Official DL July 2015 thread

[alicat8]

Anyone?

Sorry, I really have no idea about anything outside the parks! I've only gone for a few days at a time before and always spent open-close at the parks. I know a lot of the surrounding hotels say you can see the fireworks from them.

 

[HappiestHaunt]

Anyone?

I hear the top of Mickey & friends Parking structure has a pretty good view, although I have never experienced myself.

 

[phyllis1966]

We're actually staying at the GCH - I just meant is there anywhere from any of the DL hotels or Downtown Disney, so that we could possibly see the fireworks on the Fourth and not actually be INSIDE DL park with the crowds.

 

[Butterfly123]

Good morning! One of our vacation days is July 4th. I know it will be crowded, and was wondering if anyone can recommend someplace outside the crowded parks where the fireworks will be visible that night.

We'll try (traveling with two 16-year-olds, so fingers crossed) to get to DL at rope drop, have a late breakfast, then head back to the pool when the crowds become too thick. I'm not sure if we'll venture back after dinner...I'm hoping to avoid the nighttime crowd, but I love fireworks!

Thanks.

You can see the fireworks from the Mickey and friends parking lot, but you won't hear any music. You can take the tram there from DTD. You can also watch them from the Esplanade. You won't hear the fireworks music, but you will hear Disney music.

 

[Butterfly123]

We're actually staying at the GCH - I just meant is there anywhere from any of the DL hotels or Downtown Disney, so that we could possibly see the fireworks on the Fourth and not actually be INSIDE DL park with the crowds.

I don't know about the Resort hotels...that may be a good option. I think if you're not in the parks you will miss out on the full effect because of all the projections that they use in the new fireworks show.

 

[imasily]

We will be there July 13-17th. Can't wait. So excited to see all of the 60th Anniversay dectorations and merchandise. We actually switched our vacation from W

 

[elaine amj]

So sorry - my first trip, so I have no clue. I have read that many of the motels on Harbor get decent views. If it was me, I would go back in and watch from somewhere like the Train Station. Here's a REALLY good article about viewing spots: http://www.disneytouristblog.com/disneyland-fireworks-best-views/

 

[elaine amj]

I just called and made my A&E makeover reservations for July 19! Woohooo!! It will be for my DD's birthday - she will love it since she's into "different" braids and keeps bugging me to learn (I am not good at it and so far have not learned anything more complicated than a simple braid). She still rags me because I conned her into believing the Pirate's League Mermaid Makeover was an Ariel makeover (a bday present during a 2012 WDW trip). She didn't figure it out until they put the sash on here LOL! Maybe this will make up for it I have no clue what our plans for the day are so I made a 10:10am reservation (first one available) figuring it will be less busy in the boutique. We will likely do some park touring in the morning and then move on to the Boutique. That said, a part of me is wondering if I should move it to 11am so we don't lose a precious morning hour.

Now that I have dining and makeover done, I just have to wait until mid-June to buy my Ridemax subscription and then I'll be able to put together my touring plans. Very excited about doing that!

This week, I also made my other hotel reservations for the pre-Disney portion of my trip. Unfortunately, I waited too long - the Hyatt Regency Monterey is no longer available. So I booked the Hilton Garden Inn Monterey instead. Not as nice, but it will do. On top of that, I could not add a night to my stay at Hume Lake - all booked as well Oh well, thank goodness I haven't cancelled my booking at the Grant Grove tent cabins yet.

My new itinerary is:
July 11: Arrive San Jose at 11am, drive 2 hours to Monterey. Check in at hilton Garden Inn Monterey and chill. Sunset at Point Lobos.
July 12: Breakfast in Carmel by the Sea, drive 4 hours to Seqouia/Kings Canyon National Park. Hike. Night in Grant Grove Tent Cabin.
July 13: More hiking. Night in Hume Lake.
July 14: More hiking. Drive out of the park in the evening. Crash for the night in Quality Inn Tulare.
July 15: Leave in the morning. Drive 3 hours to Anaheim. Lunch, check in and chill. Maybe 5pm Dolphin/Whale Watching Tour in Dana Point
July 16-22: DLR (5 days with 1 break day)
July 23: Fly out of SNA

A lot of moving around, but we prefer that to additional driving from a base.

Is anyone spending time in Cali per or post Disney? If so, what are your plans?

 

[elaine amj]

We will be there July 13-17th. Can't wait. So excited to see all of the 60th Anniversay dectorations and merchandise. We actually switched our vacation from W

We usually go to WDW too - VERY interested to see what DLR has to offer.

