin, had just finished his own event in another room and had stopped to pose for pictures with fans.  you can see him just outside the door here:

tabyana arrived shortly after that, full of energy and her contagious smile and chatted with us, answering questions and sharing stories about herself and as much about the show and her castmates as she was able to.

look at these fun bracelets made by my friend becca at sarcastic beads!

she loved them, of course.

afterwards, i headed over to the front desk to check in to my room.  since it was an embassy suites, i had a gigantic room...all to myself.  heh.

my second event of the day was offsite, at the acapulco a few miles away with nancy lee grahn, who plays alexis davis.  i had a few hours to kill, so i hung out in my room for a bit and then decided to treat myself to a manicure.  and because i am me, i ended up running a little behind and when i arrived at the restaurant  most of the tables were taken and i found myself a loner seat in a booth in the back corner.  i was right next to the buffet where this plate of chocolate chip cookies sat and tortured me, just an arm's reach away.

nancy arrived, funny and friendly and welcoming, and then we were let loose at the buffet.

did i get a cookie after all?  DUH.

her daughter kate arrived a little later with their sweet dog, who sat quietly in the corner and watched everyone as they walked past.

kate is an accomplished songwriter and musician, and she grabbed a guitar and performed a couple of songs for us as her mother beamed with pride.

i got to sit and chat with nancy for a bit, which was lovely and also a little surreal - i know she's a regular person just like you and me, but still...i'm always starstruck when i get to meet someone who i've watched for years on one of my favorite shows.

my night ended with friends on the tv (like always) and cheetos in bed (which never happens).  woohoo!

nerding out, star wars-style

going to disneyland on 5/4 has become a fun little annual tradition for me, which is kind of weird considering i've never really thought of myself as a big star wars nerd before.  i mean, i saw the three OG movies in the theater back in the day when they were first released, and i eventually saw the prequels and the few most recent films too.  i definitely wanted to be princess leia when i was little, and when disneyland hosted the star wars-themed races i was happy to register/train for/make costumes to wear to run them.  

wait.  i guess maybe i AM a low-level star wars nerd then, huh?  oh.

nowadays when i visit the parks, i like to park in the toy story lot instead of the giant parking structure because unless it's fairly early when i arrive (like before 9am), electric car charging spots are typically all taken.  but the toy story lot has two whole aisles of charging spots, and it's a pretty short walk to the shuttle loading area.  it also seems like the loading process onto those buses is easier than shoving through the crowds to board the tram that takes you to the mickey & friends structure.  all this to say, even the bus was feeling it for may the fourth (i guess it's kinda hard to see, but the display reads "may the 4th be with you!):

my reservation was for california adventure, where i wandered around aimlessly for a bit before crossing over the esplanade into disneyland.  i scoped out the turnstiles until i found my favorite cast member:

obligatory castle selfie.

and then i made my way back towards galaxy's edge, along with everyone else.  the weather was beautiful that day - partly cloudy skies and cool, comfortable temps.  truly the best time to come to the parks.

as i strolled through batuu i caught a glimpse of the crazy long line to get into the den of antiquities - it snaked out the door and all the way out to about halfway through the black spire outpost area.  i guess they release a $400 limited edition light saber every may the 4th, and since i thought i'd seen that there was a two-per-guest limit, i couldn't help but stare when i saw these people walk by:

that's the kind of thing that drives disney fans absolutely bonkers - because you know they're making their way out of the parks and heading straight home to list those online with a huge profit margin (they're actually on ebay right now, going for up to $900). 

i was hungry, so i got in line at ronto roasters for a delicious ronto wrap.  as i waited, i noticed a sign for a new specialty drink - the destran ice cap, sprite with orange-tangerine syrup and topped with sweet cream cheese cold foam.  i'm pretty sure that's the same topping they use for my favorite black caf cold brew, so i decided to give it a shot.  and of course...it's delicious.  goes really well with that ronto wrap.

i found a nice shady spot where i sat back to eat and peoplewatch, two of the best things to do at disneyland.  and i wasn't disappointed in the least, because all my fellow star wars nerds had busted out all their gear for the occasion and dressed up as much as they could get away with.  not to mention, it was one of the dates for star wars night, a separately ticketed event where attendees of all ages can wear costumes to the park (on normal days, costumes are only for kids under 14).  and i didn't pick up my phone fast enough for a better shot, but these folks went all out with their outfits, even dressing up their scooters.  it was impressive and caught everyone's attention as they rolled by.

photo ops, because why not?

by that time the old lady's shift had ended, so i caught up with her near the entrance and we headed back into tomorrowland to grab a limited-edition souvenir for one of her fellow cast members.  it happened to be time for the "magic happens" parade, and we caught the last few floats.

she'd been wanting to try the birria toasted cheese sandwich at jolly holiday, so that was our last stop of the day.  

and that was how my may 4th for 2023 went.

wan solo

until recently, i'd never done a solo disneyland trip before.  that changed on may the fourth.  heh.

after i dropped the bean off at school, i hopped on the freeway and made my way down to anaheim.  of course, that's right during rush hour and so my drive took twice as long, but that's okay.  i still managed to get to the parking structure nice and early, while the back entrance was still open and i even snagged one of the electric car charging spots.

being a one-person party made it super easy to catch a ride on the tram, and i was able to slide onto the first one that pulled up because everyone else in front of me was in a bigger group.  score!

when i got to the esplanade, i remembered that they were doing one of those special ticketed events that evening, for "may the fourth."

as i made my way towards galaxy's edge i walked past tarzan's treehouse, which is currently closed for renovations.  this section is gone now, which upset some disneyland purists - but honestly, it's really nice because now this area is much easier to get through.

i took this while the park was still pretty empty, which didn't last long.

the only ride i really wanted to get on that day was rise of the resistance, so i was prepared to wait however long i had to.  and because everyone else seemed to have the same idea, by the time i got there the wait time was already quoted at 90 minutes.  of course, the ride broke down about half an hour in and added even more minutes to my wait.  i didn't really care, though.  and then finally...

i took a lot of selfies that day.

oh, and here's a tip that may or not be helpful to you: skip the starbucks that morning and hold out for the cold brew black caf that you can only get at docking bay 7 food and cargo at galaxy's edge.  it's so good - joffrey's cold brew coffee with a dollop of delish sweet cream cheese topping and a handful of cocoa puffs.  it's my favorite drink in the whole park, right next to the mint julep in new orleans square.

i'd busted out my best shoes for the occasion.  three people came up to me throughout the day to ask where i'd gotten them, only to be disappointed when i had to tell them that they were a vans collaboration from several years ago and aren't currently available.  although i guess you could probably find them on ebay or poshmark or something like that.  i don't know, i've never looked.

right when i got up from that bench, i managed to catch a mini parade.

stormtrooper sighting in tomorrowland!

look how cute this fanny pack is...yeah, i said "fanny pack."  i know the cool kids are calling it a "belt bag," but i'm not a cool kid.  i'm an old lady.

i had to take advantage of at least one photo op, right?

and then i picked up something to take home and share with the bean.  you can guess what this is, i'm sure.

by then it was time for me to head on outta there so that i could fight through traffic and still get to school to pick up the bean on time.  most people were getting off of the tram to start their disney day, so it took pretty much no time at all for me to grab a seat and head back to the parking structure.

my first solo disney day was a definite success.  of course, it's always lots of fun to go with others too, but there's something to be said for just wandering around by yourself, sliding through the crowds with ease and stopping for whatever catches your attention.  it definitely won't be my last.