Not so Live Trip Report 11/12-11/16/08 Hojos - PHOTOS ADDED

[talie]

Hi everyone! I'm a newbie to the board but have done tons of lurking in prep for this trip. So we flew in from Sacramento on Veterans Day. Grabbed our rental car, ate at McDonalds, and then checked into Hojos. We got to McD's about 1 and based on the crowds there and at the Hojo pool I'd say Disneyland was fairly crowded.

We decided to avoid Disneyland on Veteran's Day and instead did the mandatory visit to see my sister. That was fun and we got some grocery shopping in and our way back to the hotel. The one funny bit is that my daughter was in the Hojo gift shop for about two minutes before she had to have a pink Minnie Mouse visor with ears. Luckily it was really cute.

Oh I guess I should introduce the players. There is me, dh, and my 6 year old son and 4 year old daughter. ds is Star Wars obsessed so the Jedi Training Academy and Star Tours are a priority. dd is all about pink and dressing up so Princess Faire is a priority there. (I know, I know.) If we can find a reasonable line for Pixie Hollow then my kids would love that too. As for the adults, we'll be thrilled if we can get on the major rides at least once. We'll see how it goes with the kids. Oh and we have five day hoppers. One of those days will be combined with relative visits. (Saturday)

So today will be our first day in the park. ds and I just worked on his trip journal and dh is getting b-fast at Mimi's. I, of course, am doing last minute research on how to get to Disneyland from Hojo on the quiet side of Harbor.

Oh, and the weather looks to be a gorgeous 75 today.

 

[talie]

Today was our first day at Disneyland and my kid's first visit ever. The park opened at 10 and we got to the gates right about 9:30. We headed for Gate 13. Unfortunately for us that was a bit of a mistake as Gate 13 never opened and we were all funneled into Gate 14. Oh well, no biggie. Overall consensus was that it was dead.

So we get onto Mainstreet and wait for rope drop. They had camera crews out filming the crowds. Oh and what was really cool was that the Christmas Tree was up. So after the rope dropped we headed for Fantasyland and Peter Pan. We had a minimal wait at Peter Pan. dd (4) was a bit freaked out which didn't bode well for the rest of the dark rides we planned for that day. After that was Dumbo, the Carousel, ds & I did the Storyboats while dd and dh did Casey's train. In the time we waited for the Storyboats they also got another ride in on the Carousel. (Storyboats, which was about a fifteen minute wait was probably one of our longer waits of the day.) From there, for whatever bizarre reason we decided to do the Matterhorn. Both kids were very leary but we were pretty sure we could convince ds to go on and we figured we'd do a ride switch with dd. In the end the wait was about 10 minutes and both kids ended up riding. Surprisingly enough, dd (4) seemed less freaked out than ds (6).

After traumatizing our kids we moved on to Toontown. We saw Mickey's House (about a 10 minute wait) did Donald's Boat and then the kids played around on different cars and such.

At this point it was about 11:45 so we headed to the train and took it over to New Orleans Square. We had preferred seating scheduled at the Blue Bayou at 12:30. There was a bit of a line at BB as people were trying to get seated. Once we got up to the front I requested a water table. We ended up only having to wait about a minute or two and our table was ready. Once we sat down dd was definitely freaked out by the whole sitting in the dark thing. Luckily they brought out drinks and rolls fairly quickly so we were able to distract her. By the end of the meal she was happily waving at people going by. As for the food, both kids had mac & cheese and dh & I split the short ribs with gumbo. Very yummy all around.

Once we got out of BB we headed over to Tom Sawyer's Island. Our main goal was something that didn't involve a dark ride. The kids had a blast exploring the island. From there we stopped and listened to some Mardi Gras music and got some beads.

About this point it was about 40 minutes until Jedi Training Academy started so we headed over to Tomorrowland. We camped out our spots near the front and coached ds on the proper way to hold his sign and jump up and down and yell. We were overjoyed when he was about the 6th or 7th kid picked on our side. Thanks everyone for the advice about the signs. You made my son's trip! He was so serious and quite excited to take on Darth Vader.

I would also recommend to folks to sit on the left hand side. During the show Darth Maul continuously comes over and makes faces and it is quite entertaining.

