** LIVE ** Great Glad Tidings Tell -- we're headed to DL! **Dec 7-14, 2010 TR**

[specialks]

I'm getting really excited now! We leave one week from today. Because of work & the holidays I haven't had anytime to sew outfits. I am really bummed but realize I just can't make it work. I think I might try to do a couple of iron-on tshirts and call it good!

[becstr]

Wow! Less than a week to go!

Looking forward to hearing about your trip!!

[specialks]

Tickets have been purchased. This is my first time ever using LMT so we will see how it works out. We bought our 5 day PHs through LMT ($190 adult, $162.73 child) and we are buying my mom her ticket through AAA so we can get the free parking on it. That way if we have a dreadful experience with the ART shuttle we can go back to parking in the M&F lot without paying the $15/day parking charge.

ONLY 3 MORE DAYS!!!

[specialks]

We are here! Headed out to watch Tangled then I plan to add some photos & info about our hotel tonight.

[mvf-m11c]

Have a great time at DL during the Holiday season and looking forward to your pics during your TR.

[skiingfast]

Originally Posted by specialks

We are here! Headed out to watch Tangled then I plan to add some photos & info about our hotel tonight.

Sounds like a great night. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

[specialks]

So we checked into the Residence Inn Anaheim Resort in Garden Grove. I had requested a disney view room on a high floor. I was informed that they could only get us to floor 5 (of 8) but we are facing disney. Of course, upon arriving all we are facing is a bunch of other hotels. They will move us tomorrow if we want, but we decided to stay so we don't have to pack back up. The desk person was very friendly and helped explain why my request couldn't be fulfilled (big convention in town) and what they could do to try to help me. I appreciated his willingness to help and his explanation of the situation.

I had also requested some groceries to be purchased for us. They had the groceries ready and brought them up to my room as soon as I entered the room. The ham & cheese I had asked for were kept refrigerated and were still cold. Very pleased with this service.

The room has a very strong cleaning chemical smell. Almost like they recently cleaned the carpets. You do adjust but it is quite noticeable upon entering. I am very sensitive to smells and my mom & husband smell it but don't think it warrants moving rooms. The room is what I expected with some minor wear and outdated furniture. There is some minor warping on a seam on the kitchen formica. Perhaps the worst thing is the sofa bed. I had read previous reviews so I was prepared for it to be a little tough, but ours is actually falling apart. When we opened it up a spring was actually laying on the bed (it was supposed to be holding that fabric bottom to the frame). My mom is going to sleep on it and she is pretty easy going, but if you have someone who is a light/sensitive bed sleeper, this would not work for them. The sofa beds are in BAD need of replacement.

We took advantage of the free manager's reception meal before we went to see our movie. They served rice with teriyaki meatballs and some steamed veggies. The food was pretty mediocre cafeteria food, but after a full day of travel we were just happy to have a meal provided that we didn't have to plan, cook, or pay for!

I know this all sounds dreadful but all in all it isn't that bad. We are hoping we can just make it work and enjoy our time here in our little home away from home!

Tomorrow we are headed to CA. We had originally planned to take the ART but after discussing the ART with 2 different front desk people, we have decided to take our car. It sounds like the ART just isn't reliable so you have no way of know a time schedule of when to expect the next shuttle. We also have WOC tomorrow night and the ART only has limited service between 830-930 for the WOC (815 pm) showing. So, my mom has her AAA ticket so we are just going to drive & park at M&F which we have done before. I wanted to avoid that at all costs but we can't see paying more money for ART when it sounds like it is not an ideal transportation option.

Below are the photos of our room and the manager's meal.

View from door entry



View from Living Room towards kitchen & entry door



View from the Living Room window



Main Bedroom Sink & Vanity



Main Bath



Main Bed - King Bed - Viewed from Bathroom Vanity area



2nd Bedroom - Bunk Beds



2nd Bathroom



Manager's Meal area



Serving Dishes



Food



Hopefully I will check in with you all tomorrow after our day at CA with picnic WOC meals. I might be too tired, but I will give it a shot!

