Lots of Completed Trip Reports....Nov 2009 - April 2014

[deejdigsdis]

Let's get this thing started with a bit of back story:

I was helping my sister plan a solo trip to Disneyland. She wanted to break in her new AP that she got during our sister/mother trip in October. I helped her find a place to stay. Candy Cane Inn. She wanted a place that offered a shuttle since she would be by herself and she didn't want to walk home alone at night. We thought $95/night was a great rate. A few weeks before her trip she said something along the lines of, "You know...you could come too...your AP is still good...I've got the hotel covered since I'm going anyway...you would just have to pay for your flight and food. And I'll pay for half your flight." Whoa. I wanted to jump on it, but there was the little issue of going and leaving my kids (3 boys) behind -- yet again. We took our kids for their first (and only) trip in Nov. 2009 (finally ending my 13 year Disneyland Drought). Then my husband and I went back alone the following April to celebrate our 11th Anniversary (about 4+ years late). Then I went in Oct. with my mom and 2 sisters. And now this offer comes along. I really wanted to go, but decided I wouldn't unless I could take my oldest son (11) along with us. My husband and I had talked months ago about me taking each boy alone at some point. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to start that tradition, given that my AP was still valid, the hotel was paid for, and half my flight was paid for. So we were set. I told my son - who was thrilled. Now there was the matter of telling my younger boys, ages 8 and 5. I was shocked at their reaction. They didn't care at all. Actually, they were excited. Counting down the days until we left. "Mom, how many more days until you go to Disneyland? I can't wait until you go so I can eat as many treats as I want and play Wii all the time with Dad..."

I have to say...I never DREAMED I'd be visiting Disneyland 4 times in 15 months. During that 13 YEAR drought it most definitely never crossed my mind that I'd go to the other extreme. 4 times in 15 months is extreme to me, anyway.

So Wednesday January 26th we were off! The plan was for me and DS11 to fly into John Wayne, then take a shuttle to Candy Cane Inn and meet my sister, who would be driving.

Our first DLR spotting while riding down the freeway in our shuttle:

The excitement was building. It's still just crazy to me that I can wake up in my own bed and then have a late lunch at Disneyland! So we exited the freeway and were pleased to find out that we'd be the first drop-off. I pointed HoJo out to my son, since that's where we stayed as a family. I was taking a few pics as we were riding along, and then I got a message from my sister saying she had just passed Mimi's. Crazy! We had just passed Mimi's ourselves. We continue down the road to Candy Cane Inn and pull up in front of the office. My sister had arrived less than 15 seconds before us. What perfect timing! It was crazy. It was close to 11am by this time. 10:52 to be exact. I just remember thinking, "8 minutes 'til the shuttle leaves for Disneyland...will we make it?" We went in to check in and then headed to our room. We loved the location. On the bottom floor right across from the office/pool/breakfast area and right by the shuttle pick up/drop off area. We decided to get settled in and then take the 11:30 shuttle. The weather was beautiful and my son decided it was a shorts kind of day.

By 11:30 we were on our way. I was so excited to be back there with my son. He would have been happy if this trip turned into some kind of Space Mountain/California Screamin' Fest, but it didn't quite work out that way. It was WAY more crowded than I was expecting, for one thing. I kind of had visions of doing the "big" things many many times. It just didn't happen.

OK. So it's 11:30. No wait at the turnstiles. For some reason I still need to take a picture of this every time I go.

My family (growing up) had a tradition of riding the train full circle before doing anything else. I was going to let that slide this time scared1 and not do it, thinking my son would want to get right to his idea of the good stuff. I was pleasantly surprised when he excitedly asked -- as we were walking in -- "Are we going to ride the train around first?" I asked him if that was what he wanted to do and he said yes. So that's what we did.

I guess the very first thing we did was walk down Main Street and get a locker.

My son thought this was cool and requested a pic.

Lots of painting going on this week...

Flowers in the planters near the lockers.

Our destination at last...

We can't remember what the lockers looked like in Oct., but we didn't think they looked like this.

My sister and I wondered if we were going crazy. Did they really change the lockers sometime in the past 3 months, or are we just remembering things wrong??? Then, on our way out, we heard one guy ask another guy, "So what do you think of the new lockers?" I guess we weren't crazy. At some point they were changed. Not sure if it was before Oct. and we are just remembering wrong, or if it really was within the past 3 months.

