(More than)A FIVE years of Trips! -- TR Started! Day One - updated 6/10

[hurleysweety]

Wow! What a great and amazing trip! We saw and did so many things that I cannot wait to share with you. We spent about 3 days in Disney, and 3 days around Long Beach and Hollywood and Huntington Beach. I took a lot of pictures of things outside Disney to help with anyone interested in planning a day trip or beach day while on their Disney vacation. Here is what I will be covering in this report:

• Long Beach Port and Hotels
• Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Harbor
• Long Beach's Rainbow Harbor and Shoreline Village
• Madame Tussads
• El Capitan Theater
• Disney Soda Fountain
• Hollywood Walk of Fame
• Graumen's Chinese Theater
• Highland & Hollywood Shopping Center
• The Hollywood Museum
• Santa Monica Pier
• Sony Pictures Studio Tour
• Paramount Pictures Studio Tour
• WB Studio Tour
• The Grove
• The Original Farmers Market
• Griffith Park Observatory
• The LA Go Card
• Huntington Beach (parking, shopping, dining)
• Hilton Anaheim Hotel
• Cars Land & how to get on Radiator Springs Racers (RSR)
• LA Traffic
• Hotel Tonight app

I'm really hoping to complete this trip report. I'm going to try and post something small each day and hope that eventually it is complete. Please ask lots of questions!!! That helps me out the most and keeps me motivated!

 

[DLR29]

Oh my goodness that's a lot of stuff you did! I love how the LA traffic gets the . I'll be thinking of some good questions! I'm in.

 

[hurleysweety]

Oh my goodness that's a lot of stuff you did! I love how the LA traffic gets the . I'll be thinking of some good questions! I'm in.

Thanks! I might only have on reader, but its better than none and glad to have you here!

 

[hurleysweety]

So today's post is actually of a thread that I just started. Its my review of RSR and getting on RSR. I posted it on the main thread so that it could help others like so many helped me before our trip, and so many other trips before that!

I posted a video of the crazy crowds, and also some info regarding how we got our FPs and on another day, our experience with the single rider line. Its the GOLDEN ticket, btw. DH and I lucked out and got to ride in the same car. Waited 45 minutes, even with 2 breakdowns!

Here is the thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2947756

 

[3inthefamily]

I'm following along! Hadn't heard of the GO Pass until I read your TR. We are going to Anaheim/San Diego in August for the first time and I am still trying to make decisions about what to see and do!

 

[blabbermouth]

Wow, I can't believe that sea of people! At least they all looked happy

 

[DLR29]

That information is actually really helpful in future planning! I can't believe you were the 2nd person from the regular guests and you got that late of a return time! I'm going in a few weeks for 1 day with a friend who hasn't been in a while, and I keep going back and forth about whether to do FP or SR for the Racers...hmmm.

 

[Sherry E]

I just wanted to let you know that I'm here too, but I may only occasionally pop in and comment! The reason for that is that I am behind on finishing two of my own different TR's - one is from June 9th when I did the Cars Land/Buena Vista Street preview, and the other is my rather depressing holiday trip to DLR in December (a long, long-delayed TR)! I am lucky I still have any readers hanging in there with me at all, considering that I am so behind!

So, because of the fact that I have to get rollin' on my reports, I can't devote as much time as I would like to reading all the updates in other folks' TR's (such as yours) as they come in and then commenting. I may have to get caught up later, or in random intervals!

I will say that I'm very interested to read your opinions of Cars Land/Buena Vista Street (and see pictures) because you went when these lands were actually officially open. When I saw them it was an AP preview - so the crowds were substantially lighter. In fact, there was plenty of room to move around and see everything, and the lines for the rides were downright short!

Also the Storytellers statue on BVS was still boxed up and had not yet been unveiled during my preview!

I kept wondering, "What will this place look like when it's officially open to the public? It will be a whole different experience!" (I still remember when ToonTown opened in 1993 - that land was a madhouse full of people for a long, long time after its debut.) So I can't wait to read a trip report from someone who visited soon after the official opening!

And, I'm interested in your Farmers Market/The Grove segment for 2 reasons:

A) Because I live right down the street from those places and I go there quite often just to stroll around, take photos, celebrity watch or whatever, so I tend to take them for granted. I like to hear what other people think who do not go to Farmers Market and The Grove a lot, or who have never been there at all!; and

B) Because I grew up going to the Original Farmers Market (back when it was a whole different layout than what you see now) - as a child I was there every weekend - and it will always hold a place in my heart!

 

[hurleysweety]

I'm following along! Hadn't heard of the GO Pass until I read your TR. We are going to Anaheim/San Diego in August for the first time and I am still trying to make decisions about what to see and do!

Thanks for reading!

