Mommy and Daughter Disneyland Trip (8/19 completed!)

[daisy_77]

This will be my second attempt at a DL trip report. My last trip to DL was in August and it was with extended family…’nuff said. It was a nightmare trip of epic proportions. The only thing I was truly excited about was my photopass pictures with my DD and my nephew. When I got home, I realized that I no longer had my photopass. It somehow disappeared. I lost it and not sure where or how. It probably got thrown out by mistake. D’oh . That was one of the main reasons I was not too keen on finishing my report---plus, I got busy with school and family stuff. BUT, this time I will get this bad boy rolled out.

Small Cast:
Me…I work in special education primarily with kids with behavior and emotional problems. I love Disney, but there are other things I enjoy: scrapbooking, camping, my job, and of course my DD and DH!

DD, 3.5…Ah, this sweet child of mine. She is 3 going on 16. She loves princesses and thinks she is one. She is also very bashful at first…but don’t let that fool you…she is a spit fire!

DH...does not like Disneyland (however he does like WDW-go figure ). So he and his best pal (his wife was also out of town) went camping for a boys weekend.

Preparations:
This trip was originally going to be my first attempt at a solo trip. But guilt got the better of me and I decided to take DD. Our last trip was spent mostly waiting for my aunts to finish smoking and my teenage cousins hanging out in the bathroom. They are local and can go whenever they want…I don’t have that luxury. I wanted a re-do. I wanted to ride what I wanted, when I wanted, eat what I wanted, when I wanted, and…you get the picture.

I had a Southwest voucher that needed to be used and my AP was burning a hole in my pocket. I was so excited to go! I checked some Dings and saw that I could pay for a RT ticket for me and DD and still have some moolah left on the voucher. The wheels started turning...combine that with guilt...it looked like DD was coming to DL with me! The entire month of May was me planning and getting things ready for our trip. DD was excited too and I realized I should have waited to tell her because every morning she would ask if we were going to Disneyland today.

I found a great rate at the last minute on Expedia. I booked the Carousel Inn for 3 nights in a standard queen room. I was hoping to stay at BWPPI or Camelot...but they were both unavailable for the last night of our trip.

I went to Target (our official Disney prep store ) and got all sorts of stuff: OTC medications, Clorox wipes, mini-Lysol, baby wipes, chapstick, sunscreen, some shorts for DD, dryerase activity book for Maddie and some snacks for our room. After spending a small fortune, I started to pack and get all of our stuff together. We were leaving soon!!

The trip begins:
Friday, June 6th
Our flight was departing at 7:15 am. I woke up at 4:30 and got ready. The rest of our stuff got packed and woke up DD. DH dropped us off at the airport at around 6:00 am. We were already checked in and had our boarding passes. I did that 24 hours prior to departure...which is a nice perk from SW.
We boarded our plane shortly after getting to our gate. DD was good on the flight and we landed at LAX about 3 hours later.

DD on the flight before we take off:

DD on the DL Express:

LAX is a scary airport to me. It is big and there are sooo many people. I guess I have lived in Idaho too long. We found the area to wait for the DL Express and it seemed like an eternity but the bus finally showed up. After all the terminal pick-ups we were on our way. My notes say we got on the DL Express at 10:18 am and got to our bus stop at noon. We were also one of the last stops. Not too bad. If I had to, I would use DL Express again.


More coming up----

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Looking forward to more. I was there on Friday and Saturday of your trip.

For future reference, Disney may be able to find missing photopass pics if you can describe the pictures on the pass with details such as what you were wearing at the time and who the pictures were with.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

January! Yay! I can't wait for more! And your Maddie is absolutely beautiful!!

 

[daisy_77]

We made our way to the Carousel Inn to check in. It wasn't too far from the bus stop and really close to the crosswalk to DL/DCA/DTD.

