imjen
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2004
- Messages
- 646
The crew: Me, dh, our dd's (8,6,3), FIL, BIL & his wife, their girls (6,3), SIL (20), SIL's Boyfriend (22), BIL (18)
The HOTEL: We all stayed at different hotels. Dh and I stayed at The Carousel. I was not overly impressed with this hotel. I requested early check in and was told since they were not booked the night before this should not be a problem. Got there around 1:30 pm, waited around awhile and when still not ready at 2:00 we left for DL with our stuff in our car. We came back around 8 pm and arrived to a room that did not look at all like the pictures on their website. Old, yucky carpet, and cramped quarters with the walkway to the bathroom completely blocked by the roll-away. They assured me we had a larger room and there was plenty of room for it, but I would not call that space "plenty". My bed was hard and I did not sleep well on it. The tub did not seem very clean with yucky white stuff in it. We requested another room in the morning but was told all the other rooms available were too small for a roll-away. They must have been tiny then 'cause it barely fit in ours!
As luck would have it, we found out that FIL had booked a connecting rooms for younger SIL and BIL in our hotel!
And he had a really nice suite at the Marriott with several beds that were not in use. So we ended up taking the connecting rooms (which were updated with hardwood floors and had better mattresses) and they stayed with him in his suite. Our situation there greatly improved!! 
Now the only main negative was the breakfast. It was not good! Flavorless croissants, a pastry, apples, oranges, toast, and hard boiled eggs. Apple juice, orange juice, and coffee were the only drinks offered.
We got back from our trip yesterday. We had a great time at Disneyland and visiting my grandparents. The kids were really great and well-behaved for most of the trip. Much better than last year. It really helps that they are getting older. We also took it a little slower paced and were more easy going about what we did. Just a couple glitches with the youngest when we forgot to pick up milk on the way to the hotel and she REALLY wanted some in the morning. I stupidly thought the hotel breakfast would have some. I thought I read somewhere that they did.
Wednesday, 10/24, we arrived at Long Beach airport and it was pretty smoky outside and we were a bit worried. We loved the airport though. So easy to do everything--bags in about 2 min, rental cars across from baggage claim (this is outside so it's across the street). Definitely flying into here again! The smoke was much less noticeable at my grandparents house in Huntington Beach and also not bad at Disneyland. Crowds were very light on Wednesday but our kids were tired so a bit grumpy and we weren't as productive as I was hoping. But still, a good time.
Thursday morning we did early entry and it was great. More crowded than we expected though. We had intended to do Nemo this day but we only got to the gates about 10-15 min. before EE due to having to get milk at McDonald's for youngest dd and then having her puke while in line at McDonald's. Had to run her back to the hotel, bathe her, and hope the puking was a fluke. Thankfully it was. What is it about one or more of our kids puking while on vacation!! I guess it was just anxiety or something else b/c she was just fine the rest of the day. Anyway, by the time we walked quickly over to Nemo there was already a huge line so we did some FL rides instead. I took the older 2 on Matterhorn and while in line noticed dh had decided to get in line on the other side with 3 yr old dd (who had not so long ago puked). I called him on the cell phone and practically begged him not to take her. I was worried she'd puke or be scared and not want to ride any other rides. He insisted she'd be fine. Thankfully he was right.
She ended up loving this ride by the end of the trip. Although the next day she was very hesitant to get on it again but was persuaded when her 3 yr old cousin wanted to go on it. The last day we all went on it again and she begged to get back on! 
Dh's family joined us around lunch and we enjoyed fairly light crowds the rest of the day. We ate lunch at the French Market and hated it. Most of us had the beef sandwiches and the bread was very dry and meat and dip was pretty flavorless.
