A Magical Trip Report (2/14-2/20) Finished!

[MickeyNikiNaka]

Hello Disers!

After months and months of planning and a very neglected Pre trip report I have decided to commit to this one! I went to DL with my friend and her husband, as well as my DBF. Now, I guess that I should give a little background info on myself. I am currently trying to graduate with my BFA/B.Ed. So, at the beginning of this semester I was approached by my professor asking me if I would like to take on a sixth course. The only problem with this is that I had to work on a show literally the night before and I live 2.5 hours away from where I was flying out of. So, my family came down to see my show and my DBF drove me back to Calgary so we could fly out to LAX the next morning.

For those of you who don't know the story of how I got to the Magic Kingdom, the first post in my pre-trip report will explain everything!

Personally, I would never recommend doing this. I felt very rushed and ended up forgetting some things (Nothing major but I did forget our Disney shirts, which was kind of a bummer) and I really didn’t feel AS prepared as I wanted to be. But I had this DIS boards on my side and I was actually more prepared than most of the people that I saw there. So, Let’s dive right into it!

Day One:

Firstly, I would like t say that I hate valentine’s day! We have always hated it as a couple so for us to fly out on the 14th was kind of ironic. Our first day we flew out of YYC and due to the lovely three million feet of snow and freezing temperatures we were over an hour delayed from taking off. I didn’t get home till midnight the night before and we had to be at the airport by 8:30. Needless to say, I was a little sleepy however, I couldn’t sleep while we were on the plane. I was going to DISNEYLAND. I have been waiting for this my entire life, ok maybe not my entire life, but DISNEYLAND. I was so excited I could barely stand it, even the customs agent commented on my enthusiasm!

We finally got to LAX and my friend had flown in the night before so she met us there with the rental car. We grabbed a bite to eat and she asked me about Universal Studio’s. I said that I hadn’t done a lot of research on Universal Studio’s but I heard that it was something to check out. Before we even got to the States we had decided that we were going to spend the day in LA. None of us had been there before so we thought why not! We tried to find a place on Hollywood Blvd, but that didn’t exactly work out. And my friend was getting REALLY sick (she suffers from motion sickness and forgot sun glasses so it wasn’t a good day) so we finally decided to just head over to Universal Studio’s and see what all the fuss was about. Now, we didn’t go into the park mainly because we hadn’t really budgeted for it or anything. But walking around was fun and we did get our pictures taken!

After we spent some time in all of the stores we drove back to Anaheim and checked into the HOJO. I was shocked at the grounds and how close we were to everything. We were in building two on the top floor. I loved it! My friends were a little weary when they saw how close to the freeway we were but I assured them that I had done my homework and that we had nothing to worry about. We had two adjoining rooms and right after we got into the room I hear a knock on the door. My friend Mickey (no, really that what we call her!) comes into the room and says “$59 A NIGHT, SERIOUSLY?” All was well in the world!

After we got settled in, it was only 7:00 and we were all starving. So we headed to good ol’ McDonald’s for some grub! After we ate we decided that since we had a five day pass and it was Saturday, we should really go check out the grounds, plus it would be a super short line to actually go and get our tickets! Now, I would like to preface that we are all 23 year old adults, but I am SOOOO happy that we did DL this way. We got into the grounds around 6:30-6:45 and the line up to get our tickets was SUPER short. We headed into DL and crossed under the tunnel. I remember seeing the lights and being completely giddy! I was FINALLY here! We walked down Main Street and headed over to Tomorrowland. Star Tours was completely empty and so we jumped into line and got right on! This probably wasn’t the best idea considering that BFF was so sick however, I loved it! Truthfully, I loved absolutely everything that was going on around me.

After going on Star Tours we proceeded to go on Buzz and then we walked around the park taking it all in! We ended up back on Main Street and we needed lanyards and those plastic pouches to put our park passes into. That took us a good 40 minutes because the pouches were nowhere to be found! Finally someone helped us by this time DBF and BFF’S DH had both caught the Pin bug! I couldn’t believe how much they were into it for the ENTIRE trip!

After the whole lanyard debacle, I decided that since we were already there, and there wasn’t going to be a lot of time for us, we might as well watch F!

SOOOO GREAT! I loved it! The night was actually quite chilly, but it was still the most amazing show! Listening to all the advice on here we waited until the second show and we staked out a pretty good spot off to the right. We weren’t dead centre, but I didn’t think we needed to be. Personally, my favorite part of F! was watching the little one’s reactions to the magic.

