Back from our trip - a few quick thoughts

[VandVsmama]

We are back home from our trip. HUGE BUMMER! I will do a full trip report over the next couple of weeks. But here are my thoughts off of the top of my head in no particular order:

1. Minnie's breakfast at the Plaza Inn - this was worth the $105 we paid for the four of us. The food was good and there must have been about seven characters we met. So rather than standing in line, we got to sit, eat, and the characters came to us. The characters respond really well when you engage them a bit. I did a lot of talking with the characters because my kids were totally star struck. We played some simple silly games with them and got lots of kisses (aka lip smacking sounds).

2. First time on Haunted Mansion Holiday. I am not a big Nightmare Before Xmas fan but this was very well done. The dining room smelled like gingerbread!

3. Pirates of the Caribbean is the best ride ever.

4. Took our kids to Tom Sawyer's Island for the first time ever in their short lives and I am so glad. They pretended to be pirates. It was so much fun. I have some really fun video that I will share with you in my trip report. Walt Disney was a genius in setting up Tom Sawyer's Island. I only wish that you could still go through the fort.

5. Went on the submarines for first time in 30 years and we all loved it. Very well done! Last time I went on this, it was the original submarines without the Finding Nemo stuff.

6. First time ever on Radiator Springs Racers and OMG THAT RIDE IS SPECTACULAR! I sat next to a Japanese woman who didn't speak a word of English but through gestures we both knew that we loved it.

7. Went on the Mark Twain. We all love this boat. I don't know what it is about it. It's just really special. It's really beautiful at night, too. There is something just so relaxing and wonderful to hear the sound of the horn in New Orleans Square.

8. We made a point this trip to have the kids each have one on one ride time with DH or I and they got to go on the rise of their choosing. ODD and I went on Pirates for a second time one night and it was really nice.

9. YDD is the daredevil. She loved BTMRR and went on Indiana Jones twice in one day. I was lucky to convince ODD to go on it once! But at least this time she kept her eyes open. LOL

10. The parks were VERY CROWDED! Even in the afternoon on a Tuesday. It was a sea of humanity this afternoon at about 2pm. Bleh! Thank goodness for staying at a nearby hotel. Going early in the morning worked very well for us and I'm glad that we took breaks.

11. The 1930s-40s theming on Buena Vista street is really cool.

12. My kids love GRR. Couldn't get DH to go on it.

13. We all went to see Great Moments with Mr Lincoln. ODD asked my if I was alive when Lincoln was. LOL! The Disneyland historical exhibit in that same building are really cool and worth seeing. Original concept art from several attractions and shops from Main Street and other areas of the park were there, too.

14. I now understand why the Halloween party nights are so popular. People are very creative with their costumes. SO many awesome Disney-themed costumes. The adults' costumes were really great. Even my DH, who normally takes awhile to warm up to a Disneyland trip, said that he wishes that we could have gone to the Halloween party.

15. It rained on Sunday, but it wasn't a cold rain. It was a warm & sweaty Florida type of rain. Thought that it would drive the locals away, but by 1pm on Sunday, Disneyland was mobbed.

16. Lots of visitors from Arizona and Utah...probably because lots of schools have a week off for Fall Break. Also lots of visitors from other countries - Australia, Japan, China, Italy, France. Pretty much from all over the place.

17. Went to Animation Academy, Turtle Talk with Crush, and Monsters, Inc for the first time on this trip. Lots of fun! Both of our kids really liked Animation Academy...we did it twice one day.

18. Photopass photographer lines in the evenings were SO LONG! Wish that we had done more of those photos earlier in the day. We never got a picture in front of the castle and didn't even get a picture in front of the big pumpkin Mickey.

19. We stayed at BW Stovall's. The free breakfast that's included is a hot breakfast, not just continental breakfast. I even saved $$ on morning snacks by grabbing 1 banana per person at breakfast and bringing them with me. We enjoyed staying here. The hotel was VERY clean and just down the street from Marri's Pizza....we had take out dinner there on our last night for $30 and it fed all 4 of us. Kids meal portions are pretty big. ODD's kids' version of spaghetti could have fed 2 adults. Next time, though, I want to try staying at BWPPI to see what that's like.