We had dinner on the outside balcony at Catal in Downtown Disney and it was delicious!! Then we went to Mickey's Halloween Treat and had a blast. We all did the Tower of Terror for the first time and most of us loved it! My 8 yr old decided it was too spooky and creeped her out so she didn't want to do it again but my 6 yr old loved it and did it twice more during the rest of the trip. I really liked it too! The crowds were nice during this event. Most of the treat lines stayed pretty short. Screamin was an easy walk on as well as ToT. Monster's had a longer line than it did last year during MHT. It was about 20-25 min. long about 90 min. into the evening. The candy handed out was not that great. They gave big handfuls but it was nothing special other than a couple full size kissables. The rest were fun size candy bars, tootsie rolls, individual Starburst, Now n Laters, etc.
Friday we arrived about 15-20 min. before opening. We had tickets for Toontown Morning Madness and had intended to do that but instead made a mad dash for Nemo and were so glad we did! Dh and the older two got us pretty good spots in line while I hurried along with the 3 yr old in her stroller. We only had to wait about 20 minutes. Within minutes the line stretched to an hour or so and stayed there for most of the day. We loved the Nemo ride and would have rode it again had the line not been so long.
We headed over to Toontown just before 9 am (an hour after park opening and at Toontown's regular opening). It still was not very crowded over there but there just wasn't much that we enjoyed. I forgot Goofy's Bounce House is gone and Goofy's house is just dumb. Not much to do there at all. I thought maybe there would be a slide at the treehouse by GGC, but nope, just stairs. Bummer. 3 yr old didn't want to do GGC so older 2 kids did it and enjoyed it. Line was about 20 min. long at that point. We don't really like the Roger Rabbit ride and my kids don't care about standing in line for Mickey or Minnie so we left Toontown after that. I don't think we'll venture over there next time.
We ate lunch at Naples in Downtown Disney and it was yummy!
We had the chicken and pepperoni family size pizzas with a Caesar salad. Definitely recommend this place.
After lunch we headed to California Adventure. It's not as easy to do rides with little ones at this park compared to DL. Although we do love it over here.
The height requirement at Soarin' makes no sense! My 3 yr old rode Matterhorn but missed the height requirement for Soarin' by about an inch. This ride is so tame, I think it should have the same height requirement as Matterhorn. Same with Jumpin' Jellyfish and Grizzly River Run. She totally could have done these rides. Bugsland isn't conveniently close to the other rides to switch off with her while everyone else rides the bigger stuff either. (Like at DL, we have her do Buzz while the others do Space; Pooh is by Splash, etc.) Next year will be easier since she should make the 40" and possibly 42" requirement.
We had dinner at the Granville Steakhouse in Downtown Disney. It was very yummy but very expensive. Luckily, FIL treated! I would not recommend this place with little kids though. It was all we could do to keep our kids entertained during the long wait for our food to arrive. It took at least 30-40 min to receive our entrees. Crazy! We did have a back enclosed room all to ourselves since our party was big (we reserved it as well) so that helped. But I won't be going back until they are older. I tried to get everyone to do Fantasmic with me after dinner but they all wanted to do rides instead so I was bummed. I could have gone myself but my kids wanted to stay with the cousins and do what they did. So while a bunch of them did BTMRR, my SIL and I stood on the edges and watched a little bit of it. It was really crowded so we couldn't see very well. Both of our 3 yr olds loved it though and she realized just how cool it really was and that I wasn't bluffing! LOL So next year, we are definitely doing this the right way.
Saturday I started feeling really sick. I'd been fighting a cold off for a couple weeks and was gradually getting worse. I now had a sore throat and ear ache plus stuffed sinuses. I fought through it and we went on a few rides. The crowds were getting crazy. Fastpass rides only except Pirates. We enjoyed our 2nd dole whip of the trip. Boy, those are yummy but the lines are long! We waited about 15 min. each time for them. We had lunch at Carnation Cafe on main street and it was yummy!
We used FP's for Buzz as our last ride and just after we entered a lady went under the ropes from the stand-by line into the FP line. She acted like she was chasing her 2-3 yr old. I thought nothing of it until she and her family continued to follow us all the way to the CM taking FPs inside the building. My dh handed the CM our stack of 5 and she waved us through. Then the CM asked the lady behind me how many in her party and after she stated 4 she looked at me like she was part of our group and somehow the CM must have interpreted that to mean that her FPs were in the stack dh had given her?? I'm not sure exactly how this happened, but the CM waved her on. So she made it past the CM without giving her any FPs. I turned back and politely told her this entry was for those with FPs only. She just stared at me. So then I asked her if she had any FPs. She said "Do you work here?" in a very snotty tone. I was flabbergasted.
