We visited DL from Nov.6 - Nov. 15. We arrived at our hotel, Desert Inn and Suites approximately 2:30 in the afternoon. We took the Disneyland Resort Express bus. We were on the bus an extra hour once we reached the Disneyland area. And half of that was spent at the DLH waiting to have tickets checked. Our first visit we used Karmel, much quicker and not a lot for price difference.
At the Desert Inn and Suites, we had a Family Suite 'B'. Basically it was two adjoining rooms. We had 4 queen beds and 2 bathrooms. Worked like a charm! Rooms were simple but clean and we had a lot of space. We never checked our the continental breakfast as DH is a big breakfast eater so to Denny's it was. We changed it up and ate at Ihop one morning but it was twice the price.
After we got settled, we walked over to DTD. We had supper reservations at 5pm at GK. We toured around DTD and went on to GK for our reservations. Friends that were travelling with us but staying at the Castle Inn met us there. Supper was fantastic! Can I just say, the BBQ pork was amazing! Although we had been up since early that morning and we were famished. We had lots of character interaction. Aladdin, Jasmine, Minnie...oh Minnie was fantastic! Chip and Dale...there was someone else but it escapes me at the moment. By the time we were done supper, we were exhausted. We were on a two hour time difference. Doesn't seem like much but it kicked our butts the first couple days!
Wed. Nov 7 - we entered DL at approx. 9:45. They were still separating lines that day, but didn't notice there was much difference in the waits by following the people in the other lines. We immediately went to the Photoshop to pick up our Photopass+. Side note...we told the photogs at GK the night before that we had the Photopass+ but weren't entering the parks until the next day. They informed us to pick up our pics at the Photoshop the next day and have them added to our card. At the Photoshop, they told us that we should have paid for the pictures the night before and they would have reimbursed us. End result...no pics from GK.
Oh well, you win some you lose some...well and frankly we had another reservation at GK at the end of our trip.
Crowds were awesome this day. We never waited in line longer than 10 minutes for anything. We had lunch at the Golden Horseshoe and watched a performance at the Laughing Stock Co. Food was so good. DS(13) had one of their cookie sundaes...Holy! The show was a blast also. Great break in the day! When we were finished in the park, we headed to Bubba Gumps for supper. As always, it was good.
Thurs. Nov. 9 - We were in line at 9:00 at the DCA gates. There were separate lines for 4+PH. It was incredibly slow it seemed. I got in line for RSR fastpasses and by 10:20 had a return time for 2:45. RSR was posted as being down until noon that day. Carsland was amazing. MJJ was so much fun and you know, we didn't mind Luigi's. It was cute and the kids loved trying to get the tire to change directions. We had lunch at Taste Pilots and of course had to visit Starbucks. The Disney/Starbucks cups are so cute! One thing I noticed...Soarin'. It hasn't changed since it opened but at one point in the day still had a wait time of 45 minutes. What's the draw? Is it just me or does it need some updating?? We left the park and went for supper at Rainforest Cafe. I've eaten there before but I have to say this was probably the best meal of the whole trip!
Fri. Nov. 9 - We were at DL at opening. The crowds up until and including most of Friday have been really awesome!. The time change however was beginning to catch up with all of us. We decided to leave the park at 2. We went and had lunch at La Brea Bakery. I had the turkey chili and oh my...so tasty. We decided as a break, we went to the AMC theatre in DTD and watched Wreck-It Ralph as all the kids were wanting to see this movie. Afterwards, we split up with our friends and they headed back to their hotel and we went back in DL. The kids really wanted to ride SM again, so they did. The line was 45 minutes and they waited it out. I howeve, had had enough rides for the day and decided to tour the park by myself. I made it around the corner and Small World took my breathe away. I went up and stood there in awe and took some pictures. I continued on and headed back to main street. DH text when they were boarding and I went to the Jolly Holiday Bakery and grabbed hot chocolates for my family, DH, DS(13), DS(9), and DD(7) to have waiting for them when they got off. We drank our hot chocolates and wandered to Adventureland. We grabbed pretzels and skewers from Bengal BBQ and rode Jungle Cruise. We left the park just as the fireworks were starting. It was time to call it a night.
Sat. Nov. 10 - We went to Universal Studios today. We used Supershuttle to take our group of 10 out there. Very good and would absolutely use them again. When we got there, we headed straight for the Tram tour. We only waited about 15 minutes. We then headed straight for Transformers...such an awesome ride for anyone that is a fan!. We continued throughout the day. It was cold today. And holy man, for tour groups. Not only tour groups but some people have a real issue with personal space. I had mine taken from me while waiting in line for lunch. I literally had to use my elbows to shove her back. I don't do well with people in my personal space!