We likely won't be going to Disneyland next year (which I'm bummed about!), so as we were leaving the parks, I had a good cry. I left a thank you comment at City Hall before we left for the sanitation crew. The parks were SO CLEAN! The bathrooms were SPOTLESS.

ODD complained of her feet hurting, so before we go there again (whenever that will be...probably in 2017), I will need to invest in better footwear for my kids.

 

[julesann]

thanks for taking the time to write down your thoughts; I enjoyed reading the details about your trip and the way you spend time with your children!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

So glad you and your family enjoyed your trip! And you are so right about the creative Halloween costumes at the parties. Seeing the costumes is one reason we go every year!

 

[meggles]

Thanks for the tips. It will be helpful when we go with our kiddos in a few weeks.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Great recap, and I'm so glad that your family had such a good time. Those 1/1 time rides will be remembered for a long time to come. My nephews really enjoy Animation Academy, too. We did it twice when we went on a 1-day visit. It looks like you had a lot of firsts on your trip, too.

 

[Disney127]

Thanks for the write-up and glad that you and your family had a good trip! I know what you mean about having a good cry when you leave. I think that after our upcoming Christmas trip, I will be crying too - since we are not planning to be back for a year or two.

 

[ALEXandFAB]

ODD asked my if I was alive when Lincoln was.

Thanks so much for sharing. Sounds like you had an incredible trip!

 

[Indiana Scott]

So glad you had a wonderful trip and I look forward to your TR.

 

[Mrs.Hades]

What a great review, it had me smiling the whole time.

 

[Butterfly123]

At first I thought that your trip was a huge bummer! I'm glad I read further to find out you had a great time, and that the bummer was your vacation was over! I always hate the letdown after a trip. We won't be going next year either, and that makes it even harder to say goodbye to Disneyland. Thanks for your great summary!

 

[kirstie101]

Thanks for sharing! I'm glad you all had a good time! We are staying at Stovalls in January so I appreciate the review! It is always so hard to leave Disneyland!

 

[VandVsmama]

We really had a wonderful time! Although at a few points in the trip, we had some normal cranky moments. Sometimes, we would take turns for who wore the cranky pants.

 

[VandVsmama]

Other random thoughts in no particular order....

DH left his toothbrush at home. He said, "Oh, I'll just go buy one when we're out there. I need a new toothbrush anyway." Well, first he thought, "I'll just walk down the street to the CVS and get one there." Except he wanted the girls & I to walk with him after we'd spend a long & tiring morning walking all over the parks. Ok honey, so you could drive there. He said, "No, I didn't see any parking available when we drove past it yesterday." So he inquired at the front desk and they gave him a toothbrush. Woot! YAY!

One evening on our walk back to the parks, we were going through the GCH lobby and holy cow, there were some senior citizens driving their scooters at break neck speed! 3 or 4 of them in a row. Going VERY fast for a busy hotel lobby. I almost got run over. I saw some more of that scooter driving behavior in the parks. Not a lot...just sporadic speeding and I remember thinking, "Wow, that is pretty dumb."

Another dumb move...one evening while leaving the parks, we passed a group of 4 people who looked to be in their early 20s. They were hanging out around a light pole in the esplanade closer to the DTD side of the esplanade. Smoke was coming out from a water bottle one of the guys was holding and I heard a big loud pop as we walked by them. So I went over to the 2 security CMs who were near the bag check and told them what I saw and the security CM said thank you, we'll take care of it. As our family was walking away, the security personnel were going over to the gang of 4. Something tells me that their evening at Disneyland was going to be ending early that day.

The crowds on Sunday afternoon were REALLY large. LOTS of people. We left at 2pm and Main Street was VERY busy. We went back at about 6pm later that day and people were lined up all along Main Street for Paint the Night and fireworks. So even 5 months after the debut of the new nighttime entertainment, it is still very popular.

On the Halloween party night starting at 4pm-ish, the crowds in DCA started to swell as people like us who didn't have Halloween party tickets came over to DCA. So everyone's suggestions to hit up the big DCA rides early in the day...that was a good idea and thank you! After 5pm, the lines for Mater's Junkyard Jamboree were 30 minutes long. Ariel's was 20 minutes. RSR was 90 minutes.

