WendyWhy
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2011
Just returned from from 2 days at DLR last night and feel the need to make a short trip report to hold on to Disneyland for just a little bit longer...
We are a family of four with a 2.5 yo DD and 6 yo DS, traveling with another family of four with two boys - 3.5 yo and 5.5 yo and a bun-in-the-oven for our good friend and her DH! Our last trip in Nov. 2011 was also with this family and it is such a great way to tour - they are in Modesto and we live in Palo Alto - so we get to have a reunion at Disney and they also have the same commando touring style, we have the same constraints (naps, cranky kids), and we have enough adults to help with FP running, bathroom breaks, etc. I don't think we would really want to go to DL without them!
PREP: We watched/rewatched a bunch of Disney movies to give the rides extra relevance - since our kids don't get to watch TV or movies regularly this was an extra special treat! So glad we got to watch Cars for the first time - I cried at the end!
Ordered Photopass+ - we had gotten something similar last trip but it didn't include ride photos so even with a short trip, I figured it was still worth it. No character dining for us since DD is on the shy side and the boys don't care. We will definitely try character dining when she is older!
Since our Spring Beak was after Easter, I hit up the Easter clearance at Target and got some Darth Vader treats for my friends' boys and DS - and picked up a bunch of random treats/junk for the 6hr car ride down to LA. I also had previously bought DD two adorable Minnie Mouse tees - one for each day of our mini-trip, and DS got a Buzz tee - all clearance buys! Yay!
DAY ONE: Thursday, April 4th - We had spent the night before at my MIL's place 20 minutes away - we woke at the butt-crack of dawn and arrived at PPH at 6:15 AM. Our friends had driven in from Riverside that morning and arrived only a few minutes before us and were already checked in to their WOC-view room. We pre-registered and got our keys but weren't able to check in - probably because we had requested a standard view room and those were all filled up. Bell service was sloooow - there was no one available and another family ahead of us, so we just dropped our bags in our friends' room.
We raced through GCH, DTD and security only to find that there would be no rope drop in Main Street and we were holding at the ticket turnstiles - bummer!! We had gotten there early in the hopes that we would have time to redeem our Photopass voucher and take some of our own pics on Main Street while waiting for rope drop. While waiting the crowds were already starting to look intense. We were flying down Main Street at 7:05 by the time we got through the line.
First stop Peter Pan with no wait. DD was not amused. PP was not one of the movies we watched - I figured since she loved it during our last trip when she was 18 months she would be fine...oops. I am proud of her though - she did not cry, just whined a tiny bit and covered her eyes with her little hand.
No wait for Dumbo or the teacups - both rides a hit with my scaredy-cat DD. Then we split off - everyone else went to ride the Matterhorn while I took DD back to Main Street to get our Photopass card. When I saw the ropes between Main Street and the rest of the park I realized I had no proof of my MM eligibility since DH had everything. The CM said - no problem, just come back to her - so I dashed across the street to the photo supply store - only to be told they were not open till 8!!! Argh.
Matterhorn ended up being a longer line than anticipated and by the time they finished and met me at BLAB, our DL MM was already over! Grabbed ST FPs before riding BLAB with a 5 min wait - again DD self-covered her eyes. Then we ran through the standby line for SM while DH took DD to finally! get our Photopass+ card. The stated wait time for SM standby was 30min but it moved so fast -it felt like 10-15 min tops. Our preggo friend (she is only 17 weeks - still skinny and cant tell she is pregnant) waited in line with us and just exited as we were boarding the ride. Afterwards we were able to redeem our ST FPs even though we were technically about 8 min early, while our girlfriend tracked down DH in line at Pixie Hollow to grab our tickets so she could get FPs for Autotopia.
Then we jumped into a short line for IASW. It was very funny to see how wary DD was until she figured out about halfway through that it was just her speed. Then we hit up Toontown and the boys rode the Go coaster, while DD and I hung at Goofy's Playhouse and had a snack. Our girlfriend had inadvertently turned into our FP runner and ran to get our IJ FPs and then met us at Autotopia.
DD loved Autotopia! She just made the 32" height cut-off and was able to "drive"! Great ride for all of us. Then we headed for Adventureland - we hit up POTC which our family was excited about since it was closed for refurbishment last time. DD hated it but the rest of us loved it. Then the boys tried to redeem their IJ FPs but the ride was down - it was deja vu all over again - this ride was my son's top must-do ride and it had broken down twice while he and DH tride to ride it las time! So, HM was next and again DD hated it but did not cry and simply covered her own eyes. Our friends' 5 yo DS did not want to go on HM either and covered his ears while his dad covered his eyes - he was persuaded to go on by reminding him that our DS didn't want to ride SM but did it anyway. We all survived.
By this time, it was 11:30 and we were getting hungry so we put ourselves on the waitlist for Cafe Orleans. We had a 15 min wait so we walked through Tarzan's treehouse and had a potty break before getting our table for 8. DH, DS and I shared the chicken sandwich and a salad, DD got the salmon. Shortly after ordering we noticed alot of people had the Monte Cristos and we ordered one to share - OMG, so crazy delicious. DH and DD did not really care for it - not a fan of fried foods in general, but DS and I loved it. I will dream of it for a while...I was really pleased with the service - frequent refills of our lemonade and cokes which was really nice. We had a big table in the shade and could people watch and just have a really nice relaxing lunch!