Sun. Nov 11 - this was a calmer day for us. We headed to DCA at opening. Already the line up for fastpasses was past the Aladdin theatre. We grabbed fastpasses but had a return time for 12:35. We went and rode some rides and toured the park. Pried the kids off GRR after the umpteenth time and soaked to the bone! We had lunch at Cucina. It was pretty tasty. We rode RSR then headed to the hotel for the afternoon. The kids went swimming and I did some laundry. I then went over to World of Disney and did some shopping. We had a bite to eat at Denny's then headed to DL for F!. I had purchased the Dessert seating package for our group. I sent the group on their way and headed to line up at the reservation site. I arrived there at 6:45 and was 3rd in line. With a group of 10, I wanted to make sure that we were seated together. They started check-in at 8:00. By 8:05, I had my seats and headed to POC to meet up with my group. We were back and in our seats about 8:35. We received or Dessert boxes (oh so much food!) and our drinks. Hot chocolates and teas. The fireworks were amazing and right in front of us. We couldn't see the castle, but having to not fight for a seat was so worth it. F! was just as amazing as I remember. It was well worth the money spent for the experience we had and wouldn't think twice about doing it again!
Mon. Nov. 12 - Wed. Nov. 14 - these days were just a repeat of the last few. We parkhopped and grabbed fastpasses for RSR (the only ride we ever got fast passes for). I asked a Cars CM about fastpass enforcement. (We were curious as we wanted to ride RSR at night, but try and time the fast pass line to get one??) He said no they were not enforcing as of yet as WDW hasn't taken them over yet. Take that statement to mean whatever you think. I have no idea. We rode RSR once more during the day and twice at night. Of all the times we rode RSR, when we used the fastpasses in the allotted return time, we had about a 20 minute wait. When we used the Fp's after the return time in the evening, we walked right up to the front of the line.
On Wednesday, we did GK for breakfast. It was a different experience than the first time. We had unbelieveable service the night we went for supper, but not so much for breakfast. The waitress did not clean our plates when we finished with them and had to track her down to get refills on our drinks. I am a tipper...I have no problem with giving them what they deserved. My problem as of now is that they automatically charge 18% when you pay. This day, it was not earned. Not even close. That's my vent for now.
All in all we had a wonderful trip. Last trip we went, we went for 8 days. We left feeling we didn't have enough time. We went for 10 days this time and left the park feeling fulfilled. We left feeling we had gotten to do what we wanted and took it at our pace. It was wonderful...magical...happy...now to plan the next one!
At the Desert Inn and Suites, we had a Family Suite 'B'. Basically it was two adjoining rooms. We had 4 queen beds and 2 bathrooms. Worked like a charm! Rooms were simple but clean and we had a lot of space. We never checked our the continental breakfast as DH is a big breakfast eater so to Denny's it was. We changed it up and ate at Ihop one morning but it was twice the price.
After we got settled, we walked over to DTD. We had supper reservations at 5pm at GK. We toured around DTD and went on to GK for our reservations. Friends that were travelling with us but staying at the Castle Inn met us there. Supper was fantastic! Can I just say, the BBQ pork was amazing! Although we had been up since early that morning and we were famished. We had lots of character interaction. Aladdin, Jasmine, Minnie...oh Minnie was fantastic! Chip and Dale...there was someone else but it escapes me at the moment. By the time we were done supper, we were exhausted. We were on a two hour time difference. Doesn't seem like much but it kicked our butts the first couple days!
Wed. Nov 7 - we entered DL at approx. 9:45. They were still separating lines that day, but didn't notice there was much difference in the waits by following the people in the other lines. We immediately went to the Photoshop to pick up our Photopass+. Side note...we told the photogs at GK the night before that we had the Photopass+ but weren't entering the parks until the next day. They informed us to pick up our pics at the Photoshop the next day and have them added to our card. At the Photoshop, they told us that we should have paid for the pictures the night before and they would have reimbursed us. End result...no pics from GK.
Oh well, you win some you lose some...well and frankly we had another reservation at GK at the end of our trip.Crowds were awesome this day. We never waited in line longer than 10 minutes for anything. We had lunch at the Golden Horseshoe and watched a performance at the Laughing Stock Co. Food was so good. DS(13) had one of their cookie sundaes...Holy! The show was a blast also. Great break in the day! When we were finished in the park, we headed to Bubba Gumps for supper. As always, it was good.
