diberry
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 5, 2004
Sun 21st
Im going to skip quickly over Sunday and Monday as we didnt go to Disney. We had 5 day hopper tickets so we decided to keep our last 2 days for Tuesday and Wednesday. On Sunday we went to Universal Studios Hollywood. We went on the Studios bus tour which includes an earthquake, attacks by Jaws and King Kong, rain and a flash flood. It took an hour and we went all over the studios and saw lots of different sets including Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives!! After that we went to see Shrek 4D which was a funny interactive show exactly the same as at Universal Orlando. Then down to the Lower Lot where we went on Jurassic Park River Adventure, again identical with Orlandos, which was very good though we both got wet and Dave as usual got very wet!!! Lastly we went to Waterworld which is a live show with lots of action, boats, jet skis, a seaplane etc very good. Some of the announcements were in English, Spanish and Japanese which made sense because wed noticed a huge number of Japanese people in California as well as a great many South Americans like in WDW.
It wasnt a patch on Orlandos Universal Studios in my opinion especially as lots of the rides we like best there, are combined into the studio tour so the whole things over in an hour.
After we had been there for about 4½ hours it was extremely hot so we decided to leave and go to Hollywood. We parked at the Hollywood and Highland Complex which is right next to Graumanns Chinese Theater where we saw the stars handprints in the cement and the Walk of Fame including Walt Disneys
and Mickey Mouses stars!!
There were lots of rather tacky people around dressed as various characters and film stars and you could have your photo taken with them if you gave them a tip!!! (We resisted the temptation!!) Then we walked up to the higher levels of the Hollywood and Highland shopping complex from where we could see the Hollywood sign. But the whole area was very tacky and about as far from glamorous as you could imagine!!
We came back to the hotel to relax for a while I went in the jacuzzi and then we just sat by the pool and had a nice rest. Later on we went to Downtown Disney to the ESPN zone again where we sat at the bar with some drinks and had another nice (though enormous) meal!!!
Mon 22nd
We had a late start, had breakfast at Dennys down the street and then went to Downtown Disney for some serious shopping!!! (well, shopping for me and ESPN zone for Dave!!!) The World of Disney store is big but nowhere near as big as the one in Orlando and had much less choice of merchandise. Nevertheless I managed to spend quite a lot of money!!
The afternoon we spent by or in the pool which was very relaxing and very warm and then we spent the evening wandering round Downtown Disney for a while just enjoying the atmosphere and live music.
Tues 23rd
It was an Early Entry day today (there are 4 EE days each week but you are only allowed to use one of them) so we were at the park when it opened at 7.00!!! The Main Street Band were there to greet us. First of all we headed for Buzz Lightyears Astro Blasters which we rode twice. Then we went across to Fantasyland where we did Peter Pans Flight and Pinocchio, Small World and saw the little figures come out on the clock outside which they do every quarter of an hour.
As we were wandering near the castle we saw Cinderella and Snow White so of course I had to have my picture taken with them!! They have a little chat with everyone nowadays so the queue gets quite long!
We went on Splash Mountain where as usual Dave got soaked as he was sitting in the front seat.
After that we got the monorail from Tomorrowland to Downtown Disney where we had a breakfast reservation in Goofys Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel. There was an enormous buffet with everything you could possibly want for breakfast or lunch. We met quite a few characters including Chip and Dale, Mary Poppins , Donald Duck,
Goofy of course and his son Max (first time I knew he had a child!!!).
We then headed back to Toontown where we met Mickey in his barn and had a look round his house and the rest of Toontown.
As we were walking past the castle again we saw Belle posing for pictures. We also saw Mickey climbing the Matterhorn which he does twice a day with Minnie and Goofy urging him on!! It cant be easy in those enormous shoes!!
We had another go on Splash Mountain and met Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger who were very entertaining and very affectionate!!
We went to the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean and had a look round the Disney Gallery upstairs which has loads of (very expensive) prints from the films etc.
After that Dave went back to the hotel while I watched the spectacular 50th Anniversary parade Parade of Dreams which really was the best parade Ive ever seen,
followed by a bit of extra shopping including Guest of Honour badges with our names on them for Rhiannon and me and various other essentials!!! before also heading back to do the packing!!! As always we seemed to have an awful lot more than we took and it was quite a job getting everything in the 2 cases!!
In the evening we had reservations at the Blue Bayou restaurant by the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The setting is lovely and the meal was (pricey but) delicious!!