***My personal opinion/review on the Carousel Inn:***

When we first walked in, I noticed two people working the front desk. DD and I were the only ones in there. No "hello", "how are you", or "can I help you" or even just a smile. Nothing. Just ignored us. The woman was on the phone and the guy was just looking down and poking the woman on the phone and they were giggling. Was I missing something?? Am I invisible? Hello?? FINALLY, the guy looks up at me kind of bewildered and was like, Um, can I help you? No I want to stand here all day with a tired 3 year old, two suitcases a backpack and stroller. So, I get checked in and they tell me my room was not ready. I am 100% fine with that. I understand that we were waaay early for check-in. I asked if they could stow our luggage and the guy said that we could set it by the door. Okaaaaay. I don't think so. I asked if they stow and they told me I could leave it there and it will be ok. I am not sure if I have stupid stamped on my forehead but I wasn't completely understanding why they couldn't just put my luggage in the back or something. Plus, they weren't on the professional side and I would not trust either one with my luggage. I already felt weird giving him my CC number for the $2 a day charge.

So, DD and I hauled our luggage to Quizno's and had lunch. We shared a sandwich, chips and a cookie. DD had milk and I had a diet Pepsi. Well, that is what I originally got. It tasted like what a dirty pond smells like. It was nasty. I got the raspberry lemonade instead. The girls at the counter tasted it and they agreed something wasn't right. But my food was good and I have no complaints about Quizno's. Although....they were having too much fun interacting with the front desk employees. You could see it all from the way that the restaurant and hotel are set up. Two big windows facing one another with only about 10 feet in between them. I am seriously wondering where the heck a manager was or if there was one even on site. This was the worst display of customer service employees I have ever seen.

About an hour later we got our room and it was nice. We had a queen bed, a small chair, a table with one chair, a television, microwave, and fridge. It was decent and the bed was so comfy. The room was clean. The only thing that the room lacked was quiet. I could hear the elevator ding, the people using the plumbing next door and people walking/running by. It is a hotel and some things cannot be controlled. The only complaint I have is about the employees at the front desk.

Here are some pictures of the room (these pics were taken on our last day):

After getting settled in our room, we headed to California Adventure!

 

[daisy_77]

Looking forward to more. I was there on Friday and Saturday of your trip.

For future reference, Disney may be able to find missing photopass pics if you can describe the pictures on the pass with details such as what you were wearing at the time and who the pictures were with.

Thank you! Yeah, this is good advice for future trips.

January! Yay! I can't wait for more! And your Maddie is absolutely beautiful!!

Aw, thanks!

I appreciate you reading! I will try to get this TR done by the weekend.

 

[toocherie]

Hi January!

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip!

Cheryl

 

[daisy_77]

Hi January!

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip!

Cheryl

Thanks! I am starting another update tonight!

 

[Stacerita]

Thanks for sharing. I'm looking forward to hearing about your time in the parks.

 

[daisy_77]

Hmmm...now where was I??

Oh, yes! DD and I were heading to California Adventure. The walk along Harbor from our hotel to DL and CA was so short. Traveling alone with a little girl, I was thinking a lot about safety and there was no issues for us. There were plenty of families out, even at midnight. I still played it safe but was happy to see that I was among nice people.

After getting my bagged checked out, we headed to the turnstiles. Surprisingly, there was quite a line at 1:00 pm. I didn't care...I WAS FINALLY HERE!!! And the park wasn't even crowded.

We walked over to the Hollywood area towards Monsters, Inc. DD was afraid at first because it is dark---but she ended up loving it and we rode it again! After all this talk on the DL boards of screaming teens, I must say we did sit in a car with a couple of teen girls who were sweet to Maddie and telling her it wasn't scary and calling her a little princess. Maddie loved the attention. Sooo, not all teenagers are naughty. Just some. And we did encounter a lot of them...the naughty ones.

We started to walk over to Muppets and got in line. DD decided she was too afraid to ride so we left. I was tempted to just make her go in. I have only seen Muppet Vision 3D at WDW. I was really curious to see this one. Oh, well...maybe some other time...like in March for the Dis Ladies Trip!

We headed towards A Bug's Land area to see what was going on over there. Maddie freaked out! She was in heaven! We rode Heimlich's Chew Chew Train and Flik's Flyers. We rode Flik's Flyers three times. There was no line.

I really liked the scents on the Chew Chew and the watermelon mist. So cute!

Heimlich's:

Flik's:

It was getting hot so we headed to water area by the entrance of the Bug's Land area. We also got a Mickey Head ice cream and water to share. Well....DD wasn't too keen on sharing the ice cream.

