2nd Annual DLR trip (a.k.a. 4 teenagers running around DLR) 8/11-8/14 COMPLETELY DONE

[DLR29]

Hello everyone and welcome to my awesome photo trip report! First I'm going to introduce the characters to this novel and then we'll go from there. So let's begin!

After last year's trip (i also have a tr for that one) we had so much fun that we wanted to do it again! However we wanted to bring another person to make an even 4 people, making it easier for the rides.

Me and my friend Mark:


We both love Disneyland and everything Disney. Mark has been to all of the Disney resorts except Paris. We spent all of the trip riding rides together. We also like to plan things out and try to get the most out of our DLR trip, while still taking time to relax and enjoy the trip.

My friends Whitney and Katie:


Whitney is a DLR veteran as well, however Katie had not been to DLR since she was 11 so she was very excited when we decided to invite her along. Whitney had just gone to DLR a couple weeks before with her dance team. They spent a lot of time with us, but on occasion they would split off from us and do their own thing for a while and then we all met up at meals. We were also accompanied by Whitney's mother and Mark's mother who mostly stayed in the hotel and worked, but they joined us for meals also and for some of their favorite rides.


Ok, time for the good stuff to actually start. So last year we stayed at the Desert Palms Hotel, however some members of our group are more used to higher hotel standards so this trip we made sure to stay at the Disneyland Hotel, which was exciting for me because I had never stayed there. So we packed up our bags and left from Northern California around 1:30 and set off on a 6 hour drive to DLR! We were very excited and even more excited when we arrived.


We got 1 bedroom suites, which were really nice, however I didn't spend enough time in them to really appreciate all that the hotel had.


The view from our balcony of the other towers. We were in the Wonder tower.


That night we checked in around 7 and set off for DTD!


I had called earlier and got 8:00 reservations at the Jazz Kitchen. The food was really good. I had the chicken which was perfectly seasoned. Yummy! After dinner we explored around DTD and shopped a little.

Being crazy in DTD.


Then we went back to the hotel and me and Mark could not sleep for the longest time because we were probably too excited. Eventually we fell asleep and woke up bright and early for MM the next morning!

 

[Queenbillabong]

Yay - sounds like you had a great time. We're staying at the DLH this August too, so it's good to hear that you liked it.






Oh ya - Yippee, I'm first!!!

 

[mommaU4]

Hi there! Sounds like you are off to a really fun start!
That's cool you guys are so into Disney. I have great memories of hanging out there with my friends when I was younger.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[davidsprincess]

Sounds really good! Can't wait for more.

 

[DLmyWaY498]

Just Kiddding, how long were the lines for Toy Story Midway Mania?

 

[*Stacie*]

I just got back from my first trip to DL last night!! I am very excited to read your trip report

 

[DLR29]

Ok time for morning of Day 1.

So we woke up at 6:15 and met the girls at their room for breakfast of muffins and cereal that we had brought and then we were off to the parks. We arrived at the gates around 6:45, waiting for them to open for Magic Morning and we were not that far back. We got in and I got that "Ahhhh! I'm at DL again!" feeling. We made our way down Main Street and through the castle




And we immediately got in line for Peter Pan amd we only waited 5 minutes.


Next up we walked right onto Mr. Toad


Pinocchio, Snow White (sorry, no pic of Snow White)


and Alice.


The FL dark rides are such classics and definitely must do's (and during MM they have no line!). Then we chose to ride the teacups and we all crammed ourselves into the purple cup crowded and spun it as hard as we could.




Continuing through Fantasyland, we still had 20 minutes left of the Magic Morning hour so we rode both sides of the Matterhorn. In our first ride on the FL side, they were even racing the two tracks which I hadn't seen in a long time. It was neat.


Now we could get FPs since the MM hour was done (we got in 8 rides in an hour) and I got Space FPs and we all rode in the stand-by line. It was Katie's first time on Space Mountain and she absolutely loved it!


Walked over to Buzz and got in two rides very quickly. I forgot to email myself a picture! Oh well. Then we crossed the hub and got in line for Indy. After only waiting 20 minutes for the ride we rode my favorite ride and got FPs for it later. They had this fun set-up outside where my friends almost got run over by a boulder!


