25th Ann.-2 TR w/over 1500 pics!!!!

[Sherry E]

I'm glad you all made it safely! It sounds wonderful and I can hardly wait to hear about it! Sherry I can answer about that display. From picture I have seen before it is where they normally have the big Christmas tree on Main Street.

Okey dokey. So that means there are probably some PhotoPass people ominously lurking around that Celebration display. I will have to hunt them down whenever I am there next.

 

[goofycathy]

I made a quick trip to Napa on friday for the weekend and all I could think about was "I just drove 6 hours to Napa( we got there at 11am ), another 6 and I could be in disneyland for saturday and then drive home sunday! Im silly like that and my sister and I actually seriously considered it, but my cousin would have never talked to me again if I missed her wedding! Im glad you had a great time and I cant wait to read your TR and see your pics!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Hello Laurie, coming in late on this one ...well just in time for your return actually Great family, lots of happy faces My wife and I are celebrating our 15th anniversary this year and smile to think about our 25th!

Funny how your trip so quickly changed from the two of you to a family thing ...hehehe. Lets hear it for the Disney Magic at work. Great job wrangling space for everyone and getting the character meal PSs changed at the last minute. And the wear and toss concept for the clothes has merit! Great LGMHs btw.

Rolled through your itinerary - very brave driving straight through. We did that coming back from DL in 2005 - 11 1/2hrs for us with very few stops. But following that with an early entry morning - wow! Great lineups for your days with lots of good food and character experiences!

Very cool custom books, nothing like having your info close at hand. And no, you're not crazy for doing that much with them - we made them too and they were very handy. Great pics from the scavenger hunt - loved the kid's expressions.

Cool shot of the balloons and the celebration theme! Good luck trying to unpack, catch up, and go through all of those pictures! Whoohoo!

 

[DizNee Luver]

First of all, thank you all for the warm welcome back!! We really had a trip to remember. So here goes.....Travel Day, Sat. March 7:
On the road & heading south at 5am. I know it's not just me that can't sleep the night before going to Disneyland, but with a 4am wake up call, I sure wish I could have been asleep before 1am. At least I wasn't the only one that looked like this......

We stopped in Redding at the Black Bear Diner for breakfast. For those that travel thru S. Oregon & N. California, I strongly recommend this restaurant. They have very good food & lots of it, good service & reasonable prices. We love it! We continued on & waved at Michelle as we passed the Fairfield exit. We stopped for lunch in Patterson.... high quality KFC/A&W combo.....can't beat the cold A&W rootbeer!! We really made great time, thanx to the lack of speed limit on I-5. We traveled 80-85 & were passed like we were parked!! We hit the L.A. area about 5pm & then the fun stopped! It took us 2 hours to get thru the L.A. traffic to Anaheim. We figured we'd be ok since it was a Saturday evening, but NOOOOOOOO Of course, everyone in the car needed to pee when we hit L.A. but there was no way we were going to pull off & try to find a restroom. We finally made it to the Motel 6 & got the kids checked in. We realized we forgot to have dinner, so Mike & Derek were going to hit the McDonald's & bring it back to the motel. I had them drop me off at the Pedestrian crossing on Harbor Blvd, so I could run into the park & upgrade my parkhopper to an annual pass. I felt really weird going in alone..... I got my pass & made my way thru DTD to the Disneyland Hotel to check-in. Mike met me there & then we went to our room in the Dreams Tower, 4th floor, corner room with a view of DTD (that was mostly blocked by trees, but nice anyways).

I had ordered the Mickey & Minnie Welcome Basket thru Vacation Planning as a surprise for Mike. He saw the basket & said... "is that one of those things if you touch it or open it, you've bought it?"... I chuckled & said "read the card & see what it says". It said Happy 25th Anniversary!

Mike & I decided to go to the park for a couple hours & walked thru DTD. We stopped off to upgrade Mike's parkhopper to an annual pass. We walked to Fantasyland, making our way thru the castle & since we were dealing with Saturday crowds only rode 2 rides. We got on the teacups & while we were spinning, Mike said "look up". Bad idea... you get very dis-oriented & a bit queasy doing that. We then rode BTMRR; which is my absolute favorite ride. We went back up Main Street & had our pic taken in front of the celebration display up by the flag pole. Yes Sherry, this is a FP location. I don't have our PhotoPass CD yet, so excuse the picture of a picture, but wanted you to get an idea of this shot.

We left & stopped by the World of Disney to pick up lanyards & FP holders for everyone which will save me that step in the morning. We got back to our room & found another surprise waiting for us...... 2 Mickey shortbread cookies & 2 cold glasses of milk. It was very good, but I had ordered the Mickey Rice Krispy Treats, but no biggie!!

By the time we wound down & crawled into bed it was 12:30am. But lucky us, it was the daylight savings time change that night, so it actually was 1:30am & with a Magic Morning at 8am, we had a wake-up call of 6am.

So there's day one of seven..... hope you enjoyed it. Will try to get day two up tomorrow!!