So we put our stuff in a locker and headed back toward Main Street Station. Just some sights along the way...

The Walls... Not a pretty sight. My son actually said, "Seeing these walls all over kind of takes some of the magic away doesn't it?"

And finally:

We pretty much just had to wait for the next train to come in. We were excited to "officially" start our Disneyland Day 1!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Great start to your TR and can't wait to read more.

 

[travelmel]

Thank you! Yes, it was an amazing trip. I spend way too much time thinking about it every day. I would love to go back during that same time period down the road.

As for the camera, it is a Canon PowerShot SD780 IS ELPH. My husband checks the ratings in Consumer Reports before he buys anything, and this camera had good ratings for your point-and-shoot options. We bought it a couple of days before our trip for $200. I'm wishing I had taken the time to go through the manual and learn more about it before taking it into Disneyland. I pretty much just had it on auto everything, but now I'm learning more about it. One thing we especially loved about it during our trip was that it fit comfortably in our front pocket. Really nice for carrying it around if it wasn't being used. I kept a Ziploc sandwich bag in my front pocket. When we'd go on a wet ride I'd just slide it into the bag, and then back into my pocket. It wasn't uncomfortable at all. It was easy to forget it was there. I guess that can be good or bad. It's also easy to handle, for being the smaller size that it is. We tried out another camera that was a little bigger than this one, but it was hard to handle. It just felt too small, and the buttons were more awkward. I can't remember what that one was. Anyway, feel free to ask any other questions.

Also, I use Picasa 3 to edit my pictures. You can download it for free. Here are some before and after pictures so you can see the difference.

So it's not totally the camera.

Hi again I cannot believe how beautiful your pictures are. I found myself re-reading your TR because the pics are so beautiful I can't tear myself away! I don't want to downplay your commentary either.. I feel we are definitely kindred spirits!

GOOD JOB!!

 

[travelmel]

T
Table light...

.

This is as far as I have gotten and I HAVE to go to bed. But I just had to say, "WHAT THE HECK!!???" You are amazing. I cannot believe how crisp and beautiful that turned out in such low light. You're like a serious camera wizard!! SERIOUSLY!!! I am shaking my head... I so totally want to go out and buy an elph (?) but I am in the midst of penny pinching frenzy to pay for our first WDW trip this summer. DARN IT! I so don't want to take my PoS cam! WAH! I am so sorry for my outburst. Your TR is amazing. Thank you

 

[travelmel]

That's something I want to always remember about this trip. I didn't write that down in my little notebook, and I know I didn't get a picture of it, but it's something I want to remember. There, it's down in my little TR memory bank that I can access later. A memory never to be forgotten.

OK, from here on out there will be less talk and more pictures.

That is exactly why I love my TR.... Keep up the good work with your memory bits!

 

[tksbaskets]

Deej - LOVE the flower picture and that your DS requested a couple of pics. I agree with his comment about the walls. What construction is going on at DL on mainstreet?

Waiting for more....
TK

 

[deejdigsdis]

Great start to your TR and can't wait to read more.

Thank you! I need to check out your videos. I think I remember you saying that you captured RDCT. I saw it for the first time this trip and I know I will want to re-visit it. Loved it!

Hi again I cannot believe how beautiful your pictures are. I found myself re-reading your TR because the pics are so beautiful I can't tear myself away! I don't want to downplay your commentary either.. I feel we are definitely kindred spirits!

GOOD JOB!!

Hi! I remember you chiming in when I was worried about an upcoming MRI before my last trip. I was told by a doctor a week before my trip that I had Multiple Sclerosis. The MRI I had the day before I left was sort of a "confirmation" thing. As I was sitting in the airport on my way to DL my husband sent me a message that the results were negative. No MS! I can't remember if I ever posted the good news or not.

This is as far as I have gotten and I HAVE to go to bed. But I just had to say, "WHAT THE HECK!!???" You are amazing. I cannot believe how crisp and beautiful that turned out in such low light. You're like a serious camera wizard!! SERIOUSLY!!! I am shaking my head... I so totally want to go out and buy an elph (?) but I am in the midst of penny pinching frenzy to pay for our first WDW trip this summer. DARN IT! I so don't want to take my PoS cam! WAH! I am so sorry for my outburst. Your TR is amazing. Thank you

You are just too kind! Seriously, it's more the Picasa thing than the camera thing for me. I will post some pre-Picasa-ized and post-Picasa-ized pictures later. You can download Picasa 3 for FREE. You should check it out. I hope you have a great trip to WDW. I've never been there myself.

