DL Adventure - First Time with Toddler July28-Aug2 2007

[mom2ian]

First Journal Entry, DL Adventure

The Intrepid Explorers Include:
DH
Me, huge DL fan
DS, our toddler just 1 week before turning 2!!
My sister
My BIL, who had never been to So. Cal before
My nephew, 5, who was the main reason for our trip - he had survived brain surgery the year before and this trip was for him!!

Day of Departure: July 28th, Saturday

We set off for our adventure mid-day on Saturday. We left the airport around 1:50 in the afternoon and arrived at Orange County about 4:30. How did we entertain a toddler on a 2+ hour flight? With Mickey Mouse crayons, paper, and my handy-dandy portable DVD player.

We had an uneventful shuttle ride to our hotel, the Anaheim Fairfield. The shuttle driver was very chatty so we got to hear all about his last trip and the various maladies that plagued his senior-aged traveling companions. Wait . . . do we really want this guy to be driving our shuttle?

Aaannyywayy . . . I digress. We arrived at the hotel in about 20 minutes. Nice! We checked in expecting to have connecting room, but somehow the hotel got that part messed up even though I had confirmed it two times. It wasn't that big of a deal since we really wanted to be in the park so we dropped our luggage in our rooms. Dear nephew, aged 5, didn't even want to take the time to pee, he was so excited! Sis, bil, and nephew decided to go into the park ahead of us so we were on our own for a few hours.

We hit DL and headed for Town Hall. I got my b-day pin, got ds' b-day pin. By this time, we were starving, so we headed to Adventureland and the Bengal BBQ. So yummy! We had the chicken skewers and the spicy beef skewers and some tiger tails.

By this time, it was getting to be a bit dark. We headed over to the Jungle Cruise and had about a 5 minute wait. Ds wasn't too sure at first, but then he saw, gasp, live ducks swimming during the cruise and decided it was "so fun!"

After JC, we headed over to Critter Country for some Splash Mountain FPs. We got those and then rode on the Winnie-the-Pooh ride. Ds handled it just fine. He eyes were as big as saucers, but he just was fascinating by all the sounds, colors, and movement. We then connected up with the rest of the family and headed to Fantasyland.

Our plan was to ride the Casey Jr. Circus train, but we got in the wrong line. Instead, we rode the Storybook Canal ride which both kids really liked. I took a pic of the Matterhorn while walking around . . .

We headed back to the hotel while sis, bil, and nephew stayed to ride BTMRR. It was very crowded on this Saturday night. We got ds a green Mickey balloon on Main Street on our way out. Ds fell asleep by this time so Dh and I stopped at the World of Disney in Downtown Disney to get a little shopping done. I had lots of fun at this store!! Only, where are all the Tigger shirts? I guess I'll find out later . . .

 

[PirateFish989]

Sounds like you had a fun, yet tiring, first day!

I LOVE the Bengal BBQ!!! So delicious (and the perfect portions if you have been eating junk in the park all day, like we always do). I'm glad that your son enjoyed the Pooh ride. I love all of the bright colors.

Don't you love the World of Disney Store? I could spend hours just looking around. Hope that you found your Tigger shirts!

 

[heatherleigh]

I am enoying your trip report. We will be taking a 5-year old and 16-month old, so the ages are similar to the ones you had. I, too, love Bengal BBQ! We stumbled upon it by chance the last time we went (before i found these boards.) I also liked the smaller sized portions, being as I"m not a huge eater. I like the pic you took of the menu!

 

[DisDancerina]

Do we get more?

 

[mom2ian]

Oh yea, more trip report will be posted tonight, complete with pics of the park. Stay tuned. . .

 

[DisDancerina]

Does this count as tonight?

 

[mom2ian]

Day 2 - First Full Day in the Park

So, we all met up at 7:00 a.m. at the hotel. We had brought some cold cereal, paper bowls and spoons in our luggage, he he. We got milk at a little market down the street. We thought we could save a few $$ by having breakfast in our room a couple of days. It actually worked!

Don't you just love looking at this Mickey when you visit the park?

We were at the main gate by 7:30 and blasted right into the park at 8:00 a.m. The lines were really small.

We walked straight away to Pirates. They were only launching every other boat with people so we got a whole boat to ourselves. This was my first time riding Pirates since the Captain Jack additions. I thought they were subtle touches and didn't detract from the Pirates experience at all.