After that F! we were all pretty cold and we decided that we should just go back to the HOJO and start fresh tomorrow.

 

[Sherry E]

You were the first person to post on my Trip Report back in October, when it was just the little Trip Report that could..... (which has now turned into an epic TR spanning 36 years and filled with pictures!!!), so let me be the first one to post here (and subscribe!). I look forward to hearing the details - I know you said you had the best trip ever and I am so excited for you.

Do you know how to post your pictures directly in the post (so they show to anyone who is looking at the TR) using the IMG code? If not, let me know. It looks like you have Photobucket, which I do as well, so I can talk you through it if you don't know how to do it.

 

[DizNee Luver]

So what did you think of Universal Studios? We've never been, but have been tempted to check it out.....I'm just not ready to give up a DL day.

 

[MickeyNikiNaka]

You were the first person to post on my Trip Report back in October, when it was just the little Trip Report that could..... (which has now turned into an epic TR spanning 36 years and filled with pictures!!!), so let me be the first one to post here (and subscribe!). I look forward to hearing the details - I know you said you had the best trip ever and I am so excited for you.

Do you know how to post your pictures directly in the post (so they show to anyone who is looking at the TR) using the IMG code? If not, let me know. It looks like you have Photobucket, which I do as well, so I can talk you through it if you don't know how to do it.

Thanks Sherry!!! I really appreciate it, I did have the best trip ever! Granted, this was really the first trip that I ever went on as a "big girl" so I don't have a lot to compare it to.. LOL

 

[MickeyNikiNaka]

So what did you think of Universal Studios? We've never been, but have been tempted to check it out.....I'm just not ready to give up a DL day.

We didn't end up going into the park because no one had really budgeted for it! However, my friends have told me that it is something you HAVE to do once! So who knows, perhaps next time I will!

This was my first time in California so I wanted to get as much in as I possibly could (which you will later find out... I think this TR might turn into a book! LOL)

 

[MickeyNikiNaka]

Bare with me team, I don't really know how to upload pictures yet so I'm just going to leave them out for right now!

I was up early and ready to go by 8am. Everyone else however, not so much. Seriously, I felt like a kid on Christmas morning after their parents tell them that they’re not allowed to get out of bed until like 7:30 but they’re up at 5! Once everyone woke up we decided that it would be the best idea would be to go to Target and get some breakfast food, snacks and bottled water. Now, one word of advice to everyone. We weren’t insured with the rental, it was far too expensive for us to be insured too. However, we didn’t get nearly enough of the food that we needed, or the water. Not to mention Target really doesn’t have THAT much selection besides dried food and cereal. And seeing as that I cannot have milk, it didn’t exactly help my cause. However we got some granola bars, bagels, and a flat of water that we shared. As I said it wasn’t enough but it was a lot better than eating McDonald’s every morning. Although, looking back, I think more protein would have been a good idea. But that’s neither here nor there. OK moral of the story, listen to the rest of the people on the boards and disregard what your friends say! Having groceries delivered to your room is one of the smartest things you can do!

We finally got to the park at around 10 which, I know is a big no no on the DIS boards, however, it needed to be done. And I must say the park was very slow that day. We headed right into DL and onto Pirates or as I have lovingly adopted in my head Yo Ho Ho. (Thanks Hound, every time I saw it I thought of that!) I have to say that this was my most favorite ride in the whole park!I went on this at least 5 times. The ride was so well done. I LOVED it! (So much that I might have watched all three movies while writing this TR… but only maybe )

After Pirates we headed over to Pooh, also a cute ride, we made our way through the rides, and we didn’t have a lot of rhyme or reason other than I wanted to pick up as many FP’s as a I can. After Pooh we went and got FP’s to BTMRR and headed over to Tarzan’s Tree House. I have to say how much I LOVED the how interactive the treehouse was, we got a bunch of pictures on it.

After the treehouse it was time to go back to BTMRR, now being the smart person that I am I made sure that we picked up a FP for Indy before we went over.


I gave everyone I went on the trip with info about the FP but do you think any of them read it? No! of course not! I think that this was the most frustrating aspect of the trip. I tried to be the FP runner however, no one understood what was going on. Not to mention that they never believed me when I told them that we didn’t have to use the FP’s during the hour in which we got them, truth be told, we never did because again, they never believed me. Oh well, everything worked out in the end anyway.

