PrincessMira
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2006
- Messages
- 90
This is my first TR so please be kind. I love reading others reports before a trip so I thought Id try to reciprocate.
Characters:
DH, Mike, 35 recent convert to DL as he grew up in Orlando and wasnt previously itching to go to DLR, but his need to see his wife and son smile over Mickey won out. He loves road trips so the 6 hour drive from AZ is a plus to him.
Me, Robin, 34 the planner, I love to plan vacations whether they are 1 month or 2 years away. We were engaged at WDW so nothing beats Mickey in my mind.
DS, Matt, 4 huge fan of Buzz Lightyear and really all things Disney. Has a soft spot in his heart for Snow White. Id like to think it was because his mom was Snow White for Halloween last year.
Hotel:
Disneyland Hotel, Sierra Tower room #2363
Timing:
Friday, Sept 8th to Sunday, Sept 10th.
DAY 1
With work and life in general being a little crazy, DH agreed time at DLR was needed. We plan on going more than once in the next year, so we went with buying APs. Very exciting for the discount/coupon lover that I am.
The plan was to leave our house at noon work schedules allowing. Well, thanks to DHs got to be on time or we are late attitude we pulled out of DSs daycare at 11:59. Pretty uneventful trip to CA. Mapquest said 5 hours 44 minutes, but they didnt account for Friday 5:00 traffic but we pulled into DLH at a 6:15 or so.
Still not bad, but we were very hungry.
I paid for a view room and was happy to see we got a view of DTD vs. the pool. Since it was still daylight I couldnt tell if wed be able to see the fireworks or not. (happily the next night I sat on the bed, relaxing my feet to watch fireworks so well worth the upgrade!). I had Mickey aka Vacation Planning leave a gift basket full of snacks and water welcoming us back to DLR. DS was thrilled Mickey gave him a gift. Cool. score 1 for Mom thinking ahead
Next we headed to DTD for dinner. We ate at Naples. I have to say either I was starving or the food was just that great. I ate the prosciutto pizza. Basically it was an Italian salad of arugula, prosciutto, parmesan, balsamic vinaigrette on a pizza crust. Yum. I had the individual pizza but only was able to eat about half. We were on our way to DL so leftovers probably wouldnt have worked well. But keep that in mind if you go. I would have loved to snack on that later. DH had the rigatoni (cleaned his bowl so it must have been good) and DS ate pasta with olive oil (boring, yes but its what hell eat).
The DLH had our APs at check-in so we headed through the entrance gates and right into our first line the one at the Bank to take your picture for APs. The CMs were all lovely, making sure we to tell us to show my husbands pass everywhere not mine as his is a premium and would get a bigger discount
Then onto Thunder Mountain. A little background, Im sure I read it on the DIS to show Disney DVDs of the parks to your kids to get them used to what theyll be seeing. So I bought one of those Sing Along DVDs of DL. Now the DVD cover said 50th Anniversary on it so youd think it was from at least the last decade, but youd be wrong. All the clothes, hairstyles and sizes of cameras were from the 80s. Oh well. DS would get the idea. Sure enough, DSs love of trains led him to loving BTMRR. Great, we thought a real ride.
So after getting our pictures taken for the APs we head to BTMRR. He did great in line, very excited to go. We get to the front and they measure him, just to be sure. Yep, he is 41 inches, we are so there. We get in rows 3 & 4 on the left side. Nope, CM changed his mind now he wants us on rows 3 & 4 on the right side no biggie, we move. Bad decision. In rows 1 & 2 are three pre-teen girls who proceed to scream as if someone was doing them bodily harm throughout the entire ride especially loud in the tunnels. Within 30 seconds, DS is covering his eyes and terrified.
Seconds later he is in tears. 
The ride ends and we couldnt get out of there fast enough for him. deduct 2 points for Mom not forcing the first roller coaster ride ever until the next morning 
I ask DS if it was the dark tunnels or the screaming girls or the fast ride that was scary. His answer: the screaming girls. Eek, we quickly make it to Buzz Lightyear to try to make things alright in DSs world.
Now in all fairness, if I had a pre-teen girl, I would think DLR on a Friday night is a much better place to have my daughter be than off doing who knows what. Cant be mad at them for enjoying their night at Disney.
all smiles before getting on BTMRR
The wait at Buzz was 20 minutes, but is seemed shorter. A CM gave DS an Honorary Citizen sticker. DS cant read but any Mickey sticker is enjoyed thoroughly and frankly I wanted him to have some pixie dust to make any distress over BTMRR go away.
Buzz is great and it appears as if all is right in the world. We walk out to the last 5 minutes of fireworks, a nice ending to a long day.
Since the monorail is down, we head out with the masses (sneaking in a few stores on Main Street, both to get away from the crowds and so I can window shop a bit) towards DTD. The Lego store is the only store that we stop in every single time we go past. There is no lets stop on the way back for DH and DS.
Fine. I follow. This is the first of at least three visits to this store. Did I mention we were only there over the weekend?
Is the BTMRR drama long forgotten?
Does our Blue Bayou experience live up to its cost?
Day 2 to follow soon .
