Just back May 29th -June 1

[libpetersen]

We are just back from a great trip to Disneyland! We are WDW vets, but liked this experience much better.

Here is Emma on the plane, we ended flying standby for an earlier flight than expected on Thursday. Now, "standby" requires payment of $25 extra each! She promptly fell asleep.

But it was worth it to get to Disney in time to swim in the great pool at the Disneyland Hotel. Our first tip is that the bar outside of the pool makes great fruity drinks and gives free ice water (the bar inside the pool charges you for the large "Smartwater" bottle and will not give you a free cup of ice water).

We used Crystal limo for a town car, it was great to be greeted at the aiport with ice cold bottled water in the car for each of us.

My DH took a cab later and that was only $10 cheaper, and no ice water! Here is Minnie and I.

We then walked through the doors of the DLH and immediately saw Goofy. DD was scared, but took this picture of Goofy and I dancing.

While I was checking in DD, watched Disney cartoons in a just for her sized couch.

These Disney touches were really great!

We were walking to our room in the Wonder tower (the far but very very quiet over the waterfalls) and DD stepped on grate and looked what happened-

Next time we would likely try Paradise Pier hotel, it was much closer to the parks (when using the shortcut through the GCH).

When we got to room, we found birthday ballons and cake - yum yum

Here is the bed, they were so high, and one even higher than the other. I could not believe it.

Then after swimming and doing the waterslide over and over and over, DH arrived so we headed to Hook's Point at DLH. Great food!! Service was good. We also got 10% discount with disney visa. DD got a tinkerbell special, which was a glowing green Tink on a light raspberry lemonade (yum yum).

We then walked around and took pictures with the "characters" spread throughout the grounds, it was really cute!

We went to sleep, so excited for our breakfast at Storytellers and then the parks! More later!

 

[momto2nenas]

Loving all the pictures! Waiting for more report!

 

[DWeaver]

Love the pictures! Too cool that you got to meet Goofy right off the bat.

 

[dredick]

I'm loving the report so far Libby! You girls looked like your having so much fun! Your hubby is so cute! (don't tell him I said that when we meet in Sept!)

 

[libpetersen]

We woke up and had 7 am ressies (the earliest) at Storyteller's for Chip and Dale breakfast. We originally choose this location because DH does not generally like buffets. He loved this one! They made him a great egg white dish. They also had amazing smoked salmon, eggs benedict, and mickey waffles brought to the table. It was not very crowded at all. The characters had a "hoe-down" with the kids, and then did table interaction.

We had our AAA TA buy this and our Ariel princess dinner in advance. We saved so much money it was incredible. The meal vouchers also include tip (15%). We left extra money because our server was so great and brought this great dessert for Emma's birthday.

We walked over to the parks, and got there just before 8:30 for a 9:00 a.m. opening. We enjoed walking down main street and looking at the shops. Right at 9 am, the rope dropped. To keep people from runing, they "walk" you to the Finding Nemo ride. Anyone who tried to get around the system was sent back. We were about the 14th person in line, but as family members caught up to others, when ended up further back in line, and on the second boat. This ride was great, and really long. Here are some pictures.

We then walked on Autopia.

Rocket ships

And we went to the 3-D show for about five minutes - too scary. The snake did us in!

We went on many rides that morning. The only glitch of the day is that I thought there would be more options for lunch back and the hotel. Only one burger counter service place was available, so we walked back to the Rainforest cafe. Our AAA package came with discount card that gave us DD's lunch for free, which was quite the deal. My buffalo chicken salad was good, but DH turkey wrap looked great. We then took long naps in the hotel room. We woke up, DD dressed as Snow White, and we headed to DCA. We picked up our Soarin FP right after picking up the stroller (free with disney visa).

We got a great spot on the stone fence right outside of the Vineyard Room, where we had PS.

The Pixar parade with water was great!

We had time after the parade to do all the really cute rides on Flick's land - DD who had just turned 4 loved them. No lines!!!

