"I Think I Might Be a Disneyland Person!" - Feb. 2016 ~ Updated 2/19/21: TR Complete!!!

Wow, I can't believe how old Izzy is. I was reading your Aulani trip report last year. We live in Florida and have been to WDW hundreds of times over the years and did our first trip to Disneyland back in June. We LOVED it.
Oh, yay, I'm glad you loved Disneyland after visiting WDW so often! I loved that whole familiar-yet-different aspect. All the novelty, but still feeling like your happy place. Can't wait to go back! :cool1:

Good to see you back on the TR . Omgoodness life can take some big turns and derail you for awhile .Love seeing Izzy's reaction to her late night cookie sugar rush.
Thanks and it sure can! :hug: So good to see you again the other day. :goodvibes And, yeah, that was a little bigger bedtime snack than normal for her... :rotfl:

So glad you are back and happy to see you enjoyed your time in France! We are planning a similar trip next summer with time in Paris and Disneyland Paris of course! If I recall correctly, I believe you said you were staying at the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile? That’s where we are staying using free Hyatt points, so if that was correct would you mind sharing your experience there? We are also saying at the Disneyland hotel so excited to see that was great too.
Hi! Yes, that's just what we did! Between both of us getting the Hyatt cards and bonuses, we had enough to stay 5 nights free at the Hyatt Regency Etoile! We were on the 31st floor and did NOT have an Eiffel Tower view, but it was still a great view. They actually offered to try to switch us after our first night (it was full that night), but we never had time to pack up and move rooms, so we let it be (free rooms don't include the view rooms, but they seemed willing to accommodate anyway). Room was nice and updated since they remodeled recently. Small, but that's normal in Paris. We had a nice pull-out couch they made up for Izzy. There's a Starbucks in the lobby if you need a snack/drink. We did room service once and it was fine, nothing special. Fridge in the room, but no microwave. The hotel is attached to a mall and that mall has a grocery store and other places to find food, so that worked for breakfasts. The mall has a metro stop in it as well, which was really convenient. The location of the hotel isn't necessarily in the center of the action, but I liked that it was well connected and felt safe and easy to get to and from wherever we wanted to go. Let me know if you have more specific questions, though, I'm just spewing out random thoughts. :laughing: The Disneyland Hotel will spoil you for life! I still can't get over it. The hotel itself is fine, but nothing I'd get overly excited about. But the location is amazing. We went through security when we arrived...and that's IT. Free valet parking (we had a rental car) and we basically just lived at Disneyland for a few days. Our room was on the first floor and we just walked down the hall, out a door, over to the gates, then into the park. I ran back to the room once to drop off our jackets and use the restroom and I was back in the park in 5 minutes. Can't do that at WDW or DLR! Be sure to bring breakfast, though - it is hard to find anything to eat in the mornings there!

We had so much fun, and I was really happy to get to spend some time in a Disney park with you and your family! I loved how well Izzy and Landon got along.




Izzy looks so young in these photos! My goodness, it's hard to believe your DL wasn't that long ago.

Happy you guys got a waterfront table, even if it was next to the kitchen.





Now that you have been on three versions of Big Thunder, which one is your favorite? The fan in me is curious!




Great family photo.


The photos from Paint the Night looked awesome. Looks like a more modern, fun version of MSEP.
But what a bummer that the fireworks didn't run that night.
Izzy and Landon were so cute together. True DIS-kids - feeling like they've known each other forever, just like DIS-adults often do. It was so great meeting you guys and hanging out and letting the kids play! :goodvibes I know, Izzy looks so tiny in this DLR TR - time goes so fast and they grow so much! Ugh, Big Thunder - that's hard! I think I said something to you about loving the Paris version and I really, really did - it felt different and faster and wilder to me. But I can't wait to visit DLR's again because I remember being blown away by the special effects in it and need to see it again. And of course WDW is the classic that made me fall in love with BTMRR as a kid. I'm leaning towards DLP as favorite, though.

Paint the Night looks like so much fun! So does Izzy's cookie - haha. Can you remind me of what time of year you were there?
Haha, both were really fun! Yes, we were there in February. This next trip is in August. I'd say much hotter, but it was an unusually warm streak when we were there in Feb, so we'll see. We liked going that time of year, but this August trip is spurred by a wedding, so we couldn't choose the dates this time. I'd go back in Feb in the future, though.

