Hookie @ DLR Trip Report (DONE!)

[LifeIsTinkIsLife]

PTR: DBF and I are taking two days off work and school to get away from reality for a four day weekend. We leave after work on September 22 and get back on the 26th. I have almost everything planned but things change easily haha. Let me know what you think!

Wednesday September 22: I get off at 2 and DBF gets off at probably 4 unless he gets off early. So we will most likely not be making it to the park that day, but that's ok because we will be tired. We will be packed Tuesday and leave asap. We are staying at Days Inn Anaheim on Harbor I think. We may stop at California Pizza Kitchen in Palm Springs on the way there to eat dinner since we won't be in a big hurry.Then as soon as we get to our hotel it's bed time!

Thursday September 23: We will probably get up at 7 and after getting ready and eating breakfast at the hotel we will go to the park. It doesn't open until 10am but I like to get there early on the first day to take pictures and wait in line. We will probably go to Space first to ride and get FP's. I'm assuming we won't have to wait very long so we're going to ride it again and stay in the area until we can get another one for Space. After that we will make our way over to NOS area to ride all our favorites (HM, Indy, POTC, BTMRR). Our next FP will be for Indy. We will be eating lunch at Quizno's on Harbor at around 1-2pm. After that we will come back for more rides! Not sure if we will be going to DCA much because on our last trips we spent most of our time there, so I really miss DL! Plus crowds for WOC might make me want to leave! We will most likely be having dinner at Red Rockets or maybe even Thunder Mountain Ranch. The park closes at 10pm.

Friday September 24: Today will be much like the day before, collecting FP's throughout the day. The park opens at 9am and we will most likely be there before opening. One thing I really want to focus on is Fantasy Land for part of the day. I hardly ever go there and I really want to just deal with the line waits (we hardly ever wait in line for ANYTHING because we are really efficient with FP collecting) and ride the rides that I have been missing out on, like Matterhorn and Alice in Wonderland. DBF doesn't really care for any of these rides but he'll do it for me. But other than that we will collect more of our FP's, use 'em all and probably stay late and see the 10:30 showing of Fantasmic!

Saturday September 25: The park opens at 8am, and once again we'll probably be there on time! I think DBF and I will eat breakfast at uh.. I wish I could remember the name of it but it's by Indy. I want to relax a little bit today so we can stay the whole day and I need to make sure I'm taking pictures! But we will most likely be insane FP collectors and I know for sure DBF wants to go see Asimo at some point. Lunch will be at RRPP most likely and dinner maybe at the Country Bear place (Why can't I remember the names of anything? ) If we didn't see F! on Friday we will definitely see it this day.

Sunday September 26: We will definitely be here at 8am and the park opens at 9am. Probably go shopping at WOD for a bit and then wait in line. We will run around like mad and collect FP's and ride the rides we just need a little more time on! We actually, now that I think about it, won't have to worry too much because we probably won't even leave until about 6, so that's going to be a good 9 hours in the park! No real plans for this day except for leaving at 6pm and driving right back home (stopping at In-N-Out along the way).

Well that's it for my PTR! I can't wait and we only have 26 more days to go! I need time to hurry up, haha. Thanks for reading!

 

[DizNee Luver]

River Belle Terrace & Hungry Bear Restaurant.......

Sounds wonderful!! DCA is really still something to see with all the changes going on......the WoC has increased the crowds some....but not as much as you think.

We did Fantasmic for the 10:30 show as well this last trip....we made our way up past the viewing area & waited for the first show to end & then found a spot to watch the fireworks & as soon as people started moving out....we followed them in & had great seats.

Do you have AP's or 3+ day PH's?? The reason I asked, you mentioned trying to do the Fantasyland rides.....I'm with you....hate waiting in long lines......You should have a Magic Morning during your visit.....that's the ONLY time we do Fantasyland. We ride every ride that morning & then avoid it at all costs after that. I sure wish they would put a FP on Peter Pan....heavy sigh!

