Downunder to Disney - June20th - 2nd of July.

wsssup · Jul 5, 2015

DOWNUNDER TO DISNEY
June 20th to 2nd of July

Hi all. This is my first trip report so hopefully it will not bore, and maybe be informative for others, especially from Australia , making the journey to Disneyland.

Who
ME - Adam , Dad , Stormtrooper fan , Downhill bike rider , big disney fan. Travelled with my family in the late 80's to Disneyland when i was in grade 5.
Daughter - My beautiful 5 yr old daughter.
Girlfriend - My awesome girlfriend , first trip away with her, and first time to Disney. Huge snow white fan.

June 20th
Melbourne to L.A

With an 9:50am departure time, and a 16 hour flight ahead, a delay in our flight was not a good start. 2 hours later we were off on our Qantas A380. I have to say this was a painful flight. Having flown on other A380's from Singapore airlines, Qantas is far behind in everything. There was light at the end of the tunnel though, Disneyland!!!!. Nothing was going to stop our excitement.

We landed at about 8am, Saturday, same day we left. Us Aussies are in the future while Americans are in the past. It was good to not miss a day from flying.

Shuttle to Paradise Pier Hotel
We used Karmal Shuttle service. They were prompt on picking us up and the driver was awesome. It was a private shuttle so it was straight to paradise pier hotel with no picking up anyone else.

We had finally made the 20 hour trip to our hotel. We were all jet lagged with no sleep on the plane. My daughter was the best out of all of us. When we saw the hotel we were excited that we had made it.
We had arrived at about 11am, and i was aware that our room probably would not be ready until 3. So we went through the check in process, got our badges, and 10 day parkhopper tickets and room keys, when to our surprise the room was ready to go.
AWESOME.
After a quick freshen up we headed out to downtown disney and looked around. Straight to build a bear where my daughter started making her my little pony creation.

The jet lag was setting in, and coming from winter in melbourne to summer in Disney we were drained. We had an early start the next day so off to the room to relax and get an early night ready for the day.

to be cont..............

jhoannam · Jul 6, 2015

Can't wait to read the rest.

wiscbugs · Jul 6, 2015

I love the Australian reports...count me in!

wsssup · Jul 7, 2015

June 21st - DCA Early Entry
Fathers day and My Girlfriends Birthday

We were up very early. 3am and we were still on Australian time and the fact that we all were excited for the day. So at around 5am we were ready to go. An early morning stroll through downtown disney, not a person in site apart from security. Got to the baggage check section and ended up chatting to an awesome disney police (what my daughter called them so it stuck) person.
Soon we were through the check and off to line up at DCA.

This was starting to not feel like a dream anymore. Even though i had ridemax sorted out for our first day we were just going to stroll in and take it all in. The countdown was away and the magical gates opened to start our first day. This is when we first noticed, what my daughter also named , The cars land shuffle. Great to watch people shuffle , run walk to make the mad dash to cars land, which we later learned was no need to do the shuffle as it really was not that big a line to do rsr.
A 9am breakfast at Ariel's Grotto was booked so we just walked around to get a lay of the land, and squeeze in a quick ride on non other than Ariel's.
Wow, i was blown away, such an awesome relaxing ride, with so much detail. My daughter was so excited that we had to do it again.

9am was getting close, so time for breakfast.
Ariel's Grotto
My Daughter was so excited when we walked down the stairs to get our photo with Ariel. She was very nice, my daughter said to her we had traveled a long way to meet her. We were then seated and the meal was pretty good. Good service. The other princesses came out, and the interaction was pretty disappointing. The exception was Mulan. She was amazing and had a nice long chat with my daughter and we must have taken 10 to 15 photos. A little birthday cake for my girlfriend was put on the table, which was a nice thing.

After our meal we took in A bugs land. This was where we met our first grumpy cast member. It was a hot day, and it would be a hard job standing in the heat all day, dealing with people and the like. We were getting into fliks flyers when the cast member mumbled something about the seat belt, then growled sharply at my daughter telling her to hurry up to put it on your holding up the ride.

I didn't think much of it and just smiled and said have a lovely day, her grumpy attitude was not going to ruin our day.

