Trip Report 5/30-6/5 pic heavy

[WillowRain]

Hi all. We decided to drive down Memorial day instead of be in the parks. Not sure if that was a good decision or not, as I heard it was not terrible in the parks. But we got to the GCH at around 3:30, and since our room was not ready we went to DTD. Kids played with the lego cars for a bit. Did some window shopping. Had dinner at the RainForest Cafe. I LOVE the atmosphere there. The food, not so much. And also didn't realize we don't get AP discount after 4, so arguing with the guy about it was somewhat embarassing lol. Anyhoo, went back to the lovely hotel and to our room.



Now let me say something about the GCH. I had only been in the lobby once before this, and never seen the inside of a room. They are NOTHING spectacular. I can't believe people pay so much for a room there. My sisters dad is DVC and gave us 3 nights for free. Again, amazing hotel itself, but the beds were hard, the fridge door was practically falling off, no microwave either!. Just a basic room, and had I not known where we were on the outside, I would say it's as standard as a 100 buck a night 2 star room.

Day 1 EMH at Disneyland!
What an amazing morning. We woke at 5 am to get down to the main gate by 645. We were right on schedule. A few people in line but nothing major. I would say a couple thousand. We got in within 5 mins and we were off.

What a lovely sight, right?!?!

Headed to Fantasyland, and OF COURSE, Tinkerbell had hit the snooze button. Ug. Really just wanted to knock PP out and be done. So we did instead the Carousel, Snow, Pinocchio, and then headed over to NOS.

Walked right onto Pirates. In fact I am pretty sure we were the only boat with people in it for about 10 boats! Took my 7 month old, who was sleeping at the time, and the drop woke him. No crying, just big wonderous eyes!

Happy dude! I think he liked it!

After went over to an empty Haunted Mansion!!! For the first time in my life I think, we stood in the dead center of the room, and NO ONE ELSE WAS THERE!!! It was truly an amazing thing.

Seriously, where are we? You sure this is Disneyland?????

Next over to BTMRR.

I want to say it was around 9 or so now? I'm really not sure. We headed over to Hyperspace, and I apparently took no pics in between this time. I sat out with the babe while the rest of them rode. I guess for the most popular rides, they need to "see the baby" for a parent pass. So I met them at the exit with babes. He was out of normal passes, so we got some laminated card that he circled the number of riders. My older daughter and I went through the exit at CM's approval, and ended up jumping in line right down near launch. That was pretty cool. Part of me wanted to keep going and see where I ended up haha. So with a short wait and parent swap, we all rode HSM within 40 mins. Not terrible. Now it was time to park hop for our lunch reservations at Wine Country Trattoria, WOC dining.

We had a few mins to kill, so we rode Mermaid. When I say a few mins to kill, empty seashells all around. I don't think we had to wait for this ride at all the entire trip. The cool thing about Grad Nite is they really don't care about the small rides lol.

Ahhh, lunch. What a lovely relaxing place this is. I had gotten wine here years ago, but never eaten. We all got something different of the pre fixe menu. I had the beef ravioli, hubby had the lasagna, sis had the gnocchi. Awesome bread with oil and vinegar, very nice salad, hubby had the soup. Unfortunately this is where my 4 year old started to become an even pickier eater. Normally at home she will eat plain pasta and grilled chicken, but she started being very difficult on the trip. I will say though, the selection for kids isn't as great as it could be. We had a lot of wasted chicken breast for our show meals. So during the meal, suddenly as the waiter is re-filling my coke, he knocks the glass over and it poured on my 5 year olds coloring menu, and down onto her skirt. He apologized as we all used every napkin we had to soak it up. He said that they would like to buy her a new dress. I said no worried she's fine. He said that's how Disney handles it, and I said well OK I'm not gonna say no to free stuff if Disney does this often lol. So we got a voucher for $50 to buy either a dress or shirt or shorts. That was pretty cool! This lunch was totally worth it, being the cheaper option for dining, and with AP discount for 3 adults 2 kids was only around 130. Got our WOC tickets and headed over to Bug's Land.

