An English Disney planaholics 1st trip to DLR & 3 week USA adventure, pre trip report

[Danauk]

So I have tried to write this pre trip report a few times now and have scrapped what I have written because, well it sounded dull and boring! I love reading trip reports that are funny, eventful and full of pictures which is what I want to do, but it turns out that I am just not a funny writer, so I hope my pictures will eventually make up for it!! It finally seems like the trip is almost here, well 2 months to go when you have been planning for 2 years means the trip is almost here.

So, the cast:
Me, Karen, 32 and a total Disney nut, which helps when I spend my day teaching 9 year olds.

Taken at Cafe Mickey at Disneyland Paris last month!

DH, Pete, 33, loves theme parks, coasters and tolerates my obsession with Disney (but loves our Disney trips as much as I do!)

Again taken at Cafe Mickey last month, Pete's 1st ever character photo!

Trip dates: 11th – 28th August, but the Disneyland part of trip, 11th – 16th August.


Reason for the trip:
Well, the Disney stay kicks off a 3 week trip to America to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. We don’t have kids so this trip is the ultimate Disneyland adults only indulgence!! After our Disney stay we are heading to Six Flags Magic Mountain for a few days (did I mention we love coasters!), then off to Hollywood for a few days and finally off to Las Vegas for a week to relax! (Yes I did just say relax in Vegas, we love it there even though we don’t really gamble.) As one of the major costs of American trips are the flights (minimum $1600 per person as we can only travel in school holidays so peak prices!!) we don’t get to do American trips as often as we want to (our last trip was Christmas 2005.) Because of this when we do have a trip planned we tend to go all out as we have to save for years to afford it all anyway!

So is everyone still with me? Great, I’ll carry on!

 

[Danauk]

So, the story so far:
Now, as will become apparent I am a total planning freak, the more knowledge the better (Pete and my friends who we take a lot of our Disney trips with tease me as I always have a plan and order everyone around, which they actually secretly love as when it comes to planning days out at theme parks my plans involve short lines and minimum waits!) Sorry, I’m starting to digress!! Anyway, I have been planning this trip for 2 years (yes I did just type 2 years!!) Although in my defence we are doing a lot over the 3 weeks and it takes a lot of research and planning as I am booking the trip myself. Now this is our 1st trip to Disneyland, although we have been to WDW and Disneyland Paris a few times. I choose Disneyland for our 10th anniversary because we went to Disneyland Paris on our honeymoon, Disney World for our 5th anniversary so being the Disney nut I am figured Disneyland would be the logical choice for our 10th! I have bought a couple of guide books and Ridemax to help me plan. I love my Passporter for organisation, plus I love Ridemax to help plan the days! I have used Ridemax to create spread sheets for the wait times for the different rides for the different days so we can decide what to do on the spur of the moment but still make the best educated decision. Plus I also have created info sheets from top tips here on the Dis. As I said I am obsessive and like to plan!

How are we getting there and where are we staying?
We are flying out of London Heathrow to LAX, a lovely 11 ½ hour flight. Our flight leaves at 11:30am and we need to be at the airport 3 hours before. However we need to allow about 3 hours to drive to the airport! My parents are driving us there as they are house sitting for us whilst we are away (to look after the pets!!) Hopefully the flight will be OK and we will be able to get some rest. We decided to splurge a bit this year and we are flying in the premium cabin for the 1st time (upstairs in the ‘bubble’ on the aeroplane!), lovely leather seats, extra leg room and recline, champagne served before you take off meals served on china plates with real cutlery! On the way home we are flying out of Las Vegas and back to London (hopefully I might get to sleep upstairs!!) We are booked into the Grand Californian theme park view for 5 nights. Now here is the sweet bit. This part of the trip our best friends have sorted for us. As an anniversary gift they have booked us in to the hotel using their DVC points (and yes, I do realise I have the most wonderful best friends ever!!) I have spoken to vacation planning and as it is our anniversary and 1st visit they said they would have buttons for us when we check in to wear, plus they asked what our favourite characters were (not sure why, guess we will find out soon!) I have also spoken to vacation planning and have arranged for a few gift baskets and chocolate covered strawberries to be delivered throughout the stay which we can nibble on during our afternoon park breaks.