You're leaving on my birthday...... Think of me when you pull into Anaheim & wave at DL!!

Not too far away........hope you have a great trip!!

 

[LifeIsTinkIsLife]

Haha, thanks for telling me the name! Yeah I'm trying to expect the worst so that the large crowds (if they are large) won't bother me as much! Works like a charm. We have AP's! So we never go to Fantasy Land because we don't have magic mornings. But I want to this time, so we probably will just deal with the lines. Yes I thought that'd be a good idea to see the later show! Going to also stand behind the speakers too haha to see how good the view is! I can't wait because I've never seen it other than some parts going on while I'm in a good spot in the Haunted Mansion line! I'm sorry we'll be having fun on YOUR birthday! But I will think of you and have fun for the both of us. Thanks for reading! I am soo excited.

 

[Belle Ella]

I'm on board - looks like you'll be there whil I am! Without MM because you have AP's you'd probably be best off doing FL first thing in the morning on Friday if you do get there before opening, hitting Peter Pan first since it's easily the most popular in the area. I almost always stay far far away from Fantasyland on a non-MM morning, but sometimes it can't be avoided! I'm really bummed about the look of Alice in Wonderland because of the stupid temporary railing they had to put up. Blech. I saw photos of it and it's making me want to miss the ride completely.

 

[LifeIsTinkIsLife]

I'm on board - looks like you'll be there whil I am! Without MM because you have AP's you'd probably be best off doing FL first thing in the morning on Friday if you do get there before opening, hitting Peter Pan first since it's easily the most popular in the area. I almost always stay far far away from Fantasyland on a non-MM morning, but sometimes it can't be avoided! I'm really bummed about the look of Alice in Wonderland because of the stupid temporary railing they had to put up. Blech. I saw photos of it and it's making me want to miss the ride completely.

Aww, really? That's another one of my favorites. Going on Friday is a great idea! And YES Peter Pan first! I am sooo excited, not too much longer! 20 days and I'm gonnnnneeee!

 

[LifeIsTinkIsLife]

I know this is stupid to be excited about, but I usually take pictures with my phone, and it's no bueno. But this time I am going to borrow DBF's sisters camera! Yay! So look forward to lots of decent pictures.

 

[Belle Ella]

I hope that means you'll be sharing them with us! Disneyland photos are some of the best kinds of photos that there are!

 

[LifeIsTinkIsLife]

Of course!!! I always have tons of pictures but they are never really good and I can never take any at night because my phone camera has no flash! So I'm pretty excited! Also happy I finally looked at pictures of my hotel (Days Inn Anaheim West) and it looks decent and has a pretty good sized breakfast area.


I'm stoked!

 

[LifeIsTinkIsLife]

Only two more days!

I made my Fantasmic box (I talked about it in another thread), it is so cute! I had this idea that since I don't want to pay for the fantasmic dessert box and seating, I would just make my own box and we'd just find good seats after the first F! lets out so it should be great! But I asked for a few ideas and I finally got everything all put together.

I taped the outside (and part of the inside) with tie-dye duct tape, and put black felt at the bottom to make it look pretty. Then I added a few Tinkerbell stickers! Inside are two crustables, bite-sized rice krispy treats (rolled into little balls), vanilla yogurt covered raisens, Jolly Ranchers to add some color, and my personal favorite, mickey head shaped meat and cheese with crackers! That was pretty tough because I didn't have a stamp, I just used a picture and traced it with a knife! They turned out SO cute and DBF is going to love them because I used pepperjack cheese.

I am also going to go to Pooh Corner and probably add two more treats just because. Probably a Tigger Tail and a Chocolate covered strawberry skewer. We won't eat all of it but it is going to look great and cost soooo much less than the Fantasmic dessert box.

I am so excited!

 

[LifeIsTinkIsLife]

Leaving in a few minutes! Woooo!

