1st trip to DL, 1st Anniversary, 1st time on the coast...COMPLETED!!

[caffingdu]

just found this TR right now (and just discovered this entire discussion board too. lol) I live about 20-35 minutes away from Disneyland, and just read through what you've written so far. I love it so far. Now I can't wait for more. It seems like you were taking your time. but that's okay.

 

[KatGarcia]

Great report! We made our 1st trip to DL last June, it was great. We called the castle "Snow White's Hut" all week...we made a lot of comments about how did she fit all 7 dwarf's in there?! LOL Can't wait for more!

 

[Bloodhound]

Alright, I am sold. Just caught myself up on your trip report and wanting more. Looks like you two are a fun couple! This is helping me get even more excited for our trip in August.

UPDATE NOW!!!

Hi are you going to write a pre trip report?

 

[stagemomx3]

Great report! We made our 1st trip to DL last June, it was great. We called the castle "Snow White's Hut" all week...we made a lot of comments about how did she fit all 7 dwarf's in there?! LOL Can't wait for more!

It's not Snow White's castle, it's Aurora's.

 

[jnjusoioa]

Hi Karen, Just wanted to stop by and say hi, hope that all is going well, you haven't been on for awhile, so I am hoping everything is ok.

 

[KatGarcia]

It's not Snow White's castle, it's Aurora's.

Chalk it up to a brain fart....I knew that i dunno why I said that. My Bad.

 

[MA pigletfan]

Hope all is well Karen..anxiously awaiting an update

 

[stagemomx3]

Chalk it up to a brain fart....I knew that i dunno why I said that. My Bad.

Poor Snow White doesn't have a castle. I think she needs one.

 

[kmab00]

Loved the update! I went on a trip of my own this weekend. Not to disney of course. We went to Hershey, Pa. It was great fun! I think thats funny what your husband said about sleeping beauty getting the shaft. Lol. Her castle is pretty tiny compared to Cinderella's, but honestly I think Cinderella was kinda a bigger deal so maybe she should get a bigger castle? Can't wait for another update and your totally making me want to make it to Cali someday!

Oooh Hershey, PA! Jason's been there before and loved it! He said that we need to go, but I have no idea when that will happen! That soulds like a lot of fun!! You NEED to go to Cali! It's absolutely gorgeous out there!!

You are a great writer!!!! I am loving the updates. I am getting so excited about our Sept trip. I will definately do a TR.

Why thank you!! Good!! I want to hear all about your trip!!

Great update, Karen! Thanks for posting all the tips too!

I'm glad you liked the tips! I spent hours copying and pasting from all of the different DIS Secrets Disneyland threads!

 

[kmab00]

Hi, I was trying to catch up before I posted but its getting late an Im so excited to be going to DLR/DCA for the first time Oct24th - Oct31st 08...I am at where the tips you listed and wont to read them when Im not tired. Im really enjoing your TR

Thank you so much! I hope that you can use the tips!! They made the trip a little more fun!!

Great updates! I can't wait to see DL one day. You and your DH look like your having a lot of fun. I hate it when my contact tears! I have had such a problem with it that I take TWO extra pairs with me on every trip. Talk about paranoid.

We had a BLAST!! Thank you! Ooh yes contact troubles...ugh. I hate wearing my glasses and I don't think I've worn them since I've gotten home except at night for like 30 minutes!!

See you ALREADY have reasons to go back! Not that it's hard to find reasons to go to Disney!

YES reasons to go back....I like that!! Exactly...not hard to find reasons at all! Are you guys gonna go back to DL any time soon?

Lets see...you started your trip report on 4-14 and it's now 5-14. So far you've checked into your hotel, had your anniversary dinner, and written the first part of your first day at Disneyland.

CONGRATS!!! This is the most drawl out trip report ever!!!!

I'm sorry if it's taking so long. I've had a lot of busy weeks this month and I almost lost my job last week so I just hope everyone can be patient with me.

That's OK Karen - take your time! I love your reports and the longer they last - the closer I will be to my trip in December!

THANK YOU!! Sorry if it's going too slow but thank you for being patient with me!!! Hehe....I understand your excitement!! December, get here NOW!

I agree! I'd rather you take your time and write when you can, instead of not writing at all! I think the updates are worth the wait!

Thank you SO MUCH!!!! I appreciate your patience!! I have SO many pictures and I like to devote time to writing new updates so they each take like an hour at least to get together! I like to do it only when I have plenty of time!

Wow, Karen...what a fan base you have . Can't wait for more

Hehe!!! Thank you! I'm kinda surprised at all of the interest but I'm glad!! You guys are all AWESOME!!!

Alright, I am sold. Just caught myself up on your trip report and wanting more. Looks like you two are a fun couple! This is helping me get even more excited for our trip in August.

UPDATE NOW!!!

Thank you!! We do have a lot of fun together! August...yay not too far away!! That's great!

 

[kmab00]

Loving this report!!

By the way.......I always offer to take pics of people. You must have hit the wrong people. Most of us Californians claim to be very friendly.

But I must admit, that Southerners are very, very nice. That is why I love it there.....................minus the humidity.

