Our 3rd Annual Holiday Trip to DL in November - November 22nd - 25th, 2013 Post #3416

[Belle Ella]

It's official. I will be at DL on Jan. 21-23, 2011 for the Anime Convention in Bakersfield on Sunday the 23rd. I just been doing a lot of Disney trips these past 6 months and now another short trip to DL during the off season. It will be fun and exciting to go back down south to DL. I will be staying at the BWPPI. I will write my PTR later.

Very nice!!

 

[mvf-m11c]

This sucks right now. Someone hit my car just awhile ago when I went to go get my mom from work. I parked my car on the side when I was entering a sports card store and than I heard my car alarm went off and than I looked at the front of my car and has a hole in front of the bumper. My guess is that it was a hit and run. I remember that there was a jeep truck in front of me when I parked my car and than all of a sudden the vehicle in front of me was gone. This just sucks after I set up my trip in January and than all of a sudden I now have a damaged car.

 

[tksbaskets]

This sucks right now. Someone hit my car just awhile ago when I went to go get my mom from work. I parked my car on the side when I was entering a sports card store and than I heard my car alarm went off and than I looked at the front of my car and has a hole in front of the bumper. My guess is that it was a hit and run. I remember that there was a jeep truck in front of me when I parked my car and than all of a sudden the vehicle in front of me was gone. This just sucks after I set up my trip in January and than all of a sudden I now have a damaged car.

What a bummer! Hope your insurance will be quick and painless...

 

[skiingfast]

This sucks right now. Someone hit my car just awhile ago when I went to go get my mom from work. I parked my car on the side when I was entering a sports card store and than I heard my car alarm went off and than I looked at the front of my car and has a hole in front of the bumper. My guess is that it was a hit and run. I remember that there was a jeep truck in front of me when I parked my car and than all of a sudden the vehicle in front of me was gone. This just sucks after I set up my trip in January and than all of a sudden I now have a damaged car.

That is a bummer. Did the Jeep happen to have a trailer hitch? I saw the same thing happen when I was in high school. Across the street I watched a Chevy Blazer punch thier trailer ball hitch through the bumper of the car behind it.

AS said hopefull insurance will cover it.

 

[mvf-m11c]

That is a bummer. Did the Jeep happen to have a trailer hitch? I saw the same thing happen when I was in high school. Across the street I watched a Chevy Blazer punch thier trailer ball hitch through the bumper of the car behind it.

AS said hopefull insurance will cover it.

Yes, Matt the jeep had a trailer hitch and backed into my car. Than the guy who back into me just left immediately. I can tell that guy didn't have any insurance.

My insurance can cover it. But I am just mad of what has happen today.

 

[mvf-m11c]

I just concluded my WDW trip this month December 10 - 17, 2010 It was a great trip to go down to WDW during the Holiday season. The crowds were not as bad, but the only thing that was bad was the weather. Some of the days during my visit were close in the 30s at night and 50s during the day. But in the end, my DA and I got to do everything during our visit. Not only the WDW resort, we also got to go to Universal Orlando and got to see Wizardy World of Harry Potter. All my photos are on my flickr account and some videos from MVMCP on youtube. It was a fun time and a crazy time. But in the end, it was a success and got home safely.

Now I am planning my pre-trip for January 21 - 23, 2011 a short trip to DL because I am going to be in Bakersfield on Sunday during a Anime Convention.

Cast: Me Bret 28

This will be my first trip to DL this upcoming year and many more to come.

The reason I am doing a short trip to DL is that I am going to be working in Bakersfield during a Anime Convention on Sunday January 23, 2011. It is more like an excuse to my family since I am going back to DL for a short visit. But since some of the rides at DL are going into refurbishment during the slow season, it will be fun to go to DL when it is not that busy. But I am still preparing myself as a very crowded day at DL. The plan for my trip is to watch RDCT in front of SB castle for the 9:30pm show even though I have good videos that are on youtube. Here are the links: Part 1, Part 2. Also that night, I would watch the 10:30pm F! show and hopefully get a good spot in the sitting area. But I expect to not get a sitting area for the 2nd show of F!. Than on Sunday, I will watch WoC and hopefully get the blue FP and use the same spot that I watch WoC during my November 18 - 20, 2010

I will be driving down from Sacramento to Anaheim like my DA and I always do on our previous trips together. It is nice to fly, but I do bring a lot of bags and camera equipment so it does make sense to drive down in just 7 hours. It just not worth paying the extra money for extra bags and getting a rental car. I will be driving down in my Honda Civic Hybrid which saves us a lot of money. For a round trip to DL, we only have to fill the car up twice during the trip. That is not bad since the car needs only 10 gallons of fuel to be full. I will stop at Livingston (close to Merced) that is always on our way to Anaheim to see my grandmother. I was planning on leaving Sacramento on Thursday night and save one and a half hour time of my road trip to DL. Than leave Friday morning around 7am and it will be a 5 and a half hour drive to Anaheim. I should get there around 12:30pm just like I did on my last trip to DL.

