ColoradoMom!!
Disneyland 1971 with Mickey and Me
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2006
- Messages
- 1,513
Had a blast on Monday, October 30th at the Land! Here are a few new things I learned and a strange turn of events that landed me with one of the BEST DAYS EVER!
As part of a girls’ trip (3 of us - of which I was the planner and tour guide), I ended up tacking on a day at Disneyland with one of my friends who has never been, and an extra day shopping with plans to fly out of John Wayne Halloween night home.
We flew into LAX, and spend time in Malibu (one friend’s daughter is in school there), drove up to Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obipso - touring Cambria and Hearst Castle. Had to drop one friend off at LAX Sunday night on the way back toward Anaheim (she had to work Monday), when the other had a family emergency back in Colorado.
(Her nephew in his 20’s got in a bike, not motorcycle, accident - he’s ok - she just wanted to be there for him. Now after reflecting on the whole thing, I am not sure her heart was in to going to DL. It was cloudy on all most of our beach tours, and she asked me if I had ever done DL when it was overcast).
Anyway, I told her it was ok, change of plans is no biggie if she wanted to get home, I could drop her off, etc. After leaving LAX and driving down, we checked into a great room at Homewood Suites Anaheim Convention Center Sunday. Then she told me she found a great rate on a flight home ($40) Monday (DL DAY) and I assured her I would be just fine here at DL. She said ok, it leaves LAX at noon.
WHAT??????? LAX??????? Oh nooooooooooooooo. We were just there …..
Just keep swimming. Didn’t think to tell her to check SNA only - she didn’t know………that I was secretly counting the time out of the park on my one day there.
So the next morning, we left the hotel at 8:30, drove to LAX dropped her off and made it back to the hotel by 10:40, and into the park by 11:30. It was full on the esplanade to get in, even then - so yes it was crowded , but ……..
YIPPEEEEE!!! Doing DL solo is AWESOME!
Fortunately I had not bought the tickets ahead of time for both of us. So back at the hotel, I bought 1 day DL only + Max pass on my phone for $107 right before I went. Easy as pie to redeem off my phone through the gate - got a paper ticket at gate, and enjoyed the free PhotoPass. Just stopped twice, but so fun with the borders, etc. Crowds are not so much of an issue when you are solo and armed with Maxpass.
RODE Space Mnt 3 times (all front seat) HM twice, BTMRR 3 times, Pirates twice, Train twice, Dole Whip Float and watched the Tiki Room show for the first time since childhood, Indiana Jones, missed Splash because it started raining lightly at 9 and didn’t want to do it. Walked out at 10:45 (close at 10) rode the Toy Story Bus home and slept like a baby.
I chatted with all kinds of folks in line, eavesdropped on conversations….In a weird way, I didn’t feel like I was alone - I think mostly because I booked tons of FP and was on the move!!
One interesting thing being solo is I feel I noticed more details in HM and even Pirates although I have been on them a ton of times before.
OH - and Space broke down during my FP return time. I noticed it when I walked up and saw the special Multiple Experiences FP on my phone. Just then, SM came back up, and I scanned my SM pass assuming I would lose the special one. I didn't! And it said for 2 guests. I used it TWICE! A little DL magic or a glitch, but I was happy!
Two new things I learned:
The front desk at Homewood Suites Anaheim Convention Center gives out a handout with info about their activities for the week, hours for breakfast , etc. It also had info about buying tickets at their front desk. One option was for a TWILIGHT ticket. This floored me as I only thought they were available to convention attendees. I played dumb and asked if I would be allowed to buy a Twilight ticket and how it worked. She said absolutely, cost $79, and I could get in to one park only after 4pm. WOW - it had no convention requirement. I asked. Now if I had tried to buy the ticket - maybe I would have gotten a different story.
The other thing I learned was that I thought that single rider line for Indy for example, worked like it does for the Cars ride in DCA. It doesn't. I asked 4 times at Indy, and they said they were “out” of single rider passes at the time. It depends on wait times, and the CM’s at the front have to bring them to the back of the line so the CM’s there can give them out. Weird, So don’t depend on it - I didn’t get a FP because I thought I could do single rider - wrong! This was not something I knew.
