NiceOneSimba
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2011
- Messages
- 768
We just got back from an amazing two-day trip to the DLR, and had a great time. Again, we are just so grateful for all of the tips and advice from this board. I feel like the knowledge we gain from this board allows us to have the maximum enjoyment and minimum hassle!
We stayed at the Tropicana, which was fine. Room was small, bed was comfy, water pressure and temperature was great, breakfast was pretty much just donuts, location was good, room was clean. I like the BWPPI better, but would stay at the Tropicana again if the price was right.
The trip was a surprise for our daughter, who is 3 1/2. She had no idea where we were, even after seeing kids with Mickey balloons as we pulled in to have dinner at Mimi's. Even when the fireworks were going off as we were going back to the car, she still didn't put two and two together. I fact, she thought we were "almost to Oregon" on our way home. In the morning, we told her we were going to go for a walk. We set off toward the crosswalk on Harbor, and she was still just chatting away about going swimming. We crossed the street--still clueless. Finally, as we were approaching the shuttle bus area, she said, "Are we in Disneyland?" My husband said, "We're on a walk! What makes you think we're in Disneyland?" And she replied, "Because we ARE in Disneyland!!" The people around us were all smiling, and it was a GREAT way to start the day.
We got to the park about 7:30 on August 2. It was an EE day for hotel guests, so we got some breakfast at the Jolly Holiday bakery and waited for the CMs to drop the ropes to the various lands. We absolutely could not believe how "dead" Disneyland was on Thursday morning. I felt less crowded than when we were there in October. We got all of our Fantasyland rides done in under an hour, and that included 20 minutes in line for Peter Pan. We walked on Star Tours, which still had only a 5 minute wait at around 10 a.m. The CM at the Star Tours Fastpass kiosks said it's pretty much always like that in the mornings now because everyone is in Cars Land. The crowds did pick up as the day went on, but honestly, it was FAR less crowded than I anticpated.
My DD was just at the 40-inch height limit, and she got lots of practice "standing tall." She absolutely loved BTMRR and really enjoyed Star Tours. We were able to ride everything we wanted to--and some rides more than once. We didn't everything, but we didn't feel as though we "missed out" on anything we didn't ride. We were able to see Tinkerbell and Dumbo fly during the fireworks from the waiting area of the Tiki Room while we ate our Dole Whips, and my DD got to meet Rapunzel and Tiana, who we didn't meet on our last trip. It was a wonderful day!
On Friday, we went to California Adventure. We got there at about 7:40 a.m. I stood in the FP line, and had passes for a 2:20 return time by about 8:25 a.m. Because my husband's ankle was killing him and he needed his morning coffee, he waited with my DD at Starbucks. We made our way around Paradise Pier, riding everything except Jumpin Jellyfish (that darn height pole is ridiculous!) and Toy Story (because I didn't want to wait for 40 minutes). We found this area of the park to be nearly empty in the morning. We did use Ridemax, and it seemed to work just fine. Someone was very kind and gave my husband a surprise FP for California Screaming. We got a child swap pass, and he rode it and we moved on to get Soarin' FPs. The standby line was only about 20 minutes, so we decided to ride.
The rest of the day is a total blur. I know we went back to the hotel to nap for about 3 hours. I know that we ate lunch, rode ToT (which my daughter was initially terrified of, but then asked to ride again), watched the Muppet Movie, did Bugs Land, finally rode Jumpin Jellyfish, ate dinner, rode Little Mermaid like 5 times, and my husband rode CS two more times through single rider. We pretty much abandoned our Ridemax plan becuase we felt like we had already done the "must do" rides at that point.
Things got "fun" around 9 p.m. We finally decided to use our RSR FPs. We got there and the ride wais down. So, we went to ride Soarin' with our FPs. We got in the loading area (B2!) and waited and waited and waited....and then they announced that the ride was broken and we needed to exit. They give us two "golden tickets" for any ride other than Cars Land. My husband decided his ankle was shot, so he went back to the hotel. He picked out a family to give his "golden ticket" to, and they were totally underwhelmed. I think they thought it was a scam or something. I took my DD back to Cars Land. RSR was still broken down, so we waited 15 minutes for Mater. Dang Nab, that ride is fun! While we were in line for Mater, I gave my "golden ticket" to a dad with two "tween" kids. They were really excited, so I felt like I had paid it forward from the FP we had received earlier in the day. Then, we went back to RSR. Still broken down. So, we went back to Ariel, figuring that it would be our last ride of the day. We rode it twice without getting off (thanks, friendly CMs!), and then walked back to Cars Land, where RSR was.....RUNNING!
We got in line at 10:57! The people in front of us said it would probalby be about 45 minutes. I was feeling like a terrible mom, but my DD was still full of energy and said she wanted to wait. We got up to the part where the line has tight switchbacks before the loading area, and the CMs were callling for parties of 2. That was us! So, I used my very loud teacher voice, and we got to bypass about 20 minutes of line and get directly into a car. YES!!!! All I can say about RSR is WOW! Everything about that ride is just amazing. And, our car won, which was fun.
We were back to the hotel about 11:35, and my DD was asleep approximately 90 seconds later.
We had a great trip! The tips about Plaza Inn chicken and Boardwark Pizza and Pasta led to two very good dinners, which were much appreciated by my husband.