So anyway we went and rode BTMRR and on the way through the line my pouch on my lanyard broke, I was really upset because I just bought it the night before. However, we were in line and to top it all off we were one of the very first in the FP line, this was the first time we had ever used a FP seeing as well you know, it was our first real day in DL. Everyone was amazed at how well they worked, it was as though I performed some strange voodoo magic! After we finished riding the ride (and trying the goat trick!) I wanted to go find a store and see if they would help me with my lanyard situation. So, we made our way to toon town because it was one of the places we hadn’t checked out last night. We grabbed a FP for Roger Rabbit because we all know that that FP machine isn't hooked up with the others! However, the ride broke down and we never ended up going back and riding the ride (I guess it’s one of the things that I will just have to do next time I’m there). We spent a lot of time at the store in Toon Town I don’t remember the name of it. I finally caught the attention of a CM and explained that my envelope had caught on something and ripped off. The CM was kind enough to replace it for me. This, is why I love Disney!

After we scoped out Toon Town, we cut back through Fantasy Land and went through the castle. I pointed out the clock to everyone and that was the first time (on the trip) I was informed that I had an obsessed with Disney. We headed back over to Tomorrowland where we had a FP for Buzz, I don’t exactly remember when we got that but we did. DBF was surprisingly good at that game. We emailed the photo to ourselves. After we did buzz we went on the Jungle Cruise and shortly after headed over to the BB because we had PS.

I absolutely LOVED the BB, everything about it made me happy! When I made the call for PS I was asked what I was celebrating, I wanted to embarrass my friends as they were sort of counting this as their one year wedding anniversary, I told the lady on the phone that they definitely needed to comment on that. She was such a riot and said "Oh, do you want to claim that you're celebrating your anniversary too so you get the same benefits?" My response "Heck yes I do!" so, we were celebrating our anniversary! I guess that I could have said that I was celebrating my winning of the bet that got me there in the first place! I had the Filet Minion and they cooked it black and blue, something I always ask for because if I don't they always over-cook it however, this actually came out BLUE RARE... I had never actually had blue rare before, it was pretty good! (I know most people won't agree with me on that one) For dessert, our waiter brought us mousse that looked like Mickey! I'm really not supposed to have stuff like that, but I decided before we left Canada that this was DL and I have to try everything, even if it does make me sick... So I had a little, I've never really had mousse before but from what I could tell, it was good! The entire experience was so great! Truthfully, I don’t know that I will go eat there every time I go to DL but for not knowing if I was ever going to go again it was something I knew I HAD to do! Everyone was really happy with our meals we left feeling full and content!

We walked around New Orleans Square after dinner to let our food digest before we went on any rides! And soon our FP for Indy was finally good so we headed over! I also LOVED this ride! However, I could never find the parking sign! I looked every single time and people were asking me what I was doing!

After Indy was done, our friends decided that they were done for the night but DBF stayed with me and we went and rode Autopia, we did Buzz one more time, and of course, we did Space Mountain!!! We got a Mickey shaped pretzel and decided it was time to go home, mainly because the park was shutting down.

While we were leaving we ran into this guy!!

 

[Sherry E]

I PM'd you back about the picture posting steps. You have most of the work done because you already have photos uploaded to a Photobucket account. It's smooth sailing from here on out!!

 

[Sherry E]

The shop in ToonTown where you spent a lot of time is called the Gag Factory - it's actually one of my favorite stores in DL. Because it is tucked so far back in DL, many people don't make it back there so a lot of times you can find merchandise there that has sold out in stores on Main Street.

Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin is also one of my favorite rides in DLR. It's like a kid's ride, but with a kick! You definitely have to try to get on that in your next trip.

I agree - I think everyone should try the Blue Bayou at least once. The atmosphere is nice and it's cool to be inside the POTC ride. I have been there at least twice - once this past October and also as a child - and I have had my fill. It is too expensive and the wait is usually too long to bother with for my liking. I don't need to go back there unless someone is paying for me!

The area you were strolling through near Universal Studios is called City Walk. From like 1987 to the mid-'90s, it was a hot spot. Everyone went to CityWalk to hang around on the weekends. But some unsavory gang-type people started hanging around there too (don't know if that problem has been fixed) and suddenly it was no longer the place to be. Everyone started going to Santa Monica instead, to a similar place called the Third Street Promenade. That was big for a few years and now everyone goes to The Grove, right up the street from where I live, which is where a lot of celebrities go to shop without being hassled. It is a lovely outdoor shopping center. Next time you are out here, you should try going to The Grove and the famous Farmers Market. I have to get back up to CityWalk one of these days and see what's changed. For a while, my friends and I were all about going there but just stopped. I never go to Universal Studios either - and the whole Universal area is about 20 minutes from where I am.