By lunch time we were struggling with the heat. Coming from winter, to hot Anaheim was taking a bit of getting used to.
A nice young girl had walked passed us and handed us 3 rsr fastpasses. We were thankful, so kind of her to do that.
It was time for daddy to pull the pin for an afternoon nap , haha. To which everyone was happy to do. Back to paradise pier and my daughter and I enjoyed the pool and slide for an hour. The plan was then to go back for rsr and use our fastpasses but daddy fell asleep and so did my daughter.

My Girlfriend headed back to the park for an hour or so to do some shopping and gave away the fastpasses we had been given to a nice young family. We didn't want them to go to waste.

Even though our fisrt day at the park was not a long one, it certainly was amazing. A good nights rest was needed to adjust to the time difference and the heat....... so we thought..........
22nd June , Monday - Disneyland, coming soon

jsgrant5 · Jul 7, 2015

Can't wait to hear more.

wiscbugs · Jul 8, 2015

We were there on Father's Day a couple of years ago and I was surprised how un-busy (not a real word!) it was!

wsssup · Jul 9, 2015

Monday - 22nd of June - Disneyland and DCA

We woke early again. The time difference was still a big adjustment. We had early entry into DCA again but we opted to head to Disneyland, as my daughter was really keen to go. The weather was looking great again, so it was time to go off to the gates of Disneyland.

The first thing for today was rope drop for Indiana Jones. This was a ride my daughter was wanting to go on the most. She had watched on youtube before we left many rides , and Indiana Jones was the one she wanted to go on most. I on the other hand, knew how deceiving videos of rides can be on the net. We were going in with caution.
As we started walking thought the line of Indiana Jones i could see my daughter looking a little worried. There was lots of talking from me to her, its all pretend, you don't have to go on it, we can turn around and go on another ride, you're a brave girl, etc, but she wanted to go on it.

We got onto the ride very quick after rope drop, and before you know it, we were off. As soon as we got to the snake part i knew it was all over for my daughter. I held her close and talked to her the rest of the ride, so i had no idea what was going on with the ride, i was settling my daughter. We got through it and yes there were tears at the end, but she was quick to smile and laugh as we were walking out of the ride.
She simply said " Lets not do that one again Daddy". No problems.

With Jungle cruise next door it was time to go on that. Our boat guide was awesome. Yes we all the know the jokes are dry, but she delivered them so well, even sang a birthday song to My girlfriend, which was very short and funny.

Other rides for the morning, Pirates and Haunted mansion which my daughter loved both of. I got a little teary in Pirates and Haunted mansion.
I went on these rides with my Dad (who passed away 5 years ago) as a kid, and now i was doing the same with my Daughter. They were still as i remembered with the exception of a few new additions.

Today was the first day of wearing my stormtrooper backpack. I must have been asked a dozen times where i got it from, and when i replied with Australia there were a few sad faces who thought you could get it inside the parks. I even had people asking to take a photo of my back, just so they could get the stormtrooper in. I had no problems with this, and we seriously met a few awesome locals , or Americans in general. Everyone is very curious about our dirty vegemite spread,hahaha.

The day was starting to get hot. We headed to Toontown and loved it. Ran into Pluto who saw our t shirts we were wearing of our Dog. Which said They left me home back in Australia. Pluto was sad but i quickly said its ok he is been looked after and probably spoiled and Pluto jumped around.
Toontown was starting to get very hot. This is when i noticed in general for the whole park. WHERE IS THE SHADE? haha. There is none, a few little spots but apart from that the hat on your head.
It was time to leave disneyland for the comfort of the hotel to recharge and get ready for a later return.

We headed back to DCA later in the day, and pretty much took it easy. Did a few rides, monster's inc and Little mermaid again. Went for a spin on Mater which was a bit of a let down. Car's Land is awesome and looks amazing, especially at night time. I could have sat here all night.
We tried out some food from the cozy cone, which was pretty good.
The day was pretty much over, our feet were sore and i was sleepy again. We had to be up early for Disneyland for our Plaza Inn breakfast.

Another great day was had....... Things were about to get better.

TheMaxRebo · Jul 10, 2015

joining in - off to a great start ... that must be really hard to deal with such drastic time changes and wanting to be excited and explore the parks, etc.

