First Trip Report! And First Trip ever W/ my DBF! Lot's of Pics!

[ArielMelody]

So I've been thinking about doing one of these since I first found this amazing message board (which was a few months ago but I lurked FOREVER). I can't even tell you how many HOURS I've spent reading Disney wedding and HM reports My DBF was probably really tired of hearing about them all the time and had no idea why I was so obsessed up until Nov 28th when he finally experienced what all the fuss was about! More on that later...

First off, let Me introduce the cast of characters:

DBF aka Luke

I thought he looked super sexy in this pic but he hates it

I love when people throw in a pet picture so I must do the same

My puppy Penny! This was taken on thanksgiving and she obviously loved the outfit--NOT!

And last but not least, me!

Quick Facts: Name-Meagan, Favorite Disney character-Ariel (see tattoo) AP holder for the last 3-4 years!

Luke and I have been dating for about 8 months but he lives in Denver at the moment and was flying in early thursday morning (thanksgiving) and staying at my parents house. So thursday I got up at a ridiculous hour to pick him up from the airport and we spent the day with my family. But of course the whole time I was just wanting it to be friday so we could drive to Disneyland!

Finally friday morning came and I wanted to leave at 7 but then my mom needed help returning the tables we rented for the Holiday so we didn't end up leaving til noon. But that was fine because I can easily make it in 5 hours from where my parents live (Tracy, CA).

We arrived in Disneyland around 5, luckily there was zero traffic, and checked into the fairfield inn. I personally love this hotel, I've stayed there many many times and I'm pretty surprised more people on here don't stay there. I think we ended up paying $119/night which I thought was pretty good for thanksgiving weekend.

As soon as we got in the room I started changing to go into disneyland and Luke asked what I wanted to do for dinner. I told him we would just eat something when we got into the park. He was like, "we're going to Disneyland tonight?!" obviously he had no idea what he was in for. He was also a little confused because he had only bought a 3 day hopper pass and we were going to be there through monday (including friday is 4 days) but he didn't know that I was trying to surprise him by upgrading his hopper pass to an AP, if he liked it of course. But how couldn't he like it?!

We decided to go into California Adventure first until the fireworks, and then go over to DL. Plus I was just dying for one of my favorite corndogs in the whole world! So we went over to the park and it seemed pretty empty.

Luke loved all the christmas decorations...he loves christmas, probably a lot more than I do. Not that I DON'T love christmas, I just get burnt out on it so quickly. I'm pretty much sick of it by Dec 15 but ANYWAY. The first ride I wanted to do was TOT, it's probably my favorite ride in california adventure.

Luke had seen it from the hotel and thought it looked pretty cool. So we get in line, it was only 5 minutes so we practically walk in the elevator. That was about the time that he realized it was a free-fall ride. I have NO IDEA how he didn't notice before! I was like, "Didn't you notice it was a few STORIES HIGH?!" he said he didn't know what he thought it was but that he was afraid of free-fall rides. I tried to calm him down and told him he would love it, that it wasn't that bad, etc. Then the family behind us started talking and saying that he always saw a kid cry on this ride and that it was such a trip. I was like, "STOP SCARING MY BOYFRIEND!" (in my head of course) But he ended up going on it and he actually loved it! He said it wasn't nearly as scary as he thought it would be, and he loved the view at night.

Then we went to the animation area, which I LOVE and did all the stuff in the sorcerer's workshop and when we walked out they were playing "part of your world" and Luke and I danced to it. But Luke said I wasn't letting him lead and that I could dance it was still fun though.

After that we were really starving so we went to the corn dog castle!
Both of us got polish dogs and they were pure goodness!!

By this time it was about 45 minutes before the fireworks started so we decided to walk over to Disneyland. I was trying to use my photopass as much as possible but there were sooo many lines. This one couple was trying to get a picture right in front of disneyland but it was dark and they were wearing black so it wasn't working because it was too dark for the camera. The CM was trying to politely tell them it wasn't going to work because it wouldn't turn out but they just stood there for like 7 minutes! It held up the whole line and I'm impatient so we left. This might sound like I'm too touchy but you just had to be there.