 

[Disney127]

I just called and made my A&E makeover reservations for July 19! Woohooo!! It will be for my DD's birthday - she will love it since she's into "different" braids and keeps bugging me to learn (I am not good at it and so far have not learned anything more complicated than a simple braid). She still rags me because I conned her into believing the Pirate's League Mermaid Makeover was an Ariel makeover (a bday present during a 2012 WDW trip). She didn't figure it out until they put the sash on here LOL! Maybe this will make up for it I have no clue what our plans for the day are so I made a 10:10am reservation (first one available) figuring it will be less busy in the boutique. We will likely do some park touring in the morning and then move on to the Boutique. That said, a part of me is wondering if I should move it to 11am so we don't lose a precious morning hour.

Now that I have dining and makeover done, I just have to wait until mid-June to buy my Ridemax subscription and then I'll be able to put together my touring plans. Very excited about doing that!

This week, I also made my other hotel reservations for the pre-Disney portion of my trip. Unfortunately, I waited too long - the Hyatt Regency Monterey is no longer available. So I booked the Hilton Garden Inn Monterey instead. Not as nice, but it will do. On top of that, I could not add a night to my stay at Hume Lake - all booked as well Oh well, thank goodness I haven't cancelled my booking at the Grant Grove tent cabins yet.

My new itinerary is:
July 11: Arrive San Jose at 11am, drive 2 hours to Monterey. Check in at hilton Garden Inn Monterey and chill. Sunset at Point Lobos.
July 12: Breakfast in Carmel by the Sea, drive 4 hours to Seqouia/Kings Canyon National Park. Hike. Night in Grant Grove Tent Cabin.
July 13: More hiking. Night in Hume Lake.
July 14: More hiking. Drive out of the park in the evening. Crash for the night in Quality Inn Tulare.
July 15: Leave in the morning. Drive 3 hours to Anaheim. Lunch, check in and chill. Maybe 5pm Dolphin/Whale Watching Tour in Dana Point
July 16-22: DLR (5 days with 1 break day)
July 23: Fly out of SNA

A lot of moving around, but we prefer that to additional driving from a base.

Is anyone spending time in Cali per or post Disney? If so, what are your plans?

Yay for you! I made a reservation at A&E for my DD too but on July 20th. She has always wanted her hair to look like Elsa's so that is the package she is looking at. We also bought a Elsa summer dress so that she can Disneybound. I am going to Disneybound as Anna but no hair braiding for me! LOL

We have also made all of our dinning reservations including BB Fantasmic package. We don't do any touring plans, we just go with the flow since there is only the two of us and we have enough days to get pretty much everything done that we want.

Your itinerary sounds great, it will be nice to see other parts of California. We have only booked a bus tour to Hollywood, Farmers Market, Venice Beach etc. We have been to some of these places before but DD wanted to go again since she doesn't remember too much from our early trips. We will be renting a car for one day only and going to Huntington Beach so looking forward to some beach time.

43 days until we are at DL! Before DL, we have a one night stopover in Seattle for a certain boy band concert so DD is super excited because she says that she is doing 2 of her favorite things! LOL I think that we are going to bring up our suitcases this weekend and start throwing things in! The days can't go fast enough!

 

[MeeskaMooska13]

I just called and made my A&E makeover reservations for July 19! Woohooo!! It will be for my DD's birthday - she will love it since she's into "different" braids and keeps bugging me to learn (I am not good at it and so far have not learned anything more complicated than a simple braid). She still rags me because I conned her into believing the Pirate's League Mermaid Makeover was an Ariel makeover (a bday present during a 2012 WDW trip). She didn't figure it out until they put the sash on here LOL! Maybe this will make up for it I have no clue what our plans for the day are so I made a 10:10am reservation (first one available) figuring it will be less busy in the boutique. We will likely do some park touring in the morning and then move on to the Boutique. That said, a part of me is wondering if I should move it to 11am so we don't lose a precious morning hour.

Now that I have dining and makeover done, I just have to wait until mid-June to buy my Ridemax subscription and then I'll be able to put together my touring plans. Very excited about doing that!

This week, I also made my other hotel reservations for the pre-Disney portion of my trip. Unfortunately, I waited too long - the Hyatt Regency Monterey is no longer available. So I booked the Hilton Garden Inn Monterey instead. Not as nice, but it will do. On top of that, I could not add a night to my stay at Hume Lake - all booked as well Oh well, thank goodness I haven't cancelled my booking at the Grant Grove tent cabins yet.

My new itinerary is:
July 11: Arrive San Jose at 11am, drive 2 hours to Monterey. Check in at hilton Garden Inn Monterey and chill. Sunset at Point Lobos.
July 12: Breakfast in Carmel by the Sea, drive 4 hours to Seqouia/Kings Canyon National Park. Hike. Night in Grant Grove Tent Cabin.
July 13: More hiking. Night in Hume Lake.
July 14: More hiking. Drive out of the park in the evening. Crash for the night in Quality Inn Tulare.
July 15: Leave in the morning. Drive 3 hours to Anaheim. Lunch, check in and chill. Maybe 5pm Dolphin/Whale Watching Tour in Dana Point
July 16-22: DLR (5 days with 1 break day)
July 23: Fly out of SNA

A lot of moving around, but we prefer that to additional driving from a base.