Ran into this guy! So I believe we rode Heimlich, and we were going to try for Tough to be a bug, but it was closed. Then tried to go on Fliks but same thing. So at that point the girls saw the puddle park, and took off on me!!! I am not sure why I don't have any pictures of them, but they got totally soaked. I think my husband may have some, but I haven't downloaded his pics yet. Since they were already wet, we went over to GRR before taking hotel break, and we couldn't really walk much farther since their shoes were completely wet. My sister went and threw their shows in the hotel dryer, and Daddy and girls went down to the pool. Lovely pool at the GCH too. Weird how they are all in a cluster, but just a relaxing and lovely place to spend the afternoon.

Cleaned everyone up after a few hours and headed back in. It was around 6 I think, so we went over to Smoke Jumpers for some dinner, and rode Soarin', and Monsters Inc, and I think something else in Bug's Land before heading to our WOC location. I LOVE how much easier it is with Dining. We got regular FP last time we went and ended up not being able to see a thing. When we got to the entrance, they told us where to go and to our surprise, there were front row seats left!!!

This will do, I guess.

Since I have not seen regular WOC, and only heard but didn't get to see Winter Dreams, this was pretty amazing to me! I know some don't care about it and call it the NPH show, but I didn't feel that way at all. So after a lovely show, we took the oh so long trek to the hotel. Seeing more at that point why people pay the premium for the GCH, because dang it was convenient with that entrance. Didn't get on TOO many rides but felt it was a successful day. Will be back with Day 2 later on. This is all my kids will allow for now!!!

 

[Nevada Jen]

Totally with you on the rooms at GCH. I really don't get why everyone raves about it. With no information other than a photo of the room, I would easily believe it was a motel 6 (actually even lower on the food chain than that). THe rooms at DLH and PPH are WAY nicer and more comfortable. Love the report so far! There is a Disneyland trip report forum a couple of spots down on the main page in case you want to use that.

 

[mgd]

Also agree about the standard gc rooms. Only the proximity and atmosphere make it worth it to me AND ONLY AT convention rate or dapper day prices. The refurb and what happens with the new "luxury" hotel will be interesting to watch play out, but I doubt there will be a shortage of people willing to pay the prices.

 

[WillowRain]

I am mommy, I just hate taking pics of myself so I am in none of these yet lol. The brunette holding my son is Auntie!! I'm the red head in my profile pic. Thanks for the tip about the trip report forum @Nevada Jen , never done one so didn't know. Can I move this there?

 

[xlsm]

Your last photo of Mickey's Fun Wheel and Screamin' is GORGEOUS.

We'll be arriving in three days, so I'm happy I found your report!

 

[WillowRain]

Day 2!

We started our EMH in line at GCH entrance. Line went all the way back to the corner by Whitewater snacks and the pool. But still wasn't that bad. Moved quickly, and we were in by 7:10 or so. My sister immediately went to Hollywood to line up for Frozen FP. She was about 25th in a single file line. Hubby went to Starbucks, and the kids and I went to Carsland. My sister LOVES her some Classic syrup, which Sbux WAS OUT OF?!?! How does this happen? So she was upset and said she wanted nothing, lol. So strike 1 during Frozen FP Frenzy! Daddy and the girls went and got in line for RSR, and got Auntie and I a parent pass. At about 8:10 or so I get a text telling me how I owe her big. Apparently, the single file organized line turned into total chaos right at 8, where they dropped the rop and let everyone run for it! That's really not cool Disney! What was the point of telling people to line up, for there to be really no purpose. I hear that they have changed it already since, and this was literally last Wednesday. She was still able to get them for the first show, but come to find out that it's also AGAIN first come first serve later, even with a FP. I was hoping it was first come better seats type thing. I really think it should be. It's not totally fair that someone arriving an hour before even opening at EMH can still be stuck at the top of the balcony for the show if they aren't able to arrive early for sitting. It's a theatre, it should be treated as such with reserved seating. But that's just my opinion.