We had a busy two days, but it was an amazing time! Ask any questions you may have, and I'll try my best to answer!
We stayed at the Tropicana, which was fine. Room was small, bed was comfy, water pressure and temperature was great, breakfast was pretty much just donuts, location was good, room was clean. I like the BWPPI better, but would stay at the Tropicana again if the price was right.
The trip was a surprise for our daughter, who is 3 1/2. She had no idea where we were, even after seeing kids with Mickey balloons as we pulled in to have dinner at Mimi's. Even when the fireworks were going off as we were going back to the car, she still didn't put two and two together. I fact, she thought we were "almost to Oregon" on our way home. In the morning, we told her we were going to go for a walk. We set off toward the crosswalk on Harbor, and she was still just chatting away about going swimming. We crossed the street--still clueless. Finally, as we were approaching the shuttle bus area, she said, "Are we in Disneyland?" My husband said, "We're on a walk! What makes you think we're in Disneyland?" And she replied, "Because we ARE in Disneyland!!" The people around us were all smiling, and it was a GREAT way to start the day.
We got to the park about 7:30 on August 2. It was an EE day for hotel guests, so we got some breakfast at the Jolly Holiday bakery and waited for the CMs to drop the ropes to the various lands. We absolutely could not believe how "dead" Disneyland was on Thursday morning. I felt less crowded than when we were there in October. We got all of our Fantasyland rides done in under an hour, and that included 20 minutes in line for Peter Pan. We walked on Star Tours, which still had only a 5 minute wait at around 10 a.m. The CM at the Star Tours Fastpass kiosks said it's pretty much always like that in the mornings now because everyone is in Cars Land. The crowds did pick up as the day went on, but honestly, it was FAR less crowded than I anticpated.
My DD was just at the 40-inch height limit, and she got lots of practice "standing tall." She absolutely loved BTMRR and really enjoyed Star Tours. We were able to ride everything we wanted to--and some rides more than once. We didn't everything, but we didn't feel as though we "missed out" on anything we didn't ride. We were able to see Tinkerbell and Dumbo fly during the fireworks from the waiting area of the Tiki Room while we ate our Dole Whips, and my DD got to meet Rapunzel and Tiana, who we didn't meet on our last trip. It was a wonderful day!
On Friday, we went to California Adventure. We got there at about 7:40 a.m. I stood in the FP line, and had passes for a 2:20 return time by about 8:25 a.m. Because my husband's ankle was killing him and he needed his morning coffee, he waited with my DD at Starbucks. We made our way around Paradise Pier, riding everything except Jumpin Jellyfish (that darn height pole is ridiculous!) and Toy Story (because I didn't want to wait for 40 minutes). We found this area of the park to be nearly empty in the morning. We did use Ridemax, and it seemed to work just fine. Someone was very kind and gave my husband a surprise FP for California Screaming. We got a child swap pass, and he rode it and we moved on to get Soarin' FPs. The standby line was only about 20 minutes, so we decided to ride.
The rest of the day is a total blur. I know we went back to the hotel to nap for about 3 hours. I know that we ate lunch, rode ToT (which my daughter was initially terrified of, but then asked to ride again), watched the Muppet Movie, did Bugs Land, finally rode Jumpin Jellyfish, ate dinner, rode Little Mermaid like 5 times, and my husband rode CS two more times through single rider. We pretty much abandoned our Ridemax plan becuase we felt like we had already done the "must do" rides at that point.
Things got "fun" around 9 p.m. We finally decided to use our RSR FPs. We got there and the ride wais down. So, we went to ride Soarin' with our FPs. We got in the loading area (B2!) and waited and waited and waited....and then they announced that the ride was broken and we needed to exit. They give us two "golden tickets" for any ride other than Cars Land. My husband decided his ankle was shot, so he went back to the hotel. He picked out a family to give his "golden ticket" to, and they were totally underwhelmed. I think they thought it was a scam or something. I took my DD back to Cars Land. RSR was still broken down, so we waited 15 minutes for Mater. Dang Nab, that ride is fun! While we were in line for Mater, I gave my "golden ticket" to a dad with two "tween" kids. They were really excited, so I felt like I had paid it forward from the FP we had received earlier in the day. Then, we went back to RSR. Still broken down. So, we went back to Ariel, figuring that it would be our last ride of the day. We rode it twice without getting off (thanks, friendly CMs!), and then walked back to Cars Land, where RSR was.....RUNNING!
We got in line at 10:57! The people in front of us said it would probalby be about 45 minutes. I was feeling like a terrible mom, but my DD was still full of energy and said she wanted to wait. We got up to the part where the line has tight switchbacks before the loading area, and the CMs were callling for parties of 2. That was us! So, I used my very loud teacher voice, and we got to bypass about 20 minutes of line and get directly into a car. YES!!!! All I can say about RSR is WOW! Everything about that ride is just amazing. And, our car won, which was fun.
We were back to the hotel about 11:35, and my DD was asleep approximately 90 seconds later.
We had a great trip! The tips about Plaza Inn chicken and Boardwark Pizza and Pasta led to two very good dinners, which were much appreciated by my husband.
We had a busy two days, but it was an amazing time! Ask any questions you may have, and I'll try my best to answer!