Bummer about that rude cast member - hopefully there weren't many more and can just chock it up to everyone has bad days

wsssup · Jul 10, 2015

TheMaxRebo said:
joining in - off to a great start ... that must be really hard to deal with such drastic time changes and wanting to be excited and explore the parks, etc.

Bummer about that rude cast member - hopefully there weren't many more and can just chock it up to everyone has bad days

You are spot on, everyone has bad days at work, unfortunately there are a few more rude encounters to come, but these were all a minor part of the trip, 3 magic moments to come for my daughter.

:sunny:

wsssup · Jul 11, 2015

TUES - 23rd JUNE - DISNEYLAND

We were all well rested and awake early again. It was a magic morning for Disneyland so upon arrival the crowds were getting fairly big. The sun was out and the first stop for us upon opening was straight to Plaza Inn for Minnie's breakfast. We had a nice and early 7:10am reservation.
I have to say making reservations through the disneyland site was a breeze and so easy, especially for people like ourselves halfway across the world, it saved expensive phone calls.

PLAZA INN BREAKFAST:
We arrived on time, a little disappointed the photo they take before you go in is just with yourselves and not with Minnie. Was still a good shot.
We were seated straight away and instantly i knew i had booked a good time, there was really no one here.
I don't think i stopped laughing and smiling for the hour we stayed.
Chip and Dale came out and they were so excited.

They wouldn't leave any of us alone, and people were starting to come in. I reckon it was a good 10 minutes of them mucking around at our table, Dale almost knocked my girlfriend to the ground. Pooh came out and kept walking back and forth in the background while i was taking pictures. I couldn't stop laughing.

Tigger came out next. Things started to get into high gear now, haha. My daughter loves Tigger, and he started bouncing like crazy with my daughter, she was laughing, it's a moment when your a parent you quickly think about where you are and how much fun your having with the simple things. The was life should be.
They must have bounced a good while before i could snap a pic. Goofy's son Max came out, and it was cool to see him. He was very good as well, great interaction.

While getting some photo's with other characters Tigger bounced back to our table while my daughter was taking pictures of my girlfriend and I with Minnie, so i handed him my gopro camera to which he just spun it around. Watching back the video at home i have great footage of Tiggers Eyes up close spinning around the room.
The food here was pretty good as well. Yes its typical buffet but it was hot and fresh.
Dale came back to the table and wanted to take my Stormtrooper backpack so i let him walk around with it.

Chip and Dale were a highlight for me. I remember seeing them when i was a little kid with my Dad, so yes i was getting a little sentimental again. All in all this was the best character breakfast of the trip. It wasn't rushed, we were there for a good hour, and the interaction was great, apart from probably the Fairy Godmother, she's kinda grumpy and Bossy my daughter didn't like her at all.
With our bellies full, it was time to explore some more Disneyland.

We headed over to Fantasyland to do as much as we could. Mr toads, such a good ride, Snow white, and the like. Lines were not long at all, most were walk ons and it was nearly 9am. Along the way we had a few photopass photo's taken. Hopefully the cd arrives this week. My thoughts on the photopass + we pre purchased are mixed. Yes it is a great idea especially at meet and greets and the main Photo points you have in both parks. But we found these few and far between, with more gimmick photos with cardboard backgrounds, like climbing a mountain for Matterhorn or Big thunder train backdrop. There were too many of these i felt. I was more after natural family pictures from various points around the park with the park backdrop.

Anyway off to Big thunder for a fastpass as per ridemax telling me. Put my tickets in and it spat out a fastpass saying my park ticket was not valid. I tried all 3 and got the same result. What was going on i thought. A cast member was near by the Big thunder entrance, and this was to be another rude encounter. I said hi to her, and had just a blank stare with no reply. Off to a great start i thought to myself with a smile.
Explained to her what had happened , and got a blank sharp answer. "Not my problem, you'll have to go to the entrance"
Wow, i smiled and said no worries mate.

We stopped half way near haunted mansion, to get a drink. It was getting hot. I noticed an information booth with a cast member near by so i thought i'll go chat to him (MARVIN). Instantly he awesome. I explained the ticket problem, the rude CM. Straight away he said sorry for the hiccup. Our tickets hadn't been scanned properly on entry and we would need to go back to the entrance. He said do that, then go to the main information booth in the hub, he was going to call them immediately and let them know i was coming and they would have something there for us. Absolute genuine legend. Quick to solve the problem and friendly the whole time.
We had a laugh about, yes vegemite again, and back to the gates we went.