After that we headed straight to the hub for the fireworks show Remember - Dreams Come True. It was absolutely heaving and impossible to get a really good spot but we got a reasonable one and were able to see most of the projections on to the castle as well as the fireworks themselves which were really spectacular. Throughout the show images are projected onto the castle and the Matterhorn and the music for each character, ride, land in the park etc is played. Then Tinkerbell appears and flies across the sky. Walts speech from the opening day of the park is broadcast which is definitely a bit spooky and then there is a whole series of excerpts from rides all over the park with the music for each of them and appropriately coloured and shaped fireworks: this ones the Haunted Mansion and you can see the ghosts projected onto the castle wall.
Of course there were Mickey shaped fireworks too!!
The whole show was really spectacular and lasted nearly 20 minutes.
Then we walked back up to New Orleans Square to wait for Fantasmic. A jazz band on a raft that floats back and forth along the river entertains you while you wait. It was very busy and theres no arena with seats like at WDW you stand or sit on the ground unless youre lucky like us and find a couple of free spaces on a wall!! Although the show was a bit different from the one at WDW, it was also excellent. Throughout the park there are collages made up from hundreds of photos sent in by visitors from previous years. Its absolutely incredible how theyve put them together to make pictures of lots of the main characters and shows. This is the Fantasmic one and on the closer image you can see the individual photos really amazing!!!
After that we finally left the park about 16½ hours after we started!!
Wed 24th
We checked out of the hotel and went to the Magic Kingdom for the last time. First we had breakfast at the Carnation Café on Main Street and then went on Splash Mountain, the Jungle Cruise and Buzz for the last time too. We saw the First 50 Years exhibit in the Opera House on Main Street, which was very good indeed. These are more collages made from peoples photos.
There was artwork, designs and models showing how Walt Disneys dream became reality followed by a film telling the story. And then it was time to say Farewell to Disneyland after a really good first visit to the original park!!!
We drove to LA, took off at about 5 p.m. local time and arrived back at the house after a journey of 19 hours door-to-door but it had been worth it!!!
Im going to skip quickly over Sunday and Monday as we didnt go to Disney. We had 5 day hopper tickets so we decided to keep our last 2 days for Tuesday and Wednesday. On Sunday we went to Universal Studios Hollywood. We went on the Studios bus tour which includes an earthquake, attacks by Jaws and King Kong, rain and a flash flood. It took an hour and we went all over the studios and saw lots of different sets including Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives!! After that we went to see Shrek 4D which was a funny interactive show exactly the same as at Universal Orlando. Then down to the Lower Lot where we went on Jurassic Park River Adventure, again identical with Orlandos, which was very good though we both got wet and Dave as usual got very wet!!! Lastly we went to Waterworld which is a live show with lots of action, boats, jet skis, a seaplane etc very good. Some of the announcements were in English, Spanish and Japanese which made sense because wed noticed a huge number of Japanese people in California as well as a great many South Americans like in WDW.
It wasnt a patch on Orlandos Universal Studios in my opinion especially as lots of the rides we like best there, are combined into the studio tour so the whole things over in an hour.
After we had been there for about 4½ hours it was extremely hot so we decided to leave and go to Hollywood. We parked at the Hollywood and Highland Complex which is right next to Graumanns Chinese Theater where we saw the stars handprints in the cement and the Walk of Fame including Walt Disneys
and Mickey Mouses stars!!
There were lots of rather tacky people around dressed as various characters and film stars and you could have your photo taken with them if you gave them a tip!!! (We resisted the temptation!!) Then we walked up to the higher levels of the Hollywood and Highland shopping complex from where we could see the Hollywood sign. But the whole area was very tacky and about as far from glamorous as you could imagine!!
We came back to the hotel to relax for a while I went in the jacuzzi and then we just sat by the pool and had a nice rest. Later on we went to Downtown Disney to the ESPN zone again where we sat at the bar with some drinks and had another nice (though enormous) meal!!!
Mon 22nd
We had a late start, had breakfast at Dennys down the street and then went to Downtown Disney for some serious shopping!!! (well, shopping for me and ESPN zone for Dave!!!) The World of Disney store is big but nowhere near as big as the one in Orlando and had much less choice of merchandise. Nevertheless I managed to spend quite a lot of money!!