There were a bunch of people already waiting for the fireworks so we stopped around the end of main street and started to wait.

MUCH MORE TO COME SOON!!!

 

[Daisybelle]

It looks like your trip is off to a fun start! How nice to be able to introduce someone to Disneyland!
I look forward to seeing more! Thanks for sharing.

 

[ArielMelody]

It looks like your trip is off to a fun start! How nice to be able to introduce someone to Disneyland!
I look forward to seeing more! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks! It was really cool to take him there for the first time. I was so worried he wouldn't like it because I love it so much and it's nice to share it with someone who feels the same way...thank goodness he had a good time

 

[wendylady36]

It looks like you two had a great time so far!

Yummy corn dogs *drool*

Your puppy dog is too cute.

I can't wait to hear more about your trip.

 

[ArielMelody]

Finally the fireworks started! I tried to take some pictures but I really didn't like the way they turned out. This was probably the best out of all of them....oh well....

It was pretty windy that day so about 3/4 of the way through the show they ABRUPTLY stopped the show and all the lights came on. The announcer said that due to high winds the show could not continue. LUCKILY it still snowed, I was very excited about that!

Luke said he liked real snow better (being from CO he's certaintly seen his share of it!)
But I told him this snow wasn't cold which AUTOMATICALLY made it way better than real snow. Given the fact that it was also Disney snow confirmed my opinion. For some reason I have no pictures of this.

After this we decided we would go watch Fantasmic, since obviously Luke had never seen it. We slowly but surely made our way through the crowds and ended up getting a GREAT spot in the front sitting section almost directly in the center. It was a little chilly so I asked Luke if he would go get some hot chocolate for us. About this time it was getting FULL in our section and I started looking around to see how many spots were still available. And I see people LAYING DOWN. I really don't mean to rant but for some reason this REALLY bothered me. Luke and I are both 6 feet tall and we sat indian style, taking up as little room as possible, but so many families of 3 or 4 took up enough space for 10 people. And there were so many families looking for seats . This made me feel bad saving a seat, so I tried to scooch in a bit more.

Luke finally got back and after 10 or 15 minutes the show finally started . This is probably one of my very favorite parts of Disney so I was so excited! Luke really loved it, especially when the water lit on fire. I took a few pictures, they turned out ok, not great though.

I actually got some really good video, I might upload them on youtube later.

After that we were goinig to leave because we were both so tired but then
Luke saw POTC and really wanted to ride it. There was pretty much no line so we got on pretty fast. I like this ride, but I'm not obsessed as everyone else seems to be. However, Luke LOVED it! He could not get enough, and after he saw there was a restaurant in it we decided to make reservations.

We walked in the store next to POTC after the ride and I found the cutest shirt! It has a picture of Belle pointing on it and says "I'm with beast". Of course I bought it and I was so excited to wear it the next day! I didn't really get a good pic of the shirt while I was wearing it but that's ok.

After a long day of traveling and Disneying we finally decided to go back to the hotel and we passed out so fast.

DAY TWO:
Just to warn everybody, we (well me mostly) are definitely not morning people, so we do not enter the park before 10. I know that must sound crazy to all of you DISers, but I am a much more pleasant person if I get at least 8 hours of sleep.

So we got up around 9 probably and got into Disneyland around 10 I think. I wanted to get a bunch of pictures today so I was going crazy with my photopass.

That's probably enough for now.

Then we went over to Tomorrowland. I was shocked to see that the line for Space Mountain was only 15 minutes so of course we went on! This is of course one of my all time favorites, I love how you have no idea which way you're going to turn and it almost feels like you're really in space. I also love riding it with someone for the first time because they're usually so surprised by how fun it is. Luke of course loved it, and I thought I took a picture of our picture but I guess I didn't because I can't find it now. Oh well. Here's a picture of us in line.

After that Luke really wanted to go on star tours. I tried to convince him it's not really that great, but him being a huge star wars fan, just had to go on. Here's a picture of us in line, lol I think I took a picture almost every time we were in a line.

