A Solo Adventure Down to the Land of Magic!-Updated 6/5!!

[katt789]

Hello out there to everyone!! Welcome to my newest trip report, and this time, it's over here on the DisneyLand Resort boards! So, here's onto the information.

Who:

Me! I'm a 22 year old certified Disney nut!! I first travelled to DisneyLand down in 1997, and then didn't return to DisneyWorld until May of 2011, and then again in Sept 2011, and again in Dec 2011, and January 2012! I love all things Disney, especially the parks, the magic, the atmosphere, the awesomeness, they're just so amazing.

My favorite Princess is Ariel with a very close runner up of Rapunzel. I love Donald, Tigger, and Tink!

When: March 3-7th 2012!

Where: Disneyland Resort! I was staying off property at the Ramada Maingate: At the Park (it was pretty much right across the street from the park entrance!)

Why: It started out as a trip down for an audition for the Pixar Play Parade, but after some talking to cm's out there, just turned out to be a solo trip down to have fun & explore.

Park Tickets: I would normally have gone with a 4 day park hopper tix, but this trip was special, as I purchased my Premier Annual Passport on this trip!! It gets me into both all of Disneyland Resort, and Walt Disney World for 1 year, along with some awesome discounts on food & merchandise!

Now, let's get this journey going!!

Chapter Links:
Day 1
Getting There
My Undersea Adventure

DAY 2
Heading into the Parks
Journey to the 100 Acre Wood
Adventure!
Pinnochio, Pixies & Playing
A Long Winded Rambling
Dancing & Monsters Oh my!
Lunch & An Elevator
-->Detour: A Year's Worth of TR's!<--
Characters, Characters, More Characters & Food
Exploring the Adventures
Extreme Fireworks!
More Fireworks!

Day 3
A Tribute to All Nations, but Mostly America
Lunch Under the Sea
Wanderings of DCA
Bugs, Animation & Aladdin
A Very Short One
The World is a Carousel of Color
Wonderful Wonderful Color
Watch Out, You May Get Wet
It's Almost Over

 

[CB Jamboree]

Hi there! I'm here looking forward to hearing about your solo trip! I have gone once by myself in Oct 2011 and had a great time! Can't wait to read more

 

[katt789]

It’s Day number one, and we’re off and the adventure is beginning!! I was up BRIGHT and EARLY (around 5am) to head to the airport for check in at 6, with an 8:00 am flight! I slept on the first flight & managed to actually stay awake on the 2nd flight (hey, it had been a long work week) I had pre-ordered meal vouchers from Air Canada, and got a wrap & snack for $7.00 (which was a pretty good deal, but I wouldn’t do it again, not enough good choices of food)

I landed in LAX, and immediately wished that I was able to spend so much more time simply exploring LA itself! I’m involved in the arts (acting, dance) up here in Canada, with plans to hopefully making it out to LA eventually, and really just want to explore and discover & adventure, however, the plan for this trip was Disney. I had booked the Super Shuttle to get to the hotel, so after quickly getting my baggage, I headed out the door, thank goodness I had seen the sign & knew where I was supposed to go! I landed around 1:30, and it wasn’t much past this by the time I got in the shuttle.

Now, I was the 2nd person on the shuttle, and then we drove around the airport picking up other people, taking for freakin ever, and then did ANOTHER loop around the airport….GAWD I just wanted to get going, and I knew it was going to take a while to get going, but not NEARLY as long as it did end up taking. We made 3 stops before we finally arrived at my home for the next couple of days.

By the time I got to my hotel it was already 3:45!! EGADS!! I had places to be! I was staying at the Ramada Maingate: At the Park. It was literally across the street from Disneyland Resort, it took me under 5 minutes to get from the entrance of the park to my room, pretty sweet deal if you ask me! I would definitely recommend this hotel to anyone. Rooms were spacious enough, the beds were a little on the small side, in Disney standards I’d compare it to a Value Resort.

I quickly changed into shorts, slathered on some sunscreen, and walked on over! My first observations; the magic doesn’t engulf you quite as quickly as WDW, but hey, I was in Disney! I knew thanks to it being Saturday that the parks would definitely be over crowded, and I immediately noticed that there were also cheerleaders EVERYWHERE…oh dear… However the parks weren’t my first target, the ticket booth was! It was time for me to make the investment and buy my Premier Annual Passport! It gets me into all the Disneyland Resort & Walt Disney World Resort Parks (including waterparks & Disneyquest) for 1 year. In total it cost me $749.00 USD, which is worth it considering the trips I have planned for this year. I do wish there was a step down pass offered, as I’ll never use the waterparks or DQ, but hey, I’ll take it!