Once we finished Jedi training rode Autopia. The kids loved it. After that we walked on to Buzz. What a fun ride. It was a first for all of us and quite the crowd pleaser for my family. About this point it was around 3:30. dd was desperately in need of a nap and dh thinks he's coming down with a cold so they both decided to head back. ds & I still wanted to ride so we stayed and did Star Tours and Buzz again. We were going to do Indiana also since we had Fastpasses but after Star Tours I was feeling motion sick so we decided to head out too.

On the way out I stopped at City Hall and got the kids their 1st timer buttons. I figured it's a nice freebie souvenir. When we got back to the room it turns out dh and dd only beat us by about a minute. Apparently they ran into Mickey, Pluto, and Goofy by the Christmas tree so dd had a photo session.

So all in all a good start at Disneyland. The day didn't go exactly as planned, but the crowds were pretty minimal so we didn't really feel to much of a need to stay on task. We plan on going back this evening and catching Fantasmic and possibly doing Nemo. (Plus we've got Indy FP's if we feel so inclined.)

Oh and if anyone is curious about the weather, it was pretty nice. On rides where you were waiting in line in the sun it was definitely hot, but overall I'd say it was pleasant. Also when we were walking back about 4:20 or so it was definitely starting to cool down.

UPDATE - We made it back to Disneyland and what a special treat Main Street is at night. The Christmas tree was just gorgeous. My daughter was walking down Main Street looking at the castle and was just pointing going, "Wow, look at that." We got a little overly caught up in the decorations and were late finding a spot for Fantasmic. The kids really wanted to ride rides so we decided to ditch the show & did POTC instead. It was a walkon and the kids did great. From there we went to Nemo. If we'd been 5 minutes later we would have walked on, but I'm not going to complain. By the time we got off Nemo the park was closed so we headed home. Day 1 was a definite success.

 

[1-disneyfan]

sounds like a wonderful trip so far! We just got home yesterday and miss it already. Enjoy the sun for us

 

[Hound 109]

Great live trip report.

(any pics?)

I'm glad that your DS6 had a chance to destroy Darth Vader....i bet he had a blast.

 

[talie]

Sorry this has become a not so live report. Days became long and I found myself napping instead of posting. LOL

So, Day 2 we had Magic Morning passes so we got there at 8:30 or so. dh was feeling under the weather so early starts would become more and more difficult. Anyway we were going to do Peter Pan first but dd4 didn't want to do it. So our family went in two different directions. ds & dh went to Peter Pan while dd and I did Dumbo. dh/ds ended up doing all of the FL dark rides while dd and I did Dumbo, the carousel, Alice in Wonderland, the teacups, and shopping for ears/hats at Mad Hatter. Overall I'd say FL seemed more crowded than it had been the day before (which makes sense since only FL and TL were open).

Our group met up again briefly and then decided to part ways again. dd & I decided to hit the Princess Faire while ds/dh did Indiana. When dd/I got to the Princess Faire there was already quite a line and it didn't open for another half an hour. Instead we decided to head over to Space Mtn to get FPs. While I was getting the FP I explained to dd what the ride was and that it was dark (remember this is the girl who thought Peter Pan was scarey). To my shock she decided she wanted to try it. The line at the point was 5-10 minutes so we went for it. Well needless to say this was a disconcerting ride for a mom that was afraid that she might be scarring her daughter for life. Essentially you have no idea what your kids reaction is until the ride was over. I just made sure to hold on to her hand and point out cool things about the ride. Well when it was all over I looked at dd and asked what she thought. She looked at me and said, "It was fun mom." Woohoo!

So from there we had to go back to the entrance to get our stroller. Well imagine my shock when she wanted to do it again! Well who am I to deny my child? So off we went again.

It has been about 15 years since I have ridden Space Mountain so it was a new for me as well. I love the lights and the music. So much fun. Unfortunately though, my stomach did not enjoy riding that ride twice in a row. I learned a valuable lesson that: 1) my stomach is not what it used to be and 2) always, always, always close your eyes during the climb where the lines revolve to make you feel like you are spinning.

