Gen & Val's Disneyland Quickie -Photo Report!

[joanjett1976]

Howdy friends.

Here are, as promised, the pics from our late january quickie trip to Disneyland.

Disneyland feels a tad more sentimental, perhaps has more emotional resonance than WDW to me. Perhaps because I visited it for the first time much later in my Disney fandom, with a complete understanding of its' history and overall Walt-ness of it all. It's cute, it's quaint, it's the original.

We broke up our Las Vegas stay with a quickie 2 day jaunt to DL last week of January. It was kinda cold. I ate everything in sight. It was good for the soul after a week in Las Vegas buying tv shows and inhaling cigar smoke.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2108653704

 

[Tony-NJ]

Loved the pics! OMG How cold was it there in Jan???

 

[buckylarue]

Great pics!!

 

[iankh]

Fab photos!!!!

 

[disneynutt1225]

That was great! Makes me even more excited to go there for our honeymoon! Thank you for sharing them. BTW, you two are beautiful!

 

[TinkerChelle]

Thanks for sharing your photos. Looks like you guys had a wonderful time.

 

[slk537]

Wonderful photos and I LOVED the captions!! You have a fantastic, very funny sarcastic streak...very enjoyable!

Thanks for sharing.

 

[OrlandoMike]

Great Photos! You two are so cute!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

What fun pics & captions! It looks like you had a great time! Thanks for sharing - I need to occupy the next 152 days somehow, and viewing your album was helpful!
We thought briefly about going to DL, but I am so familiar with WDW that trying to plan for DL was making my head hurt. So back to WDW for us!

 

[icebrat001]

Great pictures, thanks for sharing.

 

[SeattleRedBear]

Great pictures! Great captions! Thanks for sharing.

 

[joanjett1976]

Thanks everyone!

I am certain you guys are tired of seeing our faces by now

Now I must go around the office and colect my earnings from the Oscar poll

 

[nwdisgal]

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing. Makes me miss DL. I am glad that you gals had such a fun time. I wish I could get myself on TOT and Mailboomer. I've never been able to muster up the courage.

 

[SeattleRedBear]

Now I must go around the office and colect my earnings from the Oscar poll

Awright! Someone else who Won The Pool!! Congratulations!

 

[momsgoofy]

Great photos! I especially loved the very witty captions!! Heading to Vegas myself the end of May...for the first time...then off to DL the next week. I am really getting excited about my first trip to DL...singing the "I'm goin' to Disneyland" more and more...thanks for eggin' me on! Glad ya'll had a great trip!

 

[joanjett1976]

Great photos! I especially loved the very witty captions!! Heading to Vegas myself the end of May...for the first time...then off to DL the next week. I am really getting excited about my first trip to DL...singing the "I'm goin' to Disneyland" more and more...thanks for eggin' me on! Glad ya'll had a great trip!

Laura-

If you need any halep planning or have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

 

[momsgoofy]

Laura-

If you need any halep planning or have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Thanks so much for the offer! I really appreciate it! So far, things are coming together nicely. We're staying at GC on DVC points, got a good airfare into John Wayne so we'll just take a taxi since it'll be cheaper for the 3 of us than the share ride shuttles (YUK!) We're getting in around 1:30pm so we plan to get settled in a bit, grab an early dinner around 3:30 (6:30 to our bellies though), and do the Imagination to Celebration tour first thing...will book that at the 30 day mark. I thought it would be a great way to get the ball rolling and a good way to see things so we can aquaint ourselves with the park. We're only there for 5 days, but I gather from what I've read that will be good, just doing DL, so we won't have to rush. I'm leaning toward a 4 day hopper though just because the last day we have a 3:58pm flight...be at the airport 1 1/2 hours before that, travel time to the airport, and since we won't have time to grab a meal till back at Illinois, I know I'd better feed DS a good meal before we leave...so I doubt we'll go into the parks that day...still not sure though since a 5 day hopper is only $10 more. Any thoughts on that?

I think the biggest for me has been the choice for meals since I don't know a blasted thing about DL. DH has been wanting to do the House of Blues Gospel Brunch at WDW for a couple of years and it's never worked out...well, it will for DL, so I thought we'd try that on Sunday. Then the other places I've picked out so far are...

Granville Steak House...thought we'd splurge on one nice meal
Tortilla Jo's
Wine Country Trattoria
Storytellers for lunch on our last day before we leave
ESPN Club is a maybe right now...depends on DS

That leaves us with a couple of lunches and whatever we decide for breakfast if we end up doing breakfast. I have a real hankerin' for beignets at the Jazz Kitchen Express one morning.

Oh, and snacks! So far the only thing that calls is a Dole Whip and maybe the churros that I keep reading about. Got any thoughts on the food part of a trip?