Thurs. Nov. 9 - We were in line at 9:00 at the DCA gates. There were separate lines for 4+PH. It was incredibly slow it seemed. I got in line for RSR fastpasses and by 10:20 had a return time for 2:45. RSR was posted as being down until noon that day. Carsland was amazing. MJJ was so much fun and you know, we didn't mind Luigi's. It was cute and the kids loved trying to get the tire to change directions. We had lunch at Taste Pilots and of course had to visit Starbucks. The Disney/Starbucks cups are so cute! One thing I noticed...Soarin'. It hasn't changed since it opened but at one point in the day still had a wait time of 45 minutes. What's the draw? Is it just me or does it need some updating?? We left the park and went for supper at Rainforest Cafe. I've eaten there before but I have to say this was probably the best meal of the whole trip!
Fri. Nov. 9 - We were at DL at opening. The crowds up until and including most of Friday have been really awesome!. The time change however was beginning to catch up with all of us. We decided to leave the park at 2. We went and had lunch at La Brea Bakery. I had the turkey chili and oh my...so tasty. We decided as a break, we went to the AMC theatre in DTD and watched Wreck-It Ralph as all the kids were wanting to see this movie. Afterwards, we split up with our friends and they headed back to their hotel and we went back in DL. The kids really wanted to ride SM again, so they did. The line was 45 minutes and they waited it out. I howeve, had had enough rides for the day and decided to tour the park by myself. I made it around the corner and Small World took my breathe away. I went up and stood there in awe and took some pictures. I continued on and headed back to main street. DH text when they were boarding and I went to the Jolly Holiday Bakery and grabbed hot chocolates for my family, DH, DS(13), DS(9), and DD(7) to have waiting for them when they got off. We drank our hot chocolates and wandered to Adventureland. We grabbed pretzels and skewers from Bengal BBQ and rode Jungle Cruise. We left the park just as the fireworks were starting. It was time to call it a night.
Sat. Nov. 10 - We went to Universal Studios today. We used Supershuttle to take our group of 10 out there. Very good and would absolutely use them again. When we got there, we headed straight for the Tram tour. We only waited about 15 minutes. We then headed straight for Transformers...such an awesome ride for anyone that is a fan!. We continued throughout the day. It was cold today. And holy man, for tour groups. Not only tour groups but some people have a real issue with personal space. I had mine taken from me while waiting in line for lunch. I literally had to use my elbows to shove her back. I don't do well with people in my personal space!
Sun. Nov 11 - this was a calmer day for us. We headed to DCA at opening. Already the line up for fastpasses was past the Aladdin theatre. We grabbed fastpasses but had a return time for 12:35. We went and rode some rides and toured the park. Pried the kids off GRR after the umpteenth time and soaked to the bone! We had lunch at Cucina. It was pretty tasty. We rode RSR then headed to the hotel for the afternoon. The kids went swimming and I did some laundry. I then went over to World of Disney and did some shopping. We had a bite to eat at Denny's then headed to DL for F!. I had purchased the Dessert seating package for our group. I sent the group on their way and headed to line up at the reservation site. I arrived there at 6:45 and was 3rd in line. With a group of 10, I wanted to make sure that we were seated together. They started check-in at 8:00. By 8:05, I had my seats and headed to POC to meet up with my group. We were back and in our seats about 8:35. We received or Dessert boxes (oh so much food!) and our drinks. Hot chocolates and teas. The fireworks were amazing and right in front of us. We couldn't see the castle, but having to not fight for a seat was so worth it. F! was just as amazing as I remember. It was well worth the money spent for the experience we had and wouldn't think twice about doing it again!
Mon. Nov. 12 - Wed. Nov. 14 - these days were just a repeat of the last few. We parkhopped and grabbed fastpasses for RSR (the only ride we ever got fast passes for). I asked a Cars CM about fastpass enforcement. (We were curious as we wanted to ride RSR at night, but try and time the fast pass line to get one??) He said no they were not enforcing as of yet as WDW hasn't taken them over yet. Take that statement to mean whatever you think. I have no idea.
We rode RSR once more during the day and twice at night. Of all the times we rode RSR, when we used the fastpasses in the allotted return time, we had about a 20 minute wait. When we used the Fp's after the return time in the evening, we walked right up to the front of the line.On Wednesday, we did GK for breakfast. It was a different experience than the first time. We had unbelieveable service the night we went for supper, but not so much for breakfast. The waitress did not clean our plates when we finished with them and had to track her down to get refills on our drinks. I am a tipper...I have no problem with giving them what they deserved. My problem as of now is that they automatically charge 18% when you pay. This day, it was not earned. Not even close. That's my vent for now.
All in all we had a wonderful trip. Last trip we went, we went for 8 days. We left feeling we didn't have enough time. We went for 10 days this time and left the park feeling fulfilled. We left feeling we had gotten to do what we wanted and took it at our pace. It was wonderful...magical...happy...now to plan the next one!