 

[MickeyNikiNaka]

I loved the Gag Factory

I'll definately check out Roger Rabbit next time I go there... Whenever that is!

 

[MickeyNikiNaka]

RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN All I saw that day was rain, I thought I was fish! We decided to try and go but we were drenched and we hadn’t even gotten 200 feet (I did look at the weather report and brought poncho’s for everyone). So we decided to go to the Disney outlet. It was such a disappointment they hadn’t received anything in a week or to they said so the selection really wasn’t there. We did however manage to get an autograph book for DBF’s brother, he requested that I get Mickey’s autograph so I did one better and got every character I saw. Yeah, that’s commitment!

Today wasn’t the best day for me, the weather was awful and I went shopping and couldn’t find anything at all that fit me in the stores, yet again (I’m very slight and finding pants, jeans specifically have always been a real big pain) I was SO frustrated!

I had looked at the calendar for Monday (President’s day) and it said that the park was open until 11pm. So we went out for dinner at Bubba Gump’s and at around 830 we decided that we would go ride the rides because we had found that 8pm on was the magic hour to get on any of the rides. We got there just in time to watch the Fireworks, which were amazing! But shortly after we discovered THE PARK CLOSED AT 9 and the sign was gone so I didn’t find out until AFTER we had our tickets scanned. No one was very impressed and I was really upset because everyone else was so disappointed. I didn’t know what to do but tomorrow was another day and we had full intentions of using our MM.

I told everyone that they HAD to get up and we had to be there EARLY! I stressed the importance of this especially since we didn’t have the whole day because we had Laker tickets.

 

[caligirl stuck in va]

ready for more trip report!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Man, I really don't want rain when we go....everyone says it's great, but who wants to be wet all day....ugh!

Did they close early because of the rain or did you have the wrong closing time??? Just curious if they close early when the weather is bad....

I'm hoping the next day was beautiful & you all had a wonderful time!!!

 

[momto2nenas]

I'm in for the report...

 

[MickeyNikiNaka]

Man, I really don't want rain when we go....everyone says it's great, but who wants to be wet all day....ugh!

Did they close early because of the rain or did you have the wrong closing time??? Just curious if they close early when the weather is bad....

I'm hoping the next day was beautiful & you all had a wonderful time!!!

I have absolutely NO idea! I was so upset though and I know that everyone else was a little miffed about the whole thing!

 

[goofycathy]

So what did you think of Universal Studios? We've never been, but have been tempted to check it out.....I'm just not ready to give up a DL day.

This is funny that you mentioned this and that I came across this today, last night the kids and I had just finished reading a book and we started talking about our last trip to DL. DH wanted to take and extra day and go to Universal Studios....what a mistake, especially after going to DL, the employees were rude, the grounds were dirty, everything about it wasnt what I had become accustomed to. The kids and I agreed last night that we would have rather gone one more day to DL then waste the money we did on US.
Just my opinion but if your going to go I suggest you go before you go to DL, then you will appreciate the DL grounds even more!!!!

 

[kaoden39]

I couldn't agree more about Universal or pretty much any amusement park. We live near a SIx Flags and from year to year we forget how much we don't really like it and go. It always is a disappointment after Disneyland.

 

[MickeyNikiNaka]

I'm happy that I didn't go then! I was really impressed with the experience that I was given while in DL. I know that's what they go for but the fact is they're really good at it! Everything was clean, the people were so nice, it was just an enjoyable experience all around! However, had we gone to Universal BEFORE entering DL I think that it might have made DL that much better after reading what people think of it on here LOL!

 

[MickeyNikiNaka]

It was cloudy, and I had a feeling it was going to rain so we took the ponchos with us but I didn’t think to take my water proof jacket for some reason. However, that didn’t dampen my spirits! We met up with our friends in the line up (they went to go get coffee) we started talking about exactly where we were going to go when the park opened. As we were waiting in line there was a little girl that was about three years old that was in front of me, I had the map out and explained that we were going to head straight for Peter Pan. And as I was explaining everything I felt a little tug, I looked down and the little girl asked me where she was going to go first! I got down and showed her the map her parents said that they were heading the exact same way so I was pointing out all the rides she was going to go on! Her parents and my friends were laughing because she was really into the map and seeing where she was going. She informed her parents that they were going on Peter Pan. It’s little moments like that that made me appreciate Disneyland SO MUCH!