Eventually we got it all sorted and got to the info hub. They were awesome as well. She scanned onto my car 2 re entry rides, which was get on any non fastpass ride instantly. We were very grateful and put one to good use straight away. Matterhorn, had a 50 minute wait so it was a no brainer to walk onto it.
I was surprised how much my daughter loved it. It is a great ride, but dang it does hurt your back.

With all this walking around it was time to cool off. We got a fastpass for splash and pretty much walked onto Pirates and Haunted mansion, then by the time this was done we headed to splash mountain. Didn't get very wet as i was up the back, such a great ride, my daughter loved it, we all did. Man that drop at the end had me thinking for a minute,hahaha. All you can do is sit back and enjoy the fall.

By 8pm we were pooped. It was the longest day and we had done and seen lots of things. We ended up at downtown disney and strolled around.
Still got to bed pretty early, the feet were sore and blisters had started. Such a great day, the breakfast being the highlight. Nothing better than seeing your kid laugh and smile. Tomorrow was back to DCA for early entry, carsland , and pixar parade..........

wsssup · Jul 11, 2015

WED 24th June - DCA
Up early again.Feet had many blisters, lots of bandages should do the trick. Off to DCA for early entry. Our mission for this morning was to ride RSR.
Early entry was not that crowded again at DCA. You really notice the difference between the early entry options at both parks. So much better at DCA with just Hotel guests for the early entry.
The gates opened, and it was time to watch the Carsland Shuffle. So good and a great way to start the morning having a chuckle with people doing their run walk, which is pretty much running without moving your arms.
There really is no need to do it. You are going to get on RSR no problems early entry. The line does not bank up, there is no need for any Wide right technique as you just walk down route 66 and continue on to RSR.

We were on in 5 minutes if that. I am a huge cars fan and this was the ride i was looking forward to the most this trip. It was awesome, so well done. When you watch the cars go by it looks kind of slow, but when you are in it yourself it actually is pretty quick. Nothing crazy but fast enough to give you that awesome speed feeling.
We all loved it, and grabbed a fast pass for it again at about 9:30am. Again, no line it is easy and stress free to get.

We hung about Carsland for awhile. Ate breakfast at Flo's and i had to get those Oil can Drink cups, as well as the Lightning Mcqueen popcorn bucket.

It was getting very hot again early morning. We headed over and did Soarin which was not that good in my book. Then it was time for what was becoming our favorite ride Grizzly river run. We had already done it many times early in our trip so it was time to cool off. We had an awesome couple with their kid on the ride as well, however i dont understand why people where the wet poncho's. It's a water ride you are missing out on the fun of possibly getting soaked.
Which we were about to get. The first smaller drop we got wet from head to toe. It was like i stood in the shower with my clothes on and had a 5 minute shower then got out. It was going to take a long time to dry. Even people were worried as we walked off the ride, thinking oh dear i didnt know you could get that wet. Just awesome.

We spent the rest of the day with ridemax guiding us along the way. Lots of rides, waiting no longer than 10 minutes in line for any ride. Ridemax was certainly worth the price. We went off track with it sometimes but it was easy to adjust to it, as we didnt want to follow it by gospel. If we saw something or wanted to do something different we just did it, and still it was a very useful tool.

We headed back to the hotel for a dip after lunch and regroup. My daughter wanted to wear her Jasmine costume for the rest of the day at DCA.
We headed back to the park and did a little shopping. We walked into the shop right near little mermaid and the cast members said hello princess to my daughter and told her to wait here, they had something for her.
She came back out with a lanyard and a few pins and told my daughter, here you go, something to help you start your pin trading.

She was so nice, my daughter was very happy and lucky. We must have hung about and chatted for a good 30 minutes. It was time to stake out a spot for the pixar parade. We were lucky to find an empty bench seat which had a great view of the show. The pixar parade was awesome. I lost count of how many performers came over to us and said hello Princess to my daughter, or bow to her. It was awesome, something simple made her feel very special.
The Inside out pre parade was a little average. I was excited to see it, but was disappointed with the float.

