I took my two boys, 10 & 4, to Disneyland for a few days and to attend the Halloween Party at DCA. We went last year at this time (but DH went then) and really enjoyed it, so when we had to postpone our trip to WDW I thought that I would book a trip to DL, since I was comfortable taking them by myself there because we had been many times. We stayed at DLH (we were originally booked for GC, but I had to change the dates because of football for DS10 and GC was booked for the new time period). We usually don't stay on property because we like lots of room and all of us crammed in 1 room doesn't make for a pretty picture, 
but since I was taking them alone I thought that I would try it. The hotel was nice, but not OVERLY nice if you know what I mean. However, on Sat 11/3 we could watch the fireworks from our room which made it TOTALLY worth it!!!! Originally I had booked the GC, since it is so close, but the walk from DLH was not bad at all. It took us maybe 7-10 minutes to walk from our room to the security check (and that was with two kids stopping to look at stuff too).
Monday, 10/30:
We arrived at SNA at about 9:00 p.m. I had arranged for an Execucar from Super Shuttle to pick us up. He was waiting for us when we went downstairs, and got the luggage and took it to the car (which was in the parking garage). Everything was very smooth. He dropped us off at the front and bell services took our bags while I went to check in. I had booked this trip through Expedia, because I cannot book airfare with Disney directly (we fly out of a small airport in Wyoming). When I tried to check-in they had NO record of my reservation. I started to panic a little, but the CM said that she would check us in on a one-night reservation and they would straighten it out in the morning. As a plus, my boys got to be honorary CM's and got to go behind the counter and have me sign for our park tickets. They took a picture of this, but I didn't get a copy (even though I asked later in the week). We got to the room and CRASHED!!!
Tuesday, 10/31:
Since we were on Mountain time we were up early. We got ready and went to find something for breakfast. We ended up at Whitewater Snacks (we ended up eating here several times during the week, since a lot of things were not open until later). After this we had EE at DL at 9:00. We got to do quite a bit in Fantasyland. Note: Last year when we went DS4 (then just barely 3) went on EVERYTHING. He cried when he had to get off. He LOVED splash mountain, BTMRR, everything. This year was a totally different story. If it was dark, he hated it. If it had "hills", he hated it. Basically the things he liked were Pooh (even thought it's dark), Astro Orbitors, Buzz (dark also), and a few things at DCA. We stayed at DL until after lunch, then went back for a nap because we had the halloween party at DCA that night. The party was nice. All of us really enjoyed it. In fact, we're STILL eating the candy we brought back.
Wednesday, 11/1-Friday, 11/3:
The next few days, were pretty much the same. We went to both DL and DCA. The crowds were low, with wait times usually under 10 minutes with many walk-ons. We usually went early in the morning and stayed through lunch, then back the the room for a nap and pool time. I thought the pool was FREEZING, but it didn't bother my boys at all. One neat thing: One morning after leaving Monsters Inc., we got the Dream Fastpasses. It was neat, but with the wait times as low as they were it really wasn't necessary. But it made for a neat souvenier.
Saturday, 11/4:
This was check-out day. I forgot to mention that the front desk did get everything worked out with Expedia, but when we got the bill under the door, it was for 4 nights, even though I had pre-paid with Expedia. I had to go downstairs, but they resolved it pretty quickly. They didn't have the TV's on in the lobby any time we were there. It would have been nice, since I didn't have anybody with me to take the kids, they just had to sit there each time. Execucar was late picking us up, but our flight wasn't until 11:30 (and ended up being 30 minutes late!), so we were OK.
Overall the trip was GREAT!!!! My boys were really well behaved (moreso than at home!). I think they knew that Mom needed them to be, and I would have no trouble traveling with them alone again. We ate at the following places:
ESPN Zone (dinner)
Rainforest Cafe (dinner)
Goofy's Kitchen (dinner)
Storyteller's (dinner)
Hungry Bear (lunch)
Pizza Place in Tomorrowland (lunch-2days)
If you have any questions, I'd be happy to try to answer. Also, DVC was everywhere. They were really trying to push it, or maybe I just noticed it more than previous trips. For now, I'm thinking about trying to book our WDW vacation for next year, or who knows, we may end up at DL again like the last 5 years!!!