The lovely EMPTY walk from hotel entrance to CarsLand, tickets, and my son eating a FP from the day before!

It was sort of cold, and Mr Snuggles arms were freezing, so we popped into the shops in Carsland and got him a sweater. He's 7 months, the smallest I found was a 2t, but it wasn't all that big. He will grow into it! We were also able to procure FP for RSR for later. Also rode Luigi's while we were over there. Fun ride, and I took my first Live video on Facebook. Not sure how to upload that here. The 5 min posted wait, well turned out to be more like 25! Disney was really off on their app during our trip. And then Mouse Wait, I like it but considering it's user reported, I feel that maybe some times people were reporting a longer wait, maybe in the hopes others would stay away? Who knows. But I found a 60 min wait was really only 25, or a 5 was 30. It was all messed up. Also, a lot of rides went down. I mean, at any given time it seemed at least 2 rides were down.

After that we went over to the Pier to ride TSMM. Pretty sure we had Corn dogs for lunch that day, and got the picky one a hot dog, no bun. So thankful for the 8 dollar hot dogs!! LOL. Sheesh.

Since they couldn't really ride it! Next time babies!

At that time we needed to head over to ride RSR and then line up for Frozen. Of course my sister flipped out that we would be late, and she would kill me if we missed it after what she went through earlier. And then of course my 4 year old had to go potty. So we detoured over there, and made it into the theater with 2 mins to spare. So a word of advice, line up when you are first allowed, or you will get terrible seats. I had never been in before, just didn't care about Stomp or Aladdin or whatever else has been there. I had NO idea of the insane climb I was about to make, and it was about 80 degrees at that point. So that was a fun surprise. My poor sister had to carry the baby up that nonsense, because I have terrible balance.

So the show, it was OK. I don't see why all the fuss really. My kids enjoyed it, that's what matters. However if they had been younger, they may not have. I heard many young girls crying over Elsa not being there the entire time, leading me to believe parents may have stretched the truth about the show. Whatever. We did it, now we don't have to again, unless of course the insanity dies down. The guy doing Olaf was great. There were a few off moments with Anna and Hans, I missed what he said but something about an earthquake? Otherwise it ran smoothly.

Yikes!!

Happy girl!!

The view from WAAAAAAY up there. During the show, my son got fussy so Daddy took him out and back to the hotel. When the show ended, my sister and oldest went down the stairs. I asked a CM at the elevator if I could ride down. She said I needed a red pass. I said ok, what if I don't have one, because I can't make it back down those stairs. The height was making me dizzy. She said I had to wait for all the red passes to go down. There were 2, so I got to ride with them. Weird system. I don't see why I can't just use an elevator if I want to. I wont be returning to that theater, no matter what show turns up in the future. So back to the hotel for some R & R, since this was our last night at the GCH. I am pretty sure I passed out while the rest of them just had a snack, and dad and the girls went to the pool.

After rest it was back to DL for dinner at Cafe Orleans. Ok, so I have heard all my life about the amazingness of the Monte Cristo. So I was really anxious to finally try one. We had eaten at Blue Bayou almost every trip as singletons, but we always got the stuffed chicken back in the day. So sis and hubs got the monte cristo, and I decided to get the Muffeletta (or however you spell it) and we would share. We also ordered the Pommes Frites. Those came out first, COLD! My family always hates when I "make a big deal" as they call it about food. But seriously, even at the busiest of times, aren't restaurants in business to serve you hot food? Or cold if it calls to be cold, these were not. They seemed like 20 min old fries that they slapped some garlic on and called it a day. Disappointing. Dinner came out, and the Muffeletta was awesome! The monte cristo, eh, not so much. It was basically like 20 cents of deli meat in 5 lbs of batter, it too was cold, and just was not what I was expecting. I know people love this sandwich, but I'm good. I came, I tried, it stunk!

It reminded me of a buttermilk bar donut, with hints of meat flavor. Oh well.