So, the plan for when we are there:
Monday 11th August:

• Arrive at 2:30pm after the long, long flight, body clocks still 8 hours ahead of the local time, but we are in America so are so excited we don’t care!!
• Have booked a town car to drive us to the hotel so hopefully should arrive at the GCH by about 5:00pm
• Head off straight into the parks after checking in to our room and dropping the bags off.
• The plan is to take in the atmosphere, relax, get orientated, although after studying the layout of the parks in great detail on park maps and Microsoft live maps (amazing detail BTW, you can zoom the birds eye view in to just 25 yards!) I really don’t need to do this! I already know every path way in the park and I haven’t set foot in it yet! Then ride a few rides (still TBD as I need to run my final ridemax plan just before we leave), then head off to bed when we finally have had enough.

Tuesday 12th August:

• Wake up early (after all our body still thinks it is 8 hours later than what it actually is), get in line for EE with pastries and coffee to have for breakfast whilst waiting!.
• EE – Fantasy land rides, and then grab some FP’s for later when the machines switch on.
• 9am we are meeting our VIP tour guide. We have done guided tours at WDW and DLP so decided to splurge and do a VIP tour for our 1st trip to DL!! During the tour we plan to grab some food from Bengal BBQ (I want to try the chicken skewer!)
• Then after the tour watch the parade, go back to the hotel for a rest, have a swim and a nap before heading back into the park for the evening.
• Storytellers Cafe 6:30 followed by more rides and Fantasmic - VIP area (thanks to the VIP tour!).

Wednesday 13th August:

• Segway tour!! We have done this at WDW and loved it!
• Spend the day in CA.
• Afternoon break for a nap and a swim.
• Back into CA late afternoon for a few more rides then off for dinner at the Vineyard Room (or Wine Country Trattoria if the Vineyard room isn’t open.)

Thursday 14th August:

• EE – Do the Nemo run, then depending on how time goes Matterhorn, Space Mountain.
• Then spend the day doing rides we have not yet done in either park or rides we want to do again. As we will have laptops with us I will create some ridemax plans for this the evening before.
• 11:30 – Lunch Blue Bayou waterside table
• Usual afternoon rest, maybe some DTD shopping.
• 4:10 Aladdin show.
• Evening – Fireworks.

Friday 15th August:
Go pick up the rental car and drive to Knotts Berry farm for the day, back in the evening for dinner at Nappa Rose.

Saturday 16th August:

• 8am breakfast at Plaza Inn, re ride a few rides.
• Check out of hotel and drive to Six Flags Magic Mountain.
• Spend the morning and early afternoon in the park, then check into to the hotel.
• Drive to San Pedro to meet a few Dis buddies for dinner before they sail on the Magic.

Then spend 2 nights at Six Flags Magic Mountain – Hilton Garden Inn. Sunday we have VIP fast passes all day, Monday morning back into the park again.

Next on to Hollywood where we will stay at the Renaissance Hollywood. Hotel. There we plan to:

• Visit the walk of fame
• Visit the Disney Soda Fountain
• Visit the Chinese theatre
• Visit the Kodak theatre and Hollywood and Highlands centre
• Visit Universal Studios to do the VIP tour.
• Do the Warner Brothers tour
• Do the Paramount Studios tour
• Do the Sony studio tour
• Visit the Disney Studios

Then finally on to Las Vegas to stay at the Bellagio for a week. Here we plan to tour the hotels, relax, swim, do a helicopter tour to the Grand Canyon, see a few cirque shows (O and Ka), drive out to Red Rock Canyon and do a bit of shopping.

 

[Danauk]

So, what has been planned so far?
So the flights and hotels have been booked for almost a year now, park tickets have been bought for all the parks we are visiting, airport transfers are booked, VIP planning have been contacted and our restaurant PS’s will be booked as soon as they are able to do so, hire car booked, more crocs shoes have been ordered (I’m taking 2 pairs of Mary Janes, a pair of black Minnie Janes and a pair of Capri canvas, I don’t do light packing but we are going for 3 weeks, thank goodness our suitcase allowance is 2 cases at 32kg each!!), the Cirque shows for Vegas are booked, the Hollywood studio tours are booked apart from the ones that can only be booked a month before and I have begun to look at my summer wardrobe (it’s not quite summer weather here in England at the moment!!)

