Just Returned...First Ever Trip Report...

[CrazyDisneyMommy1]

So I have been to DL 7 times and WDW 7 times and this is my first actual trip report. Please be kind to this Trip Report virgin!!!!

This is a DL report for Dec. 27th to Jan. 5th, 2010

The Disney Crazy Crew:
ME: 38 (Tink)
DH: 36 (Grumpy)
DD: 11 (Tink Jr.)
DS: 9 (Jack Sparrow)
DFinlaw: (Mickey)
DMinlaw: (Minnie)

We left from Canada late due to security that day. Waiting in line for 3 hours!!! So we arrived 2 hours late. But once we saw palm trees, blue sky and bright sun...all was good.

We stayed at the Red Lion Hotel Anaheim. This use to be the Anaheim Maingate Hotel. This is the first time we have stayed here.
All things are positive except for one. The website and the staff says the pool is heated, but there was no way!!! It was like ice the whole time and we had great weather. The rest of our experience was great. The rooms are nice. There was a hair dryer, microwave, fridge and a free safe. We had two rooms and two cars. Instead of the $14 parking fee, they only charged us $10 per day, which was a great bonus. We also received $20 per day. per room vouchers for breakfast. The buffet was hit and miss. If it was hot, it was good. The price was $10.95 for Adults and 10 and under were free. You could also order off the menu and use the coupon towards your bill. Our bill was either $0 or $2, and then we tipped based on the total before coupon. Our kids ate free...so it was worth it!!! I thought this hotel was great, but would probably not go back, due to the lack of pool heat. My kids love to swim and could not even get in. We had most days at 74-80 degrees and the pool was still like ice.

We landed and went straight to the hotel. We then went over to the Anaheim Garden Walk and ate at Johnny Rockets. The burgers were huge and good. The shakes were awesome.

We then headed over to DL after that. We picked up 5 passes that we bought from flight center at Canadian prices and I bought a Premium Annual Pass for myself, for the discounts and parking...and maybe another trip???

It was fairly busy. Minnie used a ECV the entire trip. We first used one from Disney and then rented one each day from Scooter Village across the street from the main entrance at the Ramada. She got a good deal and it helped a lot when we wanted to go to Downtown Disney.

We rode Tea Cups, Matterhorn, Thunder, Buzz & Indy.

We headed back after a long day of travel....
more days to come

 

[CrazyDisneyMommy1]

We went to DL again. It was CRAZY busy. The park hit capacity!!!

We got as much as possible done.

We enjoyed a pretzel, Thunder, Haunted Mansion (loved this, all decorated for Christmas!!!!) Got fastpasses for Space, Indy, Thunder, Splash & Buzz.

We ate lunch at Carnation Cafe. It was a great meal. I would score it a 4 out of 5.
I shared with my DS a Smoked Turkey sandwich and a cup of the Cafe' soup du jour or loaded baked potato soup. It was soooo yummy. Minnie shared with my DD the same as us, with a side of potato salad. Minnie really likes their potato salad. My DH had the cafe steak melt with potato salad. He enjoyed the melt, but thought the potato salad was just o.k. Mickey had the Croissant Chicken Club. with the potato salad and really enjoyed it. The food is good, but I wish it was a bit bigger and few more food choices. But as usually is was good.

We then shopped a bit and headed out for awhile.

We came back at about 7 p.m. and used all our fastpasses, except Splash...we did not want to get wet and be cold. We did Nemo instead. Enjoyed the fireworks and headed back to the hotel at about 11 p.m.

more days to come....

 

[mnmrmustard]

Howdy Signing up to hear about your Disney Christmas/New Years adventures!

3hrs just trying to get through security? Ouch! The Red Lion sounded good, especially with the breakfast discounts. But having gone to DLR in early January before, you have to have a heated pool for sure.

Sounds like that first day was quite a long one but you got to do quite a bit, nice batch of "E ticket" rides for the first day. What time did you have to wake up to head to the airport that morning? When we went in October we had to be up at 4:30am and to the airport by 5:30am. Made for a loooong first day for us too.

Both my mother and MiL use ECVs - they are a double win in that they don't have to miss out on the family fun and the handicapped accomidations are pretty good at the parks. Smart move in renting one for the week - cheaper and you don't have to turn it in when you leave the park

Day 2 looked great despite the heavy crowds. Nice ride selection and a good lunch. It really does help to leave in the afternoon and wind down a bit, then come back in the evening. Good call with not riding Splash at night. When we went in 2005 the kids wanted to end their day on it and I volunteered to go with them. There was zero line and the ride attendants just let us stay on - we went around 3 times and got 3 splashes. Had some wet shorts that night

Looking forward to seeing what adventures you had on day 3. Any pictures in store for us?

 

[CrazyDisneyMommy1]

Thanks for reading my report so far. Sorry it has been crazy and I have not been able to continue. I hope to add some pictures soon.

Third Day Dec. 29th, 2009

We went to California Adventure. It seemed to be a typical day there. A bit busy, but we rode a fair bit. We got fast passes for Mullholland Madness (my kids love this...I scream on the fast hanging turns...lol) My kids are disappointed this is being torn down. Fast passes for Screamin' & Soarin. We went to the first Aladdin Show... it was great as usual. New update medis in the jokes...lol
We did a bunch of rides in A Bugs Land
We ate lunch at Wine Country Trattoria. It was not as good this time. We went in April 09 and loved it. Grumpy was not feeling well so he stayed at the hotel. Mickey had Chicken Bruschetta Salad. He said it was pretty good. Tasted it and the thought the dressing was really good. Tink Jr. and Minnie shared Chicken Panini and a Harvest Minestrone soup. The Panini was okay and Minnie said the soup was the worst she had ever had. I did not try the soup as I don't Minestrone. I had the Chicken Panini and thought it was just okay as well. Later in the week I had a Panini at La Brea Bakery at Downtown Disney that I thought was way better and cheaper. Jack Sparrow had The Grilled "Tratt" Cheese Sandwich. It was just okay as well. Not a lot there for $8.00. I would give this restaurant a 3.5 out of 5.
We then took a break and came back that evening. We road Mullholland twice, Screamin twice, Soarin Once, Jelly Fish 3 times, played some games at the pier and won a few stuffed animals. We then went watched the Electric Light Parade. We had a great spot in front of the Bugs Land entrance sign. As the parade was ending the fireworks at DL started and I have some great shots of some of the floats in DCA with the fireworks from DL over top...