By the way, my DS and DIL are going to New Orleans, the first part of June. I would love to PM you, and ask for some good places to eat and see.

Looking forward to more TR!!!!!!!!

Aww man I'm sorry we didn't run into you guys! I'm sorry if I made the impression that California people weren't friendly because I didn't mean that at all! I love the south too but I agree...MINUS the humidity! Geeze!!! That would be great! I love New Orleans!!!

This picture has almost convinced me to stay at Paradise Pier on our next trip. My kids would love that slide.

Great report so far!

I think that the Disneyland Hotel has a great slide, too! Google pictures of it and see! They have a Neverland Pool! Thank you!!

I'm on board! Come on over to my PTR and gimme suggestions suggestions suggestions!

Oooh ok yes....gotta love those shameless plugs!! Seriously, I love them!!

I just stumbled upon your TR and I am so happy I did. I loved your WDW TR. I know this one will be even better.

Aww thanks!! I'm glad you enjoyed the WDW trip report! I hope this one can live up to it!

Can't wait to read more, I'm enjoying your report.

Thank you so much!!!

Those tips are great! I will certainly be bringing those with me in Oct.

Oh good!! I'm glad they'll be put to good use! It was a lot of fun trying to find them all and then when we found one, we were all excited because we found something on the list!!

Okay so I have not caught up with the thread yet, but I wanted to post!!
Can't wait to hear about Indi, sorry Indiana Jones, we call it Indi in our household!!

The castle is smaller, wow, but still exciting since its new and its the original.
So on your Buzz Lightyear picture you posted there was a link for a game, I downloaded it for Dh but he hasn't played it yet, so not sure how fun it is. Thanks for the link, even if it was involuntary. Hmm Disney's Jedi mind trick advertising works!! Sorry my DH is having way to much influence over me, first Indi, now Star Wars!!

So I totally meant to ask you this in your last post, do you have a pic of the the inside of the cake, I want to see the layers!! Sorry I'm a sweetsaholic and bakedgoodsaholic!! Like my made up words!!

Gone to play catch up!

Ah yes...Indi! That works, too!! Hehe...has he played the game yet? I haven't even been over there to see the game! Haha...I didn't really even notice the link but you are right...DIsney has a way of slipping them in there!! Awwww darnit......GOSH I slipped up this trip! WHAT is wrong with me?! Geeze! No I didn't take a picture of the inside of the cake!! I need to shape up! This is crazy!!

 

[kmab00]

Hi Karen, Just wanted to stop by and say hi, hope that all is going well, you haven't been on for awhile, so I am hoping everything is ok.

Thank you for checking on me! We had a little job scare last week...I almost lost my job...with cutbacks and all. Health care is so crazy right now! I'm glad to still have a job though...even if I am working slightly different hours!

Hope all is well Karen..anxiously awaiting an update

Thank you! One is on the way!!

Great report! We made our 1st trip to DL last June, it was great. We called the castle "Snow White's Hut" all week...we made a lot of comments about how did she fit all 7 dwarf's in there?! LOL Can't wait for more!

LOL ... maybe because of the Snow White Grotto on the side? It all works, it's ok!

just found this TR right now (and just discovered this entire discussion board too. lol) I live about 20-35 minutes away from Disneyland, and just read through what you've written so far. I love it so far. Now I can't wait for more. It seems like you were taking your time. but that's okay.[/QUOTE

LOL! Welcome to the DIS boards!! Hope you enjoy it here!

More on the way, finally!

 

[kmab00]

Tuesday, April 8, 2008 - Disneyland Park Continued

After finishing up at Indiana Jones, we decided to hit Pirates and Haunted Mansion.

The Disney Dreams Suite above the Pirates of the Caribbean. This is the balcony that the "winner" can watch Fantasmic from!

There's the stairway leading up to the suite.

You can see the balcony a little better here!

I LOVED this Pirates ride!! The talking parrot out front was so cute! I had heard the differences between the two versions (DL and WDW) and I do have to say that I loved this version better! I saw the last remaining "real" skeleton and the two drops were a surprise! I wasn't expecting two of them!! I *think* I also found the Pirate who's face was cast as Walt's but I'm not 100% sure....if you've found it before, PM me so I can ask if I saw the correct one! We rode the ride THREE times staring at all of the pirates to find Walt's face!

See what I found?! I didn't get to go inside, though! Darnit!

We're HOME! Oh wait...not quite! Haha!

The Haunted Mansion

I love the look of this Mansion with the gate out front!

The buggy with the hoof prints in the cement

It was SO funny while we were in the "stretching" room, I was whispering the narrators lines to Jason and laughing about it. When I stopped to listen, I think EVERYONE in the room was saying the lines, too! It was fantastic!! I was like, "Aaah yes...I'm home!!"

After Haunted Mansion, we made our way over to Critter Country to ride Pooh!

I looked the ENTIRE ride for THESE GUYS!!

I must have turned around just at the right time and I saw them!!! That's the only picture I've got from the ride because I was so focused on finding these guys!! lol!