So all that is left to do it to phone the Grand Californian to request a view of Grizzly Peak and have some notes about our anniversary made on the reservation, plus contact vacation planning to book the segway tour and some baskets and goodies delivered to the room. Oh and to order some more $$, I think I might need those! Then just before we leave re run the Ridemax plans.

So, thats the plan, thanks for reading. Does anyone have any advice for a Disneyland newbie? Anything I have missed out? I'll do a trip report when I get back which I promise will be more pictures than words!!

 

[Kristina]

Wow you are going to have an amazing trip ! I am dreaming of a Disneyland visit myself which is why I am lurking on this board however I don't know when I'll be able to visit but hopefully it won't be to long! I haven't been in years and have never visited DCA and am really eager to see it before the major rehab. I can't wait to read of your adventures on this trip, everything you have planned sounds simply wonderful !

 

[Kristina]

I have no advice for you as I haven't been in years and you are doing a mighty fine job planning your trip all by yourself but I've thought of something I'd love to do when I finally get to Disney, and that is visit Walt Disney's Carolwood Barn which is where everything began! According to Wiki it is only open on the 3rd Sunday of every month unfortunately and you'll be at Magic Mountain that day but perhaps another trip? Would be really cool I reckon !

 

[Danauk]

Seeing Walts barn would be cool. You are right, maybe next time (I've given up thinking Disney park trips will be a once in a lifetime trip!!)

 

[tofubeast]

We will be at DLR a few days before you. Any chance I can hang out and stay with you? Your trip sounds AMAZING! As do your friends! How nice of them to give you their DVC points.

Can't wait to keep following you as you plan out the next 2 months. Perhaps I will steal some of your ideas.

 

[Danauk]

We will be at DLR a few days before you. Any chance I can hang out and stay with you? Your trip sounds AMAZING! As do your friends! How nice of them to give you their DVC points.

Can't wait to keep following you as you plan out the next 2 months. Perhaps I will steal some of your ideas.

I know we have the best friends ever, they love Disney as much as we do and we really appreciate their gift.

Well even though we have over 2 months still to wait I am getting more excited. Ride Max have just added their July data to the programme, so 4 more weeks and hopefully August will be up for me to play with! I'm trying to restrain myself and not email vacation planning yet to sort out the baskets as I know they don't need to be ordered until July, but I'm finding waiting hard to do!! So to pass the time I have been doing a little clothes shopping plus I ordered some pins off ebay so I can indulge in my other obsession whilst at the park - pin trading. My pins arrived today (although I did seem to put rather a lot of them in my keepers bags) so that made the trip seem closer as well.
I just hope the next 10 weeks pass quickly!

 

[Danauk]

So we are now at less than 60 days and all my dining reservations have been booked. Now the August calendar is up I have decided what day to see which parades etc. We have also decided to book the Electrical Parade premium seating for our arrival night so that we can see the parade and have a bite to eat. We know we won't be that hungry as we will have eaten on the aeroplane and we hill have been up a long time by then and have snacked a lot during the day instead of having big meals. Plus we figured it is a pleasant way to spend our 1st night!

I also got excited the other day when I realised that the August data was up on ridemax. Now I know I need to make plans nearer the time, especially for DCA once wait times have been establised for Toy Story Midway Mania, but I have been playing with a few ideas!!

Oh yeah and I have already started to sort out my packing! I guess I won't be needing the clothes I am planning to take at the moment (UK weather is not exactly the same as Californian!) Plus I need to make sure I have got all the appropriate voltage convertors and leads to take with us.

So with 51 days to go, my trip is nearly here!!

 

[mommaU4]

Hi there! Wow, I am loving your pre TR! The plans you have sound wonderful. And busy! LOL But I am the same way, I like to cram as much as I can into each trip no matter where we are going.

I will say I don't envy you on the long flight. I'm a lousy flyer. What a great idea to splurge on the premium cabin. It will hopefully make the flight more tolerable.

You'll be visiting some of the same places we just did. And you'll be in my neck of the woods for a week. You will love KA. It's amazing. I haven't seen O yet, but we've seen Love and Zumanity which were both also really good, so I'm sure O will not disappoint either.

Anyway, I just wanted to say how wonderful it all sounds! Can't wait to hear more.

