One Last Annual Pass Trip- TR Dec 2014- updated 12/8/14

[MyWndrlnd]

Hello Everyone! I love reading everyone's trip reports, they make me so happy and excited for my trips so I decided to contribute. This is my first ever PTR/TR so bear with me as I try to work my way through it.

The Cast
Brooke (Me)- 28, Disneyland addict and proud of it. I have been going to Disneyland ever since I could walk. With an aunt who lives close by and a best friend who is just as Disney-crazy as me, I have been lucky enough to continue going each year. In fact, this year was the first year my friend and I became annual pass holders! We went once each season and it was fabulous! Unfortunately, living in Oregon means that that each trip also includes the cost of a plane ticket and so I just can't justify renewing my pass for next year. But that is OK, we'll still do our annual trip!
Ean (Boyfriend)- 32, not really a Disneyland addict...yet. He has gone once with his family when he was 12 and hasn't been back since. Indy wasn't even open at that time! I don't think he has an innate love of Disney but he enjoys my excitement over it so I think he'll enjoy himself.

The Plan
He suggested we go down for a Disneyland trip before my annual pass expires so we are headed for the happiest place on earth! The plan is to be there Dec 3-6. We arrive on Dec 3 at Long Beach Airport in the morning and we will probably just tootle around and explore the area. We may ride a ride or two and have dinner in the park but it will not really be a Disney day. We are staying at the Clarion which is an easily walkable distance for us so we don't plan on renting a car. This might change, however, depending on what we decide to do on this free day.

Dec 4 will be our first real Disney day! I think we will just take it slow and meander. Since this is his first trip in 2 decades I want him to make a lot of the decisions regarding what we will do since I go all the time.

Dec 5 will be our last day at Disneyland . Again, I imagine we will take our time and just enjoy the parks rather than trying to fit in a ton of rides. I'd love to close out the park but I don't know if we'll do that since we will be having breakfast with my family bright and early at 7:30am the next day before our flight back home.

Dec 6 we will have an early breakfast with the family and then fly back home ...and I will start planning my next trip...

UPDATE
I just have to share my excitement! I found our tickets on JetBlue for $354 total. For both of us! They were having a great 20% discount (note to anyone looking to buy tickets- if you want to take advantage of the discount it is only good through today, Oct 8, and the code is OCTOBER14). We also booked the hotel and got the 3rd night free and got a discount through our work on top of that! We are also saving $30 on his 3-day park hopper through a work discount! I am just so happy when I save money on Disneyland trips and I just wanted to share!

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Can't wait to read it!!

 

[MyWndrlnd]

I am so excited! I just had to share! I was really disappointed when Blue Bayou was not taking reservations for the nights we would be in the park. I had read on the general Disneyland board that others were hearing the restaurant may be closed at that time. However, yesterday looked at it (I've been checking in periodically hoping it wasn't true) and the reservations went through! Yay!

I am so happy I get to take him there during our trip! I think he will really like it and I love that I can do something special for him this trip.

 

[MyWndrlnd]

Ok, I am getting so excited. The fall weather has finally arrived here and now I feel like the holidays (and Disneyland!) are just around the corner. I of course feed this excitement over the approaching Disneyland trip by looking over all the photos from my last trip. Here are a few...

The castle. I just love the holiday castle, it is so pretty.

With the lights on it is just magical (cliche, I know, but true).

The Holiday Haunted Mansion coach.

The annual photo in front of the ferris wheel. The plan is to have a flip book of us aging in front of it by the time we are done.

A mountain of ghostly white snow.

Our annual passes!

 

[MyWndrlnd]

We just got back from our trip Saturday night and it was wonderful!!! Ean thoroughly enjoyed himself (despite picking up a bug that wreaked havoc on his digestive system; poor thing, he was such a trooper and refused to let get in the way of Disneyland) and is now talking about doing an annual trip with me each year! I am spreading the Disneyland love.

We flew down early on Dec 3rd so we got a hotel room the night before. He booked it through Orbitz at the Red Lion. When we arrived at 11:30pm on the 2nd we quickly realized it was not an actual Red Lion but an independently owed hotel operating under that name. It wasn't the best of situations but it made for a pretty funny start to the trip.

We had no issues with our flights this trip and flew into LGB. I love that airport, it is so small and easy. My aunt picked us up and we treated her to lunch as a thank you before going over to her house to see the renovations she has been making to the kitchen. Then it was off to the park!

We tried to check into our hotel early but the room wasn't available, so by the time we did check in after going to the park it was about 9pm and we had been up since 4am! We stayed at the Clarion Hotel, which I was a little nervous about after reading some of the online reviews but we loved it. It was super close to the park, only 10 minutes walking and right across the street from the Toy Story parking lot. The hotel wasn't super fancy and the rooms were dated but it was just what we needed. For $270 for 3 nights (taxes, parking, buffet breakfast included) it was perfect. Then to top it all off they upgraded us to a suite on the 8th floor for free!

You might notice the shoes and jackets drying over the heater...we got pretty wet the first day. That is the most rain I'd ever seen at Disneyland! It was great though because there wasn't any lines and it just added to the magic.

It even had a view (sort of) of DCA!

Those are the WOC lights! I was so excited!

The staff were super friendly and helpful. We both agreed that we would definitely stay there again the next time we went down to the parks.

The last day we were at the parks, Dec 5th, we did the full 16 hours in an effort to fit everything we could into the trip. Since Ean hadn't been in over 20 years there was a lot to do! We fit almost every ride into the trip and even had time to slow down and enjoy the beautiful holiday decorations.

I just love the red poinsettias hanging around the hub.

We even rode GRR! Did I mention it was December and 8pm? We had the entire raft to ourselves. Twice!

It was a great trip and I can't wait until we go back again!

 

[MyWndrlnd]

I am still loading all of our photos onto the computer so as I do so I'll post more.

Of course we had to do Splash Mountain!

I am obsessed with these poinsettia hanging decorations at the hub. They really add to the holiday feel of the park.

We did IASW Holiday and it was beautiful.

These photos really don't do the ride justice. I didn't think to take any with my camera so I only have the ones taken with my phone. Flash off of course.

We did TOT and I am sure his face was priceless but we never got to see the photo. Apparently someone did something "not up to Disney standards" and the photo was blocked. I never understand why people do that.

We even did Tarzan's Treehouse. I haven't walked through that in years and forgot how fun it is.