Fun to hear more about your trip! I am still kind of sad that I didn't get to see Paint the Night on Main Street. I still hope I get to see it while it's at California Adventure! I'm sure it is that much more fun to Disney with her now that she's tall enough to ride pretty much everything!
I'm so out of the Disney loop lately that this actually was helpful to me because I was confused about the PtN dining package being in California Adventure when I remembered seeing PtN in Disneyland - now I understand! :rotfl: I hope you get to see it! And, yes, I love that she's tall enough to ride most things and that she LOVES the thrill rides. After baby swapping for a few years, it's so nice to be able to ride as a family!
 
Thank you so much. I was mostly wondering about how safe you felt and if it was too far away, glad to know both of those were alright. Thanks for the information about the metro stop too, that will come in handy I’m sure. I am worried about being spoiled by the Disneyland hotel being so close, we went to Disneyland for the first time this year and we already loved not taking buses so staying right at park entrance will be amazing!
 
Thank you so much. I was mostly wondering about how safe you felt and if it was too far away, glad to know both of those were alright. Thanks for the information about the metro stop too, that will come in handy I’m sure. I am worried about being spoiled by the Disneyland hotel being so close, we went to Disneyland for the first time this year and we already loved not taking buses so staying right at park entrance will be amazing!
Forgot I was going to mention - we used Le Bus Direct to get from the airport to and from the hotel - there is a stop just to the side of the hotel. Great service, no complaints. (When we went back to the airport after 5 nights in Paris, that's when we rented the car to drive for the remainder of the trip.)
 
Welcome back!

Paint the Night looks absolutely amazing. I so wish we had been able to see it on our trips but we always seemed to just miss seeing it! We had really crummy timing planning our DL trips apparently.

It's amazing to see the difference in Izzy from your TR photos to your Paris photos! She has grown so much!
 


Welcome back!

Paint the Night looks absolutely amazing. I so wish we had been able to see it on our trips but we always seemed to just miss seeing it! We had really crummy timing planning our DL trips apparently.

It's amazing to see the difference in Izzy from your TR photos to your Paris photos! She has grown so much!
Thank you!

Aw, I'm sorry you missed Paint the Night. We were really surprised at how much we liked it and look forward to seeing it again! We did miss the fireworks on this trip, though, as they kept cancelling them - hoping maybe we can see them when we return later this month. No fun to miss out on the big nighttime things!

I know, these darn kids just keep growing so fast! Same with your kids - can't believe how big they are both getting!
 
Welcome Back! I started reading your trip report before I knew we would actually be heading to Disneyland. And we finally got to go! So, it will be fun to read the rest now knowing where everything is! We missed the Paint the Night Parade, it was down when we were there. It is one of the few things I was sad that we missed.

I can't believe now big Izzy is! I have her still this age. Ha.
 
Welcome Back! I started reading your trip report before I knew we would actually be heading to Disneyland. And we finally got to go! So, it will be fun to read the rest now knowing where everything is! We missed the Paint the Night Parade, it was down when we were there. It is one of the few things I was sad that we missed.

I can't believe now big Izzy is! I have her still this age. Ha.
Oh, I'm so glad you made it to Disneyland!! Sorry Paint the Night was down, though. And, yes, I can't believe how tiny Izzy is in this report now - it doesn't seem THAT long ago. BUT, she was under 40" on this trip and I just measured her at 47" (with shoes) the other day!
 


Morning Magic

Looks like we got up around 7am and Izzy was still passed out :laughing::



She woke up soon, though, and apparently wanted all of her bows to match her “Minnie in Hawaii” outfit:



Looks like she also got in some quick building with her robot blocks:



Our plan was to eat our bakery items that we’d obtained the prior night for breakfast this morning. But Izzy insisted on a hotel-provided bagel instead of her chocolate muffin :headache: , so I went and grabbed that for her and probably filled up our cups/thermoses and we were off, eating along the way:





Dug had a blueberry muffin and I had a chocolate croissant. I think we eventually threw out Izzy’s uneaten muffin – maybe it got destroyed in our bag? :confused3 Probably.