I will be staying at BWPPI. I mostly stay at this hotel during each of my trips and I am so used to this hotel. Not only it is one of the closest hotels to the DLR, it is not a fancy hotel like the DLR hotels or HOJO. I just need a short walking distance hotel to stay for the night and use it to take a break during the day. But during my stay in January, I don't need to stay at the DLR hotels since I will not be participating MM on Sunday.

My goal for that weekend is get to Anaheim safely and than leave early Sunday morning and head on over to Bakersfield for the Anime Convention. But this will also be a good opportunity to see RDCT, F! and WoC the same weekend.

I will keep planning on my January trip. I will be using Ridemax for Friday and Saturday.

Please feel free to say something about my trip in about less than a month.

Thank you

Bret

 

[mvf-m11c]

I need to remember and finish the rest of my WDW TR. But I thought it would be nice to show some pics of Cinderella castle with the icicles. But the Cinderella castle doesn't have much Holiday decorations than SB castle at DL. I wished that Cinderella castle has more decorations as SB castle. But the pictures of Cinderella castle are very nice with the color changing at night.

Cinderella castle at night.






SB castle at night.

 

[skiingfast]

Sounds like a good plan. Are you over walking from a distance to the parks?

 

[TheColtonsMom]

The castle is beautiful but I have a love for SB in my beloved DL.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Sounds like a good plan. Are you over walking from a distance to the parks?

Yes, Matt. I like staying at BW Stovalls. But losing 10 minutes of time walking from the parks to Stovalls does make a difference when I do a lot of walking at both parks and DTD. My legs were killing me during my DL trip last month and my legs were not tired during my WDW trip last week since we didn't do a lot of walking. By using my car with free parking thanks to the premier pass and riding the trams and monorails to the parks get me time stay off my legs for awhile. But the prices during my trip next month is not cheap so I just decided to pay the extra money to stay close to the park entrance on Harbor Blvd. I just needed a place to stay and I always like staying at BWPPI.

 

[mvf-m11c]

The castle is beautiful but I have a love for SB in my beloved DL.

Cinderella castle is not as great as SB castle during the Holiday season. DL castle will always be my favorite castle even if I see the other parks castles around the world.

 

[skiingfast]

I understand not wanting to walk so far. But this time, you can practically leave you tripod in your room and skip a locker because it will only be 3-5 minutes away depending on how you hit the traffic light to cross harbor.

 

[mvf-m11c]

I understand not wanting to walk so far. But this time, you can practically leave you tripod in your room and skip a locker because it will only be 3-5 minutes away depending on how you hit the traffic light to cross harbor.

Yes, as you have read from my last TR at DL, I did get a locker down the alley by the Ice Cream stand. It is easy to get my tripod from the locker and use it for both "A Christmas Fantasy" parade and than I used it later during WoC. Since there are no parades during my visit and only just the nighttime shows, it does not make any sense to get a locker. Plus if I do need the tripod, I can just walk on back to BWPPI and get it.

 

[mvf-m11c]

This is for you Matt (skiingfast). I know that you want to see all the pictures of the Sheraton Vistana Resort when I was at WDW a couple of weeks ago. I just uploaded most of my pics from the resort and it was really nice. I thought that this was a nice place to stay when you are in Orlando since there are a lot of activities to do at the Sheraton Vistana Resort.

Sheraton Vistana Resort Spa 7 Villas Building


Sheraton Vistana Resort


Sheraton Vistana Resort Spa 7 Villas Building


Our room is 411


Room layout on door


Livingroom


Livingroom


Kitchen


Kitchen


Livingroom


Double Bedroom


Double Bedroom


Hallway


Regular Bathroom


Master Bedroom


Master Bedroom


Master Bedroom Shower


Master Bedroom Bath Tub

 

[skiingfast]

Thanks, now I wish I new what unit/room I had stayed in. It definitly didn't have that view once on the ground though. Oh and it didn't have LCD tvs, because they hadn't gone on the market yet.

It does look well kept though. When I was there I walked to the Marriot condos and then to the hotel. I wish I could of looked into one of those places just to see. The grounds though were atrocious in comparison and made me feel pretty good about Vistana. I though about buying in there, but I didn't want to take the time to hear them talk.

Did your DA buy in?

