10th Anniversary trip to Disneyland, pre trip report.

[Danauk]

Welcome to my pre trip report, sit back, relax, this might be long!!

Firstly, this trip is to Disneyland not WDW so apologies to people who know DLR well and I might be stating the obvious to and apologies to anyone who might not have a clue what I am rambling on about at any point!! Feel free to ask questions!!

The cast: Me, Karen, 32 and a total Disney nut which helps when I spend my day teaching 9 year olds.
DH, Pete, 33, tolorates my Disney obsession but loves our trips there.

Trip dates: 11th - 29th August, but 11th - 16th August for the Disneyland part.

Reason for the trip: To celebrate out 10th wedding anniversary . We went to Disneyland Paris on our honeymoon, WDW for our 5th anniversary so I though Walts origional park would be nice for our 10th! After 5 nights at Disneyland we are going to Six Flags Magic Mountain for 2 nights (we love rollercosters!!), then on to Hollywood and finally a week in Las Vegas.

Where we are staying: Disneyland - Grand Californian Hotel, theme park view. Now this part is really sweet. Our best friends have booked this for us using their DVC points as an anniversary gift (yes I know I have the most wonderful best friends ever!!) The hotel is beautiful, kind of like Wilderness Lodge and has it's own entrance straight into the Californian Adventure theme park.
Six Flags magic Mountian - Hilton Garden Inn, located right next to the park.
Hollywood - Rennaisance Hollywood Hotel, located in the Hollywood and Highlands complex (where they host the Oscars) right on the walk of fame.
Las Vegas - Bellagio, lake view (so I can watch the dancing fountains!)

The plan: Well the 1st thing you should know about me is that I love to plan, actually I think my planning maybe bordering on an obsession!! I read the Dis constantly, bought the unnofficial guide, a Passporter (I love the planning pockets, helps me keep all my planning organised!) and have subscribed to Ridemax. Now Ridemax I love for a 1st time visitor. It gives you lots of tips like Tour Guide Mike does, but also you put your date into the programme, select the rides you want to ride and it generates a custom touring plan for you. The other thing I have learned is that planning a Disneyland trip is a whole lot more relaxed than planning a WDW trip, something the obsessive planner in me is having some problems with!! Dining reservations can only be made 60 days prior, tours and special activities can only be booked 30 days before. I'm not used to this, I'm used to having to book things 6 months before!! However once at the parks things are slightly more hectic. Disneyland serves lots of locals and people get to the parks early, especially on EE days.

So, what are we doing:
11th Aug -

• Arrive at LAX at 2:30pm after the long, long flight (11 1/2 hours but we decided to upgrade to premium economy both ways which should be nicer), body clocks still 8 hours ahead of the local time, but we are in America so are so excited we don’t care!!
• Have booked a town car to drive us to the hotel so hopefully should arrive at the GCH by about 5:00pm
• Head off straight into the parks after checking in to our room and dropping the bags off.
• The plan is to take in the atmosphere, relax, get orientated, although after studying the layout of the parks in great detail on park maps and Microsoft live maps (amazing detail BTW, you can zoom the birds eye view in to just 25 yards!) I really don’t need to do this! I already know every path way in the park and I haven’t set foot in it yet! Then ride a few rides (still TBD as I need to run my final ridemax plan just before we leave), then head off to bed when we finally have had enough.

12th Aug -

• Wake up early (after all our body still thinks it is 8 hours later than what it actually is), get in line for EE with pastries and coffee to have for breakfast whilst waiting! We need to be at the security gate for 6:15 am for a 7:00am park opening
• EE – Fantasy land rides, and then grab some FP’s for later when the machines switch on.
• 9am we are meeting our VIP tour guide. We have done guided tours at WDW and DLP so decided to splurge and do a VIP tour for our 1<SUP>st </SUP>trip to DL!! During the tour we plan to grab some food from Bengal BBQ (I want to try the chicken skewer!)
• Then after the tour watch the parade, go back to the hotel for a rest, have a swim and a nap before heading back into the park for the evening.
• Storytellers Cafe 6:30 followed by more rides and Fantasmic - VIP area (thanks to the VIP tour!).

13th Aug -

• Segway tour!! We have done this at WDW and loved it!
• Spend the day in CA.
• Afternoon break for a nap and a swim.
• Back into CA late afternoon for a few more rides then off for dinner at the Vineyard Room (or Wine Country Trattoria if the Vineyard room isn’t open.)

14th Aug -

• EE – Do the Nemo run, then depending on how time goes Matterhorn<ST1.
• Then spend the day doing rides we have not yet done in either park or rides we want to do again. As we will have laptops with us I will create some ridemax plans for this the evening before.
• 11:30 – Lunch Blue Bayou waterside table (located inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.)
• Usual afternoon rest, maybe some DTD shopping.
• 4:10 Aladdin show.
• Evening – Fireworks.

