It’s Always Sunny in California!..Eh?...L’il Bit!

[dolphingirl47]

I am back from my trip and all caught up.

The Aladdin show looks spectacular. I have never go around to watching this and this may be something else I need to put right in November.
I always thought that Disneyland tends to look more crowded than it really is. The explanation with the narrower path makes sense. I much prefer the Disneyland version of Pirates of the Caribbean. I seem to remember that the treasure room used to be at the end, but they completely changed this around. It's A Small World is another ride that I much prefer at Disneyland. What a shame that it was closed. I would not go as far as saying that this is the original though. They completely refurbished this a few years ago and added a bunch of Disney characters. This has been done very sensitively and in keeping with the original ride and I think it actually adds something to it.

It must have been a busy day if the Storybook Land Canal Boats and Pinocchio's had long lines. However busy the park was when we have been there, they were pretty much a walk on. Storybook Land Canal Boats are kind of cute, but definitely not worth a lengthy wait.

I love the photos of Carsland in the evening. I thought your World of Color photos were amazing. I love that show.

You got lots done during the Extra Magic Hour on the moving day despite the hold up. I have yet to ride Matterhorn since it had the new cars. I am planning to put this right in November. This is one of DH's favourite rides. The Dole Whip line is often longer than the line for the rides so you should definitely have jumped on this.

I think I like both versions of Haunted Mansion equally, but Disneyland has Haunted Mansion Holiday from mid September to early January and that seriously rocks. I can't wait to do this again. As to the Monte Christo Sandwich, if the chance presents itself again, try the three cheese version. This is so good and the creaminess of the cheese works great with the sweetness of the sandwich.

Even so the tour was modified, it sounded interesting and a lot of fun. I would love to see Walt's apartment.

Congratulations on the new princess in the making.

Corinna

 

[jenseib]

I am back from my trip and all caught up.

The Aladdin show looks spectacular. I have never go around to watching this and this may be something else I need to put right in November.
I always thought that Disneyland tends to look more crowded than it really is. The explanation with the narrower path makes sense. I much prefer the Disneyland version of Pirates of the Caribbean. I seem to remember that the treasure room used to be at the end, but they completely changed this around. It's A Small World is another ride that I much prefer at Disneyland. What a shame that it was closed. I would not go as far as saying that this is the original though. They completely refurbished this a few years ago and added a bunch of Disney characters. This has been done very sensitively and in keeping with the original ride and I think it actually adds something to it.

It must have been a busy day if the Storybook Land Canal Boats and Pinocchio's had long lines. However busy the park was when we have been there, they were pretty much a walk on. Storybook Land Canal Boats are kind of cute, but definitely not worth a lengthy wait.

I love the photos of Carsland in the evening. I thought your World of Color photos were amazing. I love that show.

You got lots done during the Extra Magic Hour on the moving day despite the hold up. I have yet to ride Matterhorn since it had the new cars. I am planning to put this right in November. This is one of DH's favourite rides. The Dole Whip line is often longer than the line for the rides so you should definitely have jumped on this.

I think I like both versions of Haunted Mansion equally, but Disneyland has Haunted Mansion Holiday from mid September to early January and that seriously rocks. I can't wait to do this again. As to the Monte Christo Sandwich, if the chance presents itself again, try the three cheese version. This is so good and the creaminess of the cheese works great with the sweetness of the sandwich.

Even so the tour was modified, it sounded interesting and a lot of fun. I would love to see Walt's apartment.

Congratulations on the new princess in the making.

Corinna

I can't wait to read about your latest adventure!
DLR is so different and similar all at the same time. It's hard to explain, but I did have such a great time learning about this park. I can't wait to go back and try all the things I missed and repeat a few others.

 

[dolphingirl47]

I can't wait to read about your latest adventure!
DLR is so different and similar all at the same time. It's hard to explain, but I did have such a great time learning about this park. I can't wait to go back and try all the things I missed and repeat a few others.