Deej - LOVE the flower picture and that your DS requested a couple of pics. I agree with his comment about the walls. What construction is going on at DL on mainstreet?

Waiting for more....
TK

Hey TK. Those flowers were so pretty and vibrant! Main Street is in the process of being repaved. None of the usual modes of transportation are running right now, and the walls made it seem a bit more crowded than it actually was. Not to mention inconvenient. But it's fine...they gotta do what they gotta do.

 

[deejdigsdis]

OK, where was I??? Ah yes... "YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE...The Disneyland Limited ... Now Leaving For A Grand Circle Tour Of The Magic Kingdom..."

Our traditional full circle ride around the park to catch glimpses of all the fun to come. We were curious about what the train-view of Splash Mountain would be like. Well, it was totally dark. We couldn't see anything. We couldn't tell if there was a wall up or a curtain or something else. All of Critter Country is closed at the moment. It was sad seeing everything so empty. The train announcer said that Critter Country would re-open in March, with the exception of Splash Mountain. That would re-open in May.

After our train ride the plan was to find some lunch. We were starving by this time. We decided to try out Village Haus. Time to make our way toward Fantasyland. Sights along the way...

First we had to take a picture of this bench by the train station for our other sister who wasn't with us this trip. Back in October she took a nap on this bench when her feet were too blistered and her tailbone was too sore (from Splash) to make the trek back to HoJo for a pre-Halloween Party rest.

Pluto was very playful today. He was so cute with this excited little girl running to him with outstretched arms!

Now for some sadness. I asked my son -- we'll just call him Chief from here on out (a nickname he picked up from "Get Smart" the TV series - his favorite show) -- if he wanted to get pictures with any characters this trip. He said no. I know he would have if his younger brothers were with him, but he didn't want to do it this time around. So sad.

Daisy was out and about as well.

Next up...the Dapper Dans! We stopped to listen for a few. I was surprised how much Chief enjoyed it. He kept saying how funny they were and would repeat their jokes.

Still trying to make our way toward Fantasyland. The Walls...as far as the eye could see!

Chief had recently watched that "behind the scenes" show on Netflix. He really wanted to look for the spike that marked the geographical center of Disneyland. We walked through the castle and noticed a couple who appeared to be looking for the spike. Chief was quite proud that he was able to show them exactly where it was and tell them a bit about it. The man half of the couple offered to take our picture with the spike. {I am so glad we have this picture. I realized that it is the only picture we have of all 3 of us together! And he didn't cut our heads off -- I just cropped it for posting. }

A guide came along and shared with us another tidbit. The clock right there on the castle is set to the time when the spike was driven in. We thought that was interesting.

OK, we are soooo hungry by this time! Up next -- lunch!

 

[tksbaskets]

You're leaving us without lunch??? Sigh it was a sad day when our sons didn't care about pictures with the characters. I remember it well. The only time I get them now is when I beg or the characters accompany a meal.

This is the second time in a week I've been educated about the spike. Now the clock info. See this is why I read trip reports when I should be getting ready for work

My favorite pic this installment is the one of your son's shoes and the spike. The headless family is another good one

I'll be watching my email for when we are going to lunch.....

 

[travelmel]

Thank you for reporting the good news!

I still think you are too modest in both your talent and your camera!

 

[deejdigsdis]

You're leaving us without lunch??? Sigh it was a sad day when our sons didn't care about pictures with the characters. I remember it well. The only time I get them now is when I beg or the characters accompany a meal.

Oh that is so funny...unless it accompanies a meal!

Thank you for reporting the good news!

I still think you are too modest in both your talent and your camera!

OK, now I need to wonder how accurate that tidbit of info is about the clock being set to the time when the spike was driven in. I happen to have another picture of the clock from a different trip and it is set to a different time!

So let's do lunch!!! We were pleased with how un-busy Village Haus was. It was almost 1pm.

I was having a hard time deciding between a really good-sounding salad with apples and cheese and honey mustard yogurt dressing (?), and the BLT Flatbread Pizza. I ended up going the pizza route. Actually all 3 of us went the pizza route.

