Downunder to Disney - June20th - 2nd of July.

[wsssup]

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Sounds like a fun day - definitely think the fun of those big raft water rides is thinking about who is going to get wet and then seeing who actually does get wet ... and how wet! My daughter absolutely loved Kali River Rapids and I am sure she will love Grizzly

Glad to see you enjoyed Carthay so much - we are also planning to do the WOC package for this and it is one of the restaurants I am most looking forward too - especially considering we just didn't have time to carve out for Napa Rose. BTW - how early did you get to the line to wait for WOC to wind up with the great viewing spot you got?

 

[wsssup]

Sounds like a fun day - definitely think the fun of those big raft water rides is thinking about who is going to get wet and then seeing who actually does get wet ... and how wet! My daughter absolutely loved Kali River Rapids and I am sure she will love Grizzly

Glad to see you enjoyed Carthay so much - we are also planning to do the WOC package for this and it is one of the restaurants I am most looking forward too - especially considering we just didn't have time to carve out for Napa Rose. BTW - how early did you get to the line to wait for WOC to wind up with the great viewing spot you got?

You and your family will love Grizzly then. We would always ride it first thing in the morning, no one was ever on it that early. 2 to 3 times we would walk right on, best time to ride it, also very late at night, it feels like a different ride at night especially going through the tunnels.

Carthay was great. For WOC we lined up about 40 minutes before the show. Only a few people in line and we headed straight to the viewing area near the seats which are reserved for handicapped. Sat down right at the railing. Great view of everything.
Even when the show is over its pretty quick and easy to get out. Just head out and get over to the left and head towards Little mermaid ride and then cut through down to Grizzly area. Much less crowded than walking all the way back down the parade route past Carsland etc.

 

[wsssup]

VIDEO PREVIEW
Just a quick little video of our trip.

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[TheMaxRebo]

started to watch the video but trying to keep from spoiling too many things for our trip. Did love the part with your daughter bouncing with Tigger and how you went slow-mo for the wave on grizzly river run

 

[wsssup]

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[TheMaxRebo]

That story of Mad Hatter and Alic pulling on your backpack and just hanging with them for 10 minutes sounds like such a great time!

Love the pic from Splash Mountain

That's great that you had those days to kinda take it a bit easy and just take the scene in and enjoy your time. Glad you enjoyed your time so much

 

[wsssup]

That story of Mad Hatter and Alic pulling on your backpack and just hanging with them for 10 minutes sounds like such a great time!

Love the pic from Splash Mountain

That's great that you had those days to kinda take it a bit easy and just take the scene in and enjoy your time. Glad you enjoyed your time so much

Thanks mate.
The days we took it easy not following ridemax to its exact plan actually turned out better. I saw it around the park a lot. Stressed parents and sad looking kids. It doesn't have to be that way, you just have to go with the flow. No one can predict the crowds and ride breakdowns and other events through out the day, so best to just go with it and just remember where you are.

 

[wsssup]

Thursday 2nd July
Time to Fly home.

Today was the day to fly home. But first we were up early and headed down to the Lobby of Paradise Pier to go for our breakfast at Surfs Up. One last bit of Disney before we left.
We were excited about this one as it had the Famous Stitch. And he certainly did not disappoint. There were not many people in at our 7:20am reservation so Stitch was hanging around us a long time. We told him we could take him home to Australia for some nice surfing and beaches, and he got very excited. He disappeared for a little bit and came back with a bag, i have no idea where he got it from, and he was jumping up and down and grabbing us as if to say lets go. He wrote in my daughters autograph book. "Stitch is better than Wallaby". Thought that was pretty cool.
We had Daisy, Pluto, Mini and Mickey. Stitch is the draw card for this place and without him it really isn't that good of a character breakfast.
It feels very rushed with other characters and even in eating your food and getting out.
It was still fun.

Our flight was not until 11pm, we had booked an extra day in our room so we could relax and not have to check out so early. It was a tight fit but we go all our goodies in our bags, we had a lot of stuff. One suitcase was just all pop corn buckets and cups.
Our shuttle from Karmal arrived on time at 8pm and it was time to wave goodbye.

