Okey dokey! How's about we continue on with this Trip Report? I need some cheering up, so reliving my DLR trip is a good way to get instant cheer (and also have me yearning to get back there for another holiday trip!).
Day 1 – December 12, 2010 – Part Two
When last we left, before picking me up my friend Shawn had taken an unexpected 'scenic tour' of the mean streets of Downtown Los Angeles at around 4:30 a.m., while I monitored a suspicious, Stephen King-looking character who was walking back and forth in front of my building as I waited for Shawn to arrive (remember, it was dark outside, the whole neighborhood was asleep, and it was not a time anyone would normally be out taking a leisurely stroll). Shawn was hesitant to ask anyone for directions, understandably. Parts of Downtown are rather unsavory, and you don't necessarily want to be a woman driving alone through those seedy areas, asking random men for directions.
Finally Shawn arrived and we were en route to the Paradise Pier Hotel, on track to do an early pre-check in and hit the Magic Morning hour. It's funny because she happily mentioned that she hadn't run into "too much traffic" on the way to get me. I would imagine not, seeing that she was on the freeway at 3:40 a.m., on a Sunday morning. Probably not a lot of cars out on the road at that hour!
Many people seem to have a problem with the Paradise Pier. I think it gets a bad reputation because it is across the street from the main hub of activity and it seems detached from the rest of
Disneyland Resort. Because of this, people tend to think it is further away than it actually is. It has become a sort of 'red-headed stepchild' of the Disney hotels. Also, it's not a hotel that Disney built. It's a hotel that used to be called something else, and then it became a Disney hotel. People also have trouble with the fact that the PPH does not have spacious grounds or many towers. It's basically just a building...and a parking structure.
But, personally, I really like the PPH rooms. I like the sun/surf/beachy motif and the sort of pastel tones. I only wish they had more land upon which they could expand and develop that ocean/nautical theme even more. I think it could be even better if they had more acres.
I actually like the PPH rooms better than the GCH rooms. Don't get me wrong - the Grand Californian is a gorgeous hotel and I enjoyed staying there in the past because of the close proximity to the afore mentioned hub of activity. I could sit for hours in one of those comfy chairs in the lobby and watch people pose by the big Christmas tree. But the GCH rooms were, in my opinion, small (cramped, if we are being honest) and dark. The PPH rooms are much more spacious. Also, you get the cute Mickey ears bath products at the PPH that you do not get at the GCH. I love me some mouse toiletries!!
So, really, the PPH wins points with me on a two major counts - one being the rooms in general, and the other being the fact that it is the least expensive of the 3 Disneyland Resort hotels and I can usually get a good rate - either with a PIN code offer or an AP or something. While I would like to stay at the GCH again in the future - just for the close proximity - and I would like to stay at the Disneyland Hotel again down the road - just 'cause I haven't stayed there in about 15 years - I really would not mind staying at the PPH every time I go to DLR if I get a decent rate for it. The only trouble is that as the rates hike up for the other 2 DLR hotels, so, too, do the rates for PPH.
Shawn and I pulled up in front of the Paradise Pier about 10 minutes before 6:00 a.m., I would say. We decided that she would go park the car in the structure while I hauled my bags inside and prepared to check in.
As I unloaded my bags from Shawn's truck, I noticed a quarter on the ground. There was no one around to claim it, so I picked it up. I will leave a penny on the ground, but a quarter I'm grabbing! Shawn made some sort of comment about how the day was starting off good already, and that hopefully that was a positive sign.
When I approached the front desk at the PPH, it quickly became apparent that my gift cards were going to be a hassle to process. I was sooooo glad that there was no one in line behind me. It took a long time just to get all that mess taken care of, and if it had been at a time when lots of folks were checking in, I would have felt guilty for holding everyone up.
Steve - the CM who checked me in - told me what you all now already know, which is that they supposedly "usually" block the balance due on a person's card and then take the gift cards as payment at check out. No one forewarned me of this procedure in the many calls I made to Reservations prior to arrival. Of course,
now I know - after the fact - that it should have been no problem to take the gift cards at check-in, and that, perhaps, Steve didn't know that. And, once I convinced him to take my gift cards at check-in and my balance was paid, it should have been no problem for him to enter in a little code and reverse the block he put on my PayPal account (which you all know the story of by now). But these things were issues, apparently.
In addition to the confusion of taking my gift cards at check-in as opposed to check out, and in addition to the fact that $289 of my money was unknowingly kept on hold for my entire trip, and in addition to the fact that I'd been told that the Resort Fee would only incur a 15% tax and not a 17% tax (which turned out to be wrong) - apparently I was also supposed to have written out the amounts of each gift card so that Steve would know what to ring up. I normally use Post-Its to jot down what my balance is on any given card I might use, so I would have gladly done that for the gift cards if I had been told to. When I make a purchase on the Disneyland website with a gift card, their system seems to automatically know how much is on the gift card. Why is it that the Reservations system doesn't know?
So basically, I felt as if I was causing Steve all kinds of trouble to check me in. (Of course, little did I know that he would 'forget' to release the hold on my money and that I would have to deal with that mess when I got home several days later.)
So, after all that confusion, imagine my surprise to hear these two sentences from Steve:
1. "You've been upgraded to a park view room, and you'll have a great view of World of Color."
2. "Your room is ready now."
Now? You mean, my room was ready at 6:00 a.m., and I didn't have to leave my bags at the Bell Desk? And I was getting a free upgrade to an awesome view room to boot? Yessssssss!!!!!!!!