Luke totally agreed that it was lame but he was happy we rode it.

Next was the Astro Blasters! Another one of my favorites. I swear I thought I was beating Luke through most of the ride but he ended up getting a higher score than me in the end.

By now we were getting pretty hungry so we headed over to the Riverbelle Terrace. I got the turkey sandwich and added cranberry sauce to it. It was sooo good!

Luke got the turkey salad which was also very yummy, lots of fresh veggies too! I swear the tomatoes were the best tasting tomatoes I've ever had.

After that we went on BTMR, this was my absolute favorite ride growing up. The line was really short, like 10 minutes. Luke liked it and thought it was funny how the ride would force me into him on the turns. Another pic of us in line.

Then we started to walk to Fantasyland. On the way we stopped at Woody's Round-up because I saw this beautiful turkey!

At least, I thought it was beautiful... I had never seen a white turkey before.

I also took some pictures of the reindeer

These two were fighting

Luke said this one was the alpha male, and sure enough, when he went over to eat, all the others ran away. I don't know how he knows these things.

Finally we got over to Fantasyland, most of the lines were crazy long so we only rode my favorite, the Mad Tea Party. I love love love love love this ride, especially the way it's themed and the location, and basically everything about it.

Luke made it spin soooo fast! And I was taking pictures and video so I started to get VERY dizzy!!

The video is actually really funny, because I felt so sick and I'm talking about it the whole time, but I haven't uploaded it yet, maybe later.
I almost fell out of the tea cup when it was over...lol...it was intense!

I hate to end this abruptly but I have GOT to go to sleep. I would really like to be able to wake up in the morning, lol.

More to come very soon!

 

[ArielMelody]

It looks like you two had a great time so far!

Yummy corn dogs *drool*

Your puppy dog is too cute.

I can't wait to hear more about your trip.

We did!

LOL thanks, she's much cuter normally but the santa dress made her very sad I felt bad for putting it on her so she only wore it for like 2 minutes. Enough time to take pictures, lol.

 

[goofycathy]

Your trip report is awesome, your DBF seem sto be having a great time especially for his first visit! Your pictures are great and im having a great time reading it! Cant wait to read the rest of it!

 

[Sarah84]

Sounds like you had a great time so far, love your photos. And your puppy is adorable

 

[ArielMelody]

Your trip report is awesome, your DBF seem sto be having a great time especially for his first visit! Your pictures are great and im having a great time reading it! Cant wait to read the rest of it!

Aww thankss, he really had a good time, thank goodness! I was really hoping he would love it as much as I do.

Sounds like you had a great time so far, love your photos. And your puppy is adorable

Thanks! A lot of my pictures were photopass pictures and I'm really happy with the way they turned out. Except for the fact that some were missing... but more on that later.

 

[chibichibirei]

Love the tattoo! Can't wait to read more

 

[ArielMelody]

DAY TWO CONTINUED:

After the mad tea party we had to go back to the hotel because we were going to a concert later (I don't know why I didn't mention that earlier, but I'll explain in a bit).

On the way out of the park I realized that the parade was going by, but it was towards the end. We stopped to watch anyway because it's not like we could have gotten out anytime soon at that point. We were standing right next to this little boy on his dad's shoulders and he was so adorable. Every time a character would go by he would shout at them and wave. Especially buzz. He'd be like, "Hi Buzz! Hi Buzz! Hi Buzz! Hi Buzz!" over and over. I just about died. I want a baby so bad! The parade was very cute as always. That song always seems to get stuck in my head for hours!!

I took quite a few pictures

Now about the concert. This was one of the reasons we chose this time to go to DLR. Our FAVORITE FAVORITE FAVORITE band/guy was playing at the anaheim house of blues. Secondhand Serenade. He sings "Fall for you" and his new single is "your call". I've loved him for a couple years now and when I met Luke so many songs reminded me of him . I told Luke about him and he really liked his songs too! Then the song "your call" became our song and my ringtone for when he calls, etc.

