Karen's 2007 Disneyland Trip

[TLinden16]

Day 1-Saturday, October 6, 2007

I woke up at about 5:30 to get ready for my flight to Long Beach and a long awaited trip to Disneyland. My frist trip to Disneyland was in October of 2005, and it was a trip that I probably shouldn't have taken because I lost my dad suddenly just six days before I left. I wound up having a hard time on that trip due to a series of problems at the Disneyland Hotel, and I felt like I owed it to myself to go back again. Plus having two comped nights at the Grand Californian Hotel gives extra incentive to go to Disneyland.

So, I was up bright and early to get on that flight and return to Disneyland, where the magic began. I had a 9:55 nonstop flight to Long Beach on Jetblue. The airport was a bit crazy since it's the start of a holiday weekend. But my flight took off early, and it was a relatively calm flight. We arrived in Long Beach about 15 minutes early.

The Long Beach airport was very trippy. I've been to some small airports in the past, but this one definitely the smallest. When we pulled up to the gate, I looked out the window waiting for the gangway to be moved to the plane, but there wasn't one. They rolled a long ramp up to the plane, and I couldn't help but giggle as I watched the worker set the hydrolic break by hand! Walking down the ramp was a bit scary, as the whole thing was shaking!

The baggage claim for the airport is actually outdoors. It took a good twenty minutes for the luggage to come out. With luggage in hand, I walked out to the curb, where my friend and everyone's favorite Disneyland board moderator Mary Jo was picking me up to take me to the Disneyland Hotel, where I would be staying the first night of my trip.

When we arrived at the Disneyland Hotel, my room was ready. My room is located in the Magic Tower with a view of the pool. It's one of the largest hotel rooms I've ever stayed in. It has two queen beds, a large amoire, and a desk with two chairs. The bathroom is huge with a sink inside, and a sepearate stall for the toilet. There is lots of floor space around the room, and it's very open and airy.

I really love the decor of the rooms. The amoire features a map of the concept drawings of Disneyland, and the headboards have the castle on them. The bed spreads look like a floral print on first look, but whne you look at it closer, you realize that there are scenes from the rides around the flowers. And Tinkerbell has spread pixie dust around the room in the boarder near the ceiling.

After dropping off my bags, I said good bye to Mary Jo and walked over to Downtown Disney for lunch. I went to Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen, where I sat at the bar. I got a chicken ceasar wrap. It was nothing special. There wasn't very much chicken in the sandwich, and it was kind of bland. It was served with paramasian and garlic fries, which were excellent.

After lunch, I walked through security and went to Disneyland. The park was jam packed! It is gay days this weekend, and they were all wearing red shirts. They tended to walk around in packs of 10-100, and were often loud and rowdy (I happened to walk by a group of them during the parade, and they were cheering loudly as Peter Pan went by them on a float).

I wound up leaving Disneyland without going on a ride and going to meet some DIS folks (Pilikia and VegasMonarch) at California Adventure. I got in line for the Monsters' Inc ride, but wound up getting out of line to meet them at Soarin' where they were grabbing fast passes.

We then headed over to the Monsters Inc. ride, which I absolutely loved. It's just the cutest ride, except on the one scary Boo that is beating on Randall. Roz singled out VegasMonarch at the end of the ride, although I can't remember what she said).

We then went to see Turtle Talk with Crush. I had never seen this before, even at Disney World. It was fun watching all the kids interact with crush, and very entertaining, but not nearly as much fun at the Laugh Floor at Disney World.

We then watched some of the Block Party. This is just such a fun parade. They let the audience participate, and it's fun watching the kids sing and dance along.

After the block party, we went over to the Hyperion Theatre to see the Aladdin show. This show is just amazing, mostly due to the Genie. I love the way they bring in some current events into the show (i.e. when the Genie is looking for stuff in the Cave of Wonders he said, "Did O.J. take my stuff too?"). It's just a really fun show.

After the show, I said good bye to the others, and headed over to California Screaming. I jumped in the singles ride and rode Screaming twice This ride is really fantastic. One of the best coasters I've ever been on. At one point I lifed so far out of my seat I was practically standing upright.

I then took a quick ride on the Golden Zypher since it was pretty much just a walk on.

By this time, it was getting close to 9:00 California time, and I had been up for about 20 hours, so I knew it was time to head back to the room to get soem rest. I grabbed a kids chicken strips meal to get food into my stomach before bed so I wouldn't wake up starving.

Overall, it was a fun first day, and I got more accompliashed then I imagined I would.