Loving the Mickey Ice Cream:

Playing in the water:

Neat bug:

She loves spiders:

We both enjoyed this part of the park and spent quite a bit of time here. Maddie was getting tired so we headed back to the hotel. She needed a nap before having dinner with the princesses. But first we stopped at the drink stand near Francis' Ladybug Boogie and got a Tinker Bell Twist! It was yummy!!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Nice pictures. You mentioned Muppet Vision. The queue has some differences from the Florida original, but the show itself is identical. So what you missed seeing was the queue, which is fun.

 

[daisy_77]

There was one part that I forgot in my last installment---

After we got the Tinker Bell Twist we headed to the Hyperion Theatre for Aladdin. We had gotten preferred seating passes that I won on eBay and I was dying to see this show. So we gave the CM our stubs and he sent us to a holding pen with some other preferred seating peeps. We waited for about 20 minutes and then they let us in. Maddie was so excited to see Jasmine! I asked the CM leading us in if we could wait to sit in the Mezzanine. He told me that all preferred seating is in the Orchestra area. Um...okaaay. I was sorta bummed because I wanted to see Aladdin and Jasmine flying on the magic carpet from up high. Well, the show started and as soon as they had the Cave of Wonders with the big tiger mouth, Maddie freaked out. She was screaming that she was scared and that she wanted to go home. So, I tried to play it cool and say it is all pretend and that Jasmine was going to be showing up soon. She just kept screaming and I felt like the worst mom in the world. We got up and left. The CM with a flashlight asked if we were coming back and Maddie screams out "NO". We started walking toward the exit to go back to the room. After about 10 minutes she asked if we could go back and see Jasmine now.

We headed to the room and Maddie jumps out of the stroller and immediately starts taking her dress off to take a nap. She tells me that she is sooo tired and needs sleep. I guess you had to be there. LOL

While she slept, I took a shower and got some more of our stuff put away. I got her Belle dress ready for dinner with Ariel and the other princesses. I was a bit nervous about this meal because DD can be weird about characters. Especially princesses. She will pick one to like and the rest get the cold shoulder. She did this at WDW. She met Belle and that is all she wanted. The rest could eat dirt. Well, this time was no different.

Our dinner ressie was at 7:00. I woke Maddie up at 6:00 pm. I got her all prettied up with her gown, glittery nailpolish, glittery hairspray and a little crown comb to stick up in her hair. She looked adorable! I love that my little girl likes to dress up. She loves makeup and clothes. Unfortunately she also has the attitude that accompanies being a diva.

We got to Ariel's Grotto at 6:50 pm. We checked in and the CM said it would be about 10-20 minutes. That was fine. We sat on the bench next to the front entrance and waited and waited. And waited. I noticed that they were seating people who were just walking up. I looked at the time...it was 7:45 pm! I walked up and asked the same CM when we were going to be seated. She just looked at me confused and said I can seat you now. I told her that we had been waiting for almost an hour. She didn't care. She said someone messed up. No apology and no button for DD. I was none to happy with that CM. That bad feeling kinda disappeared when DD saw Ariel. She ran right up to her and gave her a huge hug. Ariel was telling DD that she loved her hair and that she has red hair too. Maddie was almost speechless. She did tell Ariel that she loved her. It was really sweet. Well, after the picture taking, we got seated at the worst seat in the place. It was this table that was super wobbly right were the servers come out with food. We were also sitting right up on the table next to ours. A bit awkward since they were uncomfortable with us sitting that close to them. THEN, when their server came up to them he bumped Maddie and she fell hard off her chair. I was not pleased with the service at this restaurant. I never got a refill and they brought our meal out five minutes after they brought out our appetizers. I just felt disappointed and frustrated. Not being seated, DD falling, crappy service....I am trying to forget it. Our other character dining experience the next day almost has this one beat...but that will come later. First the pics:

Ariel (this is my camera--we ended up buying the $32 picture):

Cinderella (she was sweet but Maddie was not interested):

Aurora (I was started to get embarassed at this point) :

Belle (she still digs Belle ):

Snow White (this pic says it all ):

The food was alright. I got the House salad, fish and chips and the chocolate cake. Maddie got the veggies and dip, chicken nuggets and yogurt parfait. I will most likely not come here again. At least not until Maddie is older or if we are with her cousins. I thought about complaining to the manager, which is not something I normally do. I was po'd about how we were treated. I decided not to because I would rather use our last 20 minutes until the park closes to get a spot for the Electrical Parade.