By this point we were too far away from the CM and I couldn't easily go back and say anything. But I was fuming. I wonder how many other times she "used" people in the FP line like that. She seemed to have it down to a science.
After Buzz we went to my grandparents house for dinner and had a great evening with them. We headed to the airport around 9:45 am on Sunday and hit a horrible traffic jam. The freeway went from 5 to 2 lanes over a few miles. They were filling potholes. We thought we might miss our flight as we were crawling along. That'll teach us to check construction before we go!
We got to the airport about 45-50 min. before our flight (thankfully it's a SMALL airport) and I made a couple trips with the luggage from the curb to the luggage check while dh and the kids turned in the rental car. As I'm waiting in line I hear someone next to me talking about our flight and find out that it has been delayed about 90 minutes. Turns out we had plenty of time!
So now we had about 2 hours to kill in a tiny airport with nothing to do and me feeling like crap. Dh took the younger two outside and played tag for 30 min. We ate ice cream, chips, Cheez-it snack mix, and fruit for lunch. LOL Dh had a sandwich but there was nothing the kids would like. The kids were amazingly good on the flight home though. Even got a compliment at the end of the flight from the guy in front of us saying he hopes when he has kids they are as well-behaved. He definitely wouldn't have sung that tune had it been last year! Youngest dd cried/screamed for a good 15-20 minutes while landing b/c she didn't want to be buckled in her own seat. Phew!
Now we're home and I'm sicker than a dog. Went to the dr. and I have an upper respiratory infection/sinus infection/ear infection. My ears still feel like I'm in the airplane. They won't fully unclog. Uggghhh Got a Z-pack and decongestant so hopefully I'll feel better soon. It was all worth it though!! We had a wonderful vacation and can't wait to go back next year.
The HOTEL: We all stayed at different hotels. Dh and I stayed at The Carousel. I was not overly impressed with this hotel. I requested early check in and was told since they were not booked the night before this should not be a problem. Got there around 1:30 pm, waited around awhile and when still not ready at 2:00 we left for DL with our stuff in our car. We came back around 8 pm and arrived to a room that did not look at all like the pictures on their website. Old, yucky carpet, and cramped quarters with the walkway to the bathroom completely blocked by the roll-away. They assured me we had a larger room and there was plenty of room for it, but I would not call that space "plenty". My bed was hard and I did not sleep well on it. The tub did not seem very clean with yucky white stuff in it. We requested another room in the morning but was told all the other rooms available were too small for a roll-away. They must have been tiny then 'cause it barely fit in ours!
As luck would have it, we found out that FIL had booked a connecting rooms for younger SIL and BIL in our hotel!
And he had a really nice suite at the Marriott with several beds that were not in use. So we ended up taking the connecting rooms (which were updated with hardwood floors and had better mattresses) and they stayed with him in his suite. Our situation there greatly improved!! Now the only main negative was the breakfast. It was not good! Flavorless croissants, a pastry, apples, oranges, toast, and hard boiled eggs. Apple juice, orange juice, and coffee were the only drinks offered.We got back from our trip yesterday. We had a great time at Disneyland and visiting my grandparents. The kids were really great and well-behaved for most of the trip. Much better than last year. It really helps that they are getting older. We also took it a little slower paced and were more easy going about what we did. Just a couple glitches with the youngest when we forgot to pick up milk on the way to the hotel and she REALLY wanted some in the morning. I stupidly thought the hotel breakfast would have some. I thought I read somewhere that they did.