The concert started at 7 and it was general admission so I knew there would be a bunch of people but the last thing I wanted to do was wait in line for hours. So we ate at the pizza hut in the hotel and left around 5:30 to head for Downtown Disney and the concert. Well we got there and there was already a HUGE line. I was kinda bummed but then I saw that a lot of people were still lining up behind us so I convinced myself it would be ok. I took this picture of us waiting in line.

Finally the line started to move and I see a group of guys standing in a circle next to where the line was. One of them looked really familiar so I was all, "That blonde guy looks really familiar, I think I know him." And luke said, "Isn't that him?" and I'm like "It's John Vesely from Secondhand Serenade!!" I was so excited and I wanted to ask for a picture with him or something but it was weird because NO ONE was talking to him. Luke told me to go ask him for a picture but I really didn't want to bother him. Sure enough, 5 or 6 minutes later some girls got a picture with him, so I was gonna go ask, but then he was on the phone and I just felt bad. Luke told me I'd regret it later if I didn't go up to him and I kinda do now but oh well.

After like 30 minutes in line we finally got to the front and security asks me if I have a camera. I say yes and they tell me I can't go in with it! DOH! what was I thinking?! Honesty got me in trouble. So then I had to pay $5 to check it in at the House of Blues gift shop along with a bunch of other honest people. I thought this was so silly.

But eventually we made it inside and actually had pretty good spots, we were right to the side of the main floor but a few steps up which was nice because we could see over everybody. We were only like 30-40 feet from the stage. We had such a good time, he's so awesome live and he announced that "your call" would be his next single which made us so happy because that's our song!

We had planned on going back to DL since it was only 11 when the show ended but my feet were killing me after standing for like 6 hours in uncomfortable shoes so we went back to the hotel, which was definitely the right choice!

Up next: DAY THREE!

 

[trodrigue]

Great report. Love your pictures, as you two are clearly having a wonderful time.

 

[vettegirl]

Great photos, it makes me want to plan a holiday trip for next year!

 

[wendylady36]

I love your pictures so much, thanks for sharing them!

I always check to see who is playing at HOB when I go down there. I've still never scene a show there, but one of these days I will!

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip!

 

[ArielMelody]

DAY THREE:

Day three started a little late (as usual), I think we made it to the front of the parks at 9-9:30 maybe. DCA had just barely opened the gate so I think closer to 9:30. Most of that day I was on a photopass rampage because I wanted to order Disney christmas cards so I wanted to make sure I had a lot to choose from!

DBF doesn't like being outside w/o sunglasses so he's squinty, lol.

It was a sunday and really not that crowded at all. I thought overall there weren't many crowds at all while we were there. But it could be because we never really waited in line much, I'm all about getting FP's and only waiting in line when its relatively short, usually late at night.

While we were walking in we saw Minnie, there was zero line to meet her, very nice. But I realized when I check my pics online that with how low the sun was, there was a lens flare on almost every picture. This was the best one though.

I asked another PP lady to take our pic in front of the waterfall, sun thing. She thought I was strange to ask for a pic in front of it but oh well, haha...

We also got our picture in front of this waterfall:

And the tree

LOL this doesn't look that pretty when its under construction, but oh well

Next we went on Screamin', pretty much no line. DBF wanted to wait for the front EVERY SINGLE TIME we went on this, it was hilarious. Here's us in line

and our picture

My hair always blows in the person's behind me, face and blocks it in the pic. I felt bad.

Next we were walking around and were going to go on TSMM but the line was way long. I regret this now because we never rode it

We were walking by maliboomer which had no line so I suggested it. I figured since he had done TOT he'd be ok with this. Well he was VERY nervous. I told him we could skip it but he wanted to "conquer his fear". He did it, but I don't think he'll ever go on it again, lol. Poor thing.

We went over to Soarin' to get FP's and we had awhile to wait so we went into this store where you could make your own potato heads! I thought it was way cool!

Luke's is something from star wars, I'm not good with names from that particular genre
Mine is a mixture of ariel, darth vader, and I think a pirate

We still had a lot of time so we went on TOT
LOL horrible picture! Luke said he was trying to look bored, I don't know what I was doing....

