If I have to turn 40, I have to do it at Disneyland!!

[Lizboo]

Hello everyone!! Yes, I will be turning 40 in August and we (being me and DH) decided that we should do something special...we are WDW vets (been more than a dozen times in the last 10 years and will be headed there in September). We only have 4 days, but I hear that is about right for this trip. We are staying at the Grand California Hotel, we will be using the bus transfers from LAX (tried to get flights through SNA, but there were more and better choices through LAX). I read the Unofficial Guide and then came to the DIS looking for advice. So, here's my plan:

Sunday, arrive just after 11, get on the bus, check in (and get to room if possible), lunch at DTD, off to the parks, probably a nap, dinner at Wine Country and WoC.

Monday, head to a park (not sure which one yet), Welcome to Disneyland tour, lunch at Carnation Cafe, more park fun, dinner at Blue Bayou

Tuesday, breakfast at Storyteller Cafe, parks, naps, swimming, dinner at HoB, Fantasmic Dessert package.

Wednesday (my b'day), Segway tour, lunch at Cafe Orleans, park/swim/nap, dinner at Napa rose

Thursday, leave late morning, but may head to the park early if possible.

I'm really looking forward to see how the parks are different. It sounds like it will be a blast. I love that the parks (and the hotel) are so close!

Thanks for reading

 

[wlake]

40 isn't all that bad. (Said the person who tried to start skipping birthdays at 29, but wasn't allowed to.)

 

[Lizboo]

40 isn't all that bad. (Said the person who tried to start skipping birthdays at 29, but wasn't allowed to.)

Well, there's an idea..thanks

 

[Lizboo]

I got a pair of Keens (Venice) and Teva flip flops (Mush) along with hiking non cotton socks to get ready for all the walking!We leave for DL in less than 2 weeks and will try them out there since that is just a 4 day trip to prepare for the 12 days at WDW in the fall. I'm thinking we should wear them a little here to break them in a little before we go. I was warned that they were expensive, but I hope it will be worth it.

 

[Lizboo]

Suitcases packed, everything lined up for house sitter/dog sitter...and we can't wait to go!! The dogs started freaking when the suitcases come out (as usual).

 

[Lizboo]

This time tomorrow I will have landed and soon be boarding my connecting flight to California. The suitcase is packed (I think it is a little stuffed and not sure it will fit in that plastic security "suitcase cut out thing"..but if it doesn't, I will just check it.

I added a light jacket and a pair or jeans since the weather has been cooler. I can't wait to get there and experience DL for the first time.

 

[onescgirl]

Happy 40th Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!! I turned 40 this year too & will celebrate at WDW, but not on actual b/day like you.
I hope you have a great trip!

 

[Lizboo]

OK..so the night before I went to a Michael Buble concert (which I highly recommend) and got home at 1:00 am. DH works in sound production and he got home just after 3:00. So, he never went to sleep and I slept about 90 minutes. DH jumped in the shower and I changed the sheets on the bed (my best friend moved in to take care of our home and two dogs- ain't she awesome). Anyway, our first flight left at 7:00 am and we need to be at the airport (which is 30 minutes away) by 5:00. DH shuffled around some bags and told me there was no room for my book (BOO!! It was a great book). We got to the airport, checked in and the first flight was uneventful. We both slept a little. When it landed, we sat on the plane for 20 minutes because of some issue with the ground crew. There wasn't much time between flights and we still had to go through customs and security when we got to Toronto.

We finally get off the plane and get to Customs and there is a huge line and not many agents working. I am looking at my watch and starting to panic. Not only do we have to get through this, but we also have to get through security and only then would we know what gate to go to. We make it through customs, are standing in line for security when an announcement comes over the speaker "If you are on flight 123, please raise your hand". We get pulled out line and out "fast tracked", but get in line and are told my husband was randomly selected for a full body screening. We get over there and by now they are paging us by name and we say "That is us" and they don't care at all. Finally, we get through and they tell us to go down the stairs and run for our gate (which thank goodness was the first one on the right). We got evil looks by the peeps on the plane, but it wasn't our fault. We finally get on the plane and sleep once our adreline goes down.