I took a picture with some honey after the ride was over, though!

We found Big Thunder Mountain after searching for it all morning! It threw me off by not being by Splash Mountain!! lol!

I love the sets for this ride! So cute!

Jason and I on board and ready to go!

Now....pause........if you can't tell, we did Magic Mornings this day and got SO MUCH done! This was ALL done before lunch! I think I counted that day and we had gotten like 11 or 12 attractions and rides finished before noon!!

So by this time, we were HUNGRY...I don't mean just hungry, I mean HUUUUN-GRY!!! In trying to figure out what to eat for lunch, I of course pulled out my trusty list!! There were SO many things that I wanted to try before the week was over! Hehe!

We first decided to head to Bengal BBQ.

After looking at their menu, the prices, and the sizes of their skewers, we decided to skip this one for lunch this day and eat it another time as a snack. We wanted some FOOD!

We decided on Rancho Del Zocalo where I found the "SECRET BATHROOM"!! I don't have any pictures, though!

After I finished with the bathroom, I joined Jason back up as he was looking at the menu. He then decided that the choices were too expensive and he wanted something else to eat. I'm not a HUGE fan of Mexican....I'll eat the main dishes but I HATE the rice and beans. I didn't really want to pay that much for a meal if I wasn't going to eat everything on the plate, either!

..................................CONT.............................

 

[kmab00]

..........................CONT...................

Soooooooo, we swung over to Fantasyland to eat at Pinocchio's Village Haus. There is a similar restaurant in WDW, I think, but I haven't eaten there so I was excited about eating here! I was also excited about eating something other than a hamburger! YAY!

Thought this was cute...

AND GASP........

I forgot to take a picture of our food!!! Yikes! Jason had a hamburger and I had a turkey sandwich! Sorry about that! lol!

But here's a picture of me to make up for it!!!!!!

After lunch, we walked around Fantasyland a bit, then we saw the "under refurbishment" Small World!

This was probably the most disappointing thing from the trip.....I really wanted to see Walt's Small World. The outside looks so much grander than WDW's!! Oh well....that's why I say, there's always NEXT TIME!!! Yay! lol!

We were headed for the Tiki Room next, so we made our way through the castle and found this..........

The Golden Spike!

The Tiki Room

I LOVED LOVED LOVED how this was still the ORIGINAL! I thought it was great! I wasn't expecting the "pre-show" out in the front though...and that was really neat to see, too!

See those people to the left? They were doing the "Walk In Walt's Footsteps Tour"....something I wanted to do but didn't get to! See...there's another "NEXT TIME!!"

I didn't know it at the time but these guys were a part of the pre-show!

Waiting for the Tiki Room to open up!

Hehe...

A few "Tiki Gods"

Look Mom! No Flash!! Kinda crappy but oh well!

........................CONT.....................

 

[stagemomx3]

I think that the Disneyland Hotel has a great slide, too! Google pictures of it and see! They have a Neverland Pool! Thank you!!

I have and that's why I've decided this time we should do the Disneyland Hotel instead of the Grand Californian which we love. It's hard to give up the GC location though. I figure we need to stay at the Disneyland Hotel at least once though.

 

[kmab00]

......................CONT......................

Up next on our list: The Jungle Cruise!

I loved our tour guide! He was SO funny!!!

Gotta love those elephants!

It was cloudy that morning, but by the afternoon, the sun was out! Still COLD, but we did have sunshine. The sun was so bright that some of my pictures didn't turn out like I wanted them to! You'll see what I mean...

The Happy Elephant!

Uh-oh! The invaded the camp!

So many dang elephants!

This is one of the pictures with the huge glare!!

They are STUCK!!

Watch out!! They're gonna get you!

I saw this on our boat on the way out and I had to laugh! Sorry it's blurry! lol!

...............................CONT...............................

 

[kmab00]

...................CONT......................

Tarzan's Treehouse was after the Jungle Cruise!

Gotta love the view!

Big Thunder Mountain

All of the scenes in this treehouse were changed from Swiss Family to Tarzan. In each open area with stuff to look at, there was an "open book" with a story to go along with the scene.

The basket in the tree would move a bit and then you'd hear crying noises coming from it.

Another scene

Jason at the wheel!

Up in the Treehouse!

This was at the very end. SO very pretty!!!! I took a picture in front of it, but I turned out WHITE (literally) ... so I left that one alone!

After Tarzan, we decided to get a little mid-afternoon snack! A Dole Whip float! I had only tasted a Dole Whip up until that point so I was excited to try it with the pineapple juice in it!!

It was SO GOOD!! (That's the first item that was marked off of my food list!!)

Up next.......More Disneyland!!

 

[Sleeping*Beauty]

That Dole whip float looks delicious!! The view from the treehouse looks amazing. But, I have to say I think I like the WDW one better. I'm a big SFR fan.

 

[stagemomx3]

What a great morning. Magic Mornings are so worth it at Disneyland. To bad you didn't find my favorite CS The Hungry Bear at lunch time!

 

[stagemomx3]

Yum I want a Dole Whip Float now. I really like Tarzan's Tree House.