I am not making a lot of progress with this. So far I have downloaded about 60 photos out of over 1000 and I have half-heartedly started to type up the first day. Jetlag is still bothering me and I hit the floor running at work today. It will probably be another 2 weeks before I post the first installment of the trip report.

Corinna

 

[Beth D]

Congrats Grandma! And to soon to be Auntie Claire, and of course Paige & Baby! Skips got to be dying with all the estrogen that will be floating around soon!

Love the updates, except - no pic of the sweatshirt? Gotta show off the goods! It sounds like you and Cass are two peas in a giggle pod!

 

[petals]

Congrats on the new Disney princess to come.

 

[MEK]

That is just a darling little ketchup bottle. How cute. Nothing like turning it into a souvie!

Hmmmm - I didn't realize the lines from the GC would be that long. Duly noted. I am hoping to go next February. Were you there doing President's week or afterwards? I am eyeing up the week after.

I know I have gotten behind on yours (and everyone's TR) thanks to my own recent trip, so I forget - overall how did you think the crowds were.

I'll try to get caught up soon.

 

[jenseib]

I am not making a lot of progress with this. So far I have downloaded about 60 photos out of over 1000 and I have half-heartedly started to type up the first day. Jetlag is still bothering me and I hit the floor running at work today. It will probably be another 2 weeks before I post the first installment of the trip report.

Corinna

I know how that is. I have so much going on lately and some days I just want to do nothing.

Congrats Grandma! And to soon to be Auntie Claire, and of course Paige & Baby! Skips got to be dying with all the estrogen that will be floating around soon!

Love the updates, except - no pic of the sweatshirt? Gotta show off the goods! It sounds like you and Cass are two peas in a giggle pod!

thanks. Claire has mixed feelings I think...I think she is worried about a new princess taking her place, but she should know better.....she will always be my baby princess!
I am really bad about taking pictures of my purchases anymore. I know I have pictures of me with it on in our WDW trip, so it will show up in that TR for sure.

Congrats on the new Disney princess to come.

Thanks!

That is just a darling little ketchup bottle. How cute. Nothing like turning it into a souvie!

Hmmmm - I didn't realize the lines from the GC would be that long. Duly noted. I am hoping to go next February. Were you there doing President's week or afterwards? I am eyeing up the week after.

I know I have gotten behind on yours (and everyone's TR) thanks to my own recent trip, so I forget - overall how did you think the crowds were.

I'll try to get caught up soon.

I ended up bringing several little bottles home with me.
I had read before going down how long the lines could get. Supposedly they move fast, but each time I walked by it never seemed to be even moving.
I arrived on the 23. it was crazy busy that day for Dapper Days. It did thin out over the week, but I felt it was pretty busy the whole week for Feb.

 

[jenseib]

Cass and I were going to separate. I forget what she planned to do, but she wasn’t going to go to the park. She might’ve just gone back to the room, or shopped a bit. I decided that since the line was so long I would walk around the resort and take some pictures. She did walk with me for a bit before we parted ways.









This obviously is the quick service restaurant there.











I then strolled out by the pool.



















I thought the pools were gorgeous here.

 

[jenseib]

I wish we had more time to spend here and enjoy the pools. We never really had any day time to do so and of course the slide closed at 5 here as well.





They have cabanas to rent here and if I remember right, they are quite pricey.





This hot tub was full of foam. The kids were playing in it and it actually looked pretty gross. We were thinking they may have dumped some shampoo in there.





The gate near our building elevator was right there and I believe Cass then left and went back to the room and I kept on.





Holy cow!!! A real lemon tree with lemons on it!!!! I don’t think I have ever seen one up close before.









And a snail….a real snail…and he was big.











I just love flowers in Feb.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

First - CONGRATS to Paige and your family on the new baby Princess! I love how you will be indoctrinating her into the Disney way!

Second - that "special" entrance line was long most mornings at opening for us too. We found that walking through DTD to the main entrance didn't seem much faster. We used the GC entrance more when we were coming and going at times other than opening. It was great at closing time!