Wednesday, 10/24, we arrived at Long Beach airport and it was pretty smoky outside and we were a bit worried. We loved the airport though. So easy to do everything--bags in about 2 min, rental cars across from baggage claim (this is outside so it's across the street). Definitely flying into here again! The smoke was much less noticeable at my grandparents house in Huntington Beach and also not bad at Disneyland. Crowds were very light on Wednesday but our kids were tired so a bit grumpy and we weren't as productive as I was hoping. But still, a good time.
Thursday morning we did early entry and it was great. More crowded than we expected though. We had intended to do Nemo this day but we only got to the gates about 10-15 min. before EE due to having to get milk at McDonald's for youngest dd and then having her puke while in line at McDonald's. Had to run her back to the hotel, bathe her, and hope the puking was a fluke. Thankfully it was. What is it about one or more of our kids puking while on vacation!! I guess it was just anxiety or something else b/c she was just fine the rest of the day. Anyway, by the time we walked quickly over to Nemo there was already a huge line so we did some FL rides instead. I took the older 2 on Matterhorn and while in line noticed dh had decided to get in line on the other side with 3 yr old dd (who had not so long ago puked). I called him on the cell phone and practically begged him not to take her. I was worried she'd puke or be scared and not want to ride any other rides. He insisted she'd be fine. Thankfully he was right.
She ended up loving this ride by the end of the trip. Although the next day she was very hesitant to get on it again but was persuaded when her 3 yr old cousin wanted to go on it. The last day we all went on it again and she begged to get back on! Dh's family joined us around lunch and we enjoyed fairly light crowds the rest of the day. We ate lunch at the French Market and hated it. Most of us had the beef sandwiches and the bread was very dry and meat and dip was pretty flavorless.
We had dinner on the outside balcony at Catal in Downtown Disney and it was delicious!! Then we went to Mickey's Halloween Treat and had a blast. We all did the Tower of Terror for the first time and most of us loved it! My 8 yr old decided it was too spooky and creeped her out so she didn't want to do it again but my 6 yr old loved it and did it twice more during the rest of the trip. I really liked it too! The crowds were nice during this event. Most of the treat lines stayed pretty short. Screamin was an easy walk on as well as ToT. Monster's had a longer line than it did last year during MHT. It was about 20-25 min. long about 90 min. into the evening. The candy handed out was not that great. They gave big handfuls but it was nothing special other than a couple full size kissables. The rest were fun size candy bars, tootsie rolls, individual Starburst, Now n Laters, etc.
Friday we arrived about 15-20 min. before opening. We had tickets for Toontown Morning Madness and had intended to do that but instead made a mad dash for Nemo and were so glad we did! Dh and the older two got us pretty good spots in line while I hurried along with the 3 yr old in her stroller. We only had to wait about 20 minutes. Within minutes the line stretched to an hour or so and stayed there for most of the day. We loved the Nemo ride and would have rode it again had the line not been so long.
We headed over to Toontown just before 9 am (an hour after park opening and at Toontown's regular opening). It still was not very crowded over there but there just wasn't much that we enjoyed. I forgot Goofy's Bounce House is gone and Goofy's house is just dumb. Not much to do there at all. I thought maybe there would be a slide at the treehouse by GGC, but nope, just stairs. Bummer. 3 yr old didn't want to do GGC so older 2 kids did it and enjoyed it. Line was about 20 min. long at that point. We don't really like the Roger Rabbit ride and my kids don't care about standing in line for Mickey or Minnie so we left Toontown after that. I don't think we'll venture over there next time.
We ate lunch at Naples in Downtown Disney and it was yummy!
We had the chicken and pepperoni family size pizzas with a Caesar salad. Definitely recommend this place.
After lunch we headed to California Adventure. It's not as easy to do rides with little ones at this park compared to DL. Although we do love it over here.
The height requirement at Soarin' makes no sense! My 3 yr old rode Matterhorn but missed the height requirement for Soarin' by about an inch. This ride is so tame, I think it should have the same height requirement as Matterhorn. Same with Jumpin' Jellyfish and Grizzly River Run. She totally could have done these rides. Bugsland isn't conveniently close to the other rides to switch off with her while everyone else rides the bigger stuff either. (Like at DL, we have her do Buzz while the others do Space; Pooh is by Splash, etc.) Next year will be easier since she should make the 40" and possibly 42" requirement.