Here's a pic of Capt. Jack at the end:

I think we wound up riding Pirates several times in a row because nephew, age 5, loved it so much. My toddler didn't seem to get scared mostly because he just loved following around his big cousin.

We then headed to Splash to get our FPs for later in the day. Turns out, Splash had a very short wait so we took turns riding it. We did get our FPs and used them later when it got hot.

I like this early morning shot of SM:

The HM ride was deserted so I took this pic. Maybe the grim grinning ghosts got everyone!

After riding a couple more rides, the party split-up for a few hours. We headed to Main Street on our way back to the hotel for lunch. There were a few characters out so we got autographs/photos from Pluto. Ds wasn't too sure about being that close to a giant stuffed dog. By the end of the week, though, he was running up to the characters to give them hugs!

We took our toddler back to the room for a short rest. The pool area at the Fairfield is pretty nice. The pool goes from about 3 feet deep to about 5 feet deep. There is also a nice hottub to rest aching feet.

After our nearly 2 hour resting break, we headed back into the park. I was amazed at how uncrowded today was considering Saturday was jammed! We rode Buzz after a very short wait. Toddler son loved it! He got about 2000 points just by waving his little lazer gun around. Dh got over 50,000 points and I got almost 40,000 points.

We then waited for Autopia for about 15 minutes. Another fun ride for little ones! I had a car to myself and took this glamorous self-portrait (not!):

I think we hit the rocket ship ride once more on our way to dinner. We had reservations at the Rainforest Cafe in downtown Disney. I remember the last time we visited DL, the wait was like 2 hours at the Rainforest. This time, we only had to wait about 5 minutes for our table to be ready. We couldn't take the stroller inside and I was a little bit nervous just parking it outside the restaurant.

I had a delicious chicken bbq wrap, but forgot to take a picture of the food. Just too hungry! My toddler was too busy coloring to eat. He did get a bit apprehensive when the rain forest "turned on" causing "thunder" to roar and the "apes" to go a little crazy. When we finished dinner, the stroller was right where we left it - whew!!

We caught the monorail into the park and entered Tomorrowland again. We did SM with our FPs.

The husbands then secured our spots for Fantasmic and waited with our toddler. Sis, nephew and I then rode BTMRR 2 times ( or was it 3 times) because we had less than a 5 minute wait each time. We bought the kids some flashing light toys (suckers, I know), and then headed back to the husbands to wait for Fantasmic.

Our toddler was a bit scared at first, but seemed to do better as the show progressed. My sis covered nephew's eyes during certain parts but I think he could of handled the show just fine! Here's a pic of Mickey during Fantasmic - sorry that it is a bit blurry.

Then we headed back to the hotel for a rest. Tomorrow would be our EE day. More to come!

 

[foleyfun]

We just went to DL with our toddler so I am really enjoying your trip report! I can't wait to hear the rest!

Kim

 

[mt mommy]

So I guess the Fairfield Inn that you stayed at didn't have a breakfast there???? We've stayed at Fairfield's and they have provided at continental breakfast.

Just curious.

Also, did you walk to the park? Isn't the Fairfield pretty close to the park? Is it the one close to Mimi's?

 

[mom2ian]

So I guess the Fairfield Inn that you stayed at didn't have a breakfast there???? We've stayed at Fairfield's and they have provided at continental breakfast.

>> I don't think there was a continental breakfast there. At least, I didn't notice one. However, they have a little coffee shop with breakfast items available to purchase on the 3rd floor. I think they also sell pizza. We got mochas and muffins from there on our last day.

Just curious.

Also, did you walk to the park? Isn't the Fairfield pretty close to the park? Is it the one close to Mimi's?

>> Yes, we walked to the park every day. It's only about a 5 minute walk (minus the wait time at the signal). But, everyone has to cross at the signal. There is a McDonald's in the parking lot next door and I believe it is Mimi's in the Fairfield parking lot. You could order room service from Mimi's to be delivered to your room but we never did this option. This is also a Milli's in another adjacent parking lot.

Overall, the Fairfield was a decent place to stay. I never heard any other guests so the room felt very well insulated. We did get a "fireworks" view which was nice. I would not want to stay in a poolside room because the kids can be very noisy there during afternoon nap time!

More trip report to come. Stay tuned~

 

[daisy_77]

I am really enjoying your TR!
Your little guy is just a cutie!
Your rooms at the Fairfield look nice! I will have to look into staying there next time.
I am looking forward to more!

 

[mom2ian]

Sorry for the delay in trip reporting. The daily grind has a way of interfering!