That pool area is so nice and relaxing looking. It's a little less so with a ton of kids running around screaming…but it's very nice. I think I looked at the cabana prices and A little out of my budget for a having a semi-private place to sit, although it would be nice.

I was at the mini ketchup bottles! Too cute!

 

[dolphingirl47]

I loved all the photos of the Grand Californian. I adore this hotel. The loungers by the pool are so comfy. I have never seen the hot tub in such a state so I think you are right about the shampoo. I have yet to get a chance to try out the slide. We are either at the pool before 10:00 or after 5:00 and the slide was never open while we were there.

Corinna

 

[jenseib]

First - CONGRATS to Paige and your family on the new baby Princess! I love how you will be indoctrinating her into the Disney way!

It will be neat to see a new princess enjoying Disney for the first time.

Second - that "special" entrance line was long most mornings at opening for us too. We found that walking through DTD to the main entrance didn't seem much faster. We used the GC entrance more when we were coming and going at times other than opening. It was great at closing time!

I did walk over to DTD and enter and I think it was slightly faster, but I didn't have anyone to test it against either.

That pool area is so nice and relaxing looking. It's a little less so with a ton of kids running around screaming…but it's very nice. I think I looked at the cabana prices and A little out of my budget for a having a semi-private place to sit, although it would be nice.

I was at the mini ketchup bottles! Too cute!

The pool was fairly quiet most of the time I was there, but there were a few times I saw a few wild ones.
I end up getting a few more bottles too.

I loved all the photos of the Grand Californian. I adore this hotel. The loungers by the pool are so comfy. I have never seen the hot tub in such a state so I think you are right about the shampoo. I have yet to get a chance to try out the slide. We are either at the pool before 10:00 or after 5:00 and the slide was never open while we were there.

Corinna

It is such a nice hotel. I really like how close everything is there in the whole resort!

 

[jenseib]

I then headed back to take a look inside.







I hadn’t realized they had this little lounge area.













I then went up to take pictures from the balcony.



















I love this fireplace look.





I continued on exploring.

 

[aboveH20]

Congratulations on Paige's bookmark. (I can't figure out if that's unbearably witty or just unbearably dumb.) I decided that the reason I can afford my Disney trips is that grandchildren haven't entered the picture yet.

I have two questions. I believe I saw mugs on the bottom shelf of one of your photos. I know a long time ago the Disneyland Hotel had reusable mugs at the Coffee House but I haven't read about them recently.

What ID if any is required for the pools?

Nexy Sunday at this time I'll be on my merry way. I can't wait.

 

[lucysmom]

Perhaps the suds in the hot tub are detergent residue from the clothes the kids were wearing. I certainly wouldn't want to get in it. I love your pictures of the hotel and grounds. So many little details I usually zip by.

 

[natebenma]

We will be at DL/CA from Saturday July 12 through Tuesday July 15. 3 1/3 days in the parks.



I am so excited about Indiana Jones! The queue line looks cool. Dark. But cool! Do you know if you miss a lot if you go through the FP line?

I haven't done much planning for our trip, but right now, my idea is to go to DL when we arrive Saturday afternoon, FP IJ and head right to the Matterhorn.

Thanks for your review of the Café Orleans. I don't think I would love the overly sweet Monte Cristo, but the pomme frites definitely look worth a try. Gonna go check out a menu to see what else they have.

I love the pictures of the room. It looks, well, roomy.

 

[natebenma]

That is cool that you got to do a mini-Walk in Walt's footsteps tour!

I'm glad you were impressed with your tour. I have been on field trips when some guides are better than others. Heck, I always worry about this when I am doing programs at our farm- I always hope my instruction is ok.

Cool that you got to tour the apartment.

Dinner looked excellent.

Sounds like you made a smart move changing into something cooler.

More excellent WoC pictures!!! You are right, the ones with the shadow of the boy are really neat.

