Just back from our June 22-26th trip and we love DLR more than WDW now!!

[jacobsmommy]

We just got home from our trip to DLR. We had a blast and also had perfect weather. This was not our first trip there (we went in 2007 when I was pregnant with our two year old dd and our ds was 3). Like I said in my title, we think we might love DL more than WDW now! We stayed at Fairfield Anaheim starting on Tuesday, June 22nd. Our flights there were good with both kids behaving great! We arrived at our hotel at about 11:00 and headed to McDonalds for a quick lunch. Then we headed to a very crazy DL! We got a few things done that afternoon. We did the Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, Aladdin/Jasmine meet, the Celebrate parade, POTC, and other things I seem to be forgetting. We left DL at about 4:00 ( I wouldn't recommend trying to leave during the parade!) My dd loved the parade and wouldn't stop talking about it. We had 5:00 dinner reservations at Goofy's that we really enjoyed. We saw Goofy, Aurora, Chip and Dale, Baloo, and Jasmine. Next time I think we might try breakfast there. We shopped a bit in downtown disney and then headed in for the night because we had gotten up super early for our 6AM central time flight.
More on our first full day in just a bit!

 

[Karenann*]

Welcome home! Sounds like even your first day you made tracks! Waiting for more.

 

[basketballmom]

 

[Maj0817]

Glad you had a wonderful time. Let us know more detials when you get a chance.

Was it crowded. When we went it was sooo crowded that we hardly got to ride any rides.

 

[jacobsmommy]

Tuesday was very crowded, but we knew that going in so we planned on just doing fillers and no major rides that day.

On to Wednesday: We got to the security line at about 7:20 and there were a few people in front of us. We hit Nemo and Buzz first (got a Space FP that only I ended up using later on). After that we headed to PFF for the meet and greet (we got there right at about 9:00 and had a 30 minute wait). We saw Ariel, Belle, and Tiana. My daughter was in heaven. So on the princess count we had now seen five of them (Aurora, Jasmine-twice, Ariel, Belle, and Tiana). After the princesses we headed to our breakfast with a quick stop on Main Street to see Mickey with no wait! At our Minnie's breakfast we had a blast and saw twelve characters! The food was yummy too! After breakfast we rode Winnie the Pooh and Haunted Mansion. Then we headed to DCA for Monsters Inc, Drawn to the Magic (got pic with Cinderella!) and Animation Academy before our break back at the hotel.

After our break we did the train, POTC again, Sleeping Beauty castle walk through, Tarzan's Treehouse, and some other things that I can't remember right now. We headed back earlier than expected b/c the kids didn't take a nap when at the hotel-so no fireworks like I had planned.... Oh well, at least we saw them the next night from our Fantamsic seats...

We ate dinner Wednesday night at Village Haus-it was good! Wednesday was much better crowd wise than Tuesday. We felt like we got a lot done on Wednesday.

Thursday coming up soon...

 

[OctoberDisney]

Looking forward to more of your report!

 

[OctoberDisney]

You were posting more as I was saying that!

 

[tinksdreamwishes]

 

[jacobsmommy]

On Thursday we did Early Entry at DL. We arrived at 6:20ish and were the first family in one of the lines to get in. We were able to do everything in Fantasyland (except the Teacups and Storybook Land boats) before 8:30. Then we headed over to Toontown. We saw Minnie, Mickey and Pluto. We also rode Roger Rabbit. Then we went to the PFF Coronation where our two year old got to dance with Snow White!!!! So now we had successfully seen every princess w/o having to do Ariel's! We also rode IASW and Buzz again. We saw Captain Eo and did a meet with Buzz before taking the Monorail to eat lunch at ESPN Zone. After our break we went to DCA to do the Bug's Land rides. After that, we headed back to DL to meet Tinkerbell and then head towards the spot to get in line for our Fantasmic dessert package. At about 7:00 there were four people there when we got in line. We were able to get front row seats for the show. We watched the fireworks and Fantasmic from our seats and both kids loved it! My two year old couldn't stop talking about the "bad lady" in the show. We didn't eat much out of the dessert boxes, but we drank water and yummy hot chocolate. It was definately worth not having to wait forever for a good spot!

