StEpHandMiKe<3Disney
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2009
- Messages
- 1,141
Ok, so I've taken a little break from the Disboards and am now ready to share my July trip. Thanks to all who followed my PTR 
With everyone's great advice, we had a wonderful trip. I want to discuss the highs and lows, but overall, ya'll know that no matter what, I love Disney and that will never change. I will add lots of pics too because you know I love pics 
As Peter Pan would say... "Here we go...."
Day 1 (July 20th arrival day)
We flew into Burbank bc our arrival day was our tour LA day and the coast and it seemed logical to fly into the northern part of LA and make our way down to Disneyland. We arrived on time, which was 9:40 in the am. I was surprised how small the airport was. I was also very surprised when I founs out we collect our luggage outside
What do people do when it rains??? I mean, they were kinda covered but not really. If the wind would blow at all, everything would get wet. Luckily, weather was great and we picked up our luggage and went to get our rent-a-car. No problems there, able to upgrade to a SUV for only $10 bucks so that worked out perfect. Oddly, I was stressing driving a car, I'm used to a SUV. I was much happier now. We got in the car and I was scared to death when the planes taking off were literally right over our heads! I have been to many airports in my life but Mike and I could not stop laughing bc the planes wheels almost hit our car! It was crazy!. So went get in the car and thanks to our wonderful iPhones, google maps took us around town. First stop was Disney Studios of course..
After Disney Studios, we drove up to Griffith Park. This was a first for the both of us. The views were awesome of the city and the Hollywood sign. Took a couple of pics there..
After that, we drove to Hollywood. We parked in a garage and walked around a bit. I had eaten at In&Out before but Mike had not. I had bragged for the past 5 years about how great they are and he never really believed me. So we went to the one in Hollywood, and guess what, he loved it!!!!!
After we are, we walked to the infamous Disney's soda shop. It just wasn't what I expected. I thought it was missing the Disney feel to it but we ate some ice cream and took pics anyway
From here, we drove to the Greystone Mansion, per Mike's request. He had read about it and it sounded pretty neat. It was a really cool place, but not much to do other that take a peek. We were going to drive around Beverly Hills as well but I was pretty anxious to get to the coast line. Mike and I both decided to go ahead and leave and make our way to Santa Monica. Traffic wasn't too bad so that was nice. We got to Santa Monica, found an awesome parking spot right next to the boardwalk and we walking. On our 2008 trip, we drove to Santa Monica but didn't get out of the car bc we had to get back for dinner reservations. I couldn't get over how big the waves are! I'm a Texas girl so we are used to the Gulf of Mexico which if we get a 6 foot wave bc there's a hurricane we're excited, but ya'lls waves are huge!!!!!!
I remember how cold the water was too from my 2005 trip but there were so many people in the water so I thought maybe it wasn't so bad. Mike and I both walked into the water and holy hannah that's ice cold!!! The gulf is around 82 degrees so much different than the Pacific. I have no idea how so any people were swimming. To say the least we didn't get in any further.
From here, we drove down the coast.... Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach. We only got out at Manhattan Beach bc it was getting late and I really want to visit Palos Verdes Penninsula. I'm not sure if I had mentioned before but I'm actually a photographer and the 2008 trip didn't quite work out when we went to take photos at Laguna Beach. Our plane arrived really late so by the time we got to Laguna, the light was gone. I got a few pics though so it wasn't horrible, but I had read about Palos Verdes being great ocean vies and really wanted some great pics. We finally arrived there around 4:30 and yes, they're were great views! The coastline is so amazing. We carefully walked down to the rocky beach and I set up the camera. You take a million shots to get a handful of great ones and I was happy with them. Especially considering I have to set up the tripod and run like the wind to get to Mike bc I only had 10 seconds! Oh and my hair, what can I say. I spent an hour blowing drying it and straightening it before our flight (it's curly) and managed to arive at the airport with straight hair since it was so early in the morning. San Antonio has 100% humidity during the summer. But when we got our of the car in Santa Monica, ti didn't want to stay straight. 
