dadzgirl70
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2012
- Messages
- 152
First, I have to say that each and everyone of you helped make this trip one of our family's best ever! Thank you all so much!
Our vacation started October 6th with a leisurely drive fom No CA to So Cal. We had one stop at Andersen's Pea Soup before arriving at the Holiday Inn Anaheim Resort Area on So Manchester. It's a little over a mile fom the resort, but there was an ART stop on property. We checked in fine and received a nice room on the 5th floor in a kids suite. It was small, but nice. Pool was fine. We used Getaway Today to book this location very cheap. I would stay for that price again.
After checking in, we ventured to DL. I traded in my certificate for our Photopass Plus and headed to Carnation Cafe for dinner. We had reservations at 6pm. We were seated right away and enjoyed dinner and the Soundsational Parade at 6:30pm.
Gay Day's proved to show a huge increase in crowds then what we had anticipated, but we went with the flow and stayed calm. We enjoyed Star Tours and Buzz a couple times before we headed back to the hotel to get ready for a long day Sunday at DCA. On our way to the bus, we stopped and purchased annual passes. We knew we'd be back within a year and made sense with the food and merchandise discounts you receive. It was exciting to make that purchase. I started thinking about when my next trip could be....maybe without the kids. Haha.
Wide right technique would be fantastic if RSR worked. Every single day we were there, they were down first thing in the morning. We did manage to work our way back to the fast pass line and received a 5:40pm return time. Mater ride was actually really fun, but Luigi's was difficult to enjoy. Cars Land decor is amazing, fun and it has a great atmosphere. It's just really busy! Best food of the day Flo's Breakfast!!!!
As the day progressed, it seemed to get busier and busier. We decided to enjoy the Mad Tea Party Sunday night. It was great fun and even my 8 year old son got into the dancing spirit and had a blast. Unfortunately, several groups came into the area with inappropriate shirts (sexual in nature) and started dancing in a manner that made my family and I uncomfortable so we left. All in all in was great, but was disappointed that others had to invade a "family friendly" environment.
Monday we enjoyed Knott's Berry Farm and walked on every ride. Park was empty. Mrs Knott's Chicken dinner was fantastic!
Tuesday was our DL day. I figured the park would be less busy since it was a party night. Boy was I wrong. Again very busy. We managed to hit quite a few rides and shows. My husband was chosen to be pulled onstage for both the Golden Horseshoe Show and Billy Hill & The Hillbillies. Very funny. The kids loved conjuring a villan in the carnival area. We must have stood in line a good hour to hit that tent three times that day. We only saw two villains. I found out that they rotate villains every forty five minutes or so, and only three different ones per day.
At the end of the day we ran over to Star Tours and my son was chosen as the Rebel Spy. He was so excited! We left the park early. Headed back to the hotel and enjoyed our time by the pool and went to sleep early.
Wednesday was a great day at DCA. Less crowded. The best part of the day was dinner at Goofy's kitchen. What fun! We celebrated a birthday that night and had a cake made and delivered to the table. It was fantastic. I would do that again over and over. Peanut Butter and Jelly Pizza, who woulda thought!
Thursday was another day at DCA, but this day was different. It started pouring rain first thing in the morning. Different experience spending the day in the park in the rain.
Friday was our DL day AND Halloween Party! What an experience. Crazy, busy,but super fun. I've never seen so much candy in my life. We didn't leave the park until midnight. The fireworks, WOW!! Never before have I seen such amazing fireworks. I swear we brought home ten plus pounds of candy total. Pictures, pictures and more pictures. The Photopass plus was a huge savings. We have over 200 pictures on the card before completing any editing, add ons or anything. I would do that again and again, but get in line early for Jack Skellington, it was over an hour wait for that picture. The candy lines were long, but moved super fast. We hit every stand in Frontierland, New Orleans Square, Main Street and Tomorrow Land.
Saturday we had decided to use Mouse Expeditions for our final day. We knew it would be one of the busiest days. Brian was amazing! He was our runner. He ensured we had fast passes and seats for the Pixar parade, fireworks and Fantasmic! He made recommendations for our food choices. It was great and well worth the money we paid him. We did more in that one day, then we had done in the three days prior. We rode 19 rides, one parade, saw the fireworks, Fantasmic!, ate lunch, had ice cream snack and went to Trader Sam's (which Brian got a table for us) for dinner. I highly recommend him. I know there are lots of opinions out there, but I can tell you he's worth every penny.
