Just got back

[disneymom23]

We just got back last night from our trip. After all the planning, I can't believe its over.

We had a great time! Wow, were the parks busy! Sunday and Monday were OK but they were totally packed Tuesday and Wednesday. We followed the tips from the board, esp. Hydroguy's and they worked wonders. Especially the first 2 days, I really felt like we were one step ahead of the crowds. We did MM twice, once for FL and once for Nemo. We concentrated on rides for the first 2 days and then used the last 2 for more shows and favorite rides.

My kids, 10, 8 and 6, loved all the roller coasters, esp. Screamin. We ended up riding that 4 times. My 6 year old would have spent the whole day on that alone. Thunder Mountain was a close second.

Thanks so much for all the tips and advice. My DH laughed at me at first and groaned when the alarm went off at 5:45 but at the end of the day, told me how reat my plan was. He said we did more the first day then he thought we'd do the whole trip. We averaged 18 attractions a day (this includes rides, shows, parades, etc.)

 

[cccdisney]

We got back Tuesday night! I agree it was crowded!!!!! We were in the parks Friday night through Monday night. I can't believe Tuesday and Wednesday were worse than Sunday and Monday! I thought Monday especially was just insane!
We also had a great time and used our one MM very wisely.
We upgraded to AP's while there so we didn't feel bad about not getting everything done and plan on going back later this year.
Was the Pixar Play Parade running when you were there? We were in DCA on both Sunday and Monday and both days they cancelled the Parade!
We were really looking forward to seeing it too!
Oh well, next time!

 

[mystic_path]

Its funny some times I find that Mondays are much worse then sundays. Im not sure why but I have found this several times now.

 

[Jumping123]

I also heard that Tuesday was extremely crowded.

Saturdays are by far the most crowded days to be at Disneyland, but I agree that Mondays can get crowded for some reason as well.

 

[victorandbellasmom]

Welcome back. Glad you had a good time. We did spring break in 2006 and after our first day in park, I went back to the hotel room and purchased ridemax.That definitely helped us out a lot. 18 attractions/shows a day is awesome.

 

[disneymom23]

The Pixar parade was running on Wednesday. It was so cute and fun! But be prepared to get wet. It will be great on a hot summer day.

We also loved the Aladdin show. And Turtle Talk was funny too. He called on my daughter and asked her who she was with. She said, "my parents." Crush said,"oh, you brought your parental units. Let me talk to them." So then he talked to DH about kids. He said you only have 3, I have 65 dude! So funny!

And my son got ppicked for Jedi training. He was so excited to fight Darth.

 

[Lou-Ann]

Pardon me as I must have missed something. What is Ridemax?? How much is it? is it by the day? Please tell me all about it. Thanks so very much.

 

[Cass]

Sounds like you had a busy but fun time, you probably need a vacation now. How was your hotel and meals?

 

[lulubelle]

So glad you had a great trip and made the best of it with the large crowds. Do tell more details of favorite meals and experiences!

 

[newfamilyman]

Saturdays are by far the most crowded days to be at Disneyland, but I agree that Mondays can get crowded for some reason as well.

Actually, I don't think that is always true. There are many times of the year I have noticed that Saturdays are less crowded, particularly during times that deluxe and lower APs are blocked out of Saturdays but not Sundays.

 

[disneymom23]

So glad you had a great trip and made the best of it with the large crowds. Do tell more details of favorite meals and experiences!

We got there on Saturday afternoon and checked into the PPH. We went into Downtown Disney and walked around and did some shopping. Until I saw it, I didn't realize how close everything is to each other. We had dinner reservations at Goofy's Kitchen. We were rather disappointed. The food was OK but we hardly saw any characters. They seemed to skip by our section of the restaurant. We said something to our server and then a few came by but not too many. We also had breakfast on Wednesday at Lilo and Stitch and that was great. Every character came to every table and they had some great interaction activities for the kids. We will definitely do that again. We ate at the Blue Bayou and enjoyed the meal and experience. Dh had the monte cristo, DD and I shared the pork chops and the other 2 kids each had the chicked drumettes. Carnation Cafe was yummy too- the potato soup- and we got a signed recipe from Oscar- what a nice guy! We ate at Rancho del Zocoro and it was OK. But DS6 had gotten lost for a couple of minutes right before so that made me lose my appetite. Bengal BBQ was so good- everyone enjoyed the skewers and yogurt parfaits. And I LOVED the dole whips. Those were the highlights of our meals.

The kids loved the rides, esp. the roller coasters. My 6 year old cried in the HM because he was scared but couldn't get enough of CA Screamin'. We ended up on that 4 times. Also, BTMRR we did 4 times. Those were the kids' 2 favorites.

We did Fantasmic with the priority seating. I'm glad we did that because people were sitting down at 6:00 for the show. We had great seats but the desserts weren't very good. I wish they had more basic desserts, like mickey cookies but they were too fancy. The kids didn't enjoy them very much. The show was wonderful. Its the first time we saw it. We watched the fireworks from our seats. We didn't see them from the castle because 2 of my kids don't like foreworks. Next time we go, we'll try again.

We saw the EP and Pixar Parade. They were great!

We had a really good time. We went early, stayed until about 2:00, went back and swam and napped until 5-6 and went back to the parks until 9-10. On the last day, we had the Lilo and Stitch breakfast and got to DCA at 9:45. We stayed until park closing. The kids were so excited that they stayed at the park from opening until closing. We finished up the night with Screamin'.

I can't wait until we go back again!