We did a bit more shopping, toys and clothes. I was starting to think how we were going to fit all this in our luggage. Ah well worry about it later, haha. It was getting on in the day and we decided to call it a day, as tomorrow was a big day with our BB Fantasmic dinner and show to attend.........

TheMaxRebo · Jul 12, 2015

Good to hear your experience making the ADRs at Disneyland through the site was smooth - we are coming up on our 60 days for our trip and doing this for the first time ... and Minnie's breakfast is one we want to do

wsssup said:
I don't think i stopped laughing and smiling for the hour we stayed.

... well, that is a good recommendation - I mean, smiling for an hour at a meal at 7:10 in the morning? Sign me up!

wsssup said:

Oh my gosh, I love this photo!!!! I mean, the look on Chip's face while he has your daughter in a choke hold is kind of disturbing, but still ....

Interesting thoughts on the photopass ... still debating whether to get it or not

wsssup said:
"Not my problem, you'll have to go to the entrance"

.... um, you are a cast member following in Walt's footstep, it kinda is your problem. That really sucks that was her response.

Glad the next round of CMs took care of you and how great to bypass the line at Matterhorn ... almost makes it worth it

Fun Splash ride photo - like how you are holding up the Storm Trooper backback. Looks like the guy in the front row what quite impressed with the ride!

wsssup said:
So good and a great way to start the morning having a chuckle with people doing their run walk, which is pretty much running without moving your arms.

haha, love the description ... it's like the River Dance version of running

I think those oil can cups are one of the souvenirs (at least non-60th anniversary ones) that I am most excited to get.

My oldest daughter absolutely loves Kali River Rapids, so really looking forward to Grizzly River Run which looks even better. I am with you about the people wearing ponchos on water rides - especially something that that which is all about the water and getting wet.

Aw, that is a cute story about the CM with your daughter - definitely something nice that I am sure made her feel special

wsssup · Jul 12, 2015

TheMaxRebo said:
Good to hear your experience making the ADRs at Disneyland through the site was smooth - we are coming up on our 60 days for our trip and doing this for the first time ... and Minnie's breakfast is one we want to do

... well, that is a good recommendation - I mean, smiling for an hour at a meal at 7:10 in the morning? Sign me up!

Yeh the reservations were very smooth. I was able to cancel surfs up breakfast and reschedule it for 2 days later on our last day, and was still able to get a 7:10am table.
Minnie's breakfast you can't go wrong. It is easily the best one i feel, the food is all the same, if your like me i wasn't there for the food. Chip n dale and Tigger as well as Pooh make this place. Yeh Stich is awesome at Surfs up, but its just him, with no back up from other characters, all the characters at Plaza Inn interacted with each other so well and with all the guests.

Oh my gosh, I love this photo!!!! I mean, the look on Chip's face while he has your daughter in a choke hold is kind of disturbing, but still ....

Haha, they were awesome. They really didn't leave us alone. Even when it was getting busy they would always come back. We had to wait about 15 minutes for Dale to come back, he was visiting other tables with my stormtrooper backpack.

Interesting thoughts on the photopass ... still debating whether to get it or not

We still have not got our cd yet, should be here this week. I didn't look at most of the photo's online when ordering the cd. Im sure there are a few good ones. I guess it comes down to if you want photos with those backgrounds, or holding added animations like balloons and Tinkerbell in your hands.. We love Disney but it was not what we were after.
The main thing was the on ride photo's and most character meets had photopass so it should be worth it.
Plus my girlfriend, before she got onto maters ride saw a photopass photographer standing near the rail, quickly went over and asked her to take pics of my daughter when the ride was going. She happily said no problems and got a few great shots of them on the ride. They need more of this around the park not just for rides.

.... um, you are a cast member following in Walt's footstep, it kinda is your problem. That really sucks that was her response.

Glad the next round of CMs took care of you and how great to bypass the line at Matterhorn ... almost makes it worth it

When someone gives you a crap response i tend to walk away. Later in the trip though as you will find out i stand my ground with an Old Train conductor CM.

All other CM were awesome, it's a case of you are going to get a few grumpy ones every now and then, everyone else is awesome.

Fun Splash ride photo - like how you are holding up the Storm Trooper backback. Looks like the guy in the front row what quite impressed with the ride!