15th Aug -
Go pick up the rental car and drive to Knotts <ST1Berry Farm for the day, back in the evening for dinner at Napa Rose chefs table.

16th Aug -

• 8am breakfast at Plaza Inn, re ride a few rides.
• Check out of hotel and drive to <ST1<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
  
  America</st1:country-region></ST1
  
  Space</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st=" /><st1laceName w:st="on">Six</st1laceName> <st1laceName w:st="on">Flags</st1laceName> <st1laceName w:st="on">Magic</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">Mountain.</st1laceType></ST1
• Spend the morning and early afternoon in the park, then check into to the hotel.
• Drive to San Pedro to meet a few Dis buddies for dinner before they sail on the Disney Magic back through the Panama Canal.

Then spend 2 nights at <ST1<st1laceName w:st="on">Six</st1laceName> <st1laceName w:st="on">Flags</st1laceName> <st1laceName w:st="on">Magic</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">Mountain</st1laceType></ST1 – Hilton Garden Inn. Sunday we have VIP fast passes all day, Monday morning back into the park again.

Next on to <ST1Hollywood where we will stay at the Renaissance Hollywood. Hotel. There we plan to:

• Visit the walk of fame
• Visit the Disney Soda Fountain
• Visit the Chinese theatre
• Visit the Kodak theatre and <st1:City w:st="on">Hollywood</st1:City> and <ST1highlands centre
• Visit Universal Studios to do the VIP tour (the Desperate Housewife fan in me is really looking forward to this as we get to see Wisteria Lane!!)
• Do the Warner Brothers tour (the Friends fan in me is really looking forward to going to Central Perk which they still have set up!)
• Do the Paramount Studios tour
• Do the Sony studio tour
• Visit the Disney Studios in Burbank

Then finally on to <ST1Las Vegas to stay at the Bellagio for a week. Here we plan to tour the hotels, relax, swim, do a helicopter tour to the Grand Canyon, see a few cirque shows (O and Ka), drive out to <ST1Red Rock Canyon and do a bit of shopping.

Some general thoughts so far:
From the research I have done DLR is very different to WDW and perhaps more comparable to DLRP. Having said that the parks contain lots of rides that at WDW are spread over 4 parks, here they are spread over 2. There are rides at WDW that are not at DLR but there are also quite a few rides at DLR that are not found at WDW. The other thing I have learned is that the castle is really small and is not the focal point of the park. The focal point is the Matterhorn, the worlds 1st tubular rollercoaster set into a big mountain. Also the Disney nut in me needs to remember this was Walts park, the only one he saw open and so there is a lot of history here something I intend to learn more about. I have also learned the the selection and quality of food is not as good at Disneyland, but as we have booked some nice restaurants hopefully it should be OK. Oh and one other thing I haven't mentioned is that we are flying with Virgin, premium economy as they are the only airline that does direct flights to LAX and Las Vegas. The only slight pain is that the LAX flights go from Heathrow where as Las Vegas go to Gatwick. Luckily we have family taking us to the airport and picking us up so that doesn't matter.

So I hope my pre trip report wasn't too boring to read, I promise the actual report will contain lots of pictures and I hope my trip might inspire other UK dissers to visit the origional Disney park!!

 

[wickesy]

Sounds like a great trip. Dad and I are doing San Francisco and Disneyland from 31st July to 9th August and we also have a theme park view at Grand Californian.

Can I be cheeky and ask who you booked the town car from LAX with and how much it is costing? We want to do this but there are so many to choose from.

 

[Danauk]

We are using Luken limo which was recommended by a few Dissers. We are using their town car. The company owner Howard is meeting us by the baggage claim, then when we meet him he phones the driver to come around to the kerb to pick us up. It is costing $90 which includes tax, airport fees and tip. I spoke to the owner on the phone and got the $90 internet package rate.

 

[suzycute]

Fantastic pre trip report.

We went to DLR and Las Vegas last July. We also stayed at the GCH with theme park view. My husband has done a lot of travelling with his job and stayed in many hotels but said that GCH is his favourite by far - the attention to detail is amazing. We took a (free) tour of the hotel one afternoon which was well worth doing and were lucky enough to look round a suite - if only I had the dosh to stay there!!! We loved the Napa Rose but were not impressed by the Blue Bayou - food was distinctly average and we were about as far away from the POC boats as you could get. We could have waited another hour to get a waterside table but didn't want to waste precious time to do this. Hope you have a better experience.

We stayed at the Bellagio too - in a fountain view room. I could have sat for ages and watched the fountains from our room - really impressive. One night we ordered room service (with the pound to dollar ratio it was cheap!) and had a goregous meal delivered to our room. They set up a table with cloth, cutlery, glasses etc and we ate a meal, drinking a bottle of wine, looking out the window at the fountain displays every 15 minutes. It was fantastic!