Just had to cross the street! Love this:



Enjoying that free hotel bagel instead of her pricey Disney muffin :rolleyes: :



Complete with her mismatched shoes. Nice calm walkway to security, no crazy long lines there today:



Once we did get up to the not-yet-moving security line, Dug realized that he’d forgotten the Photopass card in the hotel room! :eek: So, I cruised right on back to the hotel and grabbed it:



Crossing that street yet again:



And I rejoined them in the now-moving line shortly before bag check at 8:17am – not bad. Love that easy walking distance! :lovestruc Just a little line left where I joined them:



As we made it to security, we heard a man and a woman in a wheelchair being turned away from security and told to go to the back of the line, but they were in a panic because their kids had gone through (with friends) without them, as they had gone to grab coffee before the line started moving. They were really distraught at not being able to be with their kids, so Dug told them to jump in line ahead of him:



Meanwhile, I had just gone through because I had no bags. Which, of course, meant that I was "specially selected" for extra security so they could search the absolute nothingness that I was carrying on me :rotfl2: – I literally had my phone and that’s it (Dug had the other stuff in the stroller bag). I made it though the inspection. :thumbsup2

Happy to see the family reunited:



It was about 8:30am and the early entry was to start at 9am in Disneyland that day. We were planning to line up at one of the recommended (behind tree) gates, but then I noticed that entrance #17 only had one family (that ended up expanding a bit into a larger family/group, but still not bad). Odd that nobody else was lined up there. :confused3 I joined in and a lady got behind us, asking if it was a line. Told her I thought so, but weird that nobody was in it:



View from our waiting spot:



Izzy had some milk while we waited. A CM started working and pre-scanned our tickets so that we’d be able to go right in. :thumbsup2 A family of the day was presented:



Video of the opening:


They let us in about quarter to 9 and we headed up towards the rope:



My creative photography:



Walking right down the middle (okay the side) of Main Street USA…:music: :



Waiting at the rope:









And they let us go! Off to the castle:





Since Peter Pan already had a long line, as expected, we hit Dumbo first :dumbo: :



I love this lady, haha:







We were on by 9:10am and Izzy and I got the purple Dumbo she wanted:





5 minutes later, we got in line for Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, since it was right there:





It seemed weirdly slow, so I checked the app and confirmed it had closed down, so we jumped out of line about 5 minutes later.

Izzy had to sit in a pretend teacup on our way to Alice in Wonderland:



Up next: More fun in Fantasyland!
 
I love all of Izzy's bows- so cute! Weird that security turned away the couple in the wheelchair- glad Dug could help! <3

I just love the quaintness of Disneyland! I wish I could find a way to go!!! (My cousin lives in LA, but has never invited us to a big event as an excuse! LOL)
 
I love all of Izzy's bows- so cute! Weird that security turned away the couple in the wheelchair- glad Dug could help! <3

I just love the quaintness of Disneyland! I wish I could find a way to go!!! (My cousin lives in LA, but has never invited us to a big event as an excuse! LOL)
You need to find a way! We've been waiting for this cousin of Dug's to get married for quite a while because we wanted to make a Disneyland trip of it! :rotfl:
 
Breakfast at Minnie’s

The wait for Alice in Wonderland’s ride wasn’t bad:



We were on at 9:37am and loved it:





We checked out the White Rabbit’s door afterwards:



At 9:50am, we headed back into Mr. Toad’s queue, as it was up and running again:





There’s a Hidden Mickey on his eyeball :earsboy: :



We were on in about 5 minutes and Izzy enjoyed “driving” :drive: :



And she was hiding in that teacup again by 10am :laughing: :



It’s a Small World only had a 10 minute wait posted, so that was next:





It felt long and hot, but it really was only 10 minutes. Waiting and watching the boats go by:



And then we boarded our cruise:







Love how all the characters are interwoven into this version of IaSW!

Fun shirt in the gift shop:



We had planned that I would run over to DCA now to grab us World of Color Fast Passes, but we only had 5 minutes until our brunch ADR for Minnie’s breakfast at the Plaza Inn, so we decided there wasn’t enough time. Instead, we made a quick restroom stop, spotted Mary Poppins and Bert, and went to brunch:



We really were happy with the morning, as it felt like what we were used to – just getting a bunch of stuff in without oppressive crowds. Fun! :woohoo:

Then we checked in at the Plaza Inn for our character meal:



We got an outdoor table, which was fine, as it was pretty nice out. There was a table next to us that was pretty fun – all adults, but they were really into everything and one was a former cast member.

The meal was a buffet, so I went in first to get food for myself and Izzy. I randomly got her a chocolate milk because the it came in a cute bottle and it was free. Figured it would be a special treat. I think she liked it, but definitely still much prefers white milk. Anyway, here’s her plate:



And mine (including her cute milk bottle):



While Dug was inside getting his food, Captain Hook came to see us and Izzy was delighted:





A quick video:


Dug was bummed he missed Hook, but he did get a nice array of food:







I also noted that I was happy free pop was included to drink. :drinking1

Our next visitor was Izzy’s favorite: Minnie!