I cleared through bag check, and was quickly through the turnstiles and into DISNEYLAND!!

Love that sign, so much, I read it every time I enter the park!

That stood in front of me…dear god….Luckily that is a build up of crowds, as the parade was just finishing up in the hub as I entered, so everyone was kinda stuck in one area. I took my time wandering around the park, and checked out some places that I thought I might want to eat at, and tried to get a gist of what wait times were like. Well, it was just FAR too crowded to try and do anything. I did a full loop of the park, and ended up in New Orleans Square. Wow…that place is incredible, there’s a lot of differences in DLR & WDW, and NOS is one of my FAVORITE places! I decided on French Market, and got the chicken dinner that came with mashed potatoes, veggies, and CORN BREAD! GAH! I seriously love corn bread, I was super excited!

It was really good! The chicken was still moist, not dry at all, the veggies were meh, but the potatoes were delcious! So creamy & yummy! The cornbread, win! Overall, delicious! And I got a discount with my new AP! SWEET! Lovin it already!

I finished eating, and continued to wander a bit, I really didn’t like not knowing where things were, I didn’t really know where I was going, or what direction what was in. I know it’s the general gist of the same as WDW, but it still confused the heck out of me, the layout’s just somewhat different, and I know my way around Magic Kingdom like the back of my hand, so I’d go one way thinking something was over there, and then end up having to go the other way!

The park was just TOO crowded, so I figured I’d jump over to California Adventure to check things out over there! I made sure to grab a castle pic on the way out though!

Can we talk about how fantastically amazing it is to park hop at DLR?! So easy! It’s like, oh hey, I don’t want to eat lunch in this park, NO PROBS! Let’s go to DTD really quick, SO EASY!! I made a beeline for Tower of Terror, the greatest ride EVER, but the wait time was 45 MINUTES, no thank you… I would try again later in the week!

Thanks to it being my first day, I was really just wandering around, kinda trying to figure out the lay of the land, and I knew it would really be too crowded to ride anything, but I did manage to find something with not too much of a wait after this. What was it, you ask? Well, you’ll just have to wait and see! Till next time!

 

[sunshineNJ]

Can't wait for the rest!!

 

[katt789]

Hi there! I'm here looking forward to hearing about your solo trip! I have gone once by myself in Oct 2011 and had a great time! Can't wait to read more

Can't wait for the rest!!

Glad to see you guys are here for the ride! It'll get going slowly but surely, uploading & resizing pics takes forever!!

Going solo is one of my favorite things! You can do whatever you like whenever you like!

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

I'm here... Let the party begin!!!

 

[ronnmel]

Did not miss the link to your new trip report this time, so I'm not 3 weeks late!

I'm excited to read about a different park than WDW. Too bad about not auditioning, but I can understand why.

I know you said you'll never visit the waterparks, but since you have the AP, why not give them a try at some point? Even if just for a few hours. They are a lot of fun!

 

[dara00]

I'm in! I was in DL in 2009 and now after our trip to DW I kinda forget what the differences are, so I look forward to reading them!

 

[Merida]

Yay Disneyland report!! Aw, that sucks for missing the Hong Kong ones. Do they have the auditions for Tokyo Disney stateside as well? I've never heard very much about the Hong Kong park, but - judging from lurkyloo's Tokyo trip report - it'd be amazing to be a cast member at DisneySea!

Ugh, I hate SuperShuttle. It always takes forever and there's always one person who is lost or late and can we just get a move on already?!?

I understand that most people who go in for the Premier pass will probably use it for the waterparks and stuff, but I totally would get a 'basic' pass as well. I hate swimming and we're not really a video game family, so getting a single day pass to those places would be way more cost effective. Or at least make them an add-on option (like park hoppers)!

Mmm, cornbread. My boyfriend showed me how to me "southern cornbread" (his words!) by putting large amounts of honey in the mix - SO GOOD. I make him do that step because I always skimp on the honey (seriously, it's a lot!!) and he does it way better. Favorite side ever! I'm glad you liked New Orleans Square because I'm pretty sure that whenever we get to Disneyland that's where we'll be for the entire trip.

 

[shan23877]

I'm here!

I just can't decide if I want to visit DL or not. On one hand some of the rides are better, and it's so compact--but on the other hand, I'm pretty sure I'd just wander around thinking "this is faux WDW, where is everything?"

We had cheerleaders on our honeymoon trip. I tried to be understanding because I used to be one, but boy were they irritating!!

 

[katt789]

I'm here... Let the party begin!!!

