Am I nuts?? One day solo trip to DisneyLand October 13, 2010 Park Vue

[tksbaskets]

Background
Why a one-day trip you ask (or don't)? I was going to be in San Diego for a business conference. Work didn't care if I flew back on the 13th or the 14th since it was no additional cost. What to do with an extra day? I ran through the possibilities.
- explore San Diego's old town
- go to the San Diego zoo
- drive up the coast
- drive up the coast to Disneyland

I had never been to San Diego. I got two books from Amazon about all the sites and attractions. Poured over them. Kept thinking "Disneyland is less than 2 hours away from San Diego" "You've never seen DL decorated for Halloween" (My family has been there in the summer and at Christmas). My hubby, who was not coming along, finally said "Who are you kidding, you know where you want to spend your 'free day'!!" We had a great trip to DL in December before World of Color so that also swayed me.

From the title you've figured out Mickey won easily. Next commenced the planning. We are DVC members so my first try was to get a DVC studio for the night of the 13th. No go. One night cash - are you sitting down - ~ $400 ALSO a no-go. Hmmm....combed the DIS boards for 'good neighbor' hotels. Settled on the Park Vue Inn. One night with tax ~$125.

I reserved a rental car, purchased a WOC picnic meal and forked out Chase Reward Dollars for my one day park-hopper ticket. Ready to roll!

October 13th arrives!
The trip from SD to DL was a snap once my GPS figured out it wasn't in Michigan any more (original trip time calculated as 39 hours ) and I figured out how to turn the headlights on.

Two turns and I was headed North on I-5 and 1 hour and 40 minutes from Disneyland. It turned out to be closer to 2 hours with traffic but I think it was only 2 turns off of I-5 before I pulled in the Park Vue Inn parking lot.

/

My room of course was not ready at 8:20 in the morning. I checked-in with the nice employee and put my parking pass in the window, got my back pack with camera and headed literally across the street to DisneyLand.

Here is the view from the Park Vue parking lot:

Since DL opened to the general public at 9 am (which I had never been since we always stay on-property) there was a small crowd crossing the street with me. Walk along!

Even at a leisurely clip it was less than a 10 minute walk to the bag check.

I took the time to look down:

Look - I see the entrance to DL all decked out for Halloween!

Next up: Trying to get the most out of an hour at DL before Disney California Adventure opens at 10 am.

 

[tksbaskets]

The Plan
I've never gone to DL without taking advantage of Magic Morning. My 'normal person' plan was to book to Tomorrowland and grab a FP for Space Mountain and then ride it Stand-by. Next I would book to Adventure land for an Indy FP and a ride on Pirates and Haunted Mansion.

I stopped briefly after exchanging my paper ticket for the 'real thing' and entering through the gate for a few pics. (OK quite a few but I'll only share a couple)

Look who was hanging out at the hub of Main Street!

My first stop was Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy. I grabbed my FP and walked right into the SB line. The overlay is quite extensive. Now these aren't the fun hitch-hiking ghosts of the haunted mansion. These are night mare inducing, screaming, scary ghosts. Don't take little kids. This is actually my return pic using my FP. Guess which one I am?

Off to Adventureland. Will my master plan be derailed?

 

[debdebdebby13]

Lovely, thank you for posting! Can't wait to see the next installment.

 

[reyasmommy]

Great pictures....looking forward to more.

I always enjoy hearing about solo trips. I don't think I'd ever be able to do it, but I love reading about them.

 

[deejdigsdis]

I was going to ask you if you reported on your one day trip. Love that Space Mountain picture! I'm not into this kind of thing normally, but I loved the Ghost Galaxy overlay. I especially liked the part when that bony hand reached out.

 

[tksbaskets]

Lovely, thank you for posting! Can't wait to see the next installment.

I should get another installment up tonight. Going to be spending the day driving to where our sons go to college to take the boys shopping and out to dinner.

Great pictures....looking forward to more.

I always enjoy hearing about solo trips. I don't think I'd ever be able to do it, but I love reading about them.

I think you'd be surprised how much fun it is and how quickly it goes. I'll be posting some thoughts on the ups and downs of being solo as I go along.

I was going to ask you if you reported on your one day trip. Love that Space Mountain picture! I'm not into this kind of thing normally, but I loved the Ghost Galaxy overlay. I especially liked the part when that bony hand reached out.

I have peeps! I actually prefer the hitchhiking ghosts My hubby laughs at me when I hide behind my hands during scary parts of movies.