After getting off Space Mountain the second time I called dh to see where they were at. They had just finished Indiana and we in line for the Jungle Cruise. So off to Adventureland we went. By the time we got there they were almost to the front of the line so dd and I found some shade and snacked. My stomach was still rolling so I ended up grabbing a pickle which really seemed to help. dh/ds joined us for some snacking as well.

At this point we weren't quite sure what to do so we just started to walk. The Tiki Room was just opening up from a show so we decided to do that. It was great. Nice air conditioned room and the kids really enjoyed the birds.

From there we decided to do the Haunted Mansion (dh's idea not mine). This one was basically a walk on so we got into the front room very quickly. Well at that point ds basically freaked out and started to cry. So ds/I exited and waited for dh/dd. Apparently she actually did okay but was upset because she wanted to ride with her brother.

From there my memory is a bit hazy but I think we decided to do Splash Mountain. The line was minimal (maybe 10 minutes) so as we waited we were busy convincing the kids it was something they wanted to do. Well, long story short, they weren't having any part of it. So dh rode the ride while I waited with the kids at the exit. When he got off we switched and I got to ride. dh got soaked, I was reasonably refreshed but not soaked by any means.

From splash we got in line so that the kids could see Pooh and Tigger.

They both did really well with the characters and we got great pictures. My plan was to ride Pooh next but we were getting close to the starting time for Billy Hill and the Hillbillies so we headed off to the Golden Stage. ds absolutely loved the Billies. Mom was pretty impressed as well. They were very amusing and the music was great as well.

After lunch we decided to ride the Mark Twain. ds found another little boy on the boat and they were chatting away, pointing out all of the things they could find along the route.

After that we headed off to the Jungle Cruise so that dd and I could ride. ds loves this ride and all of the corny jokes. He also loves to point out all of the stuff along the side. "Look mom, there's a crocodile." "Look, a bengal tiger." "Mom, they're doing the Hokey Pokey."

At this point we decided to head back to the hotel to play at Hojo's Pirate pool and take naps. My kids love, love, love the pirate pool. I'd say that it was high on their list of favorites from the trip.

After a nap we headed back to the park. Our plan was to camp out for Fantasmic since we'd missed it the night before. We found a great spot near the river. ds and I saved our spots while dh/dd went to find dinner. We ended up with kabobs from Bengal BBQ. After we finished eating dh and the kids went and rode Pirates of the Caribbean.

When they got back I ran off to the Haunted Mansion and rode solo. It was very impressed with the seasonal overlay. It is quite elaborate for something that is only up for a few months. After the HM I headed back and dh went off to get ice cream. YUM! We visited with the families in front and behind us. It is pretty fascinating to people watch at Disneyland. Especially the people with huge families that show up twenty minutes before the show and think that people will willingly allow them to squeeze their group in when everyone else around has been waiting for at least an hour and a half.

So, eventually Fantasmic started and it was fantastic. It's been years but I really had forgotten a lot that happened in the show. It was very cool and the kids enjoyed it a lot.

From there it was right around 8 so we headed out of the park with the rest of the crowds.

 

[talie]

Friday was our designated California Adventure day. Disneyland opened at 9 and CA Adventures at 10. So we hit Disneyland first, around 8:30 or so. Once we got through the gates I went off to get my birthday pin while dh and the kids hit the characters. At this point of the trip commando had gone out the window. The crowds were very low and we weren't really worried about having too long of a wait for any of the rides.

After getting my pin and the requisite photos we headed out for rope drop. We decided to hit Tomorrowland first. We'd convinced ds that as a way to complete his Jedi training he must learn to drive a Jet Wing fighter and riding Space Mountain was an integral part of this training. (Besides your 4 year old sister that was a afraid of Peter Pan loves it!) Well it was dicey but we did eventually get him to ride. I think the promise of a pin the commemorate his first flight is what pushed him over the edge.

Overall I think he really enjoyed it. He wasn't rip raring to go on it a bunch of times but he seemed to enjoy it at the time. So post ride we found the promised pin (Mickey as a Jedi with a light saber) and also got ds a Jedi Training t-shirt.