We had dinner at the Granville Steakhouse in Downtown Disney. It was very yummy but very expensive. Luckily, FIL treated! I would not recommend this place with little kids though. It was all we could do to keep our kids entertained during the long wait for our food to arrive. It took at least 30-40 min to receive our entrees. Crazy! We did have a back enclosed room all to ourselves since our party was big (we reserved it as well) so that helped. But I won't be going back until they are older. I tried to get everyone to do Fantasmic with me after dinner but they all wanted to do rides instead so I was bummed. I could have gone myself but my kids wanted to stay with the cousins and do what they did. So while a bunch of them did BTMRR, my SIL and I stood on the edges and watched a little bit of it. It was really crowded so we couldn't see very well. Both of our 3 yr olds loved it though and she realized just how cool it really was and that I wasn't bluffing! LOL So next year, we are definitely doing this the right way.
Saturday I started feeling really sick. I'd been fighting a cold off for a couple weeks and was gradually getting worse. I now had a sore throat and ear ache plus stuffed sinuses. I fought through it and we went on a few rides. The crowds were getting crazy. Fastpass rides only except Pirates. We enjoyed our 2nd dole whip of the trip. Boy, those are yummy but the lines are long! We waited about 15 min. each time for them. We had lunch at Carnation Cafe on main street and it was yummy!
We used FP's for Buzz as our last ride and just after we entered a lady went under the ropes from the stand-by line into the FP line. She acted like she was chasing her 2-3 yr old. I thought nothing of it until she and her family continued to follow us all the way to the CM taking FPs inside the building. My dh handed the CM our stack of 5 and she waved us through. Then the CM asked the lady behind me how many in her party and after she stated 4 she looked at me like she was part of our group and somehow the CM must have interpreted that to mean that her FPs were in the stack dh had given her?? I'm not sure exactly how this happened, but the CM waved her on. So she made it past the CM without giving her any FPs. I turned back and politely told her this entry was for those with FPs only. She just stared at me. So then I asked her if she had any FPs. She said "Do you work here?" in a very snotty tone. I was flabbergasted.
By this point we were too far away from the CM and I couldn't easily go back and say anything. But I was fuming. I wonder how many other times she "used" people in the FP line like that. She seemed to have it down to a science.After Buzz we went to my grandparents house for dinner and had a great evening with them. We headed to the airport around 9:45 am on Sunday and hit a horrible traffic jam. The freeway went from 5 to 2 lanes over a few miles. They were filling potholes. We thought we might miss our flight as we were crawling along. That'll teach us to check construction before we go!
We got to the airport about 45-50 min. before our flight (thankfully it's a SMALL airport) and I made a couple trips with the luggage from the curb to the luggage check while dh and the kids turned in the rental car. As I'm waiting in line I hear someone next to me talking about our flight and find out that it has been delayed about 90 minutes. Turns out we had plenty of time!
So now we had about 2 hours to kill in a tiny airport with nothing to do and me feeling like crap. Dh took the younger two outside and played tag for 30 min. We ate ice cream, chips, Cheez-it snack mix, and fruit for lunch. LOL Dh had a sandwich but there was nothing the kids would like. The kids were amazingly good on the flight home though. Even got a compliment at the end of the flight from the guy in front of us saying he hopes when he has kids they are as well-behaved. He definitely wouldn't have sung that tune had it been last year! Youngest dd cried/screamed for a good 15-20 minutes while landing b/c she didn't want to be buckled in her own seat. Phew!Now we're home and I'm sicker than a dog. Went to the dr. and I have an upper respiratory infection/sinus infection/ear infection. My ears still feel like I'm in the airplane. They won't fully unclog. Uggghhh Got a Z-pack and decongestant so hopefully I'll feel better soon. It was all worth it though!! We had a wonderful vacation and can't wait to go back next year.
