Jess:
Your pictures of the Yacht and Beach club are helping me out a whole lot. My family will be staying there... well, in about a week! And you shoot those pictures with such love and care. We are going to be eating breakfast only at Cape May, though the dinner pictures look nice. Maybe someday.
Thanks so much for the kind words for my comments about Disneyland. I'm biased but I think it will always be my favorite Disney park. Currently I live about 90 minutes away but after my trip, sometime in July or August, we're moving to about 10 minutes away from Disneyland. When we can finally buy our passes again, we'll probably be there every weekend and a substantial number of weekdays.
There were a few things I missed previously, so I wanted to include them here:
1) World of Color is a show NOT TO BE MISSED! In fact, since you're there for 8 days, I'd recommend seeing it at least 3 times. It will make you cry very hard. The music is so special and the technology is very, very cool. You have to stand (or sit on hard ground) to wait for it but it's worth it. Here are some tips for you to get the best viewing area of WOC:
a) Eat a meal at the Wine Country Trattoria (pretty good food) or the Carthay Circle Theatre (brand new) and get a WOC package. The seating for that is quite nice
b) short of that, they hand out fastpasses. As a resort guest you have an advantage. The fastpasses are handed out close to the entrance to DCA from the Grand Californian. If you get there before rope drop, you are allowed, as a resort guest to enter in there. Get there early and try to get the best color.
c) If at all possible, sit (stand) closest to the lagoon. YOU WILL GET WET! But it will be pretty warm when you go so it shouldn't matter that much and they have flamethrowers that will have the affect of drying you off after you get wet. The closer you are to the water, the better the show is.
d) short of that, Always remember to stand behind a gate with no people between you and the gate, even if you have to go back a step in paradise park. This will prevent an inconsiderate parent who puts there 5 foot tall kid on thier shoulders right in front of you (I hate this and I HAVE a 5 foot tall kid! and a 4 foot tall one too!)
e) I don't remember the color scheme but if you get there late and they only have poor colors, there is usually a second show. It behooves you to go to that one and try to time it so you are one of the first two color areas chosen.
2) Soundsational Parade: The daytime soundsational parade is a very cool parade with awesome music. It's very much worth seeing. I'd recommend taking a break from your touring and finding a nice spot. Personally, I think that either you should set up in "Small World promenade" with a bucket of popcorn in front of you or right there in Town Square of Main street with a good churro. Try to get there at least one hour before the show. It's a very nice little parade with an extremely catchy theme song (that's playing in my head right now!)
3) Food recommendations:
Since you're going to be staying SO long, here are some choices:
Blue Bayou-Food isn't great but the ambience is awesome.
Bengal BBQ-Very tasty little BBQ skewers
River Belle Terrace-For Breakfast Only-sit outside right next to the Rivers of America. Very serene
Hungry Bear-Some very tasty choices. Sit as far back as possible at lunch time and watch all the activity on the Rivers of America
Cafe Orleans-Table service restaurant. Serves many of the same things as Blue Bayou. One of Walt's favorite restaurants
Tomorrowland Terrace-I think they have come back as a food choice. They have a wonderful fish sandwich that is surprising coming from a place like that. You can watch interesting musical acts at night.
IN DCA:
Wine Country Trattoria-Decent Italian food and WOC passes.
Taste Pilot's Grill-LOVE the ribs! If you want ribs, this is your place. Oh and a nice little fixin' bar also.
Award Wieners-Good Hot Dogs of all different kinds if you like that
Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta/Garden Grill-A very nice area at the back of Paradise Pier. Excellent food. I'm partial to the Garden Grill area and it's rarely crowded. The food is excellent. I worry that it will go away because it's been so easy for me to just walk up and get food there. Also, they have live music playing at lunch time. If you have eclectic taste in music, it's a wonderful spot with a very nice atmosphere.
The Pacific Wharf Cafe-My Daughter (who is 7) dreams about the broccoli soup bread bowls here. I personally prefer the clam chowder. All in all, a bread bowl can be found at two places in Disneyland and here in DCA and they are always awesome.
Other than this, I will say that there are some new restarants going in over in Carsland and Buena Vista street that are worth trying.
Oh and two other "attractions" I wanted to mention because I didn't before in DCA:
1) California Screamin'- Very large, farily long and fast roller coaster. Not dissimiliar to the way I've heard Rock N Roller Coaster decribed. Has a nice single rider line. Just go up to the cast member at the front of the queue and tell him/her that you want to ride single rider
2) Bugsland- I suspect this is about to become "the forgotten land" of DCA but it's cute, especially for kids. My family's favorite is 'Hemlich's Choo Choo Train". Go check it out, it's cute beyond belief and themed after Hemlich from Bug's Life.
Ok, that's it for now. Keep writing your reports. I'm sure other things will occur to me. Just remember when you're there. Disneyland, while very familiar in many ways, has a slightly different vibe to it than WDW. Embrace that vibe! There is nothing wrong with that. It is Walt's first park and for that, it deserves respect. Yes, the castle is smaller than Florida but that doesn't make it any less impressive. I do hope you will come away from this experience loving this park as much (or at least close to as much) as you do WDW.
... anxiosly awaiting your next installment while I pack for my trip to the World. Yey Humidity! (just kidding)