[specialks]

So we headed to CA today. We got a late start which isn't really uncommon for our family. We did actually arrange to change rooms because the sofa bed was terrible for my mom and the smell was starting to really bother me. They told us they would move us and we just had to leave everything packed up in the room. So, we arrived back just after 9 pm and had a new room that is very similar but the beds are better and there is no weird smell. All our stuff had been neatly delivered and there was even a plate of cookies waiting for us. They really were very helpful and I am glad we went ahead and changed.

We started off at Soarin' then headed to GRR. No photos of those (I guess we were all just lost in our first moments at DLR!) Then we checked in about the picnics stating that we wanted to get blue fp and when we should pick them up. We were told that they were only giving out blue that day (no yellow) so we could get our meals anytime we wanted. We chose to wait. Our photos will show that we had a pretty slow day and just worked our way around Paradise Pier then to Bugs Land, then to the Pixar Parade, then to Tower of Terror, then finally to our Picnic meals and waiting for WOC.

Here are some photos from our fun today!

Green Army Men with my 2 little girls



Woody & Green Army Man!



Mickey's Wheel of Death. My youngest loves the swinging gondolas but I can't stand them. I feel like I am going to throw up or die or throw up then die. But, I endure for my darling daughter!





First time ever on the Silly Symphony Swings. They loved it!





Christmas time Mickey!



Silly Pluto, using his nose for a table!





Donald



Bug's Land Christmas Ornaments



The only male ladybug I know. No wonder he's so mad...



And the finale... World of Color

[roxy72]

Your daughters are SO CUTE!!! They are beautiful with that blonde hair and pretty eyes. :D

I'm glad you got to switch rooms, so your mother can sleep more comfortably and you can get away from the stinky old room. I wonder why it smelled so bad- maybe the previous person made a big mess and they had to bring in strong chemicals to clean up?

[specialks]

Day 2 - Disneyland Park

To start I want to share a timeline of our trip to the park in case anyone has ever thought about staying offsite. We finally pulled out of the hotel parking lot at 9:59 am to start our day. We had paid and were entering the base of the M&F parking garage at 10:06. We were parked at 10:10 and waiting for the trams at 10:15 (the line was average in depth maybe even slightly below). We got off the trams at 10:29 and headed towards the security checkpoints. I just wanted to give everyone a run down of what our drive to the parks was like in case they were wondering.

We had a very slow easy day yet again. I think we are all just really using this trip as a relaxing vacation and not a plan & run crazy for the most rides type of trip. We had appts at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for both the girls and had to head pretty much straight there. We took some photos and did the castle walk-through then headed into the BBB. After that we did the Teacups (my mom & I sat out since we both can't do spinny rides), Storybook Land Canal Boats, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Alice in Wonderland, It's A Small World, Princess Fantasy Faire, Toontown for the Gadget's Go Coaster, then we sat & waited for the parade. After the parade we used our FPs to go on SpcM then headed to Red Robin for dinner and back to the hotel. The parks felt fairly crowded and the parade route was front line full at 4:25 (for a 5:30) parade. FPs were all gone for SpcM and it was a 45 min wait when we went after the parade. A CM even commented that it seemed unusually busy for a Thursday and that the weekends have been really busy. I thought I had picked a good time to visit for low crowds but it looks like there really wasn't a low crowd time this holiday season!













Thought it was so neat to see flowers on the floors in the BBB. According to the FGMIT (Fairy Godmother in Training) they were planted by Rosetta and the Fairy Godmother waved her wand to protect the flowers from being picked.

































continued...

[specialks]

Teacups!





Storybook Land Canal Boats











It's A Small World



Princess Fantasy Faire







Pluto in Toontown



Parade



Tomorrow we are headed to Knotts Berry Farm. I hope it isn't dreadfully busy and that we can have a good time there. I will post again tomorrow night!