 

[mvf-m11c]

It nice to hear part of your solo TR to DL. It is fun to go solo since you can control of what you want to do in the parks and with no one else. It does sometimes feel lonely when you don't have someone to talk to but it is fun to go solo. I am also doing a solo trip in two weeks and I am getting excited about my Holiday trip to DL.

Great pics and I am looking forward to reading more of your TR.

 

[tksbaskets]

My wild trip through Adventureland


My what a difference between October 13th and the week between Christmas and New Years! Look at the 9:30 am 'crowd' going to Adventureland:

*Temperature Observation*
At this point I'm walking briskly from one attraction to the other. When I selected my wardrobe in Michigan I chose a long sleeved Life is Good Halloween shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Sounds good right? Well....maybe not to people familiar with October in Anaheim. By 9:30 I'm sweating like Ham. My touring plan did NOT allow for a trip back to the Park Vue for a wardrobe change this early in the morning. If I wouldn't have looked like a total dork I would have rolled my jeans up.

I had about 10 minutes before I could snag my fastpass for Indiana Jones so off I went to Pirates!

I was on one of the first boat to travel. I had an entire row to myself I LOVE this ride. The drifting through the bayou. A family was in front of me and two women behind. Off we went - I had a big grin on my face and was humming YO HO in my head!

Then the 'ladies' behind me proceed to chat the ENTIRE ride. Not about the ride mind you, not in a movie theater voice, they talked in a normal tone through the entire ride! I was irked I find it incredible that people can be so clueless of how their behavior effects those around them.

Doubled back and snagged my Indy FP and then off to the Haunted Mansion. We had ridden this quite a few times in December so I was familiar with the awesome overlay for Nightmare Before Christmas.

No line By the clock you can tell I won't be waiting at the gates of DCA before it opens.

Superb themeing!:

The ride was most excellent as ever! No one chatting incessantly in my buggy

It's a bit after 10 am and time to head over to California Adventure to hot foot it to Toy Story Midway Mania!!!

Took one of my favorite picture of the trip on the way out.

 

[tksbaskets]

How was my morning spin on TSMM?

Well stick around and find out~
Walking through the turnstyle for DCA you it's all about World of Color. Nothing at all would lead you to believe it's fall let alone Halloween. Of course we all know the fastpass machines between DL and DCA are not tied together so off I went and snagged a FP for Soarin'!

After procuring my FP I headed back by the Muppet's to get my free Disney Visa Photopass picture. The line was SUPER long so I opted out and headed right to Paradise Pier.

Mickey was in the gazebo by Ariel's Gratto. I debated the extra 15 minutes to stand for a picture with the big guy vs getting right in line for TSMM and decided to wait. NO WAY would my men folk have made that choice. Hey, I'm SOLO! Remember my telling you I was a tad overdressed? If I was a liar I'd tell you a screaming child through their glass of water right on my shirt!

I really like that the Cast Members who accompany the characters are gracious about taking pictures with your own camera.

Turn right and on the way to TSMM! Wru whro....I see many cast members standing around the entrance...RATS, the ride is down and no one knows when it will be back in working order...I texted my guys (as I did all morning) and they shared my pain. I must admit DSs were thinking it was Karma for going to DL without them.

Sad photos:

I've never seen this:

Not time to get my California Screamin' FP so I enjoyed a hot dog combo and a diet coke from the cart across for TSMM. I was really hungry and it tasted delish!

Off to California Screamin'! Snagged my FP for later and headed right into the 10 minute stand-by line. I may have mentioned I wondered if I was nuts to spend $$ to go on a solo one-day trip to DL. As I strapped in and the countdown started for CS I had a definitive answer. No I wasn't nuts, I was riding California Screamin' hands in the air on a beautiful October day grinning like a loon. Life IS Good!

This would be my first of three rides on CS. Each one as great as the last.
I think this picture is from my third ride. This boys kept me company in line. He may have been 9 and had a charming English accent. I asked him if he wanted to ride with me in the front car and he was so excited (I find if you ask the CM directing people to cars nicely 'can I ride in the front' most often the answer is yes)

It's a bit after 11 am now and time to head to DTD for a spot of shopping. I was on a hunt for the new DVC Vinylmation and my Chase Visa World of Color Lithograph. My plan was to gather the goods and head back to the hotel to see if my room was ready and change to the one short sleeved shirt I packed.