 

[Danauk]

Well finally after 2 years of planning I can say, I'm going to Disneyland next month Whoooooooooo.

Anyway, sorry for the burst of excitment! So it looks like the final plans are being made. I got my Hollywood studios booked today and now I just need to phone Disneyland next week to order the baskets. I'm planning a little shopping at the weekend to stock up on a few bits. I'll visit our local Disney store (where I get 10% off as I am a Disneyland Paris shareholder!!) Seen as it is nearly 5 weeks to go I think I might begin the packing process soon. Oh yeah, I managed to sort out a few things to do to pass the time on my 11 1/2 hour flight, I bought the Disney Cars game for my DS lite and Walts biography to read on the flight, it's quite thick so it should last!!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I noticed that you plan on visiting the Walt Disney Studios. I had the opportunity to tour the backlot in February and it was wonderful. However, in case you're not aware, the backlot and studios are closed to the public, so I hope I'm not the bearer of bad news. About the only way to get on the backlot is either have great connections or get a tour through Adventures by Disney and/or the Disney Movie Rewards Club.

Maybe you already have those connections and I'm just telling you something you already knew, but I just wanted to let you know in case you didn't know that so you head all the way to Burbank only to find out you can't see the Disney backlot.

As far as I know the other studios are open to the general public.

 

[Danauk]

I noticed that you plan on visiting the Walt Disney Studios. I had the opportunity to tour the backlot in February and it was wonderful. However, in case you're not aware, the backlot and studios are closed to the public, so I hope I'm not the bearer of bad news. About the only way to get on the backlot is either have great connections or get a tour through Adventures by Disney and/or the Disney Movie Rewards Club.

Maybe you already have those connections and I'm just telling you something you already knew, but I just wanted to let you know in case you didn't know that so you head all the way to Burbank only to find out you can't see the Disney backlot.

As far as I know the other studios are open to the general public.

Thankyou, but I already knew that. We have tickets for the other studio tours and I am aware I can not actually get into the Disney Studios. However seen as I am in the area I just wanted to take a few pictures of the water tower and the animation building and the building with the dwarves holding it up.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

You should be able to get pics of the Water Tower easily enough as well as the new animation building(with the Sorcerer's Hat), but the old animation building(where they made all the classics except Snow White) is too far back to get pics of.

I'm not sure how well you'll be able to see the Team Disney Building(with the 7 Dwarfs holding up the roof) off the street. The challenge comes that Legends Plaza has pillars lining that area that will obscure your view of the building itself.

In case you care to read my TR about the studios complete with pictures, I'm working on it right now(see my sig for the link). I should start the studios portion in the next few days.

 

[Danauk]

Whooooo my ticker is down to days. So yesterday I phoned vacation planning to request the baskets and the chocolate covered strawberries for our arrival. The CM was lovely and asked if we were celebrating anything and if it was our 1st visit. He noted on our reservation that it was our 10th anniversary and 1st visit and said he would arrange for a card and some pins to be there for us when we check in!
So now I am hoping the next 30 days pass quickly. The only final thing left to do is to exchange some more ££ to $$, but I'll do that in a few weeks time.

 

[Bloodhound]

Hi, Im making my first trip to DLR in Oct. and would like to subscribe.

 

[Brenna&Noah's Mom]

Sounds like you have great plans so far.

 

[Daisybelle]

Great pre-trip report! What a fabulous trip you have planned! I look forward to hearing <or reading rather> how it all went. We leave in 3 days < so much to do!> and I can't hardly wait to get there! And I haven't been planning for 2 years!

Thank you for sharing your plans! I was feeling a little grumpy and stressed while sitting at work thinking of all I need to do before we leave so I hopped on board the Dis to get a little Disney fix. Your trip report was just what I needed to calm my brain!

 

[50 years Too!]

Wow, that sounds like a fantasy trip!
You will love the Bellagio, by the way.
Go to the pool area early, before it is too hot. Nicest pool area
I've ever seen.
What shows are you seeing and where do you plan to eat in LV?

deb

 

[50 years Too!]

oops, I see your shows now. If you get a chance, Phantom of the Opera is really good at the Venetian. The theater is made for the show, so the special effects and props are Disney worthy!

Deb