Stormtrooper ended up in every ride photo. With the amount of people asking me everyday about where to get him, i thought he needed to be in some photo's too.

haha, love the description ... it's like the River Dance version of running

Ha, thats an even better description. Enjoy the river dance show when you are there. Its even better when you get to the line of RSR and see those people who were doing the river dance run a few people in front of you. I think it is when they realize they didnt have to shuffle as it really is a 5 minute or so wait in the morning.

I think those oil can cups are one of the souvenirs (at least non-60th anniversary ones) that I am most excited to get.

Yes the are awesome. So are the popcorn buckets. I am a big nerd and love all that stuff. We had one suitcase that was just popcorn buckets and cups.

My oldest daughter absolutely loves Kali River Rapids, so really looking forward to Grizzly River Run which looks even better. I am with you about the people wearing ponchos on water rides - especially something that that which is all about the water and getting wet.

If you have early entry, ride it first thing. You will be the only ones on it. My 5 yr old wanted to ride 3 times first thing one morning. So 3 times we went. Walk on walk off walk back on, 3rd time the CM just stay there if you want to go again. Love it. They need a T shirt that say's NO RAIN PONCHO'S

Aw, that is a cute story about the CM with your daughter - definitely something nice that I am sure made her feel special

It was awesome, with more magic moments for her to come.
Thanks for following along.

wsssup · Jul 12, 2015

THURS 25th June - DISNEYLAND/FANTASMIC NIGHT

Another day of fun and adventure. Feet are so sore, but that's part of the fun. My samsung watch was keeping track of walking distances each day and we were averaging 15 to 20km a day. Today we would smash that by doing 32km. All in the name of fun.

Back off to Disneyland for early entry, although we were a little late the line was moving along quickly and we were back in the land of Magic in 5 minutes. Ridemax had a big schedule for us so it was time to see how it could handle it. We took a few pics in front of the Castle as it was not busy, then headed over to Autopia. It was just me and my Daughter on this one as Bec had to make a call about us trying to get an extra night in our hotel room so we wouldnt have to check out so early.

My daughter loved it. She did amazingly well, no major left or right knocking, it was a smooth ride. I was able to get a quick nap in before the end of the ride hehe.

Ridemax had us hang out in Fantasyland for awhile. We did most of the rides , Peter Pan was still closed. We knew it was going to open on the last day we were at the parks so I was excited for that one. Having been on it as a kid it was going to be another sentimental ride for me.
Back on snow white, which is a great ride, and my girlfriend is Snow white crazy, but it's just then end of that ride the let's you down every time. I put it down to they just run out of space, better end it. Here's hoping the Seven Dwarfs mine cart ride at WDW makes up for it next year...(more on that plan later)

Wonder where i am in this pic.

STORMTROOPER TIME!

We headed over to TomorrowLand. It was getting very hot and i was thirsty. I was after the Boba Fett helmet cup. So along the way all i was thinking about was getting a drink in Boba Fetts head, completely missing the fact that Stormtroopers were close by. Luckily my girlfriend documented the event on camera.

Ok , so i seriously did not see the Stormtrooper to the right of me. My sunglasses have a thick side which makes me feel like I'm wearing horse blinkers.
Notice how my daughter knows there's a stormtrooper, who is about to see my back pack and make a run for it right over to me.

After grabbing my backpack he started walking behind me and well all around me and my daughter, as if he was guarding us. He even held my daughters hand which we were spewing we didnt have a photo of.

Hahaha, it so looks like we are holding hands. And the look on my daughter is priceless. She was like wow he held my hand. haha.
This was the highlight for my big nerdy star wars self. The other stormtrooper in the background caught up eventually and followed us all the way to me getting my Boba fett drink. Awesome.

My day was complete. I was expecting to see any Stormtrooper's so this was a bonus. It was almost lunch and we all wanted to go back to the hotel quickly to dump things we had Purchased, and head back to Disneyland as we had a 4:10pm BB fantasmic dinner to attend.

We arrived on time to the BB. They were very quick to seat us. We were not fussed about a riverside table, we could see people on the Pirates ride fine from where we were. The selection of the food for the dinner package is not the greatest, especially for kids. We really were only doing it for the reserved seating for the show. For one of the big eating places in Disneyland it really was pretty average food. The atmosphere is great, the mens toilets was terrible and far from clean. We still enjoyed it and we got our foam cushions and tickets for the show.

