Aprincess72 Disneyland Disneymoon TR!

[aprincess72]

Disneyland Honeymoon TR!
Itinerary:
Monday - land in LA, Walt Disney Studios, El Capitan Theater, Dodgers game
Tuesday - Disneyland! Lunch at Carnation Cafe, Dinner at Blue Bayou
Wednesday - California Adventure! Lunch at Wine Country Trattoria, Dinner at Napa Rose
Thursday - Disneyland & CA Adventure! breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen, lunch at Carnation Cafe, Dinner at Hook's Point
Friday - San Diego Zoo
Saturday - Long Beach Aquarium, Dinner at Blue Coral in Newport Beach
Sunday - Angels game, Downtown Disney

We made it back to the house from our DFTW on Sunday afternoon. The smoke from the GA fires had hit central FL and it was really bad at WDW as well as most of the drive home. Once we got home it was an exciting day of unpacking, laundry, and repacking! Actually we got all of our pictures downloaded and had fun looking at those. We headed to bed early so we could get up at the crack of dawn for out flight to LA.

We had to leave the house at 5 AM to make it to the airport for our 7 AM flight. Two mornings of getting up super early… YAY fun! Luckily we had a direct flight to LA from Jacksonville. I fly about 30 weeks a year so I’ll take a direct flight any day!
We get to LA about 10:00 am Pacific time. I’m very excited because we are heading over to the Walt Disney Studios store on Hollywood Blvd for lunch. We also planned to see Meet the Robinsons next door at the El Capitan Theater. After getting our luggage and rental car we make our way to Hollywood!
I was a bit disappointed in the Walt Disney Studios Store & Soda Fountain. The pictures online make the store look huge but it’s not really.

I didn't bother to take pictures of our lunch because the food wasn’t all that great! Although I did get a chocolate covered banana rolled in nuts that was HUGE! This is one of my favs so I’m happy with it! As we ate lunch we had fun watching all the characters that hang out on Hollywood Blvd. We saw a really bad Spiderman, Davy Jones, the Hulk, Jack Sparrow, Darth Vader and some others I can’t recall. I don’t know where folks out there get their costumes but they were pretty bad!!!

After lunch we bought tickets to see Meet the Robinsons at El Capitan. The theater was worth coming for! It’s beautiful! They had an awesome Wurlitzer organ and the organist played all Disney songs before the show! The fun part was they had Lewis & Wilbur there to open the show! That was pretty cool.
I wish I could have taken some better shots of the theater itself but it was a bit too dark there.
Here are the few I did get of the organist & the characters:

I loved the movie but I was having a tough time staying awake! DH had to nudge me once because I was snoring! OOPS!
Originally we were going to hang out in Hollywood for the day until the Dodgers game that night. DH is a big baseball nut and he managed to negotiate 2 games on our honeymoon trip! We decided we could really use a nap since we would be at the game until about 1 am our time. So we headed to our hotel in Anaheim. It was only about a 45 minute drive so that wasn’t too bad. I’m a Hilton Diamond since I travel for my job. The Doubletree upgraded us to a nice King Suite. This is a very nice hotel. The staff is great and the restaurant here is highly recommended! We settled in and took a nap!

It took us forever to get back to LA and Dodger stadium. I think it was about an hour and a half. DH likes to get to games early so he can check out the stadiums. I’ve actually been here before so I knew there wasn’t as much to check out here as some of the other stadiums we’ve been to. Our seats were pretty good. I got them on eBay for dirt cheap!

I’m so glad I thought for us to bring jackets because it was freezing!!! They had a free blanket give away and this Florida girl was buried under those too!
DH went to get a Dodger dog and I went looking for something else. DH came back to find some kids in our seats. They gave him a bunch of attitude for making them move. They made the rest of the game uncomfortable for us. They kept mouthing off and making comments. I was glad DH kept his cool. We decided to take off a little early though. We were both tired anyway. Besides that, tomorrow we go to Disneyland!!!

We got back to our room to find that we had a surprise! The hotel had left us a bottle of champagne and a plate of chocolate covered strawberries. DH always says I have some kind of chocolate covered fruit addiction so I gave him the champagne and I took the plate of strawberries! Both of us were happy!

 

[JaxTeach]

We were so happy they added a direct flight from Jacksonville to LA. We went to Disneyland for the first time last November and plan on going back many more. That is so cool that you saw Meet the Robinsons at El Capitan! Looking forward to more of your TR. I hope you guys had as much fun at DL as we did!

 

[jodeeluvsdisney]

Oh goodie!! DF and I are super excited to read your honeymoon TR! Keep it comin'!!

 

[aprincess72]

We were so happy they added a direct flight from Jacksonville to LA. We went to Disneyland for the first time last November and plan on going back many more. That is so cool that you saw Meet the Robinsons at El Capitan! Looking forward to more of your TR. I hope you guys had as much fun at DL as we did!

