It had been 10 years- Disneyland/etc. Misc.3/21-27

[50sjayne]

Trip Report. 1st day--Friday March 21st:

Well, had most everything packed. Did last minute packing Friday afternoon, husband wanted to leave at noon on Friday but I had no clue as to why he would want to arrive at Disney at 3 AM...didn't leave until about 3 PM. Husband drove until midnight or so (from Eugene Oregon-I-5) then I drove till about 4 am, husband and son slept off and on during this time. Got tired and a little scared because I was getting too sleepy so woke husband up sometime before the grapevine--also because we were getting pretty low on gas. Ended up paying probably the highest gas prices in southern california at this said rest stop...the rest of the trip we did well on prices-- stopped at my researched gas stations. Very foggy in the grapevine area-- will never do the all nighter drive again. We're too OLD for that-- seriously was too hard on us, I'm 40, husband is 50. We took our time going down though, lots of rest stops. Rolled in to Anaheim about 6 am. Tried to go to check in and park the car at HOJO but front desk was dark so figured it wasn't open yet even though I thought it was an all night desk...(turns out there's a bell I missed.) I did see on the computer that the hotel was 95% full and felt very lucky to have gotten the entertainment rate.
So, we decided to try to find downtown Disney-- something that didn't exist last time we were there, found it and parked there. First thing I saw when getting out of the car was a kitty! Cute, shy grey tabbey-- medium longish hair. I did the kitty trill and went near him he checked me out a bit, then went in the bushes. He popped out of the bushes a few minutes later and followed us a bit. Made way through dt Disney and reached a bag check place. I was a little puzzled by this but we were happy to find it and decided to go back to the car and get our ARES print out to try to do magic morning that day. Got back before 7 am and went to kiosk, got sent to the customer service thing right next to the ticket gates and they processed it quickly and we were in! Rode everything in fantasyland that was open, both sides of the Matterhorn, (left side is faster) then Pirates. The new stuff was fun-I was a big fan of the movie--saw it 25 times in the theater. Then Haunted Mansion. Nemo was the last thing we did in fantasyland and it was just a 10 minute wait-- I was surprised it was such a short wait. I thought it was cute but didn't try to go back on it. Oh- got fast passes at Indy-- was my first time getting these and couldn't find the fast pass machines. Asked a few cm's and found them. Then went to get fast passes for Splash and husband decided to just go on because there was no line-- bad decision... soaked at 10 am no hotel check in 'till 3 pm lol.
This is me and my son-I was mad 'cause husband took the picture- up all night driving y'know, but having fun.

Rode back soaking wet and COLD on the train, went to the hotel and I asked them for towels and if we could change in the bathroom there. ( I knew they would accomodate) Husband pushed me to ask if room was ready of course it wasn't but they said it wouldn't be too long so I decided we could use some food and went to Hometown buffet on Katella since I signed up for the birthday club or something and had a coupon for a free meal. We spent about an hour there and went back to the hotel and they had a room for us. I think we got upgraded because we got a view and a safe and it was on the 4th floor instead of the third which we had originally.It was a great view- not a firework view but we could see the Tower and monorail. It was a pretty view anyway. I thought we had some daytime pictures, but guess not. Accidentally took video of the night time view--have no idea what to do with that...

Anyway the hotel was wonderful, really grateful for advice here. So I sent DH and DS off to Disneyland and crashed for about an hour then joined them in Disneyland. Can't remember the rest of the day,it was cloudy and overcast and not very crowded. We caught on to the fast pass system quickly and made out like Bandits- riding everything we wanted countless times. Husband lost phone at some point-- was devastated the rest of the night...fantasmic distracted him somewhat-- forgot how incredible it was--. Then found out after the show someone had tried to call my number from his phone so we left a message to please turn the phone in to lost and found and they did because he got it back the next morning. I stood in front of the speakers that lifted and had an incredible view. Got there an hour early or so and was happy to use the time to call everyone I needed to call( and leave messages for the cats lol). Got pushed towards the entrance after show- we were tired and were just moving with the crowd and saw the fireworks starting on mainstreet. Husband ducked under the rope and we watched them from there-- in complete awe. Went back to hotel and I got in the jacuzzi which was hot and had really strong, nice jets, perfect after a 15 hour drive and day at Disneyland. That was pretty much then end of our first night. That night and everynight at HOJO the minute my head touched the pillow until the alarm went off- slept like a rock.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Well you got me beat!!! I thought driving 14 hrs to Anaheim & then spending a couple hours at Disneyland before heading off to bed was tough......egad's woman!! I couldn't imagine driving all night long..... I'm guessing you got your gas at the stop with a few stores, gas stations & fast foods right before you head up the Grapevine????? We pulled in there just to get some drinks & I saw the gas prices & almost passed out!!!! They were a good 30 cents higher than the rest of the state!