We arrived at LAX on time and i must say your airport staff and security are far ahead of what we have back home. People working at the airport at LAX are just so much more friendlier than our airport people back home in Melbourne. Thumbs up for LAX.
So we were off on our 16 hour flight back to Australia , to cold Melbourne winter.
Memories to keep forever, and Plans to travel again next year to Orlando WDW. Yes thats right, planning again already for May next year and would be staying a month.

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[wsssup]

WHAT I LEARNT FROM OUT TRIP.

Karmel Shuttle Service
On time. Vans were clean and drivers were very friendly. We opted for a private shuttle. After a 16 hour flight we just wanted to get on and go. Price was only about $60usd. Impressed by the service indeed.

Paradise Pier Hotel
The cheapest of the Disneyland Hotels, which is why we went for it. The Story's about the lifts is true to some point but i feel it's about being smart. We never had to wait more than 2 to 5 minutes. Plan to use them very early or very late. Yes they get busy from about 7am to 8am, and 4pm is a busy time as well. We found using the glass lift to go up the best, as there are no down buttons for this lift on most the floors.
The staff here were amazing. My daughter was lucky to get a few gifts throughout our stay from the awesome staff. A 60th Disney doll and Disney Mini mouse, which are not cheap were given to her by the staff.
They were always very helpful, and Jerry on the night shift is a champ. Walking distance is not that far, you can downtown disney it, or cut through the Grand Cali to downtown disney or Adventure park.
Thumbs up for this place.

Early Entry
We used it pretty much everyday. It was highly valuable to us. We got so much done in that hour especially at DCA. RSR was always a first. There is no need to panic and run, you will get on no problems in the morning and still have time to ride it again or hit the other big rides.
Disneyland early entry is a bit busier but still great to get in for that extra hour.

Ridemax
Awesome, glad i purchased it. It helped a lot and was spot on. A tip though is to not follow it to the exact plan. Just go with the flow. After a day or 2 we had a good idea of how to work our day around it. We could skip a few things and get back on to the plan later in the day and all was still spot on. Never had to wait in line longer than 20 minutes. And this was peak season.

Crowds
So we went late June. Big crowds, schools out, what are you thinking. I was a little worried before going, but upon being there it was far from being stressful. Yes it was busy but it is nothing to stress about. I really did not feel crowded at all. Could always find a place to relax, lines were long on some rides but that is where ridemax helped.

Matterhorn
We were lucky to get a free pass to ride this the first time, so we could walk right on. Second time though we lined up. Don't let the long line deter you. When we lined up the wait time was 40 minutes. The line was wrapped all the way around the mountain. This is a fast loading ride, you wouldn't think it but it is. We were on within 20 minutes. So get on it.

Character breakfast
So we did Plaza inn, Ariels grotto and Surfs up. Plaza inn was by far the best. Great character interaction and service. It is the cheapest one and makes the other ones need a spruce up. Tigger and Chip n dale are stand outs here.

Photopass +
Im on the fence with this one. Being able to put your ride photos on was awesome. I would have liked to have seen more natural location shots. Too many comical background shots, if your into that kind of thing its great but we were after more natural background locations. The girl at maters ride was awesome taking shots of my daughter on the ride. They need more of this and she knew how to use a camera. Too many of our photos were out of focus or overexposed.

Fantasmic and WOC
Awesome, both worth it. If you can afford it go the dining packages for the best spots. 40 minutes before the show is enough time to get prime positions.

Overall it was about going with the flow. Yes we had ridemax but i was not going to let it control the holiday. Things would happen like ride breakdowns and you really just have to continue on with a smile. It makes the day so much better when you just go with the flow. We had so many random events from people and characters around the parks. Getting info and tips from locals and Americans in general was great. Everyone really is so nice and helpful and love to have a good chat when they found out we were not from around here.
It truly was a great trip and Disneyland and the people and country we were in made it all that much better.

Disney World Next May look out.
Thanks for reading.​