Just Got Back From DLR!!!

[Marciern22]

Sorry. What's LGHM?

 

[azdisneylover]

"LGMH" = lime green mouse head

 

[azdisneylover]

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip, and I am looking forward to reading your trip report!

 

[Queenbillabong]

"LGMH" = lime green mouse head

LGMH = Lime Green Mickey Head

 

[Sherry E]

...I've never been to CC but we have lunch ressies this time. Hope our experience is like your usual and not what you found this trip....I didn't realize Rainforest had breakfast! Thanks for the tip.

Cheri, Yes, I am hoping that you and everyone else has a great experience at Carnation Cafe! I have never had that kind of service there before. I don't know what the problem was there this past Friday night. I guess it was a bad night for them. When we asked the waitress why the food (meat loaf stack) was different from the last time we ordered it, she didn't have an answer nor did she ask the chef. When we ordered apple pie a la mode, my pie was not even heated and seemed like it had just been taken out of the refrigerator! The waitress brought us "extra napkins" for our (cold) pie and when I picked up a napkin, I realized there was only one. I guess she wanted us to rip it in half and split it! Thank goodness for that 15% discount with the AP!

We love ESPN Zone too.

I was surprised at how yummy the food at ESPN Zone was! Now it IS a very noisy place - no getting around that - and it is very crowded so it is good to have some sort of PS's if you can get them, but the food (everything except the lemonade) was great! The chicken strips 'appetizers' were a very filling meal, and my friend's hamburger was thick and yummy looking.

Sherry! I'm glad you had such a wonderful time!!!! You got me soo excited for MTOTP!!!! Tell us more!!! I can't wait to read your TR!!!

Courtney, I am trying to get a TR together but I didn't want to do it without pictures but may have to for right now! The Halloween merchandise - and especially the TOTP stuff - is very cute! Great black sweatshirt - didn't you say you might get a sweatshirt? The candy corn ears are a little hard to find, though. Pumpkin ears are abundant. Candy corn ears you have to hunt for. We found them in one shop in DCA by the midway games in Paradise Pier, but they were hard to find! Thanks for all of your help with the LGMH and the TOTP! You contributed to my fun!

So you ordered nothing but the dessert? You should post that on mouseplanet and in a separate post here, b/c it's been wildly surmised that it wasn't allowed anymore. ...Interesting about Potato Head...So now tell us why the front desk person at BB had an attitude. I'm nosy.

Molly, Yes, we just ordered dessert at BB. The Dutchman was good but it is a LOT of dessert. The wait to be seated was soooooooo long. And we were not seated even close to the water. It just wasn't worth the wait in the long run - at elast not for only dessert. When we were seated, I tried to tell the guy that it was dessert only but he kept shoving the dinner menu in our faces, so we had to wait until the waitress came over and she was fine with it. Maybe they are clamping down now on those of us who don't want to pay for an expensive dinner? And yes, Mr. Potato was completely gone from Gag Factory as of Saturday. The CM I asked said that he had just seen all the bins with Potato parts sitting out in the back alley a couple of days before and he didn't know why. He thought they were maybe discontinuing selling Mr. Potato Head but that couldn't be because Toy Story Mania features Mr. Potatot Head prominently outside the ride. So, the CM guessed that Potato may be taking up permanent residence in DCA - I HOPE!

Sherry E...welcome back...ps...glad you liked the song

Yes, I liked the song!!!!

Sherry, glad that you had a great time! Did you smell gingerbread on HMH?

Lisa, I sure did! Love that gingerbread coffin! It is so detailed and elaborate!

We were there from 4:30-8 on Saturday and then 2:30-6:30 yesterday. Just enough time to do a couple things and eat.

Nancy, Okay, I have to ask - during your 4:30 - 8 p.m. DL stint on Saturday, where were you? We were mainly in New Orleans Square during that time - in the loooong line for Haunted Mansion and then sitting around chatting out in front of Cafe Orleans until our Blue Bayou PS time came up at 8 p.m. If you were in NOS, I bet you walked right past us somewhere!

And to everyone else - Gail and Lynn and all of my DISboard friends who welcomed me back, thank you and I hope to get a TR together - I have been exhausted since I got back yesterday! I don't want to post without pictures but I may do it just to get it going!