Day 3 - EE Day!! And Character Breakfast Day!!

So, the plan today was to use our EE and head for Nemo. We got to the gates around 6:30 a.m. to a very small line. We're thinking - great - Nemo, here we come! Or were we????

When the gates opened at 7:00 a.m., we very quickly walked towards Nemo. About 90% of EE'ers headed towards Nemo. Still, the line was very reasonable - about a 10 minute wait. But, as we got in line, a cast member was telling people that Nemo wasn't quite operational and there would be a delay.

Decision time: stay in line or bag it? BIL decided to stay in line with nephew. The rest of us decided to bag it and headed for the other Fantasyland rides. Good choice!

While BIL did eventually get to ride Nemo, it took his entire EE to ride it. In the meantime, we did tons of rides in FL including Matterhorn.

Don't you just love this view of Toad's Wild Ride?

I also took this photo of a clean - and completely deserted - bathroom near Alice in FL. Cool! I know - weird shot.

A view of the nearly deserted teacups.

We had scheduled a character breakfast for 8:50 a.m. - the Minnie & Friends breakfast. By this time, I was pretty hungry since we just had a light snack before EE. Sis and BIL went on their own, while dh took ds and nephew to the breakfast.

We saw tons of characters. At first toddler ds was nervous and shy. But, Dale had him laughing out loud! We met: Fairy Godmother, Minnie, Tigger, Chip, Dale, Captain Hook, Eeyore, and I might be forgetting one or two. Tigger was the most popular by far. Tigger would jump into one side of the room and all the people would shout out "Tigger!" We did eventually wrangle him into signing our autograph books and taking a photo. I think nephew and ds had a pretty good time. We stayed at the character breakfast the full 90 minutes. Nephew loved the little Mickey waffles with whip cream. Food was ok, but not outstanding. You are definitely paying for a meet-in-greet opportunity for the kids.

After the character breakfast, we reunited with sis and bil at the firehouse on Main Street. On the way, we "ran" into Buzz Lightyear and had our picture and autograph book signed. We got to the firehouse before sis and bil and guess who we saw? Donald Duck!!!! Yes, in all the times that I've been to DL, I have never seen Donald Duck for photo ops.

The group then headed over to DCA. We expected that we would need FP's for Tower of Terror so we walked over to that attraction rather quickly. However, it was only a 15 minutes so we took turns riding ToT. Nephew was tall enough to ride it but definitely did not want to!!

Here's a pic:

While sis and bil then rode it again, we took the kids over to the Monsters ride. Both kids LOVED it, especially my toddler. Who knew monsters were so popular?

Grizzly River was up next. Again, a short wait of about 20 minutes so we switched off. I just love this ride! My sis always gets the most soaked - every time - ha, ha! While dh and bil rode the ride, sis and I headed over to get FPs for California Screamin. We ran into a Photopass guy just outside of the Grizzly ride and he took a picture of sis, ds, and myself. I just knew it would be a great shot. Then, we he went to scan my Photopass card, the camera had some kind of mechanical fart and needed to be fixed. Arrghh . . . a lost photo op!

I really like this shot of CS:

Back to the hotel room for a much needed rest and dip in the pool!!

After our rest, we headed back to DCA. We took turns riding California Screamin' while I love. I really hope Disney adds more of these bigger attractions to DCA with the remodel. Bil loved it and rode again as a single-rider.

Next up, we headed over to A Bug's Land so the kids could do some slower rides. Both boys loved the rides here! I think they would have ridden each one over and over if they could.

One of the rides (can't remember the name):

By this time, it was about 7:00 p.m. so we grabbed some dinner (turkey sandwiches from the restaurant in the Wharf area) and grabbed a bench to wait for the Electrical Parade. During the wait, I bought both boys a Mickey light saber toy (I am a sucker!). But, it kept them entertained for a long time and my ds is still playing with his light saber at home.

I took ds for about 15 minutes to the Baby Care center in DCA. Very nice! I was able to change him on a changing table and someone else cleaned up after us!!!! They also had a little toddler reading area with a toddler-sized table and chairs so ds could get some quiet time:

If you have a child 3 and under, then I definitely recommend stopping in at one of the baby care centers for a peaceful and air-conditioned break for your little one. They also provide highchairs and private areas for nursing moms.

The parade was worth the wait for the little ones. They were fascinated by the lights, the dancing characters, and the music. I remember watching this parade during my first visit in the mid-1980's. Still really cool!

