For the first time in like ever I'm going to Disneyland a Nov 14 TR... updated 8/17

[petals]

Great updates Emma.

The first part of the fight sounded great, but sorry about the second part and the worry of seats. Yes, nothing is free on our flights anymore (unless you are in First Class).

It was all free on the first flight I just presumed they might treat me on the second one as well I had sweets and stuff with me anyway though so I didn't starve

I LOVE Angel checking out the planes and stealing Mom's seat.

I like to play with him when I've nothing better to be doing The plane spotting picture has become a bit of a tradition now though.

you've arrived and you are going to Disneyland the next day.

I was so excited. I had been falling asleep in the car from the airport but as soon as I saw the first hint of Disney I was buzzing.

Super update...

We are enjoying traveling with you... Tell me more..!!

Thanks

Checking in. The Christmas decorations in Dublin look nice. I am glad that you had a relatively smooth travel day, but I am sorry that you have been unwell right from the beginning.

That was just really bad timing

I am in the process of checking my Photopass photos and have a few Magic Shots minus the Magic. What information did you have to provide to get this put right?

I just told them dates and what parks and what the magic shot was meant to be. They sorted that but lost my Pluto pictures

 

[dolphingirl47]

I just told them dates and what parks and what the magic shot was meant to be. They sorted that but lost my Pluto pictures

Thanks, I will try this.

Corinna

 

[petals]

Thanks, I will try this.

Good luck. They told me as well it would take 24 hours to sort but it took 2 days

 

[dolphingirl47]

Good luck. They told me as well it would take 24 hours to sort but it took 2 days

I have plenty of time. My photos don't expire until 22nd December and it will take me more than 2 days to edit them all.

Corinna

 

[petals]

I have plenty of time. My photos don't expire until 22nd December and it will take me more than 2 days to edit them all.

Corinna

That's great. How did you get so long? I got back the 28th and we had until the 2nd to claim the pictures

 

[tksbaskets]

I'm glad you, mom, & angel safely arrived. That's a long day of travel. DH and I are sitting in the plane in Detroit waiting for our 5+ hour flight. Guess I won't complain. Thanks for sharing your adventures!

 

[petals]

I'm glad you, mom, & angel safely arrived. That's a long day of travel. DH and I are sitting in the plane in Detroit waiting for our 5+ hour flight. Guess I won't complain. Thanks for sharing your adventures!

Between the two planes it was almost 14 hours on a plane! Hope you have a safe flight

 

[dolphingirl47]

That's great. How did you get so long? I got back the 28th and we had until the 2nd to claim the pictures

That is strange. Normally you have 30 days to claim the photos (read entering the numbers of the Photopass cards) and then a further 30 days to edit them and to order.

Corinna

 

[petals]

That is strange. Normally you have 30 days to claim the photos (read entering the numbers of the Photopass cards) and then a further 30 days to edit them and to order.

Corinna

It told me i had to claim them by the 2nd but then I have until the 28th to download them which seems pointless. The only thing I'm disappointed with really is the fact they lost the Pluto photo because the one on my camera was blurry

 

[petals]

Day 2, part 1:

Tuesday, 18th of November.

I woke up at 5am again but stayed in bed until 6. I was feeling all blocked up this morning and coughing more but I put it down to the flying the previous day. Once we were both ready we decided to chance walking from the hotel to where we needed to go because it was only meant to be 20 minutes walk. We left the hotel at 7.30. This dude was outside our hotel to guard it I guess:

Seeing signs like this got me really excited:

Then I saw this and quite literally skipped across the road:

From that point on everything was ooh look at this ooh look at that while skipping along to the Disney music. eg: oh look they have Mickey head benchs:

Momma was jogging along behind me trying to keep up and laughing at my excitement. When we got to bag check they weren’t letting people through so we went up the side to tell the security guard that we had a breakfast reservation and he let us in the exit instead and directed us to where we needed to go. Look it's Downtown Disney:

Oh look at the fountain:

It was still only about 7.50 in the morning and the parks weren't open until 10 so there wasn't alot of people around and I thought it was funny seeing the place so empty. We eventually found where we wanted to go:

When we went in to the Grand Californian (I keep wanting to type Grand Floridian!) They had just finished putting up their Christmas decorations in the Lobby. We asked one of the CM’s standing around where we needed to go and arrived just at 8 for our breakfast reservation here:

The decor in this place is so cool:

We were seated fairly quickly and there was no sign of characters so we dumped everything and went for food.
This was Momma's first plate:

and her second plate:

This was my first plate:

and my second:

Chocolate chip muffins and Mickey waffles for breakfast, I was happy! When we got back to the table our server had already left orange juice for us. Once we were at the table he came over and introduced himself as Brett and asked if we wanted any other drinks. He must have thought we were strange when I asked for hot water for a flu drink and Momma asked for hot water and milk, she brought her own tea bag and wanted an Irish cup of tea lol! Then just as our first character was coming over to us this dude came out and announced a parade with characters and children so all the characters left:

Once the parade was over though we finally managed to see our first character who was one of two reasons I booked this breakfast KENAI!

I love brother bear and have never seen the characters in the park but knew they were supposed to be at this breakfast and well I would have been happy without the food once I saw Kenai. We saw Kenai within the first fifteen minutes or so and the only other character I noticed wandering around was Dale. I was getting a bit concerned after another half an hour when we hadn’t seen any other characters and were nearly finished eating but I told Momma I wasn’t leaving until I saw everyone I could see. I think we were at a bad side of the room though as a lot more activity seemed to be happening at the far side of the buffet. Momma was happy to wait and ordered more hot water for tea lol! Once the characters did start coming to our side of the buffet they came fast. The next one to arrive at our table was Koda, the second reason I booked this meal.

I was happy now it didn't matter who else I saw but Chip came over next… he didn’t really seem to want to stop at our table with no kids though but shoving a camera in his face seemed to work.

Then Dale who was more than happy to pose for photos:

And just when we thought we were done I spotted Brer Fox. I haven’t seen him since I was ten!

Loved his bushy tail at the back as well!

As I was watching characters and people I was amused by the amount of people who had brought babies or toddlers to the character meal especially since all of the kids seemed to be scared of the characters. One little lady kept looking the opposite way when she saw a character and Dale kept switching sides to try get her to look at him but she kept looking away, if I can’t see you you can’t see me kind of thing. The family in front of us had two little ones dressed as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell they were adorable but Tinkerbell was not happy about the characters. They kept hiding behind her for photos and she was fine but if she happened to look around and discover they were behind her she started roaring! I kind of wondered what the point in spending that much on a meal where the kids were scared of characters was. Why not wait until they’re older and not scared to bring them. Maybe that’s just me though! Overall though I would say the food was nice and the choice was great. It is expensive but well worth it for the characters for me anyway.
After Brer Fox it didn’t look like there was any more characters so we paid and headed back into the lobby to admire the Christmas decorations a bit more.


We also checked out the shop a little bit.

I thought this was cute:

At this stage it was around 9.45 so it was time to start making a move towards one of those Disney parks!

Next up: We finally reach our first park!

 

[RGirl]

Oof! What a travel day you had!

And what a great character breakfast!

BTW, I’m guessing that the families with babies/toddlers afraid of the characters had no idea that would be their reaction when they made their reservations. Your first Disney trip with a little one is kind of a guessing game about what they will like. And, of course, if there was another sibling in the family who LOVES characters, parents may decide to go for it and hope for the best.

 

[pepe3penelope]

Hi, Emma! I saw your post on the Christmas thread and found your TR!!!

I'm sorry that it took me so long to notice. I'm really loving it so far! I loved the photos of Dublin. BTW, Angel is absolutely ADORABLE! So sorry about your 4-legged baby.

My family loved our experience at Storyteller's Café. Will definitely do it again in the future!

I love reading your comments. It's neat experiencing Disneyland through a newbie's eyes!

I can't wait to hear more!