My excitement and appreciation of Steve were validated even further when he added:
"You get a free gift, too."
This was my free gift - it was a shopping bag, which came with a free air freshener (they give out the air fresheners in the Mickey & Friends lot sometimes, I think):
Steve handed me my hotel guest welcome packet (which is part of the reason I love staying onsite - to get the festive pink folder) and room key, and I went to gather my things, which I'd left by the chairs next to the check-in area.
But...where was Shawn? Last I saw of her, she was parking her truck in the PPH parking structure. It seemed to be taking an awfully long time to get to the PPH. What could have happened to her? Did she get lost between the parking lot and the lobby, and end up in Downtown L.A. again?
When Shawn finally emerged from the darkness and appeared in the lobby, she had a goofy grin on her face. No, she hadn't gotten lost again, thankfully, but she had apparently dropped her prized hair clip and it rolled underneath another vehicle. So she spent all that time trying to perform all sorts of tricky maneuvers to retrieve the hair clip from underneath this other car. Oh, how I wish I had witnessed that little scene! I miss all the good stuff.
Any man might wonder why someone would go to the trouble of trying to fish out a hair clip from under a car. But we women know that when we find a good hair clip that we like, we do not want to lose it!!
So, off we went to my park-view room, which was number 1234. How easy it would be to remember that!
First thing I did when we got to the room - before anything else - was rush to the window to see what the "view" really was. I've heard of some folks actually paying for park view rooms and only being able to glimpse a morsel of the Matterhorn, way off to the side. Since I had not paid for this upgrade and it was free, I figured my view would be something along those lines.
I was wrong. While these photos below don't do it justice - and I have better photos of the view coming up later on - I was thrilled with it. The view of California Adventure - particularly the Paradise Pier area - was amazing. We had such a clear eye line of Mickey's Wheel of Death (we could also hear the bloodcurdling screams from that ride later in the afternoon!) and California Screaming, along with Tower of Terror, Grizzly Peak and a little of the Matterhorn off to the side. We could see the people milling about by Ariel's Grotto. We could see the DCA Christmas tree. We also had a great view of the Grand Californian. Watching World of Color from the room was definitely on the agenda for later!
I was so happy with this view. Yes, there was a teeny bit of construction to see, but it was hardly enough to mar an otherwise fabulous vantage point.
What's even better is that we arrived in the room just in time for sunrise - which was stunning (again, you can't get the full effect in the photos, and I was having a lot of glare issues in the shots).
And some obligatory photos of the PPH room itself:
Beds - picture taken with flash (because you can see the colors of the bedspread better when using a flash, as the lighting is very dim in the PPH rooms):
Happy Mr. Sun is omnipresent at the Paradise Pier, both in the rooms and around the hotel itself:
Beach chair wallpaper in the bathroom:
Seashell soap dish:
Here comes the sun...Here comes the sun...and I say...it's all right....
Souvenir postcards, stationery:
Collectible note card thingy, wrapped in protective plastic:
So that’s the room, in a photographic nutshell. The trip was off to a great start!
I could not have been happier with the view. I could not have been happier with the room itself (no poopy water this time – yay!!). I was pleased that it was going to be my home for the next few nights. I loved getting a free gift at check-in. I loved getting the free postcards and such in the room. I loved getting another stash of the Mickey bath products. I was sooooo thrilled to be back at the Paradise Pier Hotel after 2 long years, and back at Disneyland for a proper, multi-day stay. I felt giddy inside….like I couldn’t wait to get started on what would be a trip of many Quests (Tree Quest, Wreath Quest, Bow Quest, Lamp Quest, Ornament Quest, etc.). I had a feeling this would be a wonderful trip – and, for the most part, it was, minus a couple of things. Ultimately, I feel it was one of the most well-rounded trips and one of the most rewarding trips I have made to DLR – it had a good mix of a rides, photos, friends, sleep, food, holiday atmosphere and anything else that goes into making a good trip. I only wish I had made my trip 4 nights and 5 days instead of 3 nights and 4 days. I missed getting photos of a lot of things and one extra day could have taken care of that problem!
By the way – has anyone noticed that I said I found a quarter when I arrived at the PPH? Do you remember that, when I returned home from DLR, after all was said and done with the hold they put on my money, the final charge on my bill was….25 cents?? How weird is that? I found 25 cents and I ended up being charged that same amount. So I guess I really didn’t lose anything!! Although, the CM’s should have gotten their info straight about how much tax they were applying to the Resort Fee – that is where the 25 cents came into the picture!!
Anyway, Shawn and I were off to face the day after watching the lovely sunrise from my room. I was ready to head to DL for Magic Morning. I could tell Shawn wanted to hit Goofy’s Kitchen first, but I was determined to get to Magic Morning and then come back to Goofy’s later. I don’t think she liked the idea of all the back and forth walking, but that was my plan. So we were off to the gates of DL…..and preparing for the mad dash to Fantasyland to hit the rides we usually skip.
Actually I didn't ate my dinner by my CPU, I just ate it at the dinner table like any family. I just had a nice drink and a bag of chips by my CPU when I was readying Sherry TR. 
After I read it I went to the last page of your TR and saw that you have at least Part 2 up, but I looked at the screen through really squinty eyes on purpose so I could check to see how long it was. I needed to figure out if I would have enough time to read it tonight, without really seeing it and spoiling what was to come. 
I guess he wasn't quite the shady character I made him out to be. 