Sounds like you got smaller crowds on your first day....that really makes a difference in how much you can do....... can't wait to see the rest of your report & find out if the crowds stayed small for you!!

 

[50sjayne]

Yep--that was the same place--lol. I had opportunity about an hour earlier to stop and fill up at an Arco but I wanted to pull my weight with the driving and husband said he thought the last time we filled up would probably get us to LA. NOT.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

Welcome back! Can't wait for more!!

Glad to hear your DH got his phone back. Sometimes you forget there are actually nice people that return things they find!!

 

[50sjayne]

Hmm- have no idea what happened to my last post? Hope this doesn't end up as a double post...
Day 2-Rain, Understanding fast pass and first glimpse of California Adventures.

Got up, it was raining. That really didn’t phase me, I had brought ponchos. Was actually kind of excited and glad because I knew it would thin the crowds--felt lucky. Got out of the room about 8 am running late and the sun came out for our walk. Put my poncho on anyway as it was chilly thought it would give me more warmth lol. So we get in the gate and rode a few in fantasy land (matter horn for sure-- can’t remember what else) I got fast passes for space (thought I’d try to cajole husband into riding it later) and Buzz- we loved Buzz btw really fun. It started raining again. We ducked in to Pinnochio and some more in Fantasyland as people cleared out- it was amazing-- really I don’t think Californians etc. are used to rain like us in Oregon and Washington lol. We had a blast- walking on everything and collecting fast passes. Here’s husband and son on Jungle cruise- we thought it’d be kind of fun in the rain.

Oh- I’d also like to add at this point my son is 18 and high functioning autistic. I was very proud of him this trip. Unfortunately he forgot to pack his rx crocs I got him so he was hurting by the end of the trip but kept up with us great and he decided early on he didn’t need a special front of the line pass. We just really utilized fast pass and they used the train a lot. I also want to mention the fast pass machines are not as easy to find as I thought they would be, you really have to look for them.
California Adventures:
It cleared up in the afternoon and was sunny but windy and the Sunday crowds starting coming back in so we decided to eat at Whitewater snacks and check out California Adventures. Now I had no idea where anything was so just walked, figured out where the Restaurant was pretty easily. Had beef nachos which I liked- was plenty of food to hold me the rest of the day and night. Husband didn’t like his burger, son liked the chicken ok. I sat outside in the cold and brr wind waiting for the kitty- girl at the counter said she was around and someone outside eating said she had just been there. Well miss Kitty- she did not show up…’probably ate and left lol. Got fast passes for Soarin’, husband said no go on Grizzly since the soaking at Splash (lol), we did Muppet 3-d everyone liked but both husband and I were falling asleep--still probably recovering from the day before. Did Monsters Inc. which looked to be a short line but it fools you the way it’s wrapped around. Did Tower of Terror husband was rattled- he said never again. I was kind of disappointed- I thought there would be a more old timey hotel feel to it. Aladdin line was forming so we did that and thought it just Amazing-- really and the Genie was a kick in the pants. Got out and did Crush Turtle talk and while waiting checked out the Zoetrope? Sp? Was completely fascinated by that-- we loved that. Turtle Talk was really cute and amusing- he asked the kids what their favorite color was and one said --fish! I will never forget that look on his face lol. Husband was wanting to get back to Disneyland so we did Soarin’ and thought it was ok- I didn’t like the feet hanging above me lol. We loved that the captain guy before the ride was that guy from the show that’s on after 2 ½ men with David Spade. Watched Fantasmic by myself Sun night--same spot of course, then headed quickly over to the castle to get a spot-- found a great spot on a bench and then they promptly cancelled because of the wind. Finished with Indi. Went back to the room took a shower then the day was over.