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

Nancy, Okay, I have to ask - during your 4:30 - 8 p.m. DL stint on Saturday, where were you? We were mainly in New Orleans Square during that time - in the loooong line for Haunted Mansion and then sitting around chatting out in front of Cafe Orleans until our Blue Bayou PS time came up at 8 p.m. If you were in NOS, I bet you walked right past us somewhere!

We were over in Toon Town and then on the Parade route across from Coke Corner. I spent the 15 minutes before the parade in the Bakery. Never left those 2 areas.

We took our time down Main Street to leave, too.

Sorry I missed you!

 

[Sherry E]

I am so glad that you had a great time. I know that this year hasn't been that great for you I really hope that you do a trip report. I can't wait to read it.

So when is your next trip?

That is so sweet of you to say - you are right! It has not been a great year for me at all, so it was a big deal to pull this off and be able to go! I appreciate the kind words and good vibes from you! Now, as for when I will be going back... of course, I always have HOPES of going around the holidays, even for a day (now that I have my discounted AP!), just to see the decorations, but beyond that, I will have to play it by ear. I am not expecting any miracles to allow another hotel stay this soon, so I will have to see what happens. I am happy I got to go this time and try out Photopass and eat at different restaurants (we usually stick to the same ones several times in one trip), go to the TOTP for the first time and find out the inside scoop on IASW with the Disney characters and all that. It was a tiring but too short and rewarding time!

By the way, just in case anyone is planning on staying at PPH in the near future, beware of room 513 - that is where we were, with the sulfur-smelling water (yuck) and the haunted armoire with the drawer that kept popping out on its own!!!! If anyone at PPH tells you you are in room 513, ask to be switched!!!! We had a really nice view of the pool, though!

 

[mAlien13]

I am sooo glad to hear it was a good trip for you! I am looking forward to a TR and/or pictures!

 

[Sherry E]

I am sooo glad to hear it was a good trip for you! I am looking forward to a TR and/or pictures!

Thank you! I was trying to finish off a bunch of 35 mm film I have sitting around before I switch to all digital, so have to get that developed and put on a CD. I should have my Photopass pictures soon, though. So far, I only have my Buzz Lightyear ride photo! At least it worked this time when I emailed it to myself - last time it didn't work!

 

[disneegrl4eva]

The folks from Australia are on Spring holidays right now. Kylie was telling me about how their holiday works and folks there get a minimum of 4 weeks.

ever since Nemo ride came to DL the aussies have invaded...they are the nicest people...in fact its funny but I noticed that UK people tend to really be the dominant ones at wdw and Aussies are at DL...so Nancy it has nothing to do with their holiday right now...they are ALWAYS here!!!

 

[Marciern22]

I noticed a lot of UKs at WDW when I was just there! It must be the price of the plane tix. Aussies are just closer to us. We r the lucky ones! I love to listen to them speak, but not so much with the UKers. Both are very nice though.

 

[Sherry E]

Wow!! Thanks for all the great info, Sherry! Sounds like a fun trip, and a Premium AP for that price is very cool

We're going in less than 2 weeks!!!! I'm still madly trying to figure out how to buy 2 Deluxe Passes from a SoCal Costco, but other than that, I'm ready! Too bad you didn't see any LGMHs. I'm hoping I'll see some on our trip (17-21).

I've never been to CC but we have lunch ressies this time. Hope our experience is like your usual and not what you found this trip.

I didn't realize Rainforest had breakfast! Thanks for the tip. I have a $50 gift card (thanks to mypoints.com) I'm ready to use. I made dinner ressies but maybe I'll change it to breakfast.

Cheri

Oh, Cheri, I forgot to mention - yes Rainforest Cafe has breakfast. They opened at 8:00 a.m., and there was next to no one there. They don't have as many options for breakfast as they do for lunch and dinner, but it was nice to be able to sit where we wanted to sit for a change (next to an aquarium), without crowds of people everywhere. The other people (from Australia!) sitting nearby had little children who got scared when the "thunderstorm" happened. Poor little things. The breakfast was good - I just had eggs, bacon, potatoes - but they give you very large plates and the food portions are not balanced - my friend had more potatoes and eggs than I did. I think they must have run out of the batches right when they loaded my plate. The scrambled eggs are very buttery. The bacon was very tasty. If you like strong coffee, they have it. The potatoes were average. Orange juice was good. I think I prefer the lunch/dinner food options AND portions more than the breakfast options/portions, BUT if you just want to enjoy the ambience of Rainforest Cafe with fewer people and lower prices, then breakfast is the way to go!!!!