After dinner we went to ride Winnie the Pooh, and grabbed a cupcake and cookie from the Pooh bakery. Man I could have bought all the treats there! I want to say we went and rode Thunder Mountain again at this time, but I can't remember. I feel like maybe we rode Thunder Mountain? With no Fantasmic, that was absolutely our go to area in the evening. I love Frontierland/NOS/Adventureland at night. In fact, they really need to put some more seating and maybe tables and shade over near the Peephole wall at Star Wars Land. It was so nice to sit there, but very lacking in seating. It's a shame that they cut so many trees down over in that area though. I really hope SWL is amazing for all the changes they are making.

Then we had more FP for RSR, so we park hopped, rode that again, and called it a night. My 5 year old rode RSR a total of 5 times that day!!! That's pretty great considering some only get to go once.

On our way back to the hotel, a CM was making water pictures in front of the waterfall at GRR. Pretty cool. This night my husband got us up to the room, and went back down to DL to play alone. I think he was only able to ride 1 thing, and then he called us from the Gibson Girl, and brought home ice cream sundaes. We didn't realize there was fudge in them, because it had melted and sank to the bottom, so that was a nice surprise half way through haha. Yummy stuff! We also had to pack up most of our stuff because we were moving in the morning. Crazy thing to do mid-trip, but it actually went really smoothly. Stayed up til 12:30, back up again at 5:30. At least the baby was pretty tired, so most nights he only woke once for a bottle!

So I must say, this was 2 days of Grad Nite crowds, and man, although it was really, really packed, we seemed to be able to maneuver really well, even with a double stroller. Even with all the extra people, we never had to wait more than 30 mins for anything, unless of course there was a problem. My 5 year old also decided it was time for a rental stroller, so on day 2 we started renting one for her. A nice tidbit I never knew, because I have never rented one before, is that you can actually leave them anywhere in the park and the pick them up at night. My husband was trying to get it through the hotel entrance, and they told him no. We said well how do we return it then? They seemed confused, then realized we didn't know, and told us we leave it there and they get it! Ok, good to know!

 

[Jaina]

Sounds like a fun trip so far! I'm glad the crowds weren't too much for you! I used to really like the Monte Cristo, but it's seriously been 12 years since I had one. I wonder if they have changed much since then. I'm glad to hear your opinion of the GC. We had dreamed of staying there someday, but even then it would probably just be a standard room. Sounds like we should just hang out in the lobby for a while and stay somewhere else for a special occasion! Why were you moving in the morning?

 

[WillowRain]

@Jaina We were moving because my sisters dad gave us 3 nights with his DVC membership, but we wanted to stay down for 6 nights. =). BTW, LOVE your pic from 1993! I had the same sailor hats, black and white, and is that a t-shirt from the 35th? Or just the same colors cause the 90's! lol Complete with fanny pack. Love it

 

[WillowRain]

Day 3 was started with EMH at DL again, since we were allowed, we did it lol. Our next hotel was the new Courtyard Marriott. I called ahead and they said we could come park our car there, so we loaded up everything on the cart, and hubby took the car while the kids and Aunt and I went to the park. We arrived around 7:15, got right in, headed straight to Peter Pan to try again, aaannnd the line was already 45 mins. Ugggh. We said OK let's just do this, and an hour later, even my 4 year old was like, why did we wait so long for this ride? She seriously said "That was it mom?" So that was pretty much just a wasted hour, and we won't be riding again. I mean, PP is cool, the stars and darkness are neat, but she's right, it's much shorter than most of the dark rides, and it's not worth that long wait. Oh well. Next we headed over to IASW, which literally had nobody there. It's weird how so many in line for PP but we were surrounded by empty boats. Cool beans for us!

In line for the not worth it PP ride!

I don't care what anyone says, I love this ride, and the song. And when did they add all the Disney characters? Did I miss something? I don't remember them being there last visit, but it was Christmastime. Before that it was 2007. When did they go in? I am guessing to make the kids go "HEEEEY NEEEEEEMO!", like mine did!

My peeps on our private boat!