 

[PinkBudgie]

Can't wait to hear how your trip went! We are going for our 20th anniversary this June so your post caught my eye. We are not bringing our teenage twin boys though, no matter how much money they save.

 

[pmama]

Oooo I love the picture by the Celebration Display!

Your drive through L.A. on Saturday worries me a bit. We are planning to drive up to Universal on a Saturday our next trip and thought since it was Saturday the traffic wouldn't be as bad.

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[DizNee Luver]

We really thought that Saturday wouldn't be too bad, it was terrible from 5-7pm (who knows about when it started or ended that day). I will say that when we left Anaheim yesterday, it was 11am & we had a couple spots where we had to slam on the brakes, but it wasn't bad for LA. If you go to Universal early morning & maybe return.....well, not sure when to tell you to return...lol Maybe Sherry would have some insider info on that (I believe she's from LA).

I loved the celebration balloons, very colorful & really catches your eye!!

Happy 20th Pink!! You sure your twins won't be going???? lol our plans changed 2 weeks before we were leaving.......

 

[wannagoback]

The smaller book is a photo book that I keep pretty much the same things but in condensed form. The daily schedule so we don't miss our PS resies, a pic of my twins since they won't be with us, tips & photopass pic hints.

I absolutely love this idea!!! I think I am going to have to steal it, thanks for sharing!

 

[DizNee Luver]

No problem.....it really worked well having the pockets. I put our pre-paid stroller rental tickets in each of the days, our Fantasmic seating tickets & tour tickets. That way I had what I needed each of the days all in one place.
Good luck putting yours together!!!

 

[kaoden39]

I was waving back all day that day to make sure I didn't miss you! Sounds so great so far, And I love the celebration balloons that is so cute. Isn't amazing how wide awake the little ones were in the morning? Don't you wish that you could bottle that energy?

 

[Teki]

Looks were in for a fab trip report! those cookies look sooooo good! Cant wait to hear more!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Ok, here we gooooooooooooo...... Making the Peter Pan reference as this is always the first ride we do as a family. We picked up our kids at 7am & headed to the gates of Disneyland for our Magic Morning. We went right to Peter Pan (which wasn't quite ready, but would be within 5 mins, so we stayed & loaded within 10 mins). It is definately our favorite dark ride in Fantasyland. It really was pretty quiet for any of the early entries we'd done in the past. We got off Peter Pan & walked right on to Dumbo! I've never done that. We next rode King Arthur's Carousel, the Matterhorn (which would only be open today during our trip), Alice in Wonderland, & then the teacups.

We headed towards NOS so the kids could have breakfast, and there was no wait on POTC, so we took a quick ride. We're finding that Adaleah doesn't seem as scared on the dark rides as she was last trip....so that's a bonus!!
The kids had breakfast at the River Belle Terrace as Mike & I made our way towards to the Tiki Room to meet up with the DIS Girls Only Trip.

The DIS Girls Only Trip was meeting for their "Dole Whip for Bawb" & it was nice to put some faces to the names.....but please don't ask me who each of them are....I didn't take notes.

The kids were off on their own so Mike & I could do our early lunch at Cafe Orleans. They took the kids to Bugs Land in DCA & look like they had fun!!!

I am so glad I found these boards to get the info on Cafe Orleans!! It was definately the best meal we had. We got the french onion soup & gumbo to start, shared the Monte Cristo Sandwich (which was hot, crisp & delicious), shared an order of the Pomme Fritas & then was given a Celebration plate with 2 beignets interlocked together for our Anniversary Dessert. Excellent meal from start to finish & very friendly waitstaff.

The kids got lunch at the Taste Pilots Grill in Condor Flats in DCA:

After our lunch, Mike & I got to ride in the Wheelhouse of the Mark Twain Riverboat.....what a view. We got to blow the whistle & ring the bell. I was like a kid up there....it was so much fun!!!

That is the morning & lunch time on Sunday March 8.... be back later to fill in the rest of the day.

 

[Michelle2]

Yay! I am so excited reading your report, as we leave in a few days! It sounds like you all had such a fun time!

 

[DizNee Luver]

So this section will all be from the Disneyland Hotel & grounds. After we met back up with the kids, we took a swim in the Neverland Pool. We started at the main pool, went over to the beach/kiddie pools, back to the main pool & hot tub. We changed clothes & walked the grounds with Anthony & Addy. This entire post will be the pics we took.

These next pics are from the hotel & lobby.

Next part, the memorabilia. An absolute must for Disney-Fans!!!!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Quite the drive down, you made good time considering. And yes, I agree about driving through LA at 11am We managed to come in and leave around 11 and the traffic flowed very well. Black Bear Diner rocks! We’ve been to the one in Bend several times and the one in Redding once. The only place we didn’t enjoy the food/get good service was with the one in Medford itself LOLOL

Nice mix of fun and “takin’ care of business” on that first day and great pic in front of the celebration display. And starting the second day with Peter Pan – very cool Glad you got to ride the Matterhorn before it closed. Great shot with the DIS Girls, looks like a fun bunch of ladies Thanks for the tip on Cafe Orleans, we’ll look into getting PRs there.