**Thought I had forgotten my mickeyheads-- looked through everything for them, then found them packing the day we checked out sigh.....

 

[50sjayne]

**I got my days mixed up-- Sunday the fireworks were cancelled...
Hmm- I ran out of time earlier today and stuff kept coming back to me. When the fireworks were cancelled I called and told husband I was going to use the spare fast pass for Space because he refused to board earlier. Went up and was told it would be a 45 minute fast pass wait due to it being shut down earlier so I was freezing and decided to go to Honey I shrunk the Audience because they had done it without me at some point. Well at least it was warm...I have heard they are getting a new show for this-- they need it..Anyway got out and fast pass line for space was 10 min. Space is by far my favorite ride. Then I met up with them at Indi

 

[50sjayne]

Day 3 The start of the penney press obsession.

Woke up early was at the gate by 7:20--and found out Disneyland opened at 9 (lol). There were plenty of people in line already though so I found the “short gate’ 14 and waited. Called husband to say they still had time to make it for opening and waited. Forgot how fun it was to open Disneyland…Decided when husband had still not shown up to go and wait at the train station for them and watched the activities. Got some pictures of ducks.

Husband still had not shown up at 9 so I got on train and took it to toon town which was still closed darn it, walked over to autopia (duh forgot train stopped there too) and waited for husband and son to get fast passes. They were on the next train so we got fast passes and rode the ride. Got some great pics of son.

Got fast passes for space then Roger Rabbit, went on Roger Rabbit but didn’t really enjoy because of husbands annoying cooler. (Went back to toon town before it closed at 8:30, enjoyed toon town all lit up and loved Roger the second time.) Got back on train and got fast passes for Indi and rode pirates, haunted mansion, then got fast passes for Big thunder. Was a beautiful day-- high 70’s. When it started getting warmer and more crowded went on Mark Twain I think…at some point heading to the room for the afternoon break discovered Wall E pressed nickels? Quarters? And it was all over.
Ate at HOJO’s and soaked my feet in the Jacuzzi- not because they hurt, but for precaution- I wasn’t messing around with the feet this trip. Split up again because husband wanted to go on pirates again( and again and again) and I got the lists of windows and pressed penneys at city hall. It was on then-- I was a pressed penney fiend. It was fun going to the first aid station for water- they didn’t mind, I did that a few times. Also when standing in line at city hall the hall the firefighters were performing-- very fun. Got some pics on the cell phone I have no idea how to put on computer-- will eventually. Caught car going up to the castle and lucked out on husband and son just happened to be resting there. Had fun with the fast passes (yay husband went on space)

and then it was time to stake out the fireworks. My goodness we loved those fireworks-- the whole show. I am so glad we got to see them before they do a different show. Ended with a glass of wine drank on the balcony purchased from Naked winery in Hood River Oregon-- lovely lovely wine with the help of a HOJO’s purchased souvenier corkscrew lol. Oh yeah-- daytime pics of view I finally found-if you panned to the right you would see the monorail, but i was obviously obsessed with TOT.

Yeah I think I have days mixed up but here's kind of a generic one but you can see how pretty and springy it was--

 

[charmama4]

Great TR so far, can't wait to see more pictures. love the flowers. being here in *brown* wyoming it makes me ache for color.

 

[50sjayne]

Day4 Late start--busy day

Got a late start so decided to go to CA first and try to ride Toy Story-son wasn’t interested so husband and I waited to open CA. That was fun-- walked quickly to Toy Story, found the line, waited about 5 minutes then they announced the ride was down. Got a good picture of Mr. Potato head before they pulled the curtain though lol.

Screamin’ was also down. I was so bummed. Husband insisted the faster way out was to the left so walked by rides husband informed me he would not go on. Saw Mulholland madness and was curious and it was a short wait so went on it by myself. Aaah. Too early in the AM for that. I didn’t like that bit where you seem to go off the tracks every turn- husband enjoyed the spectacle immensely though. We then left and went into Disneyland. Because we got there so late and it was filling up fast I decided to do stuff other than rides- we just made it to a Billy and The Hillbillies show- I loved that. Then met up with son and went on Mark Twain. You can see how fast it was filling up in the park.

Collected some fast passes, decided to test the theory of Roger Rabbit not being connected and it wasn’t (yay) Walked by Pooh ride and decided it was a lovely shady line and decided to go on it. We had never gone. We loved it lol.