After the wonderfully relaxing sing along, we headed over to NOS for some Beignets. I had never had those either, nor the kids. The 4 year old said "I Don't LIKE that". Until she saw that it was covered in sugar, and we called it a "Mickey Donut", then it was all business. Also got some MinT Juleps, never had one of those either. I guess my husband and I were more out of park eaters before, and this trip I really wanted to take in all the classics that I hear so much about. The beignets were a success. Got some great shots of the girls eating them.

Little goobers!

Since we were over there, and there was again no line, at it was 10:15 or so, we hopped on Haunted Mansion again. It was so cool being able to do the stretching room again with no one in there.
Snapped a photo of my guys, and the hatbox ghost.

We headed over to Adventureland, and parked our strollers. My sister had not been on Indy yet, so it was her turn. Oh right. On day 1 we tried to get my oldest on Indy. Outside she just made height. Inside, she was like a pinky nail away from the bottom. GRRR. So hubby stayed with her and I rode alone, then we swapped. I guess while I was gone, they gave her an any choice pass for the disappointment. Which was how we got on Hyperspace. I completely forgot about that in my day 1 haha. My brain is still repairing itself from the lack of sleep lol. So my sister and husband and daughter rode Indy, while the other kids and I hung out in the shops, and played the Indy pinball. My husband is obsessed with that pinball machine, and it STILL talking about how sad he is he didn't get to play more. They got me a parent swap and we saved it for later. Big girl was a bit scared of the snake. I told her if she wanted, I would ride with her later and hiss at that snake for her. Then we went over to Jungle Cruise. The last time we did it in the dark, so the girls had not seen it in the day time. The boy had fallen asleep on Dad, and then a skipper came over the PA and scared the poops out of him! But that's ok, he fell right back to sleep on the boat!

We had lunch at Aladdin's that day for Paint the Night passes, so we went to Tiki Room next to kill time. The restaurant opened at exactly 12:30, and we were in. We all got the lasagna and chicken for the kids, I traded with my 5 year old because she loves her lasagna. Not a terrible meal for the price. 24.99 adults and 13.99 for kids. Cute Mickey cookie with the kids meal, and a chocolate thing of some sort that my daughter munched up before I got a bite lol. So I ate her cookie! Meanie! I had never been back to this area, Aladdin's Oasis. WOW. So adorable and relaxing. I love these little areas that are not crowded. They had a little Cave of Wonders stage area. WIsh they would have a show or something back here again.

From Joy to Sadness!

After lunch, it was really hot and I wanted to rest. This was the weird day. We walked out into Adventureland, and could not find our rental stroller. Pretty sure we had left if in front of Jungle Cruise that morning. We had my sister's AP popcorn bucket and she thought a blanket in it. We looked everywhere. The CM's said to look in the middle, that's where they get moved. Nope, nowhere to be found. So at that point my sister wanted to do some alone shopping, so she stayed behind, I guess had to file a security report, had a nice long talk with security CM about stuff. He said that the grads are naughty, and there are many cameras on Haunted Mansion, lol. So she came back with a voucher to get another stroller, a voucher for a new blanket and a new popcorn bucket. Still never found out what happened to that stroller. So yes, we were theived in Disney, at least it was the rental and not my Red Limo stroller! We had tons of our belongings in the red one, I can't even imagine!!!

We just rested that day, because the kids needed to stay up late for the parade and fireworks. They wanted to go to the pool area, so we promised they could play for a long time the next day. We re-packed the stroller with our big blankets and headed back around 5:30, straight to the Matterhorn. I no longer care about riding it, last time did a number on my back, so the 4 of them went, and baby and I sat over at the Gallactic Grill tables and people watched. Boy loved watching the monorail go by. Every time it passed he looked up at it with his big blue eyes! I loved what a great time this little guy was having.

I love the sounds of the Matterhorn. I could really sit in certain areas for hours, just listening. This is one of them.