Glad to know you're reading along!!

Did not miss the link to your new trip report this time, so I'm not 3 weeks late!

I'm excited to read about a different park than WDW. Too bad about not auditioning, but I can understand why.

I know you said you'll never visit the waterparks, but since you have the AP, why not give them a try at some point? Even if just for a few hours. They are a lot of fun!

Hahaha! Yay!! And it is exciting to branch out from something aside from WDW, and yeah, it made the most sense not to waste the time in the audition. And yeah, it's very possible that I'll make a trip to the waterparks, I mean, why not, right?!

I'm in! I was in DL in 2009 and now after our trip to DW I kinda forget what the differences are, so I look forward to reading them!

I know right?! I like them both, and their differences are awesome!

Yay Disneyland report!! Aw, that sucks for missing the Hong Kong ones. Do they have the auditions for Tokyo Disney stateside as well? I've never heard very much about the Hong Kong park, but - judging from lurkyloo's Tokyo trip report - it'd be amazing to be a cast member at DisneySea!

Ugh, I hate SuperShuttle. It always takes forever and there's always one person who is lost or late and can we just get a move on already?!?

I understand that most people who go in for the Premier pass will probably use it for the waterparks and stuff, but I totally would get a 'basic' pass as well. I hate swimming and we're not really a video game family, so getting a single day pass to those places would be way more cost effective. Or at least make them an add-on option (like park hoppers)!

Mmm, cornbread. My boyfriend showed me how to me "southern cornbread" (his words!) by putting large amounts of honey in the mix - SO GOOD. I make him do that step because I always skimp on the honey (seriously, it's a lot!!) and he does it way better. Favorite side ever! I'm glad you liked New Orleans Square because I'm pretty sure that whenever we get to Disneyland that's where we'll be for the entire trip.

Oh I haven't missed the HK ones, they're in New York, Orlando & LA in the first week of April, I just really don't have the money to go (2 months with $3000.00 visa bills...I've just got to save & pay that off versus going to another audition) The super shuttle was just a headache, going back to the airport was A LOT smoother, but that also had to do with the time of day!

I so wish there was a less version of the pass, who knows, maybe it'll come out sometime soon. I usually would also only go with the WDW annual pass, I don't plan on visiting DLR that much, just the 2 trips this year balanced the cost out. Usually it would be a "oh hey,I'm down for an audiiton, I'll go to the parks" but if I'm in LA for auditions, they're more likely to be over in North Hollywood, and getting aronud LA is just too crazy to try and get out to Anahiem as well!!

DFSDGFGSD New Orleans Sq was just so absolutely amazing! Definitely mtyabsolute favorite part of DLR!!

I'm here!

I just can't decide if I want to visit DL or not. On one hand some of the rides are better, and it's so compact--but on the other hand, I'm pretty sure I'd just wander around thinking "this is faux WDW, where is everything?"

We had cheerleaders on our honeymoon trip. I tried to be understanding because I used to be one, but boy were they irritating!!

I definitely had that feeling, it was awesome, but I'm a WDW go-er, and love it so much!! I knew going in to the trip that things would be different, and I knew the differences, but I still had some dissappointment. It's worth a trip thats for sure though!! Oh cheerleaders! I cheered for a couple of years as well, I loved it, and I still love watching it. I actually considered going into the competition while I was there, but I wasn't sure if I would be allowed in to watch!

 

[katt789]

Which ride was it that had the shortest wait time I could find?! Well, it was the Ariel’s Under the Sea Adventure!! (or whichever it’s actually called) the Little Mermaid ride! Eeeek! I have loved the Little Mermaid forever (and actually watched it last night…yup…that’s my Friday night…watching Disney movies…screw going to the bar…Haha!!) and Ariel’s my favorite princess! I was so excited to know that this ride was in DLR, and was so excited to go on it, naturally, when I came across a wait time of 15 minutes, I figured I’d jump in line!!

I boarded my seashell in under the posted 15 minutes, and was on my way under the sea!

You want thing a ma bobs? I’ve got 20!

Under da sea! Under da sea! Darling it’s better down where it’s wetter, take it from me!! I seriously cannot help but dance when this song comes on!

Uh-oh…this isn’t looking too great…where are we headed?! Eels with 1 glowing eye is never a good sign…we must we headed down to see the Sea Witch!! Ursula!

Sha la la la!! The greatest part of the Kiss the Girl song is definitely scuttle “waa waa wah waaaaa” oh goodness!