It certainly makes it less painless!!! Since I fly Delta about 80% of the time it doesn't cost me anything to go out there either!
El Capitan was awesome! Really a beautiful place! It reminded me a bit of the Florida Theater!

 

[Maggimus]

Wow im so excited to hear all about this trip. I havent been to DL since 1996 or so..... cant wait to see photos and hear all about it!

 

[marywdw]

Can't wait to hear all about it!!!!

 

[lurkyloo]

OMG - I cannot believe you guys drove all the way from Hollywood to Anaheim and then back to Dodger stadium on the same day - you CRAZY!

I live smack in the center of LA, and it's all I can do to drive from my house to Dodger stadium - takes about 45 minutes. You made great time from Anaheim!

I can't wait to hear where you drove on the rest of your trip - comparing routes is a fave pastime around these parts...

 

[Maggimus]

I cant wait for the next installation... im geting excited

 

[Maggimus]

OMG - I cannot believe you guys drove all the way from Hollywood to Anaheim and then back to Dodger stadium on the same day - you CRAZY!

I live smack in the center of LA, and it's all I can do to drive from my house to Dodger stadium - takes about 45 minutes. You made great time from Anaheim!

I can't wait to hear where you drove on the rest of your trip - comparing routes is a fave pastime around these parts...

I have a voucher for a free dodger school binder at one of the games if you want it. I wont be using it. Are you/do you know someone who might be going to a game this 07 season?

 

[kmab00]

Looking great so far!! Can't wait for the rest! I loved Meet the Robinsons, too! We went to the theatre twice to see it!!

 

[cryssi]

OMG - I cannot believe you guys drove all the way from Hollywood to Anaheim and then back to Dodger stadium on the same day - you CRAZY!

ditto on that!

can't wait to hear more...

 

[lurkyloo]

I have a voucher for a free dodger school binder at one of the games if you want it. I wont be using it. Are you/do you know someone who might be going to a game this 07 season?

Oh my gosh, Maggie - you are the Freebie Queen! Sure, I'll take it! Thanks!

.....We now return you to your regularly scheduled honeymoon trip report programming....

 

[Maggimus]

Oh my gosh, Maggie - you are the Freebie Queen! Sure, I'll take it! Thanks!

.....We now return you to your regularly scheduled honeymoon trip report programming....

Sorry to hijack again-- if you want here you can sign up for as many as you want..... heres to all Dodger fans... haha
http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/la/fan_forum/bluecrew_form.jsp

Get a discounted Dodgers ticket voucher and a voucher for a Dodger School Binder, redeemable at any of the 12 Blue Crew dates »:

 

[aprincess72]

OMG - I cannot believe you guys drove all the way from Hollywood to Anaheim and then back to Dodger stadium on the same day - you CRAZY!

I live smack in the center of LA, and it's all I can do to drive from my house to Dodger stadium - takes about 45 minutes. You made great time from Anaheim!

I can't wait to hear where you drove on the rest of your trip - comparing routes is a fave pastime around these parts...

Yes... yes... we are!!! Crazy that is!

 

[aprincess72]

Our first day at Disneyland!!

DH had never been and I had come once about a year before when I was working in Cerritos, CA for a week. I took a red eye home so I had the whole day to kill at DL I didn’t do too much because riding rides alone is not my favorite activity. I took the Walk in Walt’s Steps tour though! I’m a big dork so I was weepy the entire time!

On with the honeymoon….
DH and I arrived early and picked up our 3 day PHs at the ticket window. I had my wedding ears on so the CM asked if we just got married. I said yes! We were just married at WDW! (I must have told 100 people that while we were there!) She gave us our Just Married buttons which are identical to the WDW ones except they say Disneyland.
We got in the park and saw that it really wasn’t that busy!! YAY!
The first thing we notice is there is only one person in line to see DH’s fav:

Yes, I’m wearing the same outfit again! LOL! But I got a cute new jacket! CA is cold!!

We also notice right away that DL CMs seem to be much more observant when it comes to the Just Married buttons. We had a few congratulations around WDW but no where near what we got here! Even the people who were emptying trash cans took time to congratulate us. I was amazed at how many people also asked us when & where we got married. I think DH got tired of me bragging we got married at WDW!

Our second stop is at Disney Gallery. DH and I are obsessive Disney collectors and we have a big fig addiction! We have been dying to get here and see what big figs are here that are not at WDW. I’ve been kicking myself for not buying the Tiki Room big fig I saw here a year ago… stupid! This year they have Tomorrowland which I really like but DH isn’t crazy about it. Other than that they are all the same! We are sad!!!

We head over to toward the Walt & Mickey statue for a pic:

A Disney Institute group passes us as we are checking out the statues around Walt & Mickey. The trainer (my DREAM job since that’s what I do!) offers to take a picture of us. I’m sure he was demonstrating a little magic!