 

[dolphingirl47]

We love the Hearthstone Lounge. We don't really rate Whitewater Snacks and Hearthstone Lounge has quite a nice menu if you just want something quick and easy to eat.

Corinna

 

[natebenma]

Time for catch-up again!

I know you're on to other things but you said to go ahead and post my shot from Aladdin so here it is!

A Whole New World by mom2rtk, on Flickr

That is a great picture!!!

Jen-

Congratulations to Paige and to all of you for the upcoming addition to your family.

I am continuing to love all of your pictures and descriptions of the resort. That is nice that you had some time to explore between breakfast and the start of the seminar for the day.

I'm glad you were able to find a sweatshirt you liked so much that you got one for Claire, too!

 

[jenseib]

Congratulations on Paige's bookmark. (I can't figure out if that's unbearably witty or just unbearably dumb.) I decided that the reason I can afford my Disney trips is that grandchildren haven't entered the picture yet.

I have two questions. I believe I saw mugs on the bottom shelf of one of your photos. I know a long time ago the Disneyland Hotel had reusable mugs at the Coffee House but I haven't read about them recently.

What ID if any is required for the pools?

Nexy Sunday at this time I'll be on my merry way. I can't wait.

I don't believe they have refillable mugs anywhere, but that being said, I don't drink coffee, so I would've never stepped foot in a coofee house to see.
No ID was ever asked for the pools. The rule is no pool hopping, but they also really didn't patrol it to see if anyone was either.
Wow that is coming up fast!!!!

Perhaps the suds in the hot tub are detergent residue from the clothes the kids were wearing. I certainly wouldn't want to get in it. I love your pictures of the hotel and grounds. So many little details I usually zip by.

That is a good thought. It was really foamy, it did die down later on, but that tub was always a little more foamy than it should be in my opinion.

We will be at DL/CA from Saturday July 12 through Tuesday July 15. 3 1/3 days in the parks.

Woohoo!! It will be here before you know it. I hope I can get up more updates to help you before then too! (With luck I will get this finished before then!)



I am so excited about Indiana Jones! The queue line looks cool. Dark. But cool! Do you know if you miss a lot if you go through the FP line?

You will not miss anything really and I do talk about this later. We had a FP and it basically has you enter where you enter the building in the regular line, and you just miss the outside queue, which wasn't anything special anyways.

I haven't done much planning for our trip, but right now, my idea is to go to DL when we arrive Saturday afternoon, FP IJ and head right to the Matterhorn.

That sounds like a good plan to me too. Be sure to grab a map when you walk in. I kept forgetting and then I would get confused on where things were.

Thanks for your review of the Café Orleans. I don't think I would love the overly sweet Monte Cristo, but the pomme frites definitely look worth a try. Gonna go check out a menu to see what else they have.

I love the pictures of the room. It looks, well, roomy.

I am sure you will find plenty on the menu to keep you happy. And if not, double order of Pomme Frites!
The rooms are really nice. I felt all the Disney resorts had nice space.

That is cool that you got to do a mini-Walk in Walt's footsteps tour!

It was something I was hoping we would do since I had read others had gotten to during their seminars. Sadly we only got the mini version, but at least they did get it to fit in our schedule.

I'm glad you were impressed with your tour. I have been on field trips when some guides are better than others. Heck, I always worry about this when I am doing programs at our farm- I always hope my instruction is ok.

Yes, a lot of that depends on your guide. A bad guide can make or break a tour.

Cool that you got to tour the apartment.

Dinner looked excellent.

The apartment was surely the highlight for me!
Dinner was very good.

Sounds like you made a smart move changing into something cooler.

Be prepared...My BIL went to DL in the summer for his honeymoon and he said even in the evenings in July he had to wear a long sleeve shirt or sweatshirt.

More excellent WoC pictures!!! You are right, the ones with the shadow of the boy are really neat.

Cass took a really nice one of the boy during WoC and she posted it on facebook. I was a little jealous of how well hers turned out on her phone!