After our photo session, it was around 6:00 so we thought we should go ahead and make our way to Disneyland. We had not yet decided if we were going to go to the park or not when we got there, but we hadn't eaten dinner yet, it was about 9:00 when we checked into the HOJO so we went ahead and just ate at Mimi's and went back to HOJO to get ready for the morning. We also had the time change working against us so it was for the best. We woke up bright and early on Wednesday morning and make our way to the gates. We were middle of the line but were there before it opened. We went to, I think it was gate 13, whichever one splits into two lines and sure enough it did. That was great! Learned that on the boards. Oh and have I mentioned about the weather, it was cold! Now I say cold, but remember I'm a Texas girl so 60's are pretty chilly for me. I had brought a Disneyland sweatshirt that I bough in 2001 with me so I ended up wearing that the first day over my cute Old Navy shirt. It was fine, I took my sweatshirt off for a few of the pics. When we walked in, there were some characters in town's square but Mike and I had already agreed that we were going to get fastpasses for Space Mountain and rush to Nemo's sub ride. It killed me to walk past the characters but I was strong, lol. Now I'm fanatic about the characters, I think I have mentioned that before. The one character that I had never met was the Queen of Hearts. Every year we have missed her at WDW but I had read on the boards that here were many spottings of her at DL. That was the mission this trip. If I don't get anyone else's pic or autograph, I have to get the Queen of Hearts. She wasn't in town's square so that's why we moved on. We grabbed the fast passes and got in line for Nemo. We waited about 10 minutes or so and hopped in the sub. It's a nice ride. I had 2 little kids next to me that were so adorable bc they really thought we had gone down really far. I love Disney After that, we got in line for the Matterhorn. It was about a 20 minute wait so no biggie. I love the Matterhorn.
After we rode that, it was time for us to get another past pass so we went ahead and walked over to Indiana and grabbed one. Now you know that its killing me not to have stopped and got the characters autographs so Mike said why don't we go back up the front and wee who's there.
he loves me so. We got up there and we saw Pluto and Goofy. Mickey and minnie were out too but there lines were really long so we decided we would just visit them at their houses on our early entry day. Goofy was really funny bc he dropped my pen and then went to pick it up and kicked it, lol.
Since I had a little character fix, we walked over and rode Haunted Mansion. Both Mike and I love it so.
We when got finished there, Tiana was outside in New Orleans Square so we got photos with her.
With everyone's great advice, we had a wonderful trip. I want to discuss the highs and lows, but overall, ya'll know that no matter what, I love Disney and that will never change. I will add lots of pics too because you know I love pics As Peter Pan would say... "Here we go...."Day 1 (July 20th arrival day)
We flew into Burbank bc our arrival day was our tour LA day and the coast and it seemed logical to fly into the northern part of LA and make our way down to Disneyland. We arrived on time, which was 9:40 in the am. I was surprised how small the airport was. I was also very surprised when I founs out we collect our luggage outside
What do people do when it rains??? I mean, they were kinda covered but not really. If the wind would blow at all, everything would get wet. Luckily, weather was great and we picked up our luggage and went to get our rent-a-car. No problems there, able to upgrade to a SUV for only $10 bucks so that worked out perfect. Oddly, I was stressing driving a car, I'm used to a SUV. I was much happier now. We got in the car and I was scared to death when the planes taking off were literally right over our heads! I have been to many airports in my life but Mike and I could not stop laughing bc the planes wheels almost hit our car! It was crazy!. So went get in the car and thanks to our wonderful iPhones, google maps took us around town. First stop was Disney Studios of course..
After Disney Studios, we drove up to Griffith Park. This was a first for the both of us. The views were awesome of the city and the Hollywood sign. Took a couple of pics there..
After that, we drove to Hollywood. We parked in a garage and walked around a bit. I had eaten at In&Out before but Mike had not. I had bragged for the past 5 years about how great they are and he never really believed me. So we went to the one in Hollywood, and guess what, he loved it!!!!!
After we are, we walked to the infamous Disney's soda shop. It just wasn't what I expected. I thought it was missing the Disney feel to it but we ate some ice cream and took pics anyway
From here, we drove to the Greystone Mansion, per Mike's request. He had read about it and it sounded pretty neat. It was a really cool place, but not much to do other that take a peek. We were going to drive around Beverly Hills as well but I was pretty anxious to get to the coast line. Mike and I both decided to go ahead and leave and make our way to Santa Monica. Traffic wasn't too bad so that was nice. We got to Santa Monica, found an awesome parking spot right next to the boardwalk and we walking. On our 2008 trip, we drove to Santa Monica but didn't get out of the car bc we had to get back for dinner reservations. I couldn't get over how big the waves are! I'm a Texas girl so we are used to the Gulf of Mexico which if we get a 6 foot wave bc there's a hurricane we're excited, but ya'lls waves are huge!!!!!!