We then had the best meal of the trip. DH started with a great salad. DD and I split the calamari with flash fried veggies - which was amazing! Then the chef sent out a complimentary cheese tray with three amazing cheeses, apples, pears, and pecans toasted with butter and salt. The best was the entrees. The menu was brand new. I had the veal chop dish and DD had the lobster. DD's pepperoni pizza was fine, but given the overall amazing quality of the food, I was slightly disappointed. Dessert was compliments of the house again, chocolate chip cookies and other little bites. We had great wine, and also received the Disney Visa 10% discount (not good on wine - too bad).

After dinner we rode Soarin, which we loved. DD loved the rollercoaster Madness, flying rocket ship, and then it was time to go home for the night.

 

[libpetersen]

I'm loving the report so far Libby! You girls looked like your having so much fun! Your hubby is so cute! (don't tell him I said that when we meet in Sept!)

Debbie,

Thanks! You will miss him in Sept., as that is just girl's trip, we are leaving him at home while DM, DD and I take to the high seas!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Great trip report. I love your pics & comments, especially since there were a lot of nice touches to your trip.

 

[LindseyLou2222]

Wonderful trip report Libby! You have such a beautiful family. I am glad you guys had a great trip. The Nemo ride looks so cool.

 

[Amy7979]

Glad you enjoyed Disneyland. I can really feel Walt's influence there.

 

[dredick]

Debbie,

Thanks! You will miss him in Sept., as that is just girl's trip, we are leaving him at home while DM, DD and I take to the high seas!

Oh, that's right! You can tell him then!

 

[wendylady36]

I love your trip report! Your DD is adorable, I love the Snow White dress she wore, actually all her outfits are adorable! I love the Marilyn Monroe pose on the grate at DLH. Sounds like you had a blast!

 

[chickyann]

 

[dredick]

I love your trip report! Your DD is adorable, I love the Snow White dress she wore, actually all her outfits are adorable! I love the Marilyn Monroe pose on the grate at DLH. Sounds like you had a blast!

i love your siggy!! That is too funny!

 

[tofubeast]

Looks like you three had a blast! I love the shirts with your names on them. Did you do them yourselves? What an adorable family!

 

[quest4dl]

Great trip report -too great - you messed up all my PS'! Now I have to eat at the Vineyard Room! Btw, hope you don't take it wrong, but I specifically named you in the Disneyland (California) forum for the reason I just had to change all my ps!

Thanks for being so prompt with your report - the pics of your daughter are just darling!

 

[libpetersen]

Looks like you three had a blast! I love the shirts with your names on them. Did you do them yourselves? What an adorable family!

Thanks! I actually purchased the shirts on e bay. I thought my husband was only humoring me by wearing it, but he put in on last night too.

 

[libpetersen]

Today was the big day - 7 am early entry and Toontown morning madness!! We got up, grabbed some coffee from the set up in the lobby (another nice free DLH touch). We reached the gates right at 7 am, and could not believe that there were only a handful of people there. We are used to WDW, where early entry is 27 hotels, and the parks get soo much more crowded. We took a photo with no one else around.

Then we headed right to Fantasyland. Last year at WDW we could never get on Peter Pan, because fast pass was broken and the line never got below 45 minutes. We were the first on PP, so the very nice ride operator gave my daughter a pin for being his first magical guest! How nice! Today we did not wear DD's happy birthday pin, because she was a bit overwhelmed the day before with all the attention.

We then road Dumbo - no wait whatsoever, in fact, the let us stay on and ride again. We rode it four times before 8 am!

DD did not want to the scary "dark" rides, so I decided to check out Pinnocio by myself - okay totally scary for a four year old. I'm really glad she did not go on this. Again, no one anywhere in Fantasyland, no lines at all.

We then road the teacups. Three times!!

Next up - Alice in Wonderland. I was really impressed with this ride. After that, DD decided that she would try the Matterhorn. She loved the non-dark part of the ride. She said the dark part with the two monsters "not my favorite ride." Her expression says it all -

We then rode the merry go round.