 

[50sjayne]

Jacobsmomy--hey! Sorry, but we we're a train wreck this time about getting there early. I would have looked for you if we'd made it on time... spreaking of the train, yeah we got caught waiting for the train while the parade was going on-- had no idea it would affect it...but it did. It has to cross the track twice.
Did you do the visa meet n greet? We did that Wed. but got there late as we stood in line waiting for the inlaws to get their fast passes for WOC. We got a really cute picture with chip n dale!

Did you see the president of disneyland there behind you guys somewhere? He was sitting up to the left of the controls with someone who looked closely related to him--maybe a brother? I didn't remember that that was your night so wasn't looking for you and was distracted by watching him lol. I was trying to get decent pictures of him too. Finally he turned around so I quit lol. I was behind the light tower. Amazing night for it with the fireworks right before the show.
I agree Wed was much better for crowds. I can't remember much of Thu right now-- I'm totally trashed. I'll remember as I write my trip report.

 

[Karenann*]

It sounds like you really did so much. The kids much have been real troopers! I always have wanted to do the F! dessert but usually have 5 kids with me. Can't believe all the princess power! You really did great on that. Reading about your Minnie breakfast makes me want to try it. We usually do Goofy's kitchen, but you saw so many characters! Thanks for sharing, enjoying reading about your trip.

 

[DizNee Luver]

You really got to see a large amount of characters!!! Awesome......we love the characters!!
Fantasmic Dessert seating is SOOOOO worth the money!! The fireworks from that angle is really good!! We actually went back to New Orleans Square to watch them again on our last trip.
Sounds like everyone was having a great time!! Can't wait to read more!!

 

[jacobsmommy]

On to our last day: Friday! The kids had been monsters when we tried to go back to the hotel room for a break/nap the other two days. They were running around and going crazy instead of napping, so we decided to stay out the whole day on Friday at DCA. We got there at about 9:20 and there were lots of people in line already. We headed straight to TSMM and had about a 30 minute wait. I wish they had FP like WDW! After that the kids and my dh rode the carousel while I did SR line for Screamin (only had to wait about 5 minutes tops!) We saw Woody and Jessie at meet and greets. We did Muppetvision and ate lunch at the Farmer's Market. During our DLR vacation my son fell in love with their kids turkey wraps. My dh and ds rode Screamin while I took our dd to see Pinocchio by the Animation Academy. We all did the Aladdin show at 3:10 with our preferred seating. We had awesome seats. Last time we were up really high and didn't get to see the flying carpet. After the show we got our picnic meals and ate them while waiting for the Pixar Parade. My kids really enjoyed that parade too! Then my dh and ds did the Brother Bear course while dd and I shared a piece of pizza from the pizza place and changed her clothes to get ready for the cooler weather at WOC showtime. We lined up for WOC right at around 7:00 and were let in at about 7:20. I walked quickly ahead of dh (he had our sit and stand stroller-so he was slower). We were in the yellow section and I found a spot right at the railing on the third tier. My kids did an awesome job waiting for the show (except that ds had to go potty right at about 8:15). We were right in front of the blonde girl that sings for the preshow. We loved the large puppets in the preshow. My dd fell asleep on my shoulder about halfway through WOC. I thought it was good-but I still like Fantasmic better. My ds really enjoyed it though. He had really been looking forward to it ever since we watched the live feed on opening night.
All in all, it was a great vacation. Both kids were extremely well behaved and the weather was excellent (much better than WDW). My ds says he loves DLR much better because: no rain, cooler, no busses, and more characters! We've decided we would rather do three or four day trips to DLR and add on days to other places we've never been (like San Francisco, Vegas, Yosemite, etc) instead of doing week long trips to WDW. If I wasn't a teacher and could do off season to WDW, it'd be a different story weather wise, but the summer is just so brutal there...

 

[DizNee Luver]

Glad you enjoyed Disneyland!!! We love that it's smaller & you can walk from one park to the next & to DTD & the motels with ease!!

So it sounds like we need to get at a railing for a good view at WoC.....seems to be what everyone is saying. It's too bad they don't let people sit for the show, that way it would be easier for small kids to be able to see.