We saw pluto on the way out, I hate always having to bend down to get my picture with a character

Also ran into Sully!

Then we went on Screamin' again, it probably sounds weird that we ride the same rides a bunch of times but I really like it for some reason. I like riding my favorite as many times as possible!
My hair was even worse this time! I actually apologized to the guy, haha.

It was just about lunch time so we went to the Pacific Wharf and got 2 clam chowders in bread bowls....mmmmm...need I say more?

This was one of Luke's favorite meals. I was going to get a gingerbread cookie or some other holiday dessert but I forgot while we were ordering and didn't want to wait in a huge line again. Can you tell I don't like lines?

Finally we went on Soarin', I was smart and asked for front and center and it was PERFECT! I wanted to make sure DBF didn't have feet dangling in his line of vision on his very first time. Definitely one of my all time favorites, and now one of his too. I'm actually kind of excited to try the Soarin' over the world when it starts, but I'm also sad to see California leave.

DBF is a huge Broncos fan which subsequently makes ME a Broncos fan so we were going to leave around 3 to go watch the game at ESPN zone. Somewhere in his male mind he got the idea that the game started at 10:30 and kept checking his phone for highlights every 10 minutes. And every time he went to check I told him it didn't start until 3:30 (I think thats what time it started, but its been a couple weeks now. It was about 2:30 now so I wanted to go get some FP's for Splash Mountain and then head over to ESPN zone. Kind of a long way out of our way, but it was worth it.

I had never been to an ESPN zone but my mom told me they had a bunch of big screens and personal recliners too. I thought it sounded cool but I was silly and didn't think about the fact that it was sunday and of course EVERYONE wanted those recliners and there really aren't that many of them. Then they wouldn't let me sit at the bar because I'm not 21 so we had to get a table.

It was a pretty long wait but finally we were seated and started watching the game. We weren't that hungry since we had recently eaten I felt bad for not ordering anything while at a table (ex waitress here) so we ordered the chicken strips tossed in buffalo sauce. They were EXCELLENT!

The Broncos were playing the Jets who was the favorite, but Denver won, WOO HOO! While we were there we were sitting near a Broncos fan from Denver. He heard Luke cheering and being slightly obnoxious and asked if he was from Denver. Luke loves talking to strangers (seriously) so they talked forever.

After a while we left to use our FP's for Splash Mountain. We took the monorail into Disneyland. I think the new monorail is really cool but I really don't understand it. It used to be about convenience, less walking, AC. But now there's no AC and it barely holds anybody so there are lines to get on. I'm not sure I like the change.

It had been pretty warm that day, 80s, but by the time we used our FP's it had cooled down. Luke asked if we got very wet on Splash Mountain and I said no, not usually. This is us before, nice and dry

I think this was probably the wettest I've ever gotten on Splash Mountain. Oh why did I sit in the front?!
What is it with me taking bad ride pictures?!

This is us afterwards, nice and wet

We were really wet and wanted to change, plus we had reservations at the Blue Bayou that night so we went to go change and get ready for our romantic night in Disneyland


Coming up: The end of Day Three!

 

[ArielMelody]

Love the tattoo! Can't wait to read more

Thanks! I love it too! Definitely the only one I think I'll get though.

Too painful!!!

Great report. Love your pictures, as you two are clearly having a wonderful time.

Aww thanks, we did have a great time, I'm actually thinking of planning a surprise birthday trip for him in February, would that be considered selfish?

Great photos, it makes me want to plan a holiday trip for next year!

You should! It's definitely my favorite time to go! Especially when you catch it with little to no crowds like we did.

I love your pictures so much, thanks for sharing them!

I always check to see who is playing at HOB when I go down there. I've still never scene a show there, but one of these days I will!

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip!

Thanks for reading! Your recent solo trip was one of the first trip reports I read in this section. I want to try it sometime, none of my friends or family seem to want to go as often as I do

The HOB was actually a really cool venue, I dont particularly like that its General Admission though because you have to stay where you are the whole time if you want a good spot (no bathroom breaks ).