When we get to the airport (LAX), we have a hard time finding where the shuttle will pick us up and someone helps us and then asks for a donation for some cause (which was pretty common there). We get on the bus (which by the way, goes to more hotels than just the three Disney ones) and they only took our tickets once we got there (strange).

We get to the hotel and it was just beautiful. Our room was not ready, so we left our bags at Bell Services and went to have lunch at Ralph Brennan's. YUM!!

 

[Lizboo]

We were pleasantly suprized to find how close DTD was to our hotel. We had reservations for RBJK, but we were early and they accomodated us anyway. We sat outside and the weather was beautiful. We had an excellent waiter (Jonathan) and he recommended the Roman Garlic bread (fresh ciabatta bread with basil, mozarella cheese, and roasted garlic). We probably wouldn't have picked that, but it was amazing. We also had two small beers (we knew a large one may put us in a coma).

We debated between the Bacon Blue cheeseburger (ground filet peeps!) and the pasta jambalaya, so we got both and split them. Both were just incredible. The burger was the best one I have ever had and the pasta was excellent..spicy but not too spicy.

While we were having our meal, there was a magician going around table to table doing tricks. We also heard that our room was ready, so we decided after lunch to go get settled in.

We asked for the check and Jonathan brought me a hot beignet with a birthday candle (which was just incredible..the only one I have ever had was at WDW's French Quarter resort and it was a big let down).

If you ever have the chance to eat here, GO!!

 

[Lizboo]

Then we headed back to our room and unpacked and we were both so tired. The plan was to go to DL because we knew we would end up back at DCA for dinner at Wine Country Trattoria and then the first WoC show. But we were just fried. So, we decided to go check out the pool (turns out there are multiple pools) and we really knew we needed to take a nap. We did and felt a little better. We headed towards DCA about an hour before our dinner ressies (WOW that entrance from the hotel was great) and we stood in Paradise Pier and just felt lost. I'm sure the lack of sleep was not helping, but we just didn't know what to do first or how to navigate the park. We decided to go find the restaurant and didn't really have time to ride anything, so we walked around and explored.

 

[Lizboo]

So after walking around like a zombie for an hour, we went to dinner. We ate at the Wine Country Trattoria and there was a specific WoC menu. The salad was the only choice you had as a starter. DH thought it was wilted and he hated the cheese (think it was goats milk?). I thought it was OK (the walnuts were my favorite part). DH got the seafood pasta and I got the oven roasted beef. Both were just OK. The dessert was the best part. Was it worth the money? Not really. If I had it to do over, I would eat somewhere else and get a fastpass for WoC.

We were sitting outside and it was getting chilly, so we went back to our room (so great it was so close) to put on jeans and a jacket and I had a couple of suprizes waiting.

 

[Lizboo]

It was just amazing and so hard to explain. I had seen a few videos and pictures, but it is nothing like being there in person. We were in the blue section and in the middle. We were there for the first show and as we got there, the puppets were out. Aladdin was right behind us.

Then the show started. It was incredible. The lasers being shot up into the water. The music. Wall E and Jack Sparrow!! The worst part was Simba calling out to his dad (it really bothered me and I am a grown up). BUT THEN..they use the song "So Close" from Enchanted and I get goose bumps. The effects, the music, everything..it was just amazing. It is all we did besides eat and sleep our first day, but it was mind blowing.

I was hooked. I had heard nightmares about the WoC FP line, but I knew we would be in it!! Then, we headed back to the room and slept to get ready for the next day. Breakfast at Storytellers, DL at opening, and Welcome to Disneyland tour.

 

[ShellyMouse]

great start!......cant wait to read more! we are wdw vets, and will be in dland for the 1st time in november....

love all your pictures too

 

[Lizboo]

great start!......cant wait to read more! we are wdw vets, and will be in dland for the 1st time in november....

love all your pictures too

Thanks so much!! You are going to love DL!