Up next: Many more visitors!


 
Sounds like it was a fun morning in DL. Managed to knock out some classics early in the morning. I've heard that Peter Pan is just madness at park opening, so it was probably smart of you to go to Dumbo first. Had to giggle that Izzy had to have the purple one.

Like DLP, I love that DL mixes characters. It was fun to see Izzy go from smiling at Hook to hanging with Minnie.
 
Those are the kinds of mornings you look forward to in Disneyland...just hopping from ride to ride. I love that their Fantasyland has so much to do in such a small area.

Breakfast looks fun so far!
 
Man, I'm making it back here nearly once a month! Sorry, guys. Still here and completed another Disneyland trip, though! Someday, I hope to write about it, but my TR backlog is pretty insane. :rotfl2:

Izzy looks so happy to see Hook! Love it.

My girls would have hid from him.
She definitely got a kick out of him! She's not scared of much. Except skeletons. :eek:

Acacia enjoyed looking at "baby" Izzy with me!

Haha, too cute! She really does look like such a baby vs. the big-kid look now - she's lost that baby face!

Sounds like it was a fun morning in DL. Managed to knock out some classics early in the morning. I've heard that Peter Pan is just madness at park opening, so it was probably smart of you to go to Dumbo first. Had to giggle that Izzy had to have the purple one.

Like DLP, I love that DL mixes characters. It was fun to see Izzy go from smiling at Hook to hanging with Minnie.
Yes, this breakfast was a wild mix of characters that came by fast and furious, as you'll see. Fun, though!

Those are the kinds of mornings you look forward to in Disneyland...just hopping from ride to ride. I love that their Fantasyland has so much to do in such a small area.

Breakfast looks fun so far!

Yes, love being able to get a bunch of things done early. And breakfast was pretty fun!

That looks like such a fun morning and a great character breakfast!!

Thanks, it sure was!
 
More Fun Visitors

Here’s the video from our visit with Minnie:


Dale had joined a nearby table for breakfast for a bit, but he eventually ended up coming to see us:







As you can see, he is always so great with Izzy – lots of tickles and giggles and hugs. I’ve got some video too:


Up next was Tigger and he did a little bouncing with Izzy :tigger: :









Some video of the meet:


Next was the Fairy Godmother, which was a rather awkward meet. Izzy clearly was much more interested in the fur characters and the playfulness vs. a face character that was just sweet. Got one picture of them:



And then Dug caught her and asked if she thought the high winds would stop so we could see the fireworks that kept getting cancelled due to wind each night. I guess she’s quite interested in that topic, as she sort-of lit up pixiedust::



And the somewhat awkward video:


Then Eeyore kind-of wandered over, bumping into chairs and generally having a hard day. :eeyore: Such a quick visit that we didn’t even get a picture before he shuffled away. I did get some video, though:


Continued in next post...
 
Continued from last post...

We soon discovered that Eeyore just needed some hats to cheer himself up. He was having a good time borrowing hats at the next table:



Dug got in an Eeyore hug on his way back into the buffet (before Eeyore went back to hats):


At the end of that video, Izzy started yelling, “I want a picture with Eeyore!”, so we chased him down (literally) and got one, though I don’t think he really wanted to (he had looked to maybe be trying to talk to a handler, but stepped away for our pic):



Next we saw Winnie the Pooh making his way around:



And soon Izzy was getting her bear hug:



Oh, and Dug was too:



Who doesn’t want a bear hug? pooh:

Normally, Dug saves his corny jokes for Goofy, but he had one for Pooh:


Much to Dug’s delight, Captain Hook returned (since he’d missed him at the beginning). This was the look he got when he told Hook that our favorite pirate is Jake pirate: :



Izzy’s not scared of him, I guess:



I gotta say, after the bombardment of characters, we were getting pretty goofy by this point in the meal :rolleyes: :


I finally had a brief break in the non-stop character parade so that I could go have an omelet made and refill my pop. Here’s my omelette:



I think it was good, but I had another character meet to pay attention to right after I got back:







So nice that Minnie returned for a little more fun! ::MinnieMo I must not have video, she probably caught me by surprise when I was trying to eat. At any rate, Minnie’s breakfast/brunch was a lot of fun and certainly a good place to find characters! :thumbsup2

Up next: On to more attractions!
 
Hi Dugette! Been enjoying your DLR TR.
I loved Minnie's breakfast at DLR. It was fantastic. I definitely want to do it again if we go! The character interaction was amazing, and see Izzy thought so too :)
 

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