 

[TLinden16]

Day 2-Sunday, October 7, 2007--Part 1

As I expected, I woke up long before dawn at 3:30 this morning. I knew that I'd wake up most likely starving between 3:00 and 5:00 since my body was still trained for east coast time. And yes, I was starving, but I didn't think to buy food for the room, and nothing was opened in the middle of the night (I guess I could have gotten something from room service, but I didn't think of it).

So, I got up and played around on the internet for a while. I went back to sleep at about 6:00 and took a power nap for an hour, waking up refreshed and well rested at 7:00.

I got ready, and walked my bags through Downtown Disney to the Grand Californian. I was so excited to be staying here, as I had loved my stay here two years ago. Not surprisingly, my room wasn't ready yet, so I stored my bags and wandered around the resort a bit until I touched base with Mary Jo about what time she would be picking me up to go to Hollywood.

Turns out Mary Jo was getting a later start than we had originally planned, so I decided to spin into Disneyland for an hour. I grabbed a Fast Pass for Space Mountain to use later in the day, and went on Alice in Wonderland. This ride is just so cute. It's fun looking for the Cheshire Cat, and I like the section where you ride outside.

I wandered around a bit looking at the Halloween decorations and headed over to the Downtown Disney parking lot to meet Mary Jo for our tour of Hollywood. Mary Jo was a wonderful tour guide, pointing out things all along the way, and giving me little tidbits about the area. I couldn't help but be awed when I first laid eyes on the Hollywood sign, which everyone has seen in pictures and on TV.

Our first stop was an overlook point off of Mulhollond. It was right above the Hollywood Bowl, which was neat to see. Looks like a nice place to attend an event--looks like it was designed so that even the seats in the back would have a great view.

There was a stone stairway that lead to another lookout point that had a stunning view of the Hollywood sign. We stayed there for a bit, looking at the sign and snapping some pictures. I just couldn't get enough of looking at such a famous landmark.

We then continued to drive along Mulholland and I saw something I didn't expect to see. Sometimes you see something so unexpected that when you realize what you are seeing, you can't help but be excited, and know that you are seeing something you'll never forget. There was a big letter D in a yard near the top of the hill. I made a comment to Mary Jo when I saw it, saying, "That's a very Disney looking D." And Mary Jo remembered something she saw on TV just a couple of weeks ago. As you may remember, John Stamos (aka Uncle Jesse on Full House) is a huge Disney fan and bought the Disneyland sign about six or seven years ago. John did an interview on TV, and he commented that he had the letter D from the sign sitting in his yard! So that big Disney D was truly a Disney D--the 14 foot letter D from the Disneyland sign! We actually stopped the car so I could snap some pictures of the D at the top of the hill! I was so excited to see that big D and part of John Stamos' house! It created an unexpected Magical Memory for me!

The next stop on our tour of Hollywood was Rodeo Drive. I really liked the area--the buildings were very cool, and each had their own unique style. It was fun just to wander up and down the street, and look at all those famous shops that contain clothes so expensive that I would never be able to afford them. I particulaly loved the Via Rodeo, a cobblestoned pathway with shops and restaurants along the way. We also saw the Walk of Style, which featured tributes to some of the top designers.

Our next stop was the Grove and the Farmers Market. We decided to get lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. We walked around as we waited for a table. They had a cart where they were selling powdered snow (or SNOOOOOOOOWWWWW!!!!) as the guy trying to get us to buy it said. You just add a little bit of water to it, and you get some beautiful cold snow. It might be impressive to you southerners, but it was not impressive to this New England girl.

When our table was ready, we were happy to see that we got a seat on the second floor balcony overlooking the Grove and the Farmer's Market. It sure was a pleasant view. I ordered the Orange Chicken, which was very tasty, and Mary Jo got the stuffed tortillas, which she enjoyed. Neither of us had room for cheesecake, though.

After lunch, we walked around the Farmer's Market. I was very unimpressed by the Farmer's Market--it wasn't what I expected it to be. I thought it would be more like the big farmer's markets we have back in Boston with tons of stands selling produce, but it more had stands where you could by a quick lunch. It was very unimpressive.

We did stop and grab an ice cream at Bennett's homemade ice cream. The ice creams were very good. I got a green apple sorbet, which was light and refreshing.

After the Farmer's Market, we drove to Hollywood so I could see the Walk of Fame, the Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and the other sights in that area. We ran into the DIS friends I had met just the day before as we walked out of the parking garage. It turns out that they were actually stalking me, as they seemed to wind up in the same lines as me every day our trips overlapped.