 

[Lizboo]

So, the next morning, we headed to Storyteller's Cafe for breakfast. You can either order off the menu or get the buffet, so we opted buffet. The food was yummy, but it is expensive (about $25 per person) but reasonable by Disney standards. Meeko, Chip, Dale, and Turk were there. The restaurant is really nice.

I got a b'day cupcake and they sand "Zipa dee doo dah, zip a dee ay...happy birthday". Very cute and appreciated.

 

[Lizboo]

I was excited to get into the park after breakfast (right before the park opened). I really loved this sign as you enter Main Street.

This is what it looked like on Main Street.

And DH was not impressed with the size of the castle. I must admit, I knew it would be smaller, but it was really small. But very pretty.

DH is gonna get in so much trouble messin with Jiminy!!

DH and Minnie

The first thing we rode was Space Mountain and it was so great. You sit side by side and it seems faster, funner and has a cool sound track. We rode it three times. Then, we headed to Adventureland and rode Indy. WOW!! That was great. It is the trucks used in Dinosaur at AK, but DH thinks the theming was much better. We rode it twice and got a fast pass for later. Then, we experienced Pirates, which has two drops and is longer than WDW. Very cool.

Then, we went to the Welcome to Disneyland tour. It starts in DCA and then comes back to DL. You also get priority seating to Aladdin or a parade, so we picked the Pixar Play parade (because we had priority seating to Aladdin through CAA). I had heard some people rode 4-5 rides on this tour, sampled candy..well, that didn't happen on our tour. Our tour guide was well informed, but..well..the nicest thing I can say is she was dull. She walked us over to ToT and I thought "WOO..we get to ride.." Nope, she says it would make her sick, but she will give us Fastpasses for it. She walks us around to a Bug's Land where we see ITTBAB (which is identical to WDW..not a shock). Then she walked us more around DCA, which was a nice intro to the park. Then, we crossed back into DL and went to PoC..and we stood in line for 30 minutes. I had also heard about being walked right on the ride..nope. Then we rode around the train to Tomorrowland where we parted ways. She said we could come by the desk later for our FPs and letters about priority seating. Was it worth it? Yes, but if you do it, I hope you get a better guide. OH..we got 5 FPs and three were our choice (including attractions that did not have a FP line), except for WoC or TSM. We used a couple of FPs and then headed to House of Blues, where we split a shrimp po boy (sorry..no pic available., but it was yummy). We went back to the room, took a swim and nap, swung by to get a WoC FP (last show, yellow section). Then, we were headed to DL to have dinner at Blue Bayou (YUMM!)

 

[Lizboo]

By the time we got back to DL for our 5:30 reservation, it was packed. We waited 15 minutes and then we were seated fartherest from the water. The place was packed, so I was just happy to be there. We asked the waitress for her recommendations and she recommended the crabcakes (which DH got) and the surf and turf (which I got). We don't share steak because I am a medium rare kinda girl and DH is a medium well kinda guy. You get a choice of salad or soup (and the soup is a gumbo and it is insanely great). As was dinner. DH was raving over the potatoes also. YUM!! This is an other can't miss!!

They also brought me a small cup of choc mousse, but I ate it before I took picture.

 

[Joan S.]

Hi, I am enjoying your TRIP REPORT. (LOVE the food pics!!) We are WDW vets that head to DL in 9 days!! Joan

 

[Lizboo]

Hi, I am enjoying your TRIP REPORT. (LOVE the food pics!!) We are WDW vets that head to DL in 9 days!! Joan

Glad to hear you are enjoying it!! I hope it may be helpful to you with your upcoming trip.

 

[JH87]

I also LOVED the potatoes seved at Blue Bayou!! I couldn't stop saying how delicious they were, my family was getting annoyed!
Glad to read that you had a great bday and trip to DL!
It's interesting to hear someones point of view on DL who has been to WDW. I've been to DL so many times, its become a major part of my childhood and growing up and now into my adult years. I don't know if I would even want to spend the money to travel to WDW, afraid I would be let down and not get the feeling I get when I walk up the pathway to DLR...