Up next: The Electrical Parade!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Sorry to hear that you had bad experiences. May I suggest sending an email to Disneyland guest services that relayed your experiences. They need to know that mistakes were made and there was no effort to correct them or even apologize for them. That's not a good thing for any company, especially one with a reputation for customer service like Disney.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

I'm sorry you guys had a crummy time at Ariel's. We had PS's for breakfast on the 2nd day of our trip, and the girl at the front podium was such a do-do. I should have complained I was so PO'd with her. We had PS's at 10:00 and we showed up at like 10:15, so I was thinking "okay, well, they probably gave our PS to someone else and will make us wait in line". So I go up and tell her and the other CM that we have PS's for 10 and we're late. She stares at me like I'm stupid and goes "Uhhh, you guys are late" NO DUH! So then I say, "can we just stay in the standby line?" Well, she goes "Uhhh.. We stop serving breakfast at 10:30". WHAT! 10:30??? The park opened at 10! What are you talking about?!?!!?! I don't know if she was lying to me or not. I kept wanting to call Disney Dining and ask. I was so mad.

Okay, anyways. Enough with complaing! Maddie picked the right princess! You got a smart girl!! Good choice!!

 

[daisy_77]

Sorry to hear that you had bad experiences. May I suggest sending an email to Disneyland guest services that relayed your experiences. They need to know that mistakes were made and there was no effort to correct them or even apologize for them. That's not a good thing for any company, especially one with a reputation for customer service like Disney.

I saw your post and just sent them an email. Something has to be pretty bad for me to complain. I worked in retail and customer service for many years and I know sometimes things happen. But I feel we were mistreated. And I felt bad for my daughter. I am glad she is a "go with the flow" type kid.

I'm sorry you guys had a crummy time at Ariel's. We had PS's for breakfast on the 2nd day of our trip, and the girl at the front podium was such a do-do. I should have complained I was so PO'd with her. We had PS's at 10:00 and we showed up at like 10:15, so I was thinking "okay, well, they probably gave our PS to someone else and will make us wait in line". So I go up and tell her and the other CM that we have PS's for 10 and we're late. She stares at me like I'm stupid and goes "Uhhh, you guys are late" NO DUH! So then I say, "can we just stay in the standby line?" Well, she goes "Uhhh.. We stop serving breakfast at 10:30". WHAT! 10:30??? The park opened at 10! What are you talking about?!?!!?! I don't know if she was lying to me or not. I kept wanting to call Disney Dining and ask. I was so mad.

Okay, anyways. Enough with complaing! Maddie picked the right princess! You got a smart girl!! Good choice!!

Ugh! I am sorry you had a bad experience too. I wonder if it was the same CM. I think that there definitely needs to be some housecleaning at Ariel's. The only CM's that were good were the characters. They were awesome! Snow White even had that high, super-sweet voice.

Oh and I forgot to mention the CM who was hugging and kissing some guy (her boyfriend??) by the entrance where Ariel sits. It was weird. I have never seen anything like that at DL or WDW.

Maddie has been carrying around her Ariel plush since we got home. She really loved meeting Ariel and it is neat when they are that young because she really thinks that was Ariel.

 

[daisy_77]

We headed out of Ariel's and down toward the Golden Dreams area. There was a wall of people. I was about ready to give up finding a spot and then a really nice man from Austrailia let me and DD get in front of him. I am really short (5'1") and DD was in her stroller, so he could see fine with us in front of him . He was very sweet and very chatty. He talked and talked. It wasn't annoying, it was interesting stuff! I love talking to people from other countries.

The parade started and DD was in heaven! She loves lights and SpectroMagic at WDW was her favorite...so this was right up her alley. I had not seen the Electrical Parade since I was kid so this was a nice experience for me too.