I was excited when the first star I read on the walk of the fame was one of my favorite actors--Harrison Ford. We walked along for a few blocks so I could video tape the stars and take some pictures. I was surprised to see two Bing Crosby stars, and Mary Jo explained that some people get them for more than one form of entertainment. I, of course, was also excited to see the star of our beloved Walt Disney.

We stopped inside the Disney Soda Fountain, which I found very unimpressive. It was very small, and didn't have the feel of a really great old time soda shop. I did take a picture of the Disneyland star on the Walk of Fame that stood at the entrance way.

We walked over to the Grauman's Chinese Theatre but we couldn't go look at the handprints. They were having a premiere of a movie, and it was blocked off. Jennifer Lopez was involved with the movie and expected to show up so there were lots of people waiting around to try to get a glimpse of her, which something I had no interest in doing.

We then got back in the strip and took a ride on the Sunset Strip. I was excited to see some of the places that I've heard about like the Laugh Factory, the Whiskey, and the Roxy. I had been hoping to see the Viper, but we missed it (if only I had looked at the map of the stars homes I purchased because it made me laugh, I would have realized that it was close to the Whiskey, and across the street).

We then continued to drive along Sunset Blvd, and Mary Jo pointed out the street where Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman were killed (by OJ Simpson) and a house owned by Bill Cosby. We followed Sunset Blvd. all the way to the ocean, where I got a glimpse of the Santa Monica Pier.

We then headed back to Disneyland, stopping at Target along the way so I could get some water and soda for the room. Mary Jo was a wonderful tour guide, and it was great to spend some time with my DIS friend.

I then went and got settled in my room at the Grand Californian. I was in room 5409. I really loved my room--it was on the fifth floor overlooking a beautiful courtyard and the monorail track. I would be staying in this room for four nights and then move to another room later in the week that featured a view of the parks.

After unpacking, I walked over to Disneyland for the evening. I was hungry, so I decided to go to the Carnation Cafe for dinner. I started off with a cup of the loaded baked potato soup, which was very flavorful, although the potatoes could have been cooked a bit more. I also got the steak sandwich, which was very tasty and tender.

After dinner, I made my way down Main Street towards Tomorrowland, where I road on Space Mountain. I really love this version of Space Mountain, it's fast, and thrilling, and smooth. I hope that Disney invests the money to do this to the one in Disney World sometime soon.

My next stop was the Matterhorn, which I got on with a short wait. I thought it would be fun to go on the Matterhorn in the dark, but it was almost too dark to enjoy it.

I then made my way over to Main Street to catch the fireworks. I really love the soundtrack to this show. The display itself was fun, but not nearly as specatuclar as the ones I'm used to at Disney World (which is understandable considering the size and location of the park).

After the fireworks, I made my way towards Frontierland, where I hoped to find a good spot to watch Fantasmic. The crowds were a bit overwhelming, as we were packed in like mules 45 minutes before show time. I decided to go on Pirates of the Caribbean instead.

When I got out of pirates, I started to look for a good spot to watch Fantasmic, and I found my spot. It was right behind the area where they seat people for the dessert party, and I was able to get a spot along the rail (actually, I got a spot behind a trash can against the rail). It wound up being a great spot--slightly left of center, and no heads blocking my view. There was a slight obstruction from a light post, but I think most spots have some obstruction if you aren't right against the front rail.

I really enjoyed Fantasmic, although I do prefer the Disney World version (with the exception of the Peter Pan section on the ship--that part is amazing).

After Fantasmic, I got in line for the Holiday Haunted Mansion. I love the Nightmare Before Christmas, so this is right up my alley. There is so much to take in on this ride that I think I could ride it 20 times, and still see something diferent every time.

I then hopped on the train to go back to Main Street. It was nice to just relax and enjoy the ride rather than walking with the crowds in the park. I then walked back to the Grand Californian and went to sleep.

 

[BecBennett]

Oooh, I'm hooked on your trippie already! Where are your pictures???

So how many days was your holiday for?

I can't wait to read more!

 

[Crazy4Disney72]

I'm really enjoying your TR, can't wait to read more!

 

[TLinden16]

Day 3--Monday, October 8, 2007

I had a light breakfast of Kix in the hotel room and headed over to Disneyland for early entry. I was in the park at 9:05, and immediately got in line for the Nemo with most of the rest of the folks their for early entry. The line was already about 40 minutes by the time I got there (a better option than the 90 minutes to two hours that the ride had the rest of the week).