We just hung out in New Orleans and rode Pirates and Haunted Mansion a few times before the show. We got to our spot about 40 minutes before the show and were the first ones in our section. So we got an awesome spot dead center up the front.
The show was awesome, and when the dragon came out and the river started catching fire i must say it got a little hot. I had to lean back for a second as my face felt like it was going to melt. We all loved the show, and the fireworks after the show were awesome as well. Yeh it wasnt main street but we wanted to avoid that chaos and it was nice to be able to sit down still and watch.
When this was over Pirates was a walk on and so was Haunted mansion. So we did them again. We then headed over to get a spot for Paint the Night, but it was full already and we were all very tired so it was time to pack it in.

Tomorrow was to be a rest day. It was not the original plan, we had planned the sunday coming to have off. But we all had sore feet and needed a day off.
We headed off to Walmart for some shopping and just hung about at the pool and slept.
Saturday was back to Disneyland for some more good times.........

VandVsmama · Jul 12, 2015

I love your trip report so far! I totally want one of those Stormtrooper backpacks. I'm going to have to get my 3 yr old nephew one for Christmas! How much stuff does it hold?

wsssup · Jul 13, 2015

VandVsmama said:
I love your trip report so far! I totally want one of those Stormtrooper backpacks. I'm going to have to get my 3 yr old nephew one for Christmas! How much stuff does it hold?

It holds a fair bit. I could fit my gopro, my gopro g4 gimbal, wallet and a few drinks in there. It's not a huge amount but enough for some essentials. He has 2 zippers on each shoulder as well. These are small pockets, good for batteries and other small goodies.

wsssup · Jul 16, 2015

SAT 27TH JUNE - DISNEYLAND
After a lovely day off from the parks, we felt refreshed and ready to go. Time to get to the gates early for that extra hour. Normally there are large crowds for early entry at Disneyland, but today it was fairly low crowds. Our plan was to hang out in Fantasyland and go see some Princesses.
The weather was perfect, again , and it was set to be a very hot day later on.
Peter Pan was still closed, we knew we would have to ride it on the last day we were in the parks on thursday, the day it opened to the public.
Not to worry, we went on all the rides in Fantasyland in about an hour. Minus a few that dont open until 8am.

It was great to have low crowds, all the rides were a walk on. We headed over to Fantasy Fair, before 8am to get a good position in the line. Everyday we have been in Disneyland we would come here to check with the Cast Members who was scheduled to appear. It took a few times but today Snow white was on the list, who we had been trying to see as my Girlfriend is Snow white crazy.
We were in within 5 minutes and Snow white was the first Princess to say hi too. She was great, we had a good laugh and she knew we were not from around here. My girlfriend was so nervous to meet her, it was funny to watch. Made her day.

The next Princess was Belle. She was awesome too. Great interaction with my Daughter, many laughs were had. Its cute to watch your own child ask funny questions.
We then headed off to see the last Princess, Cinderella. Our previous Cinderella we met at Ariel's Grotto was not the best. This Cinderella was great as well. She even wanted a picture with my Stormtrooper Backpack, which will be on the Photopass pictures we are still waiting on.
Fantasy Fair was well worth the Visit. Get there early and it is smooth sailing all the way. By the time we got out the line was already massive, glad we did it before the 8am rush.

We headed over to Big Thunder. The line was tiny and we were on within 5 minutes. I still remember this ride as a kid, and it didn't disappoint. My Daughter loved this ride, and throughout the trip we rode it at least 3 to 4 times a day we were at Disneyland. It really was starting to get hot, and it was not even 10am. So what do you do when your hot at Disneyland? Splash mountain it up. Silly question. Another short line and on we went. One of the best rides in the Park. I remember the first time we rode it and got to the dark section with the few little drops and you pick up a little speed, i did not expect it at all. The drop at the end is pushing my stomach loss threshold, i'm a bit of a wuss, but this is Splash mountain and i want to get wet.