I also did the gospel brunch one year at the HOB in Vegas (they have it in anaheim too) and it was sooooo good!! Really funny, and REALLY good food.

 

[Sarah84]

Great update and more lovely pictures

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

Awesome TR! You crack me up! I'm the same way with characters. Well certain ones. I feel like a giant and I'm only 5'9". And you're taller than me!

In October my DBF and I sat in the same place you guys did on Splash and OMG we got SOAKED! Especially me. I looked just like you all wet jeans and hair and everything. I loved the front and I love Splash, but now I have to think if I want to go on or not because I don't want to walk around wet.

Lol, I want a Storm Trooper potato head like his. Oh man, I need it. lol. Thanks!

 

[ArielMelody]

Awesome TR! You crack me up! I'm the same way with characters. Well certain ones. I feel like a giant and I'm only 5'9". And you're taller than me!

In October my DBF and I sat in the same place you guys did on Splash and OMG we got SOAKED! Especially me. I looked just like you all wet jeans and hair and everything. I loved the front and I love Splash, but now I have to think if I want to go on or not because I don't want to walk around wet.

Lol, I want a Storm Trooper potato head like his. Oh man, I need it. lol. Thanks!

I know, it's tough being tall! And I have this horrible habit of standing up really straight my DBF and I are the same height but he stands all slouched and legs spread out so I always look taller than him too. I'm beginning to get a complex

It always seems like a great idea to sit in the front until after you're soaked. I think I have it in my mind that you don't get that wet because I brainwashed myself into thinking I liked getting the most wet on rides as a kid. For some strange reason, I don't particularly like walking around looking like a drowned rat anymore.

 

[ArielMelody]

DAY THREE CONT:

After Splash Mountain we walked back to our hotel and changed into some nice and dry clothes. I was going to take a shower but it takes me forever to get ready after a shower so I decided just to blow dry my hair a little bit and re-do it. DBF left for a minute and came back with a bottle of champagne it was so sweet of him. Champagne out of plastic hotel cups how classy are we?

I was drinking a glass while I was doing my hair and somehow got a bit distracted and decided to curl my hair. This process takes way too long AND Luke reminded me that all the curls would come out once we rode a fast ride. He was right. But half my hair was done so I kept curling away.

Finally after 30-45 minutes we were ready and off to see the Mouse! On the way, we were talking about photopass pictures and Luke had the idea to do 'dip kisses' where the guy dips you and you kiss. I thought it was so cute so we decided to do that as many times as possible, lol.

We went into DCA first because they were going to close soon and it was our last night. So we stop at the Golden Gate Bridge and take our pictures. We did our dip kiss and a foot popping kiss. When we did it everyone around us was like, "woooo!" lol it was so cute.

We went into the photo place right by there and SAW the pictures. They were really cute. Well when we got home, almost ALL the dip pictures we took were not on my card. I dont know if this is censorship by Disney or what, but I was very angry

Here are the pics we did get:

And in front of the tree:
This is the pic we chose for our christmas cards

Here's one of the dip pictures. He dipped me a bit too far in this one, lol.

And in front of PP

I'll show more photopass pics in a minute.

After a bunch of pictures we went on Screamin'. again. Do you think we like this one? I took about a million pictures that night.

I'm pretty sure that's all we did there. Then we headed off to Disneyland!

More photopass pictures:

And my absolute FAVORITE pic of the whole trip

And the tree

Then we were off to HMH. I forgot exactly when we picked up FP's for this. Maybe when we were getting off of Splash Mountain. DBF was dying to go on it. He's never seen the movie but he liked how the characters look. When I asked him if he'd seen it he said, "No, but I'm pretty sure I know what it's about." "What's it about then?" "It's about a really sad, angry guy who hates Christmas and then he ends up liking Christmas in the end."

LOL, I said, "No, you have no idea, we'll watch it later."

He really liked it, especially the Graveyard part. Here's some pics of us on the ride. We were trying to look scared, haha.

Then it was time for our Blue Bayou Reservation! I'm going to stop here because I'm sure I'm almost up on my pic limit.