Is anyone spending time in Cali per or post Disney? If so, what are your plans?

We are doing something similar. We arrive on 7/2 and will drive up to Sequoia/Kings Canyon for 4 nights before heading to DLR. We will also take a day to whale watch at Dana Point!

 

[JessiLynn015]

We've been on the West Coast for two years and are finally making our way to Disneyland. We tried doing it last year, but DH had a work trip in Geprgia, so we went to WDW instead.

We're going July 7-10 and staying at BW Stovall's.
Our itinerary so far:

Arrival Day: Breakfast in airport
Lunch @ Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen
Dinner: Apps & Drinks @ Trader Sams

July 8th: Breakfast @ hotel
Lunch @ French Market
Dinner @ Goofy's Kitchen

July 9th: DCA Morning- Still trying to figure out our plans!

July 10th: Lunch @ Cafe Orleans
Still trying to figure out breakfast and dinner

 

[Gisele]

Yay for you! I made a reservation at A&E for my DD too but on July 20th. She has always wanted her hair to look like Elsa's so that is the package she is looking at. We also bought a Elsa summer dress so that she can Disneybound. I am going to Disneybound as Anna but no hair braiding for me! LOL

We have also made all of our dinning reservations including BB Fantasmic package. We don't do any touring plans, we just go with the flow since there is only the two of us and we have enough days to get pretty much everything done that we want.

Your itinerary sounds great, it will be nice to see other parts of California. We have only booked a bus tour to Hollywood, Farmers Market, Venice Beach etc. We have been to some of these places before but DD wanted to go again since she doesn't remember too much from our early trips. We will be renting a car for one day only and going to Huntington Beach so looking forward to some beach time.

43 days until we are at DL! Before DL, we have a one night stopover in Seattle for a certain boy band concert so DD is super excited because she says that she is doing 2 of her favorite things! LOL I think that we are going to bring up our suitcases this weekend and start throwing things in! The days can't go fast enough!

On the subject of braids you may be interested in watching YouTube video tutorials on the subject and or go to a cosmetology school that provides hairstyling and makeup services to the public. The results can be really awesome and at a fraction of the cost. As in almost shocking. I recommend Marinello and there is a school located in Anaheim.

http://m.marinello.com/#services

 

[kelly3kids]

Does anyone know a lot about child swap at the rides? Our youngest is five but tall enough for all the rides. He won't go on them though because of being scared and some of them are just too much as it is. Can we do child swap even if they are tall enough but they don't want to ride? Has anyone tried this? Thanks. I only really care about Indiana Jones and Space Mountain. He will go on Cars and Thunder Mountain with me and DH.

 

[elaine amj]

Yay for you! I made a reservation at A&E for my DD too but on July 20th. She has always wanted her hair to look like Elsa's so that is the package she is looking at. We also bought a Elsa summer dress so that she can Disneybound. I am going to Disneybound as Anna but no hair braiding for me! LOL

My DD also loves Frozen, even though she is older I am hunting for a dress for her to Disneybound in. I just picked up a white cotton wrap (very sheer) and am hunting for a pretty blue dress to go with it. On second thoughts, a sparkly tank and a blue skirt might be even cuter. I have no clue what I will wear since we typically wear matching Disney tees.

We are doing something similar. We arrive on 7/2 and will drive up to Sequoia/Kings Canyon for 4 nights before heading to DLR. We will also take a day to whale watch at Dana Point!

Woohooo!! That's too funny that we have nearly the same ideas of what we want to do Have you been there before? My SIL just did a SEKI/Yosemite trip and she said she absolutely loved SEKI - and preferred it to the craziness of Yosemite. And she traveled in May, not July when Yosemite will be even crazier.

I've been longing to see big trees for several years now (ever since watching the Planet of the Apes - the scene where they are amongst the redwoods is incredible!). When I found out Sequoia was driving distance to Anaheim, I was ecstatic. I was originally planning to spend 3 nights in the park (I still have a 3 night reservation at the Grant Grove tent cabin I am scared to adjust) but as I worked on my itinerary, I figured Monterey was worth a short detour/stop. I was going to add Big Sur as well but when I sat down and considered all the driving on twisty roads (DH gets carsick), I decided it was just too much and nixed it. So now we will have 2.5 days in SEKI and that feels like it will work out. I need to quit changing my mind LOL (anyway, most reservations are no longer available now).

Which whale watching outfit are you going to use? I am debating the pricier, but smaller boats or the cheap big boats.