We headed over to get a Dole Whip, and along the way my Daughter Spotted Jasmine, Aladdin and Genie doing a meet and greet. It was no question we had to line up as my daughter is crazy about Jasmine. I was not going in with that great of excitement, from what i had seen on youtube, Aladdin was pretty bland, and so was Jasmine when it came to interactions. Upon meeting Genie was awesome, and for that matter so was Jasmine. She was one of the best interactions my daughter had. So i was completely wrong about that one , but still right about Aladdin, he just seems to need to get in the role a bit better, as he really is just a prop for Jasmine. Others may feel different but that's how it felt for us. None the less it was a great meet and my daughter was over the moon.

The parks were still not that busy, which was good. We got in plenty of rides, probably the most we done. I was even doubling up on rides as we were way ahead of schedule on ridemax, which was good. The plan for the afternoon was to find a good spot for the soundsational parade.

TIME FOR ANOTHER RUDE ENCOUNTER

We had scoped out a great spot, we were able to lean right back against a small wall, and stretch a relax for a good hour. It was getting closer to parade time and it was actually very busy. A young couple with a pram came over our way and asked if they could squeeze in. No problems i said. We shifted a few things around, and we were able to get their stroller behind us and there was enough room for us all. They were very thankful, and it was no dramas. The parade had started and was heading our way. A mother with 5 large kids walks past and says to them just sit there. Sitting there was right in front of us, way past the marked line, blocking the view my daughter had. She was looking at the back of a child. I asked the mother excuse me... told her that is pretty rude. Got no response, simply a get over it. I don't normally give responses but this was plain rude and i was peed off. I gave her a slight serving of delicious Australian slang, which i knew she would have no idea what i was saying, but she could see my daughter could not see. And simply walked off and left her kids there. The other couple we had let in were pretty upset by this as well. We did some shuffling around and they put my daughter up on the ledge so she could see. Great local people, who appreciated us moving helping in return. Unlike the other party.
We still saw the parade, and that was the main thing.

We had not done space mountain yet. My girlfriend and I were keen to do it, the question was would my daughter want to go on it or not. We headed over and got fastpasses. We chat about the ride with my daughter and told her if you liked Matterhorn you would probably like this. Explained it was dark with lots of stars and loud music. She loves stars and was sold on that. We waited for our time to return on were on very quick.
Such a great ride, and at the end all i saw on my daughters face was the biggest smile. She just wanted to ride it again and again. So we did it a few more times throughout the evening.

This was our longest day in the park. We stayed until closing. Did a massive amount of shopping. I think i purchased everything star traders had to offer haha. Another great day down, minus a few run ins but all was good.

wsssup · Jul 23, 2015

TheMaxRebo · Jul 24, 2015

Interesting to know that they were going to let non-hotel park guests into DCA with it being slow. Will have to keep that in mind for our trip in October

That is so cool that your daughter was the aviator of the day! Things like that probably made for such a special moment for her and will be a great memory for her ... less so for your back though I guess.

That's cool that you got the Bullseye doll in time for the meet with Jessie

wsssup · Jul 26, 2015

TheMaxRebo said:
Interesting to know that they were going to let non-hotel park guests into DCA with it being slow. Will have to keep that in mind for our trip in October

That is so cool that your daughter was the aviator of the day! Things like that probably made for such a special moment for her and will be a great memory for her ... less so for your back though I guess.

That's cool that you got the Bullseye doll in time for the meet with Jessie

Yes we were lucky to have won the bullseye before meeting Jessie. The Large Bullseye can only be won at the boardwalk in DCA.

A tip for those who want to win it the easy and cheap way. It is from the horse racing arcade game. You can trade up your small prize wins to eventually the large Bullseye. To save yourself money and time just go there when no one is playing it and buy up 6 lanes, play your game in 1 or 2 lanes and you will win the bullseye. Cost about 25 bucks.

Goofy did make my daughters day thats for sure

Downunder to Disney - June20th - 2nd of July.

Disney World Christmas 2016!Australia to Orlando

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Disney World Christmas 2016!Australia to Orlando

Disney World Christmas 2016!Australia to Orlando

DIS Veteran

Disney World Christmas 2016!Australia to Orlando

Disney World Christmas 2016!Australia to Orlando

Disney World Christmas 2016!Australia to Orlando

DIS Veteran

Disney World Christmas 2016!Australia to Orlando

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