I'm also looking forward to this show, but do have a love for Fantasmic!! I'll try not to compare them.....lol

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip & experienced a lot!!! Thanx for sharing your trip with us!!

 

[50sjayne]

On to our last day: Friday! The kids had been monsters when we tried to go back to the hotel room for a break/nap the other two days. They were running around and going crazy instead of napping, so we decided to stay out the whole day on Friday at DCA. We got there at about 9:20 and there were lots of people in line already. We headed straight to TSMM and had about a 30 minute wait. I wish they had FP like WDW! After that the kids and my dh rode the carousel while I did SR line for Screamin (only had to wait about 5 minutes tops!) We saw Woody and Jessie at meet and greets. We did Muppetvision and ate lunch at the Farmer's Market. During our DLR vacation my son fell in love with their kids turkey wraps. My dh and ds rode Screamin while I took our dd to see Pinocchio by the Animation Academy. We all did the Aladdin show at 3:10 with our preferred seating. We had awesome seats. Last time we were up really high and didn't get to see the flying carpet. After the show we got our picnic meals and ate them while waiting for the Pixar Parade. My kids really enjoyed that parade too! Then my dh and ds did the Brother Bear course while dd and I shared a piece of pizza from the pizza place and changed her clothes to get ready for the cooler weather at WOC showtime. We lined up for WOC right at around 7:00 and were let in at about 7:20. I walked quickly ahead of dh (he had our sit and stand stroller-so he was slower). We were in the yellow section and I found a spot right at the railing on the third tier. My kids did an awesome job waiting for the show (except that ds had to go potty right at about 8:15). We were right in front of the blonde girl that sings for the preshow. We loved the large puppets in the preshow. My dd fell asleep on my shoulder about halfway through WOC. I thought it was good-but I still like Fantasmic better. My ds really enjoyed it though. He had really been looking forward to it ever since we watched the live feed on opening night.
All in all, it was a great vacation. Both kids were extremely well behaved and the weather was excellent (much better than WDW). My ds says he loves DLR much better because: no rain, cooler, no busses, and more characters! We've decided we would rather do three or four day trips to DLR and add on days to other places we've never been (like San Francisco, Vegas, Yosemite, etc) instead of doing week long trips to WDW. If I wasn't a teacher and could do off season to WDW, it'd be a different story weather wise, but the summer is just so brutal there...

Oh man--we we're at the 3:15 Aladdin too Friday and sat in the row behind the preferred seating behind our family who had the preferred seating. We probably saw each other and didn't even know it... I like Fantasmic better too. The new dragon and Ursula's eels are killer. I loved the preshow for the first WOC too, the puppets are cool. I'll post pictures of George Kalogridis in my trip report soon and you can tell me if you noticed him the night you did the desert package. There was an older security guard there keeping an eye on him ;-) I loved that night with the fireworks and Fantasmic-- truly magical.

 

[jacobsmommy]

At the Aladdin show we were in the back row (just three seats) of the floor section. We thought they were excellent seats! We were so busy at Fantasmic trying to juggle both kids (two year old was on my lap), dessert boxes, and drinks before the show to notice anything else around us. We did really enjoy it though.

 

[vettegirl]

Great review, DL is my favorite too!

 

[jacobsmommy]

How do I go about adding some photos from our vacation?

 

[50sjayne]

I use photobucket. It's really easy and free. I just go to photobucket where I've uploaded my pics from the camera program or if I'm on husband's computer I upload them to my pics folder then photobucket. Then I highlight the img url and copy and paste into your dis post using the little photo icon 3rd from the right above the reply tho thread box.
We were in the second row off the floor in the preferred seating behind my relatives--we didn't have the seating but they did and saw them coming in so we sat behind them. It was fun seeing the elephant up close, we've only been in the balcony before.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Here's a short cut to the above:

Upload to photobucket, put your arrow over the picture (after its saved) & a drop down menu will appear. Copy the bottom code (there are 4), go back to your report & click paste. (all right click on the mouse) You don't even have to use the picture square at all.....much easier & quicker!