Kari
but since I was taking them alone I thought that I would try it. The hotel was nice, but not OVERLY nice if you know what I mean. However, on Sat 11/3 we could watch the fireworks from our room which made it TOTALLY worth it!!!! Originally I had booked the GC, since it is so close, but the walk from DLH was not bad at all. It took us maybe 7-10 minutes to walk from our room to the security check (and that was with two kids stopping to look at stuff too). Monday, 10/30:
We arrived at SNA at about 9:00 p.m. I had arranged for an Execucar from Super Shuttle to pick us up. He was waiting for us when we went downstairs, and got the luggage and took it to the car (which was in the parking garage). Everything was very smooth. He dropped us off at the front and bell services took our bags while I went to check in. I had booked this trip through Expedia, because I cannot book airfare with Disney directly (we fly out of a small airport in Wyoming). When I tried to check-in they had NO record of my reservation. I started to panic a little, but the CM said that she would check us in on a one-night reservation and they would straighten it out in the morning. As a plus, my boys got to be honorary CM's and got to go behind the counter and have me sign for our park tickets. They took a picture of this, but I didn't get a copy (even though I asked later in the week). We got to the room and CRASHED!!!
Tuesday, 10/31:
Since we were on Mountain time we were up early. We got ready and went to find something for breakfast. We ended up at Whitewater Snacks (we ended up eating here several times during the week, since a lot of things were not open until later). After this we had EE at DL at 9:00. We got to do quite a bit in Fantasyland. Note: Last year when we went DS4 (then just barely 3) went on EVERYTHING. He cried when he had to get off. He LOVED splash mountain, BTMRR, everything. This year was a totally different story. If it was dark, he hated it. If it had "hills", he hated it. Basically the things he liked were Pooh (even thought it's dark), Astro Orbitors, Buzz (dark also), and a few things at DCA. We stayed at DL until after lunch, then went back for a nap because we had the halloween party at DCA that night. The party was nice. All of us really enjoyed it. In fact, we're STILL eating the candy we brought back.
Wednesday, 11/1-Friday, 11/3:
The next few days, were pretty much the same. We went to both DL and DCA. The crowds were low, with wait times usually under 10 minutes with many walk-ons. We usually went early in the morning and stayed through lunch, then back the the room for a nap and pool time. I thought the pool was FREEZING, but it didn't bother my boys at all. One neat thing: One morning after leaving Monsters Inc., we got the Dream Fastpasses. It was neat, but with the wait times as low as they were it really wasn't necessary. But it made for a neat souvenier.
Saturday, 11/4:
This was check-out day. I forgot to mention that the front desk did get everything worked out with Expedia, but when we got the bill under the door, it was for 4 nights, even though I had pre-paid with Expedia. I had to go downstairs, but they resolved it pretty quickly. They didn't have the TV's on in the lobby any time we were there. It would have been nice, since I didn't have anybody with me to take the kids, they just had to sit there each time. Execucar was late picking us up, but our flight wasn't until 11:30 (and ended up being 30 minutes late!), so we were OK.
Overall the trip was GREAT!!!! My boys were really well behaved (moreso than at home!
). I think they knew that Mom needed them to be, and I would have no trouble traveling with them alone again. We ate at the following places:ESPN Zone (dinner)
Rainforest Cafe (dinner)
Goofy's Kitchen (dinner)
Storyteller's (dinner)
Hungry Bear (lunch)
Pizza Place in Tomorrowland (lunch-2days)
If you have any questions, I'd be happy to try to answer. Also, DVC was everywhere. They were really trying to push it, or maybe I just noticed it more than previous trips. For now, I'm thinking about trying to book our WDW vacation for next year, or who knows, we may end up at DL again like the last 5 years!!!
Kari