 

[pepe3penelope]

Forgot to ask if you finished reading Kingdom Keepers while on the plane. Which one are you on? I'm still on the 3rd one. I need to catch up!

 

[dolphingirl47]

I am glad that Storytellers Cafe breakfast was a success. We had Meeko instead of Brer Fox and Koda never made it to our part of the restaurant, but we still had a great time.

It never occurred to me that the bag check areas may not be open for early reservations when the parks open later. I am glad that you got this sorted.

Corinna

 

[petals]

Oof! What a travel day you had!

It was long but it wasn't to bad other than that.

And what a great character breakfast!

It was fun

BTW, I’m guessing that the families with babies/toddlers afraid of the characters had no idea that would be their reaction when they made their reservations. Your first Disney trip with a little one is kind of a guessing game about what they will like. And, of course, if there was another sibling in the family who LOVES characters, parents may decide to go for it and hope for the best.

I dunno if it was me I wouldn't bring them until they're old enough to remember it at least but then my parents didn't take me to Disney until I was ten.

Hi, Emma! I saw your post on the Christmas thread and found your TR!!!

Welcome

I'm sorry that it took me so long to notice. I'm really loving it so far! I loved the photos of Dublin. BTW, Angel is absolutely ADORABLE! So sorry about your 4-legged baby.

Thanks. It always makes me sad when the little one doesn't want to go. I think he just wants to be with his humans though and doesn't fully trust that you will come back for him. The other one couldn't have cared less like. He ran out and hopped into the kennel guys boot happy out.

My family loved our experience at Storyteller's Café. Will definitely do it again in the future!

I would do it again just for Kenai and Koda!

I love reading your comments. It's neat experiencing Disneyland through a newbie's eyes!

I can't wait to hear more!

I have lots more to come. There's over 3900 photos so this could take a while

Forgot to ask if you finished reading Kingdom Keepers while on the plane. Which one are you on? I'm still on the 3rd one. I need to catch up!

I didn't get to read much of it. On the way over I was watching movies. I'm reading it now. I'm on the last book of the series

I am glad that Storytellers Cafe breakfast was a success. We had Meeko instead of Brer Fox and Koda never made it to our part of the restaurant, but we still had a great time.

I was expecting Meeko. Was excited to see Brer Fox instead though because I think he is rarer than Meeko. I haven't seen him since my first trip to Disney World in 1995 anyway

It never occurred to me that the bag check areas may not be open for early reservations when the parks open later. I am glad that you got this sorted.

Corinna

I never thought of that before the trip either. There were people already queuing at bag check at 7.45 but the security guy wasn't letting them into the area where the park gates are.

 

[jenseib]

All caught up. Love your breakfast.

I agree with others....it really is a guessing game with your little ones at character meals. Claire was petrified of Santa (still sort of is) and she loved the characters at the parks when she was 2. But some who you think would love them end up being frightened. you just never know....and lack of sleep plays a part in that too.

Breakfast looks great. I am going to admit, I have never seen Brother Bear. I am going to have to watch that if we decide to go there in the future.

 

[dolphingirl47]

I was expecting Meeko. Was excited to see Brer Fox instead though because I think he is rarer than Meeko. I haven't seen him since my first trip to Disney World in 1995 anyway

I think they are both pretty rare. I have only ever seen Meeko three times: twice at the breakfast at Storytellers and he also was that the Disneyland Hotel Thanksgiving Feast. When we had breakfast at Storytellers last year, we had Brer Fox.

Corinna

 

[petals]

All caught up. Love your breakfast.

I agree with others....it really is a guessing game with your little ones at character meals. Claire was petrified of Santa (still sort of is) and she loved the characters at the parks when she was 2. But some who you think would love them end up being frightened. you just never know....and lack of sleep plays a part in that too.

Breakfast looks great. I am going to admit, I have never seen Brother Bear. I am going to have to watch that if we decide to go there in the future.

Omg you need to see Brother Bear at least once. It's a bit like Fox and the Hound in the fact it's good and cute and what not but rarely talked about.

Re the kids we did another character breakfast and all the kids were older which made more sense to me. Maybe it's just because I don't have kids.