Finally, back to the hotel room for dh, ds, and myself. Sis, bil, and nephew headed back over to DL to catch a couple more rides.

Stayed tuned . . .

 

[DisDancerina]

MORE

 

[lillybug]

I'm enjoying your trip report, can't wait for more!

We're taking our 5, 3, and 1 year old to Disneyland for the first time in November. Thanks for the great advice for the little ones!

 

[mom2ian]

More trip report, as promised!!!

The next day we decided to sleep in just a bit and the party separated into 2 groups until lunch - me, dh, and ds while sis, bil, and nephew went on their own.

As we entered the park around 10:00ish, we immediately saw Minnie Mouse all dressed in a pretty blue dress. We took our picture with her. I wished there had been a Photopass because I didn't get in the photo! We then saw Mickey Mouse a little further along, and a friendly cast member took a group photo. Ds was a little bit frustrated by this time because the line for Mickey took about 20 minutes.

We decided to head towards Toontown so ds could get in some toddler wiggle time. On the way, we ran into Alice and the Mad Hatter. Ds seemed to be afraid of the face characters and absolutely did NOT like Alice! She was acting a bit drunk, er daffy, so not surprising! However, it was surprising to see him laugh with the Mad Hatter. Mad Hatter poured him some invisible tea and spent probably 5 minutes chatting with just us. A great experience!!!

Took this shot of Small World on the way to Toontown:

Toontown is a great place for the little ones! We let ds spend a good hour or so just running around Goofy's house and yard. He loved the water hose, in particular.

Scarecrow Goofy:

Goofy greeting kids:

I saw this on the street and thought it was interesting. Who knew - a Toon Hole?

We went into the store in Toontown looking for a Tigger shirt. None to be found?? I did buy a potato head box and stuffed it full of parts for ds' upcoming 2nd birthday. Lots of fun! Had to hide what I was doing so ds didn't get too interested.

Next, we climbed up and down Chip N'Dales house and then had fun checking out Donald's boat.

Kids love pushing Donald's buttons (ha!):

At about 2:00, we connected up with the rest of the family for lunch. We met at the mexican restaurant in Frontierland - the name escapes me. Pretty good food. Ds had fallen asleep in his stroller so we just let him sleep.

Nephew was dressed as a pirate as he suckered, er asked, mom & dad for a pirate set at the little shop outside of the Pirates ride - is it called Pieces of Eight?

After lunch, we all went to the Buzz Lightyear ride and had only about a 10 minute wait. The kids love this ride so much. My little toddler used a lazer gun, just like dad, and waved it around. He got about 2000 points doing that! I stopped to email myself our pictures from the Buzz ride.

Here's Buzz in the waiting queue just inside the building. I love the Etch-a-sketch that he uses to draw out his attack plans.

We rode the rocket ship ride again (and again and again) after Buzz.

By this time, it was around 6:00ish and bil and sis decided to head back to the motel. This was their last day in Dland, so sad. They decided to watch the fireworks from the hotel balcony instead of getting crushed in the sometimes rude fireworks crowd.

On the way out, they stopped for last-minute sovenirs on main street. We took pics of the boys together. Then my sis and bil surprised us by saying that they would take ds for the evening so dh and I could go on big-kid rides. Yes!!

We went crazy! We rode Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Indy, California Screamin', Thunder Mountain and rode some of these numerous times.

However, we did manage to make it back to the hotel in time for dh and bil to share a beer while we all watched the fireworks. Ahhhh, a Kodak moment.

Stay tuned for our last day . . . still looking for that Tigger shirt . . .

 

[DisDancerina]

It's "Mr. Etch A Sketch" to you missy!

 

[mom2ian]

I stand corrected - "Mr. Etch a Sketch" - ha, ha. You got me on that one!!

I have to say, my little toddler just loved that Buzz ride. He would probably have ridden it 10 times over. Of course, it helped that he had a little blaster gun just like dad to hit all those targets.

 

[DisDancerina]

Hehe Mr. Etch A Sketch! I probably would ride it that many times too. You should have just bought him the litte gun they sell at Star Traders.

 

[DisDancerina]

Hehe Mr. Etch A Sketch! I probably would ride it that many times too. You should have just bought him the litte gun they sell at Star Traders.

 

[mom2ian]

Shhh, don't tell him - but, I did buy the little blaster gun and I'm holding it for our next road trip. There's nothing like a new toy to keep a toddler busy for a while!