We walked onto pirates, which is another classic ride and one of Mark's favorites. The Jack Sparrow Audio-Animatronics are so realistic, but they really need to make the Davy Jones waterfall reach the water again like it used to.


Heading back to Critter Country, we only waited 15 minutes for Splash. Katie is very terrified of this ride, although she did say afterwards the the last drop was shorter than she remembered it. Nevertheless, one ride on it was enough for her. Here are some on-ride shots I took:




Yes, I sat in the front = drenched


They we rode HM with a very short wait. This ride never seemed to have a long wait at any time of the day, which was nice. All of the details on this ride are amazing and my favorite scene is the attic/bride scene. Ooh, so creepy! Then a great ride on Big Thunder, using the goat trick. For those who don't know, the goat trick is when you look at the goat the entire drop after the second lift hill. It creates a really intense sensation that smashes you against the seat (or your riding buddy ).

We got a BTMRR FP for later and decided to do some Main Street shopping and take a break from our already busy morning. The girls decided to ride some of the Main Street Vehicles up and down Main Street and they got to know many of the drivers such as Bernard, Jeff, and Vern. We also saw the Dapper Dan's performing!


Before lunch we all rode Storybookland Canal Boats which was relaxing and fun because I hadn't ridden it in a while. We met the parents at Bengal BBQ for lunch, which in my opinion was decent, but others were not fond of the skewers. During lunch we saw one of the "Summer of Indy" shows; the one that takes place on top of Tarzan's Treehouse. It is fun to watch, but it really makes the Adventureland pathways even more crowded with people just stopping to watch. That concludes the morning of day 1 (I know exhausing already! ). I will probably post the afternoon/evening later today or definitely tomorrow!

 

[*Stacie*]

It is so great so far!! I keep looking to see any of my family members in your photo's as we were all there the same time as you! I didn't do the MM (too tired) but my aunt uncle and cousin did and they did all the same rides as you that morning!! Even riding the Matterhorn on both tracks!

 

[heatherleigh]

I remember reading your last trip report now. Very good, and I like all the pics from the rides. I have not been on Splash yet, but plan on it our next trip. For some reason it terrifies me. Probably because I haven't been on it yet. It looks intimidating though. I'll ride anything else, but that.

 

[BillyFan]

I'm in. Keep the TR coming!

 

[DLmyWaY498]

sounds like so much fun! but four people in a teacup?? wowwww i love the teacup picture by the way --- so really how long were the rides for TSMM

 

[DLR29]

I'm so sorry no update today, I promise one tomorrow. The lines for TSMM were about 45 minutes all day except towards the end of the day where it got down to around 30 minutes.

 

[DLR29]

Ok time for the evening of day 1.

So after lunch at the Bengal BBQ, we decided to ride Indy. Mark's mom had recently broken her foot and was using an EMV so we went in the exit and joined the handicapped line. Oh my goodness it took a long time, but what also didn't help is that the ride broke down right before we got to the elevator. So we ended up waiting in line for about an hour for it. But I do love Indy!

Then we trekked over to Tomorrowland


Space Mountain and use the handicapped line again, however we only waited about 20 minutes to get into the special designed loading area. It was so cool that we got to move sideways!

Then the parents left and we hopped over to DCA where we got Soarin FPs for later. Then me and Mark got in line for Toy Story Midway Mania, which we were so excited for and the girls instead went on Maliboomer, Orange Stinger, and Katie got some face paint. We only waited about 40 minutes for TSMM and it was so worth it! We had so much fun shooting at all the games! It's really addicting after the first time that you play. We both got the beaver (over 100,000), but Mark beat me. Here are some pics








Next, we all rode the Sun Wheel which freaked out pretty much everybody, but we still had to ride it! As freaky as it is, it does provide some good views:














While me and Mark rode the Maliboomer, the girls got Henna tatoos. While Maliboomer is an ok ride for the first 5 seconds, the rest of the ride is just boring. I am glad that it will be leaving DCA after the renovations.


We met up with the girls and left the park for the Rainforest Cafe where the 4 of us met my grandparents to celebrate my 16th birthday! (even though it's not for another 2 weeks) I ate so much and then we ordered a volcano at the end. Mmmmmmmmm, yummy! Our waitress was really nice too!


After dinner we went back to DCA to use our Soarin FPs and for some more rides. Soarin is just a great ride and we got the top row on the left side.