This was from the Pooh line-

Went back and got on again. I think I went back to CA to use my fast pass for Soarin’. Ended up keeping that and walked on in the single rider lane. I sat in the front this time and it was much much funner. Took my crocs off too and stored them under-- that was nice. At some point I took the horse trolley thing and sat waiting for family while they changed horses out. Shockingly beautiful horses.

Took the train around a lot that day and went back to room for more gourmet hamburgers on the balcony via small George Foreman grill. I think I went in the Jacuzzi that day. Was disappointed the water was only warm not hot and there were a lot of splashy kids in it. They probably turn down the heat during the day because of the kids. It’ll be much better when they get the 2nd Jacuzzi in the garden pool. I’ve seen pictures of what they want to put in there-- it’s beautiful (they’re on the hojo message board site) Felt a little out of place with my ‘sexy’ suit on around a multitude of children lol oh well. Went back and used fast passes then they left me to the fireworks again. I really wanted to get some good pics to mostly show my Mom since they haven’t been there for a long time. And I did--I got to about 6th row center in front of the castle-- it was great.

Ended the day with Indi ;-)

 

[allgrownup]

Sounds like you had a great trip. You and your family had the magic!

Your view may have overlooked our room. I should have waved. We were in building 4, second floor. Our deck was centered over the kid pool. It was fun, any noise was not bothersome to us.

 

[50sjayne]

-Aah--haha I just posted on your report lol. Darn it-- I knew you were going to be there-- it's just you get so nervous and slightly manic before a trip like this-- y'know- you don't think of stuff.

 

[50sjayne]

Welcome back! Can't wait for more!!

Glad to hear your DH got his phone back. Sometimes you forget there are actually nice people that return things they find!!

That was amazing really- I had confidence though we'd get it back. I had heard too many similiar stories. We had fun ribbing him-- ok who's going to watch Daddy now? (To stay connected with the phones..

 

[DizNee Luver]

Toy Story Midway Mania ended up going down when my boys were about 20th in line at opening. They were bummed!! They did get back over later, but the wait was a good 40 mins.

I hated Mulholland Madness....scared me to death!!!! Glad I'm not alone on this one.....

You got some beautiful pics today.....getting to see them change out the horses is a new one for me.....never seen them do that!!!!

Aren't those fireworks the best. I look forward to them every trip!!!! You definately had better luck getting pics of them.....mine never turn out.

 

[50sjayne]

Yeah I really like our camera. Next time though I'm gonna have to get a camera strap though because it was too much effort to take the camera out and snap when I wanted to. Have to figure out how to put video online too I guess since it seems pretty easy to shoot video with this one.

 

[50sjayne]

Day off- Disney Outlet, Forest Lawn Glendale cemetary, Griffith Observatory, Mann's

Decided to use Wed as our day off as we felt a little worn down, then thursday was to be our last day at the park. Slept in, ('till 10-musta needed it) then went down to the lobby at HOJO to use the computers. I had brought the laptop but the computers never seemed busy when I checked and I was still hoping to see Lorealle or Jennifer. Of course I realized that they didn't actually work at the front desk--but it just seemed easier anyway. Mentioned I had hoped to see Lorealle at the front desk casually and the gal promptly brought her out for me lol. Very cute, sweet girl in person too ;-) I told her she was a superstar on these message boards . We then programmed the gps and went to the Disney outlet. I found a bunch of things, including some great tshirts, one white one with leopard print Mickeyhead on it, and a nightmare before christmas, both about $10-12, but of course husband and son just wanted to go. We were running kind of late- didn't get to the cemetery until 15 minutes before the museum closed. Wasn't rushed at all though-- was an interesting place. Here's husband with stone from Easter Island:

Me in front of a gorgeous painting, husband was weirded out by the purple dots around me in all of the shots in the museum. It was weird-- only me.

There were just beautiful things in there, statues, centuries old stained glass,

paintings. Then we went along to where Walt's ashes are and found him quickly, marvelling at the amazing statues etc. in the cemetary. Found Spencer Tracy's, husband spent time there and I found Errol Flynn's. Someone had put a penney in the o in his name weird.

Here's me by his grave. Have always had a thing about him.