Chief's Pepperoni Pizza:

My BLT Flatbread Pizza:

SO. GOOD. I actually thought it had a bit too much bacon. Usually things don't have enough bacon in my book. Having too much is better than not enough, though. Easier to fix.

And here's a picture of the napkins for this year. I really liked them.

My sister had the BLT Flatbread Pizza as well. We enjoyed our lunch outside, watching people come and go as we ate. Chief was wearing a Star Wars shirt. A very excited little boy pointed the shirt out to his mom, then came over to examine it more closely. It was really funny. Chief was sitting down eating, so the little boy couldn't quite see everything because of the way it "folded" up. The little boy was kind of trying to "smooth it out" so he could see it better! We thought it was funny. Not something I would want my child to do to someone else, but it didn't bother Chief so it didn't bother me. We just laughed.

So we're done with lunch and ready to move on. Not to Space Mountain as Chief wanted, however. My just-filled belly needed some time before being tossed and turned. Chief decided that Pirates would be a good place to start. (I might have squealed a little inside, because that is where I wanted to go but I wanted Chief to choose.)

Thought we better use the restroom right there before moving on. I find this sign to be a little scary.

I'm just not a fan of puppety-marionette-y clowny type things. SCARY. Pinocchio I can handle, but this... I would not want to meet in a dark alley!

Chief LOVED this tree right outside the restrooms. He thought it was so cool with all those spiky balls all over it.

OK, really moving on to Pirates now... the line started just inside the building. I kind of pictured it to be more of a walk-right-up-to-the boat line for a Wednesday afternoon in January. But of course it goes fast and we set sail in no time. I love this ride! There are certain things that I ALWAYS have to look for and notice whenever I ride: Fireflies. The piano playing by itself. The dangling pirate foot that I always thought was going to drop mud on me when I was little. A gold plate that looks a lot like one that my parents had hanging above our fireplace when I was little. The burning-coals look of the logs. Really too many other things to list. I still look for the flower pots breaking when the lady closes the shutters -- and then slowly closing back together. I guess that doesn't happen anymore. Either that or it's been broken during each of my trips in the last 15 months! And I love the sound of the chains as you are pulled back up the hill at the end.

I love these lights, but I have never gotten "the picture" I want.

And that's where I'll stop, seeing as how I need to upload more pictures.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Very nice with the blurry picture parts of the characters and the food at Village Haus looks good. It is also good that you took the picture of the golden spike at SB castle.

 

[deejdigsdis]

Very nice with the blurry picture parts of the characters and the food at Village Haus looks good. It is also good that you took the picture of the golden spike at SB castle.

Thanks! I think that picture of my son's feet with the spike is one of my favorites from this trip. I don't know why I never thought to take a picture of it before.

 

[travelmel]

OK, really moving on to Pirates now... the line started just inside the building. I kind of pictured it to be more of a walk-right-up-to-the boat line for a Wednesday afternoon in January. But of course it goes fast and we set sail in no time. I love this ride! There are certain things that I ALWAYS have to look for and notice whenever I ride: Fireflies. The piano playing by itself. The dangling pirate foot that I always thought was going to drop mud on me when I was little. A gold plate that looks a lot like one that my parents had hanging above our fireplace when I was little. The burning-coals look of the logs. Really too many other things to list. I still look for the flower pots breaking when the lady closes the shutters -- and then slowly closing back together. I guess that doesn't happen anymore. Either that or it's been broken during each of my trips in the last 15 months! And I love the sound of the chains as you are pulled back up the hill at the end.

I have never heard anybody hit it on the head so well. You just perfectly captured the essence of nostalgia in the park. Thank you for taking me there with you.

 

[deejdigsdis]

I have never heard anybody hit it on the head so well. You just perfectly captured the essence of nostalgia in the park. Thank you for taking me there with you.

Thank you. I am such a sucker for the nostalgic... anything. Well, I guess there are some things that don't illicit that warm and fuzzy "remember when..." feeling in me. You won't find me pining for the days of pre-indoor plumbing or anything like that. Not that I remember those days anyway... But my husband laughs at me sometimes when I wax nostalgic about childhood stuff because it sounds like I grew up in the early 20's or something. Talking about burning our own garbage in the backyard burning barrel or picking up the phone to make a phone call and finding someone else in the neighborhood is already on the phone so you hang it back up and try again later. {That would be called a party line...and we still had that in the 1970s in the small town where I lived.} Anyway, stuff that sounds like I'm older than the 38 years that I am!