Again, just had a blast. I would encourage you not to opt out of going solo if it is a rare opportunity, and you don't get there much! So glad I did!
As part of a girls’ trip (3 of us - of which I was the planner and tour guide), I ended up tacking on a day at Disneyland with one of my friends who has never been, and an extra day shopping with plans to fly out of John Wayne Halloween night home.
We flew into LAX, and spend time in Malibu (one friend’s daughter is in school there), drove up to Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obipso - touring Cambria and Hearst Castle. Had to drop one friend off at LAX Sunday night on the way back toward Anaheim (she had to work Monday), when the other had a family emergency back in Colorado.
(Her nephew in his 20’s got in a bike, not motorcycle, accident - he’s ok - she just wanted to be there for him. Now after reflecting on the whole thing, I am not sure her heart was in to going to DL. It was cloudy on all most of our beach tours, and she asked me if I had ever done DL when it was overcast).
Anyway, I told her it was ok, change of plans is no biggie if she wanted to get home, I could drop her off, etc. After leaving LAX and driving down, we checked into a great room at Homewood Suites Anaheim Convention Center Sunday. Then she told me she found a great rate on a flight home ($40) Monday (DL DAY) and I assured her I would be just fine here at DL. She said ok, it leaves LAX at noon.
WHAT??????? LAX??????? Oh nooooooooooooooo. We were just there …..
Just keep swimming. Didn’t think to tell her to check SNA only - she didn’t know………that I was secretly counting the time out of the park on my one day there.
So the next morning, we left the hotel at 8:30, drove to LAX dropped her off and made it back to the hotel by 10:40, and into the park by 11:30. It was full on the esplanade to get in, even then - so yes it was crowded , but ……..
YIPPEEEEE!!! Doing DL solo is AWESOME!
Fortunately I had not bought the tickets ahead of time for both of us. So back at the hotel, I bought 1 day DL only + Max pass on my phone for $107 right before I went. Easy as pie to redeem off my phone through the gate - got a paper ticket at gate, and enjoyed the free PhotoPass. Just stopped twice, but so fun with the borders, etc. Crowds are not so much of an issue when you are solo and armed with Maxpass.
RODE Space Mnt 3 times (all front seat) HM twice, BTMRR 3 times, Pirates twice, Train twice, Dole Whip Float and watched the Tiki Room show for the first time since childhood, Indiana Jones, missed Splash because it started raining lightly at 9 and didn’t want to do it. Walked out at 10:45 (close at 10) rode the Toy Story Bus home and slept like a baby.
I chatted with all kinds of folks in line, eavesdropped on conversations….In a weird way, I didn’t feel like I was alone - I think mostly because I booked tons of FP and was on the move!!
One interesting thing being solo is I feel I noticed more details in HM and even Pirates although I have been on them a ton of times before.
OH - and Space broke down during my FP return time. I noticed it when I walked up and saw the special Multiple Experiences FP on my phone. Just then, SM came back up, and I scanned my SM pass assuming I would lose the special one. I didn't! And it said for 2 guests. I used it TWICE! A little DL magic or a glitch, but I was happy!
Two new things I learned:
The front desk at Homewood Suites Anaheim Convention Center gives out a handout with info about their activities for the week, hours for breakfast , etc. It also had info about buying tickets at their front desk. One option was for a TWILIGHT ticket. This floored me as I only thought they were available to convention attendees. I played dumb and asked if I would be allowed to buy a Twilight ticket and how it worked. She said absolutely, cost $79, and I could get in to one park only after 4pm. WOW - it had no convention requirement. I asked. Now if I had tried to buy the ticket - maybe I would have gotten a different story.
The other thing I learned was that I thought that single rider line for Indy for example, worked like it does for the Cars ride in DCA. It doesn't. I asked 4 times at Indy, and they said they were “out” of single rider passes at the time. It depends on wait times, and the CM’s at the front have to bring them to the back of the line so the CM’s there can give them out. Weird, So don’t depend on it - I didn’t get a FP because I thought I could do single rider - wrong! This was not something I knew.
Again, just had a blast. I would encourage you not to opt out of going solo if it is a rare opportunity, and you don't get there much! So glad I did!
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