Just a little PSA here: don't drink a bottle of Diet Pepsi and a bottle of water when you are in line for Nemo no matter how thirsty you are because you will feel the urgent need to relieve yourself, but your desire to stay in the line will make you wait until after you ride.

The ride itself was cute, with some neat special effects, but not worth a 2 hour wait, in my opinion. The video portions seemed to be the same as they use in the Nemo ride at Epcot. I think the thing I enjoyed most about the ride was the three year old girl sitting near me who cheered and laughed throughout the ride.

After Nemo, I went on Space Mountain, and Buzz Lightyear. I really like the way you can pick up the gun on the Buzz Lightyear in Disneyland. It makes it much easier to shoot the targets. I also took a ride on Autopia.

I then noticed how busy the park was getting, and I thought of my good friend Goofy4Tink, who would have been saying, "Don't these people have homes?" I grabbed a fast pass for Thunder Mountain, and tried to get on Splash Mountain, but there was a 70 minute wait and the single rides line was closed.

I then went over to the Orleans Cafe for lunch. I got a Monte Cristo Sandwich, and the Pomme Frites. The sandwich was very tasty, and the fries were excellent (I think garlic and parmasian cheese are the best way to have fries).

After lunch, I headed went back to the room for a bit, and then headed over to California Adventure. I made my way back to California Screaming and took a couple of rides, and also went on the Maliboomer.

I had dinner at the Wine Country Trattiatta. I ordered the garden salad and the Lasanga Rustia. The salad was a very basic side salad, and the lasagna was good, but a bit on the bland side.

After dinner, I went on the Monster's Inc. Ride, and then headed back over to Disneyland. I went straight back to Fantasyland and road on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. I absolutely adore Mr. Toad! I really miss this ride at Disney World. I then rode on the Pinocchio ride, which is a great dark ride.

I then went over and got in line for Splash Mountain. I was in the back row, and ducked behind the guy in front of me so I wouldn't get completely soaked. I took another ride on the Haunted Mansion as well.

I then headed out of Disneyland. I was hoping to pick up dessert at the Le Brea bakery, but they were closing up shop. The hotel snack bar was closed as well. I couldn't believe that everything was closing down at 10:00! I didn't feel like walking back out, so I wound up ordering a chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream from room service. It was very tasty and decadent. And put me right to sleep.

 

[TLinden16]

Day 4--Tuesday, October 9, 2007

I grabbed a yummy cinnamon roll at the snack shop at the Grand Californian, and headed over to Disneyland for early entry. Today, I spent my early entry waiting in line to go on Peter Pan. I had hoped the crowds would have died down by now, but they were still very heavy with long lines for everything! It took over a half hour for me to get on Peter Pan, and I was in line within five minutes of the park opening!

While I was in Fantasyland, I decided to go on Snow White's Scary Adventures and Pinnochio. I also spent some time just admiring the detail in the buildings in Fantasyland. There are some neat windows, carvings, and woodwork if you take the time to look at it.

I then made my way over to Fronteirland. I saw Woody along the way, so I stopped to have my picture taken and walked around Woody's Round Up, where I took pictures of some of the scarecrow displays.

I also saw a cute western skit in front of the Golden Horseshoe. Two cowboys were threatening to rob everyone, but the Sheriff came along to save the day.

I took another ride on the Haunted Mansion and decided to head our of the park to go to Mimi's for lunch, stopping quickly back at my room to pick up my cell phone (which I had left behind because it needed to be charged), and another tape for my video camera.

The walk to Mimi's wasn't that bad--I was sitting at a table less than 15 minutes after leaving my hotel room. I ordered the pot roast and a ceasar salad (the side salads and soups are a bargain here--just $1 with your entree). The salad was excellent, and the pot roast was good--it was a bit on the bland side.

After lunch, I walked back over to California Adventure. I went on the Tower of Terror first. They have some very cool sepcial effects in the elevator shaft. I watched the High School Musical 2 parade, and taped the little show they did for my nieces and nephews to watch when I get home.

I then headed over to California Screamin', which I rode two more times. The single riders line was great today--hardly anyone was using it.

My next stop was the Orange Stinger, which was fun, but I wish that they didn't have the orange around it so that you could see the view of the area better. I also went on Mulholland Madness. I rode it with a couple and the guy screamed like a girl the entire ride, which had me and the little boy sitting next to me in hysterics.

My next stop was the Grizzly River Rapids. This ride is so much fun--the rapids are very choppy and bouncy, and the drops are fun--at least until you get completely soaked.