We are a family of four with a 2.5 yo DD and 6 yo DS, traveling with another family of four with two boys - 3.5 yo and 5.5 yo and a bun-in-the-oven for our good friend and her DH! Our last trip in Nov. 2011 was also with this family and it is such a great way to tour - they are in Modesto and we live in Palo Alto - so we get to have a reunion at Disney and they also have the same commando touring style, we have the same constraints (naps, cranky kids), and we have enough adults to help with FP running, bathroom breaks, etc. I don't think we would really want to go to DL without them!
PREP: We watched/rewatched a bunch of Disney movies to give the rides extra relevance - since our kids don't get to watch TV or movies regularly this was an extra special treat! So glad we got to watch Cars for the first time - I cried at the end!
Ordered Photopass+ - we had gotten something similar last trip but it didn't include ride photos so even with a short trip, I figured it was still worth it. No character dining for us since DD is on the shy side and the boys don't care. We will definitely try character dining when she is older!
Since our Spring Beak was after Easter, I hit up the Easter clearance at Target and got some Darth Vader treats for my friends' boys and DS - and picked up a bunch of random treats/junk for the 6hr car ride down to LA. I also had previously bought DD two adorable Minnie Mouse tees - one for each day of our mini-trip, and DS got a Buzz tee - all clearance buys! Yay!
DAY ONE: Thursday, April 4th - We had spent the night before at my MIL's place 20 minutes away - we woke at the butt-crack of dawn and arrived at PPH at 6:15 AM. Our friends had driven in from Riverside that morning and arrived only a few minutes before us and were already checked in to their WOC-view room. We pre-registered and got our keys but weren't able to check in - probably because we had requested a standard view room and those were all filled up. Bell service was sloooow - there was no one available and another family ahead of us, so we just dropped our bags in our friends' room.
We raced through GCH, DTD and security only to find that there would be no rope drop in Main Street and we were holding at the ticket turnstiles - bummer!! We had gotten there early in the hopes that we would have time to redeem our Photopass voucher and take some of our own pics on Main Street while waiting for rope drop. While waiting the crowds were already starting to look intense. We were flying down Main Street at 7:05 by the time we got through the line.
First stop Peter Pan with no wait. DD was not amused. PP was not one of the movies we watched - I figured since she loved it during our last trip when she was 18 months she would be fine...oops. I am proud of her though - she did not cry, just whined a tiny bit and covered her eyes with her little hand.
No wait for Dumbo or the teacups - both rides a hit with my scaredy-cat DD. Then we split off - everyone else went to ride the Matterhorn while I took DD back to Main Street to get our Photopass card. When I saw the ropes between Main Street and the rest of the park I realized I had no proof of my MM eligibility since DH had everything. The CM said - no problem, just come back to her - so I dashed across the street to the photo supply store - only to be told they were not open till 8!!! Argh.
Matterhorn ended up being a longer line than anticipated and by the time they finished and met me at BLAB, our DL MM was already over! Grabbed ST FPs before riding BLAB with a 5 min wait - again DD self-covered her eyes. Then we ran through the standby line for SM while DH took DD to finally! get our Photopass+ card. The stated wait time for SM standby was 30min but it moved so fast -it felt like 10-15 min tops. Our preggo friend (she is only 17 weeks - still skinny and cant tell she is pregnant) waited in line with us and just exited as we were boarding the ride. Afterwards we were able to redeem our ST FPs even though we were technically about 8 min early, while our girlfriend tracked down DH in line at Pixie Hollow to grab our tickets so she could get FPs for Autotopia.
Then we jumped into a short line for IASW. It was very funny to see how wary DD was until she figured out about halfway through that it was just her speed. Then we hit up Toontown and the boys rode the Go coaster, while DD and I hung at Goofy's Playhouse and had a snack. Our girlfriend had inadvertently turned into our FP runner and ran to get our IJ FPs and then met us at Autotopia.
DD loved Autotopia! She just made the 32" height cut-off and was able to "drive"! Great ride for all of us. Then we headed for Adventureland - we hit up POTC which our family was excited about since it was closed for refurbishment last time. DD hated it but the rest of us loved it. Then the boys tried to redeem their IJ FPs but the ride was down - it was deja vu all over again - this ride was my son's top must-do ride and it had broken down twice while he and DH tride to ride it las time! So, HM was next and again DD hated it but did not cry and simply covered her own eyes. Our friends' 5 yo DS did not want to go on HM either and covered his ears while his dad covered his eyes - he was persuaded to go on by reminding him that our DS didn't want to ride SM but did it anyway. We all survived.
By this time, it was 11:30 and we were getting hungry so we put ourselves on the waitlist for Cafe Orleans. We had a 15 min wait so we walked through Tarzan's treehouse and had a potty break before getting our table for 8. DH, DS and I shared the chicken sandwich and a salad, DD got the salmon. Shortly after ordering we noticed alot of people had the Monte Cristos and we ordered one to share - OMG, so crazy delicious. DH and DD did not really care for it - not a fan of fried foods in general, but DS and I loved it. I will dream of it for a while...I was really pleased with the service - frequent refills of our lemonade and cokes which was really nice. We had a big table in the shade and could people watch and just have a really nice relaxing lunch!