We really weren’t decided on where to go next! It was a bit like two little ADD children bumping into each other with excitement. We head for the Matterhorn! On the way I we stopped to see the Little Mermaid statues.
Here I present to you King Triton:

DH presents the Astro Orbiter:

We walked right on to the Matterhorn! Awesome! Last time I was here the line was wrapped all the way around.
Next we headed over to the castle and I went immediately to looking for this:

As we came around the back of the castle, Merlin was looking for a new ruler of Fantasyland. The ruler would be determined by who could pull the sword from the stone. Of course they pick the strongest, most handsome, newly married fellow in the crowd:

Wait… um show me those muscles again…

Merlin is going to have to pick another fellow from the crowd and see how he does. This is apparently a good choice because the new guy succeeds at pulling the sword from the stone. Merlin expresses his condolences to DH:

Ahhh… I sure enjoyed that. Laughed myself silly!

I told DH we have to eat at Carnation Café for lunch. My grandparents had eaten there on their 20th anniversary trip in 1965. I found the menu from their trip right before we left. I also found their ticket booklet, park brochure, park map, and all the other brochures from their trip. I’m going to scan some to show you at the end of my TR. Can you believe it only cost $4.50 to get in then??
I also knew that Carnation Café has the best baked potato soup I’ve ever had! I have been thinking about it since the last time I was here!!!
So we headed over to lunch! I ordered the soup and a sandwich. Once again the soup was dreamy! I didn’t even think about taking a picture because I was ready to eat!
We had a visit at our table from Oscar. I’m not sure what Oscar does but I believe he’s the head chef and he has been here a long time. Oscar starts asking us questions about the wedding and talks with us for awhile. Later he brings us 1st visit buttons since we already have the just married buttons. I think he was actually disappointed that he didn’t get to give us the Just Married buttons.
We headed out to hit the rest of the rides. DH is very excited about Indiana Jones and it did not let us down!

DH HATES it’s a Small World but I give him the big speech about how this one is Walt’s and it’s blasphemous not to ride it!! He agrees! YAY! We get in line and when we reach the front the CM stops us and starts asking about the wedding! Of course I tell him how we got married at WDW… yada yada. He tells us that here at DL they do things a little different and he has a special surprise for us. The CM takes us over to the third row of an empty boat and tells us it’s our own private honeymoon cruise. Cute! I’m so excited! The CM walked all the way down the line telling everyone that Amber & Jim were just married at WDW and so the entire crowd is clapping as we float by. This was so much fun!

It doesn’t take nearly as long to see everything at DL as it does to see any WDW park. I made ADR for Blue Bayou at 6:00 and that turned out to be perfect! I wish we could have taken a picture inside here but it was very very dark and I don’t think it would have given any indication of what it was really like. We were given a perfect table right on the water. It was so neat to be sitting inside a ride! Our dinner was awesome and the service was good. We both had a steak and then ordered the Tortuga Trio of crème brulee. LOVED it and we got to take home the treasure chest that came with it.

After dinner we headed out to DTD. As we were leaving the parade was just wrapping up. We scouted some places to watch it on Thursday. The parade here is short but really amazing. I think the floats here make some of the WDW floats look like high school parade floats!

We went to DTD and did a little shopping. I was dying to go to Disney Vault 28 and find some really cool Disney wear. I found a couple of cool shirts!

Tomorrow: California Adventure!

 

[Maggimus]

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Do you mind telling me why you looked for this? And what it is?

I love your TR. Disneyland was a lot of fun to me-- i went once when my BIL was stationed in San Diego. LOVE the matterhorn bobsled. I wish WDW would put that over there!

 

[aprincess72]

Do you mind telling me why you looked for this? And what it is?

I love your TR. Disneyland was a lot of fun to me-- i went once when my BIL was stationed in San Diego. LOVE the matterhorn bobsled. I wish WDW would put that over there!

That is the stake that Walt drove into the ground to mark the center of Disneyland!

 

[Maggimus]

That is the stake that Walt drove into the ground to mark the center of Disneyland!

Wow how interesting-- thanks for sharing that with me!

 

[marywdw]

I'm SO happy that you posted another installment! I can't wait for the next....
The pic of your DH with the sword in the stone is hilarious!!!!
Where did you find that ADORABLE jacket????

 

[aprincess72]

I'm SO happy that you posted another installment! I can't wait for the next....
The pic of your DH with the sword in the stone is hilarious!!!!
Where did you find that ADORABLE jacket????

Ahhh... the jacket!
I have been eyeing it at WoD for months! I just couldn't justify buying another jacket in Florida though. When we got to Disneyland it was chilly but not cold enough to wear my heavier jacket so I saw it at WoD there and snatched it up! Wouldn't you guess that as sure as I come back to the outlet there it is for half price!

The one they have at the parks now is solid pink on the outside and has the Mickey print on the inside but I don't like it as much as mine! I got to wear it Friday at MGM since it was raining! I hate that it rained but I was excited I got to wear it!