Since I was wet, and just minutes from my hotel room, I ran back to the room to change and take a bit of a break. I then headed back to California Advenure to ride Soarin' Over California. I was on the far right, and it was very neat because they really move your chairs a lot when you are that far over so you really feel the affect of the ride.

I then took another ride on Monsters Inc., which I video taped. At the end, Roz said, "Hey you in the back row with the video camera. You left your lens cap on. Just kidding I'm ready for my close up."

I then headed over to Disneyland. The lines everywhere were still ridiculously long, so I decided to get a good spot to watch the Remember Dreams Come True Parade. I watched it form the elevated area in front of it's a small world, and it was a perfect spot. It was a completely unobstructed view.

The parade itself was a lot of fun--one of the best parades Disney has ever done. The floats are awesome, and the Alice in Wonderland float stopped right in front of me and the playing cards did a little gymnastics skit. I loved the costume that Goofy wears in this parade--it was like a court jester's outfit.

After the parade, I walked over to the Grand Californian to have dinner at Storytellers. My meal was excellent. I wound up getting the buffet, and everything was really good. I really enjoyed the salads and the prime rib. The bread pudding made with chocolate croissants and caramel and vanilla sauces was amazing.

The only bad thing about Storyteller's was the service. If you get Errol for your server, as to be moved to another table unless you want to wait for a long time. It took him ten minutes to acknowledge me when I sat at my table, and then I had to wait 25 minutes to get my check when I was done eating, plus an extra five minutes to get my change. The family at the next table got horrible service too--the little girl ordered the kids pizza, which is brought to the table uncooked so the kids can design their own pizza. The server didn't even bring the pizza over for her to create until after the rest of the family had their entrees! I haven't had service this bad in a long time!

After dinner, I went back to the room and crashed.

 

[sharonW]

I'm enjoying the tr karen...makes me want to
go out west more then ever now!!! Sounds like
a lot of different rides then wdw. Always wanted
to go just to see the aladdin show. Can't wait to hear
more, more, more!!!

 

[lulubelle]

Loving all the minute by minute details of your report, Karen. I go solo often and appreciate your take on things. Isn't it nice to do what you want, when you want? Looking forward to the next days - when do you move to the view room? The courtyard rooms at The Grand are just so-so to me, the view rooms (especially DTD view) are awesome! Thanks for sharing

 

[iluvdisney]

Great trip report Karen - you're giving me some ideas on how to plan for my trip which is not too far off! You sure do give a lot of attention to detail! Sounds like you're having a much better time this trip - and your trip to Hollywood is something that I would really like to do sometime! Good for you!!!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Great report!

I had a great time touring Hollywood with you. It was fun, and we found that big Disney D. Hey, where are those pics? lol

 

[TLinden16]

I had a great time touring Hollywood with you. It was fun, and we found that big Disney D. Hey, where are those pics? lol

I have to figure out how to upload my pictures from my easy share software. I can't find them to upload anywhere except to the Kodak Gallery. I need to load different software.

 

[TLinden16]

Day 5--Wednesday October 10, 2007

I went down to Whitewater Snacks and grabbed a cinnamon roll for breakfast (I got so addicted to these on this trip). The parks weren’t opening until 10:00, so I hung out in the room and goofed around on the Internet for a while. I have to say that I didn’t like these 10:00 park openings. It’s just too late, especially for Disneyland. Everyone arrives at the same time, and the lines to get in the parks get long, and then the lines for the rides get long and stay long throughout the day.

I got in line to get into California Adventure using the entrance at the Grand Californian shortly before 10:00, and was in the park for rope drop. I made an immediate beeline for the Sun Wheel. My purpose for this was to get in a swinging gondola on the ferris wheel without a 45 minute rate. This is so much fun, a different twist on a classic ride. You feel like the momentum is going to swing you upside down, and you feel your stomach fall, but then it stops you and you move the other way. It’s a neat sensation, and a lot of fun.

Rather than bore everyone of a play by play of the rides I did this morning (you can just read the previous days--I did much of the same thing, basically just toured the park), I’m going to skip on to lunch. I walked over to the Rainforest Café to get one of my favorite meals--the Buffalo Chicken Salad. The salad was very tasty, although it was very light on the barbecue sauce. The salad itself was nicely chilled, and the dressing and cheese were very excellent.