From there we went on our family favorite, Buzz Lightyear. I could ride this ride over and over and over. It definitely got our competitive juices flowing. LOL From there we headed over to the Jungle Cruise and rode that again.

After that we paused for some photo ops before heading over to California Adventures.

Now I have to confess that CA Adventures was not my favorite. The park just seems scattered, completely lacking in shade, and everything required a huge amount of walking. Also where with Disneyland we had a clear plan of action everyday, with CA Adventure we spent a whole lot of time trying to figure out what we wanted to do next.

Our first ride at CA Adv. was Soarin'. The line was about 5 minutes long. Not bad at all. The kids were apprehensive but ended up loving the ride. As were were exiting the ride there was a really odd wait to get out of the ride. Turned out we were about to get Dreamed, and on my birthday too! We ended up getting an extra hour after park close at CA Adv. This ended up in many ways being a problem more than a help for us. dh had it in his head from the start that this was just a ploy to keep people out of Disneyland in the crowded evening hours. I agree but at the same time, do we really want to be in Disneyland when it is crowded? Anyway more on this later.

So from Soarin' we headed to Toy Story. Along the way I noticed the line for CA Screamin' was only 5 minutes so I went to ride that while dh took the kids on the carousel. It was a lot of fun but the blasted motion sickness hit me again. From there I joined dh & kids in line for Toy Story. The wait here was about 15-20 minutes. It was fun but I prefer Buzz. Toy story seemed more like an arcade game to me than a ride. To me Buzz seems like a very Disney dark ride with a game element.

From Toy Story we were sort of conflicted on what to do next. Most of the roller coasters were way out of my kids league. Around that point the HSM show was about to start so we headed over to that. ds loves HSM so I thought this would be fun. It turned out he was hungry and my enthused about eating snacks than watching the show. I on the other hand thought it was pretty good. Plus as the parade was moving on one of the singers told me, "Happy Birthday!"

From there was headed over to the Hollywood Pictures Backlot. We just missed the Muppets 3D show so we decided to eat lunch at the hot dog place right there. The kids were happy with their hot dogs while dh and I had the portobello mushroom phillies which were okay. From there we went to Muppets 3D which the kids (and their parents) really enjoyed. Our only problem was the dd kept on wanting to take the glasses off.

After the Muppets we headed over to the Animation Studios. We just made it in time for Turtle Talk. The kids enjoyed this one. I was a bit annoyed by the cast members right behind me who seemed to think it was okay to talk about their evening plans during the show. After that we continued on and did the rest of the Animation Studios area.

From there we headed over to Monster Inc. This was another crowd pleaser in our family. Nothing too scarey and it was a story we were all very familiar with.

After Monsters Inc we headed over to the river ride. We had measured dd earlier and she was just a sliver under 42 inches. At lunch dh grabbed some napkins and stuffed the bottom of her shoes. I know, I know, mediocre parenting at best, but two years ago we rode a very similar ride at the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom near our home and both kids loved it and it was perfectly safe. Anyway the napkins were exactly what we needed to get the little girl on the ride. (The wait was about 15 minutes.) After passing to measuring stations she almost didn't make it on the last measure but the girl let us go as scrapers. Whew. Once on the ride we were just crossing our fingers that we wouldn't get too drenched. We planned to go back to the room sometime in the near future though so it wouldn't have been the end of the world. Turns out though that we got moderately wet but not too bad. Of us all I was probably the worst off with my back pretty much wet.

From there we stopped for snacks. We decided we were pretty much done with CA Adventures and ds really wanted to ride the monorail. dh and I wanted to see the inside of the GCH. We were right near that exit so we decided to head through the GCH to DTD and we would catch the monorail from there into Disneyland. While at DTD we hit the Lego store which was a highlight for ds.

From there we dragged him out of the store and onto the monorail. dh was very happy to be able to see the chiller plants and other assorted infrastructure buildings having to do with Disneyland operations (he's a civil engineer and does this stuff for a living). The kids and I were happy to see Hojo and our normal walk path.

Once we got off the monorail we decided that this was a perfect opportunity to ride Buzz again! From there we headed home for a swim and a nap with a picture stop along the way.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

Great TR!!!!