I remember how cold the water was too from my 2005 trip but there were so many people in the water so I thought maybe it wasn't so bad. Mike and I both walked into the water and holy hannah that's ice cold!!! The gulf is around 82 degrees so much different than the Pacific. I have no idea how so any people were swimming. To say the least we didn't get in any further.
From here, we drove down the coast.... Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach. We only got out at Manhattan Beach bc it was getting late and I really want to visit Palos Verdes Penninsula. I'm not sure if I had mentioned before but I'm actually a photographer and the 2008 trip didn't quite work out when we went to take photos at Laguna Beach. Our plane arrived really late so by the time we got to Laguna, the light was gone. I got a few pics though so it wasn't horrible, but I had read about Palos Verdes being great ocean vies and really wanted some great pics. We finally arrived there around 4:30 and yes, they're were great views! The coastline is so amazing. We carefully walked down to the rocky beach and I set up the camera. You take a million shots to get a handful of great ones and I was happy with them. Especially considering I have to set up the tripod and run like the wind to get to Mike bc I only had 10 seconds! Oh and my hair, what can I say. I spent an hour blowing drying it and straightening it before our flight (it's curly) and managed to arive at the airport with straight hair since it was so early in the morning. San Antonio has 100% humidity during the summer. But when we got our of the car in Santa Monica, ti didn't want to stay straight.
After our photo session, it was around 6:00 so we thought we should go ahead and make our way to Disneyland. We had not yet decided if we were going to go to the park or not when we got there, but we hadn't eaten dinner yet, it was about 9:00 when we checked into the HOJO so we went ahead and just ate at Mimi's and went back to HOJO to get ready for the morning. We also had the time change working against us so it was for the best. We woke up bright and early on Wednesday morning and make our way to the gates. We were middle of the line but were there before it opened. We went to, I think it was gate 13, whichever one splits into two lines and sure enough it did. That was great! Learned that on the boards. Oh and have I mentioned about the weather, it was cold! Now I say cold, but remember I'm a Texas girl so 60's are pretty chilly for me. I had brought a Disneyland sweatshirt that I bough in 2001 with me so I ended up wearing that the first day over my cute Old Navy shirt. It was fine, I took my sweatshirt off for a few of the pics. When we walked in, there were some characters in town's square but Mike and I had already agreed that we were going to get fastpasses for Space Mountain and rush to Nemo's sub ride. It killed me to walk past the characters but I was strong, lol. Now I'm fanatic about the characters, I think I have mentioned that before. The one character that I had never met was the Queen of Hearts. Every year we have missed her at WDW but I had read on the boards that here were many spottings of her at DL. That was the mission this trip. If I don't get anyone else's pic or autograph, I have to get the Queen of Hearts. She wasn't in town's square so that's why we moved on. We grabbed the fast passes and got in line for Nemo. We waited about 10 minutes or so and hopped in the sub. It's a nice ride. I had 2 little kids next to me that were so adorable bc they really thought we had gone down really far. I love Disney
After that, we got in line for the Matterhorn. It was about a 20 minute wait so no biggie. I love the Matterhorn.
After we rode that, it was time for us to get another past pass so we went ahead and walked over to Indiana and grabbed one. Now you know that its killing me not to have stopped and got the characters autographs so Mike said why don't we go back up the front and wee who's there.
he loves me so. We got up there and we saw Pluto and Goofy. Mickey and minnie were out too but there lines were really long so we decided we would just visit them at their houses on our early entry day. Goofy was really funny bc he dropped my pen and then went to pick it up and kicked it, lol.
Since I had a little character fix, we walked over and rode Haunted Mansion. Both Mike and I love it so.
We when got finished there, Tiana was outside in New Orleans Square so we got photos with her.
Cant wait to hear more!
, so it isn't worth it for us. But I do like the dining in WDW much more... such fun restaurants. DLR dining is far less exciting. We rarely ever plan ahead or make any reservations (although sometimes that is a good thing! Much less stressful). 