I think they are both pretty rare. I have only ever seen Meeko three times: twice at the breakfast at Storytellers and he also was that the Disneyland Hotel Thanksgiving Feast. When we had breakfast at Storytellers last year, we had Brer Fox.

Corinna

I've seen Meeko almost every year that I went to WDW. Haven't seen Brer Fox since 1995. At Disneyland it seemed to be only the fab 5 that really made regular appearances in the actual parks though

 

[petals]

Day 2, part 2:

So when I left off we were wandering around the Grand Californian but those Disney parks were calling out to me. We had a quick bathroom break and while I was waiting for Momma I got these from a guy in reception:

Then we headed to our first park of the trip. The queues move so slowly to get in with them taking everyone’s photo for the tickets but eventually we got in. We were in Disneyland. The only park Walt Disney ever walked in. Looking at the spot when Tom Hanks stood.

I didn’t know whether to cry or skip around with excitement. We headed in towards the hub and the first thing I saw was Pluto! We stopped for a picture and there was nearly being a cat fight in the queue. A queue had formed to the left of Pluto and we joined in, we were about two families back and then there was more behind us. There was a little guy in front of us and then it was our turn and I was about to go up when this lady to the right started calling her kids who were at the back of the queue up. Her husband (I presume it was anyway) took hold of the kids and went NO you cannot skip this queue. They are in line and will meet Pluto at their turn. She started shouting at him that she was there before everyone else and they should go meet Pluto now. I just kinda stood completely confused as to what to do until Pluto waved for me to come up so I ducked around her and into Pluto’s arms. He looks happy to keep his line moving:

Next I went to say hello to Walt and as I was explaining to Momma about the window and what it meant I got quite teary:

There was so much to see I didn’t know where to look next. Goofy was off to our right meeting people:

Mickey Mouse to the left. We waved and wished him happy birthday.

The Christmas tree was hard to miss in the centre of the entrance hub:

And in front of the Christmas tree the band were out:

Next we went around the corner and wow lookie that castle. It is definitely not as small as I was expecting.

We continued on down Main Street and I stopped off in the camera shop to pick up my photopass card. Once I had that sorted we stopped at the hub to get pictures in front of the Partners statue.

Pretty Castle:

View back down Main Street:

There was a photopass guy there as well. He told us he was going to put a leprechaun in our hands because we are Irish. I showed Momma the picture when we were home and she was like that’s Tinkerbell that’s not a leprechaun lol. We continued on our way heading through Tomorrowland and taking pictures of everything:

I was telling Momma some Disney facts as I went along as well. Matterhorn... Did you know there’s a basketball court inside there:

Orange trees. Disneyland was built on an Orange Grove:

We stopped at Star traders so I could trade a Vinylmation and admire their Christmas decorations.

Vinylmation trading in Disneyland is strange btw. In Walt Disney World you picked a number, they showed you what it was, if you didn’t like it you could pick another number and if you didn’t like that you didn’t have to trade. In Star traders you could get one pick and that was it. Anyway after browsing the shop for a few minutes we headed over to Toontown for their opening time:

Nothing to exciting happened for their opening time. A few characters came down to the gates and led people to their houses. I met Goofy outside his house with no wait:

Then took a few pictures of Toontown:

Donald’s boat:

Chip and Dale’s tree house:

Then Momma found a shady spot and I went to meet Mickey Mouse at his house. While I was in the queue for Mickey Mouse you could see Minnie Mouse’s Christmas tree:

And the lady mouse herself meeting people at the back of her house:


Next up: Time for some rides!

 

[pepe3penelope]

Really lovin' your TR update!!! Disneyland is truly so beautiful during christmastime. I'm so glad you were able to experience it! The outfits that the characters wear are so adorable.

Standing in lines are a hit and a miss. Generally, people are nice, but sometimes you get people who are oblivious or just don't care about common courtesy. Hope the rest of your trip in that department was better.

By the way, I saw Saving Mr Banks last weekend on TV...I really liked it!