We really liked the Go Card. I'll have to do my review about it soon since it was our first "thing" that we really did. And I know a lot of others are going on trips soon and might benefit from a card like that. San Diego has a card too for many attractions. I think the trick with it is deciding how many days you will want to use it. Luckily, they don't have to be consecutive. Like DLR tix, you have 14 days to use them all up!

Wow, I can't believe that sea of people! At least they all looked happy

I should have taken a video on Wednesday night when we went to watch WoC for the 10:15 show. That same sea of people were leaving the parks, probably from the 9:00 show. It was so massive that our friends with us were actually stunned at the amount of people exiting the park. I didn't pay attention to their expressions then, but I feel like a few might have looked a tad bit grumpy or tired by that point. And like our friends, a lot of the fully awake excited kids of the morning, were most likely passed out in their strollers.

That information is actually really helpful in future planning! I can't believe you were the 2nd person from the regular guests and you got that late of a return time! I'm going in a few weeks for 1 day with a friend who hasn't been in a while, and I keep going back and forth about whether to do FP or SR for the Racers...hmmm.

My advice would be to try doing FP first, but not bending over backwards and causing a lot of frustration to do that. I would get in line and then evaluate the situation, since every second counts. If you get in line and realize you are incredibly far back and that it is moving slowly, it might be a poor waste of that precious first hour in the park. So I would go enjoy a 15 min wait for Toy Story or the other Cars Land attractions if those interest you instead. After all, you should be having fun! I always have to remind myself of that! So if they aren't available or the line is long, just do a SR line (preferably in the morning, later in the day you might run into the line being temporaily closed or the ride broken down). And then maybe you'll have the chance to ride it more than once, too!

Hope you both have a great time!

I just wanted to let you know that I'm here too, but I may only occasionally pop in and comment! The reason for that is that I am behind on finishing two of my own different TR's - one is from June 9th when I did the Cars Land/Buena Vista Street preview, and the other is my rather depressing holiday trip to DLR in December (a long, long-delayed TR)! I am lucky I still have any readers hanging in there with me at all, considering that I am so behind!

So, because of the fact that I have to get rollin' on my reports, I can't devote as much time as I would like to reading all the updates in other folks' TR's (such as yours) as they come in and then commenting. I may have to get caught up later, or in random intervals!

I will say that I'm very interested to read your opinions of Cars Land/Buena Vista Street (and see pictures) because you went when these lands were actually officially open. When I saw them it was an AP preview - so the crowds were substantially lighter. In fact, there was plenty of room to move around and see everything, and the lines for the rides were downright short!

Also the Storytellers statue on BVS was still boxed up and had not yet been unveiled during my preview!

I kept wondering, "What will this place look like when it's officially open to the public? It will be a whole different experience!" (I still remember when ToonTown opened in 1993 - that land was a madhouse full of people for a long, long time after its debut.) So I can't wait to read a trip report from someone who visited soon after the official opening!

And, I'm interested in your Farmers Market/The Grove segment for 2 reasons:

A) Because I live right down the street from those places and I go there quite often just to stroll around, take photos, celebrity watch or whatever, so I tend to take them for granted. I like to hear what other people think who do not go to Farmers Market and The Grove a lot, or who have never been there at all!; and

B) Because I grew up going to the Original Farmers Market (back when it was a whole different layout than what you see now) - as a child I was there every weekend - and it will always hold a place in my heart!

Thanks for reading and good to hear from you!

I might have to pop on over to your TRs and give a bit of motivation to finish the holiday TR. The curiosity in me wants to know what was so disappointing. I hope the Cars Land/BVS preview made up for it! Must have been nice to experience it a much less crowded manner and actually "see" Cars Land, instead of a sea of people IN Cars Land. With so many people, its hard to see all the details.

And now you have me very eager to share my Farmer's Market experience. Let's just put it this way, it was one of the best decisions I made for us during our entire LA/Hollywood stay.

 

[kmedina]

Excited to hear more about your trip. Did you end up eating at CC on Friday? We were quoted a 10 minute wait after arriving only two minutes early. It took over 20 before we got in though. They were pretty busy upstairs. No one was downstairs though.

 

[hurleysweety]

Excited to hear more about your trip. Did you end up eating at CC on Friday? We were quoted a 10 minute wait after arriving only two minutes early. It took over 20 before we got in though. They were pretty busy upstairs. No one was downstairs though.

No, unfortunately we went home on Friday evening and therefore grabbed a quick bite at Redd Rockets. Let's just say Friday didn't go as planned, but don't worry, we're fine.

We stopped in on Wednesday to see the menu in the lounge and really liked what we saw. It was around 2 pm, so there was only one other group in there and they hadn't ordered anything yet. I also enjoyed the atmosphere and the idea of eating upstairs, outside. We will have to return. Eager to hear your review, too!