Sounds like you have a great trip lined up so will really look forward to reading all about it when you return.

 

[Danauk]

Thanks Suzycute, we have made sure we have booked lunch for 11:30 when they open so we get the waterside table. I'm really looking forward to the Bellagio, we have been to Vegas twice before and stayed at the New York New York and the Venetian (where we somehow managed to get a free upgrade to a high roller suite, not sure how as we are so not high rollers!!) We decided then that when we returned we would stay at the Bellagio as we loved the atmosphere in there.

Ordering room service might be a nice idea for the day we get there, I was thinking of going to the buffet at the Bellagio but eating whilst watching the fountains sounds better!!

 

[irongirlof12]

you sure have everything planned. sounds like an amazing trip.

 

[wickesy]

We are using Luken limo which was recommended by a few Dissers. We are using their town car. The company owner Howard is meeting us by the baggage claim, then when we meet him he phones the driver to come around to the kerb to pick us up. It is costing $90 which includes tax, airport fees and tip. I spoke to the owner on the phone and got the $90 internet package rate.

Thanks, we'll give them a call later.

 

[natalielongstaff]

Great pre-trip report, can't wait to see the pics

Isn't knotts berry farm where the channel 4 ident was filmed ?

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

Great Pre-trippy, look forward to seeing and hearing more

 

[jjk]

sounds like you have a fantastic trip planned

 

[Danauk]

Isn't knotts berry farm where the channel 4 ident was filmed ?

Yes it is, I can't wait to ride it!!

 

[Danauk]

So reading all the fun Disneyland pre trip reports this evening made me think about what I had left to plan.

So, as you may have already noticed I like to plan early so the only stuff left to do can't be done until the 30 day mark (still can't get used to this, I'm still used to being able to book things months in advance like at WDW!!) So all that is left is to contact vacation planning to arrange the segway tour and to organise the gift baskets I would like delivered for the day we arrive. I'm also pondering getting vacation planning to send a few treats to our room a few days into the trip as well.

 

[SusanEllen]

Dana,
Easy to read between the lines and know that you are having so much fun getting this trip together. You've obviously done your homework. I would like to offer a note of explanation about the castle at Disneyland. Though small in comparison to the MK castles at the other parks, it is appropriately sized for the scale of Disneyland which is on a much smaller piece of land than any of the MKs. Don't know if you've read this in your research, the stores along Main Street are smaller than at WDW, too. The architecture uses forced perspective to make them seem larger, but they're about half scale whereas MK in WDW is 3/4 scale. I would like to take exception to your statement that the Matterhorn is the focal point of Disneyland. It is certainly a Disneyland treasure and holds a place in amusement park history as the first steel roller coaster, but it is neither the symbol of Disneyland nor its focal point. The Matterhorn is wedged between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland and is off to the right of the hub. Most definitely Sleeping Beauty's Castle is the heart and enduring symbol of Disneyland. I'm eager to hear what you think of this charming place. I, too, hope other UK Disney fans will make the decision to travel the extra miles to see where the Magic began.

 

[mandymouse]

Karen, your plans sound fab, it looks like you're going to have a very special holiday - I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back

 

[Danauk]

Dana,
I would like to take exception to your statement that the Matterhorn is the focal point of Disneyland. It is certainly a Disneyland treasure and holds a place in amusement park history as the first steel roller coaster, but it is neither the symbol of Disneyland nor its focal point. The Matterhorn is wedged between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland and is off to the right of the hub. Most definitely Sleeping Beauty's Castle is the heart and enduring symbol of Disneyland.

Having never actually been to Disneyland yet these comments were based on the comments from regular DL visitors over the past 2 years I have been reading the Disneyland section of the Dis. Some of the folkes there often tell people the Matterhorn is more of a focal point as it is bigger even though it is not at the centre of the park. I guess I was just retelling what I have heard during my research. Although to me the castle would make sense as the focal point as you said it is at the bottom of Main Street, but even though it is to scale with the buildings on Main Street it is very small in comparison to other Disney Castles.

 

[mark&sue]

Sounds like the most amazing trip. You truly have most generous friends as the DVC points for staying at the Grand Californian are very high.

Hope you have a great time and can't wait to hear all about it. I would like to stay at the Bellagio and the Grand Californian hotels and am sooooo jealous.


Susan

 

[Danauk]

Sounds like the most amazing trip. You truly have most generous friends as the DVC points for staying at the Grand Californian are very high.

I know, I adore my best friends!! I will have to think of something amazing to repay them with for their 10th anniversary in a few years time!! I'm not sure how to top a week at the Grand Californian though!!

 

[Chilly]

You'll have a fab time, can't wait to hear all about it.

 

[Strommie]

Sounds like an amazing trip. We went to DLR in 2002 and I loved it. I really want to go back

 

[Tammy Stringer]

Wow what an action packed itinerary you have - I'm sure you will have a brilliant time

Tammy