 

[Sherry E]

Bumbershoot, I forgot to answer your question, I think, about why the Blue Bayou girl at the front desk had an attitude. When we checked in, she was cold - not like the typical, super-friendly CM's. She didn't seem like a people person. I gave her my name and she told us to wait inside until our name was called. I thought one of the doors on either side of BB said Exit, though I could be wrong, so I just kind of pointed to one and said, "Is this where we go in?" The girl (what was her name? It was something like Alyssa or Lyssa from Texas) answered in a snippy tone, "Either one. They both lead to the same place." All right. Whatever. That didn't really bug me. Then, as the room we were waiting in got increasingly hot and crowded - we were really packed in like sardines, which was quite unpleasant - another lady came up to give her name to Alyssa/Lyssa from Texas. Alyssa took the name and dismissed the lady. After a few minutes, the lady tried to get Lyssa's attention and was dismissed rudely and told to just wait. Lyssa wouldn't even listen to her. The lady had to sort of raise her voice to be heard and said, "I am trying to tell you that 4 people in my party are not showing up, in case that will affect your seating arrangements and who you seat where." Alyssa/Lyssa just sort of said, "Oh, okay," and went back to what she was doing. My friend - who is very sharp-eyed and observant - was noticing that some other guests who were waiting - who also happened to be from Texas, just like Alyssa - inquired as to then they might be seated. They arrived after some other people we saw waiting in the sardine room. They were told it would be a while. Alyssa quietly and inconspicuously disappeared into the restaurant for some reason, then came back out and was very animated and chipper when talking to the people from Texas (no surprise there), and was ignoring the folks who were trying to check in at the front! Lo and behold, all of a sudden, the Texas people got seated.

Now, I don't know for sure if this is true and I don't know what the circumstances were, but, as my friend pointed out, it seemed awfully suspicious that after Alyssa disappeared into the restaurant and came back out to chat happily with the Texas folks, they got seated. We felt like she went back and asked the guy who approves the seating to place them ahead of other people. Again, I don't know this for sure, but it seemed suspicious since she was only friendly when she was talking to the Texas guests!

I don't know - all in all, the BB experience was not that great. That waiting room is hot and over-crowded. I think Disneyland Dining overbooks the PS's because it is so popular, but it leaves people waiting for almost an hour in a hot room to be seated. If you wait outside, you don't necessarily hear your name called. People were sitting on the floor, on the stairs. It was just uncomfortable and nobody looked happy! Plus, I cannot justify spending $35 on a steak! They should just book a certain number of PS's for each hour and then cap it off. They overbook and everyone is left waiting for ages.

 

[PRINCESSplazola]

did you go on saturday? i dont think ive ever seen DL that packed! lol soooo happy to hear your trip went well Sherry E!!

 

[Sherry E]

did you go on saturday? i dont think ive ever seen DL that packed! lol soooo happy to hear your trip went well Sherry E!!

We spent most of Friday in California Adventure - not because we planned it, but because it worked out that way - except for the less than satisfactory dinner we had at Carnation Cafe just before the TOTP. SO I have no idea of the crowd levels in DL on Friday. But on Saturday morning, after the Rainforest Cafe breakfast, we headed over to DL and walked right onto POTC twice in a row, with no wait at all, then moseyed over to HMH and just had a breif wait. However, after our other friend joined us later, we made our way back to Pirates and HMH and the lines for both were CRAZY. The HMH line around 6 p.m. was almost an hour wait. We were in NOS from about 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. We went back to DCA to ride Toy Story again and the line was maybe 30 minutes or so. Not too bad seeing what a popular ride it is. One CM told me that she suspected that many families stayed away from the parks on Friday and Saturday because of Gay Days. But Saturday night was crazy busy, so I am guessing that many people crowded into the parks who were going to the Miley Cyrus party the next day, just so they could get on some rides. I didn't go into DCA on Sunday morning, but I had a hunch it would be pretty quiet, as most people were packed over in DL.

Oh, and by the way, I am also so glad to hear that you guys had a great time, and that your little boy was running up and down Main Street and starstruck over Minnie! It would have brought tears to my eyes to see him so happy, too, Princess! I can't blame you for crying!