 

[hurleysweety]

So sad to have such a slow start on my TR. But I have a valid excuse. I have a cold - a rotten, stuffy nose, scratchy throat, achy body - cold. Who in the world gets colds in the middle of summer? I guess I do. Thanks to the guest who probably passed the cold to me last week at Disney. And thank goodness that I wasn't sick on vacation. I have that happen way too often!

I will start as soon as I feel better. The only thing about you being sick, is that the world still goes on without you. So my week of missed work last week is not being helped by my lack of focus and constant need to sneeze at the office today. Sorry co-workers... Also, I'm a wuss, and I admit it, when it comes to being sick. And since I need to be at work tomorrow, I will spend tonight watching movies and resting. Just thought I'd let you know where I was!

 

[DisneytheKid]

What a great thread! I'm loving all of the great info found here!!!

 

[kmedina]

No rush. I have yet to start one as well. It has been a busy week even since I got back.

 

[hurleysweety]

Wow, its been awhile! Sorry everyone!

Its been a crazy summer here for us. I'm now working more than ever and have added more responsibilities to my volunteer position at church - by choice and loving it, but still means a busier schedule!

Happy to say we are returning to WDW this year too! We are so excited that it worked out. We'll also be taking our first ever cruise, on the DCL Dream! Its a test run to see how we like cruising. Wondering if we'll become addicted like the nice people on the cruise forum!? I guess a lot of them just go to Orlando to cruise now, and don't even go to the parks. Right now I think thats crazy. But I'm known to eat my words.

Anyway, I need to finish organizing and uploading the rest of my photos. I haven't even put an album up on facebook - very rare for me.

Hope you all are doing well...maybe, all 1 or 2 of you! Appreciate your reading, nonetheless. Will share more soon! Promise!

 

[tksbaskets]

I'm still here. Totally understand a busy schedule. Getting ready to send our sons back to college. Glad you are getting a trip to WDW this year!

 

[hurleysweety]

Wow! I just learned that I get to go with DH to his conference in Anaheim! He doesn't get to go until 4 pm, so I might venture off on my own. I'm a little nervous!! It'll just be one day in Disneyland, but that's ok with me! I feel so adult with DH having a conference...LOL. Afraid I'll blink and I'll be packing suitecases for kids. Time flies!

 

[hurleysweety]

So DH had a conference in Anaheim this weekend so of course I went along with him.

WHO - Me and DH, plus 1 student athlete that came with us in the car and we got to show him DCA for the first time. He had fun and it was great to see it through someone elses eyes. PLUS, our friends, DH's best friend and his girlfriend, joined me Saturday morning and then the four of us were together Saturday night.

THE PLAN - Leave at 6am. Head straight to park until 6pm. Check in to hotel. DH goes to conference meet up. Later head back to DCA for dinner and hanging out. Saturday, meet friends at DCA at 7:30, hop back and forth to collect FP and see and do all DCA before DH arrives at 4pm in DLR. Remain in DLR for the night (DH will have a complementary twilight ticket from the conference, so no park hopping). I got a 2 day park hopper. Friends got 1 day park hopper. Sunday, the guy needed to leave early and go back home for a prior commitment (hosted at his house, lol) and the girl was staying two more nights before meeting up with her family and nephew to do DLR Tues-Thurs (she really is going to see everything!)And I sleep in, and stay in the room til I have to check out (12:30) and then wait until 3pm for DH to be out of his meetings. (I lucked out though, DH was out at 2pm! So I only spend about an hour or so bored in the lobby.)

Hotel - We stayed at the Ayres Anaheim Hotel. We were there for two nights in an executive king studio. Both mornings we had breakfast for free from the hotel. They made the food fresh right in front of you. One morning was breakfast potatoes, sausage, french toast, and eggs. Sunday morning was freshly mixed and grilled pancakes, eggs, bacon, and hash browns. In addition to the hot food they also have pastries, bagels, fruit, yogurt and cereal. While this location is farther away and does show its age, I can see why people recommend and like this hotel.

Food - We ate at Pacific Wharf, Flo's, Hungry Bear and Rancho de Zacalo. All meals were great and everyone got different food. Being that I wasn't just with DH, I didn't get many food pics. Sorry!