Ah! King Triton eventually approves & Ariel & Prince Eric are married & live happily ever after! My verdict: great ride! Super cute, I loved it, it definitely helps that it was Little Mermaid! Observation: DLR has way more Little Mermaid merchandise than WDW, mainly because of the ride I’m guessing!

With my adventure under the sea completed, I decided that it was time to head back over to Disneyland! I had digested my dinner, and had a specific dessert in mind! I breezed through to Main Street, where I was once again, catching the tail end of the parade, things were very crowded!!

I decided to cut through the Main St shops to get through quicker, and found an adorable Mary Poppins doll! My roommate loves china dolls & Mary Poppins, but I really didn’t have enough room in my luggage, and it was a bit too pricey, so I settled for a picture of it.

Would you check out these crowds?! EGADS! Seriously! The weekends are insane over here in California! Luckily, I was able to cut across to New Orleans Square quite easily, and settled down with a bottle of water and my evening snack. What was this snack?! Why, beignets of course! They were Mickey shaped, and even had some nice Mardi Gras sprinkles on them!

Verdict: OM NOM NOM!! They were delicious! Super light & fluffy and amazing! Every time I watch Princess & the Frog, I want them more & more. I then discovered you could get them at the Port Orleans Resort over in Florida and tried to book my April trip there, but the discount was more applicable at CBR. Dang! Then I discovered you could actually get them at DLR! HECK YES! Sooooo worth it!!

After my snack, I decided it was time to go, it was just too crowded, and I was getting a little cold, so I headed back to the Ramada where I picked up some cheerios, a banana & some granola bars for breakfast, straightened my hair, and watched some TV before bed. I was so happy that I finally had my Annual Premier Passport! Eeeee!

What would tomorrow hold?! Well, another adventure, that’s for sure! And some secret stuff that actually happened before I returned to the hotel, but applies more to tomorrow, so you’ll just have to wait! Heehee!

 

[shan23877]

I can't wait until the Little Mermaid ride opens at WDW! I'm glad you enjoyed it, it does look really cute.

The beignets at POFQ were amazing! I had them for snack or breakfast everyday on our last trip. They aren't as good as in New Orleans, but still very, very yummy. You'll have to make your way over there one of these days.

Looking forward to finding out what happened next!

 

[katt789]

I can't wait until the Little Mermaid ride opens at WDW! I'm glad you enjoyed it, it does look really cute.

The beignets at POFQ were amazing! I had them for snack or breakfast everyday on our last trip. They aren't as good as in New Orleans, but still very, very yummy. You'll have to make your way over there one of these days.

Looking forward to finding out what happened next!

I'm super excited for the LM ride in WDW to open! I just want all of new fantasyland to be done noooowwww!!

The begnets were half the reason I wanted to stay at POFQ!! I was going to book our April trip there, but the discount was higher at CBR! Gah!! So excited!!!!

 

[dara00]

we were there just before the little mermaid opened - it'll probably be awhile yet before I get to ride it!!

 

[katt789]

we were there just before the little mermaid opened - it'll probably be awhile yet before I get to ride it!!

Ah boo! It's so cute! But hey, it'll be open soon confused3) ish in WDW!?

 

[Merida]

Oh I haven't missed the HK ones, they're in New York, Orlando & LA in the first week of April, I just really don't have the money to go (2 months with $3000.00 visa bills...I've just got to save & pay that off versus going to another audition) The super shuttle was just a headache, going back to the airport was A LOT smoother, but that also had to do with the time of day!

I so wish there was a less version of the pass, who knows, maybe it'll come out sometime soon. I usually would also only go with the WDW annual pass, I don't plan on visiting DLR that much, just the 2 trips this year balanced the cost out. Usually it would be a "oh hey,I'm down for an audiiton, I'll go to the parks" but if I'm in LA for auditions, they're more likely to be over in North Hollywood, and getting aronud LA is just too crazy to try and get out to Anahiem as well!!

DFSDGFGSD New Orleans Sq was just so absolutely amazing! Definitely mtyabsolute favorite part of DLR!!

Boo, credit card bills. Mine's going to outrageous this month, but because of the dentist, not awesome things like Disney (what a rip-off!). Do they hold the auditions for overseas frequently or is a once-a-year kind thing? Hopefully there'll be another later this year!

New Orleans Square just looks so lovely in pictures. Especially at night! All the lights (and the food!) and the whole atmosphere.

The update:

First: HOLY SMOKES THEY WEREN'T LYING THE BEIGNETS ARE MICKEY SHAPED!!!!

(I had a really hard time believing that 'Mickey Head Beignets' would come as advertised, but I've seen the light! AMAZING.)