I skipped dessert at the Rainforest Café, and headed over to the ESPN Zone to get one of my favorite desserts--the chocolate chip cookie sundae. I was seated in a recliner chair in the front of the restaurant, and watched a Boston Celtic’s game while I ate my dessert. This dessert is amazing. It’s a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie served hot from the oven in a six inch skilled topped with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, and whipped cream. It’s really one of the best desserts ever, and too big for me to finish on my own.

After lunch, I took the monorail over to Disneyland, and hit a few rides, but it was so crowded, I decided to head back over to California Adventure for a while, which never seemed as busy as Disneyland. Only California Screaming, Soarin’, and the Tower of Terror seemed to have some long lines, but I made good use of the single riders line to get on Screaming many times during the trip.

After touring the park for a while, I went to Downtown Disney to grab a quick dinner of gumbo at the Ralph Brennan Jazz Kitchen takeout place. I had it in my head that I really wanted to try some gumbo on this trip. It was very good, although not as spicy as I expected it to be.

After dinner, I went back to my room to get ready to head over to the Honda Center to see my beloved Boston Bruins play the Anaheim Ducks. When I saw that the Ducks were playing the Bruins for their first home game of the season, I knew I had to get tickets. I figured they’d be doing something to celebrate their Stanley Cup win last season, and I thought it would be fun to be there for that. When I was ready, I went down and hopped in a cab to go to the Honda Center.

I managed to get a great ticket for the game--a front row balcony seat on the goal line where the Bruins shoot twice. It also provided a great vantage point to watch the raising of the Stanley Cup banner, which was directly in front of me. The ceremony itself was fun to watch. They showed a 10 minute video with the highlights of the Ducks quest for the cup, and then they lowered the cup from the rafters in the middle of the scoreboard. There is something very awing about seeing the Stanley Cup, which is one of the most revered awards in sports, in person. I snapped several pictures of the cup as it descended from the rafters, and was then placed on a table at ice level. They raised three banners in honor of the Ducks big one--one for being conference champs, one for being division champs, and one for being the Stanley Cup champs.

The game was a lot of fun, although my beloved Bruins lost the game 2-1. The Bruins scored first, but the Ducks got two unanswered goals to beat the Bruins. I was seated between two nice season ticket players, a guy who teased me a bit when the Ducks took the lead (and also when we saw that my beloved Canucks were getting creamed by the Flyers), and a woman with two sons who chatted with me about Disney and hockey all night. As I left the arena, I received a small replica of the Stanley Cup banner.

I took at cab back to the Grand Californian and went to sleep after another full and fun day.

 

[TLinden16]

Day 6--Thursday, October 11, 2007

Today was another late opening day at the parks--10:00 a.m. for both parks. I was switching rooms today, so I packed up my things and had bell services come and get them to store until my new room was ready. I then headed down to get in the very long line to go to Disenyland at 9:45. It took about 20 minutes to make it through the gates! Craziness!

Again, I won’t bore everyone with a “I went on this and this and that” narrative since the first few days pretty much summed it up. I went on the same rides, and my opinions didn’t change.

I will say that the crowds seemed heavier than they were the previous few days. I was really surprised by the crowds. I expected them on the weekend, but I thought Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday would have been a bit more manageable.

Shortly before lunch time, my DIS friend Cazalet came to meet me. She would be staying with me at the Grand Californian for the rest of the trip. I had met Cazalet on my previous trip two years ago, and she had been very helpful and supportive when I was very down.

By this time, I was hungry, so we headed over to the Plaza Inn to get some lunch. My friend Mary Jo had mentioned that the fried chicken was good, so I decide to give it a try. The chicken was served with mashed potatoes, beans, and a biscuit. I also got a side salad. The salad was very good. The potatoes were smooth and tasty. The chicken was very flavorful, but a bit on the salty side. I didn’t try the beans. The biscuit was dry and boring.

After lunch, we wound up heading over to California Adventure for a while. Again, I won’t bore you with a play by play of the rides, with one exception. When we went on the Monsters Inc. ride, it broke down about midway through, and we had to walk off. It was kind of neat to walk out. I took a few pictures of the audioanimatronics along the way, and had Cazalet take a picture of me in front of one of Boo and Sully.

Our room was now ready, so we headed back to the Grand Californian to get settled. We were in room 3223. We had a room overlooking Grizzly Peak, and we could see the top of the train station at Disneyland and Soarin’ as well.

After settling in the room, we headed back to Disneyland for a while to hit a few more attractions. I was still complaining about the crowds, and once again, said one of Goofy4Tink’s favorite sayings--“Don’t these people have homes?” Disneyland must have agreed with me because they announced that the park would be opened an hour later than the posted time.