Crowds - Crowds were manageable on Friday at DCA. We rode all the major rides we wanted with little wait (except for TSMM - always 30-40 mins), and rode RSR single rider with only a 25 min wait. Saturday was a different story. DCA was great in the morning. I took my friends on RSR with FP, Screamin, Ferris Wheel, Swings, Goofy's Sky School, Animation Academy and Sorcorer's Workshop, Soarin - all before 11:30. We went to Disney and kinda freaked out - everything had giant waits and there were red shirts everywhere. We waited almost 30 mins in line for food. At hungry bear, our table was one of maybe 10 on the first level that wasn't from Gay Days. So looks like their event was a great success - and our planning of lunch was poor if we wanted to avoid the crowded places to eat! We returned to DCA around 1:30 and rode screamin and TOT with our FPs. Then DH joined us at DLR after we took a nap in Mr. Lincoln. DH was overwhelemd by the crowds too, but we slowly started collecting FP for later use. By 7pm the extra crowd left because I believe they had a few night events to be at, instead of the park. So after dinner we finally got to use FP we had collected. We rode Space, Star Tours, Buzz, Thunder, Pirates, Jungle Cruise and the Haunted Mansion. We also watched fireworks from Small World. We saw pretty much all we wanted and left pretty happy - and exhausted. I have never waited in line for Pirates or Jungle Cruise before - it was so weird. I felt like "one of them." The pedometer on my friends phone estimated around 15-16 miles in about 15 hours. So yeah, our feet hurt and we all could barely keep our eyes open at 11pm. So back to the buses and straight to bed!

Going with friends - I thought this would be tricky and it started out really bad. I told my friends to be there at 7:30 as it was essential to our whole day. I arrived at 7:30 on the dot and got in the shortest line, about 35 people back. At 7:45 they opened the gates and I did not see them so I went in without them. I was a bit angry right now and was very grumpy once I got a hold of my friends. I basically said that they now get to wait in the HUGE (and it definitely went past the half way point to DLR) line outside and that if they got in by 8, they still might not get a FP for RSR. Then I called DH and he calmed me down. Then I spent 15 minutes talking to the nice man behind me in line getting FP for his family. Then the line started moving - oh well, I thought, guess I'll go on RSR by myself?? Then at the last minute I spotted them in the sea of people walking through Carthay Circle. A CM tried to point them to the end of the line when they said that they were with me and thank goodness. I apologized, explained to them what just happened, what they almost missed, and why its so dang important. They felt bad, I lightened the mood, and off we went to have a great morning.

Lessons Learned - It's all relative. Someone at DH's conference was talking to him before they used their twilight (after 4pm) tix. He was telling her how DL was packed and how the lines are very long. He mentioned that Haunted Mansion had a 70 minute wait and her response was, "That's not bad..." - and that is when I realized why people wait in those long lines. That is what they expect and what they know. When they think of Disney, they think of standing in endless lines so they don't even think about a plan or anything like that.

All in all the trip was super fun! We had a great time on the unexpected trip!

 

[hurleysweety]

We're GOING BACK! And by back, I mean - WE GOT ANNUAL PASSES! I just bought them 10 minutes ago and have the vouchers all ready to go!

The Details:

WHO: Me and DH
WHEN: May 30-June 2
WHY? We are celebrating our FIVE YEAR Wedding Anniversary!!!


Oh? What's that?

Where are we staying?

A little place I like to call...

GRAND CALIFORNIAN HOTEL!​

Yeah, I'm excited! The trip will be proceeded by 4 days in San Francisco (never been) and 2 days in Santa Barbara right on the beach (oh yeah!).

Not sure if I'll do a trip report, but I will update on things here, again. YAY!

 

[hurleysweety]

This is gonna be one of those posts that I read later and think, oh please, how dramatic and emotional can I be? And just laugh. So take this emotional driven story with a grain of salt.

So last November, we had an amazing trip planned to WDW. It included 4 nights at Caribbean Beach Resort, king room with a view, during food and wine festival, followed by a 4 night trip on what would have been our first ever cruise on the Disney Dream, in a 5B room type, followed by two nights in an OKW studio. I had been planning it for at least six months, (although planning a cruise for at least three years) crunching numbers, rental cars, hotel rates, what days in which parks, touring plans, dining plans, cruise excursions, and just all about cruising in general.

It was a dream vacation with a giant PTR and a lots of involvement with a fish extender on the cruise and making friends on the thread of other people going on the same trip.

And due to a snowball of personal circumstances, we had to cancel just one day before we would have boarded the plane to Orlando. And if you know Disney's cancellation policy too, you'll know that it was just sad.

The reason I'm explaining all this is that up until Friday, April 26th, I had not logged on to the DIS since October of 2012. I was a variety of emotions and the DIS was just a sad reminder of it all.

And now that I've officially depressed you or that you are rolling your eyes at me (what a annoying complainer this hurleysweety is!), I feel like I have come full circle from where I was before that trip. I am a person of faith and I believe that all this was just part of the plan and I feel blessed to have just been able to go on any vacations to WDW in the first place. I have grown so much in the past six months and my relationship with my DH is great right now. And now when I think about the trip, I think that it might have actually been pretty cruddy, despite where we were and what we were doing.

I only tell you this so that you have a picture of how excited we are to return to Disneyland with APs with this new attitude and perspective - living in every moment and taking nothing for granted. We have become much more thankful and are really looking forward to the next big step in our lives and starting a family.

Rant over - thanks for reading.