Having done everything, it was time to head over to Mickey's Toontown Madness, which opened up right at 8 am when the park opened. The gates were closed, but a CM was there to let us in with our tickets. I don't know what happened to those pictures, but we had a great time. Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy were out doing autographs and pictures. We grabbed a table next to the stage, and the DH went looking for some coffee. Get coffee before you head into the Madness!! The rides were all open. We just decided to relax while waiting for the show to start at 8:15. The show was great, and afterwards we all got honorary citizen pins. We rode all the rides inside Toontown (three times each), and watched the characters (from a distance - DD still not big on the up close interaction). By then, it was just before 9 am, when the Princesses open!

DH went looking for some snacks wihile we waited for the princesses! The interaction was absolutely priceless - much better than we experienced later at Ariel's Grotto dinner. We were so lucky to have Cinderella, Aurora, and Minnie in princess garb! I have no idea where those pictures are! Afterwards, we shopped in the princess area, colored some pictures, and watched other little princesses get made over. We saved the hair and make up for the next trip. Then we took the train over towards critter country.
We were not expecting the cool tunnels with scenes!

I picked up fast passes for Indiana Jones while DD and DH headed toward Winnie the Pooh. There was no line for winnie the pooh, so they rode before I could even get there. We all rode together again because there were no lines.

We weren't in the mood to get wet, so decided to head over to Jungle Cruise. Apparently there is never lines, so no fast pass necessary (again, very different from WDW). It is so much better than WDW's version. After that, we were starved. It was two minutes until 11am when Bengal BBQ opened. DH waited behind two other men who were waiting for the "flaps" to open. We had no trouble getting a table right there, and loved the people watching. The best part was when Indiana Jones himself did battle on the swinging bridge of the Family Treehouse with a "bad guy" from the new movie. It was so fun. By then, DH was back with the chicken, two different kinds of beef, veggies, and mickey pretzel with cheese. THE BEST VEGGIES EVER! The beef was far superior to the chicken, both sauces had interesting spices. It was a healthy, not too expensive, wonderful lunch.

Then our fastpasses for Indy were ready. DD decided that she did not want to go, so DH went. While we were waiting on the shaded rock benches at the exit, we starting talking to a nice man and his daughter. We were comparing pins. By the time, DH came back, I decided that it would be better to spread some pixie dust by giving them our two fast passes.

We decided it was getting crowded in the parks, so we headed back to the DLH to swim in the pools and nap before our big night at DCA. DD did the waterslides so many times I lost count. DH carried her up to the room for a nap and she literally fell asleep in his arms! I can't believe I didn't take that pictures. We all took long naps.

We woke up and had to hurry over to DCA to make the 4:15 pm showing of Aladdin. What a great show! Right after that, we went over to the Monster's Inc. No lines. This was my personal favorite ride of the trip. We then got stuck a bit behind the Pixar parade, but still managed to do Maholland Madness. Because the parade was going on - no line! (That was the theme of our trip!). We were a few minutes earlier for our PS at Ariel's, so we took some pictures on the pier.

Then it was time for Princess dinner!! Here are some pictures:

The food was okay. DH had salad followed by shrimp cobb. I had the onion soup followed by chicken cesear. DD had chicken tenders and fries, which were good.

The best interaction all night was with the prince, he spent alot of time charming her:

. I even got into the picture with DD favorite

DD had a good time too.

Afterwards we rode the merry go round, the undersea creatures were great.

We then rode the ferris wheel - the non-sliding car. The sliding car is a bit scary, and our ride was delayed because the CM had to clean up the copious amount of vomit on a sliding car. We rode at twilight, and the lights were beautiful.

DD and I rode the "rocket ship"

. We briefly considered staying for the electric light parade, but decided that since we were going to have another 7 am opening day and needed to pack, we headed home. What a great day!

 

[dredick]

Great Libby! Sounds like you three had a magical day!! How special!! The pics are great!!

 

[lulubelle]

What an awesome TR so far, Libby. BRAVO!!!
You are really doing the parks in style. Can't wait for the next installment. Thanks for sharing.

 

[julezdisney]

What a great TR! This has really been my lucky day for cruising the TR thread! So many great ones! Thanks! Can't wait for the next installment!