Al's Jasmine
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2004
- Messages
- 74
The cast of Hoodlums
Me-25 and a wife to an even bigger disney fanatic
Al-25 loving husband and child at heart. Willing nods to being called Aladdin
July 4th weekend. Well I have mixed emotions about this weekend, especially when it comes to Disneyland. First of all, this is one of the very few weeks I can excuse myself from work and make a long weekend out of it. This year is the first time Al can get 4 days off in a row. But it also marks the hot weather and the ever growing vacation crowds from nearby and from far away. Call us nutz, but all of the unknown didn't stop us one bit!
We stayed at the newly remodeled Sheraton Parc Hotel. One word: EXCELLENT! Beyond my expectation! Here I was terribly sad that I could not book in time to get great rates for any of the Disney resorts, but boy was it worth it. It was so worth it that we extended our stay to 3 nights and 4 days and it still was less than a two night stay at DLH (But I still love that hotel). The Sheraton has wonderfully spacious rooms and OMG, the beds! THE BEDS!!!! They call them sweet sleeper beds. Firm enough and not sagging in the middle, with more than enough pillows on one bed to sleep a family of 4! They really throw on those soft fluffy down pillows. The linens and comforter were top of the line and not cheesy or scratchy. We all slept like a baby! Mind you there is still contruction going around that area, but the hotel was wonderful! They cleaned our rooms effeciently and quickly. Day one we headed for the parks around 7am and came back to the hotel for a swim around 1130 or 12. Our room was already freshly turned down! Some hotels don't get to your room until late in the afternoon. The Pool was spectacular! Not so fancy and themed out like the Disney ones, but it was Large with lots of lounge chairs, tables and umbrellas. A small nook off to the corner had freshly washed and folded towels to use. There is a bar near the pool to grab drinks and cocktails/beers, and the staff is so friendly and attentive playing host, waiter and cleanup all at once. It was easy to give my name and roomnumber and put it all on the tab without worrying about credit cards or cash while swimming. The pool itself is large and a particular favorite of ours. It goes up to 10 feet deep at it's deepest end! We spent hours a day by the pool
Anime Expo was going on that same weekend so it was pretty busy at our hotel and around the area (Hilton to be more specific). Not our cup of tea but it was fun watching people dressed up as animation characters.
Disneyland wasn't as crowded in the AM. Gates opened at 8am and we were lined up by 720am. Disney has smartly anticipated the excitement with Pirates and were informing people to line up behind the ropes in Mainstreet to the left near the Coke-Cola restaurant and a cast member would guide that line first to Pirates. It was timely, fast, effecient and smart smart smart! No shoving or pushing and we all got to ride it with very little wait time. They eventually opened up the second line and even though there was a wait during the rest of our weekend, it never felt longer than 30 mins at a time. Night time was barable more than mid day anyway.
We were able to ride Space Mtn. numerous times. Once we got off Pirates that first morning, we headed for Space and got fast passes then rode Buzz which was little to no wait time at all. We ate breakfast at Club Buzz (breakfast croissant and potatoes for me and AL). For 6-7$ a meal this was not that expensive. I am sure if you weren't as hungry, you could share one (half the croissant) and just order an extra orange juice or something. By the time we finished eating, we still had time to ride some Fantasyland rides before going to Space and using our Fast Pass. Since we had a whole weekend down there we didn't really need to plow thru the parks, so we headed back to our hotel and did our 3-4 hour swim break.
When we returned to the park around 5pm or so, we headed to DCA for some ToT and animation studio. The boys wanted hotlink corndogs (they are HUGE and very tasty) and I wanted a bowl of corn chowder. We happily washed it down with some beer and wandered around the rest of the park. We were sure to ride Soarin' so our stomachs weren't too unhappy, and once we felt fairly fulfilled from DCA (since it is a lot of kid attractions) we headed back to DL for casual riding and people watching.
Our days consisted mostly of the above. It was wonderful!
Suggestions to those planning to go on major weekends like 4th of July. It may be best to know that there will be a lot of people and to accept it. Once you accept it as the reality, it actually isn't as irritating as you think it would be. Bring and drink plenty of liquids because that is the secret to all day energy. Sharing meals is okay and will save you some cash. Some adults even ordered kids meals! Take a swim break to refresh yourself for the second half of the day. If it is your 1000th visit to the park and you just want to have a good time, don't plan too much about what to do and when, a little bit of sporadic decisions always makes the trips fun.
PS. the Fireworks still look wonderful at the Mainstreet Trainstation and not necessarily right in front of the castle, we got a spot to watch them 2 mins before they started!
any questions about hotel or anything, please feel free. I am seriously thinking about going back to Sheraton Parc Hotel next month. It is a a hefty walk from DL (when the websites say 1 block, they don't tell you how LONG those blocks are!), but it was so worth it!! There was an IHOP across the street!
And traffic leaving on 4th of July around 5pm was non existant. It was cooler weather wise, less cars on the road, and we got home at a decent time to sleep and be ready for work the next day!