Well, again, thanks! I appreciate it! Any thoughts or suggestions you might have to share are greatly welcomed from a DL first-timer.

 

[joanjett1976]

Laura-

You are going to loooove the Grand Californian. It is absolutely stunning. I saw a piece about their signature restaurant on Into The Fire on the Food Network. Looks amazing, similar to California Grill at WDW if you will. Storytellers' café is the hotel's slighly cheaper option.

I enjoyed Catal in Downtown Disney. http://www.patinagroup.com/catal/

Will the Blue Bayou be closed during your visit because of the Pirates rehab? That would have been my first dining pick. A late lunch at the Bayou is a must for us!

I have also booked a House Of Blues Gospel Brunch for our upcoming trip to WDW in May. Looks like a hoot, but we'll see how I feel after wolfin' down Jambalaya in the morning

Five days will be plenty! We did absolutely everything in DL & DCA in three days. At a brisk pace, mind you, but still...

The snack options in the parks were great. Churros, fried cheese, dole whips and the omnipresent giant pickles (very strange!).

As far as counter service is concerned, we always had the Mark Twain breakfast platter at the River Belle Terrace. They also offer a great, huge fruit plate and Mickey panckaes for the wee ones. The selection in New Orleans Square are also unusual and interesting.

Have fun

 

[momsgoofy]

Laura-

You are going to loooove the Grand Californian. It is absolutely stunning. I saw a piece about their signature restaurant on Into The Fire on the Food Network. Looks amazing, similar to California Grill at WDW if you will. Storytellers' café is the hotel's slighly cheaper option.

I enjoyed Catal in Downtown Disney. http://www.patinagroup.com/catal/

Will the Blue Bayou be closed during your visit because of the Pirates rehab? That would have been my first dining pick. A late lunch at the Bayou is a must for us!

I have also booked a House Of Blues Gospel Brunch for our upcoming trip to WDW in May. Looks like a hoot, but we'll see how I feel after wolfin' down Jambalaya in the morning

Five days will be plenty! We did absolutely everything in DL & DCA in three days. At a brisk pace, mind you, but still...

The snack options in the parks were great. Churros, fried cheese, dole whips and the omnipresent giant pickles (very strange!).

As far as counter service is concerned, we always had the Mark Twain breakfast platter at the River Belle Terrace. They also offer a great, huge fruit plate and Mickey panckaes for the wee ones. The selection in New Orleans Square are also unusual and interesting.

Have fun

Rats! I missed that program on the Food Network...will have to do a TIVO search to see if I can catch a repeat.

Yeah, Blue Bayou will be down still...or at least it should be since POTC isn't suppose to reopen till June 24... I'd heard that BB is one of the best places to eat at DL, so I'll keep my eyes open just in case.

I'm with ya on that Jambalaya in the morning...we're gonna try to get the 10am seating...I may just sample a bite of it and move on to the other items.

"the omnipresent giant pickles (very strange!)"...oh, yes! I did see that photo and meant to mention it...DS and I are both dill pickle fans. I'm a total weirdo...drink the pickle juice. I think we will have to indulge in a pickle while there.

Thanks for the fruit plate suggestion...will try to remember it. DH and I like to have some fruit once in a while for breakfast...especially if it's really fresh.

Well, thanks again for the info!

 

[Baloo2003]

..... We're only there for 5 days, but I gather from what I've read that will be good, just doing DL, so we won't have to rush. I'm leaning toward a 4 day hopper though just because the last day we have a 3:58pm flight...be at the airport 1 1/2 hours before that, travel time to the airport, and since we won't have time to grab a meal till back at Illinois, I know I'd better feed DS a good meal before we leave...so I doubt we'll go into the parks that day...still not sure though since a 5 day hopper is only $10 more. Any thoughts on that? ....

My personal thoughts are to go for the 5 day hopper...spend the extra $10 bucks. Last year our flight was from John Wayne departing at about 1:20p. That morning wasn't an early entry. We did 10 rides...12 if you count the monorail both ways before getting back to the DLH around 11:00-11:30.

As soon as we got in the park, we got a fast pass for SM, rode Buzz, moved over to Fantasyland, hit Matterhorn twice, did most of the quick-moving FL rides (I think Alice, Mr. Toad, and Pinocchio....we were shooting for rides not in WDW), got a fast pass for BTM, rode Pirates, Indianna Jones, Haunted Mansion, BTM, Space Mountain and back on the monorail.

We knew we were going to try to hit as many rides as possible, so we were power walking to each ride and our adrenaline was pumping. We were so proud of ourselves and we got to say goodbye to our favorite Disney park...the original.

My thought on food is to get something at the airport while you have to wait for the flight....of course rides were my top priority that morning. Good luck on your mission!!!