I'm now in 'relaxed' mode (or as relaxed as I get at Disney) and stopped for a PP photographer. She was nice enough to take one with my camera too.

More Halloween pics to come! Hey it isn't even noon yet

 

[deejdigsdis]

Great updates! Let's see if I can remember everything I was going to comment on...

Pirates... your experience with the talkers reminded me of our first POTC ride of this trip. We got stuck in a boat with FOUR flash photographers. Generally, the occasional flash photo doesn't bother me at all. But this was ridiculous. They were taking pictures every few seconds, it seemed. So annoying!

The screaming child throwing a glass of water on your shirt... if you were a liar, that is.

You and the little English boy on Screamin' look like you are old pals! What a fun picture.

Now I'm wondering if you made it on TSMM. I remember from your last TR how you like your TSMM! Too funny about the Karma comment from your boys.

Can't wait for more.

 

[tksbaskets]

Great updates! Let's see if I can remember everything I was going to comment on...

Pirates... your experience with the talkers reminded me of our first POTC ride of this trip. We got stuck in a boat with FOUR flash photographers. Generally, the occasional flash photo doesn't bother me at all. But this was ridiculous. They were taking pictures every few seconds, it seemed. So annoying!

The screaming child throwing a glass of water on your shirt... if you were a liar, that is.

You and the little English boy on Screamin' look like you are old pals! What a fun picture.

Now I'm wondering if you made it on TSMM. I remember from your last TR how you like your TSMM! Too funny about the Karma comment from your boys.

Can't wait for more.

Thanks for reading deejdigsdis. You'll have to wait to find out if I get to go on TSMM this trip

My boys were quite jealous that mom got to go to DL. My oldest son actually posted a pic of me that I texted him on CS on his facebook captioned "WOW mom, really???" It was cute.

 

[deejdigsdis]

Thanks for reading deejdigsdis. You'll have to wait to find out if I get to go on TSMM this trip

My boys were quite jealous that mom got to go to DL. My oldest son actually posted a pic of me that I texted him on CS on his facebook captioned "WOW mom, really???" It was cute.

I always chuckle a bit when people refer to me as deejdigsdis. I guess that is my screen name, but just plain old deej is fine. A nickname I picked up in Jr. High.

You sound like you are really close to your boys. Love that. Am I remembering right that they are twins? Or just very close in age? My sister and I are 16 months apart and people constantly thought we were twins when we were growing up.

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip.

 

[tksbaskets]

I always chuckle a bit when people refer to me as deejdigsdis. I guess that is my screen name, but just plain old deej is fine. A nickname I picked up in Jr. High.

You sound like you are really close to your boys. Love that. Am I remembering right that they are twins? Or just very close in age? My sister and I are 16 months apart and people constantly thought we were twins when we were growing up.

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip.

Yes, we have twins who are 15 minutes apart. I know how you felt growing up however. One of my sisters is 5 days less than one year older than me.

More coming up.

 

[tksbaskets]

My mad dash through DTD

After my PP pic I went through DTD with one purpose - to go to D-Street to purchase my DVC Vinylmation. I could purchase two with my DVC membership card. Making my trip worthwhile I also purchased a Toy Story 3 and Holiday 'unknown' Vinylmation. I showed amazing restraint and opened them with my hubby after I got home. Not too geeked about the Holiday one but I like "Ham"

Here is a pic of my lithograph (Picked up at DCA Customer Service) It was free because we have a Disney Visa.

I scurried to the Park Vue to see if my room was ready. It was about 12:30 by this time. It was not but I did take advantage of the icy cold bottled water at the desk and their nice rest room to change into capris and a short sleeved shirt. I felt TONS better and got to stow my goodies in the trunk too.

Back to DL for a few rides and leisurely picture taking I knew I'd be spending the evening at DCA for WOC and my picnic dinner so this part of the day was reserved for DL.

Here are a few more shots of the gate in the early afternoon:

Do you know how hard it is to get this shot without a stranger in it??

Stood in line for my two secs with the main mouse:

Then stood in line to wait for a PP picture by the great pumpkin:

Snagged a FP for Indy and then rode using my morning FP. Boy I love that ride!

I was also ready for a snack So many choices, only one person.