We were going to the Mickey’s Halloween Treat, so we went back to get ready. I wore a Hawaiian shirt, and a wide brimmed hat and did the tourist thing. I had some Eucerin hand cream, so I put some on my nose to make my costume extra special. We were planning on meeting Mary Jo and her daughter at the party, and we wound up playing phone tag for a while. It seemed like we just couldn’t connect with them. Mary Jo and I kept on getting each others voices mails, or one of us would be in line for something while the others were out of line.

The decorations at the park were excellent. They had big inflatable Mickey ghosts and pumpkins all over the place just for the party. The park had already been decorated with lots of candy corn, so it was truly a festive look all over the park.

Cazalet and I walked towards the Tower of Terror to try to ride it. Along the way, we stopped at a couple of trick or treat locations to get some candy. To me, this is the best part of going to a Halloween party at a Disney park--I’m 35 years old, and I can trick or treat. I couldn’t do that at home! We trick or treated quite a bit, and wound up with huge bags of candy! Yum Yum!

They even gave us raisins. I tried to give Cazalet my raisins, but she didn’t want them and made me take hers. I told her I would get them back to her, oh yes, I would get them back to her. I managed to get a few more boxes of raisins that night that would wind up with Cazalet.

The line for the Tower of Terror was crazy, about 45 minutes long, so we decided to skip it (the line for Tower of Terror always seemed to be 45-60 minutes long, and they shut down the fast pass machines most of the week so I only road it once all week). We headed over towards Condor Flats and went to grab a bite to eat at Taste Pilots instead. I got the Wild Blue Yonder Burger, which has steak sauce and blue cheese on it. The burger was good, but not great. The meat was better quality than the meat they use on the burgers at Disney World, but nothing spectacular. The waffle fries it came with were very good though.

Cazalet and I then went over and took a ride on Soarin’. We made over way along the walk ways towards the back end of the park and trick or treated along the way. I decided that I didn’t want to waste too much time waiting in lines at the park tonight. I really wanted to soak in as much of the atmosphere and get as much candy as I could.

I was going to try to ride on the Swinging Gondola at the Sun Wheel, but the line was too long. And it was at this point that I finally reached Mary Jo! She decided that they would walk towards us so that we could all finally hang out at the party!

We all got in line for California Screaming. The line was only about 20 minutes long, so it gave us some time to chat and eat some candy. This ride is really fun at night when you are on a sugar high!

After Screaming we headed to Pacific Wharf, where they had a pirate theme. They had some games you could play for pirate booty. We played a game where you had to shot a cannon ball through a hole to get a Pirates of the Caribbean book mark. They had some neat pirates decorations set up as well.

We also found a spot to watch the brief Halloween parade that they had at the park. It only lasted a few minutes, and had big Mickey Pumpkin heads and a few floats with characters.

They had a lot of neat photo opportunities. They had lots of characters in costumes, and some neat backgrounds set up. The lines to get your picture with characters were ridiculously long, so we didn’t end up doing them.

We headed toward the Bug’s Life land, and saw some guys in scarecrow costumes interacting with guests. They were telling jokes and talking to people from their perches in front of the entrance to the Bug’s Life Land. They were very funny and entertaining.

We headed out of the park as the event was winding down. We walked around the area between California Adventure and Disneyland for a bit, snapping some pictures. People were still coming out of Disneyland. They had a gate open, so I snapped a couple of pictures of the Mickey head made of gourds in the lawn in front of the train station--it was neat to get the picture with no one in it.

Cazalet and I said goodbye to Mary Jo and her daughter and headed back to the Grand Californian. While Cazalet was getting changed in the bathroom, I made a row or raisins around the pillow in her bed, and snuck a box into her suitcase. Oh yes, Cazalet would be getting lots more raisins--I still had three and a half boxes left.

We turned off the lights, and I proceeded to get the giggles because of the raisins. It’s never a good thing when I get the giggles. But I finally calmed down and went to sleep.

 

[TLinden16]

Day 7--Friday, October 12, 2007

After having a quick breakfast in the room, Cazalet and I walked over to Disneyland. Already I could tell that this was going to be the most crowded day of my trip! The lines just to get into the parks were ridiculously long!

We hit a few attractions that I wanted to ride a few more times, including Pirates of the Caribbean and Thunder Mountain. We also caught the end of the Bill Hill and the Hillbillies show (Did I get that right?).