Finally, the park opened or so I thought! The honorary citizen’s of Disney counted us down to 8am! I didn’t realize that they were still doing Honorary Citizens, I thought that was only for the year of a million dreams, unless I’m thinking of something entirely different, which could very well be the case!

The second that we got into the park who do we see? MICKEY AND MINNIE! And this time I have an autograph book! I was so excited to get Mickey’s signature for DBF’s Brother, mainly because he didn’t really think that I would do it (So naturally, I had to show him he was a big fat fibber)! I also got Donald, Pluto’s and Goofy’s autographs. We were a couple minutes behind at this point however we were still able to get on Peter Pan, Toady, Snow White, and the Matterhon before 9am! (It was raining so Alice was closed) At 9am I headed right over to IASW. Because it was raining so hard and I had my poncho on I didn’t want to fish for my camera just to get it wet in the rain so I didn’t get a lot of pictures in the early hours of the day. I have to say that I really didn’t enjoy Ariel and all the other Disney characters but it was raining outside so it was nice to be somewhere dry. After IASW we looked in the gift shop, of course we were looking for more pins! I can’t believe how into the pins everyone got! I have to start shopping for some online, but that will have to wait until you know, I have a job that makes money that doesn’t go directly to school! MOVING ON!
After IASW and shopping for pins we ran over to Tomorrowland after and grabbed a FP for Space Mountain, but the line up was SOO short that we just jumped on and rode it. A word to the wise, don’t ride with a poncho.

That’s my BFF’s DH.

By now it was about 10 am and we headed over to California Adventure Land. The first ride that we hit up was Soarin’ what a neat ride! I really enjoyed it. We got off of that and still had our ponchos, we saw that Grizzly had NO ONE on it so we grabbed our ponchos and rode down the rapids! I didn’t take a lot of pictures in California for some reason. But I did get a picture of the one thing I wanted PIZZA OOm Mow Mow.

Right after I got a picture of that we headed over to Toy Story and while everyone waited in line, I ran and got FP for California Screamin’ FINALLY people understood what I was talking about with FP running! I have to say that Toy Story had to be my favorite ride in Califonia Adventure land. While we were waiting for California Screamin’ I went on MaliBoomer with my friends husband. And finally, we went on Screamin’ .....


I don’t know what I was expecting but it definitely wasn’t that. I have never expected the coaster to literally SHOOT off! What a rush! I wanted to ride it again. We grabbed another FP for it but doing it again just wasn’t in the cards. We decided to head over to the TOT but we headed through a bugs land first. We hit up tower of terror, I was really the only one of our party who enjoyed that ride, I thought everyone would like it but I was wrong!

After TOT we hit up Muppets and by this time, I was absolutely starving! I guess now would be a good time to preface that I hate Cotton Candy. Churros are ok but I can only have a couple bites of them for health reasons and the only thing that I really found that I could eat, and eat a lot of were fritters in DL! However, I had been told about the coveted corn dogs in DCA and I REALLY wanted one! I knew they were on the complete other side of the park and my friends were telling me I should just stop at Award Wieners instead, but I was determined! And let me tell you, it was glorious!

After the Corn Dog Castle, our friends decided that they wanted to go back to the hotel because they were tired, DBF and I decided to pack absolutely all of DCA we could before we had to go get ready for the Lakers game. Firstly we hit up the Orange Stinger, it was ok but it wasn’t my favorite.

The Mission Tortilla Factory was next, I got a couple of really cool shots while I was walking around DCA as well.

After Mission We went back over to Hollywood land! We went into the stores and saw the claymation thingy (it starts with a z, what’s the word!) of Toy story! We were going to try and check out the Animation Academy too but we just weren’t feeling it! So we went into all of the shops and ended up at the Engine Ears Factory. I was really interested in seeing what they had for Mr. Potato Heads because I had heard so much about it, but I have to say, it didn’t float my boat like I thought it would. I’m a big Mr. Potato head fan! But I just couldn’t justify spending $18 on something that I knew I would hardly ever use. I did manage to get a lot of shopping done however, I got hats for my niece and their names written on the back!

As a side note, they came over this weekend and absolutely LOVED them! It was so fun watching them pull out their hats and then realize that their names were written on the back! PLUS, they are now asking their dad constantly when they’re going to DL! My work there is done…



It was getting close to 4 so we decided that we should head back to the hotel and get cleaned up before the Lakers game.

 

[kaoden39]

My work there is done…

 

[DizNee Luver]

sounds like another great day.....even with the rain!!

Laughed when I saw the SM pic....hilarious with the poncho over the face!!