We did a little shopping on the way out and headed back to the hotel!!!

I will hopefully load some pictures tonight.

Chicken Salad

Panini split

 

[Eeee-va]

Nice report! I screamed on Mullholland Madness too. ) I ate at Wine Country Trattoria in June and wasn't really wowed either (though my issue was more the service than the food). Sorry your meal wasn't very good! When the food is good, they really are a great value.

I'm looking forward to the pictures!

 

[wannabimagineer]

Lets see some pictures of your trip! My family and I ate at Wine Country in October and it was pretty good. But then again, I would have been just as happy at Taste Pilots Grill.

 

[CrazyDisneyMommy1]

Here is a picture of the gang at Goofy's Kitchen. I am trying to upload more photos, but it is taking forever!!!

 

[CrazyDisneyMommy1]

These were great Mickey Ears to buy, as I like that the ears snapped off for packing!!!

 

[CrazyDisneyMommy1]

Dec. 30th, 2009

Day of relaxing and shopping. It drizzled rain all day...but it wasn't snow so we didn't mind. We ate at the hotel for Breakfast and Joe's Crab Shack for a late lunch, early supper which I love!!!!!

We did some shopping at Target, Walmart, Disney Character Warehouse and the block at Orange. Picked up some cute things at the Character Warehouse. Did get one zip up sweater that my DFinlaw in wearing in the group photo. It was $35 at the Character Warehouse and $58 at DL... good savings!!!! Plus had a 10% off coupon for the Character Warehouse and saved even more.

 

[CrazyDisneyMommy1]

I will try and post more soon...Dec. 31, 2009 coming up...we went to DL...a little CRAZY!!!! I am having some trouble with pictures and my computer.

 

[mnmrmustard]

Your CA day sounded like a lot of fun despite the bland lunch. And very cool that you captured the fireworks going off over the Electric Light Parade :-]

Nice to have just a shopping day, no schedules or big lines to worry about.

I saw you managed to get a couple of pics up, still having problems with the computer? Hope it starts to cooperate for you!

Looking forward to hearing more

 

[Dizneydaz]

Great report so far. Your kids are too cute! Can't wait to read, and see, more.

 

[goofycathy]

I am enjoyng your TR, and your kids are soooo cute with their ears on!

Im thinking of going to the store that you mentioned and picking up a few things too...

so far so good, cant wait to read and see more!

 

[CrazyDisneyMommy1]

Sorry it has been awhile since I posted more about our trip. We just had a death in the family and we are trying to deal with all that.

Thank you to everyone that has commented, I am going to work on it more today, as it will be something nice to write about

 

[Dizneydaz]

Sorry it has been awhile since I posted more about our trip. We just had a death in the family and we are trying to deal with all that.

Thank you to everyone that has commented, I am going to work on it more today, as it will be something nice to write about

So sorry about your loss. Glad you have some good memories to cheer you up.

 

[Disney owl]

thanks for sharing

 

[CrazyDisneyMommy1]

New Years Eve!!!!! Yes we went to Disneyland...are we crazy??? That is questionable...lol

We first started out our day with breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen. We have been to DL 7 times, but this was our first time doing this. I have mixed feelings about it. The food was great, probably a 4.5 out of 5. The Character interaction was pretty good, I would say a 4 out of 5. The fun little dancing things they had with Goofy was alright, 3.5 out of 5. The price I think was a bit much and I had the Annual Pass discount!!! I would give it a 2 out of 5 on price. We have been to other character meals before. We have done one in Epcot at WDW and the price is higher, but you get the pictures with your meal. I didn't like the fact that they come and sell you those pictures. It would be nice if they would include those with the price of the meal. By no means do I think they should raise the price to include them. Keep the price as it is and include the picture.

Here is the picture that they took of us, but with my father's camera...so we did not need to buy it. My husbands eyes are kinda closed, but that happens a lot as he can not handle a flash..lol

Goofy was very silly. He turned my son's hat and tried to pose the kids. We were all laughing at him really hard, so my daughter had to turn around and take at look. Goofy was getting naughty and started sliding down the wall, trying to be sexy.......lol, lol

Hook came around when just my son was there. That's okay, my daughter probably would not get her picture with him anyways. She is 11 1/2 now...so she is kinda over this...

More to come about our New Years Eve in DL!!

 

[Perdygirl]

These were great Mickey Ears to buy, as I like that the ears snapped off for packing!!!

Absolutely adorable picture! Beautiful kids.

 

[CrazyDisneyMommy1]

Thanks for staying with me. It has been really hard to keep up with doing a trip report. I guess this is why this is my first one out of 14 trips...lol

New Years was great at DL. It was crowed of course, but what else would you expect.

Our cell phones had a hard time with connection around 9:30 p.m.
They would either just ring and ring and not go through to the other person or ring busy when really it wasn't, just due to so many people using their phone.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I'm on board....

I can't wait to read some more!