OK, enough about that. Back with the next installment in a bit!

 

[deejdigsdis]

So we just got off Pirates and headed toward the left.

The obvious choice was to head toward The Haunted Mansion. The REAL Haunted Mansion, I might add. Another favorite. During my 4-Trips-in-15-Months Phase, 2 of the trips hold memories of riding The Haunted Mansion Holiday version. I really really really didn't like it the first trip I experienced it. It was my first time back to Disneyland after a 13 year drought, after all. It stood in the way of feeling like I was "back home" after all these years, and I dubbed it The Impostor. My second trip back I was "home again" and loved it. My 3rd trip was during Halloween Time last fall and a funny thing happened. It wasn't so Impostor-ish anymore in its holiday state. I actually enjoyed it, much to my surprise. Then for my 4th and final trip... I was home once again. It was especially fun for me to ride this with my son, because it was his first time on the real deal. When we surprised our kids with the news that their first Disneyland Trip was on the horizon way back in the Fall of '09, we used a treasure hunt/puzzle to break the news. They found a big black X on the beach and dug up little jeweled wooden treasure boxes that contained puzzle pieces. This was the finished puzzle:

Anyway, it was the hitchhiking ghosts part that had given it away to my then-9-year-old and 6-year-old boys. They were SO disappointed that they didn't get to see a hitchhiking ghost sitting on their lap! (We went in November.) So...this was very fun for me (and Chief) to finally ride the real Haunted Mansion together and try to guess which ghost would be going home with us.

We came out of HM and meandered over to check out Critter Country. I was hoping the reports I had heard a few days before we left of Critter Country being completely walled off were false. But...they were true.

Chief said, "Disneyland just isn't the same without Splash Mountain." And he was right. It was sad. We stood there for a bit and then moved on.

 

[travelmel]

LOVE that note! So cute and creative and FUN! I wish we had more friends like that (I like to think I am at least SORTA like that with my ideas but I feel like most other people are fairly drabbish with what they're willing to put out there)... I know that sounds bad. Ah well. LOL

 

[deejdigsdis]

Moving right along... we headed over to ride the Jungle Cruise. Still needed something calm for our tummies, especially for my sister. We've both noticed that as we get older, we can't handle as much as we used to "back in the day." We have to spread out "the big ones" a bit more, and ride them a bit less often. So frustrating that our memories and minds are steering us one way and our bodies are steering us in another. Apparently we didn't inherit our mother's gene in that department -- she can do all the big ones over and over and it doesn't phase her. No headaches, no motion sickness, etc. Not the funnest thing to be the 37 and 38 year old daughters and the cause of slowing down the 72 year old mother at Disneyland!

Lights in the trees near the Tiki Room and the Adventureland restrooms:

Our wait time was 6-ish minutes. We had a good cruise...meaning we had a good skipper. I had to get a picture of her because she totally looked my high school biology teacher.

After we docked we decided to go ahead and use our Indy FPs that we picked up on our way to ride Pirates earlier. We found a new Hidden Mickey. This is never one I would see and think, "Oh! It's a Hidden Mickey!" but it was listed in The Book. (the nose)

Our Indy FP wait time was 15 minutes. Indy Light:

I've probably said this in every single episode of my TR, but I'll say it again. I always have a goofy smile on my face during this ride. It's just so fun.

After Indy we headed over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It was a must that we get in as many rides as possible this trip. It was closed when my husband and I went to DL last April, and we had a lot of bad luck with it in October. Stuff like the CM roping it off right before we got there at night, the ride breaking down right before we got in our assigned train, etc. It is my favorite of all the "mountain" rides and I don't mind dating myself when I say I still think of this as a new ride. The wait for this one was less than 10 minutes, by the way.

Come along with me on our first BTMRR ride this trip...

Chief:

My sister was behind us:

 

[tksbaskets]

Love the pics of the BTMM but still not seeing the hidden Mickey in that chick's nose....

What's next??

 

[deejdigsdis]

but still not seeing the hidden Mickey in that chick's nose....

This comment almost had me spraying milk out of my nose!! OK... her nose itself is the Hidden Mickey. The exact words in The Book are "On the ceiling, Mara's giant nose is a classic Mickey." So it's that whole shape of the outside of her nostrils and the tip of her nose. Kind of stretching it, I thought.