Nice view from the wheelhouse on the riverboat! And thank you for the wonderful shots of the Disneyland Hotel pool and grounds. We’re staying there for the first time this fall and you’re pictures are some of the best/most detailed I’ve seen

Looking forward to the next installment!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Okay, so here's the photos of all the historical toys, pics, etc located in the main tower to the right of the lobby:

These next pics were of the grounds & restaurants:

We moved on to the Koi Fish & Waterfalls:

Walked around towards the wedding pavillion area:

Then back over by the remote control Jungle Cruise Boats:

Next installment will be our evening at Goofy's Kitchen & then back to Disneyland!!!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Quite the drive down, you made good time considering. And yes, I agree about driving through LA at 11am We managed to come in and leave around 11 and the traffic flowed very well. Black Bear Diner rocks! We’ve been to the one in Bend several times and the one in Redding once. The only place we didn’t enjoy the food/get good service was with the one in Medford itself LOLOL

Nice mix of fun and “takin’ care of business” on that first day and great pic in front of the celebration display. And starting the second day with Peter Pan – very cool Glad you got to ride the Matterhorn before it closed. Great shot with the DIS Girls, looks like a fun bunch of ladies Thanks for the tip on Cafe Orleans, we’ll look into getting PRs there.

Nice view from the wheelhouse on the riverboat! And thank you for the wonderful shots of the Disneyland Hotel pool and grounds. We’re staying there for the first time this fall and you’re pictures are some of the best/most detailed I’ve seen

Looking forward to the next installment!

thank you very much, we had a full week as you'll see as you continue to read the saga we like to call our trip report!! Cafe Orleans is the bomb!! Absolutely loved it & can't believe we had missed it on our prior trips. My hubby is frantically trying to recreate the gumbo recipe!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

So after thoroughly enjoying our walk around the Disneyland Hotel, we met up with our older boys & went to Goofy's Kitchen for our first character meal this trip. The food is always plentiful with choices galore. We started by seeing Pluto in the photo area. We were seated close to the buffet & so we were able to see all the action. We were visited by Chef Goofy, Minnie Mouse, Chip & Dale. This is the first time we only got to see 5 characters so a tad disappointed....we've always lucked out & seen on average 7 per meal. We all had a great time even with fewer characters.

After dinner Mike & I had to jet to catch the Monorail over to Disneyland so we could check in for our Fantasmic Dessert Seating. We got up on the loading deck just in time to watch the Monorail leave. We asked if we could sit up front on the next one (I used the "we're celebrating our 25th Anniversary" a lot for perks....lol) You can have a total of 5 people (we had 6) & the kids got up there in time for us to let Anthony & Addy ride with us. We arrived in Tomorrowland & let the boys take the kiddos so Mike & I could high-tail it to NOS to check in. You are seated by when you check in. We would have started row 2 but chose to go row 3 (which is the back row), dead center of the action. Mike was able to set up his tripod & video the show by doing this. The kids made it to NOS & found a spot to watch the show & fireworks that followed. I kinda felt guilty sitting in the reserved as they fought with crowds & such. We were seated & given a choice of drink (which they kept full thru-out the show) & a dessert box of goodies. We had just finished our huge dinner that we decided to leave it closed up & take pics of it before digging in to it later. Great idea at the time, we did get the pics but never did taste any of it.....weird huh?!

The show was really good & we were so close to the action!! We had done this reserved seating in 2005 but were on the patio of the Disney Gallery that is now the "Dream Suite". That was a beautiful view. After Fantasmic, we were allowed to stay in our seats to watch the fireworks. I was surprised at how great a view that was. You don't get the castle view & miss a few low things but really beautiful & wouldn't mind watching from there again.

When the fireworks were over we were able to hook up with the kids & instead of fighting the crowds heading back to the hub, we went up into Critter Country & rode the Winnie the Pooh ride. We then checked out all the goodies at Pooh's Corner! (good time to do this is when you're full)

After drooling on their display glass we headed to the Indiana Jones ride to use up our FP's. I rode with Derek & Tyler, the Mike rode with Tyler & Anthony. Anthony really wanted to try it this trip but he was super tired & he freaked out in the queing area. Mike made him ride anyways & he liked it. We then headed to BTMRR where Mike & Derek rode it, then Tyler & I.

We headed back to the DL Hotel & poor Derek had Addy asleep on him for the entire walk. Mike ran to get car so he could take kids back to their motel. I hung out in the lobby area & waited for Mike to get back. We headed to our room & got to bed after midnight. Wake up call for tomorrow.....7am!

Tomorrow I'll get Day Three up.......Enjoy!!

 

[goofycathy]

I am having so much fun reading your trip report and enjoying your fantastic pictures!!!!

 

[kaoden39]

I am loving you trip report. Did you remember to wave on the way home too? I was waving at you! Your pictures are great. How nice it was to have the older boys to take the little ones so that you could have the alone time that you originally planned. Thank you so much for letting me live vicariously through your trip report.