Then we rode ToT twice which is probably my favorite ride at DCA. Katie freaked out , but the rest of us loved it.


It was nearing the closing of DCA (9pm) so we rushed over to Screamin to get a night ride. This thing is amazing at night with all of the lights and views. Spectacular! And we only waited about 25 minutes. One part that I especially like about this ride is the correlation between the ride and the music. Here are some shots from earlier in the day:




Then we tried to rush over to TSMM before it closed but we were about a minute too late. Oh well, we'll ride it again! Then we hopped over to DL just before the Electric Parade finished and rode BTMRR at night with FPs. Big Thunder at night is like a different ride. Way better than during the day. Next up was Fantasmic and we got extremely good seats just a few people back from the water for the 10:30 show. This is one of my favorite DLR shows with all of the lights and fireworks and characters.

Then a ride on Indy with FP, skipping a huge outside line and a night ride on JC. We had a really amazing night ride on JC last year, but this year there weren't that many funny moments. Our guide was just ok. Finally the last ride of the night was Space with FPs, which also skipped a huge line. We caught the last monorail of the night at midnight and departed for the DLH, exhausted. We got back to the hotel and crashed, but only got like 6 hours of sleep!

Coming up soon...Blue Bayou lunch, Princess Fantasy Faire, and the day of riding things that nobody ever does! Thanks for reading so far everyone.

 

[Sarah84]

Great report so far, wonderful pics
making me very excited to visit Disneyland, shame its over a year away still

 

[Laneychris]

Great pics and report.

 

[MAH4546]

Awesome report. Really enjoying it.

 

[*Stacie*]

Great update! We also got premium seats for Fantasmic on the Tuesday night last week. Did you enjoy the dessert that came with it?

 

[DLR29]

^ We didn't get the dessert package. I guess my wording was confusing. I meant really good seats. Going back to change that! Update coming right now, sorry about the slowness in the updates. The end of summer is very busy.

 

[DLR29]

Morning/early afternoon of Day 2 (8/13)

We woke up a little bit later and rode the monorail into the park around 8:30. We hopped in the line for Autopia, which did not take very long even though they were running only one track.


Then the girls wanted to go see the Princesses at the PFF so we trekked up to the Fantasyland theater and waited for a while before it opened at 9.


There was already a sizeable line ahead of us and the line moves soooooo slowly. They got to meet Cinderella, Aurora, and Snow White, while we took pics!








Toontown had just opened to the public so we got in line for Roger Rabbit. This ride has one of the best lines in the park with all of the details.




A picture of the cabs


Next, we explored a little of Toontown. I thought that this sign was funny


A couple of new toons


A little past 10, we decided to park hop and first off we rode Grizzly River Run with a walk on. We met a really fun couple who had just been married for 10 days and we all got soaked!




Then we took a ride on California Screamin, but the music wasn't playing Still the ride is amazingly smooth and enjoyable.


Coming around the Pier our next ride was Mulholland Madness, which if I had to describe it using 3 words would be: short, slow, painful. The brakes really kill this ride and I'm not a big fan of the lack of theming, so Goofy's Sky School hopefully will be much better.


Some on-ride shots




A quick ride on the Golden Zephyr, which was pretty relaxing,


and then the girls went to DTD to go shopping a little while me and Mark decided to ride TSMM again. He beat me again! (very frustrating ) but we both got the beaver again. It is that last bonus round that kills me.

We had 1:10 PS's at the Blue Bayou, but we got there a little early in hopes for a waterside table and the parents met us. Nope, there were already 2 parties of 6 ahead of us for waterside. Oh well, at least we were still eating at the BB. We got 3 Monte Cristos for the 6 of us which was absolutely perfect. I highly recommend splitting the meal with someone else unless you have a huge appetite.

Stuffed, we all rode JC after in hopes of a better skipper. The skipper in the day had only about 2 newer jokes than the guy the previous night. This ride is good for a few good chuckles, but that's about it, although it is a classic.


Then the girls and the moms went back to the hotel and Mark and I spent the rest of the afternoon together at DCA and DL doing a lot of minor attractions. More on that later. Oh and the next update will have minimal pictures because (stupid me) I forgot to charge the battery of my camera the night before and it died on me half way through the day.

 

[BillyFan]

Thanks for the update. I'm enjoying you TR!