On the subject of braids you may be interested in watching YouTube video tutorials on the subject and or go to a cosmetology school that provides hairstyling and makeup services to the public. The results can be really awesome and at a fraction of the cost. As in almost shocking. I recommend Marinello and there is a school located in Anaheim.

http://m.marinello.com/#services

I checked out the link and it's actually making me feel a little better about the Disney package
Braids - $10
Manicure - $6
Makeup - $10
Total: $26

The Disney package includes the colored hair strip and is $35. So not too much more of an upcharge. Plus they'll get to keep the nail polish and makeup set. (Although the polish from Pirate's League turned out to be rather dried out and never applied well. Strange with a new bottle).

 

[MeeskaMooska13]

Woohooo!! That's too funny that we have nearly the same ideas of what we want to do Have you been there before? My SIL just did a SEKI/Yosemite trip and she said she absolutely loved SEKI - and preferred it to the craziness of Yosemite. And she traveled in May, not July when Yosemite will be even craz

Which whale watching outfit are you going to use? I am debating the pricier, but smaller boats or the cheap big boats..

No, we've never been! I got the idea from listening to the DIS Unplugged Disneyland podcast - they had a whole segment on it. I'm very excited - just wish it were a little bit of a shorter drive!

We are using Dolphin Safari (Captain Dave's). It got great reviews on Trip Advisor. My kids LOVE marine animals so it's a must do!

 

[elaine amj]

No, we've never been! I got the idea from listening to the DIS Unplugged Disneyland podcast - they had a whole segment on it. I'm very excited - just wish it were a little bit of a shorter drive!

We are using Dolphin Safari (Captain Dave's). It got great reviews on Trip Advisor. My kids LOVE marine animals so it's a must do!

Captain Dave is exactly who we were considering! Unfortunately, he may not have a trip going out on the one day we are free (afternoon/evening of July 15). So if we end up going, it might be with their competitor - Dana Wharf, who offers a 5pm evening cruise for $29 (so a little cheaper). Shorter trips actually works a bit better since DH is prone to motion sickness. Then again, Davey's Locker/Newport Whales offers the evening weekday cruise for just $10 pp. I do like smaller boats and a more intimate experience though. We did a dolphin cruise in Clearwater, FL last December on a little boat and it was mindblowingly AH-mazing! So we'll see - I think we have to play that day by ear and I won't be able to reserve in advance.

 

[MeeskaMooska13]

Captain Dave is exactly who we were considering! Unfortunately, he may not have a trip going out on the one day we are free (afternoon/evening of July 15). So if we end up going, it might be with their competitor - Dana Wharf, who offers a 5pm evening cruise for $29 (so a little cheaper). Shorter trips actually works a bit better since DH is prone to motion sickness. Then again, Davey's Locker/Newport Whales offers the evening weekday cruise for just $10 pp. I do like smaller boats and a more intimate experience though. We did a dolphin cruise in Clearwater, FL last December on a little boat and it was mindblowingly AH-mazing! So we'll see - I think we have to play that day by ear and I won't be able to reserve in advance.

My youngest is a little bit of a "nervous nelly" and would not enjoy a smaller boat, unfortunately. I'm sure the experience would be better, though.

We are taking a day off from the parks halfway through our DLR stay just to give ourselves a little break. This will be our whale watching day!

 

[PinkBudgie]

Probably too far north for any of you this trip, but if you want to see Redwoods, Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve in Guerneville, CA is wonderful. (Northern California)If you have small children it great because the main walk has wide flat paths. There are marked trees to see along the way and you can bring a picnic. There is a free parking lot just outside the park if you get there early enough to get a spot. We often go there just to eat lunch and walk around for a little bit. It is peaceful and less crowded than some of those more well known parks like Muir Woods. Not Disney related but thought I'd toss that out for general information since some of you mentioned redwoods.

 

[elaine amj]

Probably too far north for any of you this trip, but if you want to see Redwoods, Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve in Guerneville, CA is wonderful. (Northern California)If you have small children it great because the main walk has wide flat paths. There are marked trees to see along the way and you can bring a picnic. There is a free parking lot just outside the park if you get there early enough to get a spot. We often go there just to eat lunch and walk around for a little bit. It is peaceful and less crowded than some of those more well known parks like Muir Woods. Not Disney related but thought I'd toss that out for general information since some of you mentioned redwoods.

I am keeping the other redwoods parks in mind for future trips. I had hoped to do them this trip, but like you pointed out, they are pretty far north from DLR. Sequoia/Kings Canyon sounded like an acceptable compromise at under 4 hours away. I am flying into San Jose and was going to stop at a small patch of redwoods near Santa Cruz, but have nixed that in favor of resting at the hotel. I know DH will thank me for that!