A much needed Disney weekend - Day 1
A much needed Disney weekend - Day 2, part 1
A much needed Disney weekend - Day 2, part 2
A much needed Disney weekend - Last part
Characters:
DH, Mike, 35 recent convert to DL as he grew up in Orlando and wasnt previously itching to go to DLR, but his need to see his wife and son smile over Mickey won out. He loves road trips so the 6 hour drive from AZ is a plus to him.
Me, Robin, 34 the planner, I love to plan vacations whether they are 1 month or 2 years away. We were engaged at WDW so nothing beats Mickey in my mind.
DS, Matt, 4 huge fan of Buzz Lightyear and really all things Disney. Has a soft spot in his heart for Snow White. Id like to think it was because his mom was Snow White for Halloween last year.
Hotel:
Disneyland Hotel, Sierra Tower room #2363
Timing:
Friday, Sept 8th to Sunday, Sept 10th.
DAY 1
With work and life in general being a little crazy, DH agreed time at DLR was needed. We plan on going more than once in the next year, so we went with buying APs. Very exciting for the discount/coupon lover that I am.
The plan was to leave our house at noon work schedules allowing. Well, thanks to DHs got to be on time or we are late attitude we pulled out of DSs daycare at 11:59. Pretty uneventful trip to CA. Mapquest said 5 hours 44 minutes, but they didnt account for Friday 5:00 traffic but we pulled into DLH at a 6:15 or so.
Still not bad, but we were very hungry.I paid for a view room and was happy to see we got a view of DTD vs. the pool. Since it was still daylight I couldnt tell if wed be able to see the fireworks or not. (happily the next night I sat on the bed, relaxing my feet to watch fireworks so well worth the upgrade!). I had Mickey aka Vacation Planning leave a gift basket full of snacks and water welcoming us back to DLR. DS was thrilled Mickey gave him a gift. Cool. score 1 for Mom thinking ahead
Next we headed to DTD for dinner. We ate at Naples. I have to say either I was starving or the food was just that great. I ate the prosciutto pizza. Basically it was an Italian salad of arugula, prosciutto, parmesan, balsamic vinaigrette on a pizza crust. Yum. I had the individual pizza but only was able to eat about half. We were on our way to DL so leftovers probably wouldnt have worked well. But keep that in mind if you go. I would have loved to snack on that later. DH had the rigatoni (cleaned his bowl so it must have been good) and DS ate pasta with olive oil (boring, yes but its what hell eat).
The DLH had our APs at check-in so we headed through the entrance gates and right into our first line the one at the Bank to take your picture for APs. The CMs were all lovely, making sure we to tell us to show my husbands pass everywhere not mine as his is a premium and would get a bigger discount
Then onto Thunder Mountain. A little background, Im sure I read it on the DIS to show Disney DVDs of the parks to your kids to get them used to what theyll be seeing. So I bought one of those Sing Along DVDs of DL. Now the DVD cover said 50th Anniversary on it so youd think it was from at least the last decade, but youd be wrong. All the clothes, hairstyles and sizes of cameras were from the 80s. Oh well. DS would get the idea. Sure enough, DSs love of trains led him to loving BTMRR. Great, we thought a real ride.
So after getting our pictures taken for the APs we head to BTMRR. He did great in line, very excited to go. We get to the front and they measure him, just to be sure. Yep, he is 41 inches, we are so there. We get in rows 3 & 4 on the left side. Nope, CM changed his mind now he wants us on rows 3 & 4 on the right side no biggie, we move. Bad decision. In rows 1 & 2 are three pre-teen girls who proceed to scream as if someone was doing them bodily harm throughout the entire ride especially loud in the tunnels. Within 30 seconds, DS is covering his eyes and terrified.
Seconds later he is in tears. The ride ends and we couldnt get out of there fast enough for him. deduct 2 points for Mom not forcing the first roller coaster ride ever until the next morning I ask DS if it was the dark tunnels or the screaming girls or the fast ride that was scary. His answer: the screaming girls. Eek, we quickly make it to Buzz Lightyear to try to make things alright in DSs world.
Now in all fairness, if I had a pre-teen girl, I would think DLR on a Friday night is a much better place to have my daughter be than off doing who knows what. Cant be mad at them for enjoying their night at Disney.all smiles before getting on BTMRR
The wait at Buzz was 20 minutes, but is seemed shorter. A CM gave DS an Honorary Citizen sticker. DS cant read but any Mickey sticker is enjoyed thoroughly and frankly I wanted him to have some pixie dust to make any distress over BTMRR go away.
Buzz is great and it appears as if all is right in the world. We walk out to the last 5 minutes of fireworks, a nice ending to a long day.Since the monorail is down, we head out with the masses (sneaking in a few stores on Main Street, both to get away from the crowds and so I can window shop a bit) towards DTD. The Lego store is the only store that we stop in every single time we go past. There is no lets stop on the way back for DH and DS.
Fine. I follow. This is the first of at least three visits to this store. Did I mention we were only there over the weekend? Is the BTMRR drama long forgotten?
Does our Blue Bayou experience live up to its cost?
Day 2 to follow soon .
A much needed Disney weekend - Day 1
A much needed Disney weekend - Day 2, part 1
A much needed Disney weekend - Day 2, part 2
A much needed Disney weekend - Last part