We were there on Gay Days weekend. Just in case anyone is wondering, it was very low key. Just a lot of people wearing red shirts. It was like any normal day at Disneyland & DCA. We did not observe any inappropriate behavior or suggestive clothing or anything. The folks who organize Gay Days do encourage the Gay Days participants to be mindful of clothing choices since Disneyland is a family park...they post info about it on their website.

I think that we lucked out with the weather overall. Later this week, it's supposed to be in the 90s and even maybe a day of 100 degrees. Weather-wise - I prefer going in early June. But it would be fun to go to a Halloween party one year. I was amazed at all the people wearing sweatshirts while I was sweating buckets. LOL! But I've read that October weather in Orange County can often be weird & unpredictable...sometimes it's cold and then a few days later, it's really hot.

I really missed the fried green tomato sandwich at the Hungry Bear. I hope they bring it back somewhere in the parks.

I'm glad we had park hoppers. On Sunday evening, we hopped over to DCA on a whim and went into the Animation Academy building and what do you know...there was NO LINE to meet Anna & Elsa at about 8pm. We WALKED IN! No special tickets required. Two days later (on Tuesday) it was a different story....an hour wait.

I like how Disneyland is alcohol-free.

One evening, DH was really tired and he went back to the hotel early while the girls & I went on GRR (we had FP). It's a good thing that I chose to wear my sun hat into the evening because as we were walking through the Grizzly Peak air field area, there was a huge flock of black birds overhead and one of them pooped on my hat! If I hadn't been wearing it, bird poop would have landed in my hair or all over the front of my shirt. Thankfully, it came off very easily because my hat is water proof so with soap & water in the bathroom, it washed clean very quickly.

 

[VandVsmama]

Oh! I almost forgot. The fried chicken at the Plaza Inn really is as good as everyone says it is.

Also, I had purchased 2 of our tickets directly through the Disneyland website and the other 2 tickets through aRes (which was recommended on Mousesavers). I don't think that I'll use aRes again to purchase tickets. It was very nerve-wracking because the ticket booth CM had an issue bringing up my ticket info, so she had to get a supervisor to help her. When I originally purchased the aRes tickets, there was a deal going on where you'd get a 4-day park hopper for the price of a 3-day park hopper. Well, we had to change our travel dates and when I called aRes to change the ticket pick up date, they were no longer offering that deal so I had to go with 3-day park hoppers instead. Honestly, it was a big pain in the neck. And aRes doesn't give you the option of getting a refund. You can only exchange the tickets...and you HAVE to pick a date. If your travel date changes outside of a 10-day window within that original travel date, then they have to basically charge you again for brand new tickets. No thank you. I'll just pay the full ticket price.

So for our next trip, I am thinking of perhaps booking through Disneyland.com or getawaytoday.com or just booking the hotel on my own like I did this time.

On Monday when we were at DCA early in the morning, I saw some landscaping CMs tending to the plants in front of Wine Country Trattoria and I complimented them on what a great job all of them do on the landscaping at Disneyland, how everything always looks really nice & well kept and it totally adds to the atmosphere. It's not like going to a run down Six Flags amusement park. The "behind the scenes" CMs are great!

 

[mjlum]

How long did it take to walk to the park from Stovall's in the morning? I understand you can't go through the Grand CA entrance at park opening. Is it a long walk if you have to go through DTD? We might stay at Stovall's but not sure how long the walk would be. Any tips on short cuts?

 

[Arielismyfave]

Thank you for sharing this! We are going in April and I love reading TRs and tips from those that have just been there.

We haven't bought tickets yet and we were looking at the vendor you used, so I appreciate that feedback

 

[luulu1999]

Thank you for sharing this! We are going in April and I love reading TRs and tips from those that have just been there.

We haven't bought tickets yet and we were looking at the vendor you used, so I appreciate that feedback

last minute travel club has good prices right now on tickets! you can usually find promo codes to sign up for free also

 

[smartlabelprint]

We are BWPPI regulars moving to Stovall's due to a short notice trip. I'll let you know how they compare in my mind. Yes, how long was the walk with kids?