Me-25 and a wife to an even bigger disney fanatic
Al-25 loving husband and child at heart. Willing nods to being called Aladdin
July 4th weekend. Well I have mixed emotions about this weekend, especially when it comes to Disneyland. First of all, this is one of the very few weeks I can excuse myself from work and make a long weekend out of it. This year is the first time Al can get 4 days off in a row. But it also marks the hot weather and the ever growing vacation crowds from nearby and from far away. Call us nutz, but all of the unknown didn't stop us one bit!
We stayed at the newly remodeled Sheraton Parc Hotel. One word: EXCELLENT! Beyond my expectation! Here I was terribly sad that I could not book in time to get great rates for any of the Disney resorts, but boy was it worth it. It was so worth it that we extended our stay to 3 nights and 4 days and it still was less than a two night stay at DLH (But I still love that hotel). The Sheraton has wonderfully spacious rooms and OMG, the beds! THE BEDS!!!! They call them sweet sleeper beds. Firm enough and not sagging in the middle, with more than enough pillows on one bed to sleep a family of 4! They really throw on those soft fluffy down pillows. The linens and comforter were top of the line and not cheesy or scratchy. We all slept like a baby! Mind you there is still contruction going around that area, but the hotel was wonderful! They cleaned our rooms effeciently and quickly. Day one we headed for the parks around 7am and came back to the hotel for a swim around 1130 or 12. Our room was already freshly turned down! Some hotels don't get to your room until late in the afternoon. The Pool was spectacular! Not so fancy and themed out like the Disney ones, but it was Large with lots of lounge chairs, tables and umbrellas. A small nook off to the corner had freshly washed and folded towels to use. There is a bar near the pool to grab drinks and cocktails/beers, and the staff is so friendly and attentive playing host, waiter and cleanup all at once. It was easy to give my name and roomnumber and put it all on the tab without worrying about credit cards or cash while swimming. The pool itself is large and a particular favorite of ours. It goes up to 10 feet deep at it's deepest end! We spent hours a day by the pool
Anime Expo was going on that same weekend so it was pretty busy at our hotel and around the area (Hilton to be more specific). Not our cup of tea but it was fun watching people dressed up as animation characters.
Disneyland wasn't as crowded in the AM. Gates opened at 8am and we were lined up by 720am. Disney has smartly anticipated the excitement with Pirates and were informing people to line up behind the ropes in Mainstreet to the left near the Coke-Cola restaurant and a cast member would guide that line first to Pirates. It was timely, fast, effecient and smart smart smart! No shoving or pushing and we all got to ride it with very little wait time. They eventually opened up the second line and even though there was a wait during the rest of our weekend, it never felt longer than 30 mins at a time. Night time was barable more than mid day anyway.
We were able to ride Space Mtn. numerous times. Once we got off Pirates that first morning, we headed for Space and got fast passes then rode Buzz which was little to no wait time at all. We ate breakfast at Club Buzz (breakfast croissant and potatoes for me and AL). For 6-7$ a meal this was not that expensive. I am sure if you weren't as hungry, you could share one (half the croissant) and just order an extra orange juice or something. By the time we finished eating, we still had time to ride some Fantasyland rides before going to Space and using our Fast Pass. Since we had a whole weekend down there we didn't really need to plow thru the parks, so we headed back to our hotel and did our 3-4 hour swim break.
When we returned to the park around 5pm or so, we headed to DCA for some ToT and animation studio. The boys wanted hotlink corndogs (they are HUGE and very tasty) and I wanted a bowl of corn chowder. We happily washed it down with some beer and wandered around the rest of the park. We were sure to ride Soarin' so our stomachs weren't too unhappy, and once we felt fairly fulfilled from DCA (since it is a lot of kid attractions) we headed back to DL for casual riding and people watching.
Our days consisted mostly of the above. It was wonderful!
Suggestions to those planning to go on major weekends like 4th of July. It may be best to know that there will be a lot of people and to accept it. Once you accept it as the reality, it actually isn't as irritating as you think it would be. Bring and drink plenty of liquids because that is the secret to all day energy. Sharing meals is okay and will save you some cash. Some adults even ordered kids meals! Take a swim break to refresh yourself for the second half of the day. If it is your 1000th visit to the park and you just want to have a good time, don't plan too much about what to do and when, a little bit of sporadic decisions always makes the trips fun.
PS. the Fireworks still look wonderful at the Mainstreet Trainstation and not necessarily right in front of the castle, we got a spot to watch them 2 mins before they started!
any questions about hotel or anything, please feel free. I am seriously thinking about going back to Sheraton Parc Hotel next month. It is a a hefty walk from DL (when the websites say 1 block, they don't tell you how LONG those blocks are!), but it was so worth it!! There was an IHOP across the street!
And traffic leaving on 4th of July around 5pm was non existant. It was cooler weather wise, less cars on the road, and we got home at a decent time to sleep and be ready for work the next day!