Starting to plan a quick trip or Christmas! Thanks again for all your help!
Our vacation started October 6th with a leisurely drive fom No CA to So Cal. We had one stop at Andersen's Pea Soup before arriving at the Holiday Inn Anaheim Resort Area on So Manchester. It's a little over a mile fom the resort, but there was an ART stop on property. We checked in fine and received a nice room on the 5th floor in a kids suite. It was small, but nice. Pool was fine. We used Getaway Today to book this location very cheap. I would stay for that price again.
After checking in, we ventured to DL. I traded in my certificate for our Photopass Plus and headed to Carnation Cafe for dinner. We had reservations at 6pm. We were seated right away and enjoyed dinner and the Soundsational Parade at 6:30pm.
Gay Day's proved to show a huge increase in crowds then what we had anticipated, but we went with the flow and stayed calm. We enjoyed Star Tours and Buzz a couple times before we headed back to the hotel to get ready for a long day Sunday at DCA. On our way to the bus, we stopped and purchased annual passes. We knew we'd be back within a year and made sense with the food and merchandise discounts you receive. It was exciting to make that purchase. I started thinking about when my next trip could be....maybe without the kids. Haha.
Wide right technique would be fantastic if RSR worked. Every single day we were there, they were down first thing in the morning. We did manage to work our way back to the fast pass line and received a 5:40pm return time. Mater ride was actually really fun, but Luigi's was difficult to enjoy. Cars Land decor is amazing, fun and it has a great atmosphere. It's just really busy! Best food of the day Flo's Breakfast!!!!
As the day progressed, it seemed to get busier and busier. We decided to enjoy the Mad Tea Party Sunday night. It was great fun and even my 8 year old son got into the dancing spirit and had a blast. Unfortunately, several groups came into the area with inappropriate shirts (sexual in nature) and started dancing in a manner that made my family and I uncomfortable so we left. All in all in was great, but was disappointed that others had to invade a "family friendly" environment.
Monday we enjoyed Knott's Berry Farm and walked on every ride. Park was empty. Mrs Knott's Chicken dinner was fantastic!
Tuesday was our DL day. I figured the park would be less busy since it was a party night. Boy was I wrong. Again very busy. We managed to hit quite a few rides and shows. My husband was chosen to be pulled onstage for both the Golden Horseshoe Show and Billy Hill & The Hillbillies. Very funny. The kids loved conjuring a villan in the carnival area. We must have stood in line a good hour to hit that tent three times that day. We only saw two villains. I found out that they rotate villains every forty five minutes or so, and only three different ones per day.
At the end of the day we ran over to Star Tours and my son was chosen as the Rebel Spy. He was so excited! We left the park early. Headed back to the hotel and enjoyed our time by the pool and went to sleep early.
Wednesday was a great day at DCA. Less crowded. The best part of the day was dinner at Goofy's kitchen. What fun! We celebrated a birthday that night and had a cake made and delivered to the table. It was fantastic. I would do that again over and over. Peanut Butter and Jelly Pizza, who woulda thought!
Thursday was another day at DCA, but this day was different. It started pouring rain first thing in the morning. Different experience spending the day in the park in the rain.
Friday was our DL day AND Halloween Party! What an experience. Crazy, busy,but super fun. I've never seen so much candy in my life. We didn't leave the park until midnight. The fireworks, WOW!! Never before have I seen such amazing fireworks. I swear we brought home ten plus pounds of candy total. Pictures, pictures and more pictures. The Photopass plus was a huge savings. We have over 200 pictures on the card before completing any editing, add ons or anything. I would do that again and again, but get in line early for Jack Skellington, it was over an hour wait for that picture. The candy lines were long, but moved super fast. We hit every stand in Frontierland, New Orleans Square, Main Street and Tomorrow Land.
Saturday we had decided to use Mouse Expeditions for our final day. We knew it would be one of the busiest days. Brian was amazing! He was our runner. He ensured we had fast passes and seats for the Pixar parade, fireworks and Fantasmic! He made recommendations for our food choices. It was great and well worth the money we paid him. We did more in that one day, then we had done in the three days prior. We rode 19 rides, one parade, saw the fireworks, Fantasmic!, ate lunch, had ice cream snack and went to Trader Sam's (which Brian got a table for us) for dinner. I highly recommend him. I know there are lots of opinions out there, but I can tell you he's worth every penny.
Starting to plan a quick trip or Christmas! Thanks again for all your help!