The afternoon we spent by or in the pool which was very relaxing and very warm and then we spent the evening wandering round Downtown Disney for a while just enjoying the atmosphere and live music.
Tues 23rd
It was an Early Entry day today (there are 4 EE days each week but you are only allowed to use one of them) so we were at the park when it opened at 7.00!!! The Main Street Band were there to greet us. First of all we headed for Buzz Lightyears Astro Blasters which we rode twice. Then we went across to Fantasyland where we did Peter Pans Flight and Pinocchio, Small World and saw the little figures come out on the clock outside which they do every quarter of an hour.
As we were wandering near the castle we saw Cinderella and Snow White so of course I had to have my picture taken with them!! They have a little chat with everyone nowadays so the queue gets quite long!
We went on Splash Mountain where as usual Dave got soaked as he was sitting in the front seat.
After that we got the monorail from Tomorrowland to Downtown Disney where we had a breakfast reservation in Goofys Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel. There was an enormous buffet with everything you could possibly want for breakfast or lunch. We met quite a few characters including Chip and Dale, Mary Poppins , Donald Duck,
Goofy of course and his son Max (first time I knew he had a child!!!).
We then headed back to Toontown where we met Mickey in his barn and had a look round his house and the rest of Toontown.
As we were walking past the castle again we saw Belle posing for pictures. We also saw Mickey climbing the Matterhorn which he does twice a day with Minnie and Goofy urging him on!! It cant be easy in those enormous shoes!!
We had another go on Splash Mountain and met Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger who were very entertaining and very affectionate!!
We went to the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean and had a look round the Disney Gallery upstairs which has loads of (very expensive) prints from the films etc.
After that Dave went back to the hotel while I watched the spectacular 50th Anniversary parade Parade of Dreams which really was the best parade Ive ever seen,
followed by a bit of extra shopping including Guest of Honour badges with our names on them for Rhiannon and me and various other essentials!!! before also heading back to do the packing!!! As always we seemed to have an awful lot more than we took and it was quite a job getting everything in the 2 cases!!
In the evening we had reservations at the Blue Bayou restaurant by the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The setting is lovely and the meal was (pricey but) delicious!!
After that we headed straight to the hub for the fireworks show Remember - Dreams Come True. It was absolutely heaving and impossible to get a really good spot but we got a reasonable one and were able to see most of the projections on to the castle as well as the fireworks themselves which were really spectacular. Throughout the show images are projected onto the castle and the Matterhorn and the music for each character, ride, land in the park etc is played. Then Tinkerbell appears and flies across the sky. Walts speech from the opening day of the park is broadcast which is definitely a bit spooky and then there is a whole series of excerpts from rides all over the park with the music for each of them and appropriately coloured and shaped fireworks: this ones the Haunted Mansion and you can see the ghosts projected onto the castle wall.
Of course there were Mickey shaped fireworks too!!
The whole show was really spectacular and lasted nearly 20 minutes.
Then we walked back up to New Orleans Square to wait for Fantasmic. A jazz band on a raft that floats back and forth along the river entertains you while you wait. It was very busy and theres no arena with seats like at WDW you stand or sit on the ground unless youre lucky like us and find a couple of free spaces on a wall!! Although the show was a bit different from the one at WDW, it was also excellent. Throughout the park there are collages made up from hundreds of photos sent in by visitors from previous years. Its absolutely incredible how theyve put them together to make pictures of lots of the main characters and shows. This is the Fantasmic one and on the closer image you can see the individual photos really amazing!!!
Wed 24th
We checked out of the hotel and went to the Magic Kingdom for the last time. First we had breakfast at the Carnation Café on Main Street and then went on Splash Mountain, the Jungle Cruise and Buzz for the last time too. We saw the First 50 Years exhibit in the Opera House on Main Street, which was very good indeed. These are more collages made from peoples photos.
There was artwork, designs and models showing how Walt Disneys dream became reality followed by a film telling the story. And then it was time to say Farewell to Disneyland after a really good first visit to the original park!!!
We drove to LA, took off at about 5 p.m. local time and arrived back at the house after a journey of 19 hours door-to-door but it had been worth it!!!
I see, through your pics., that you had a nice collection of T-shirts to take home. 
I can imagine that your suitcases were bulging on the return trip. Tell Dave I'll ride the water rides with him anytime. Sounds like I would stay nice & dry, since all the water would be landing on him. 
Thanks for the great reports & pics. Makes me want to go!!! 