I found George Burns and Gracie allen's crypt- someone had put a collage in front of theirs with pictures but I didn't get a good look at it because it was in a restricted area so I just hurried. We also saw Jimmy Stewarts grave- that was harder to find and I forgot my bunny I was going to put on it darn it. Beautiful day, amazingly strange cemetary. I'd love to spend more than the hour or so we spent there some day.
Went on to Griffith Observatory.

Got lucky and found a parking spot pretty far up the hill. Cool place- husband ws hurrying so we didn't see the Leonard Nimoy show (grr) and sort of rushed through it. The view was amazing- would have liked to have stayed a little bit for the night time view but husband was hurrying to get to Graumans Chinese.

These guys seemed a litle perturbed I was aking their picture:

View of the Hollywood sign from observatory:

We've done that before but son was pretty small then. We also needed to do laundry still when we got back. Graumans was crazy with some premeire that I was not interested in. That's putting it gently, I was very upset at the melee and just wanted out of there. Husband went over with son to try to get a better view of Graumans and I wandered over to the El Capitan which was beautiful but being Disney you couldn't go in without purchasing a ticket to just look at the lobby.

I went over next door to the ice cream parlour and was sitting outside with Mickey admiring this beautiful silver car siting outside the parlour. Saw the driver who quickly ducked behind his visor which he had down and I could swear it was Rob Lowe. He ducked quick but was smiling. I didn't even mention this to husband until we were driving home saturday and were a little disquieted to see him in that live action bit on Family Guy the next night.

About that time husband and son showed up and it was so noisy and crazy I just pushed this thought aside. Some spiderman guy was posing in the street and husband took my picture with him-- he then turned into 'bad spidey' and was demanding money lol so we just took off. We did luck out on a great parking spot down there.

Got back to the hotel just before the fireworks started and thought we could watch them from the balconey-- but were wrong-- so we just ran down to the parking lot and watched them from there. We could see them if we stood in the left hand corner of the balcony and leaned out a bit we found out when we got back because apparently they weren't finished yet. Pretty good day, gps is wonderful.

 

[DizNee Luver]

We went down in Hollywood in 2005 & the chinese theater & all the characters there were a nightmare. They gladly pose for the pictures.....for a price. Got out of there as quickly as we could.

How were the sidewalks & stars in your opinion??? When we were there, we found the sidewalks to be filthy & the stars were in horrid repair. There were also a ton of head shops & adult style shops. Was it still like that?? We ended up leaving there very disappointed. They make such a big deal about receiving a star & then to see them covered in gum, spilled sodas & broken from tree roots was really sad.

 

[50sjayne]

Oh I know-- it seems like they made such a big deal about how Hollywood has been so cleaned up-- but there are still unsavory elements everywhere. What was awful to me though were the screaming chanting jesus freaks everywhere...I don't mean to offend anyone on the board but-- just not my cup of tea...I've said before we are more of the Addams family mold ;-) (the premeire was The Cross)
The stars we saw seemed allright but they were doing some construction work on the El Capitan side and that was all scaffolded. Ah well- I've probably just committed trip report suicide...hope not One more day to present.

 

[50sjayne]

Last Dance

Thursday being our last day we decided to pack lunches and not return to the room, I packed dried fruit and jerky and my crystal light packets (which by the way I utilized the whole trip) We got a bit of a late start and I'm pretty sure that was the day we talked son into going back to CA to do Toy Story, which we did twice in a row on the single rider lines-- they loved it. They then went to go back to Disneyland and I decided to stay in CA for the day by myself. I wanted to explore every inch of it and catch Aladdin again. Rode Toy Story a few more times, then screamin' a couple. Went over to grizzly, used the free lockers, did this successfully and got a fast pass for grizzly. Went to check if kitty was there ( I had done this a few times before seemingly always just missing this mythical beast) and lo and behold Miss kitty was there!. She was sitting in front of a trash can when I got there and after sizing me up jumped to the fence area and waited for me to give her food lol. I pet her for awhile then ran over to the locker, got my beef jerky and dried fruit and we had lunch together there .