Next was dinner at Rancho Del Zocalo. Again, never eaten there before, and this area was sort of our go to in the evenings. Pretty decent dinner. We all got enchiladas, with the steak. I love anything with rice and beans so it was great. Love over here that they have free water too!!! Aunt and the 4 year old hopped over the the Golden Horseshoe to get "chicky", which then she decided wasn't good. Ugh this kid! She eats like 12 things, it's insane! I packed a lot of goldfish and cheese sticks for this trip thankfully, or who knows what she would have been running on. We finally convinced her to eat 1 nugget or she would have to go back home, as we didn't want to deal with a starving tamtrum throwing 4 year old. After dinner a quick ride on Toad before we went over to our PTN viewing area at Small World Mall.

So glad that the dining seating has worked out. We were actually there on night 1 of Fantasmic dining, and being that it was December and packed to the gills, that night was a mess. It was so nice to arrive at 8:20, lay down our big blanket and just chill until the show. We got some Gummy Mickey candies and popcorn to snack on, and let the girls watch a show on the phone while we waited. SO awesome that the Paint the Night threw in the re-mix of MSEP. I was in tears. I purposely did not watch the parade or fireworks on youtube so that we would be surprised. And I was. Cried like a baby during both. I hate how sappy I am sometimes! Unfortunately, because we were on the beginning of the parade and the fireworks gap took a while, my 4 year old fell asleep right there on the blanket!! The next day she said "Hey, you guys lied, there were no fireworks." I felt terrible, but she was done for. There was no waking her. And then after the fireworks, that song, that beautiful song, that knocked our other kids out. Something about a kiss goodnight? I may cry if I think about it.

So the babies were asleep and big girl still wanted to ride stuff. So the 3 of them went over to Star Tours. I can't remember if we had gotten FP or the line was just short, but I didn't have to wait too long for them. I just found a cool spot near the Orbiter and waited. The crowds in that area can get crazy pants, so best to just stay to the side and hide. After that, park was almost closed, so we went home. Let me just say, I remember a time when the park would clear out after fireworks, but I guess this is not the case because of the second showing of Paint the night. The park is packed, and feels maybe more packed at night because it's dark? I dunno. But there were a ton of people there until closing each night. Even grads, who I heard were supposed to be out and over to DCA by 9, but now they changed the rules so the Grads can watch the shows, and they can just go over to DCA whenever they want. What's the point of having the "grad nite" only party then, if they aren't required to even be there. Whatever, I'm not the boss, clearly, because things would be run much differently! Goodnight Day 3!

 

[DisneylandDarling]

Great trip report, @WillowRain! Some of your pics weren't coming through for me, but maybe it's my computer.

Surprising to hear about the Grand Californian Hotel. I've heard so many people talk about how nice it is and that is the only place they will stay on property. I could never justify the price of checking it out for ourselves. I was thinking it would be nice to stay a couple of nights there when we are there in October, but $400-600 a night just doesn't seem reasonable when we're only going to be in the room for a quick break and sleep. Especially after reading about the state of the rooms, I think we'll probably just spend that extra $$ on something inside the park. Maybe some extra souvenirs, perhaps?!

We love Rancho del Zocalo! I agree about Peter Pan. While we absolutely love the ride and how magical it feels, we will only do it at rope drop. That line can get really crazy, really fast!

 

[krinicone]

How was the courtyard Marriott?? We are planning on staying there when we go this November!

 

[WillowRain]

@krinicone, It was great! Very very clean. Rooms were spacious, kids LOVED the water park. The only downside was in the heat, the walk was brutal. But in Nov should be no problem! @DisneylandDarling , thanks. I still haven't finished, been very busy. I need to upload my pics to a hosting site, just haven't had the time. About the GC, the more I think about it, you are really paying for the convenience of the proximity. It's really, really, REALLY a beautiful hotel, and I wish now we had spent more time exploring. But there is just no way I could ever afford to stay there if I had to pay myself. 2 nights there is what we pay for 5 days in the park, for my entire family lol. I usually go Marriott, but while the Courtyard was great, it's still a bit pricey. We went all out this trip and did all the shows and dining, but next trip, hoping for October, will be a budget trip for sure. I will work on gettign my pics fixed and finish my report in the next day or 2. Mainly so I don't forget all the magic that was made.