 

[LifeIsTinkIsLife]

Wow, I am sorry I never completed this! I still have my notes from the trip so I am going to do it now, since I am finally done with school!

A lot has happened recently, I had to have surgery to remove a cyst so I had a bunch of appointments to go to on top of school and work, and we finally got a puppy! So needless to say, I've been BUSYYYY!


***I'll go over the details again.

DBF and I took two days off of work and school so we could go to DLR and enjoy the Halloween decorations that were up earlier this year. We mainly wanted to avoid crowds that come during the month of October. SMGG is hands down his favorite ride! So we left Wednesday September 22, and came back on Sunday September 26. We stayed in Days Inn Anaheim on Harbor (I think, I can't remember right, but I just know it was not within walking distance). Now I'll post this and start writing about what we did each day.

 

[LifeIsTinkIsLife]

I’ll start by telling you how DBF and I do our FP collecting. We start collecting as soon as we walk into the gates, usually by walking briskly to the first ride we want it for, riding that ride, and sometimes waiting in that area for another pass if it’s not too long and we want one for that ride again. We plan our day by the times we can get new FP’s. We won’t leave the park if the next time is less than an hour away. Sometimes it’s a little bit of a hassle but it always makes up for it when we can go on ride after ride at night when we’ve collected 8+ passes each, and we’ve spent the day riding rides that had short lines or no FP’s available. Sometimes we don’t do this, and we use the passes whenever we want, but most of the time we both love the feeling of having sooo many passes to use. =)

Wednesday: I finished all of the packing we needed to do and we left when Matt got home at 4. I drove first, and we switched when we got to a Texaco in Blyth. We made pretty good time because I drive faster than DBF! We were planning on going to dinner at Cali Pizza Kitchen in Palm Springs, but when we got closer we decided to just save our money and keep going. We did not eat any dinner that night, just crackers and apples. We arrived at the hotel at about 10pm and went to bed.

Thursday: We woke up early and got breakfast in the hotel. It was pretty good, they had a decent selection. The park didn't open until 10am but we got there early to wait in line. We got there around 9 I think and I remember it being kind of crowded already. Not a good sign because I wanted no crowds at all but I never have that kind of luck! When the park opened we went to Space Mountain first to get our first FP's. We mainly got them for this ride all day. I don't think we used very many because the ride kept breaking down! We spent a lot of time in Fantasy Land because I wanted to ride all the rides I never get to ride and today would probably be the best day! We went on Dumbo, Peter Pan (DBF actually likes this one), Alice in Wonderland, Snow Whites Scary Adventure, and I even got him to ride the Tea Cups! We just didn't spin very much at all. But of course we rode Indy and HM and Splash! We didn't head to DCA at all this day, we really just wanted to stay in DLR and keep the walking limited so we wouldn't get so sore. For lunch AND dinner we had Quizno's torpedo sandwhiches. They are good, filling, and cheap! The park closed at 10 and sadly, we only rode Space (the ride we came there for) like 3 times, and walked out with 4 unused FP's. This was the day that we had incredibly loud neighbors. We were so tired and wanted to go to sleep but at midnight they came back to their room and were just yelling and babies were running around and one kept screaming. I called down to ask the hotel manager if he could tell them to quiet down and finally I heard the phone ring (yeah, crappy walls) and it just made them mad. They were shouting and said "IS THIS LOUD ENOUGH?!" and it was soo irritating. But finally they got over themselves and we were able to sleep peacefully.

Friday: The park opened at 9am today. We had breakfast at the hotel again today. We did the same thing as before and went right to Space to get passes for it. I don't think that we had a big problem using them today, ride wasn't down much but we weren't able to get as many because they "sold" out too quickly. We rode Nemo first and then Autopia. We decided to each get a picture of us on a ride, so Matt decided to ride Autopia again by himself while I waited by Matterhorn underneath the monorail track. I got this picture of him, hahaha.