 

[mvf-m11c]

Here is my plan for my trip in January 21-23, 2011 and also a change of plans during my visit. After doing the ride vehicle pictures last month, I am now wondering what I should be taking pictures of during my short visit to DL? I was thinking of getting pictures of all the monorails and DLRR steam engines that are running during my visit. I would like to hear suggestions of what I should be taking pictures of. In the end, I will just be taking pictures of everything during my visit.

Friday

I was planning on getting to Anaheim around 12-1pm. Than I will head on over to BWPPI and check-in at the hotel. I will not be able to check-in my room until 3:00pm. In the first few hours when I get to Anaheim, I can spend a couple of hours in the park and take some pictures before I check-in at 3pm. Than when it gets close to nighttime, I am planning on getting a front row spot in front of "Partners" statue so I can see SB castle for RDCT which starts at 9:30pm. Than after RDCT, I will head on over to the ROA for the 2nd F! show at 10:30pm. Than call it for the night.

Saturday

This is the day that I am going to change everything. My original plan was to go to DL when the park opens at 9:00am, but I am now thinking of skipping DL that Saturday morning and head on over to LA for a Yu-Gi-Oh TCG (Trading Card Game) Extravaganza event at the LA Convention Center. It starts at 9am and some of my friends who I play with will be in LA for that event. It is a 2 day event which starts on Saturday Jan. 22 to Jan 23. I didn't want to skip DL and go to the Extravaganza event at the LA convention center. I was thinking of going to DL just for a few hours in the morning and get a FP for the 9:00pm WoC show on Saturday. Than I head on over to LA for that event. Than I will get back to the DLR around 4pm and get ready for the 9pm WoC show. Than I call it for the night since I need to leave early Sunday morning so I can get to Bakersfield for the Anime Convention on Sunday.

Sunday

I was planning on leaving Anaheim around 6am in the morning since I need to get to Bakersfield at 9am. That is really early in the morning to leave DL and have to go to work at Bakersfield for the Anime Convention. I also will take pictures of the convention when I am down there.

I would like to hear some opinions of what I should do during my visit next month.

Thank you

BL

 

[mvf-m11c]

Thanks, now I wish I new what unit/room I had stayed in. It definitly didn't have that view once on the ground though. Oh and it didn't have LCD tvs, because they hadn't gone on the market yet.

It does look well kept though. When I was there I walked to the Marriot condos and then to the hotel. I wish I could of looked into one of those places just to see. The grounds though were atrocious in comparison and made me feel pretty good about Vistana. I though about buying in there, but I didn't want to take the time to hear them talk.

Did your DA buy in?

The Sheraton Vistana Resort is not completely finished, there were some building right across from my building that were still under refurbishment. My building was right next to the pool which was really big. There were a lot of people out at the pool during the warm days and completely empty during the cold days.

My DA did not buy-in during the presentation. She was actually pissed off on how they treated her during the presentation. She showed up at exactly 10am for presentation when I was at MK and EPCOT that Sunday morning and the agent that would go through the whole thing with her was a no show. Than my DA talked to another person and said that she would do it. She had to wait 30 minutes than that person left and she talked to the manager. She was not happy about waiting and the manager apologize for the whole thing. In the end, she didn't buy into it. She wasn't going to purchase shares unless they gave her a crazy deal.

 

[skiingfast]

Seeing as how you get to DL so often I think meeting up with some friend and getting over to LA would be pretty cool.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Seeing as how you get to DL so often I think meeting up with some friend and getting over to LA would be pretty cool.

I believe you are right Matt. Since I have done everything at the DLR and I'm just there for a short time since I'm going to be in Bakersfield for work. It would be nice to go to LA for the Extravaganza event and than show up later for the night at DL for WoC. I'm still having seconds thoughts of not going to the LA Convention center for the event, but my friends are there and I should just do it. It's not like I'm missing anything excited at DL of which a line would be so long just like Soarin at WDW where the line is already a 2 hour wait.

 

[mvf-m11c]

I have decided of what I should take photos of when I go to DL in just a few weeks thanks to Sherry, deejdigsdis and bumbershoot. They suggested that they did a sign quest on their trips and they were all great. But this is endless with so many rides, restaurants, shops, etc. around the DLR. I might now get them all but this is another endless search just like the Tree and Wreath quest that we did during the Holiday season at DL. If I did the sign quest, I would think of trying the ride and restaurant. I also need to know which one I should do. I believe it was Jazz (Bella Ella) saying that the bathroom sign was another possibility of doing.

It's sad to see the Holiday season for 2010 is over, but I am very interested to see how the DLR does the Holiday next season. I'm just hoping that DL doesn't move the CP to DCA and just leave it at DL like every year. Also if DL is going to do a MVMCP exclusive event just like at the MK at WDW. But we will wait and see in the future.