Just back with a few thoughts

[utahbelle]

I really can't do a real trip report as I don't have any idea how to post pictures and really don't remember what we did on various days, but I'll post a few thoughts.

We have only done Disneyland twice and both times where for Christmas
You can imagine the crowds. Also my youngest was quite little and I was the one who always stayed with her so the older kids could go have fun. This time she was 6 and we all had fun together. My mother in law came and let me do all of the big rides I have never done, so this trip holds a LOT of firsts for me!
HOTEL
We stayed at the Best Western Park Place Inn. Nice, close place to stay. Our hot water stopped working one day and they fixed it right away. We were only there to sleep and shower, so it fit what we needed. It was loud though. You could pretty much hear everything. We were to tired to care

We were there from Sunday 9/23 to Thursday 9/27. The park was dead. We have never experienced this before and we felt so spoiled. We walked on to everything. Most rides we just got to stay on and do again.

FOOD
We had 3 character meals planned and ate at some places new to us. We did ariel's grotto which we really didn't care for. The princess looked tired and the food just okay. I had the salmon BLT. My husband got sick after we ate there. We did Goofy's kitchen for dinner and the food was GREAT! the characters were fun (we saw a penguin there. Who is this guy? My son said he must be from happy feet but I couldn't remember if that was a disney show) The best character meal we did was Minnie's at The Plaza. I didn't even know where the Plaza was. I must have walked by it a hundred times on my trips and never noticed....it was the BEST! My daughter dressed up as minnie and minnie mouse took her hand and walked her all around showing her off. We could hardly eat because the characters were always around interacting! The food was soooo gooood!
We ate the bread bowls with clam chowder at that place right by pirates. They were heavenly. We tried the bengal BBQ and loved that. We did the tasty pilot by soarin and didn't care for that. Those were the new places we tried this trip.

SHOWS
We have never done any of the shows before. We loved Muppets 3D! You HAVE to see this show. We did Alladin too. Excellent! We did bug's life and talked to crush. This is great when you need some breaks from the rides. I also saw Fantasmic for the first time Sunday night. I can't believe I never cared to see it before. Simply amazing. We saw Woody's Halloween round-up and had fun. We did pay 12 bucks for my two daughters to decorate a cookie, but it was worth it. They had fun. They square danced and learned to yoodle.

So we got dreamed twice. Once when we were leaving thunder ranch (woody's round-up) we got the mickey ears. Then on our last day we walked into the GC to see the lobby and when we walked out we were dreamed with fastpass lanyards. Funny thing is, we just couldn't use the things. We tried, but every ride was just a walk-on. When we left that afternoon for the airport, we picked out a family and gave them to them. Sorry if that is against the rules, we just wanted them to get used.

The weather was perfect. We really couldn't have asked for a better trip. My feet were sore though. I just wore my nike's. I have a little vanity problem at Disney. My hair was always flat, my clothes were always wet from some ride and I was not going to wear crocs! I sure paid for that! comfort over fashion..comfort over fashion... remember that! I love the way my hair will stay straight in Utah, I don't know how people live in humidity. Give me dry heat anyday.

This got a little longer then I planned, but I just had to brag about my fun trip. It was so great. My husband said he is all disney'd out and is good for a couple of years. I say the next trip is in the works! Maybe same time next year. It was so perfect! Feel free to ask any questions!!

 

[disney-super-mom]

Wow, that sounds like an awesome trip! What a difference it must have been for you to go from visiting during the busiest time of the year to visiting during one of the slowest times!

I LOVE the fact that you gave your Dream Fastpasses to another family who could use them! You actually got to Dream someone! I bet it totally made their trip!

 

[LOVEDISNEYLAND]

Glad you had a good time. I'll be going in December and staying at the Best Western park place inn and was wondering just how much you liked it? about the being wet and hair flat, that pretty much happens to me all the time. In the morning I'll be getting all pretty and as soon as we go on spalsh mountain it's over but I don't really care all that much because that's just part of the fun. Plus that's our favorite ride so we usually go on it until we are soaked from head to toe!!!

 

[DangerMouse]

Great trip report! The Penguin at Goofy's was probably with Mary Poppins. They normally travel together.

 

[Hound 109]

Thank you for posting this UtahBelle.

I am penciling it in for next year......the last Sunday - Wednesday of Sept.

Did you do EE? Did it matter?

Was there a line at Nemo?

What there much of a crowd for the Fireworks (or parades)?


So you finally got to ride the "big rides"??

(Play your cards right & they'll let you eat at the "big table" at Thanksgiving.)

Thanks Again.

hound -

 

[godalejunior]

We left the day you arrived. Our trip was great too. We actually at at Taste Pilots and had burgers and thought they were pretty good. The last time we had burgers at Hungry Bear and they were horrible.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Loved your non-TR trip report!

Glad you had such a great time! We are anxiously awaiting our trip, which is now only one week away!

 

[mariezp]

Well I would say that you did very well coming up with as much as a trip report! Thanks for sharing. We went early September. Now I wish we had waited until later in the month. It was probably much cooler and sounds like the crowds were non exsistent. I will log that into my future planning notes. Either way, we were at DISNEYLAND and had a great time!

Glad you got to ride some of the big rides this time. I too am always with my DD, who was 7 this year. I usually get to switch with dad and ride a few big rides with my teenage son. DD was also braver this year and rode some of the bigger rides. However, I have come to realize that I really love the kiddie rides better anyway! So enjoy them while you can! Give your daughter a few years and you may not be able to get her back on them!

Sounds like you had some fun at the shows and doing the character meals. I think the food is always hit or miss. We have seen the penguins before too. They are from Mary Poppins. They signed my daughter's autograph book several years ago as "Bill Penguin" and "Ted Penguin".

I am so jealous! We were there 10-1/2 days and never got dreamed! I did see the dream team guys on a few occassion but didn't really notice any folks that had any dreams. Twice, huh? Some people have all the luck!

I too think the crocs are super ugly but I must confess that I wore them this year for the 10-1/2 days and my feet felt great! I have been converted! I took 3 pairs of shoes and ended up only using the crocs. Probably could have saved myself over a $100 if I had only known! ($75 for a new pair of shoes and $25 for the 2 lbs my luggage was over the weight limit!) And yes, the hair thing really stinks out there. I just remind myself everyone else is probably having the same problem so we all look about the same! Getting home to get a good shampoo is certainly a wonderful thing!