She is very sweet and really not very shy and seemed hungry, daintily stopping when she was full. Everyone please go feed this girl if you are there. Don't forget. That absolutely made my day. I went on grizzly after that after nabbing a trash can liner from a custodian at the Grand Californian. Also checked the place out--really impressive lobby to be sure. **P. S. Great bathrooms there by the whitewater snacks. Liked Grizzly, didn't get too wet thanks to bag, plus it was a very warm day. Went over and got fast pass for Soarin' but walked right on in the single rider line--to line # 1--no feet! Loved it the second time around. I hear they will be getting a new film for this in the next few years- soarin over the world. Found the cat houses behind that icecream place in the train by the entrance. Found some sleeping beauty sunglasses for kids that fit me great because my sunglasses were driving me nuts. Yeah there's no lack of sun in CA- got a little burnt on my forehead. Found a TOT fast pass someone had tossed probably because they didn't know you could use it past the time..yay. Went on TOT, again liked it much better this time, maybe because I knew what to expect. Also I guess it's different every time. Explored every land including Bugs life

--didn't go to the 3d show thinking it was just for kids but I really regret that now. Had no qualms about going on the caterpillar bumper cars by myself lol-(it was fun)
Tried to go on tour of tortilla factory but it was temporarily closed... bummer. Some cm gave me a photopass card- had no idea what to do with it, but decided after a few questions here and there it was just something that enables you to take pictures by Disney's professional photographers, then you had to pay for the pics. Going on little kids rides is one thing, but getting ahead of them for pics is another lol. (you usually saw the photographers with characters) Did see Sully posing, would have loved a pic with "kitty" but he was finishing up just as I got there. That's one thing we missed not going with little kids-- character interaction.
Saw Aladdin-- was great again and the genie did say different stuff. Went back and rode screamin just as it was getting darker so I could see the evening lights
. Went back to disney after that and right to Indy which had a fast pass return of 9pm so no more fast passes for me lol. Hung out and took pics of husband and son on rides while they utilized their fast passes. Was grateful for my day in CA seeing that the cheerleaders were coming in even though their thing wasn't at the convention center until the next day, it was busy busy in the park. Collected more pressed pennies. We decided to have some of those big corndogs I have heard so much about and yes they were a bargain, $6 for a huge corn dog with chips/apple slices. Shopped some in the stores, husband found a t-shirt he wanted, and we got a 3-d looking placemat, and a 4 pack glass set that matched the place mat with Goofy, Mickey, Donald, & Pluto dressed like pirates. Also got a really cool looking 3-d glass thing with fantasmic, Mickey and fireworks etc. really pretty. Watched the fireworks (all 3 of us this time) in front of the castle. Tried to ride the monorail to Downtown Disney that day but it was down. Rode pirates again at some point, Indy and Haunted mansion was our last ride ;-) Wanted to mention some stuff I forgot like we ate at Mimi's our Day Off for breakfast with the free meal coupon you get for signing up for their online club. Was great and we were full all day. We rode Buzz a lot and fast loader rides like Star Tours,

pirates and Haunted mansion. We did ride small world and here's some pics of the new stuff :

Here's a pic of tiki room--I swear I did not mean to have the flash on-- I thought I'd turned it off...

And this is a pic in Mickey's house that husband wanted me to post he really liked:

We checked out the new house of tomorrow in innoventions and were just not impressed, but I know there's people who would probably be interested in that sort of thing. This is a picture of space from innoventions balcony

Here's a pic of the backside of the castle I took one night:

and here's the celebrations thing that's on mainstreet right now. I know a lot of people find it garish but I liked it.

Am looking forward to our next trip next June when World of color will be open and the silly symphony swings will be done. Also should be some good stuff going on for the 55th- a better parade, promotions etc. That's all folks ;-)

 

[DizNee Luver]

Sounds like you really had a great trip!!!! I enjoyed the pics & you sharing it with us.

The plans at DCA do look nice don't they.....I'll put up with the construction...because the end product looks fabulous!!! Definately excited about the new water show!!

Great TR!!

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

Great TR! Thank you for sharing with us!

About the cats around the parks, DLR does feed them. They have "cat stations" set up in several different areas around both parks that have a little house with food and water in it. Circle D Ranch CMs (the ones who take care of the other DLR animals) are in charge of taking care of the cats. But I'm sure ever so the cats don't get that much to eat being that there are more than a dozen I'm sure around. I bet they appreciate when nice people like you share their lunch with them! We found a big kitty over by the Hungry Bear and gave him/her some of our bread and french fries. It was a happy kitty.