I decided on the pumpkin muffin. I'm a BAD DISer as I had a bite out of the chocolate decoration before I took a picture. I stuffed it in the cream cheese frosting blob and took my obligatory picture:

The wait times at 1:45:

Used my FP for Ghost Galaxy Space Mountain and headed off to Thunder Ranch. Again trapped by by Big Thunder Mountain Railroad because DL is not a big circle like WDW....

 

[tksbaskets]

If you want GREAT pics of Thunder Ranch visit Deej's trip report. Halloween starts on page 11: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2342117&page=11

Here are my favs

I could have watched the carver lady for quite some time. Here are some of her creations:

Excellent decorations:

Fun pets:

Jack and Skelly:

I couldn't find the nice Mickey Ghost popcorn bucket but I did enjoy an iced tea in this mug:

I had some time to spare so I did a spot of shopping before it was time for my Indy FP. I found myself in the Hat shop by the castle and came home with my one big souvie. It was kind of an impulse although I had done a bit of research on limited edition mouse ears at home. Don't you love it?

I was able to drop this at package services with the assurance that it is open one hour after the park closed and there would be no issue picking my package up after WOC.

Time for Indy! ....... NOT....it was closed down with no opening in sight. Oh well, it means Mickey wanted me back at DCA.

Join me?

 

[tksbaskets]

World of Color

First stop was to use my FP for:

I then stopped at the information kiosk to find that Toy Story Midway Mania was back up! YEAH. Of I went to Paradise Pier and the only wait of the day. Fourty-five minutes in a line with strangers. This is the one down side of not going with family/friends. I did have my trusty BB to text my boys and hubby but the wait was pretty LONG.

Just recently they renovated TSMM to remove Bo Peep's Balloon Pop and replace it with Rex and Trixie's Dino Darts. If anyone followed our Christmas trip, we had done extensive research on how to work with your partner in each game and get maximum points. Well two strikes against me...I'm solo and there is a new game replacing the one I was best at unlocking the 'secret' points....

New game signs in the line - this is what happens with 45 minutes to kill:

Ham and Eggs features the unicorn but the game itself seemed essentially unchanged:

YEAH - getting close:

Now I want to go back with my family and early entry to see how I can do with a partner!

My solo score:

A new addition: Best in car... guess I beat the two behind me

Next I indulged in a final spin on California Screamin'. Hey - I could do whatever I wanted.

I had pre-purchased the Wine Country Trattoria World of Color Dining American Picnic and toddled over to pick it up around 5:30. There were plenty of spots on the terrace to sit and enjoy. I felt it was an excellent value at $14.99 and it included the bag (like a recycled plastic shopping bag with a sturdy handle) and a WOC FP for the Yellow section.

As advertised the chicken was cold but delish. Even at 5:30 the cast members were starting to organize around the different viewing areas. Return for the FP as 7 pm for the 8:30 show.

Time for a visit to one of our 'must see' attractions. A little walking never hurt anyone

World of Color

I lined up with the other bazillion people a bit before 7. At 7 the ropes opened and the cast members directed us to our colored sections. I was quite a ways down. Once you reach your section you go down the steps to the front of the lagoon. There is a 'splash zone' and an area behind it. I was three steps up in the non-splash zone. In front of me was a conglomeration of two families and to my right a lovely mother-daughter combo.

This was another time it wasn't wonderful to be solo. It made me much more aware of the antics of family that surrounded me. I'm all for big families and would have welcomed more than our twins if that had been God's plan. My issue was that all were ill behaved and manner-less, the adults too. I won't bore you with details but it did make me appreciate my family

Not much to do before the show. I did LOVE the show and right around 8:15 we were all asked to stand up. Pictures do not do the show justice but here is a couple of pics:

Can you see the genie from Aldin?

After the show I went with the flow and headed over to pick up my goodies from the DL package pick up. Look at the gate at night

Next up: the Park Vue Inn and final thoughts

 

[tksbaskets]

Park Vue Inn

Check-in was smooth as silk. I was assigned a room on the ground level and was able to park my car in front of the room. My room key also offered 10% off the attached Cold Stone Creamery. Yummm!

Here is my room. Clean and serviceable.

Surprise waiting on the desk!!

Nice fridge:

I did take advantage of the discount for ice cream and soda. The strange thing is you paid for the bill at Coldstone and then went to the front desk for your refund.

I enjoyed my treat in my room and figured out how to pack my souvies in my carry on bag.

The 'full' breakfast the next morning was OK. Very similar to what you'd get at any other chain.

Reflections

The one-day solo trip was SOoooo worth the effort and cost.