We wound up going to the Orleans Café for lunch. We shared an order of Pomme Frites, which were as good as the ones I had earlier in the week--I always put garlic and parmesan on my fries now. I tried the gumbo here, which was much better than the gumbo that I had at Ralph Brennan’s earlier in the week--it had more of a kick and a lot more flavor than the gumbo I got at Ralph Brennan’s. I got the Monte Cristo again (sharing a corner of it with Cazalet). The food was very good.

While we were waiting for our food, some of our DIS/VMK friends stopped by to say hello, and we made plans to meet up with them after lunch. When we met up with them, we hit a few more attractions, including the Haunted Mansion and I also road on Splash Mountain with Coasterzrock, using the fast passes Cazalet and I had picked up earlier in the day.

All of my DIS friends are locals, and go to Disneyland frequently, and they just couldn’t believe the size of the crowds! They said it was like it is in the middle of the summer!

We hit a few more attractions, and did a bit of pin trading. We had a not so Disney moment when we had a cast member at the pin trading event refuse to trade a pin in her book that someone in our group had. It was one of the Tinkerbell pins that they are giving out to people to share as part of the Year of A Million Dreams. They said they are not allowed to trade them, which would be fine, but why have it in the book where guests can see it if you aren’t going to trade them? It was the first time that I’ve seen a cast member so vehemently refuse something to a guest.

We then headed over to California Adventure, hoping that it would be a bit less crowded than Disneyland. I had found California Adventure to be a lot more manageable than Disneyland all week, but not today. The crowds were heavy, and the lines were long! I wanted to get one last ride on California Screamin’, and lucked out when someone gave me a fast pass. Two others in our group got in the single riders line, and we wound up on the same train. I asked to sit in the front row, and I wound up taping the ride with my camera. It sure was a lot of fun!

We tried to get on Tower of Terror, but the line was over and hour long, and it just wasn’t worth spending the time in line to do that ride--the one at Disney World is better, and I knew I would get on that one again in less than two months during my annual December trek to Disney World.

We then headed over to Downtown Disney for dessert, where a few of us got sundaes at Haggan Daz. I got one of their special sundaes made with brownie ice cream topped with caramel and whipped cream. It was very yummy.

After dessert, I decided to head back to the room for a bit so I could pack as much as I could in anticipation of leaving for the airport early the next morning. I told the others I would call when I got back to Disneyland and meet up with them later.

I met up with the others in line for the Alice in Wonderland ride. We hit a few of the rides in Fantasyland that had waits that were less than a half hour. We skipped quite a few rides that had waits of 45 minutes or more.

As parade time approached, the park was so crowded that it was difficult to move around. We did manage to find our way over to Star Tours, but we had to make a big U turn to do it, as crowd control wouldn’t let us cross from in front of Buzz Lightyear over to Star Tours.

After Star Tours, we went over to the Plaza Inn to get some dinner. It was absolutely packed! We had to wait in line outside for about 15 minutes to get in, and then encountered long lines to get food. I wound up getting pasta with meat sauce and a side salad. The pasta was boring, but the salad was good.

Most of the group left after dinner, but Cazalet, Coasterzrock, and I hung around and did a bit of pin trading. I scored a cast member lanyard pin from 2002 that had Mickey dressed up in a top hat and tux, which I was very excited about because I have a matching Minnie Mouse pin from the same set!

We then stayed to watch the fireworks, which were very good. I had originally planned to stay at Disneyland until it closed at midnight that night, but it was so crowded that I wasn’t having fun anymore, so Cazalet and I opted to go back to the room and crash instead.

I realized that we could see the top of the train station from our room at the Grand Californian, so I let the heavy drapes opened so that I could fall asleep as I looked at part of Disneyland and recalled how much fun I had this week.

 

[TLinden16]

Per Mary Jo's Request:

Here is John Stamos' big D:

And here's the Disneyland star on the Walk of Fame:

 

[sharonW]

Hey Karen, enjoyed your TR. Never realized disneyland
was so crowded! Glad you had a nice visit but it doesn't
beat WDW now does it!!

 

[Disney owl]

great reports thanks

 

[GothicBabyGirl]

Just a couple months ago I was driving down Mulholland Dr. and I saw the Disney D there also! I thought that was so cool and yet so out of place lol... MY hubby and I were trying to figure out what was up there... we turned and drove by like 3 more times to try and figure it out... He was thinking it was Michael Eisner's house but for some reason what I saw was like a big water deals (the big round buildings that store water)... we were so baffled... when we came home i did a google search and got nothing... I knew we couldnt be the only people who saw it.....


Loved your trip report!!!