[specialks]

Originally Posted by roxy72

Your daughters are SO CUTE!!! They are beautiful with that blonde hair and pretty eyes. :D

I'm glad you got to switch rooms, so your mother can sleep more comfortably and you can get away from the stinky old room. I wonder why it smelled so bad- maybe the previous person made a big mess and they had to bring in strong chemicals to clean up?

Thanks! Yeah, my mom is much happier now. It actually smelled like carpet cleaning soap and the carpet did look clean. Perhaps the person didn't dilute it enough?? Our room is really serving us well and we have used the grocery shopping service twice now. Very handy!

[specialks]

Today we went to Knotts Berry Farm. It was definitely busier than when we went last year in September. I have to admit that the park is not near the "production attraction" that DLR is. There was garbage on the ground and things looked worn down. The bathrooms were all fairly gross and not clean - although they were all well stocked. That being said, there were some really great roller coasters for those over 48" that DLR doesn't have. One day (1045 am - 545 pm) was plenty of time for us to finish everything (many multiple rides) on our list. We did skip the plays because I find it stressful to navigate the crowds at Knotts when those shows get out. I was very impressed with the nighttime Christmas lights (started at 5) and the Christmas music which was playing all over the park. They really did a nice job decorating for Christmas. If you are a craft shopper, then it is a good time of year to go because they open up Ghost Town to crafters and people can shop for lots of handmade items. Another note about Knotts is the food did seem very expensive. We were going to get a funnel cake then we saw that a funnel cake was $7.75 -- we decided on a $4 churro instead. They have a family body dryer set up outside the Bigfoot Rapids (similar to GRR but no hills) which we thought was really cool, until we saw it cost $5. They are running some promos which can let people get in the park for free or $15 which is a real deal. Even with those promos many of the rides had little to no wait with our longest wait being 20 minutes. Camp Snoopy was suprisingly busy and the wait times were kind of long for 30 second kiddie rides. I think they offer free or low admission prices and then hike the prices on food & stuff up to try and recoup the expense. They have a no food or drink (except for water or sports drinks) policy and check your bags upon entry. I think they do this to force people to spend money in the parks.

So, with all that being said, we still had a fun day. I don't have many pictures to share. Many of the rides that my husband and oldest daughters went on were major roller coasters and too hard to see them on. And the other rides I was enjoying and not photographing.

Funny thing - there were chickens & a rooster in the parking lot when we arrived. We wondered if they would be served for dinner that night??...























Tomorrow we will head back to the DLR and we have reservations at the Rainforest Cafe at 830 pm.

[skiingfast]

Smiling girls is a great sign!
But DD6 makes me wonder when mine is going to start loosing teeth.


Where did you park for Disney?
Where did you watch WoC from I'm wondering about the branches that hang down?

[specialks]

Originally Posted by skiingfast

Smiling girls is a great sign!
But DD6 makes me wonder when mine is going to start loosing teeth.


Where did you park for Disney?
Where did you watch WoC from I'm wondering about the branches that hang down?

My DD6 teethed early and had lost 6 of her teeth just before turning 6. There are a few kids in her class that have also lost their front teeth but definitely not the majority.

We park in the M & F Garage. On level 2 (Daisy) the first day (Wed) and on level 3 (Mickey) on the second day (Thurs). We come in a back entrance that I think is not the main entrance people get routed to.

We watched WOC at the very bottom of the bridge. I was so wishing for a pair of gardening shears when we got those spots. We waited at 645 pm for those spots and it was a complete madhouse crush of people. I can tell you that the bridge is no longer a secret. Everyone around us was talking about the bridge and going to the bridge. That is where everyone ran, hence we ended up at the very bottom. It was actually a pretty good viewing spot and we had a couple of images blocked by the large light poles but everything else seemed to be wonderfully centered for us. We did have to crouch down to view under the branches but for our girls it was great.