Mine was on Splash Mountain…. But I can’t find it. =(

(For lunch we went to Target and got Hot Pockets to microwave, and for dinner we went back to the hotel and ate at the Jack In The Box that our hotel was next to.) Today we wanted to go see Assimo for the first time and so we checked out Innoventions, which we'd never been in before. It was pretty neat, a nice place to get out of the heat! We got front seats to see Assimo and DBF loved it! It was pretty neat and we both want one now. If only we had an extra million bucks! Then ee went to DCA for a bit to ride Screamin' and Sourin' but we didn't stay there for very long. I think this trip we really wanted to be in DL. We used our FP's that we got throughout the day (Indy, HM, and Space) and left the park around 9:30pm.

Saturday: The crowds picked up today. We weren't going to worry too much about getting FP's for Space today because we rode it a lot on Friday. Today I just wanted to enjoy everything I could. We decided to ride something we'd usually NEVER ride first, and went over to Small World! I love the new characters in that ride, and of course the American section! Then we walked around and I got an apple juice slushy from the stand in Fantasy Land. Then we went over to HMH, and then Pirates. We got FP's for Indy and waited in the line to ride it. At some point on this day we decided to ride the Mark Twain for our first time. We went all the way to the top and loved the view! We ate lunch at Mcdonalds and Dinner at Quizno's (Again, I know!). I think the whole time we were here it was ridiculously hot, and I was soooo mad at that because I hate AZ’s hot weather and it followed us on our trip! It was crowded and hot and the middle part of the day was a little miserable. Still more fun than a night out at the movies here but still! We tried to use all of the FP’s we had collected for the day earlier than usual so we could be done by the time we would go sit down and wait for the second showing of F! to start, but we didn’t use the one we had for HMH. I went to go get a few treats from Pooh’s corner at about 10:15, and DBF waited for the first show to end so he could go get a good seat by the water. I got a tigger tail and some chocolate turtle things, and put them into the Fantasmic treat box I made for him! When I met back up with him I found him in the very front and middle, perfect seats! I showed DBF the box and he thought it was great! He loved the little bite sized rice crispy treats and the mickey mouse crackers, cheese and meat. I absolutely LOVED the show. It was amazing and I’d never seen anything like it. I got the chills! It was nice cuddling up with DBF and watching the show, a moment I’ll never forget. After the show was over we waited in the FP line for HMH, and it took forevvvverrrr but it was worth it! After the park closed we went back to our hotel and went to sleep for the last time at that icky hotel!

Sunday: We woke up early and went to the park early so we could get the most out of our last day there (which was only a halfday). The gates opened at I think 8am and we went to Space to get FP's and ride it, and I think we rode it twice. SMGG is DBF's favorite ride ever! After that we went to get FP's for Indy and then we rode HMH. DBF asked me if they still had the remote controlled boats over at DLH and I wasn't sure so we decided to walk over and see. Sadly, they didn't! We've been wanting to try those and they were never open when we went to see! But I did see Goofy so I went and got a picture with him! We also got a pic with Mater and Lightning McQueen! It was a fun day but we decided to leave earlier than we'd planned, because it was really hot and we were tired!

When we got home 6 hours later, there was a nice surprise waiting for us. We'd forgotten to take out the trash and there was a bunch of ants! It was a good thing we'd gotten home early, because we had to go to the store and get bug spray and it was a lot to clean up. Blah! But it was ok and our trip was soo fun. I'm thankful we had the money to afford it after we moved out of our parents house! Thanks for reading, and sorry it was so late.

Now time for the pictures!

 

[LifeIsTinkIsLife]

These aren't really in any order.

More in a sec!

 

[LifeIsTinkIsLife]

Those wreaths are so cute!^^

^^ Last picture of the trip. I can't wait to go back soon!!

 

[TheColtonsMom]

Better late than never...sounds like you had fun. We are planning the same strategy you did for the 2nd F show hope it works out as well for us. Your dessert box was adorable!