The long waits were not so much fun solo (TSMM and WOC). Was very glad to have my BB and men-folk on the receiving end.

Short sleeves are a must in Anahiem in October.

The Park Vue Inn is a nice motel in a GREAT location. If we weren't members of Disney Vacation Club I'd stay there again.

I missed being able to take advantage of "Magic Morning"

The End

 

[mvf-m11c]

Nice TR tksbaskets

It must have been fun to go solo and do whatever you want during your visit at DL. I think it is easy to do the picnic so you are guarantee a FP for any of the two WoC shows. You at least didn't have to wait in the FP line at GRR which will take awhile to get a FP if you are there early in line.

The Park Vue Inn room looked really nice.

 

[deejdigsdis]

Yes, we have twins who are 15 minutes apart. I know how you felt growing up however. One of my sisters is 5 days less than one year older than me.

More coming up.

Wow! Less than a year apart! My DS4 and DS7 share a birthday. We call them "twins born 3 years apart." I was just starting to decorate my son's b-day cake when I realized it was time to go to the hospital. Crazy!

Anyway...great TR! I'm so glad you shared your 1 day adventure! I always get a little sad when I finish one of your TRs. That last picture of you and Mickey is great. And I love your new Mickey ears. It was fun to see pics of pumpkins that I didn't notice/weren't there when I walked through. (And thanks for the Roundup pics shout-out. ) I also loved that night picture of the closed gates and character pumpkins. I don't think I noticed them at night time, now I wish I would have. About the TSMM line alone... I couldn't do it. I thought about riding alone while my sisters rode Mickey's Fun Wheel, but I couldn't bring myself to stand in that long of a line by myself. I can do shorter lines alone just fine, but that one seemed too daunting.

Looking forward to reading about your next trip!

 

[tksbaskets]

Nice TR tksbaskets

It must have been fun to go solo and do whatever you want during your visit at DL. I think it is easy to do the picnic so you are guarantee a FP for any of the two WoC shows. You at least didn't have to wait in the FP line at GRR which will take awhile to get a FP if you are there early in line.

The Park Vue Inn room looked really nice.

Thanks for reading. Yes the solo trip was nice. I debated asking one of my workmates if they wanted to join me but felt I would have turned into a tour guide doing what they wanted. You are so right about not waiting in line at GRR for a WOC FP (enough initials?) I had fantasy land to visit during that time

The Park Vue room was very nice. I was spoiled by being at the Grand Californian every other visit to DL but the Park Vue location can't be beaten!

Wow! Less than a year apart! My DS4 and DS7 share a birthday. We call them "twins born 3 years apart." I was just starting to decorate my son's b-day cake when I realized it was time to go to the hospital. Crazy!

Anyway...great TR! I'm so glad you shared your 1 day adventure! I always get a little sad when I finish one of your TRs. That last picture of you and Mickey is great. And I love your new Mickey ears. It was fun to see pics of pumpkins that I didn't notice/weren't there when I walked through. (And thanks for the Roundup pics shout-out. ) I also loved that night picture of the closed gates and character pumpkins. I don't think I noticed them at night time, now I wish I would have. About the TSMM line alone... I couldn't do it. I thought about riding alone while my sisters rode Mickey's Fun Wheel, but I couldn't bring myself to stand in that long of a line by myself. I can do shorter lines alone just fine, but that one seemed too daunting.

Looking forward to reading about your next trip!

Hi Deej! Only once did our parents celebrate our birthday together. My sister demanded her own cake (she always got strawberry and I chocolate). I think I was a BIG surprise. I have a brother two years older. You had yours on the same day??? Do they have two cakes on their birthday?

Thank you for the kind words about my trip report. I think I had three faithful readers but I always like reflecting and hope something I say helps someone else planning a trip.

I like your reports too. I can't look at a light and not think of you there. I actually took a picture of one of the light poles by the Haunted Mansion thinking 'DeeJ probably took a pic of this'. You always find things I never see. I still have no idea where those characters were that looked like dressed-up skeletans. My sister (who isn't a DISer ) read my report and said she liked the link to your report. High praise from my big sis (who is the one who is the same age as me for 5 days)

I don't think I would have waited that long in line either except my men folk were expecting a full report on the new additions. Other than that it was FP or 10 minutes or less for stand-by or I wouldn't do it.

Our next trip is coming up in ~40 days I'll probably report in after (or I'd have no excuse to take food pics)