That's funny about the spinning light part in Space gets your sick. I like that part! Especially when you really focus, I feel like I'm really spinning! But, I totally understand, I can see how it could get someone's stomach upset!

Woo! Keep it going!

 

[Yakety76]

Congratulations on being Dreamed on your birthday.

You all seem to have had an enjoyable trip even with DH being a little under the weather.

 

[talie]

After taking time off to swim, nap and eat dinner we headed back into the park. If you remember from my last post we were dreamed in CA Adventure and had a pass to stay an hour after close at CA Adventure. After a minimal amount of debate we decided to take advantage of it. CA Adventure closed at 8 so we headed in about 7:30 or so. Once inside we were going to do Soarin but the line was pretty long. So instead we decided to go do the tortilla factory and bakery tours. Our whole family was very impressed with the warm tortillas. YUM! The bakery tour was kind of a disappointmet since they really didn't have much going on there. From there we decided to head over to the Hollywood Backlot where the after hours event was going to occurr.

When we got over there they basically had a person who was working as DJ and emcee. There were lots of people dancing and having a great time. We on the other hand were a little antsy because we were debating on whether our time was better spent in CA Adventure or Disneyland. In the end we decided to bite the bullet and stay. Our decision was made easier by the fact that the wind had picked up quite a bit and we were pretty sure the fireworks were going to be canceled.

So, the deal with the after hours thing is that while the park closes at 8, you don't actually get to ride any rides until 8:30 or so. This would be great if you go into it knowing this and just enjoy yourself. We of course kept on second guessing our decision. Argh. Anyway we set ourselves up to be in a good position to get to Tower of Terror.

At 8:30 when they rope dropped we headed on down and were in a great position. Unfortunately I lost sight of dh/dd and let literally hundreds of people get in front of me in line. It turns out dh had already gone in. GRRRRR So basically I had just basically blown our advantage in staying after hours. I was so frustrated with myself. After that dh and I enacted a rule. If you lose sight of the other, always, always, get in line. You can always let people go in front of you but you can't regain your spot in line.

Well since we'd already committed to TOT we went ahead and waited. It took us about 20 minutes. The kids were really freaked out by the queue area so he stayed with the kids and then we switched off. Both of us thought the ride was a hoot. It was definitely a ride we would have done multiple times if we didn't have kids.

So while dh rode the TOT I took the kids over to Monsters Inc. It was broken but they were going to open it in a few minutes so we went ahead and waited. By the time it opened dh had rejoined us. The kids were quite happy seeing Mike & Sully again. From there we decided to ride Soarin' which was essentially a walk on. This time around we had a top spot. It was quite fun to ride and have an uninterrupted view. This time around we also noticed the smells which I hadn't the first time.

At that point we decided we didn't want to make the walk over to Toy Story so we headed over to Disneyland. As we were entering the park masses of people were headed in the opposite direction. Obviously they had canceled the fireworks. As we were walking past the castle we noticed that they had a rope up. Our thought was we'd wait and hit Peter Pan once Fantasyland reopened. This would have been a great plan except the CMs on the other side of FL let their people in first. GRRRRRRRR So we ended up waiting about 20 minutes to ride Peter Pan.

From there we decided we were done with FL and headed over to Buzz. The line was pretty long so we were going to call it a day. About that point though we noticed that the wait for Space Mountain was only 5 minutes. After a little conference we decided to go for it (even ds agreed ). A great time was had by all and we decided it was getting late (the kiddos were getting cranky) and that we should head home.

So here are some final thoughts on our very long, birthday Friday.

1) I've never been told Happy Birthday so many times in my life. It was a lot of fun. If you don't like attention though, I really would not recommend getting a birthday pin.

2) The after hour dream pass can be a mixed blessing. If you are going to do it, I recommend riding rides for as long as you can up to close. This will minimize you time in the party area waiting to be let back into the park. If you love to dance and have a great time, by all means head into the backlot area and have fun. As the time gets closer to rope drop, do NOT get distracted when they bring out Minnie & Mickey. This is just a ploy to stop the hordes from rushing out to the rides. You can get a huge jump on the crowds if you are at the rope and ready to go.