Danauk's anniversary trip to Disneyland (and a few other places too!) Day 1.

[Danauk]

The cast: Me, Karen a total Disney nut.
DH, Pete who puts up with me but enjoys our trips!!

The reason for the trip: To celebrate our 10th anniversary. We haven't been on holiday for a few years as we were saving up for this trip as we wanted to splurge a little and treat ourselves!!

We got up at 4:45am and had breakfast (well Pete did, I was too nervous, I can't relax right before a trip!!) and left the house at 5:30am with my parents who were driving us to Heathrow. We got there by 8am and dropped the bags off as we had done on line check in and printed off our boarding passes the night before. We had a bite to eat and then said good bye to my parents and headed through security and up to the club lounge. Our flight was on time (I know, amazing!!) and by 11am we were boarding the aircraft. We were flying PE so as soon as we settled in we were given a glass of wine which was nice. The flight was good, not too bumpy. About 8 hours in I heard a voice saying, "Are you from the Dis boards?", it was SnowWhite17 and her family who were also heading to Disneyland.
By 2pm California time (10pm our time) we could finally see California below us.
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/karenm30/Disneylandday1108.jpg

We landed at 2:15pm (20 minutes early), got onto the stand by 2:30pm, got through security and bagage claim quickly and by 2:50pm were were on our way to Disneyland!! We had booked a town car to take us there and by 4pm we were walking through the door of the Grand Californian Hotel.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/karenm30/DisneylandDay6013.jpg

We were greated with a Welcome Home as we were staying on DVC points which was nice.

The hotel is beautiful, kind of like Wilderness Lodge at WDW. The lobby was stunning, big beams and a roaring fireplace.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/karenm30/DisneylandDay6008.jpg

It had a lovely pool area (the pool loungers had really comfy, thick cushions on them) and from here you could see some of the rides in the California Adventure park. The construction in the photo is of the new DVC add on they are building.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/karenm30/DisneylandDay6006.jpg

We were soon checked in and as it was our anniversary and 1st visit we were given a red balloon display, anniversary pins and a 1st visit pin as well.

We were soon on our way to our room. When we walked in the baskets and treats I had ordered were waiting for us.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/karenm30/Disneylandday1109.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/karenm30/Disneylandday1110.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/karenm30/Disneylandday1111.jpg

We quickly unpacked and decided to have a relax on the balcony with a glass of wine and some chocolate strawberries. Our balcony had a lovely view. We could see the Tower of Terror

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/karenm30/Disneylandday1115-1.jpg

and Grizzly River run

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/karenm30/Disneylandday1113.jpg

Plus we could see the monorail going past.

After a relax we headed into the California Adventure park using the entrance direct from our hotel. We had a look around and took a few pictures,

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/karenm30/Disneylandday1018-1.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/karenm30/Disneylandday1028.jpg

Then we headed onto some rides.
1st we rode Toy Story Midway Mania which I loved. Then we did Monsters Inc which I thought was cute.

Soon it was 8pm so we checked in for our Electrical Parade viewing. We were given a box of goodies; truffles, mini cakes, crackers and cheese, grapes and a glass of wine. Soon the parade started:

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/karenm30/Disneylandday1068.jpg

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http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/karenm30/Disneylandday1056.jpg
The parade was cute and the music very catchy!!

By now it was 9pm (5am English time)and we were tired as we had been up for over 24 hours!! So we headed off to bed, taking a few night pictures along the way.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/karenm30/Disneylandday1096.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/karenm30/Disneylandday1101.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/karenm30/Disneylandday1082.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/karenm30/Disneylandday1088.jpg
I love the reflection of the sun wheel in the lake in this picture!

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/karenm30/Disneylandday1085.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/karenm30/Disneylandday1095-1.jpg

[Verity Chambers]

What an amazing first day, can't wait to hear lots more. :goodvibes

[wickesy]

Great start. You had a much better view than we did.

[Snowy-girls]

Great start to your trippie Karen :thumbsup2 .You sure had a lovely view from your room.Those choc covered strawberries looked delicious-did they taste as good as they looked?.Great pocs,especially the night shots :thumbsup2 .x.

[TotallyAngelic]

Excellent start - it all looks stunning! I am looking forward to more as I have never been to Disneyland! Beautiful hotel and I love all those free gifts!

[Lizzybear]

Great start! The GC looks lovely and the electrical parade looks awesome, i'm sad it won't be on when we're there.

[florida sun]

Wow! What a brilliant start, looking forward to reading more:goodvibes

[irongirlof12]

what a fab day - your anniversary treats looked amazing. :thumbsup2 congratulations:lovestruc

[emily1982]

Great report Karen! love the pics!

[Kevin Stringer]

A lovely start to the trip report and a very busy first day. It's making me think a visit to DL should be on the cards again in the near future.

Kev

[Minniespal]

A lovely start. Brillant view:goodvibes

[bombhead444]

Great photos!!!! Disneyland looks really good haven't really looked at going to California but may well do now.:thumbsup2






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1999 - Quality Inn, Kissimmee.(21 Nights)
2003 - Howard Johnson, Kissimmee (14 Nights) (Married during our stay)
2005 - Quality Inn, Kissimmee. (14 Nights)
2006 - Quality Inn, Kissimmee. (21 Nights)
2007 - Howard johnson, Kissimmee. (21 Nights)
2008 - Howard johnson, Kissimmee. (21 Nights)
2009 - Howard Johnson, Kissimmee. (28 Nights)

[suzycute]

Fantastic start to your trip report!

We stayed at the Grand Californian last year and had a wonderful time. DH (who has done a lot of business travelling) said that the it was the BEST hotel he has ever stayed in.

Looking forward to reading the rest of your report.

[SusanEllen]

You certainly managed to see a lot on your travel day. Isn't it a treat to be staying so close to the parks? Your photos are all excellent illustrations for your report, but the two of the midway and Sun Wheel at night reflected in the water are lovely pieces of Disney art. Well done. Looking forward to reading the rest of your installments.

[Pinky166]

Wow what a great start - can't wait to read more. I love the reflection photos. :thumbsup2

[natalielongstaff]

What a lovely room :) and great pics as well !

[Strommie]

Brilliant first day and fab photos. That is my all time favourite parade :lovestruc

[tennisfan]

A great start, you had a fab view from your room. Awesome photos:goodvibes

[Sarah84]

Great first day, love your photo's :)

[Ware Bears]

Wow!! What a great start ~ your photos are excellent!:goodvibes

[simba_one]

Karen! I'm just starting to read your TR now...

What a great first day you had! The GCH is lovely isn't it? I only hope I get to stay there one day instead of just walking around the place acting as if I belong... :rotfl: I LOVE the DCA entrance they have. We use it quite a lot to get to DD. It's even better when the people in front of or behind you get stopped and asked for their room key though. That sounded so mean but it makes you feel special! Hell, we should get something for buying AP's to use for a grand total of 3 weeks though!

We did the EP on our first night too. It's always a great start to what promises to be a great holiday!

You took some great pics too. Thanks so much for sharing them with us! I can't wait to read the rest of your report! :thumbsup2

[mark&sue]

Absolutely great start. You must have been so tired.


susan