I took pics but I am a little lost when it comes to night shots. DH is the expert on that. So no pics because they are a blurry mess. I did get some shots of DD though---

I tried to get a pic of us but my bangs fell into my eyes.

The parade was awesome! Although, when Dumbo and the clowns showed up it creeped me out a bit. Clowns scare me .

We headed out towards Engine Ear toys and did a Build your Own Mr Potato Head. We got all the princess pieces that they had and the Tinker Bell shoes and hair. I couldn't believe I got it to all fit! I forgot to put a nose in...so our poor potato head has no nose. I will just have to get one next time. I also got Maddie an Ariel necklace and a lollipop.

We were both so tired! It was a busy day of traveling and spending time at the park. Maddie got in the bath, put her pj's on and crashed.

 

[toocherie]

LOVE the Princess pictures! she wasn't having any of it, was she! LOL Little stinker!

Sorry about the time at Ariel's --I've never done that one but haven't ever heard good feedback about it. I would have complained while I was there (even if they thought I was a b%*()^). When the Ladies had breakfast at Goofy's and we had only seen one character after an hour I complained--twice--and then we saw about five characters in the space of 10 minutes. It's so much nicer when they come periodically.

Can't wait for next March and to be able to spend time with you again--you are so much fun to talk to! (well, actually--everyone I've met has been)

 

[daisy_77]

LOVE the Princess pictures! she wasn't having any of it, was she! LOL Little stinker!

Sorry about the time at Ariel's --I've never done that one but haven't ever heard good feedback about it. I would have complained while I was there (even if they thought I was a b%*()^). When the Ladies had breakfast at Goofy's and we had only seen one character after an hour I complained--twice--and then we saw about five characters in the space of 10 minutes. It's so much nicer when they come periodically.

Can't wait for next March and to be able to spend time with you again--you are so much fun to talk to! (well, actually--everyone I've met has been)

Thanks! I love dressing her up like a princess...I am glad she likes it, too! LOL
She was being a stinker...I think it took the princesses by surprise. She was loving Belle, though. I thought they all did an excellent job and it was pretty much the only thing that made the experience decent. I think back and I should have said something at the time. I need to learn to speak up more.

It was great meeting you! I wish I could have spent more time with you and the other gals. I am really looking forward to March! I hope time flies!!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

They were awesome! Snow White even had that high, super-sweet voice.

It's amazing how much attention to detail Disney has in the face characters. I met Snow White for the first time in December(she was the first princess in the pff and Sleeping Beauty was the 2nd), and was amazed at her voice. The other thing I've noticed is Sleeping Beauty's height. The vertical design of the film made Disney design her taller so she would fit with the backgrounds of the film itself. Now, I'm 6'4, so a lot of people who aren't necessarily short feel short next to me, but when I look at the pictures I've had with Sleeping Beauty, I'm not towering over her(granted in the one in my Christmas TR, she's towering over me since I'm on one knee . )

Such attention to "little" things really adds to the experience. I've seen Sleeping Beauty so many times that I would notice if something about one of the characters from the film was off, but I never have.

 

[DisDancerina]

THANK GOD I FOUND THIS TR! I've been missing your TRs

 

[daisy_77]

It's amazing how much attention to detail Disney has in the face characters. I met Snow White for the first time in December(she was the first princess in the pff and Sleeping Beauty was the 2nd), and was amazed at her voice. The other thing I've noticed is Sleeping Beauty's height. The vertical design of the film made Disney design her taller so she would fit with the backgrounds of the film itself. Now, I'm 6'4, so a lot of people who aren't necessarily short feel short next to me, but when I look at the pictures I've had with Sleeping Beauty, I'm not towering over her(granted in the one in my Christmas TR, she's towering over me since I'm on one knee . )

Such attention to "little" things really adds to the experience. I've seen Sleeping Beauty so many times that I would notice if something about one of the characters from the film was off, but I never have.

Wow, that is pretty neat info about Sleeping Beauty! I would have never known. I always just think how beautiful they are and how they never sweat off their makeup in the heat.

THANK GOD I FOUND THIS TR! I've been missing your TRs

Hi, Dani!
Glad to see you here!