Second: I love, love, love the Kiss the Girl scene. Favorite princess dress EVER. It's so adorable and so rarely done for any type of dress-up/cosplay/etc. I want it! And the massive hair bow. Too cute!

I'm so glad they included that scene; there are so many iconic scenes in LM that I feel like it gets forgotten (totally unfairly because it is the best ever).

Third: Yuck, crowds! It's so hard to get used to the "locals factor" after growing up with the WDW tourist mentality. But I'm also super jealous that they're so close to such an amazing place.

Fourth: Your passport is gorgeous!

 

[katt789]

Boo, credit card bills. Mine's going to outrageous this month, but because of the dentist, not awesome things like Disney (what a rip-off!). Do they hold the auditions for overseas frequently or is a once-a-year kind thing? Hopefully there'll be another later this year!

New Orleans Square just looks so lovely in pictures. Especially at night! All the lights (and the food!) and the whole atmosphere.

The update:

First: HOLY SMOKES THEY WEREN'T LYING THE BEIGNETS ARE MICKEY SHAPED!!!!

(I had a really hard time believing that 'Mickey Head Beignets' would come as advertised, but I've seen the light! AMAZING.)

Second: I love, love, love the Kiss the Girl scene. Favorite princess dress EVER. It's so adorable and so rarely done for any type of dress-up/cosplay/etc. I want it! And the massive hair bow. Too cute!

I'm so glad they included that scene; there are so many iconic scenes in LM that I feel like it gets forgotten (totally unfairly because it is the best ever).

Third: Yuck, crowds! It's so hard to get used to the "locals factor" after growing up with the WDW tourist mentality. But I'm also super jealous that they're so close to such an amazing place.

Fourth: Your passport is gorgeous!

They regularly have auditions for dancers for Toyko in LA/New York, but this is really the first I've seen of any character stuff. I'm assuming it doesnt happent oo often, but hey, that's fine with me

Oh my goodness Mickey Beignets, I wish I could have gotten away with eating them every day, so delcious!

Ariel's kiss the girl dress is totally the same as Briar Rose's dress! I wish the dresses that were in the movies were in the parks more! Example; those dresses, Ariel's shimmer dress (and oh hey, how about her pink dress?) or cindy's pink one, belle's red & green ones, jasmine's red or purple outfits! Esmerelda's red outfit (though seeing her in the park would be awesome!) And so on & so fourth!

 

[katt789]

Sunday began BRIGHT and early at around 6:45 am! This was the morning that I was planning to go to an audition for the Pixar Play Parade that they held in DCA! However, I had ended up talking to some cm’s the night earlier, and they explained that it might not be worth it as I would only be doing one parade a day, if that, and I wouldn’t be able to make a living off of that, especially being Canadian, it just wouldn’t work out. SO, after a quick call to my mom back home, and getting her confirmation that it was okay to do that, I got ready to head out to the parks for the full day!!

They were having Magic Morning that morning, and thanks to my computer still being in the wrong time zone, I was thinking it was an hour earlier than it actually was! They did let everyone in to the park though, but had it all roped off up at the hub, where we had to wait for the official rope drop!

There’s the castle! Now…being the HUGE Disney World snob that I am, I miss my castle. I know that Walt designed them very differently, and didn’t want the park to be the biggest focal point of DLR, but still, I love that magical ness of it. I planned on hitting up Splash first thing this morning, so I headed to the left side of the hub to wait!

This was where things got kinda confusing…I was used to the rope drop at Magic Kingdom, and just how things were run over there, so I really had no clue what was going on, I found the Magic Morning confusing, and the rope drop seemed a little less organized, but that’s just me!

Soon enough, the ropes were let down, and as some people went RUNNING to their first destination, I took my time taking everything in while still quickly moving along to Splash!

There it is!! Eeek! The greatest ride! That drop sure looks FREAKY!! I’m not sure what the wait time was, but I just walked through the cue before I was at the loading dock! Thanks to it being first thing in the morning, I was given my own private log, yay! It did kinda freak me out that there was no lap bars on the ride, I’m just glad that I knew about it in advance, or I would have really been freaked out!

My verdict: definitely liked the WDW version better, I found that the logs went too quickly through the ride, and I didn’t really get enough time to even see what was going on. If I hadn’t know the “plot” of the ride, I would certainly have no idea now.

I luckily didn’t get too wet on the ride, and was soon on my way through Critter Country!!

 

[shan23877]

See? Now bizarro rope drop too? This is why I should stick to WDW.

The crowd levels look much more managable on the second morning though

Sorry the audition didn't work out. I wonder why things are set up so much differently at the 2 parks? Weird.